next morning, his bed is empty and a pair of sweatpants are folded neatly on top of his dresser accompanied by a scrap of paper with the words I told you I'd return them scribbled across it. Hyde smiles and picks the pants up, watching as they unfurl towards the dirty floor. In all honesty, if she had never given them back, that would have been alright with him.

He slides them on over his bare legs and ruffles his hair as he emerges from his sanctuary to find three teenagers occupying the space in the common area. Hyde groans quietly and sneaks behind them to slowly ascend the stairs. Not that he doesn't like his friends, but this summer with the group fractured and separated across the country and the appearance of Evie have given him a much-needed respite from their constant state of being wherever he is.

The Formans are sitting in the living room when he swings open the door. Red has his head buried in the paper and Kitty is watching some soap opera. It's a typical scene, and one that's begun to feel like home to Hyde, something he didn't think he'd ever get to have. Even though he would never admit it out loud, and can barely admit it to himself, Mr. and Mrs. Forman had become almost like parents to him and he was very grateful they had let him into their home and accepted him as one of their own.

Kitty turns to look at Steven as he saunters in, greeting him in her normal jovial manner. "Good morning, Steven! How'd you sleep?"

Hyde smiles despite himself as an image of Evie curled up in his arms pops into his head. "Wonderfully." He crosses the room as Red gives him a grunt of acknowledgement and shoves his feet into his boots, not even bothering to lace them. "I'll be back, uh, later."

"Where ya goin', honey?" Kitty pulls her lips into her mouth to hide her grin and turns her gaze back towards the TV. "To see a certain blonde, perhaps."

Hyde grimaces as he tugs the door open. "I'm just going for a walk."

"Oka-ay," Mrs. Forman sings, picking up her mug and taking a sip. "You have fun. Say hi to Evangeline for me."

Steven shuts them door, blocking his view of a giggling Kitty and a smirking Red and starts down the driveway, his footfalls heavy and slow. He heads down the street, passing house after house, first Donna's, then the blue house with all the birdhouses, then Evangeline's old house. The midday sun beats down on his head; his sunglasses do very little to help with the brightness of the day.

As he continues onto the next street over, secretly wishing he'd chosen a light-color tee instead of the worn, black Zeppelin tee he's had for years, he realizes how long it's been since he just walked. The sounds of summer, kids playing in their yards, parents mowing lawns, families splashing around in pools, provide background for his thoughts. The one that holds a prominent position in the front of his mind is how this walk would be infinitely better with Evie by his side.

By the time he realizes it, Hyde has walked the two miles to Evie's grandmother's house. The driveway is empty and the garage open, with no cars indicating Maggie Ross is not home. He pauses in front of the lawn, his eyes wandering over all the flowers growing along the front of the house and along the white picket-fence separating Evie from the world. He hadn't consciously intended on showing up here, but maybe he had the idea tucked away into a corner of his mind.

When he's been standing there staring at their house long enough for the neighbor's to start to worry and call the cops on him or something, he decides to leave her alone. If she'd wanted to see him today, she would have stayed longer this morning instead of leaving like a shamed one-night stand. Before he has the time to cross the few yards to the next house, a voice calls out his name from inside the house.

He turns to see Evie hanging out a second-story window over a lavender-color flower bobbing in and out of a lattice trellis. "Steven!" She waves her hand, gesturing for him to open the gate. "Go through the back door."

He points to the path that disappears around the house and raises his eyebrows. She nods and gives him a huge smile before shutting her window. He watches the curtains swing back and forth for a brief second before locking the gate and following the path to the back porch. He edges around the pool, weaving through patio furniture and potted plants galore. The cool air that greets him as the door slides open with a whoosh is a welcomed change from the already-stifling air outside.

