Toby and I settled to eat at the Johnny Rocket's by the log ride near the entrance, quickly ordering our burgers and sitting down at a small table in the corner of the gazebo type café. It was surprisingly comfortable and quiet, the perfect place to strike up some conversation.

"So," Toby said as I consumed one of the warm french fries, "What do you enjoy doing missy? Besides being awesome, of course."

I blushed and swallowed my food. "Awesome? Please, awesome is not a part of my description." I responded modestly. "But, answering your question, I like drawing. And writing."

"Oooo, drawing?" He perked up in curiosity. "Quite the creative type I see!"

"Hah. Yeah well, not professionally anyway. I mean my friends always tell me I'm good but," I shrugged, "I don't think I could get anywhere with it."

"I think you can."

I raised my eyebrows. "You do?"

"Of course! If you have skills and the right personality," he answered smiling, "People have to take you. They're stupid if they don't."

A smile tugged at my lips. "I hope you're right."

He bit his burger and swallowed before exclaiming, "Shooooot, girrrl! Of course I'm right! Toby Joe Turner is always right. I mean, didn't I tell you that you were gonna get through that Superman ride fine? And look here you are joining me at a five-star romantic fast food joint, munching on genuine American style burgers! Was I not right?"

I giggled. "You're right. Sorry to doubt you." I grinned at him before taking a sip of the large Vanilla shake we had decided to share.

"It's okay, darlin'." He responded with a western accent, "Just don't doubt the wise man anymore." He winked and followed me in taking a drink, bringing his face inches from mine. It took all the will inside of me to hide the blush that threatened to creep onto my cheeks. I couldn't help but stare into his deep, hazel-green eyes. Noticing my captivation, Toby grinned and swallowed, sitting back straight to finish his food.

"Now, what about you Mr. Turner? What are you in to?"

"Me? Well..." He scratched his chin as he pondered for a moment. "Hah. You're probably going to think I'm a total dork, but," he chuckled, "I like gaming. I play a lot of computer games. And..." He paused and threw me a look of innocence, "I hope you don't think I'm completely lame for this... But, uh, I make some comedy type skits and upload them on the Internet. Hah hah..." He laughed nervously.

I smiled softly. "I don't think that's lame at all. I think that's great." I said, "I'd like to see your skits sometime."

Toby's lips pulled up into a genuinely sweet smile. "And I'd love to see your drawings sometime."

"Sounds good to me." I said, beaming.

We soon finished our food, only after chugging down the milkshake like a pair of dorks and engaging in a mini food fight that resulted in having to apologize to an old couple after accidentally hitting the husband in the back of the head with a fry. We left the seating area, arms locked, giggling madly.

"Man," Toby said jokingly, "I thought that guy was gonna keel over from a heart attack of frustration!"

I laughed. "I was more worried about the old lady! She looked like she was going to beat the shit out of you with her walker!"

"Hey, I wasn't the one who hit him!"

I frowned playfully. "You just HAD to pull a Matrix move when I fired that fry as hard as I could."

"Uhh, yeah!" He responded, "I probably would have had to turn pirate cause it would have nailed me in the eye!"

"Awwww but eye patches are so sexy!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You think so?"

I nodded, giggling. "Pirates are hot, don't ya know?"

He nudged me playfully. "Maybe I'll get an eyepatch just for you. And I'll bedazzle a little smiley face on it to lighten the awkward moments when I first meet people." He said sarcastically, closing his right eye as he imagined wearing an eyepatch.

Laughing, I patted his chest. "Nahh," I retorted with a chuckle, "I don't think you should get one. You're too cute for one of those things."

He smiled down at me. "Ahhh, you're too modest!"

"Uh-uh! Too honest." I winked.

"Alright, alright. Don't be so sweet, girrrrl." He responded in a playful tone, "You make me want to hug you."

"That's a bad thing?"

"For you it is!" He joked. "I give nasty bear hugs! You may need a lung transplant after I'm through with you."

"Pssssh. Oh please." I teased, "I'm too strong to be damaged by a little bear hug."

"You think so, huh?"

I nodded.

He chuckled. "You are going to regret your arrogance young lady!"

"Hah! No I'm n..."

But before I could finish my sentence, he unlocked arms with me and pulled me against him with amazingly strong arms, squeezing me tightly. I gasped, quickly losing breath. It didn't last long though as Toby released me quickly, laughing at my reaction. "I told you!"

