It was an unusually cloudy day in the normally sunny city known as Miami, but Trish did not mind at all; in fact she actually liked days like this. Days where the weather reflects the laziness you want to pursue, and pursuing it they were.

It was strange for them to have no lessons to give on a Saturday, but they weren't complaining. It was nice to have a day off on a crummy day like this.

Trish was lounging on the couch in the music factory, lazily flipping though a magazine which she had lost interest in much earlier.
She was instead observing her two lovestruck friends: Ally was sat on Austin's lap at the drums that he was attempting to teach her to play. Their lesson would be interrupted every now and then when Ally felt the need to pepper kisses on Austin's jaw and neck instead of paying any attention to the valuable drum knowledge he was sharing with her; not that he minded the distractions she was giving him.

It was moments like these where Trish would marvel at how close her and her best friend had become with the two annoying boys who caused a ruckus in Ally's music store one day, many, many years ago.

Of course they were both still annoying sometimes, but they had grown and matured a lot since their freshman year, both mentally and physically (and even Trish had to admit that the results of the physical growth were anything but disappointing).

If she told her freshman self what the relationship was like between the four friends in their senior year, her past self would just laugh in her face.

The four had grown incredibly close; yes, they've always been close but in the past year they've all grown more physically close than they ever were.

The boys always found it amusing to sling or rest an arm around the girls' shoulders, due to the size difference between them, so it's almost become a habit for the boys to always have an arm around one of the girls.

Other little things such as friendly kisses on the cheek or head and resting heads on shoulders had just become a part of everyday life with the boys and girls that make up the "fearsome foursome".

"Hey!" she heard a happy voice greet her from behind.

"Hey, Dez." she responded cheerfully not even looking up from the magazine she was halfheartedly reading.

She felt him lean down and lightly kiss the top of her head in greeting, she smiled to herself.

"Can you come upstairs for a minute?" he asked quietly "I need to ask you something."

"Sure." Trish replied, concerned. His voice sounded very serious,
which was rare for Dez.

They started up the stairs, not even bothering to say anything to Austin or Ally, who had resulted to full on making out at the drums where they first met.

"So what's up?" Trish asked Dez once they had entered the practice room.

"You know how we've all been super stressed about colleges and whatnot lately?"

Trish just nodding in understanding, the amount of stress the four kids had been under was astronomical.

"Well... I may or may not have landed a meeting with the Dean of Students at NYU..." Dez said,
nervously.

"Dez, that's incredible!" said Trish, overjoyed for her friend.

"Yeah! But it's not really a meeting so much as a double date..."

"Wait what, that makes no sense." Trish stated, confused.

"Well he and his wife have been vacationing in Miami for the past month and I met him at Ally's show a couple weeks ago. He saw me filming the concert and we got to talking and he said that he would love to talk to me more over dinner at that really fancy place downtown." Dez explained.

"So basically you want to bring a date so you don't look like a loser?" Trish asked.

"Sort of, I want someone there who can talk me up so I don't have to do it all myself. And someone who can entertain his wife, who will also be there, with some small girl talk so she doesn't hate me for making her suffer through a boring dinner on her vacation.
And I'll need someone there if this whole thing goes south and ends horribly.
So, Trish would you please, please, please, PLEASE come with me?" Dez pleaded.

"Stop your begging, weirdo; of course I'll come with you." Trish said.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Dez said, picking her up and spinning her around in the tightest hug ever.

"So when and where is this thing?" Trish asked, realizing that it was crucial information.

"It's at one of those fancy places downtown, I have the name of the restaurant on my phone I'll text it to you. And it's tomorrow night at 7, so I'll pick you up at your house at 6:30 sharp."

"Sounds great!" Trish replied.

"Awesome! Oh and don't forget to dress nice, don't want you making me look bad." Dez teased with a wink and exited the room as she rolled her eyes.

Trish decided to head home and figure out what she was going to wear the following night, Dez hadn't given her much of a heads up.

