"TIME," HE HAD SAID. "I'M afraid of time. We never have enough of it and we never know which day will be our last. We're supposed to cherish each passing day like a blessing but with each passing day, we lose more time. I don't know when my last day will be, but I'm not ready and I don't think I'll ever be. This world is pretty cool and I'd like to stick around if that isn't too much to ask." I was never given the chance to agree with him. "With each passing day, our time starts running out. The time we have together is limited and I want to make it unlimited. Time goes by so fast and you never know where it went until it's too late. I appreciate every second I have and I take advantage of it because I know I'm losing more time." He looked at me. "I'm afraid of losing all of the time I have with you."

I had to admit, I was touched. I was more than touched. My heart was about to give out and fall right into my stomach. That was what he did to me. He made my organs not work properly but he had no idea he was doing it. I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. He immediately turned red and smiled. I licked some more of my ice cream and sat closer to him. Our shoulders pressed together and we stared out at the ocean. We did not have to exchange words to know what we were both thinking. Tomorrow, we had to go back to work and we would not have the freedom like today. I wanted to make today last because I did not feel like sitting around for most of my day tomorrow.

"Did you hear that?" I asked suddenly, smiling from ear to ear.

"Hear what?"

"My stomach," I said. "It's ready to eat."

Harry looked at me and playfully rolled his eyes, "Aren't you eating an ice cream cone?"

"Yeah, but that isn't food."

"What are you trying to say?" he cocked an eyebrow. "You want something to eat?" I nodded my head and got closer to him, showing my teeth as I grinned. "I'll buy us something to eat as long as you don't eat me. Cannibalism isn't cool, Sydney."

I stood up and continued to lick my ice cream as I gathered my pajamas and shoes from the sand. Harry stood up and grabbed his belongings as well. I threw my shirt over my head and Harry stepped into his bottoms. We held hands and I spotted the truck from where we were. I tried to race him to it but his hand tightened around mine and we turned left. My eyebrows rose as we stopped at the end of the parking lot. Harry looked both ways across the street before pulling me along with him. My bare feet moved quickly against the pavement and I immediately regretted not putting my shoes back on.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we walked down the sidewalk.

"Pizza," was all he said.

We passed by several buildings and I smiled at all the people we passed by. We moved quickly and I barely had time to appreciate the stuff around us because he was pulling me too fast. I felt like I was on a roller coaster. We passed several restaurants and the smell of the food made my mouth water. Although I was in the mood for pizza, whatever I had just smelled seemed appetizing, too. I turned my attention back to where I was going and smiled when we approached a brick building with a metal pizza on it. There were lights on it and I wondered how cool it was going to look tonight. I expected us to go inside but, instead, Harry pulled me to the side and we sat down at a table outside. I assumed it was because of what we were wearing and outfits such as ours were not tolerated indoors.

"So, we just wait?" I asked.

"She'll be out here any minute to give us our menus."

"Who is—"

"What do you prefer on your pizza?"

I sat back against my seat, "Anything, really, just as long as there are black olives."

Harry nodded his head and looked at the door leading inside. I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered slightly. The outdoor area was covered slightly and when I looked up, there was a fan blowing right above my head. I watched it move in a circular motion and I watched the blades morph into one. I looked around and noticed the other fans were off. This was the only one on and I raised my eyebrows. I shrugged it off when I heard the door open and a squealing sound filled my ears.

"I knew it!"

I looked toward the sound of the voice and my eyes widened, "Olivia?"

She was smiling from ear to ear, "When I first laid eyes on you, I just knew there was something." She handed me a menu and threw the other in Harry's direction, it hitting him right in the face. "Now, don't get me wrong, Jillian is a nice girl and she knows how to have fun, but since you showed up, God, Harry hasn't been able to shut up about you!"

I looked at him, "Really?"

He shrugged but his cheeks were flushed.

"Anyway," she opened the menu for me before placing her hands on her hips. "I would order anything on the menu if I were you. Harry's paying and he doesn't really like to say no." She looked over at him and moved one hand quickly to thump the side of his head. He threw her a look and she only winked at him. "We have smoothies, if you haven't spotted them on the menu. We also have milkshakes. If you can't decide, why not order both?"

"What am I?" Harry asked. "A winning lottery ticket?"

"Shut up," Olivia snatched his menu out of his hands and hit the top of his head. I tried to hold back my laughter but failed. "I'm trying to make this restaurant some money. Let me do my job and I'll let you do yours."

"You don't even come to the herb shop."

Olivia rolled her eyes and dropped his menu down on the table, "Sorry, but the smell gives me a headache. I don't see how the two of you can work there. Speaking of which, why are you dressed like that? And why is your hair wet?"

"We went to the beach," I said.

"On a work day?"

