Thirty minutes later, the others were gathered in and around the bus. Danielle had called Solomon to tell him that Josh was nowhere to be found. Hearing that his little brother had gone missing, he had run all the way back across Miami to the bus. Yes, Sol could be superficial. Yes, Sol could be frustrating. But when it came to his family, almost no one was more loyal.

Jacob was still holding Olivia. Lauren was too distraught by the bassist's disappearance to care. Nathan was pacing. Derek kept making phone calls, although to whom no one was really sure. John just stood with his arms crossed, a frown apparent on his face. Danielle was wringing her hands.

Solomon emerged from the vehicle he spent 80% of his time on. "All right, listen up," he addressed the group. "We've got to split up and look for Josh. He's not the kind of guy who would just wander off without telling anyone."

"I agree," Nathan stopped pacing for a second. "My instincts are honing in on him right now." He looked intently toward the boardwalk.

"NATHAN! STOP BEING SO WEIRD!" Solomon exploded. Everyone looked up in surprise. Solomon and Nathan were best friends. They'd been best friends since college. Perhaps the tension of Josh's unknown location was getting to Sol.

But he wasn't finished. "Smoke signals! Island natives! Ninja kicking, superhero crap, Tron! Instincts? I'm sick of it all! You're 34 YEARS OLD! When are you gonna GROW UP?"

Nathan slowly closed his mouth, which had been hanging open while Sol was ranting. "I…it's just…" He couldn't even put a sentence together.

"Just stop." Solomon's face was stern. Olivia lifted her own tear-stained face from Jacob's chest just in time to witness a solitary tear run down Nathan's face. Her eyes widened. Nathan never cried. Nathan was never sad. Nathan had two settings: deadpan and absolutely insane. This was a side of him that she, or anyone else, for that matter, had never seen before.

Lauren stepped forward. "How could you?" Behind her, Nathan turned his face away from his best friend.

"So yeah, he's a little quirky. So YEAH, he likes a lot of weird things. And so what if he looks at people creepily and they mistake him for a kidnapper? Nathan is AMAZING. He is unique, and loyal, and we all love him. You're his best friend. Why can't you accept him for who he is?" Lauren's face was contorted into a desperate plea.

Nathan turned and looked at her. Lauren moved closer to him and gave him a hug. He closed his eyes and hugged her back. Derek walked over and hugged him as well. Soon everyone but Sol was embracing Nathan.

"We appreciate you, Nathan," Olivia whispered.

Finally Solomon broke the silence. "Look…I'm sick of all these emotional breakdowns. I'm sorry, man. Let's find Josh now."

Nathan smiled up at him and saluted. "Right-o, Captain."

Lauren grinned and hugged him again. "Now THAT'S the Nate we all know and love."

…

Having split up, the group headed into different directions. Lauren and Derek searched the boardwalk, Solomon and Jacob went back into the city, and Nathan, Danielle, and John drove out to the suburbs. Olivia was left by herself, so she decided to check the beach. After all, that's where she had run into him first.

The entire stretch of sand was obviously deserted, but Olivia kept walking anyway. She gazed out onto the ocean and thought back to the night before. Josh had led her out right to this spot, and had tried to tell her something. Now she'd never know what he was going to say.

With a sigh, she turned and walked underneath the section of the boardwalk that jutted out over the beach. An abandoned fishing boat had washed up to the shore. All of her senses seemed overactive in this spot. She could see the waves, smell the air, feel the wind, taste the salt, and hear the seagulls. She even imagined hearing Josh playing his guitar.

Wait. That wasn't her imagination…

She ran towards the rocks where the faint music was apparently coming from. As she rounded the largest boulder, she gasped. There he was, in all his glory. He half-heartedly plucked at the strings, and she could even hear him singing softly to himself. It was like a movie moment.

All of a sudden, she felt a sharp pain in her leg and cried out. Looking down, she saw a small crab scurrying away. She tried to duck back behind the boulder, but it was too late. Josh had both heard and seen her. The music ended. His eyes didn't leave her face.

"I…I'm sorry," she tried. "We just…we were so worried."

Without a word, he set down his bass guitar and got to his feet. Still keeping his gaze intact, he walked right up to her. She felt her heart beat faster.

Managing to look up into his pupils, she watched as his eyes visibly softened. "Don't apologize," he barely said. "I'm…glad you're here."

Olivia finally found her nerve. "Why did you leave? How did you get out here without Danielle knowing? You should've told someone, you left us all and we—"

"I just needed to think. I didn't want to be followed by everyone asking questions. I just needed to be alone for a bit. Well, alone with my baby," he smiled and gestured toward his guitar. "I'm sure you understand."

Olivia slowly nodded. "Yeah, I feel like that too sometimes." The urge to inquire what he was thinking about was very strong, but he had plainly stated that he didn't want to be asked about it. She held her tongue and focused on his eyebrows, since looking into his eyes had become too uncomfortable.