She riffled though he closest, unable to find anything that matched the dress code for the restaurant Dez had just texted her the name of.

And then she saw the red dress in the very back of her closet. The red dress she wore to the World Wide Music Awards. The dress she wore the day all their lives changed and all their hard work took a turn for the worse.

She decided to just wear it because 1. It was gorgeous. 2. She had only gotten to wear it once. And 3. She was tired of trying to pick out an outfit and just wanted to go to sleep.

The next morning, Trish was rudely awoken at noon when her phone was buzzing like crazy because a certain tall ginger took it upon himself to be her personal wake up call.

Trish looked at her phone:

TRISH

WAKE UP

NOW

TRISH WAKE UP NOW

ARE YOU AWAKE

TRISH

PU EKAW HSIRT

YA KNOW WHAT THAT IS BACKWARDS?!

WAKE UP TRISH

YOU HAVE LESS THAN SIX AND A HALF HOURS TO GET READY

YOU SHOULD START NOW SO WE WON'T BE LATE

WAKE UP

Trish let out an amused sigh an replied:

I'm up you dork now leave me alone for the next 6 1/2 hours

After texting Dez back she went downstairs to have breakfast and watch some TV. By the time she went back up to her room at almost two o'clock, her phone was buzzing again with Dez asking her if she had started getting ready yet because they only had like five hours left.

She decided that she might as well start getting ready now since she had nothing else better to do. She took a shower, not rushing herself because they did still have 5 hours.

When she got out she opted to straighten her hair then loosely curl it since again, she had a lot of time on her hand.

After 2 hours of straightening and then curling her hair into big loose ringlets that fell to her mid back, she started applying her makeup.

By now she has just over an hour until Dez arrives so she decided to put on her dress and grab a pair of shoes, not putting them on yet.

She thought about wearing heels but they are such a pain to walk in and truth be told, she likes being much sorter than him.

Ally and Trish would've never admit it, but when Austin and Dez hit their growth spurts in their sophomore year, the girls pretended to hate being so much shorter than the guys, when they secretly adored it.

Grabbing a random pair of flats, Trish headed down to her living room to relax until Dez arrived.

Dez pulled up to her house at exactly 6:28 pm and started honking the car horn madly.

Normally Trish would have been irritated that he didn't come to the door but she knew how nervous he was about this dinner so she cut him some slack.

Grabbing her purse, she ran out the and hopped into the passenger seat of Dez's car.

"Hi." he greeted her.

"Hi." she replied back.

"You look great." he complemented her.

"As do you."

And oh how he did. He was wearing a black suit that was very un-Dez like, with a skinny tie that was the exact same shade of blue as his gorgeous eyes.

Wait what?

Never mind.

"Wait... Is that the same dress you wore to the World Wide Music Awards?" Dez asked, slightly panicked.

"Yeah,
why?"

"Are you CRAZY?! Do you not REMEMBER what happened that night?! THAT DRES IS BAD LUCK!"

"Oh my god, Dez, are you serious? My dress is NOT the reason Austin lost his record deal!"

"Fine, I won't make you change; but only because you look so amazing in it."

She smiled at the compliment.

"SHIT ITS 6:32!" Dez screamed as he started pulling out of her driveway and drove off towards downtown Miami.

They made it to the restaurant by 6:50 and Dez made her wait in the car until 6:56, not wanting to seem to early.

Trish just rolled her eyes and went along with it, knowing that if she needed his help with something like this he would do the same.

"Hey, I'm Dez Wade and we're supposed to me meeting Mr. and Mrs. Benton for a 7:00 reservation." Dez explained to the waiter once they got into the restaurant.

"Oh yes, Mr. Wade, they are right back there." the waiter pointed to a couple in their fifties,
siting in a booth near a window.

Dez noticeably tensed up when he saw them, suddenly very nervous about the night.

Trish grabbed his hand and intertwined her fingers with his, giving him a reassuring squeeze as she ran her thumb over the back of his hand, soothingly.