"Harry's sick," I smirked.

He coughed and gagged.

Olivia smiled before nodding her head, "Oh, I see. Well, I'll leave you two to look at your menus and I'll be back in a jiffy to take your order."

She disappeared before I could thank her.

I looked back at Harry and tilted my head to the side, "I think I know why you chose this place."

"And why is that?" he placed his elbows on the table and wiggled his eyebrows.

"You have friends here."

"Just Olivia. Billy works at the post office."

"The woman who has a wonderful memory and the man who likes to go by Billy even though his name is William. Aren't they opposites, in a way? I remember you saying Olivia is more of a talker and Billy is more of a...nontalker. Is that even a word?"

His eyes widened a bit before he reached across the table, taking my menu out of my hands. He then took mine in his and kissed them. When he pulled away, he said, "Ah, so you remember everything I told you about our friends."

"Our?" I laughed. "They barely know me."

"They barely know you; yet, they like you."

"Olivia said when she first laid eyes on me, she said she knew there was something," I pointed out. "Do you think she meant she knew we would end up together? I know, it's probably a silly question but—"

"Yes," he quickly answered.

"That would've been awkward if you had said no."

"When I first laid eyes on you, I knew there was something," he said, looking away from me and looking at the street. "I didn't catch it at first but you seem to have this natural glow. You're a cheery person, Sydney, and when you get around other people, your emotions wash off on them and they feel the exact same way. You know how to make others happy. Even though you nearly killed me—"

"Let's not discuss the baseball bat."

"Oh, I'm so going to hold that against you."

"Huh," I pulled my hands away from his. "Then I guess I'm going to have to find a way to shut you up, then."

"Killing people is not the answer."

I ignored his comment, "I could cook dinner tonight."

"You cook?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Yes," I frowned. "Why would I not?"

"You only go in the kitchen for chips and frozen foods that you just have to put in the microwave. I've never seen you do anything more than cooking a pack of Ramen noodles...and I'm pretty sure you forgot to put water in the bowl."

"That was a one time thing."

"Looks like I'm holding that against you, too."

"I'm cooking dinner tonight and you can't say anything about it because my food is going to be so good."

"We'll see."

I rolled my eyes and picked my menu back up. Everything looked and sounded delicious and I wanted it all with black olives, of course. I checked out the smoothie and milkshake section of the menu and frowned when I looked at the prices. One smoothie or milkshake was almost four dollars while a water bottle was the cheapest drink on the menu. I decided to get a water since Harry was paying for the entire thing. I was going to pay him back, though, even if he tried to reject the money. He was letting me live with him and he was charging me a small amount for rent. It was only fair that I paid him back the meal and the ice cream.

"What do you cook, anyway?" Harry asked.

"Food."

He laughed and went back to looking at the menu. I was fine with anything he ordered just as long as there was a lot of meat and my black olives. I sat my menu down and watched him look at his. He knitted his eyebrows together and I watched his eyes look up and down the sticky menu. I ruffled my hair out of boredom and chuckled when it went back to its spot due to its wetness. If it were dry, I would have looked like a bird's nest. The door opened again and Olivia was back with a little notepad and a blue pen. I looked her up and down and noticed the work uniform—a red polo, black waist apron, khaki pants, black shoes. Her hair was pulled away from her face and the tips of her hair were no longer pink. They were turquoise now.

"What will it be?" Olivia asked. "You want the usual?"

"The usual?" I looked at Harry. "What's that?"

He handed our menus back to Olivia, "Yeah, but make it a large and add lots of black olives."

"My hero," I whispered, placing a hand against my chest.

"Uh huh," Olivia nodded her head. "And what to drink?"

"Weren't you supposed to ask us that last time you were here?" Harry shook his head at her. "You really suck at this, you know."

"Fight me," she snarled. "Sydney, what will you have?"

"Water," I said.

"No smoothie or milkshake?" she asked and I shook my head. "Lame. Hey, you turd, what do you want?"

Harry looked at me for a split second before looking back at his friend, "I'll have water, too."

Olivia wrote everything down and disappeared again, muttering something under her breath. I gasped when Harry grabbed my hands again, intertwining his fingers with mine. I turned my head to look at him and the corner of his lips was curled upward, causing him to look like he was halfway smiling. I ran my thumb against the skin between his index finger and thumb, against his cross tattoo.

"You must come here often," I said.

"The pizza is pretty good."

"And was this spot yours and Jillian's before now?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Couples usually have a favorite spot where they like to eat and I just thought—"

"No, I never brought her here," his frown soon turned upside down. "But if you want this to be our spot, you should probably open your mouth and say something."

I raised my eyebrows, "We aren't even official."

"We will be."

"When?"