I coughed. "Damn! That is a powerful hug! I was NOT expecting that."

"I gave you a warning." Toby teased, poking the tip of my nose.

I giggled. "Yeah, well NOW I know not to hug you."

"Oh no, you can hug me! I don't always squeeze people's guts out. I give nice hugs too." He smiled cutely.

I furrowed a brow playfully. "I don't know... I don't trust you Mr. Turner. You probably hug people like that all the time."

He frowned. "What did I say about doubting me?" He smirked. "Do I have to teach you a lesson?"

"No..." I whined like a little girl, "I won't doubt you..."

"Good! Now we can move on to the best part of Six Flags!" He exclaimed excitedly.

I cocked my head curiously. "Oooo what's that?"

He gave me a smirk-like grin. "Oh, you'll see..."

Judging by his response I was thinking it was one of two things: it was either the largest, scariest ride at the park or it was the most fun of them all. Maybe it was both.

But I soon found my guess completely off as we stood at the entrance of the Kids' Rides section. "Are you... Serious?" I asked, looking up at Toby.

He beamed. "Uh, yeah!" He exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the line for one of the rides, "This is where the fun begins!"

At that point I could have sworn he was completely nuts. The excitement in his eyes was legitimate. How could a grown man be so damn excited to ride these little things?

When it was our turn to get on the tiny bird-cage type swings, I threw Toby a questioning look. He chuckled and nudged me forward. "Just go with it."

I sighed and climbed in one of the cages, quickly finding that there was barely enough room for me, even when I was cross-legged and hunched my back over. Just as the employee slammed the door shut, I looked over at Toby in the cage next to mine. He smiled when his eyes locked with mine. "You know," I called over grinning suggestively, "This would be even better if we shared a cage."

His face contorted in surprise: brows raised and eyes wide. "Dang girl," He yelled back, "I think it's safer for you to be in your own now! Who knows what this ol' bear will do to you..." His smile turned into a smirk-like seductive grin.

Just then the ride started turning slowly. As we swung past the entrance, I couldn't help but laugh as I saw a bunch of little kids giving me dirty looks. "Jealous?" I yelled at one of the little boys. His jaw dropped in an expression of offense. I broke out in laughter and shifted my gaze back to Toby's cage to see him sitting there looking at me with a soft smile. I grinned back and called over, "You aren't as loud as I anticipated there Toby!"

He raised a brow. "You want loud? I'll give you loud!" He latched his hands on the bars of the tiny cage and screamed out toward the kids in line, "WWHEEEEEEEWWW!"

I spent the entirety of the ride laughing while Toby "wheeew"'d the whole way. When the ride stopped and they let us out of our cages, I ran over to him laughing. "You dork! Those kids were looking up at you like 'what the fuck is he doing'!"

He chuckled. "Just as I planned." He responded with a smirk.

I smiled and locked arms with him once again. "Well that's one hell of a plan." I said, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Well, you know I AM a genius." He murmured jokingly.

"Of course you are..." I gasped as I caught sight of something across the way. "A photobooth! Oh my gosh! I haven't done one of those since high school when I did one with my sister at my softball team banquet." I sighed at the sweet memories. "Those are classical..."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Toby exclaimed, unlocking his arm to take hold of my hand, pulling me over to the booth. He yanked me inside, shutting the little curtain. I felt an excited smile creep onto my face. Toby beamed down at me and commenced to adjusting the settings. "Remember," He said turning to me while the camera readied itself, "What happens in the photobooth, stays in the photobooth. And gets printed on a little 5' by 7' photo card." He chuckled and turned to face the camera as the screen began a countdown. The first four pictures were as goofy as anyone could have asked: Toby creeper smiling at the screen, him threatening to eat my head, us growling at each other, and both of us "wheeeew"ing. When the fifth and final picture was about to be taken, Toby leaned down to plant a kiss on my left cheek. My eyes went wide and I blushed just as the flash went off. Toby laughed and bent down to pull the photo cards from the distribution slot. "Here ya go!" He beamed, handing me one as he led me out of the booth. I took hold of the pictures in my right hand and looked over them, giggling as I observed our goofy expressions.

"Wow." I said looking up from the pictures, "We are a couple of goofballs, aren't we?"