Homey is probably the best word to describe Evie's house. The kitchen is the first room he enters, cherry and bright and covered in a wallpaper scarily similar to the one in the Formans' house. He can see into the family room through a wooden railing behind the dining room table where a large shepherd dog lies sleeping on a rug in the middle of the room. There are pictures everywhere, of people he recognizes, like Evie and her family, and some he doesn't. He passes a sitting room, one that looks well lived in. On the mantle above the fireplace is three more photo frames boasting what Hyde now assumes to be all Maggie's grandchildren. The hallway the stairs lead into is the same, no spot left untouched by a familiar touch.

Evie meets him at the top dressed in Laurie's U-Mad sweatshirt and bouncing up and down on her toes. Kitty told her to keep it as it was just a reminder to Red that Laurie wasted his money. Crimson is Evie's color anyway, Hyde thinks. Her bare legs are distracting as she shuffles toward him, her tube socks dragging across the carpet.

"Steven, I was just listening to this new album by this band The Cars, come on! I think you might hate it, cause I love it." Evangeline giggles, and drags him the short distance back to her room at the end of the hall.

Her room is probably four times the size of Hyde's—though that isn't saying much seeing as his is literally a closet. The double bed in the center of the wall opposite the window is made of a deep wood that looks hand-carved and a pastel quilt that covers the length of the mattress. The walls, a light grey color, are neatly covered with posters and pictures of, mostly, bands and artists from the fifties and sixties, but one wall is pasted over with bands like Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Doors. A cork board near the window is poked through with ticket stubs and more photos. Just like the rest of the large house, it's cozy.

Evangeline watches Steven examining her room and falls onto her bed as the music from the record player on the desk in front of the window swells. "This used to be my mom's room when she lived here. The posters on that wall are mine, of course, and some of the other ones are my mom's." Evie sighs as Hyde lies down next to her. "Grandma hasn't changed much of anything in thirty years."

A box in the corner near her closet catches Hyde's eye and he shift his body to get a better look at the words written sloppily in black marker. Evangeline's old stuff, it says then has an arrow pointing up to show which side opens.

"What's that?" he asks, gesturing to it.

"A box of some stuff from when I was a kid Grandma brought down from the attic." Evie settles the arm of her record player down gently and gives him a smile. "So, what do you think of the band?" Hyde doesn't say anything at the change in subject, but closes his eyes to take in the sound of the new song.

When they've listened to the whole album, Hyde admits that he may have enjoyed some of the songs. Evie gives him a shit-eating grin and punches his arm. "See? I knew it."

"Actually, you said I was going to hate it."

"Whatever." Evangeline slides off her bed and switches the record.

When the music starts, Hyde groans and pulls himself into sitting. The piano intro sends a chill down his spine, but not in a good way. "Now, this I hate."

Evie's mouth falls open and she scoffs, holding a hand over her heart dramatically. "What is wrong with Styx?"

"Uh, everything."

"No. They're great!" Evie turns up the volume slightly and dances over to the window to open the curtains. "You know, my grandpa actually owned a bar in Chicago for a while where they used to play every night. He used to like to say he gave them their start." Evie smiles as she pushes Hyde back down and rests her ear on his chest.

"I thought your family's lived here since, like, forever?"

"They have," Evie says, tracing the fading letters on his shirt lightly with the tip of her finger, "all except for about a few years when my grandpa inherited a bar from a war buddy of his. He moved down there to keep it running until he could find someone to buy it from him."

Hyde nods as the song switches and another shiver shakes his body, though this time he knows it's not from the music. The two fall into another one of their comfortable silences; Evie lays her arm across Steven's chest as he wraps his own around her shoulder, reaching a hand to play with her hair. As they lie there together, Evangeline thinks about how if she could, she would like to just lay in his arms forever.

Despite their tumultuous history and only having been reconnected for three or so weeks, it's where she feels the most comfortable and safe and wanted. Love, in whatever form it may come, doesn't show up often for her so she holds onto to any semblance of it she can, even if it's just the beginning of it, the start of a friendship or maybe something more.

When the music stops, neither moves to take the record off the player; instead they sit and listen to the static, simply enjoying the company.

