"You trick your lovers

That you're wicked and divine

You may be a sinner

But your innocence is mine"

One more mile, one more mile, one more mile. Abby turned up the Muse song she was listening to on her iPod as she ran down the streets of her Washington, D.C. neighborhood.

"Please me

Show me how it's done

Tease me

You are the one"

Abby half smiled as she willed her legs to go faster, run harder. She turned and looked up at the man running next to her. Joe was oblivious to her gaze as her looked straight ahead, earbuds in and music blasting. Abby turned and kept running. Abby nudged him, and he turned to her, both of them keeping pace.

"Race you back home?" she smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"You're on" he responded with mock seriousness. "On your mark… get set…"

"GO!" she yelled, and she sprinted ahead of him. Solomon laughed and sped up.

"I want to reconcile the violence in your heart

I want to recognize your beauty's not just a mask

I want to exorcise the demons from your past

I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart"

Solomon felt the breeze on his skin as he lunged to keep up with his best friend (next to Matt, of course). At the last second, a block away, he decided to let her win.

Abby kept on sprinting ahead of him, loving the numb, burning feeling in her legs. There was nothing she loved more than a challenge. She raced up the steps of a brownstone building and smacked the brick next to the door.

"Ha! I won!" she exclaimed as she turned and watched Joe walking up the stairs.

"You won." He smiled at her. She was undeniably gorgeous, even drenched with sweat in her Nike shorts and Lululemon tank that showed off her toned body. "Happy birthday, Abby."

She beamed and hugged him. "Come on, let's go inside."

"You did not!" Abby yelled.

"I did." Solomon beamed.

"Joe, there is no way in hell you told Johnny Depp that you have a man-crush on him!" They were in their kitchen together. Joe was bustling around the kitchen, doing a hundred things at once, and Abby was sitting on the counter, munching a carrot.

"Oh, but I did," he raised his eyebrows. "You know what he said to me?"

"I don't, but I bet it was something along the lines of 'Get away from me, you crazy mofo.'" She smiled.

"You're close. He just raised his eyebrows and walked away. Then I parachuted out of the plane and landed in a field in the South of France."

The pair laughed together.

"Jooooeeey," she called him by the nickname he hated. "I'm hungry. When's diner gonna be ready?"

"Riiiiggght… now." He said as he scooped veggies out of a pan onto a plate of pasta, and poured a delectable looking white sauce over it. It looked delicious.

Joe handed the plate to her and smiled. "Happy birthday."

They walked over to their small table and sat down. Conversation came easily to the pair- they'd known each other for years now. Abby found her thoughts trailing from the conversation to other things… like the way his biceps looked under his rolled up sleeves. And his happy eyes, and his perfect lips. And his tough, calloused hands. God, how she wanted to be touched by those hands again. But she couldn't. She knew they couldn't do that again- she valued their friendship too much. And even though their friendly relationship had survived one break up, she wasn't sure if it could survive another.

Abby finished off her glass of wine. Joe bit his lip as she went to pour herself another. "Don't you think you should slow down?" he said. "That's your fourth glass tonight."

"You've been counting? I haven't." she giggled. "Don't worry. I'm a big girl. As of today, I'm 29. I can handle my liquor."

"Yeah, I know. I've lived with you for 2 years."

"And what a great 2 years we've had. Cheers to that." They clinked glasses.

They quickly finished off their plates of food, and Abby wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin. "That was great, Joe. Thank you so much."

"Anything for you." He smiled. "What do you want to do now? Maybe go out for drinks, or catch a late movie or something?"

"I have something else in mind," Abby said with a devilish smile. "Do you want to play a game?"

"Okay, are you ready?" Joe said seriously, sitting on their plush couch a while later.

"I was born ready." Abby smiled.

"Okayyy… Truth? Or… Dare?"

"Truth."

Joe considered this for a moment. "Who was your first crush?"

"Easy, Joe. You're gonna have to do better than that." She looked amused. "Harrison Ford. Actually, more like Indiana Jones."

"He's like… thirty years older than you."

"Sweetie, have you seen Raiders of the Lost Ark? He is sex."

They laughed. After some time (4 dares and 6 truths, to be exact), it was Joe's turn.

"Dare." He grinned.

"Prank call Rachel."

"No way! She'll know it's me!"

"Well, you'll have to change your voice then, won't you?" she raised her eyebrows. "Or… you could… forfeit the dare."

Joe rolled his eyes. "Abby, for the last time, there's no way in hell I'm streaking in front of the White House."

"Well you better do the dare then." Abby handed him her phone. He sighed and dialed Rachel's home number, with a *67 before it.

The song is Undisclosed Desires, by Muse. It's on the playlist i listen to while I write this story, and it obviously does not belong to me :) A new chapter will be up soon, later today or tomorrow! Keep reviewing, I love hearing what you think!