Summer in LA is brutal. Not the good kind of brutal, either; the type that I can't get any enjoyment out of at all. I may have been able to from a safe distance, but I have to suffer through it with the Californians this time - and no, I'm not exactly happy about it.

Up in Seattle it was always tolerable in the summer. Further away from the equator I guess. And it rains more. A lot more. So even when it was hot it wasn't all dry and irritating. I wasn't planning on being this far down when summer started, see - I thought by now I would have headed east and north or something. Up towards like. New England.

But Cat kind of stopped that - I didn't really get very far by the time I met her, and I can't exactly be mad at her for it. She's just so… innocent. And it's nice, anyway, to have a home… I know it's not like me to admit it, but it does make me feel a bit more stable. And safe. Don't get me wrong here, I would make out fine without one - I could wander the country for as long as I needed to. I'm a fighter.

I would have, too. Would have just kept going if I hadn't met her. I don't know how I feel about it - because, well, I don't really want to think about what would have happened had I not stopped to get a burrito, or seen her drive by on that pink (ew) bike of hers with the bright smile and striking eyes. Had to look at her, then, and watch her - my eyes wouldn't cooperate and look away. And had I not noticed her in the trash? Had I not saved her from the truck?

It makes me sick to think about it.

When it crosses my mind, though, I'm happy that I can just look at her for a bit to remind myself that she's alright. That she will be alright. That I protected her - perhaps even saved her. It's sappy and I hate it but the thought of it makes me smile a bit. And I get this… feeling. Like an adrenaline rush. Or some kind of fluttering in my stomach.

Probably just indigestion.

"Sam?" she calls out to me. I snap out of my trance and realize I've been staring. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

I coughed and my eyes probably darted around. I might have blushed a little tiny bit, but then I remembered that I'm Sam Puckett. And Sam Puckett doesn't blush.

My eyes landed on a bagel on the counter next to where she was looking at me curiously, just having poured herself some fruit punch. "Um…," I started lamely. "I was just… looking at that… bagel." I cleared my throat awkwardly and wished I was able to face-palm without her finding it strange. (Then again, not much is really strange to Cat.)

Cat shrugged a bit, picking up her fruit punch and swallowing a gulp of it - but I saw the edges of her lips tilt up in a little smile, and her eyes twinkle the way they do when she knows something I refuse to tell her (or admit to myself, for that matter). That feeling came back because she didn't break our eye contact, and this time I knew I was about to blush so I turned my head to the right quickly to hide it.

The conversation died out and I looked at the TV to distract myself, but really I was just blankly staring at it. I had to catch myself and look back every time my eyes began to stray in her direction. I owned my spaciness up to the heat and how the pathetic air conditioner (which I had installed, by the way, since Cat was confused with all the screws and directions) was not helping it at all.

After one too many peeks at Cat which I hadn't exactly authorized my eyes to take, I huffed and spun on the couch so my back was to her and my feet were up. I had no control over myself, and it wasn't a good feeling. It must have been the heat - there was no other explanation.

Cat had been rummaging in the kitchen and messing with the toaster, so she hadn't noticed my internal struggle. She was cooking something, and it smelt good. Like meat. My mouth was watering. I was nearly drooling.

Regardless, I didn't feel inclined to get up and steal it from her or to voice my desire for whatever she was making. I didn't even have the energy to twist my head around and look at what exactly it was. I just settled with groaning loudly and repeatedly, trying to describe how uncomfortable the heat made me with as little effort and diction as possible.

At the first noise Cat gave out the cutest little giggle, but after a few more she suddenly appeared by the side of the couch and straddled me, looking panicked.

I coughed when she plopped onto my stomach without holding back, grasping my shoulders and shaking them a bit. "Sam, are you okay?!" she gasped out quickly.

I gaped for a couple seconds, but it morphed into a look of confusion. "Um… yeah, Cat. Why wouldn't I be?"