"I'm going to talk to her today," he nodded his head. "While you're cooking your horrendous meal, I'll go talk to her and sort things out. She'll understand and everything will be all right. She's a beautiful woman and I'm sure she can find herself somebody else."

"Looks aren't everything."

"Yes, yes, but you can have a beautiful personality."

"And Jillian has that?"

He laughed and his hands tightened around mine, "You shouldn't judge a person when you barely know them. I know she hasn't been the nicest around you but it's not like you're going to see her everyday for the rest of your life."

"I thought you were going to eat me alive when I first met you."

"What is it with you and cannibalism?"

I waved him off, "What were your thoughts when you first saw me?"

"Back at the herb shop when you were looking for a job?"

"Yes, sir."

"Hmm. Well, you kept ringing that damn bell. So, I thought that if you kept ringing the bell, I was going to drown myself in my own pool."

"Harsh."

"I don't want to do that now. You're pretty cool."

"You're not so bad yourself."

"Hmm," he shook his head and pointed a finger at me. "I'm pretty sure I heard you calling me your hero earlier."

My eyes widened, "You heard that?"

"You suck at whispering."

"You asked for a lot of black olives," I grinned. "You're like my knight in shining armor. Where did you even come from?"

"The United Kingdom."

I choked on air, "What?"

"What?" he tilted his head to the side.

"You're joking."

"A bug is going to fly into your mouth if you keep it hanging open like that."

"But...But you sound so Americanized!"

He laughed. His hand went across his chest and he squeezed his eyes shut as his dimples dug into his cheeks. I was suddenly embarrassed and I looked down at my lap as he continued to laugh.

"I lived there until I was about two years old. I don't remember it. My family moved here to have a fresh start. I suppose that's why I sound so Americanized. Were you born in Portland?"

I nodded my head.

"Your face is red."

I looked up at him and sighed, "It's normal for a human being to turn red when they're embarrassed. I probably sounded like an idiot, huh?"

"Nah," he reassured me. "I would have been shocked, too."

I opened my mouth to speak but the door opened and two people stepped out—Olivia and a younger woman who looked like her. Olivia carried our drinks while the other woman held the pizza. Olivia handed me by water and she looked Harry up and down before giving him his. The woman sat the pizza down on the table and smiled at us before going back inside. There was pepperoni, sausage, bacon bits, tomatoes, different kinds of cheese and I barely saw anything underneath the black olives. Olivia pulled up a chair and when she grabbed a slice for herself, I laughed.

"She's new at this but she's getting better."

"Who is she?" I asked.

"Madi," she bit into the pizza and held up a finger as she chewed and swallowed. "Younger sister. Spawn of Satan. Evil. Yeah. Dad thought it would be great for her to start working at the family restaurant, you know? I'm glad she knows what she's doing because we really needed another employee."

I grabbed a slice, "I wish I would have known this before deciding to check out the herb shop." A black olive hit me and when I looked at Harry, he was coughing to hide his laughter. "Hey!"

"What?" he blinked.

Olivia smirked and helped herself to another slice even though she had barely finished her first. "It would have been great."

"Are you guys still hiring?"

Harry looked at me, "What—"

"We're always hiring. Call us some desperate fucks. Why? Are you interested?"

"I'm interested in a weekend job."

"Sydney—"

"Harry," I gave him a warm smile. "It wouldn't be so bad. Besides, we both know how much I need this."

"You don't need a second job." Harry's eyes hardened.

"Shut up," Olivia smacked the side of his head and managed to keep both of her slices of pizza okay. "Let the woman think for herself. You act as if working with me is such a bad thing. I'm good company. If I wasn't, we wouldn't still be friends."

His facial expression did not change as he looked from Olivia to me, "You don't need a second job. I can help you out with whatever you need. You know this. So, why—"

"Do you guys have any applications?" I asked Olivia.

She smiled and put her pizza slices back down, "Of course! Just let me go grab you one."

When she stood up from the table, Harry slammed his hands down on the metal, missing the pizza by a couple of centimeters. I nearly dropped my slice of pizza and I looked at him with fear in my eyes. He gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white. What the hell was wrong with him? This was my decision, not his. He did not have a right to get upset. It was just a job. I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes, exhaling slowly.

"Can you calm down for just one second and enjoy this day with me?" I asked. "Having another job is never a bad thing and you said you would help me until I was back on my feet. I'm trying to do that and...and..." I opened my eyes and removed my fingers from my nose. "Just don't be mad, okay? Today was going just fine."

He looked at me, anger still in his eyes, but he slowly removed his hands from the table and grabbed himself a slice of pizza. He bit into it, not once looking at me, and chewed slowly. My heartbeat quickened and I cursed myself for asking Olivia the question in the first place.

"Fine," he said under his breath.

But it was too late.

The day had already been ruined.