He looked down into her eyes, she gave him an encouraging nod of her head, and he started walking towards the booth, hand still intertwined with hers.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Benton." Dez greeted the couple when they arrived at the table.

"Mr. Wade! So glad you could make it!" the man replied. "Now who is this lovely lady you have brought with you tonight?"

"This is my friend, Trish De La Rosa." Dez said as Trish shook hands with the couple.

"Pleasure to meet you, Trish. I'm Robert Benton and this is my wife Nancy." Mr. Benton said.

"The pleasures all mine, sir!" Trish said, in a much nicer tone than she would normally use, Dez was very impressed.

"Well, we should probably order now I'm absolutely famished and I hear this place is incredible." said Mr. Benton.

"After you." Dez said to Trish as she slid into the booth across from Mrs. Benton, he sat next to her across from Mr. Benton.

As they were looking over the menu Trish realized that now was the perfect opportunity for small talk to keep things from getting awkward.

"Oh Mrs. Benton I LOVE your necklace! It is GORGEOUS!" Trish complimented.

"Oh thank you, dear! And please, call me Nancy!" Mrs. Benton replied.

The waiter came to take their drink orders, his name was Josh and he took a very fine liking to Trish, much to Dez's annoyance.

"What can I start you all off with tonight?" Josh asked the group.

"Just water for me and the mrs." said Mr. Benton.

"I'll have an iced tea." Dez said.

"And for you, darling?" Josh asked Trish, Dez glared.

"I will also have an iced tea." Trish replied, placing her hand on Dez's leg comfortingly, noticing his jealousy.

"Great, I'll get those out to you as soon as possible." Josh said as he left, but not without first winking at Trish.

"So Dez, tell us about your films." Mr. Benton asked, genuinely interested.

"Well, I've wanted to make films all my life, but it first got serious when our friend, Austin, asked me to help him make his first music video a few years ago." Dez told.

Trish watched him admiringly as he explained the story of how he first started taking his film career seriously, which also happened to be the same story of how they first met.

"We went to the music store to try to get some instruments for the video and it was there that we first met Ally, who you both obviously know given that you went to her concert."

The couple chuckled, enjoying Dez's story.

"So we made the video and it became a hit overnight. And yada yada yada, Austin asked me to be his video director and that's where it all started."

"Hey you left out the part where you met me!" Trish exclaimed."

"Oh how could I forget" replied Dez, sarcastically.

She sent him a playful glare.

The older couple just observed them fondly.

"Anyway, since then I've directed countless videos for Austin and Ally, that have now become very big budget type things what with their rising fame and all.

"The first legit movie I did was called "Claws! Dun, dun, dun!" both Dez and Trish chucked at the memory of said movie.

"I've also been lucky enough to make a rockumentary on Austin and Ally, and I had the opportunity to work with my favorite director of all time, Spike Stevens."

"Wow, not many 18 year olds have a resume that impressive. I admire that." Mr. Benton said.

"So are his films any good?" Mr. Benton asked jokingly turning to Trish.

"They're all amazing! Well because I'm in most of them." Trish replied.

The couple laughed as Dez faked a hurt expression at her words.

The rest of the dinner went very well, with small talk and playful banter.

After the meal was over, Mrs. Benton suggested that they walk over to the beach.

The sunset was hidden behind the clouds threatening rain over the ocean.

The group strolled on the boardwalk and continued their light conversations for a little while longer.

When the time came to part, Trish was actually slightly sad. She had really enjoyed getting to know this couple.

"Well Dez" said Mr. Benton, "I have a very good feeling about your future with NYU."

"Thank you, sir." said Dez, shaking hands with Mr. Benton and his wife.

"Trish, it was very nice meeting you."

"Likewise." Trish replied, also shaking hands with the older couple.

"Well, we better be getting back to the hotel, we have to pack everything up for our flight tomorrow morning."

"Have a safe trip back!" Dez said, as he and Trish waved to the pair making their way back to the restaurant's parking lot to find their car.

Dez let out a deep breath as they walked away.