Toby smiled. "And proud of it " He responded with a soft chuckle, "I guess that's why we get along so well!"

"I guess so..." I whispered. I looked down to realize that Toby's hand was gently holding mine. I raised my brow in surprise. We... We were holding hands.

"So," Toby said, waking me from my surprised daze, "What do you say we give this park one more stand?"

I smirked. "Let's give these rides a run for their money!"

Toby raised his fist toward the sky. "This. Is. SPARTA!" He shouted before pulling me into another run. We sprinted off toward the last of the rides, acting like a pair of dorks the whole way.

•••

We finally left the park around midnight, just as the crowds were piling out for closing time. My feet were killing me by then and my eyelids were getting heavier by the minute. Toby whistled happily as he led me to his car, swinging his arm as he held my hand. In my other arm, I held a humongous tan Teddy Bear that he had won for me at one of the carnival style game booths.

When we got to the car, he pried open the door for me, holding the bear as I climbed in and handing it back to me once I was settled. He quickly climbed in the driver's seat and turned on the radio. "Any preferences?" He asked.

I yawned and shook my head. "It doesn't matter. I'm sure I'll like whatever you like." I threw him a sleepy smile.

He grinned. "Alrighty, then." He said as he switched to one of the hit stations. As the songs changed, he pulled out of the parking spot, humming along to the Taylor Swift song.

I sighed, smiling at his adorable humming and grin. I hugged the teddy bear and closed my eyes for a moment as I listened to the sound of Taylor Swift's angelic voice harmonizing with Toby's:

You put your arm around me for the first time.
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter.
You are the best thing that's ever been mine...

Next thing I knew, Toby was leaning over me to unbuckle my seatbelt. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty." He murmured softly, taking the Teddy Bear from my lap.

I yawned. "Oh my god. Did I fall asleep?" I asked as I climbed out of the car.

Toby nodded and shut the door behind me, laughing at the guilty look on my face. "Don't worry about it. It's probably better that way seeing as you missed my singing most of the way. Especially when I started belting out OneRepublic." He said laughing.

I laughed drowsily. "I bet you sounded great." I responded as we headed up the stairs of my apartment complex.

"I don't know about that. I can't hit those damn high notes as well a they can." He retorted with a smirk.

We soon reached my apartment where I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door. I led him inside, taking the bear from him to set it on the couch. "Do you want something to drink? Maybe some coffee?" I asked.

"Nah. I gotta get home. I'm meeting up with some of my buds to help them with their video projects tomorrow mornin'." He answered, "Maybe next time." He threw me a smile. "You've got a nice apartment though."

"Thanks! I share it with my sister -she's probably asleep now."

"Older sister?"

"Younger. She's only 22. She's going to school at USC."

"Nice!" He said, nodding in approval. "What for?"

"She's planning on becoming a nurse." I said with a smile.

"Cool, cool. Well," He said with a sigh and scratched the back of his head, "I gotta go catch some Z's."

"Yeah me too." I replied, following him to the doorway where he paused and turned back to me.

"Thanks for coming with me today. I enjoyed every bit of it." He said softly as a genuine smile tugged at his lips.

"Thank YOU for taking me. I haven't had that much fun in a long time. It's nice hanging out with someone as awesome as you."

"Psssh. Well I try." He said jokingly, waving it off modestly. He chuckled. "But, uh, I'll call you sometime so we can get together again. 'Kay?"

I smiled brightly. "Can't wait!"

"Hah hah." He laughed softly, subconsciously leaning closer to me. "Me neither..."

"Drive safe, okay?"

"Always do." He murmured, drawing nearer to me, "Sleep tight."

I leaned up, placing my hands on the sides of his face. "You too..." I whispered before softly pressing my lips to his.

We kissed for a long moment before I pulled away and whispered, "Goodnight, Toby."

He gave me another adorable dimple-adorned smile, murmuring a 'goodnight' before heading down the stairs and to his car. I watched from my doorway as his car pulled away and drove down the street. When he was out of sight, I shut the door and grabbed the bear from the couch, bringing it to my room where I collapsed on the bed. I kicked off my shoes and dropped my bag on the floor. I hugged the bear in my arms and shut my eyes, replaying the day over and over in my head until I finally drifted into a deep dream-filled sleep.