It's been exactly week since my mom flew out hundreds of miles away, leaving me stranded at home. I was currently sat in a swivel chair in the back room of the bookstore with Julia to keep me company.

"Ugh, it seems like everyone is spending their summer so nicely and I'm stuck here." I ranted on as I moved empty boxes around.

"You know I would take you if I could." Julia unfolded her arms from her chest and took a sip of her coffee she brought us. "It's a mission trip to Africa and I've had to pass it up for the past 3 years."

"I know, I know. It'll be fun, you'll have a great time." I turned around and smiled weakly at her.

"I really hope so." She unlocked her phone to check the time and shoved it back in her back pocket. "It's getting late and I've got to start packing so I'll check up in the morning alright?" Julia walked towards me with arms open, grabbing me in for a tight hug.

"You're the best, thanks for listening to me rant on about my boring life." I said pulling back from the embrace. She giggled at my statement before heading towards the door and opening it. "Bye Julia!" I called out.

"Bye Maddie!" And with that, she let the door shut and she was gone from my view.

I sighed deeply, picking up the box of books up off the ground that needed to be restocked. The box rested on my hip as my arm wrapped around the side of the stiff cardboard. I pressed my back against the cold door and started walking towards the multiple aisles.

Closing time was in an hour so I was surprised when I heard the familiar bell chime from the door. I continued on, weaving in and out of aisles.

I found an empty gap on the shelf and made my way over, setting the stack of novels by my feet. I dug through and picked up the needed books that fit the section. My back straightened out and I looked through the gap to find a pair of beaming green eyes staring back at me.

I gasped and immediately dropped the books, jumping back as my heart pounded against my chest. My eyes darted towards the figure that turned the corner, a soft chuckling being heard.

"You're lucky no one was here to see that." Michael said still laughing to himself as he picked up the fallen books.

"I am so close to punching you right now." I stated through gritted teeth. I watched him stand back up and stroll towards me with the same open arms Julia had. I took a step back, letting myself hit the shelf behind me. "I'm not hugging you, go away!" I put my arms in front of me and placed them on his chest, pushing him back.

"Aw come on!" He cooed. "I didn't mean to scare you that bad!" He came closer to me again and despite my attempts to keep him away, he pushed my arms to my sides as he squeezed me tight.

"Michael I can't breathe!" I laughed through shortened breaths. I moved my shoulders back and forth in hopes of him loosening his grip, which wasn't working out. He pulled back from me and had a mischievous look on his face.

"How about you lock this place up early, I want to take you somewhere."

"I can't just close this place an hour early." I said in a confused tone.

"Sure you can. You're the only one here and you have the keys." He replied back with a smirk on his face.

I looked around unknowingly, but decided to take the risk. Sure, a few drinks here and there at parties and being snippy were about as much trouble as I got into, but when it came to my job and curfew I made sure my head was screwed on right. I knew I shouldn't, but at the moment that's not what I wanted. Or at least that's not what Michael convinced me that I wanted.

"Alright." I breathed out, my smile growing by the second.

-

It was darker than usual tonight and it was only 10 o'clock. We'd been in the car for around an hour which made me start to feel nervous as to where Michael was taking me. My knees were pulled to my chest as I leaned against the door. I stared out the window for most of the ride, letting the soft hum of the radio fill our silence.

We were headed towards downtown, which was never too busy at this time of night. It really only lit up during midday on the weekends. The car came to a slow stop and I shifted my body up right, slowly bringing my legs back down.

"Where are we?" I whispered loud enough for Michael to hear.

We were pulled up in front of a huge cement lot with dim lights shining up from the inside the ground. It was about as big as a grocery store parking lot.

I moved to face him as he was tossing his grey hoodie into the backseat, but his attention focused on the open space. He caught my eyes before swiftly getting out of the car without saying a word. I sat in confusion, wondering what he was up to.

He opened my door and stuck his free hand in his front pocket. His head tilted slightly then nodded back towards the cement.

"Are you coming or what?" He asked. I simply nodded and hopped out, letting him close the door behind me.

I trailed to the lights coming through the ground. I stepped over the small holes placed around them, then that's when it hit me. I searched around for Michael and found him a few feet behind me walking towards me.

"A giant fountain?" I questionably asked. He stepped beside me as he looked around the vast space. "This is where you wanted to take me?" I chuckled.

The ends of his long sleeves tugged over his hands in need of warmth and his cheeks were slightly rosy from the crisp wind. He still had a smile on his lips.

"Yeah." He simply stated now taking a few steps ahead of me. "It's big and it's open and there's not any people." He peered over his shoulder and back at me. "What's not to enjoy?" His eyebrows raised as he motioned me over.