"We did it, we actually did it. And it went well. And nothing had happened." he exclaimed, bewildered.

"C'mon, lets go get some ice cream to celebrate you basically getting into college." she said, pulling on his arm.

He laughed and nodded in agreement as they walked off towards the ice cream shop.

"Remember when we almost got arrested for sneaking into the ice cream shop all just to try to get Austin's song on the radio?" Trish recounted.

"Yeah." Dez said, with a small smile on his face. "Do you think our past selves would believe us if we told them that we would make it, but then Austin would throw it away totally willingly?"

"Absolutely not." Trish said, without skipping a beat. "But what did we know back then. As far as we knew everything was always perfect and everyone was always nice. As we got older we realized that that was in fact not the case."

"Yeah, I guess we were pretty naive back then; but we were just kids."

"Its weird to think that we're almost technically adults now."

"Yeah it is. But hey, being an adult is not gonna stop me from saying last one there pays!" Dez said as he sprinted off.

Trish sped off behind him, but her long dress kept her from running too fast even though he would've beaten her anyway, what with his obnoxiously long legs and all.

When she finally caught up to him, he was leaning against the wall on the outside of the ice cream shop, with a smug look on his face.

"That was not fair, you ass; your legs are longer than mine and your not wearing a dress."

"Hey, I don't make the rules I just enforce them." he said opening the door for her as she rolled her eyes at his nonsense words.

After they finished their ice cream that she paid for because of her inability to run faster than him, they made their way out of the ice cream parlor only to find that it had started raining and they still had to walk all the way back to his car.

Trish brushed her hands up and down her bare arms trying to create some heat; Dez noticed this and quickly removed his suit jacket and placed it around her shoulders. It fell to just a few inches above her knees and it looked absolutely adorable.

"Thanks." she told him quietly.

"Anytime." he replied "ok let's make a run for it." he said grabbing her hand as they were engulfed in the rain.

It wasn't raining that hard, but it was definitely steady.

The rain was coming down steadily as the two friends made their way back to the restaurant parking lot, laughing with each other about anything and everything.

The laughter subsided as they continued walking side by side when he suddenly stopped, causing her to stop to. They looked at each other.

She looked up at him.

His wet hair had been pushed off his forehead. His eyes were as crystal blue as the seas. His white shirt that was being soaked by the rain was showing off his wide shoulders and broad chest. She was wearing his jacket which surrounded her with his sent. For the first time she was seeing him in a whole new light.

He looked down at her.

Her hair was plastered to her head. She was wearing his jacket that was entirely too big on eyes were wide with wonder and astonishment. Her makeup was running down her face. And she had never looked more beautiful.

Suddenly he began to lean his head down to meet hers. And she was leaning up, placing her hands on his shoulders, his went to hold her waist.

As soon as their lips met it was like something had snapped. All the tension that had been building between the two for years was finally breaking free.

They were completely unaware of what they were doing; it was as if their brains had been turned off and lost all sense of logic, they just knew that it felt so right; oh so right.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist, deepening the kiss.

The kiss was hot and heavy and sensual, yet passionate and tender at the same time.

It wasn't until Dez made the bold choice to run his tongue along her bottom lip, begging for entry, which she immediately granted, letting out a moan, that he realized what they were doing.

Slowly and reluctantly, he pulled back, breathless.

"What just happened?" he asked her, still trying to catch his breath.

"I'm not totally sure" she replied leaning up to reach his ear "but I enjoyed it a lot and I would not protest if you wanted to continue what we were doing and just work all the complicated stuff out in the morning." she said,
taking his ear in her mouth, nipping at it lightly with her blunt teeth.

He let out a low moan.

"Yeah, I'm down with that idea." he said, fisting his hands in her hair bringing her mouth up to meet his again.

So there they stood. Two teenagers. Making out. In the rain. Ignoring anything and everything in the world surrounding them. All that mattered right now, in that moment, was each other.

And like she said, they'd work the complicated stuff out later.