AN: I've had this idea come to me and I just couldn't resist the temptation to start yet another fic. Yeah I've got a problem but oh well.

He spies her taking refuge under the shade of a large tree. She sits with her arms draped over her knees and her head leaning back against the bark of the tree trunk. Her eyes are closed and she is alone. Ray Beech doesn't know why he does it but he pulls his red Camaro up to the seemingly snoozing brunette.

"Yo Lemonade Mouth!" He shouts out of his passenger side window. The girl opens one eye to take a peek at who would interrupt her sidewalk catnap. She groans before setting herself upright on the curb.

"What do you want Beech?" She sighs.

"Want a ride Yamada?" He asks casually. She stares at him oddly for a second wondering if he said what she thought he had said.

"Depends, are you actually going to give me a ride or are you just going to drive off if I say yes?" She answers after a moment of hesitation.

"That hurts; you'd actually think I'd do that to you?" Ray asks her sarcastically.

"Actually yes I would." She answers back with no tone of sarcasm. Ray considers her answer before leaning over to open the passenger side door for her. She eyes him suspiciously for a second before gathering her bag and taking the seat offered to her.

He waits for her to buckle herself in before signaling to reenter traffic. The two sit in silence as the stereo fills their void. Stella can hear the guitar riff of Mudslide Crush's "And the Crowd Goes" playing softly through the speakers in the car. She laughs to herself thinking of course he'd be listening to his own band's song. Ray doesn't seem notice her laughing to herself as he keeps his eyes on the road in front of him.

"So Ray…"

"So Stella" He mimicked. She gives him a slight stink eye before continuing with her thought.

"Why are you giving me a ride?" She asks frankly. He glances over at her quickly before turning his attention back to the road.

"Am I not allowed to?" He answers with a question keeping his attention on the road in front of him. She mulls over his response and when she can't come up with a witty answer turns her head to stare out the passenger window.

She relishes the breeze from the open window on such a hot day. Her day at the beach with friends cut short due to the scorching heat. The weather man's forecast for the day told her that temps would be well above 110 degrees but she had planned on getting to the beach well before the large families with their screeching children, hell she made sure to leave her own house well before her mother could even suggest a family trip.

Ray turns down an unfamiliar road but Stella decides that he's been in this city a lot longer than she has and trusts that he knows where he's going. Soon though she's completely confused as to where she is.

"Where are you going?" She asks as he pulls onto a dead end road. "Are you going to kill me and dispose of my body here or something"? She half jokes.

"What?" He answers laughing at her while pulling into the driveway of a small blue house. "No, this is where I live. My mom asked me to get her some things so I'm dropping them off." He adds pointing to a few canvas shopping bags in the back seat that Stella just noticed.

"Oh…want some help?" She asks trying to recover from her over reaction.

"Are you sure? It might kill you." He mocked her grabbing 3 bags in each hand and walking away before she could retaliate. She scoffs but grabs the remaining 3 bags and follows him to a side door.

"You know I was joking right?" She asks him as he searches for the correct key for the door in front of them.

"Whatever you say Yamada," He says as he turns the key in the door knob. He stops suddenly before throwing the door open. "How do you feel about dogs?"

"I love dogs, why?" She asks curiously but getting the answer before he could give one. Two dogs immediately shoot towards the two as the door swung open. Ray uses the bags he's carrying to coral the dogs away from the door and keeps them from escaping.

"You might want to be careful, they don't usually like strangers." He says as he shuts the door keeping the dogs safely behind it. He puts the groceries away diligently and Stella can swear that he forgot she was in the same room with him. She busies herself with the two dogs at her feet; 2 pugs, one black and the other white with brown spots. She learns from their tags that the white and brown one is the male named Rory and is a full year older than the female Macy. She's watching them as they both vie for her attention. Rory is attempting to climb Stella's legs as she's bent down to pet him and Macy is licking her hands vigorously. "Okay I'm done. We should go now."

"Your dogs are cute," She says to break the silence as they head back to the car.

"Uh yeah thanks," Ray responds distractedly as he turned his key in the ignition and prepared to back out. They make it another 5 minutes in the car in utter silence before Stella speaks up.

"You think we can roll up these windows and turn on the AC or something? I'm dying in here."

"AC is busted." He answers her shortly while making a left hand turn onto the main road of their hometown. Stella blinks slowly before turning her head back to the window for a face full of hot air. The weather seems to have gotten hotter and more humid during their ten minute stay in the Beech residence. After 5 minutes of hot air to the face Stella turns to see Ray removing his shirt at a red light.

"What are you doing?" She asks before thinking.

"It's hot as hell and this shirt isn't helping me at the moment." He answers brandishing his white tank top at her before tossing it into the back seat. She's staring at his chest in shock for a moment. Ray's athletic body isn't hard to look at. His tan and toned chest compliment the definition in his abdomen and the slight bulge of muscles in his arms. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Excuse me?" She scoffs. She looks at his face to see Ray's usual mocking sneer in place. She hates that sneer. Two can play this game she thinks before removing her own tank top to reveal a bright green bikini top and her own toned and tan body. Ray's eyes bug out slightly and he immediately refocuses his attention back on the road. She chuckles to herself as she watches Ray's eyes flitting back and forth between her and the road every so often. "Take a picture, it'll last longer" She mimics him back to himself.

And then he lets himself laugh, and his laugh is so genuine and contagious that Stella can't help herself that she smiles and lets out a giggle of her own. The laughter eventually subsides and the pair is left in silence again. At this point Stella has figured out that she wasn't going to get home anytime soon and she was strangely content just riding shot gun with Ray leading the way.

AN: This was originally supposed to be a one shot but I figured I'd stop here and let you guys yell at me to finish the second half *insert evil laughter* (or not that's cool too.)