I nervously pace around the living room, toying with my phone. For the past twenty minutes ever since Dad left to take Lauren back to her place, I've been trying to gather the courage to call Josh and so far it hasn't worked.

I glance at the paper on the coffee table where I wrote down things I should say to Josh to make things easier for both of us. Lauren suggested that I do it, telling me that it would make my nerves decrease. If that's true, then I'm sure glad I did it because I don't know if I could handle any more nerves than what I have right now.

I find Josh's contact on my phone as I sit down on the couch. My thumb hovers over the call icon and I bite my lip. Suddenly, and completely out of nowhere, my thumb gets pushed onto the green button. My eyes widen and I look up to see Dad give me a smile before we walks up to his room. I didn't even hear him come in.

I hurriedly place the phone to my ear and hope that he doesn't answer.

"Mia?"

Dang it.

"Josh?"

He chuckles awkwardly and I can tell he doesn't want to be talking to me. "Yes?"

"Oh, um, I just wanted to talk to you about um, earlier today?"

"Okay..."

I take a deep breath before continuing. "I'm sorry, okay? I was just stressed and I couldn't think things through. And I'm sorry that I wouldn't listen to you. And I kinda miss you. Ugh now I sound pathetic, don't I? I'm just a mess. Why even bother with me at all?"

Before I can go on, Josh asks, "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay? Yeah, I think so."

Josh laughs. "You just sound like you're going a little crazy over there."

Well, that's probably true.

"Can you forgive me, Josh?"

Silence fills the other end of the phone and I hold my breath. Five eternities span between us before he finally speaks. "Of course."

I laugh in relief, clutching the phone with both my hands.

"Now I'm convinced you're going crazy."

I gulp, my laughter dying down. "Can you come over? Just for a little bit?"

"Absolutely. I'll be there in ten minutes, Mia."

The ten minutes tick by agonizingly slow but the doorbell finally rings. I rush over and yank the door open, pulling Josh inside. I almost forget to close the door before I hug him tightly. He returns the embrace and we stand in the doorway for at least three minutes before Josh pulls back.

"I have a question for you, Mia."

"Hm?" I hum, leading him into the living room. We sit down on the couch and I wait for him to say anything.

Josh takes a deep, slow breath before asking me, "Do you want to go on a date next week?"

I squeak, blush staining my cheeks. Josh raises an eyebrow and I can tell he's holding back a laugh.

"What was that?"

I shrug, looking down at my feet. I just know he's gonna use that against me one day.

"So...?"

It's only then that I realize that I never actually answered him. "Oh! Yes, of course!"

Josh breathes out a sigh of relief, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "That's good to hear. I was worried you'd hate me forever."

"Why in the world would I hate you?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows together.

"Because I left you in the hospital for probably the stupidest reason ever. I was frustrated that you were blaming yourself for something that was an accident," he says, leaning his head back against the couch. "So I idiotically left you with Elizabeth who, mind you, was the reason you were blaming yourself in the first place. I didn't think it through."

I shake my head, almost laughing. "Josh, I was being dumb and annoying. I am certainly not mad at you for leaving."

My words didn't have the effect that I wanted them to have because he was bouncing his knee up and down, obviously still stressed out.

I reach over and place a hand on his moving knee, stilling it. "Don't worry about it. How about we just leave it behind? Don't focus on it anymore? We've forgiven each other for being impulsive."

Josh smiles, nodding his head. "Yeah, okay."

Dad suddenly comes down the stairs, smiling at the two of us. Josh stands up and walks over to him, shaking his hand.

"I see you two made up then," Dad comments, smirking slightly at me.

"Yes, father dearest. We're fine," I say a little sarcastically, prompting both of them to laugh.

"I was just checking on you, don't freak out on me," he says, winking at me.

I groan, putting my hands over my eyes. "Gross, Dad, don't wink at me."

He laughs before turning to Josh again. "Do you want to come over for dinner tomorrow night? Lauren is coming and she's going to bring her son for introductions."

Josh blinks, obviously startled, and he glances over at me. "Yeah sure. I wasn't aware that Lauren had a son."

I laugh, standing and walking over to them both. "Yeah, neither was I until Lauren brought it up this evening."

"What time is dinner tomorrow, then?" Josh asks, pulling out his phone, probably to set a reminder.

"6 o'clock sharp, hopefully. Things usually run a little late."

Josh nods, setting things up on his phone before he puts it away. "I should get going. I'll see you both tomorrow then."

"I'll see you out," I say as he starts walking away. Dad, thankfully, takes my hint and goes back upstairs after saying a brief good night.

I stand at the door with Josh and he grabs both of my hands in his. "I look forward to our date."

I blush again, smiling shyly at him. "As do I."

He grins, kissing my forehead. "I'll see you later, Mia." He squeezes my hands once then disappears out the front door.

***

"The hills are alive, with the sound of music," I sing softly with Julie Andrews on Pandora as I help Dad prepare dinner.

"With songs they have sung, for a thousand years!" Dad suddenly joins, spinning me around the kitchen, all thoughts of chicken put aside.

