Juli's POV

The car ride back was mostly silent, but a peaceful silence. Despite the crazy night before, things actually felt nice. She had just held hands with Bryce and now he was driving her home. Juli could not attempt sneaking into her house though. The night before, she had absent-mindedly left the house without the spare key. She didn't exactly anticipate getting so wasted that she couldn't return home the same night. Bryce assured her it would be ok. She believed him too. With Bryce, she just felt safe and well taken care of.

As they drove up to their street, Bryce noticed his mother's car missing from the driveway. "Looks like my mom is gone. She must have taken Lynetta back. She was in town visiting this week," Bryce explained.

"How is she? It feels like I haven't seen her in practically forever." Juli always thought Lynetta was a cool big sister to Bryce. The adults always seemed to think Lynetta was a bit out of control due to her lack of censoring when it came to words and speaking her mind. Juli admired that though. Lynetta was just honest and said things simply and in a truthful fashion. There was nothing bad about that quality at all.

"That's probably because we stupidly avoided each other for practically forever." Bryce grinned.

Why is he so unbelievably attractive when he smiles? It made Juli get butterflies in her stomach. It was either that or her stomach acting up because she was still feeling a little sick from the night before.

"She's doing well, Juli. Thanks for asking. Well, she's alright, considering everything going on right now with…" Bryce seemed to stop mid-sentence though. Juli wondered what Bryce was getting at. Suddenly they stopped in his driveway. "Well, we're here. Dad is out of town, so only grandpa should be home. He is still one of your biggest fans, you know?" he asked somewhat jokingly. Juli nodded. "You'll be safe here Juli."

They both walked inside the Loski household. It had been so long since Juli had been there. "I hope I get to talk to Chet for a little. I miss conversations with him." Juli followed Bryce to the kitchen and dining area.

"He misses it too, Juli. We all missed you around here." Juli blushed a little bit when he said this. "Hungry?"

Juli shrugged her shoulders. She didn't really want to eat anything, but hadn't had anything since before the party the night before.

"You should probably eat something after last night. I'll make some breakfast." Bryce began digging through the pantry to gather cooking supplies. "I hope you like pancakes."

"Pancakes it is. Need any help?"

"Sure. You can stir the batter after I add all of the ingredients, if you'd like."

"Ok, I can do that," Juli smiled brightly.

Bryce began adding all the ingredients into a mixing bowl. "What are you smiling about so much?"

"Nothing… it's just, funny." Juli giggled a little.

"What is?" Bryce asked with confusion. What was so funny about pancakes?

"Well, the last time I saw you attempt cooking, it was Home Economics class in eighth grade. Mrs. Williams had us bake a batch of cookies, and you completely burned them." She started to giggle a little more. "I don't know. I guess it's just funny to think how much we've grown up."

Bryce smiled. "I remember that. The fire alarm went off and everything. I definitely learned my lesson that day."

"What lesson was that?"

"Don't leave your cookies sitting in the oven to go flirt with girls, or you will burn them."

"Well then, I guess you better resist the temptation to flirt with me or you may just burn those pancakes," Juli smirked.

"True statement. I will try to focus. But I have to admit, you are quite the distraction… very easy on the eyes."

Juli grinned. She waited as Bryce began to add in ingredients into the bowl. "I still haven't officially thanked you for last night, Bryce. It was really nice of you to look after me. I don't really know what could have happened to me if you hadn't been there."

"Don't mention it. Just look at it as the beginning of me making up for being such an ass these past few years."

Juli stirred the ingredients and handed the bowl to Bryce. "Since you put it that way, looks like you have a lot of making up to do," Juli teased. "I think it's ready to make now."

As Bryce began to cook the pancakes, a voice came from downstairs. "Is that pancakes I smell? Delicious." Chet walked out in his pajamas and robe.

"Chet!" Julie exclaimed. She had not seen him in so long. He had always been like a grandfather figure to her. She went over and gave him a hug. Chet hugged her back.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Juli. It's about time my grandson got some sense in him and brought you around here."

"Grandpa!" Bryce seemed little embarrassed, but continued making breakfast.

"She's blossomed into quite a beautiful young lady, wouldn't you say so Bryce?"

Bryce's face seemed to be turning a shade of bright red. "Yes, grandpa," he answered shyly without looking up from the pancakes. Juli could see this was amusing Chet, but not Bryce.