I was able to see my breath as a cause of the cool temperature and the lights under us made it even more visible. I strolled my way over to him, pushing my shoulder against his bicep. He picked his arm up, pulling me into the side of him.

We stayed like that. Just sharing the little warmth while bonding over a cement lot that was a huge fountain during the day. As miserable or unexciting as it may sound, it was nice. It was nice just to share each others company. We didn't need tons of people or loud music to have fun. And that's what I appreciated the most about Michael. It was all very genuine.

"Maddie.." He whispered, interrupting my thoughts. I slowly stared up at him, not expecting him to already have his eyes locked on me. His eyes were soft. They had a look of kindness, the kind that made a persons heart melt. I could feel my cheeks warming up by the second.

He turned me towards him with his arm still gripping around my shoulder. Our chests were pressed together and he brought his hand up to cup my face. His thumb brushed over my cheek, giving me more goosebumps than I had from the lack of heat. I swallowed as I flicked my eyes to his lips that his tongue was passing over. A gentle smile appeared as he began leaning in slowly, and before I knew it, so was I.

Cold droplets of water soaked through our clothes, making us pull back from each other immediately. I gasped as I became drenched by the water shooting up from beneath me. I looked up from the ground and back up to Michael who was equally soaked. I bit my lip, trying to hide my giggles, but he instantly burst out laughing.

We ran straight back to the car, escaping the freezing temperatures. Our simultaneous laughs and steps on the pavement echoed through out the dimly lit streets. I tugged at the door handle as I bounced up and down lightly.

"Unlock the car!" I yelled out between laughs. "I'm freezing!"

We jumped inside and our laughs started dying down. I wiped the dripping water off of my cheeks and shivered from the damp clothes that clung to me. Michael eyed my appearance then turned back to watch the road.

"I didn't think those things came on at night." He glanced at me once more and snickered. "Sorry about that."

"It's no problem, I had fun." I pulled the mirror down, throwing my wet hair into a bun.

"Well," He trailed off before inhaling sharply. "If you want to get out of those clothes I have a jacket in the back and I have some stuff from when I stayed at Ashton's. You're welcome to put those on." He kept his one hand on the wheel, the other stayed rested on the center console.

I accepted his offer on the spot. I unbuckled my seat belt once we came to a red light and hopped in the back seat. I rummaged through a black duffle bag, pulling out a pair of familiar sweats.

I undid my belt buckle, throwing it aside. I looked up in the rear view mirror only to catch Michael's eyes on me.

"Keep your eyes to yourself!" I jokingly raised my voice at him as I pushed his arm off the arm rest.

"Sorry, sorry.." He mumbled.

I struggled to pull off my thin t-shirt that tightened around my torso. My hands grabbed the jacket he tossed back earlier and I stretched my arms through the holes. I peered up again, finding him smiling and slowly shaking his head at me through the rear view mirror.

"Michael!" I shouted before I quickly tugged the fabric over my head.

"What?!" He defensively yelled back. I climbed my way to the front seat, feeling much more comfortable.

"You're such a boy." I scoffed at him as I turned on the radio. He switched his attention from the road to me, then to the road, then back to me. He propped his elbow up on the side of the door and traced his finger over his bottom lip.

"My clothes look nice on you." He said timidly. I glared down at the over-sized articles of clothing before looking back at him. At that moment I realized that he had tried to kiss me just a few minutes ago. My cheeks reddened at the thought.

"Um, thanks." I managed to choke out.

All that lingered in my mind now was just how close him and I were to kissing. I didn't think he liked me like that, and I only saw him as a friend so I just decided to try to push it to the back of my brain. It was probably just a spur of the moment kind of thing.

-

We pulled into the bookstore parking lot so I could retrieve my car and head home.

"Thanks for taking me out tonight and letting me steal your clothes." I joked softly, looking over at Michael once he parked. "I had fun."

His smile beamed as he gazed down then back at me.

"Don't thank me, I told you I was going to make this month interesting." I nodded my head slowly at his statement then opened the car door. I turned my body to get out, when I felt his grip on my forearm as he tugged me back to him. I twisted around, meeting his deep stare.

"Stay." He pleaded. His eyes were the same as they were at the fountains. I knew what he meant, he had asked me the same exact way the first day I met him at Mrs. Louise's.

My thoughts jumped around as they tried to figure out if staying at his house after he tried to pull something was a good idea or not.

"Please." He shattered the ideas in my head and I just couldn't turn him down.

"Sure." I puffed out, playfully sounding annoyed. He released his grip on my arm and pushed back his seemingly damp hair before heading back to his home.

I do like his presence, and do like the things we do together. But I don't think I could actually like him more than a friend. Our friendship isn't anything that's forced and that's what made me feel so comfortable around him. And that's not something I want to take a risk on losing over lost feelings. Especially after everything I've managed to share with him.