It Won't Stop

the shadow of the day

Since Dean was only in town for one more day, I decided to take him to all of my favorite places. First off was a lunch at Stopin, the first place Jennifer took me out to dinner.
"This places makes smoothies, better than Ronnie's." Dean started shaking his head at me.
"Nope. No one could ever beat Ron." My brother was content with his beliefs, never letting anyone change what he thinks. I guess it's a good thing, but at the same time it's annoying as shit. When the waitress came over we ordered the same thing - milkshake, cheeseburger, and onion rings.
"So, you seem to be doing really well." Dean said as the waitress walked away.
"I'm going amazing, Dean. I love it out here. Living with Jennifer is so fun and I don't have to worry about bumping into anyone I don't want to."
"And Josh?" He raised an eyebrow and I could feel my face heat up and a smile slide across my lips.
"What about him?" I asked playing with my spoon.
"Is he a good guy?"
"Of course he is. Do you think I'd ever be in a relationship like that again?" The waitress brought us our shakes, but I continued to stare at my brother until he answered.
"No, I was just making sure. Josh seems like a really nice guy."
"It's because he's a great guy." I couldn't stop smiling as I mixed my drink around with my straw.
"Holy shit!" I looked up to see that Dean had finally taken a sip of the drink. Laughing, I shook my head and flipped through the mini jukebox on our table.
- - -
After our lunch, we went to the Santa Monica pier. It was so nice to relax and talk with Dean again. I missed him, our childhood.
"Remember that time you painted me completely black and mom kicked you out of the house?"
"Yeah! That bitch, I was only 5!" We laughed and Dean started laughing harder. "Or that time you went to jump through the sliding door to scare me and it was closed. You flew back like 4 feet!"
I laughed so hard that my stomach started to hurt and I could feel my face going red. "Every time we'd stop at McDonalds and you couldn't stand the smell. So you unrolled the windows all the way down."
"Or the car wash. 'What would happen if I roll the window down'. Everyone gets soaked besides me."
"You were a horrible sibling." Dean laughed while I wiped the tears away from my eyes.
"I love you Deanie bean." I snuggled into his side as we sat on the bench in the warm summer sun.
"I love you too, sis." He rubbed my arm and we sat just like that, in silence, for a while. After a while, he sat straight up with a huge smile on his face. "I have an idea."
Without an explanation, we were on our way back to the apartment. "Jennifer!" I called, kicking off my shoes after I walked in. She didn't answer and Dean casually made his way to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" I asked, watching him fish through the kitchen cabinets.
"Brownie mix!" He yelled, grabbing all the ingredients he needed. I rolled my eyes and went into my room to do some Insanity. The exercises they do in this video leaves me sore for weeks, but the results are worth it. During my exercise, I could smell something sweet and fimiliar. I just ignored it and took a shower, throwing on some clothes before walking out to see what Dean was up to.
"Dean, it smells like you smoked a whole plant in here." I couldn't help but laugh.
"I didn't! I just made these great brownies," Dean replied. There was knock on the door before someone walked in. I peaked around the corner and saw Josh.
"Hey beautiful." Just those two simple words made me weak in the knees for him. I practically leaped into his arms for a kiss. I didn't get to see him yesterday because of how many interviews he had to do, but I got to hang out with Dean after work so it wasn't too bad.
When we pulled away, Josh stuck his nose in the air and sniffed twice. "Dean!" Josh walked away from me and went to find him in the kitchen. I let out a huff and followed him. Apparently Josh wanted a damn brownie or 5 because he ate most of them.
"I think we need to give Juliet the rest," Dean smiled, sliding the plate to me. I didn't even have to think before taking a bite of the warm brownie. Even though my brother put something in it, you could barely taste it.
"If we don't save one for Jenn, she'll be pissed." I mention, putting serane wrap over the plate. Josh got the bright idea that we should play Just Dance. I chose number four and went straight to Good Feeling. We danced and dance until the TV looked like the screen was just a big blur.
"I can't move my arms," Josh told me, looking up at me completely wide eyed. I laughed and sat down next to him.
"Can we go to Wal Mart?" Dean asked, drinking out of the milk carton.
I made a disgusted face at him. "If you buy me more milk."
"Deal!" His smile reminded me of when we were kids, he'd always tease me.

