Jessica sat cross-legged on her bed, thinking about her date that evening. She wasn't nervous. Was she? Should she be nervous? The two had spent so much time together in the past few months; she was completely comfortable around him. Everything was nice, casual, and fun. She loved the chemistry she had with him and the ease in which they interacted; Bradin was the one guy she felt she could really be with. But that was then, and from the way Bradin was talking, Jess could see that it wasn't going to be like it used to be. Did everything really have to change? What they had now was great, why did they have to mess around with that?

For a moment, she considered putting on a new dress, going the route of the hour-long preparation with the fancy hair and carefully applied make up. Biting her lip, Jessica decided against it. That was just too stuffy, too weird. Besides, it would feel out of place. The two had often had dinner together in the past and it wasn't as if they would go to some $50 entrée restaurant. Bradin would probably be uncomfortable if she put too much effort into getting ready, any ways. With an uncertain sigh, Jess took a look into her closet. Here goes nothing… she thought, looking into the void that was her clothing selection.

Flipping through her English text book a while later, Jessica smiled to herself. This was going to be fine… Bradin was still Bradin, and she certainly hadn't changed. All it was was that she now had the added plus of being able to make out with him whenever she wanted. How could that be bad? Feeling confident in the mindset that it was going to be like all their other dinners and awkwardness wouldn't show it's face, Jessica settled a bit further onto the bed, her nerves relaxed. A glance at her alarm clock told her that Bradin would be arriving soon…

Just as the thought flitted through her mind, the door bell rung. He was there on the dot. Grinning, Jessica propped herself up and applied a little lip-gloss on before hopping up to answer the door.

Her jaw dropped. Bradin was wearing a navy dress shirt, the sleeves rolled neatly to his elbows, and black dress pants. With a matching tie. Seeing him so cleaned up made Jessica automatically regret her own outfit. She had changed into black jeans and a flattering halter-top, with an unbuttoned purple dress shirt over top… A nice outfit, but absolutely nothing in comparison to Bradin's look.

"Is, are, why-, whoa!" Jessica stumbled over her words.

"Hi," Bradin smiled, taking a step closer to her, he laid his hand on her waist and kissed her gently. "Ready to go?"

Feeling as if she was dressed in a paper bag, she couldn't help but question, "Uh-out of curiosity's sake, where are you planning to go tonight?"

"That, Jessie, is going to be a surprise." He grinned. He was wearing a tie. She couldn't get over that. While she was still standing there gawking like a fish, Bradin handed her a bouquet of roses.

"You got me roses!" choked out Jessica in shock.

"Yeah, don't you like them?" Bradin murmured hesitantly, uncertainty seeping in upon seeing her reaction.

"No, they're gorgeous, I love them, it's just I wasn't expecting-" she blinked, taking the flowers from him hazily.

"This is a special night, I wanted to make sure you saw how much I care about you," Bradin kissed her cheek and started leading her to his car. At this point, all hope of a normal evening completely fled her mind. Yeah, nothing was going to change…

Sitting beside him in the car made Jessica feel as if she should be wearing a prom dress of some sort. He had gotten her roses and was in formal wear. Inside, she was berating herself for not double-checking with Bradin what type of clothes she should have worn.

The worst part was soon to come. Bradin pulled up into a fancy Italian restaurant. It was renowned as having some of the most exquisite cuisine in Playa Linda… as well as having the top price tag. You couldn't go much fancier than this place.

"I know you love Italian, and you haven't yet been here," explained Bradin.

"Here?" she made a spluttering, odd gurgle, "I think I'm a bit under dressed-"

"What are you talking about, you look beautiful." He interjected. Jessica felt sick as she walked with him inside. This was an amazing gesture and Bradin was trying so hard to be sweet and gracious, but it only succeeded in sincerely freaking her out. This was so serious, so fancy, it blew her away and not in a good way.

The next hour was spent truly uncomfortably for Jessica. The menus were, as expected, outrageously priced. After ordering the cheapest thing she could find on the menu (after Bradin refused to allow her to just have water or even just an appetizer), Jessica settled into her seat. She had a horrible feeling that she knew what Bradin's reply to her question would be before she even asked it.

"Just so we're clear, we're going Dutch, right?" Jessica asked tentatively.

"Don't worry about the prices, okay? Don't worry about paying for this." Bradin waved away her query.

Stupid alpha male. "Bradin, the bill is going to top $70."

"I told you, you don't have to worry about that. Just enjoy the food." He smiled.

Uuuugh. "I can't let you do this, Bradin, honestly, stop being so stubbornly gentlemanly and let me pay for something!"

