I fed Vanessa her funnelcake as she drove. I envisioned how the room could be decorated. I needed picture frames, maybe some sort of chair, a better lamp. I grew excited. This was going to be fun.

"Home sweet home." Vanessa sang as we pulled into the mall parking lot. She put the car in park, and we hopped out.

"It's been way too long." I smiled. "Are you sticking with me while I shop for room decorations or are you going off on your own?"

She bit the side of her cheek, debating. "Are you sure it's okay if I check out Sephora?"

"Yeah, go for it. I'll meet you in like an hour?"

"I'll be there." She gave me a hug and headed in the opposite direction.

It took me the whole hour to find everything I needed. I guess I was being pretty picky about what I got. I had to go to three different stores to find a lamp that would suit the room. In the end, I walked out of the mall with four large bags, feeling proud of myself. I couldn't wait until tomorrow. Vanessa and I met back up and headed for the car.

"Should we meet up with the guys?" She said as she opened the driver's side door.

"Are they still there?" They were all wanderers; they could be halfway across the world by now. "I'll call Grant."

I hit 1 on speed dial. It rang twice before he answered. "Rinnie?"

"The one and only." I joked. "Where'd you guys end up?"

He laughed. "I'm at my place, I got kicked out."

My mouth dropped. "What?! Grant, what'd you do?"

More laughter. "They had horses Rinnie."

I felt myself smile. I love the way he says Rinnie. "What does that mean?"

He sighed. "Just went for a joy ride. I think they overreacted personally."

"You stole a horse?!"

I could see his eyes rolling through the phone. "No, I borrowed a horse."

"What about the others?" I wondered if the rest of the men were involved in Grant's shenanigans.

"Not sure, they were still there when I left. I told them to go on without me."

I clicked my tongue. "What are we going to do with you?"

"Whatever you want to."

Grant's flirting awoken my desires. I wanted desperately to go over to Grant's and spend the night, but I knew I couldn't trust myself right now. "Stay in time out. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Disappointed." Was all he said before the call was over.

"What'd he say?" Vanessa asked.

I sighed. "The other two might still be at the fair, he was kicked out."

"Oh boy, I can just imagine why." She chuckled. "Should we go?"

"It's up to you." In all honesty I felt bad that Grant couldn't join the fun, but I would never leave Vanessa when she needed me most. She was scared that she'd get separated with Alec. I could sense it.

She pulled her phone out of her purse and started dialing. "Alec, hey. Yes it's me. You wish! Where are you? No, we were just going to meet up with you guys if you were still at the fair. It's cool, see you tomorrow." She ended the call and fell back into her seat. "They all left."

"Too bad."

She yawned. "Oh well, I'm tired anyways." She started the car and backed up. "Want to go home?"

"Yeah, it's been a long day."

She laughed to herself and shook her head. "What's so funny?" I asked her.

"I can't believe you slept with Grant."

"Just drive." I directed her, jokingly.

She let it go for awhile. "What was it like?"

I began playing with the gray plastic bags on my lap. "Oddly comfortable."

"Did he use anything?" She glanced over at me, grinning.

I hit her with one of the bags. "No. He didn't want to."

Her mouthed gaped. "What?! Grant did not seriously refuse to use toys!"

I nodded. "I put my hands out for him to cuff and everything."

"What was his reason?"

I pressed my head deeper into the headrest. "He said my first time should be special." I saw him saying it as I spoke.

"Wow." She breathed.

"How did you and Alec end up kissing?" I was hoping to change the subject and cure my curiosity.

She breathed in heavily. "It was late after Grant's party, so Alec offered to walk me home. I was really drunk, as you know. I ended up tripping onto the road. At the same time, an SUV was flying towards me. Alec saw this and pulled me out of the way. He saved my life. We were pushed right against each other. It just sort of happened."

The story was so romantic I felt emotional hearing it. "That's incredible."

"He's amazing." I didn't want to keep reminding her of what she couldn't have, so I shut my mouth. We fell back into comfortable silence. She dropped me off at my place and helped me carry my things. The emotions were high when she left.

The day's activities wore me out. I fell into a deep sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I dreamt of darkness. I felt a little lighter. I'd heard that if you don't dream of anything that means someone is dreaming of you. I had never had any proof that that was true, but it was fun to think about. When I first woke up, I knew I had something I was looking forward to for the day. I just couldn't remember what it was. I was quickly reminded by the gray plastic bags sitting on the blue chair in the corner of my room. This motivated me to get out of bed and dressed right away. I knew today was going to be a work kind of day so I threw on the only pair of sweatpants I owned, and an old t-shirt. I braided my hair back and out of my face. I figured since I was already looking homeless, there was no point worrying about makeup. I felt a little self-conscious when I remembered Grant was going to see me like this. Then I remembered that Grant had seen me looking even worse than this before. It comes with the territory of being long-term friends. Besides, attraction wasn't the point of this. It took me a few trips to get all the bags to the car. I turned on the heat and radio and headed down the road to the shack.

I knocked on the door, bags in hand. Which had to look ridiculous considering the amount and size of them. I had to prop one on my knee because I was out of hands. There was no answer. I knocked again. The door propped open slowly. "About time, it's freezing out here!" I started securing the bags. I heard Grant curse under his breath. My eyes grew wide when I looked up.

"Not a word." Grant warned me.