Not very much Warren lately, I noticed. It will change soon enough, I promise. But, aren't you guys proud of me? I updated and it didn't take a year.

She didn't go to Peace's house immediately. When the Le Baron was finally completed she took it for its first aerial sin with her father. The car had been a labor of love for both of them and he deserved the first spin. And, if she was being honest, she wanted him there for the first flight in case anything went wrong. She could be reckless sometimes, but if she could have her genius magnetic father along for the first ride hundreds of feet in the air then she certainly would.

The second flight was a Garwin family outing. A short one to keep her mother from barfing all over her new car.

The third was to be with Dan and Maggie. Maggie had been eagerly awaiting the car's completion since it's conception- she had been the only freshman on the bus to not scream in fear at the first take off, but rather with delight. Dan and Emm worried about their tiny friend sometimes.

Dan was already standing in her driveway cleaning his glasses when they pulled up. He typically chose to wear contacts for convenience, but always spent a couple of days a month in glasses to let his eyes rest. Emm thought he'd worn them today to give him something to fidget with.

The prospect of a flying car was much less appealing to him, but the girls were infectious and persuasive and he would ride their "flying death trap" if they wanted him too. She had already considered her best friend's reservations and they'd agreed to ride around a bit before taking off to ease the worries he wouldn't fully admit to having.

"Two different flights, my friend, and smooth sailing." She said as he finished greeting her parents and his seat beside her.

"I'm sure a super powerful magnetic riding shotgun has nothing to do with that." Dan clicked the normal seatbelt in, and then immediately clicked the extra harness into place over it.

Emm smiled to herself. Dan was not the kind to be easily rattled or be particularly expressive, so she was careful to not to mock him for the few things that bothered him. Excessively. She couldn't help herself all the time.

Emm shifted into gear and started at a slow pace down the block. She was in love with her beautiful flying car. If Peace let her they could probably make the DeSoto fly.

"My parents are coming into town this weekend."

She did very little to hide her scowl. It was no secret how they all felt about the Patterson's. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. "How long for?"

"Just the weekend."

"Where are they flying off to next?"

"Nepal, first, then India for a couple of months."

"Looking forward to seeing them?" Emm carefully watched him from the corner of her eye.

Her oldest friend was very good at appearing detached and careless, but she had been there to see him at seven crying because he hadn't seen his parents in a month and watch the blush come over his chubby cheeks when he'd called his nanny 'Mom'. Even as the years passed and he learned to hide it better she knew it never stopped bothering him.

"I'd rather stay at your place?"

She blinked in surprise. For as long as the Garwin's had been aware of his home arrangement he'd had an open invitation to their home and later had received similar from the Rollings home, but, while he would spend all the holidays and several dinners at one or the other, he spent the majority of his time home alone.

For years he'd had a string of live-in nannies who he would have dinner with, but for the past year and a half he'd been at the house all alone. Every night she would send him an invitation text, but out of a whole week he'd only eat dinner at each of their houses once. If they were going out to eat it was a different story, but family dinners seemed restricted to just the one a week for each of them.

And certainly not when his parents were actually in town.

"I think they want me to start traveling with them once I graduate, rather than go into hero-ing."

Like hell. "You want us to set up the inflatable bed or do you want to squish in with me?"

"Set up the inflatable for when you inevitably push me off."

She shoved him now. "I haven't pushed you off since we were twelve. I move a lot less now. Jerk."

She was nearing the left turn to Maggie's street when he nudged her shoulder. "Turn right."

Emm raised an eyebrow, but did as he asked. "I'm telling Mags you delayed her flight."

Dan rolled his eyes at her, then adjusted the straps across his chest and leaned against the car door to face her better.

She gave him an exaggerated wary look and waited.

"So," he sighed, "Have you talked to Peace yet?"

Emm's jaw dropped. "Are you joking right now? There's no way you're about to talk to me about Peace like Maggie and Elijah and my dad and Logan." She stopped the car in the middle of the thankfully empty road. "I will not have it. You are meant to be on my side!"

"Really? You think I'm going to try and set you up with Peace?" He scoffed. "That's something I would do." His unamused look was interrupted by an eye roll.

She kept a wary look on him.

"Whether there's any warm and fuzzy feelings between you and Peace is not a subject you're ready to consider without massive dramatics, clearly, but it's also not a subject I want to discuss." He ignored her narrowed eyes. "But, you two are friends and you've clearly been in a mood since he stopped talking to you. And, I think he's in a mood, hard to tell with him."