"I guess I'd better call the others and let them know I'm okay, if they're all that worried," he said as he took out his phone. "Whoa, 17 missed calls."

Olivia's eyes strayed back to his guitar lying in the sand. It would've made for a great photograph, a lone instrument propped up against the rocks. Josh turned away as he waited for Solomon to pick up. She looked towards him again and rested her gaze on his back. Even though they were in sunny Miami, he was wearing a fiery-hued plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He had rolled up his shorts' long pant legs to his knees as well. His flip-flops were off, left next to his guitar. She smiled as she watched his toes wriggling in the sand underneath his feet. He obviously enjoyed the feeling of the cold. Just seeing him take pleasure in something as arbitrary as sand made her happy.

After he promised his older brother that he would never sneak off again, Josh flipped his phone shut and faced Olivia again. She flicked her eyes up from his feet back to his face.

He started to giggle, something Olivia had never heard him do before. "I snuck off by climbing out the bathroom window," he confessed.

Her face split as she started to laugh with him. Oh, this felt good.

"I had to step on the toilet seat to open the window," he continued, laughing even harder. "And on the first try, my foot slipped into the bowl."

Olivia was laughing so hard that she couldn't speak. Who was this man? This surely wasn't the moody, lonesome guy most people knew.

The two of them just stood there and laughed like idiots for a few minutes. Once they finally calmed down, Josh sat near the rocks and picked up his guitar once more. "Want to hear a song?" he asked her, still grinning.

"Sure," she said, sitting down next to him. Next thing she knew, she was rolling on the ground laughing again as Josh strummed the tune to "You've Got a Friend in Me" and sang the Toy Story song in his goofiest voice. He got halfway through the chorus until he finally broke down and laughed again.

Olivia wiped tears from her eyes. "You're something else," she said, playfully shoving him.

He couldn't stop smiling. "Oh yeah? You like that?"

"You're very talented, Mr. Olds."

"Well, you have amazing taste, Ms. Brookshire." He winked at her.

Her inner fangirl screamed, fainted, and was rushed to the hospital, but she kept her poker face. "Why thank you."

He gingerly placed his bass on the sand and leaned back against the rocks. It was silent for a few minutes, but not in an awkward way as before. Finally he spoke. "You know why I wanted to be alone?"

"Sure."

"I needed to sort my thoughts."

"That's what I figured." She was confused. He was being just as vague as before.

"I tried to tell you something last night on this beach, but Solomon interrupted me. You remember?"

Olivia's heartbeat sped up again. "Oh yeah."

"I was trying to tell you that there's this girl back in Atlanta. We're sort of…together."

Her heart sank. Still Josh continued on.

"But…coming here, and meeting you, I…I'm not sure if…"

Olivia sat up.

"I'm not sure if me and her will work out."

Olivia swallowed.

"Because…well, because…I'd feel like I was being unfaithful to her, because…"

Olivia began to sweat.

"Because…" Josh turned toward her. "Because…I feel something when I'm with you. Something I haven't felt in forever. I feel…comfortable. I feel like I've known you for years. It's ridiculous, I know," he said, looking out at the sea again, "because I've known you for what, two days? But I can't explain it."

Olivia's mouth was too dry to respond. This couldn't be actually happening. She wasn't actually listening to him say these things. Any second now, she was going to wake up.

"Hang on," he said after a while. He got out his phone again, dialed a number, and held the receiver to his ear. Finally he spoke. "Hey Ami, it's Josh. I just wanted to get a hold of you to talk about something. So forgive me if this is a little jerky, but I just don't think it's going to work out. So feel free to see other guys. 'Cause I'll be seeing other girls," he said, looking at Olivia. She just stared at him.

He shut his phone and put it back into his pocket. Then he smacked his forehead with his hand. "Ugh, I am so stupid! Would you ever even consider being with me?"

Olivia still stared. Trying to gather her frayed wits, she calmly answered. "Yes. Yes, absolutely."

"Really?" His face lit up. Oh, gosh.

"Of course. I've liked you for…sheesh, I don't even know how long."

"Really?"

"Yes. You're amazing. I melt around you."

"Really?"

"JOSH! Just accept my love!" she blurted out. Her cheeks turned scarlet at her outburst. Josh just started to laugh, however. Not a condescending laugh, but one of pure mirth. He was…happy.

"That's…that's great!" he stammered. She was floored. He genuinely cared about her?

As if reading her thoughts, he leaned forward, still smiling. Her heart stopped. She could feel his breath on her face. Just as she heard a wave crash onto the shore, she felt his lips touch hers. OH DEAR.

He lingered there for a second, then slowly drew back and locked eyes with her for the umpteenth time that day. Olivia felt the urge to cry, though she didn't know why. Once again sensing her feelings, he wrapped his muscular arms around her and held her there as the seagulls flew off the beach.

It wasn't a dream.