"You're too kind, both of you." Bryce began serving breakfast for the three of them.

Pancakes. Juli always loved them. Sitting in the dining room and eating breakfast, Juli noticed something different about the Loski's house. It almost felt… somewhat empty. She didn't know why. She knew Lynetta was in college and Patsy had gone to drop her off, but where was Steven? Steven had never been particularly nice to Juli, but he was Bryce's father. Maybe he had gone with Patsy to drop Lynetta off? Bryce didn't make it sound like they went together though. He only said Steven was somewhere out of town. Maybe it had something to do with work. Still, the house seemed different than what she remembered it was like years ago. She couldn't pinpoint why. She wasn't about to ask Bryce or even mention it though. The last thing she wanted to do was pry and be nosy. Bryce wanted her in his life and she loved that. She wasn't about to do anything to risk losing that.

Bryce's POV

Why is grandpa trying to embarrass me so much in front of Juli? I think it's pretty obvious how I feel about her. Isn't that misery enough? I don't think adding on embarrassment is exactly the best thing to do right now. Maybe he is trying to help me. He knows Juli, and maybe is trying to help send signals for me. Wow. My grandpa is trying to help me in my love life? How much more lame can you get, Bryce? She keeps smiling, so she must be happy. As long as she's happy… that's all I want.

They all finished breakfast. Bryce began picking up the plates on the table and cleaning up. Chet stood up from the kitchen table. "The pancakes were wonderful, Bryce. I think I'll excuse myself though and let both of you spend some more time together. You two probably have lots of catching up to do," he said with a smile to Juli. "Hope to be seeing you a lot more often around this house, Juli." With that, Chet was gone and only Bryce and Juli were in the dining room. There was an awkward silence. Bryce hated awkward silences.

Quick, say something. Anything. I wonder if she is as embarrassed as I am for the way grandpa was acting. Hopefully she didn't even pick up on those "hints" he was dropping. They were pretty obvious though.

Juli seemed to be trying to think of something to say too. Finally, she broke the silence."Well… breakfast was really nice. And I feel a lot better than I did this morning."

"Great. I'm glad you feel better."

"Yeah, I do."

"Great."

"Great…"

More awkward silence. Why am I so unbelievably boring and unable to think of anything interesting to say when she is around?

"So… maybe we can do this again sometime?" Juli asked hopefully.

"Breakfast? Of course. I mean, not just breakfast, but hang out anytime of the day. Anytime you want, just come on over, across the street. I mean because we live across the street from each other and all." Honestly? Real smooth answer. I fail.

Juli seemed to like his response. Smiling, she answered, "I'd like that very much, Bryce." She took a few steps closer to him and planted a single kiss on his cheek.

Bryce felt his heart jump for a second. He was not expecting that at all from her, but it was a very pleasant surprise. " Me too," he grinned happily.

Juli looked towards the clock on the microwave. She must want to get home soon. Her parents are probably awake by now.

"Well, how about I walk you home? My goal last night was to make sure you reached your doorstep safely. I still need to get you home Juli."

"That sounds great to me, Bryce. My parents are probably starting to wonder where I am. I hope they won't be angry at me for not coming home last night."

"Yeah. No need to worry. I talked to Dana last night and her parents are on vacation, so I told her we'd tell your parents you slept over at her place last night. I cleared it with her before she went home last night at the party."

"Dana drove home? Bryce that's so dangerous. She had a lot to drink too." Juli was concerned. Dana was her best friend and drunk driving was a stupid thing for anyone to do.

"I know, that's why I found her a ride home. She didn't drive. I didn't think she should drive either, so I asked a friend to take her home."

Juli seemed a bit amazed that Bryce had managed to do all of this."You know, for being a jerk all these years, you really are something Bryce Loski,"

"What can I say? I try my best," he joked. Bryce opened the front door leading to the street standing between the Loski and Baker households. Juli walked with him towards her house. Part of Bryce didn't want to leave her side. He was having such a great time hanging out with her. But it also made him excited for what was to come. He hoped this would be the beginning of something new and amazing.

A/N: Sorry it took a while to update. Summer has been busier than expected. Hope you enjoy the chapter! Thanks to those who left reviews/added the story to their favorites/story alerts.