She'd already decided she was going to talk to him, but having it brought up triggered her contradictory side. Instead of just telling Dan she was going to his house later that day she pursed her lips and stubbornly stared at the road ahead.

"I think," Dan struggled for a moment with his next sentence, "I think you may have hurt his feelings?" He sounded as uncomfortable talking about Peace's feelings as the idea made Emm.

"What?"

Dan adjusted his glasses. "I think that's why he's not talking to you. Because you made such a big fuss about not dating him."

"Peace does not care about me dating him." She shook her head at him and made another turn leading them further from Maggie. She'd already been berated by her, which was why Dan had lead her away, she assumed.

Dan was silent for a second too long. She looked over to him. "Peace does not care about dating me."

"I'm not saying Peace wants to date you." There was a weird look on his face as he said it that made Emm frown. "But, think about his track record. Who has Peace dated?"

When she didn't answer he continued.

"Layla fake dated him as a means of hurting Will."

"I wouldn't count that."

"And then after that he dated Juliette. The first time I have any recollection of him dating anyone. And her dad made her break up with him because he thought Peace was a villain in the making."

"Stupid."

"And that's also the last time I can recall of Peace dating anyone."

Emm waited for the point that was certainly coming, but she had a pretty good idea.

"So one time wasn't about him, one time was against him for things he can't control, and even after he's shown everyone he's a hero most girls only make googly eyes and wouldn't actually dare to date the dangerous son of Baron Battle."

"I was just clarifying that we-"

"You aren't dating. Everyone who matters knew it already, didn't they? But you made a very big deal about it. Made it seem absolutely ridiculous."

"Peace and I dating is ridiculous."

"Because you've always fought and you don't like him as more than a friend. Cool. That's fine. But if you were Peace what would your mind have gone to." Her chastised puppy look made him sigh. "I know why you blew up. Because you're dramatic and everyone under the sun keeps trying to push you two together, but he doesn't know that second part."

Emm continued to half-heartedly glare at the road. Despite his cool demeanor and standoffishness Dan had always been the best at reading people out of all of them. That he would be so concerned for Peace's feelings made her feel all the worse.

"I was already going to see him after our flight." She finally admitted.

He nodded as if he already knew she'd cave. "Good."

She huffed. "I didn't realize you cared so much about Peace."

"I don't know how it happened, but you guys got close somewhere there. I care about the people you care about."

Emm's chest felt warm with affection for her dumb icy friend.

When his phone buzzed Warren assumed it was Will. Again. He'd called just short of a million times in the past few days to hang out and couldn't seem to take no for an answer. Still, he reached over to the nightstand and looked at the text.

Well, it wasn't Will, but he wasn't sure he wanted to hang out with Garwin either.

Come outside.

He didn't want to. He was comfortably lying in bed watching reruns on his day off and doing a great job of not thinking about stupid Garwin. Like he'd done a good job of not talking to her. Or answering her previous texts. He was perfectly content to ignore her message.

With a huff he stood and walked to the window.

There she was, leaning against the side of a car (thankfully not his this time), in her dumb yellow sweater, staring down the road. He debated with himself for a moment before sighing and heading out to meet her.

"Well damn." She said, straightening. "I didn't think you'd come out."

"I've been busy, Garwin."

He was expecting something snippy and disbelieving about his avoidance. She made no reply, instead moved aside and gestured to the car she was leaning against. The pride on her face was enough to tell him what the car was.

"You finally finished it?"

"I tried to tell you three days ago that we were putting the final touches on it." She shrugged.

And now he felt like a jerk. Great. It wasn't her fault he'd decided he liked her just as she decided to announce how ridiculous them dating would be. Okay, it was half her fault, for being dramatic and making sweeping declarations.

When he didn't say anything for a minute she raised an eyebrow. "Well?" Garwin opened the passenger door. "Are you coming for a ride or not?"

Warren made a point of looking warily at the car. Then at her. "I assume you've tested this thing?" He walked over to the door slowly. "Do you even know how to fly this thing? Is this your way of finally getting rid of me?"

Garwin huffed, grabbed his arm, and began pushing him into the passenger seat. "As if I would use my own car for that." He swatted at her and she swatted back, none too gently pushing him even as he settled into the seat. "I would turn yours against you."

She slammed the door.