He put his hand on her arm and told her firmly, "Relax, all right?"

"I'm not letting you pay for all of this, that's like your week's pay check for Christ's sake! You're not blowing it all on this one night." Insisted Jessica.

"Fine, all right, we can do what you want." Bradin rolled his eyes.

"You'll let me pay for half?" Jessica crossed her arms.

"Whatever." Shrugged Bradin, as he took a sip of water. "I don't really care as long as I'm here with you."

For the rest of the night, he kept up the sap. It was over-the-top and quite frankly, it was getting on her nerves. It made her uncomfortable and slightly irritated. She loved his intentions, but this was really just too much. Bradin had spent so much effort on this night and was obviously committed to making this a wonderful date, so Jessica smiled, acted like she was having a fine time, and secretly waited for the minutes to tick on by. She was trying to spare his feelings, but wondered if he really was actually enjoying himself. The restaurant had nice food; that was true. But the atmosphere was a bit stifling in its oppressive high quality.

Everything was strained. Even the way Bradin was speaking and acting seemed fake to Jessica. He had always been a sweet gentleman but not to this sugary extent. It felt like he was trying to impress her, some how. She didn't need the impressing, she already cared about him, and all of this seemed like one big waste of money to her. Jess couldn't help but think that she would rather be beside him on his couch, watching a rented movie. Or even just hanging out with him at the café, or watching him surf, or playing fooz ball at the arcade. Anything aside from this charade…

Silently sighing, Jessica stood up and walked to the washroom. She splashed water on her face and tried not to feel like a little girl but that proved difficult since she was in jeans while there were women here in ball gowns. She just wanted the night to end so she could go home. All the conversations Bradin had with her this night didn't feel normal or free. It felt so orchestrated, rigid, almost mechanical… as if the two were strangers. He was being too polite. All of it felt so fake.

She knew she had to do it for Bradin. For him, she'd suck it up. Exhaling deeply, she stepped back out of the restroom and back to their table, where Bradin had his wallet out.

"Right, here-" Jessica said, whipping out her purse.

"Stop, don't, really don't worry about it," Bradin held up his hands.

"We agreed to go Dutch," Jessica answered flatly. Turning towards one of the nearby waiters, she called, "Excuse me? Can we have the bill-"

"I paid already," Bradin smiled slyly. "While you were gone. So calm down, put away your purse, and get ready to go."

"You what!" Jessica exclaimed.

"It's fine, I paid when you were in the washroom." Bradin said, the smile on his face fading slightly.

"You went behind my back and paid after you already told me that we could split the bill?" she asked, a sharpness to her voice that she could no longer hide.

"Geez, breath, it's not a big deal-" Bradin answered, trying to give a reassuring smile but ending up with a frown.

"Yes, yes it is, I told you I didn't want you to blow so much cash on this, I told you I didn't want to make this such a big deal, I told you we didn't have to do the whole big-scale thing, and then you turn up on my doorstep in just short of a suit and you choose the most expensive restaurant in this town-" it all came out in a rush. She didn't even know why she was so mad, but it was as if an explosion went off inside her.

"What? I thought you were having a good time?" Bradin's smile was completely gone, his face downcast.

"And this restaurant, you could have at least told me to wear something higher class than jeans!" shut up, Jessica, she screamed at herself as all her pent up thoughts from that night spilt out.

"Are you still worried about that? You look fine, holy, could you stop being so insecure for one minute! I didn't tell you because I wanted to surprise you, I kind of assumed you would've dressed up a bit, it is our first date, after all!" he retorted, anger seeping into his own voice.

"Yeah it's our first date, after we've already been spending nearly a year together! This whole thing is so contrived! Why do things have to change, why did you have to go all traditional and make this into such a huge thing?" why did she keep blurting things out?

"Because I've spent the better part of those months trying to convince you to go out with me in the first place, I didn't want all that build up to be for nothing!" Bradin answered, his voice even.

"This is ridiculous." Jessica shook her head.

"I'm sorry, all right? I just wanted this to be brilliant." Bradin said in a resigned toned.

"Every day we spend together is brilliant to me, we don't have to do all this stuff, ugh, I thought this was going to be different, I thought you were different." Crap. It was like a word heave now.

"Fine, since you so obviously wish to be out of here and you're so pissed at this whole date, I'll just end your misery." Bradin's normally bright turquoise eyes were turning dark and stormy. "I'll just take you home then."

"Fine. Whatever. I'll do whatever you say, like a good girl should." The edge of bitterness was noticeably present in her naturally deeper voice. She stood up with him and the two strode to the door, barely making eye contact.

The car ride back to her house was heavy.

