Ricky's POV

Amy was still crying on my shoulder five minutes after she hung up. She had gone from loud cries to soft sobs and had finally stopped, the only noise filling the room was her sniffles and John's grumbling from the crib. At first, I had tried soothing her, massaging her back and telling her everything would be fine. But now, I just wished that she'd stop. Why was she letting him make her cry? Every single time he asked, she would go back to him. And it was making me angry and unbearably frustrated.

I sighed and clenched my jaw, trying very hard not to go off on her. "Ames, whay are you so beat up about this?"

She leaned back, detaching her arms from my neck and sitting down on the bed. She lifted a hand to wipe away stray tears, and I know this sounds crazy, but she looked beautiful. Even with puffy eyes, a flushed face and tear-stained cheeks, Amy was still beautiful.

She had always been beautiful to me, one of the many reasons for what happened in band camp. Like I had told her and others dozens of times, I had no intention of sleeping with her that night. Sure I had thought about it, but I'm a guy! What do you expect?

"You don't get it Ricky."

"What don't I get Amy? Please tell me, because I'm so eager to know." I said sarcastically.

Amy rolled her eyes. "It's not Ben."

I was confused. Really confused. "Then why did you just spend the last five minutes crying your eyes out?"

"I'm not upset that he broke up with me. It's just that, dating Ben is the only stable thing in my life. My mom and dad are having issues, my sister's acting really weird, and Madison and Ben are acting like they have some huge secret but won't say what it is. I just feel overwhelmed."

I nodded. So that's why she seemed so stressed all the time. "Well, how about we all get out today. That way we can forget about all our drama for a day."

Amy put on a big show by taping her finger on her chin, mocking someone in deep thought. I chuckled and shook my head. "That sounds like something I desperately need." she said, finally smiling.

I smiled back. "I'll make you forget about Ben."

- Two Hours Later -

We had gone to the Statue of Liberty, and now sat in a small ice cream cafe, looking through the pictures we took there. Amy had opted for a banana split and was spoon feeding John vanilla ice cream from his baby-sized cup while I happily drank my chocolate milkshake. We continued this routine for about ten minutes until the ice cream was gone and we were suffering from severe brain freeze.

I set down my glass on the wooden surface of the circular table, then turned to look at Amy. "So, what else do you want to do today?"

Amy set her spoon into the empty ice cream dish. I tried to stifle a laugh. She had whipped cream on her upper lip.

She looked at me confused. "What?"

I laughed. "You've got a little whipped cream on your face." I said as I reached out my hand, closing the short gap between us, across the table, and outstretched my index finger. I wiped the sticky substance from her lip, and she blushed, and I couldn't help but smirk. I like messing with Amy. She's like an impossible challenge, but so fun to mess with. So, to mess with her head just a little bit more, I lifted my finger to my mouth licking it off my finger. She blushed even redder, if that was possible. She looked so cute when she blushed. Whoa! Wait! You don't like Amy like that!

I shook my head, trying to push the forbidden thought from my head, but no such luck. Amy stood, taking the initiative to exit the shop. "I was thinking we could go to central park."

I nodded. "So is there anything in particular that you wanted to see there?"

Amy nodded. "I know it sounds stupid, but I really want to see the Balto statue."

I smiled at her. It was just like Amy to want to see a statue of a heroic dog. "You know, Balto is one of the best children's movies. I showed it to John."

"So did I." she said giggling.

I smirked. "So that's why he seemed so excited. He had already seen it."

She nodded, finally smiling. "Guilty."

I heard Amy mumbling, so I leaned in to see what she was saying. "What'd you say, Ames?"

"Oh, nothing, I just said that they should make a coffee shop named Central Perk."

I stopped moving to look at her. "What?" she asked, laughing lightly.

I shook my head thn started walking again. "Now this is getting creepy. First, we both watch Heroes, then we both like the same character the most, then we both like Balto, and now we both watch Friends? I'm telling you, the only thing that could make this even spookier would be if you watched Jericho."

Amy rubbed the back of her neck.

I stared at her dumbfounded, a smile working its way to my lips. All I said was "Favorite character?"

"Tie between Hawkins and Jake, but I'm leaning towards Hawkins."

I smiled. "Jake's pretty cool, and I also liked Dale, running around with his little pistol," she laughed, "but I'm gonna have to go with Hawkins."

With that, we launched into a full on conversation about yet another show.

* 30 minutes later *

We had arrived at the Balto statue, and Amy was taking pictures, of course. I didn't want to rush her, but geez! It was past 1:30, John was asleep and I was hungry.

