Gabby and I wake up before the sun rises for an early morning run before it gets too hot. Neither of us are runners, nor are we very athletic when it comes to any sort of sport or workout, but we promised ourselves to follow through with our New Years resolution this year: get fit. Yes, this is our first time running together and it's already August, but better late than never, right?

Well at least I don't think we have ran at all this year. I confirm this idea by the way I begin to cramp up after only five minutes. Before this whole twist in time we never ran and I'm guessing that in this alternate time zone we didn't either. But starting today, I'm going to put in a real effort to keep it up. A guy always wants a girl with a fit body and this might be the difference between keeping and losing Alex this time around.

"So what's the plan this weekend? Movie night?" Gabby asks as she tries to catch her breath.

I'm pressing on my side trying to get rid of my side cramp. "Actually, I do have something set up for us." Gabby's eyes go wide and her face starts to fall. "Please don't be mad at me!"

Gabby rolls her eyes and places her hands on her hips. "What is it this time?"

"I sort of told Alex that I would bring you with me for..." I brace myself before finishing my thought.

"Bring me to what, Leah?"

I take in a deep breath before blurting it out. "A double date. I told him that you would go on a double date with one of his friends."

"Leah! I don't want to go! You haven't learned your lesson from the last time we did this?"

She has a point. The last time we went on a double date it was a complete nightmare. I got along just fine with my date, but her date was a different story. Gabby is an intellectual, keen on deep, educational conversation. Let's just say that her date couldn't keep up. He probably didn't know that 2+2=4. He was too busy checking himself out in his silverware.

"Please Gabby! I promise it will be different this time. You already know the guy. He's a ton of fun! Plus, you might end up actually liking him."

A lightbulb goes off in her head. "Chase? You're pairing me up with Chase? I don't think he's my type."

I give her my best puppy dog eyes, begging her to do this one favor for me.

"Fine. I'll go, but only because I know how much this means to you and Chase is actually a nice guy. But you owe me one!"

"You can hold me to it, I promise. Now let's get this run out of the way before the city wakes up and our embarrassing 'running' is put on display for the whole world to see." I grab Gabby's arm and we jog down the path.

-

"There they are." I point through the glass window to Chase and Alex sitting at a table overlooking the water.

Gabby runs her fingers through her big, curly hair. "How do I look?"

She looks incredible as usual, her cobalt blue top and gold jewelry make her dark skin come alive. "I thought you didn't care about this date? And that Chase isn't your type?"

"Oh I don't care about this date. And Chase isn't my type, but I always want to look good. Duh." She flips her hair and opens the door for us. I wish I had her confidence.

Alex looks up from the table and our eyes meet. I get his instant smile that always seems to cause butterflies. I don't think I'll ever get used to the way he makes me feel when he looks at me.

"Leah," he says, standing from his chair and kissing me on the cheek.

Chase approaches Gabby, giving her a hug and then pulls out her chair for her.

"A gentleman," Gabby comments, giving me a small wink once we all sit down.

"How was your day?" Alex asks, eyeing both me and Gabby.

"Pretty good, Gabby and I just did a bit of shopping in the afternoon and then got ready for dinner. What about you guys?"

I see Chase's face turn bright red and unavoidable laughter escape Alex.

"What?" Gabby asks, interested in their little inside joke.

This pushes them over the edge. Chase is about to die of embarrassment and Alex is going to grow his 6-pack to an 8-pack from laughing so hard.

Chase rolls his eyes. "Fine just tell them, Alex. If it will get you to shut up about it."

Alex tries to tell his story in-between bursts of laughter. "Okay so I decided to take Chase here surfing today." He's practically crying at this point.

"Okay okay sorry." He takes in a deep breath and wipes the tears from his eyes. "Let me set the stage. So Chase and I have both lived in Laguna Beach our entire lives, except for college of course, yet we had some different interests. I have always surfed whereas he is more of a toss the football or chill on the beach type."

I look over to Chase and he has his faced buried in his hands. I look to Gabby and she shrugs, just as confused as I am.

"So we head out there, into the surf on our own boards. I catch a few waves while Chase hangs out outside of the break. I saw a wave coming and encouraged Chase to try to catch it, but we didn't realize how big it was until it was too late." The uncontrollable laughter begins again, causing Gabby and I to join in.

