-- Don't own. Note the series of random commercials in this chapter… not made up. I kid you not. It happened to me, once, one night, like, a year ago.--

There's a place off Ocean Avenue
Where I used to sit and talk with you
We were both 16 and it felt so right
Sleeping all day
Staying up all night…
– from Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard

Sunday – The afternoon was cold and gray, and the rain fell rapidly in fat droplets, as it had been doing all morning… everything was slick and wet, and Sam hadn't seen a person for blocks…

She was out, taking a walk down the sidewalk. The wet conditions offered solitude, and safety as just a rainstorm with no thunder or lightning. Her black and red "CANADA" sweater and jeans were already wet and clingy, but that didn't bother her much… she had her hands in the front stomach pockets of her jacket and her head up. The steady pitter-patter soothed her thoughts, making them easy to make out.

But her peace and serenity were disturbed when she saw someone else… first a shadow standing under a tree to her left off of the road, quickly recognized as a person… Who the hell else would be out in this whether? She frowned, lowering her head, and quickened her pace; wanting to get by whoever it was and back to her thoughts… until she was close enough to see.

He didn't see her, but she saw him. He was too busy with his camera, taking pictures in the rain. She almost laughed… that was so like him, she should have known better! She turned off the sidewalk and onto the grass, and walked up to him, stepping under the little shelter the tree offered.

"Hey," she said and his head shot up to look at her, blue eyes wide and alert. They softened when he realized it was only her, and offered a small smile. "What's doin', Case?"

"Photography," he held up his camera as if it were evidence, and she almost laughed again, but bit it back so he wouldn't get the wrong idea and think she was laughing at him scornfully or something… He was dripping wet from head to toe but, believe it or not, his camera barely had a drop of water on it… another thing that encouraged the giggles.

"Yeah," she sighed when she was sure she wasn't going to laugh anymore. "It is pretty out here today, with no one around… it's almost like in The Twilight Zone… you know, those episodes where you're the only person left alive… except not so panicky."

He nodded and looked back down at his camera, tapping it with the tips of his fingers shyly. They stood in silence under the tree for a moment, getting hit with a lot less rain then they would if they weren't, until Casey finally mustered up the courage he need before looking back up.

"Sam, would you do me a favor?" he asked quickly.

She looked back at him, surprised. "Yeah… sure, what do you need?"

"Would you, um," he shifted his weight uncomfortably, finding it difficult to actually use that courage. "Model… for me?"

"Model?" Now she did laughed, a little. "You sure you want me to do that?"

He nodded shyly. "If y-you wouldn't mind, I mean…" his voice trailed off.

"Okay," she smiled, and he looked up, surprised that she'd said yes. "Tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it…"

He nodded and smiled. "Alright, sit over there," he gestured to his right, where she saw a little swing hanging from the tree, which was basically two pieces of rope holding up a plank of wood. She shrugged it off and did as she was told.

"Now what?"

"Pose," he told her, preparing his camera for another shot.

Sam paused, unsure of what to do, but began moving anyway. She grasped the ropes, one in either hand, like a child… she twitched a little in hesitation, but decided to turn her head to the side in a 3/4 profile view and tip her chin up to look at the sky with her eyes, trying to portray childish innocence with no expression on her face.

"Ready," she told Casey.

"Perfect," he said, and raised the camera to his eyes… she heard the shutter click and caught of glimpse of the cough of light it expelled. She remained still for a moment, until Casey told her that it was okay, they were done, and she could move again.

She stood up off the swing, walked back over to him, and looked over his shoulder at the camera… she had no idea how it worked, but that didn't mean she couldn't pretend she did.

"… You should go back inside," she said after a long moment. He looked up at her again, and she carefully brushed wet curls back out of his eyes. "Before you catch your death of cold."

"What about you?" he asked, in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Tell you what," she began to bargain in a teasing tone. "I'll go on inside with you, how does that sound?"

"Okay," he smiled. "My house is just over there," he pointed, then began to walk in that direction and gestured for her to follow.

"… No, no, I'm telling you," Sam argued. "Ballerina's are tough shit, Casey… I mean, just think about it this way: they've got all that leg strength from all the dancing they do, and those slipper have wood in the toes… just think what that might do if they kicked someone in the nuts."

Casey burst into high-pitch laughter and Sam couldn't help but smile herself. She liked to see him laughing a whole lot more then she liked to see him the way he usually was… quiet, shy, withdrawn, hurt mentally, hurt psychically, and God only knows what else.

"You have a point," Casey said when he had finished laughing, still grinning like a fool.

Time had gone by… when Sam first got in the Connors' house Casey took her coat, changed his clothes, and then threw the whole bundle in the dryer. She'd decided to stay until it was done, which was supposed to be about forty-five minutes, but the buzzer had rang a long, long time ago… they'd completely forgotten.

It was already pretty dark outside. They were sitting on the couch, Sam in the shirt she'd worn under the jacket (a plain black tank top), and had at some time run into a ballet show… thus beginning the whole conversation… but now the credits ended, and a commercial began to role.

"Wall Greens: get in, out, and on with life…" said the TV.

"Oh, yes, lets!" Sam quipped and began to flip channels.

"… To fit a woman's own unique WWF Friday night ITT Technical Institute where Microsoft stands in awe of you and your natural breast enhancement but –if– the Weavers' had berried their step-daughter in Butterball turkey…"

Sam stopped. "Casey?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you just hear what I heard?"

"No, what?"

She repeated what the series of random channels had said, and as soon as she had finished there was a very short pause before they both burst out laughing… but the laughter was short live, because after only a few minutes saw the clock on top of the television set.

"Oh shit!" she jumped up and hurried towards the back of the house where the dryer was. Casey followed.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, knitting his eyebrows with concern.

"It's after seven o'clock!" she declared, stepping in front of the washer and dryer, yanking the door open, and pulling out her jacket. "I have to go! Sunday night is the only night when my parents are actually home and we all have dinner together and they're already going to kick my ass for missing it."

"Oh," Casey said quietly, unsure of what else to say, as he watched her swing on her jacket. She turned around to face him.

"Thanks for letting me hang out and stuff," she said with a smile. "See you tomorrow at school, okay?"

"Okay," he watched her step past him and into the living room again… he watched her until her hand was about to wrap around the knob to the front door.

"Wait!" he called, and she stopped, and then turned around slowly. He jogged up to her and stopped before her. She blinked repeatedly and arched brow lightly; a little uncomfortably… his face was just inches away from her own. "I just wanted to… thank you for… modeling for me and… well… everything." He shrugged a little and looked down.

"Casey," she said softly, and use one finger to raise his chin up again. He looked up and into her eyes and (with her being only about one inch shorter then him and all) it was a pretty level stare. "Don't thank me, okay? I want to help you. I wouldn't be helping you if I didn't want to… it may seem to the untrained eye like a burden, but in return for carrying it I get to be friends with someone so wicked, that most people never, ever get to see… it's well worth it, Casey, trust me."

She smiled at him, and he couldn't help smiling back, feeling a warm feeling spread in his chest… a feeling of friendship, something he rarely ever felt, something he thought he couldn't feel.

"Just… thanks, Sam." He said, moving her hand away from his chin.

She nodded, said "Goodbye," and then turned, opened the door, and stepped out into the rain that had turned into a light trickle about the darkness, catching the glow from the streetlight and looking like a million little specks of gold.