"I'd walk you to your door, but maybe you would take offence to that. Would that be too traditional for you? Would it be against your feminist side?" Bradin faintly murmured with clear perturbation, pulling to a stop slightly sharper than he normally would've done.

"Are you always going to snap at me if I don't act just as you'd want me to?" Jessica whipped her neck around to give him a glare.

"Jessica, I truly just wanted you to have a good time. Are you always going to snap at me for guessing incorrectly?" Bradin slumped a bit in the seat and ran one of his hands through his dirty blonde hair.

"Did you really think I'd enjoy something like this?" she asked.

"Well it's not like this was like any other get together at the café, this wasn't supposed to just be something we did when we were just friends." Frustration was ringing in his voice, a strained patience simmering through.

"We are still friends, aren't we?" Jessica demanded.

"You're kidding me, right?" Bradin exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course we're not." Sighed Jessica disdainfully.

"What do you think this is, huh? We aren't two friends getting together for a dinner. We're- God, I don't even know what we are any more. I can't believe you!" Bradin leaned against the steering wheel, no longer looking at her.

"When guys spend that much money and that much effort on a night, it's not so the girl can go home happy, they expect something in return." She stated, getting out of the car.

"Shit, what are you going on about?" Bradin sighed exasperatedly, "How paranoid are you? Is it that wrong that I wanted to make you happy? You realize that not all guys care solely about sleeping with you. The fact that you would even go there just blows my mind; I don't understand you! We can't go on one date without fighting. It's like every two weeks you pick another argument!"

"I pick another argument? A) You didn't even acknowledge my existence in Kansas. B) You used me to make your ex-girlfriend jealous. C) You got drunk and groped me. Yeah, how unreasonable of me to get angry!" Jessica was paused beside his car, her entire face flushing.

"This is how it's going to be, isn't it, every time we have a fight you're gonna bring up everything in the past. You said you forgave that crap, if you meant what you said, then drop it already, let it go! Stop holding that over me." Bradin had gotten out of the car and had joined her at the curb.

Looking away from him, Jessica took a few steps closer to her door. "This is ridiculous." She repeated.

"I know." Bradin sighed. "Jessica, what's wrong? Really, why are you so upset with me?" Jessica didn't reply. "Was it actually because I paid for dinner? Or because I didn't tell you which restaurant we were going to? What?" The silence from Jessica continued. "Fine." Bradin said in cold, tired, frustrated voice. He turned from her and started to walk away.

"Bradin, I'm sorry," Jessica piped up at last, jogging to catch his arm before he opened his car door. "Okay? I know nearly every time we get together I get mad at something and I don't mean to and it isn't you, it's just, I have my own problems and I guess I'm dragging you down with me. That isn't fair, and I realize I was being exceedingly moody today and, it's really just my problem, not yours."

"Honestly, is it that time of-" Bradin nearly blurted.

"Don't finish that sentence if you know what's good for you." Jessica interrupted, putting her hand over his lips. "For future reference, any comments on anything related to PMSing or girl problems or anything like that directly or indirectly, will not help the situation. I've been rambling all night about all this stuff and I'm on a roll so be quiet for a moment, okay? I'm insecure, you were right. I have a feminist side as you've long since witnessed, that's also true. And I can be temperamental, you know this already too. I swear I'll try not to have too many cows at you. And now I'm just talking for the sake of talking because there really isn't a point to this whole rant I'm having and all in all, the conclusion is Jessica is a spaz and I am sorry for attacking you for no reason and I apologize in advance for any future unfounded out bursts and Westerly I care about you and I don't mean to drive you away but I know I'm kind of doing just that and really, there's nothing more I have to say I'm just going to go on-"

Bradin finally interrupted her spiel. He grinned and gave her a very swift kiss. "Shut up or I might have to dismember you." Meeting her eyes, she could see the clouds fading from his eyes, revealing once more the brilliant green glimmer. "And you're not a spaz." He smiled. Jessica smiled back. "You're a saturnine freak with a tendency to bite off the heads of anyone who dares open their mouths. Now come on, there's still two hours to spend, let's go play fooz ball." Jessica laughed, attempting to be indignant, though she thought he had still understated it.

Linking arms with him, the two ditched his car and walked to the arcade.

"Just 'cause we're dating doesn't mean I'll let you win." Bradin told her.

"Uh huh. You're the one who's going to the arcade in a tie. I think I can handle myself, prep." She rolled her eyes playfully.

"I'm punk-" he corrected.

"Oh, wait, yeah, I meant (hack, cough) punk." She grinned.

"Do preps wear spike bracelets I ask you?" Bradin jabbed a finger at his wrist wear.