"Just spit it out, Alex!" Chase exclaims, clearly irritated.

"Okay okay so he turns around to face the wave and then faces me, fear clear in his eyes. I try to tell him to hold onto the board and turn on his back so that the waves goes over him, but he didn't understand. The wave ate him up and spat him out. His board flew straight up out of the water, dragging him out by his leash, screaming! Let's just say that was the end of the surf lesson."

"Chase, are you okay?" I try to sound genuine, because I actually genuinely care if he is okay or not, but I can't help the laughter that follows.

"Haha very funny, laugh all you want guys." Chase's face is still red, but I see a hint of a smile.

After we all get our laughs out, Gabby tries to get serious. "On a real note, are you okay Chase? Any injuries?"

"Oh no physical injuries, just a bruised ego," he says like a child, giving Gabby puppy dog eyes.

Gabby's smile spreads clear across her face and Chase returns it.

-

Once the boys pay the check, we agree to split up and walk on the beach.

Alex entwines his fingers in mine and smiles down at me. "I'm really happy we were able to do this tonight. I feel like I don't get to see you as much as I would like to."

Alex and I are always busy with our jobs, so it's hard to find time to spend together. "I understand, you have a growing business and need to give as much time to it as possible. Maybe I can come check it out soon?"

"I would love that. You can see one of the boards I have been working on. You sort of inspired it." He looks away, his cheeks turning bright red.

I can't help the blush that forms on my face. "Oh yeah? How so?"

"Well, it's light blue. For your eyes of course. And for your personality. I feel like whenever you're around you make the day brighter, creating a clear blue sky with no clouds in sight."

I pull his hand and stop him dead in his tracks. His body moves closer to mine as I put both of my hands on the sides of his face, pulling him in to press my lips to his.

"What was that for?" he asks once we pull apart.

"That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

His response is to pull me close and kiss me again.

"Alex, I think I-"

"I want to say it first. Just so you know it's real and not just because you said it." He lifts me off the ground and spins me before setting me down softly in the sand and bending down to put his mouth to my ear. "I love you, Leah," he whispers.

"I love you too."

-

Back at our apartment, Gabby and I change into pajamas and settle on the couch.

"You look awfully happy. What happened on the beach?" Gabby pries. I smile just thinking about what happened between Alex and I just an hour earlier. I keep replaying the scene over and over again in my head. "Hello! Earth to Leah! Spill!"

I wrap my arms around my legs and meet her gaze. "He, um, he told me-"

"No way. Leah, this is huge. He loves you. No wait. He's in love with you. Do you feel the same about him?"

Is that even a question? "I do."

I'm in love with Alex.

"But enough about me. How were things with Chase? Did you change your mind about him? Do you like him?"

"Oh he's hilarious. He has the best personality ever. But he knows nothing is going to happen."

"Why not? It seems like you really like him." This makes me a bit sad. I've been imagining the four of us, hanging out and going on double dates all the time. It would be perfect.

"Leah, come on. I thought you would have figured it out by now. I have a crush on someone else."

"What? Who?" Gabby gives me a look. I can't believe how dumb I am. Whenever Gabby isn't with me, she's with Emily.

A few weeks ago Gabby got into a minor car accident when a girl rear ended her. A girl named Emily. It's all making sense now.

"Emily. You like Emily?!"

As soon as say it out loud, her face turns bright red. "Leah, it's just a crush. But maybe it will be something more. I don't know. I don't even know if she likes girls. But in the off chance that she does, I don't want to be going on dates with someone else."

Aww Gabby. I've never seen her this way over anyone, guy or girl.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Gabby exclaims, halting the conversation. "You must be blind to not notice that Chase was staring at you all night."

What? Chase? Where did that come from? My confused expression prompts her to explain. "I'm just saying that he was constantly staring at you at the restaurant and on the beach he couldn't stop talking about you. Maybe he likes you, maybe he doesn't. But he seems very fond of you."

He can't like me. There's no way. "I think it's just because Alex has a bad track record with ex girlfriends. Chase never liked any of them. I think he's just happy that Alex has a normal girlfriend for once. He would never hurt Alex like that."

"Whatever you say."