"Amy, not to be rude or anything, but are you planning on being done anytime soon?"

Amy turned to me, blushing and, adorably, bit her lip. "Sorry, I'm taking forever aren't I?"

I smirked and replied with "Maybe just a little."

She snapped a few more pictures then slid her camera into her bag. "Okay, I'm done. You wanna grab a hot dog or something?"

"God, I thought you'd never ask."

She laughed and walked past me, heading for a hot dog cart. Yet another surprise. I followed her steps and came up behind her in time to hear her say, "Two hot dogs, mustard and ketchup, and can I have one of those pretzels too?" The man nodded and she turned to me. "Ricky what do you want?"

Wow. Amy wasn't afraid to eat in front of me. Now that was different for me. I just stared at her, shocked. I was shaken from my thoughts by the sound of her crystal clear voice. "Ricky?"

"Uh, I'll have the same."

The man handed Amy the food and I handed him the money before she could. "Ricky, you don't have to pay for everything you know."

"I know, but I'm the man. I should pay for the meals."

Amy snorted, then took a bite of her pretzel. "Man, okay, sure."

I just laughed and dug into the food she handed me.

We walked through the park, silently chewing. After we finished and John had waken up, Amy gave him something to eat (I have no idea what), then we continued on, not really going anywhere in particular. After a while, we came across a poster for a concert. Amy veered off the course to stop and examine the poster. "Oh my gosh! It's David Archuletta!"

"Who?" I asked.

"David Archuletta. He was runner up in American Idol one year. I'm like, in love with his music."

I studied the poster. The concert was tonight at Madison Square Garden. "Do you wanna go?"

She shreiked like a child. "Really?"

I shrugged. "Sure, why not?" She left John's stroller and closed the space between us wrapping her arms around my chest.

"Thank you, thank you!"

I smirked. "No problem."

Amy pulled away from me way too soon for me. She was so small, delicate and warm. Her hair had the most amazing smell: strawberries. It drove me wild.

She ended my trance with her feather-light voice. "So, I'm thinking that maybe we shhould figure out something for John, because I don't think we should bring him to a concert."

"Yeah, you're probably right." I said as I began walking in the direction of the hotel. I could hear Amy's soft steps behind me, so I knew that she was following me.

We were almost back to our hotel when Amy asked if we could stop to go into a small souvenir shop. Of course, I said yes. The store consisted of t-shirts, stuffed animals and other things like that. Amy was currently browsing through an assortment of shirts, leaving me to stand with John.

Some guy approached Amy and I strained to try and hear what they were saying.

"What's your name?"

"Amy."

"Hey Amy, I'm Keegan."

Amy blushed. "Hi Keegan."

"So, I was wondering..."

I had enough. I walked over and placed John into her arms. "Hey Ames, the little guy misses his mommy."

That got him to leave. Okay, so I have no idea why I did that.

"Really Ricky?"

I shrugged, trying to blow it off. Luckily she didn't bring it up again.

* 7:00 that night *

We had gotten the hotel daycare to watch after John and were now in our seats. Well, I was anyways. Amy was standing up, clapping. A song had just ended. She sat down as the singer spoke.

"Okay, now this next one, you may know. Because it's time for the Crush Cam! When the camera lands on you, you have to kiss the person next to you!"

Everyone started screaming.

I hung up the phone tonight,

something happened for the first time,

Deep inside there's a rush, what a rush

The camera landed on an older couple. They gave each other a quick peck on the lips. The song sounded okay, so I began to listen to the lyrics.

'Cause the possibility,

That you would ever feel the same way,

About me,

Just too much, just too much

For some insane reason, the words made me think of Amy. The screen flashed to another couple.

Why do I keep running from the truth?

All I ever think about is you,

You've got me hypnotized,

So mesmerized,

And I just got to know

I once again thought about Amy and how not a day went by when I didn't think about her. I tried to keep staring at the screen and the people flashing by on it.

Do you ever think,

When you're all alone,

All that we can be,

Where this thing could go,

Am I crazy or Falling in love?

Is this really just another crush?

Do you catch a breath,

When I look at you,

Are you holding back?

Like the way you do,

'Cause I'm tired of trying to walk away,

I know this crush ain't going away

Oh my god. In these words I found my own truth. I loved Amy. I didn't notice our faces on the large screen until everyone around us began yelling "KISS! KISS! KISS!"

I looked at the screen, then to Amy's blushing face. Before my better judgement could stop me, I found myself leaning towards her ...

Hit or miss?