Okay guys, here you go! My hard drive, the one with ALL my stories on it, died, so I had to wait until I got a new one to start typing again. Hope you enjoy it!

Christina hurried home from the bus stop, dropping her dance bag on the sidewalk as she jumped toward the mailbox, yanking the flap open to grab the letters inside. She flipped through them, paying no attention to all the bills addressed to her parents. She almost missed it, but the familiar scrawl of the small letter caught her eye and she absentmindedly returned the rest of the letters to the mailbox. Christina eagerly opened the letter, postmarked from Egypt. Her hands seemed clumsy as they pulled apart the envelope to reach the letter within. The demolished envelope fluttered to the ground, forgotten as the familiar scrawl of her boyfriend met her gaze.

My dearest Christina, it read, Egypt is hot! I'm burnin' up! (pun intended) I miss you so much and I wish that I could be with you instead of running from pyramid to pyramid, trying to keep cool. Christina smiled at his joke and continued reading. We have almost completed our world tour, and we'll be back in the States soon. I can't believe it's lasted for three years! I'd like to stop by Dublin first and visit you. I thought about bringing you a camel as a souvenir, but Kevin cautioned against it since you don't have a very big backyard. Then, I wanted to bring you back one of the mummy brains in a jar, but Nick reminded me that I wanted to keep you as my girlfriend, so I got you a keychain. (Very excited, I know, but all my other options fell through.)

Anyways, I hope all is going well. I miss you so much! I wish you were just a little tinier so that you could fit in my suitcase. See you soon.

I love you,

Joe

Christina smiled again, holding the letter close to her heart as she walked into the house, the rest of the mail completely forgotten. Letting herself into the house with her key, Christina mounted the stairs to her room and hurried to her bed. She knelt down and reached under the bed to pull out the shoebox where she kept all of Joe's letters, being the romantic she was. Placing the new letter lovingly into the box, Christina sat back on her heels and sighed. It was hard to date a guy who was gone for months, but there was no other person that she'd rather be dating. He was well worth the wait.

Christina pushed the shoebox back under her bed, returning it to the position it had formerly been in, and had just stood up when the doorbell rang shrilly. Being home alone, Christina ran downstairs and yanked the door open. When she saw who it was standing there, her jaw dropped and she let out a shrill scream that sounded oddly like Joe's name. Without thinking, she launched herself into his outstretched arms, squeezing him tightly. "Oh my gosh!" she cried for the fourth time. "What are you doing here?" She blushed, realizing what she'd just said. "Not that I mind, or anything."

Joe grinned, too happy to see her to tease her. Without answering, he grabbed the back of Christina's neck tenderly and kissed her, pulling her body close to his with his other hand. They stood like that for a long time before Joe finally released her. "Your keychain," he said huskily, handing the trinket to her. "Just like I promised."

Christina was still catching her breath when someone asked, "Is it over yet? All the lovey dovey stuff?"

Christina turned to see both Kevin and Nick sticking their heads out from around the corner of her house. Her grin grew wider as she saw them. "Yes, for now," she responded gravely.

The boys rolled their eyes and hurried to embrace Christina as well. After a few rounds of hugs, Christina remembered her manners and invited them inside, practically jumping around with excitement. "You said that you'd see me soon," she said. "I just got your letter today. Was that a hint or something?"

Joe shook his head. "Check the postmark on that letter," he said, "if you still have it. I mailed it two weeks ago."

"Of course I have it!" Christina responded without thinking. "I kept all your letters."

Joe leaned back in his chair, raising one eyebrow. "Really?" he asked. "In a shoebox?"

Christina nodded, her cheeks turning pink. "Where else do you keep letters?"

"In envelopes," Nick muttered under his breath.

Christina turned to him and fixed him with a haughty gaze. "Alright, smart one," she said, folding her arms over her chest. "Tell my where you keep all Kintra's letters, because I know that she sends you tons."

Nick bowed his head in embarrassment, so Joe answered for him. "He keeps them under his pillow, right where he can read them at night when he thinks no one's looking."

Nick threw a pillow from the couch at his brother, hitting his brother squarely in the face. "Shut up," he commanded.

Joe stuck his tongue out. Christina broke up the argument and asked, "Are you guys hungry?"

"Starved," Joe replied exaggeratedly. "There's absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for a hamburger right now." Though, when he saw the mischievous look on Christina's face, he quickly amended, "It's a figure of speech, Christy. I didn't mean it literally."

"Darn it," Christina said, snapping her fingers mock disappointedly. "Come on. I know a great place." She led the way out of the house and they hopped into the boys' car, heading to the diner where Joe and Christina had had their first "date." For over two hours, the group talked about their lives since they had last seen each other, steering away from any associations with the world tour and instead focused on the smaller, more meaningful aspects of their lives.

"Have you decided what you're going to do since you've now finished college?" Joe asked, stealing one of Kevin's french fries when the latter boy wasn't looking.

Christina nodded. "I'd like to have my own studio and teach dance." She smiled, looking wistful. "I can picture myself teaching all those little kids, and watching them get the steps all wrong anyways." Her eyes focused back on the boys sitting in front of her and she blushed. "Sorry. I was off in la la land."

"No problem," Joe said, looking at her thoughtfully. "Where would you like to have this studio?"

Christina, not really paying attention, answered, "Probably the States, since I won't teach Irish dance. I want to teach hip hop and stuff like that."

Joe nodded and lapsed into silence. To cover for his brother, Nick began chatting at his fast paced speed, telling Christina all about the tour. She never saw Joe slip his hand in his packet, fingering the small box there.