"The hills fill my heart with the sound of music! My heart wants to sing every song it hears," we sing, dancing goofily around the kitchen and even expanding into the dining room.

We sing through the rest of the song and continue dancing around. When the song eventually ends, we laugh with one another and Dad wraps me in a hug.

As the next song starts playing on Pandora, this one from Wicked, the best musical of all time, we wander back in to the kitchen and resume our jobs of cutting up chicken and putting it in the frying pan. Once it's all being cooked, I open the three cans of cream of chicken soup and begin preparing it for our dinner.

This morning Dad asked what meal would be good and I immediately answered with chicken and rice, which is always delicious.

The preparation goes smoothly and we're just placing the plates on the table when the door rings. I set the last plate down and head over to the door, opening it to see Josh. We grin at each other and I let him come inside.

He inhales through his nose loudly. "It smells really good in here. What did you guys make?"

"Chicken and rice. With a side of green beans of course."

Josh laughs, "Of course."

We sit down on the couch again, like we were last night, just enjoying one another's company. Josh spends his time playing with my fingers while I watch with a slight smile on my face.

Soon enough, the doorbell rings again and I exchange a look with Josh as Dad goes to open it.

We stand up from the couch as Lauren and her son come inside. Lauren smiles and waves us over to them.

"Mia, this is my son, Jackson. Jackson, this is Mia, Max's daughter."

Jackson reaches his hand out and I meet him halfway, giving him a handshake.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mia."

"You too."

I notice Jackson glancing over at Josh and I smile.

"Josh, Jackson, Jackson, this is Joshua."

They shake hands quickly and I can almost feel the tension between the two of them.

Dad must feel the awkwardness in the room as well because he quickly announces that dinner is ready.

We follow after him into the dining room. Dad sits at the end with Lauren on his left and me on his right. Jackson sits next to his mother and Josh sits next to me, which means that they'll be staring at each other throughout the whole meal. Great.

Most of the meal passes silently, but the occasional conversation breaks out as Dad asks Jackson questions. My meal is spent glancing at the two boys, Josh in particular. He takes a bite of food every now and then but his gaze is hard and reserved solely for Jackson.

Of course, dinner couldn't end without a bang. And that particular bang happens when Jackson catches my eyes, causing the vision to enter without giving time to prepare.

Jackson's death is sudden. All I see is him going to bed at night and in the morning he doesn't wake up.

When my eyes open, I'm laying on Josh's lap on the couch in the living room. Dad and Lauren each took a chair and Jackson is sitting on the floor cross-legged.

Josh smiles down at me and I smile back, slowly sitting up which draws three sets of eyes' attention.

I avoid all of their eyes, rubbing my temples. We stay in an awkward silence until Jackson finally asks the dreaded question. "What just happened?"

I look in Josh's direction, shaking my head.

"I don't think Mia is in the mood to explain right now. She'll tell you later," Josh says, grabbing my hand as I lean against him.

Lauren gives me an almost pitying look. "Then we'll let you rest. We'll come around again, soon."

I smile over at her, still keeping my eyes down, as the two of them leave the house.

Dad rubs my arm as he passes me to go upstairs. "Don't worry about Jackson, pumpkin. He'll understand if you give him the chance to."

As Josh and I are left alone, he kisses the side of my head. "Wanna tell me about it?"

So I did.

***

I've never felt so emotionally exhausted before in my life.

I haven't been to school in a week because of how bad I'm getting at holding in my visions. I've already looked at Dad twice and both times led to me fainting.

I stare at myself in the mirror, my hair still wet from a shower. As I stare into my eyes, I feel the vision pressing. Startled, it almost breaks in, but I've never been so determined to hold it back. When the pressure fades, I relax, glancing at the floor.

Taking a couple deep breaths, I leave the bathroom and find my phone where it sits on my bed. I find the contact and call, pressing the phone to my ear.

"Mia?"

"Josh? I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Do you know of your mother ever saw herself die?"

Silence comes from his end for a moment, and then, "Did you see yourself die?"

I shake my head before responding verbally, "No, but I almost did. It's weird how I was able to push that one back when I couldn't push my dad's back."

"Maybe it was just that you didn't want to see yourself die, but since you've already seen your dad's death, it's not as bad?"

I groan, "I don't know, Josh. Maybe I need to meet with your mom again."

"That's probably a good idea. I'll find a time that works for her and I'll let you know, alright?"

"Yeah. That sounds good. Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, Mia. Look, I have to go, my mom is calling for me, but I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Bye, Josh."

"See ya, Mia."

I chuckle at the rhyme before hanging up, plopping down on my bed. I had wanted to ask him to come over, but he's at some kind of family party. He invited me, but I turned him down knowing that I'd end up seeing who knows how many deaths.

"Mia!" Dad calls. "There's someone at the door for you!"

Intrigued at who could be here, I hurry to the front door and see my best friends standing there.

"What are you two doing here?" I ask, leading them into the living room.

"What do you think, Mi? You haven't been to school all week. We came to check up on you," Alec explains and I smile at their sincerity.

"Thanks guys, you're the best." I sit between them on the couch and throw an arm around them both.

We spend the rest of our day eating junk food and watching bad movies. I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my Saturday.