"Are you coming today or what?" Emmett called, throwing a pillow at me.

"It's too early," I complained, throwing the first thing I could grab back at him, which happened to be a bra.

"Get your ass out of bed or I will drag you down the stairs."

I let out a groan, pressing my face into my pillow for a few moments before dragging myself out of bed.

I slipped on a bathing suit and pulled on a t-shirt and pair of shorts over, throwing my hair up into a messy bun. I slid my feet into a pair of flip-flops and grabbed my Ray Bans before heading out into the kitchen.

"She lives!" Emmett announced.

"Shut up."

"The car is loaded," Parker said, coming into the apartment. "Are we ready?"

I reached over and grabbed an apple out of the fruit basket for breakfast.

"Let's go," Emmett agreed, checking his phone.

I followed the boys down the stairs, the three of us silent.

This was going to be a long day.

There was a blonde waiting in the lobby, her nose buried in her phone. Her head snapped up when she saw us, and a smile spread across her face.

"Hey babe," Emmett greeted, with a smile.

"What?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him.

"This is Reagan," he introduced. "She's coming with us."

"Are you fucking with me?" Parker asked.

"Let's go," Emmett said to Reagan, ignoring Parker and me.

Parker and I exchanged glances, the two of us both surprised.

"This was not agreed upon," I informed Emmett, as we headed out to Parker's Edge.

"I didn't know I needed your permission to invite someone along," Emmett said, rolling his eyes. "If Michelle could've come, you would've invited her."

"That's different."

"I fail to see how."

Emmett opened the backseat door and for Reagan and then climbed in next to her.

And that's when I realized that I was expected to sit upfront with Parker.

I took in a deep breath, letting out a slow sigh before taking the passenger seat.

Parker was gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles practically turning white.

"It's okay not to crush the steering wheel," I informed him.

He let out a chuckle, releasing his death grip on the steering wheel a bit.

I sat criss-cross, staring out the window as we headed out to the bay.

Reagan and Emmett were chatting in the back, and Parker turned on the radio to break the silence between the two of us.

A little over halfway through, the car began to make a clunking noise, and then slowed down to a stop.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Parker muttered, slamming the steering wheel.

"Pop the top," Emmett ordered, before hopping out of the car.

Parker joined him at the front of the car, the two of them opening the hood and releasing a cloud of smoke.

"I have a feeling we aren't going anywhere for a while," Reagan commented.

"Same," I muttered.

After a few minutes, I exited the car as well to see what was going on.

"He blew the head gasket," Emmett informed me, with a grim smile.

"So what does that mean?" I asked, Emmett's car talk sounding like Greek to me.

"That means we need a tow truck," Emmett said.

So much for a day out on the boat.

"How much is this going to cost me?" Parker asked Emmett, with a sigh.

Emmett let out a sigh of his own, peering down at the gasket. "Because I love you, I can probably get it to you for under 500."

"500?" Parker demanded.

"It usually runs over 700," Emmett defended. "But as I said, I can probably work out 450."

"Fuck," Parker groaned.

"And that doesn't include the fact that your engine overheated for a reason," Emmett added.

"What?"

"Your gasket blew because your engine overheated," Emmett said. "So we have to diagnose why your engine is overheating and that's gonna cost you a pretty penny."

Parker ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a string of curse words.

"I'm going to go tell Reagan what's going on," Emmett said, after a few moments of silence.

"What about a tow truck?" I asked.

"I already called the Auto Body shop," Emmett dismissed, as he headed towards the backseat. "They're on the way."

That's definitely the perk of having your brother, or in Parker's case best friend, work for an Auto Body shop.

"This fucking sucks," Parker muttered.

"What's worse is that we're in the middle of the road," I said, waving to a passing by car.

The driver flipped me off.

"Asshole," I shouted after him.

"And we'll be here for the next 45 minutes to an hour," Parker recited, with a sigh.

I looked over my shoulder, where Reagan and Emmett were intensely making out in the backseat.

"Lucky us," I muttered.

Silence lapsed between us, and I found myself staring up at the clouds.

"That one looks like a T-Rex," Parker said, after a few more minutes of silence.

I looked over at him. "What?"

"That cloud," he clarified, pointing to a cloud off to the left. "It looks like a T-Rex."

"No way," I disagreed, my eyes scanning the sky. "See that one?"

He nodded.

"That one looks like a cupcake."

He tilted his head, concentrating for a few moments. "Maybe I could see that."

And that's how we spent the next 45 minutes, debating over the shapes of various clouds.

~*~

"Can I borrow your car?" Emmett asked me.

"You have your own car," I reminded him, opening the refrigerator.

"I let Parker take it to Miami."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "You let Parker drive your Mercedes?"

"Yeah, let's not really talk about it. Can I borrow your car?"

"My keys are on my dresser," I said, chuckling to myself as I pulled out a container of yogurt.

"Hey hoe!" Michelle called, coming into the apartment.

"We really need to keep that door locked," I said, taking a seat at the counter to eat my breakfast.

"Don't pretend you don't love me," Michelle complained, helping herself to a banana.

"There's no faking it here," Emmett promised, coming back into the kitchen. "Didn't I lock the door?"