She let out a huge sigh, deflating and leaning back on me - and action that, admittedly, sent a strong jolt through my body and left me without breath. I tried to conceal it and I doubt she noticed - after all, she went off rambling about how her brother made the same types of noises once, and it had ended with a hospital visit.

Although it was probably a good thing she hadn't noticed my emotional jumpstart, I was still confused by it. Actually, I had no idea what the hell had happened. I was shocked. I had never felt something so raw and… well, exhilarating. I had no idea how to describe it or, for that matter, what to attribute it to.

I wanted to kiss her.

I wanted to kiss her so badly it almost hurt me not to, and that shocked me. It shocked me and scared me a little, because I hadn't really thought it strange how attached and protective I felt over her right from the get go. It was almost, dare I say it, more intense than it ever was with Carly, but it still felt perfectly natural.

Cat was still rambling about her brother. Without giving her the chance to get off of me I stood up and took a step away from the couch, still a little scared but not allowing it to show. Cat naturally fell off of me and awkwardly rolled onto the floor, but the whole time she kept her story going and she got up as if it was perfectly normal.

"Anyway, the nurse was pretty upset about it - but, well, I suppose anyone would be. And it isn't exactly her job to clean that up. I do feel bad for her - but the bear, I heard he was returned to the wild safely, and I guess that's really all you can ask for for a happy ending, right Sammy?" She smiled at me, walking passed and pushing me down on the couch as she did so, something I began to protest against but stopped when I was seated. Too much effort.

Cat skipped toward the kitchen, humming, and though I was still very confused and a tad bit upset I watched her and had to let a little smile escape as I fell on the couch again. "Don't call me Sammy," I mumbled, knowing very well I should have been more opposed to it than I was.

Cat tried out various pet names while she returned from the kitchen (holding a sandwich), all of which I objected to. These included, "Sam-miester," "S-Dizzle," "Spuckett," and "Sam-I-Am." She had just begun to stray from my name and suggest that she call me by the names of animals (Honey-bear, Tree Frog, Antelope) when she took a seat on my legs and shoved a plate in my face. Yes, she sat on my legs. She didn't move them or sit next to them (not that there was room). I would have made her move but I was too interested in the plate to care.

By instinct I held the plate and then looked at what was on it. It was the bagel I'd told her I was looking at before… covered in ham and melted cheese in perfect sandwich-like fashion. It was like a ham and cheese melt, but on a bagel. It was genius. It was heaven. The girl may be a little dull in the way of common sense, but she knows how to cook. I devoured it immediately and she watched me, smiling carelessly.

After I had finished (it didn't take too long) and had efficiently moaned out my approval, I closed my eyes and leaned back against the armrest, ready for a nap. "Cat, not that I'm complaining, but why'd you give that to me?" I mumbled lazily.

I could hear the smile in her voice as she said, "Well, I thought you might be hungry, and I know you wanted that bagel, and I wanted to make you happy because I like it when you're happy."

I tried to hold it back, I really did - after all I do have a reputation, and I am not a sap. As a matter of fact most people I know would be afraid to say something like that to me considering just how much I'm not a sap. I couldn't help it. I smiled pretty widely, and may have even blushed a little bit (again, dammit) and there was no way to hide it from her.

When she saw my reaction she burst into a fit of giggles and launched onto me in a strange hug. "Aw, Sammmmm," she said adoringly.

"Hey," I muttered beneath her, trying to regain dignity. "I thought you knew that I'm not a hugger. Plus, it's like two-hundred degrees out, I don't need your body heat." To be honest, I actually don't mind it when she hugs me, but it makes me feel strange and I don't know what to do about it.

Cat giggled again, not offended in the least, and jumped off of me all excited. "We should go to the pool!" she yelped, jumping up and down. "Sam, pleaseeee?" She pouted. It was the cutest fucking thing I've seen in my life.

"Cat," I started warningly. "We don't have a pool. And I don't do community pools."

She pouted deeper and grasped my hand, holding it in hers. My heart jumped up into my throat.

I cleared my throat. "… Fine," I murmured.

I don't even have a bathing suit.