We piled in Josh's Jeep, windows down and music blaring, the wind blowing through our hair. When we finally pulled into the parking lot, my hair was literally everywhere, so I put it up in a bun. The effect of the brownie was only getting stronger as Josh, Dean, and I walked happily into Wal Mart. Without any word, we all went to the toy isle. More or less the bike isle.

Dean and I use to play the game of 'Who can get us kicked out first' when we were kids. Of course he'd win, because he's pure evil.
"Let's ride this bike around, please?" It was a small bike with a panda bear head in between the handle bars. Josh laughed and took a picture before being distracted by Hulk hands. I rode around the store on a bike, Josh with Hulk hands, and Dean had the power scooter.

Coming around one of the corners, I ran into the side of Dean. It didn't even hurt, but I couldn't stop laughing. Josh tried helping me up with the Hulk gloves, but it wasn't working. I guess we really pushed it when Dean and I raced across the store. We were escorted out by two managers, though we just laughed instead of worrying about it.
"How long was that?" I asked my brother as we walked through the parking lot.
He caught his breath and looked at his phone. "Half an hour!"
"A new best!" I threw a fist in the air and smiled at Joshua. His typical anchor tank, tight jeans. Everything about him made me groan.

Dean's flight left at 6 am, so Josh and 7 brought him to his hotel to get his bags. It was always hard saying goodbye to him, but I knew I'd see him again soon. Josh took the long way back, so we could stop at our secret spot.

We laid on the deck, staring up at the pink clouds across the setting sun. The water felt good as I let my feet dangle into the water. Everything was calming, quiet, relaxing. Suddenly I got a feeling in my stomach, like I was about to be sick. I sat up so quickly, I got a head rush. Josh followed, eye brows furrowing together.
"Are you okay?" His hand rested on my lower back.
"I just have a really bad feeling," My voice was hardly audiable and my palms started to sweat. My phone started to ring and I answered it immediately.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Juliet! Thank god." I could tell she was in tears - it brought me to my feet.
"What's wrong Jenn?"
"I came home and..and..someone broke in." My heart leaped into my throat. Josh looked confused as ever.
"We'll be right there." I ended the phone call and pulled Josh towards the path. "Someone broke into the apartment."
"What?!" Josh's facial expression changed in an instant. There was a hardness in his face and fire in his eyes.
"We need to go." We ran to the car and Josh peeled out of the old baseball field, speeding towards the interstate.

"Did she say anything else?" I just shook my head and stared in anticipation as the city lights buzzed by. The rest of the ride was silent as Josh put the pedal to the floor and caressed my hand with his thumb.

Police were filling the parking lot as we pulled in. I barely waited for the car to stop before jumping out.
"Miss, you can't go any further."
"No, I live here. My apartment was broken into." My voice was hoarse from holding back my tears.
"Can I have some identification?" I dug through my pockets for my wallet, flashing my I.D. He nodded and held up the police tape for me to go under. Josh was behind me, but the officer stopped him too.
"He's with me! Please, he's my boyfriend." The officer was reluctant at first, but let him pass.
As we waited by the door for another officer to let us pass through, Josh rubbed the back of my hand gently, then laced his fingers with mine. I looked over to him and saw it in his eyes - he was scared, impatient, understanding. He's everything that I could have ever asked for and standing by my side right at this moment proves it.

When the doors to the apartment building were finally opened, we didn't even bother using the elevator. We bound quickly up the 5 flights of steps before making it to our level. I ran down the hallway, anxious to see Jennifer and the inside information I hadn't been told yet. My heart throbbed as I reached my home I was once so comfortable and safe in, with a door broken completely in half.