"Such an asshole," Michelle complained.

"I'm off to work," Emmett said. "I'll be home a little after lunch."

"Okay," I said, blowing him a kiss.

He left the apartment, whistling.

"Your brother is gorgeous," Michelle gushed, once the door was successfully shut.

"Shut up and let's go get breakfast," I said, tossing my half-eaten yogurt in the trash.

"But your brother just left with your car."

"And you don't have one?"

She paused for a moment. "Let's pretend like that didn't just happen."

"No promises idiot."

"Is that any way to talk to someone you want to take you to get food?"

"Emily is hungry," I said, standing up.

"Chris Keller isn't making a cameo appearance today," Michelle informed me. "Here in the normal world we speak in the first person."

"Chris Keller was kind of cute in Season Nine," I said, as we headed out the door.

"Don't talk to me for at least two minutes," Michelle ordered, shaking her head.

~*~

"I miss Lee," I admitted to Emmett.

"Why?" Emmett asked.

"He spiced up the apartment," I said, as I sifted through his record collection. "Made things interesting." I located his Jimmy Buffet album, Changed in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. "And I liked hanging around him."

"Well you have the next best thing still here," Emmett said, as I plugged in the record.

"What?"

"You still have Parker."

I rolled my eyes, turning up the volume on the auxiliary system.

The apartment door opened a few seconds later, and Parker came in, sipping on a McDonald's Sweet Tea.

"Speak of the devil," Emmett commented. "Where's my car?"

"Parked and safe," Parker promised, tossing Emmett his keys.

Emmett practically tore out of the apartment to go and check on his car.

"It's those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, nothing remains quite the same," Parker sang along with the vinyl as he opened up the refrigerator.

"You know Jimmy Buffet?" I asked.

"Who doesn't?" he asked, pulling out a plastic container. "Is this fresh?"

"What is it?"

"Pineapple."

I nodded. "Emmett just cut it this morning."

Parker opened the container, taking a fork and eating from it.

"These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, nothing remains quite the same," Parker continued to sing, as he ate the pineapple. "Through all of the islands and all of the highlands if we couldn't laugh we'd go insane."

"I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but you can't sing," I informed him.

"Well damn, there goes my career," he teased, before taking another bite of pineapple. "If you're so good, let's hear it."

"I never said I was."

"Well you can't bash me without offering something to the table."

"Not gonna happen."

"I've seen you dance on the table and your aftermath of Risky Business. Could it really be that much worse?"

He does make a good point.

"Fine," I agreed, sticking out my tongue at him. "But only to prove you wrong."

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Sing away princess."

I felt my stomach churn at the nickname.

The song was singing through the chorus again, and I waited until it reached the third verse.

"I think about Paris when I'm high on red wine, I wish I could jump on a plane. And so many nights I dream of the ocean, God I wish I could go sailin' again."

"Not bad," Parker said, with a nod. "But nearly as good as me."

I scoffed, shaking my head. "In your dreams."

And then Parker, unable to contain himself, began to belt out the next part of the song.

"These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, nothing remains quite the same. Through all of the islands and all of the highlands if we couldn't laugh we'd go insane."

And with that the song ended.

"I'd say we could've probably gotten the yes on American Idol," Parker mused.

"I could've," I corrected, as Wonder Why We Ever Go Home played through on the vinyl. "They would've sent you packing."

Parker laughed to that, and I couldn't help but laugh as well.

~*~

"It's going to be a blowout," Hannah was saying, as I took my seat at our lunch table.

"What's going on?" I asked, as I opened my salad container.

"Party this Friday," she informed me, with a smile. "The address is going to be released three hours before the party. And it's supposed to be major."

"Aren't all parties supposed to be major?" I asked, this hype seeming vaguely familiar.

"But this one is a can't miss," she defended.

For Hannah all parties are a can't miss.

"Okay," I agreed, with a laugh.

"So you're coming?"

"To a party that's apparently going to be major and that I don't have the address to yet? Wouldn't miss it."

"I'm not looking for your sarcasm Emily Winston," she warned, pointing her fork at me. "You're coming and that's final."

"I heard it's supposed to be epic," Michelle piped up, with a nod.

I rolled my eyes, letting out a laugh.

"So you'll drag Emily then?" Hannah asked Michelle.

"Most definitely."

"Oh what the hell," I said, as I drizzled the dressing over my salad. "Let's party."

**************************************************************************************************************

So what did you guys think about Parker's car breaking down? What about Emmett lending his car to Parker, were you surprised? And then Parker & Emily's little moments throughout the chapter, did you catch them? And of course, the major, epic party, predictions on that?

The picture off to the right was submited by k_aitlynl. Check it out! -->

So I can give you guys the long-winded excuse about how busy I've been these past few weeks, and how I haven't honestly had the time to write, but whatever I say in these Author's Notes seems to end up lost in transit. So I'll just leave it at that I was busy.

Teaser: The major, epic party of the year!

Update: So this is the last time you'll see this. I've decided to officially get rid of the update day. I said I was going to do this before, and you guys were able to convince me not to. But I just can't anymore. So I'll leave you with the promise that I'll update once a week at the least. But other than that I'm sorry, but I just honestly can't deal with it anymore.