Evangeline's stomach growling interrupts the quiet and they both laugh as Evie rolls off the bed and shuts the record player off. "I was actually just about to say that I'm feeling a bit peckish."

"No, shit," Hyde chuckles, following her as she gallops down the hall and takes the stairs two at a time before he even has the chance to exit her room. Evie is already opening cabinets and drawers when Hyde reaches the kitchen. His nose wrinkles in disgust when he realizes what she's doing. "A spoonful of peanut butter?"

"Yeah, so?" Evie says, her voice muffled by the butter sticking her tongue to the roof of her mouth. "It's so good."

Hyde opens the fridge and scans its contents. "You're so weird." He grabs a can of whipped cream and sprays it directly into his mouth, only to be immediately reprimanded by a Evie at how gross that is. "I didn't touch my mouth! Your thing is grosser."

Evie grabs the can from him with a glare. "Is not. Who knows where your mouth has been."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he says with a laugh, reaching for the can as Evie shoots her arm backwards. He leans forwards and easily grabs the can from her hand. "Got it."

"No fair," she says, pushing her bottom lip out as her hands hook onto his pockets. She pulls him closer to her, causing him to stumble out of surprise, his feet occupying the space between her legs. "Go easy on me, Steven." Evie's hands wander over the plane of his chest in a painfully slow manner, inching their way up to his face where she cups his cheeks gently. "Give it back."

Hyde's arm slowly falls back down to his side as she brings their faces closer together, close enough that if he moved their lips would be touching. Then he's ripped from desire to kiss her building up in his abdomen by cool cream sprayed into his face. Evie darts away through the back door, cackling and holding the can above her head. "Can't catch me!" she calls tauntingly, shaking her hips in a tiny victory dance as Hyde wipes the white now-liquid off his nose.

For the second time that week, they chase each other around, spraying the cream everywhere; in the plants, on the deck, in the pool, at each other, until they're covered head-to-toe and the bottle is empty. A trail of destruction follows them, though they manage to carefully avoid knocking over and trampling Maggie's prized plants. Evie throws the empty can into the patio table and collapses into Hyde's chest laughing. "Steven, now what am I gonna eat with my crackers?"

Hyde ruffles her hair, the cream acting as a kind of gel and making it stand up on its own. "What other gross foods do you eat?"

"Forgive me for liking things, but how am i supposed to—"

"You did it too—"

"—now I'll have to eat crackers with cheese or something." Evangeline's face contorts into a scowl at the thought.

"What's wrong with cheese?"

"Evangeline!"

The girl stumbles out of Hyde's grasp as her grandma comes around the corner bearing two brown paper bags full of groceries. She's frowning, a look that's etched many a line onto her forehead over the years, but she merely looks annoyed rather than angry like last time.

"Grandma, I didn't expect you back already." Evie stubs her socks against the ground, staring at a tiny black dot in the concrete.

"Obviously." She turns to look at the boy, who's trying to avoid the older woman's gaze. "Hose off the patio and water my plants. Then come in. Both of you. I'm making lunch."

Hyde and Evie turn to look at each other, equally surprised at her offer and demeanor. Hyde didn't know her grandma very well, but she didn't seem the type to change her mind very easily and that looks like exactly what she'd done. "Okay, Grandma," Evangeline says, watching as the woman disappears behind the glass. "That was weird. I was sure she hated you. I mean, there's very few people she likes, so don't feel bad."

"Don't worry; I don't."

Evangeline smiles and leads him by the hand over to the hose. "Just help me clean up and I swear to God if you spray me with that hose you will rue the day you were born."

The glare that scrunches up Evie's nose is adorable and he can't help but pinch her cheek and coo obnoxiously at her. "You're cute when you're trying to be mean."

The girl punches him in the arm and begins to clean off the patio with a shut up thrown over her shoulder. They finish in record time and Hyde watches as the girl disappears into the house. He slowly follows after, the grin on his face unable to be quelled. After only barely a month, the summer is already better than he could have planned and shaping up to be one he'll never forget.