"The closest you are is prunk. And that's being generous." Smirked Jessica.

"Well, at least I can surf." Bradin said, somewhat defiantly.

"All right, prunk surfer, then." Jess amended. "Farm boy."

"Farm chick." Bradin retorted.

"Eh, I'm a farm chick who happens to like farm boys." She smiled. "You are still a farm boy at heart, aren't you?"

"My insides are covered in over alls." Bradin joked.

She put an arm around his neck as they walked. "I like preppy Bradin."

"And I guess I'm a sucker for snarky farm chicks." He answered.

"I'm not snarky." She said.

"No?" Bradin said.

"Occasionally bitchy, maybe." Jessica shrugged playfully.

"You're never like that." Bradin said seriously, sliding his hand to her waist.

"You know, maybe we should have nicknames-" Jessica started, a glint in her eyes.

"Don't you dare start this up again!" groaned Bradin.

"What was it that I had a few months back? Lemon mushroom?" she thoughtfully commented.

"Cram it, horse." Bradin shook his head.

"Neiiiiiiiiiiigh hamster." laughed Jessica.

"Hamster?" Bradin's voice was incredulous.

"Hamster." she nodded.

Bradin laughed and nudged her. "If you're a horse, I wouldn't be a hamster."

"Size wise, you mean? How's cow for you, then?" she asked innocently.

"Did you just say I was fat?" Bradin guffawed.

"No no, of course not, prunky surfer farm dude, it's all muscle, right? And that is NOT a cue for you to break out into flexing again." Jessica said, holding her hand out in warning.

"I do not do it that often." Thou protesth over much.

"Peacock, that's what you are." grinned Jess.

"Tell me again why we're discussing animals?" Bradin asked, raising his eye brows.

"You brought it up, Bray-Bray." she cheerfully reminded.

"Please don't call me that." Bradin sent her a pleading look.

"See, now isn't this just way more fun than the restaurant could ever be?" she smiled.

"Whatever floats your boat." shrugged Bradin with a light grin.

"You've got to admit it's better now that you don't have to be so sappy one hundred percent of the time." Jessica pointed out.

"You enjoy being made fun of?" Bradin cocked his head.

"We're bantering. Bantering goood." replied Jessica.

"I'd rather not have Rory as a girlfriend." Big mistake.

"Images of Chad Michael Murray in a school uniform!" Jessica exclaimed gleefully.

"Crap, that was a rookie mistake." Bradin winced.

"Would you ever dress up in a private school uniform for me?" Jessica teased, jokingly biting her lip.

"I am in a tie and dress pants, you realize." Bradin smiled, somewhat seductively.

"Have I told you today how much I lurve you? That's a very hot outfit." She commented while giving him another once over.

"Shexy, right?" he struck a pose.

"Agreed. Just for the fact that you're reminding me of CMM, I think I'll have to kiss you."

"Huh. Maybe I'll get a make-out session if I get a hold of one of those uniforms." He was only half kidding.

"Keep talking. Heh, you're better than Chad any day, I must admit."

"I'm honoured, better than Tristan?" Bradin said.

"Oh shut up and take my hand already. We can synergize. Casual, yet romantic, I'm thinking."

"We're going to play fooz ball at the arcade and you call hand holding romantic?"

"If you're lucky I'll hug you at the arcade."

"I think I might have to marry you, Wongers."

Bradin laughed hard at the expression on her face and sprinted away.

"Don't you ever call me that again, Westerly!" Jessica shouted, catching up to him and socking him in the arm.

"It's got a nice ring to it…"

"I'll start calling you cupcake. You want that?"

Bradin snuck in another kiss and his fingers found hers again. "You can call me whatever you want."

Jessica smiled and said a quiet, "Pretty boy frosted flake."

"You are the single weirdest girl I've ever met."

"You're just trying to cover up for the fact that you LOVE that nick!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Meeting his gaze and joining in his laughter, Jessica cocked her head and thought to herself that perhaps things would work out between them. The weird, slightly cocky, wiseass Bradin had reappeared. She still thought he would make a nice hamster...

A/N: Wow, this is the longest chapter I've ever written for Summerland, lolol, usually my chapters vary from 2-4 pages. Har, weird. I was in a writing mood, so voila! By the way, I didn't mean to have a fight in so early on but it just kind of appeared... I'm going to try hard not to make this too over the top, I have a tendency to do that... If anyone has any ideas, they are welcome! Thanks to kandykane33, rachel, EAZYADICT, Kendra, Caitlin, and soxbabe! Thank you guys for reviewing! I can't believe you found it so quickly! I'm doing pretty good, thanks Rachel : ) How are you?