It was raining in Orlando.

Caoimhe rang the doorbell and then stepped back nervously, fiddling with her fingers to avoid the urge of biting them.

Drew and Katie were having a date night and her parents were at a work party and couldn't talk. To sum it up, Caoimhe was bored and lonely.

She'd texted Clay a couple times, but to no avail. This was her last ditch effort. If he wasn't home, Caoimhe would drive Katie's car home and snuggle with a pillow while rewatching Parks and Rec for the third time.

The door opened. It was Nick. The twenty-year-old man stared at Caoimhe with a shit-eating grin.

"Hi Nick!" Caoimhe smiled, doing a little wave and instantly hating herself for it.

"." Nick moved out of the doorway. "."

"Oh he's streaming?" Caoimhe instantly felt guilty. "I can come back later."

"Same."

Caoimhe waited at the bottom of the stairs as Nick marched up them, banging on a closed door.

"!" He sang teasingly. ""

"." came a faint reply.

Caoimhe chuckled lightly.

Nick called down to her. "."

"Coming!"

She walked up the steps and quietly passed Clay's room, where she heard him shrieking at whatever was happening on his computer. She smiled slightly at his dramatic antics and kept walking down the hallway into the guest room.

"?" Nick asked, already sprawled out on his bed.

"I don't really know how to play. Drew made me download it on my phone though." Caoimhe admitted.

Nick moved over on the bed, giving Caoimhe a place to sit. "."

"Good advice." Caoimhe snorted, opening the game on her phone while Nick created a new private server.

The two sat there for forty-five minutes, teaming up and laughing as they caused chaos all around. Nick was hilarious and Caoimhe made sure to tell him that in between breathless laughs. Nick had his head on Caoimhe's shoulder and Caoimhe threw her legs over Nick as they accused random people of the killings.

There was a knock at the bedroom door and Clay started talking as he opened it. " He stopped when he saw two people staring back at him owlishly. "?"

"Hi Clay!" She beamed at him with a genuine smile.

"." Nick mumbled, making Caoimhe giggle again.

"I almost forgot how cool Nick was." she said, making Clay look horrified. "He kept me company while you finished up with your friends."

"." Nick added. ""

"" Clay asked incredulously. ""

Caoimhe held her arms out. "Oh come here."

"!" Nick whined.

Clay ignored his friend and headed towards the bed, jumping on the two of them and laying there like a deadweight.

"!" The Texan whined some more, pushing at his friend's legs.

Caoimhe wrapped her arms around Clay and laughed at Nick's complaining. "I'm sorry I didn't know y'all were live."

"." He mumbled back, voice distorted from being pressed into Nick's comforter.

"!" Nick protested, having given up from fighting him off. "."

"And how was the stream?" Caoimhe pressed a little kiss onto Clay's arm, glad he couldn't see the giant blush that came with it.

"."

"No one else?"

"."

"I hope you remember I have no idea who those people are."

"" he groaned.

"I guess I'll make them show it to me again. I guarantee I'll know some more people for sure by the next time you ask."

"?" Clay asked, pressing his cold nose into Caoimhe's side, making her shriek and accidentally kick Nick.

"Someone once memorized the soccer coach's computer password and went through his search history." Caoimhe snickered. "Guess who was the one to finally get Pervy Peterson fired? I think I can remember a couple names if I actually pay attention this time."

"!" Nick exclaimed.

"," Clay agreed.

"."

"Sir yes sir." Caoimhe pushed herself off the bed, taking Clay with her, and landing on the floor. One of Nick's pens was on the floor right where she landed and one of it's sharp points stabbed her in the back. Caoimhe yelped in pain.

Clay quickly stood up to check on her. She rolled off of the pen with a sigh of relief, taking Clay's hand and letting him pull her up to her feet.

""

""

"" Nick shot back. Clay didn't disagree. Caoimhe laughed again. She seemed to do that a lot whenever she was with them.

"I'm hungry." She said, trying to distract the childhood friends. It worked.

Clay pulled her out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen, Nick scrambling behind them.

They walked into the pantry, examining the snacks lining the walls. Caoimhe felt something furry rub up against her leg. Patches. She smiled at the cat, following her towards the door.

An arm wrapped around Caoimhe's middle tightly, pulling her out of the closet. She shut her eyes, bracing herself as she heard the slam of a door and a click before the arm around her loosened.

Caoimhe whirled around to see the walk-in pantry door shut and a victorious looking Clay standing next to it. There was banging from the inside of it.

"Did you lock Nick in there?!"

Clay looked at her like she was slow, and showed her the key in his hand. "."

"Why would you do that?!"

"." The Floridian paused to think. "."

Caoimhe smiled, shaking her head. "Yes, yes you could."

"!" Nick yelled. They ignored him.

"." Clay grabbed Caoimhe's hand, making her stomach flutter, and led her back up the stairs. "."

Caoimhe crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway and Clay walked into the room, and began spinning around in his big chair.

"This is nice."

"I like it."

"?" He stopped spinning for a moment to smile at her softly. "."

Caoimhe was hit with a bolt of emotions. She just couldn't hold it in anymore, especially when he looked at her like that and said the things like he said earlier. "I like you."

"?" Clay said, continuing to spin. Caoimhe was struck with another dose of bravery when she realized he hadn't yet comprehended what she had said. ""

She put her hands over his wrists, stopping the spinning. Their faces were mere millimeters apart. Caoimhe looked at him and Clay looked at her. Neither could see rejection in the other's eyes. Caoimhe closed her eyes and closed the gap.

Fireworks. That's all she felt. Pure and genuine elation.

Clay maneuvered his wrists out from under her and grabbed her face, not breaking the kiss as he stood up. She moved her hands to hold onto his elbows, moving closer.

Caoimhe finally broke apart, needing air. Clay pressed his forehead against hers as they stood there, both gasping for breath.

"I like you, Clay." She repeated. "A lot. So much."

"." He smiled. "."

Caoimhe moved to kiss him again.

Suddenly there was a loud crash and Nick cried out from below. They both looked at each other wide eyed before stopping everything and racing downstairs.

"," Clay muttered. "." He fumbled with the key from in his pocket, trying to put it into the lock but was shaking so much he kept missing. Caoimhe didn't know if it was from stress or from her.

Finally, Clay got it to click and pulled the door open slowly. He gasped, horrified, and started even more murmuring of how much trouble he was gonna be in the next time his mother came over to visit.

Caoimhe pressed her hands to her face, and pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "My god."

Flour was covering Nick from head to toe. It was in his hair, it was on his face, it was covering his clothes. The bag was split on the floor, leaving even more flour poured out in mounds. Nick stared right back at the two with a blank expression.

Clay sounded like he was choking back a sob. Caoimhe wondered how they were going to clean it up.

Nick's face broke into a grin and he lunged forward, grabbing Clay and pulling him into a tight embrace. Caoimhe squealed and tried to get away before she met the same fate.

But it was too late, now Clay was covered in flour and chasing her too. He didn't seem that upset anymore. She made a break for it, sprinting towards the stairs like her life depended on it.

Someone grabbed her ankle and pulled her down. Nick cackled as he gave Caoimhe the biggest bear hug of her life, covering her in flour. She groaned.

The Texan ruffled her hair playfully. Caoimhe swatted him away and made her way back to Clay. She felt like she was on top of the world, and she wanted to ride that high for as long as she could.

Clay gave her a flour-y kiss on the cheek and tucked her under his arm, surveying the pantry damage. Caoimhe leaned into him.

"How did you manage to do this?" She asked Nick.

"."