Hey, everyone! Here's another random three chaptered story. These are going to be snapshots from my story Teddy Bear. The first one is going to be from when they were seven and eleven. Chapter two, sixteen and nineteen. Chapter three, twenty-one and twenty-five.

Sit back and enjoy the chapter. You'll find a reference to episode five, a little shout out to the Disney movie: The Lion King. (Which, I do not own, obviously.)

Growing Closer- Chapter One: Backyard Kisses

Eleven-year-old Vince Faraday loved the outdoors. Anytime he could, he would follow his parents outside, even if it were just for a moment. Recently, the young boy had convinced his father to build a tree house in the backyard. The minute he got his first look inside, he couldn't wait to show Jamie.

Janine Fleming and Amanda Faraday had became best friends since the day of the apartment store incident. The two mothers were almost always together, which meant, Vince and Jamie were almost always together. The eleven year old knew it wouldn't take long to convince his mother to invite the Flemings over. Vince didn't know why, but Jamie's father wouldn't come with them anymore. He didn't like it because it made his Jamie upset.

When the eleven-year-old walked into his country styled house, he went straight into the kitchen, where his mother was taking out a freshly baked apple pie.

Their kitchen always smelt like apples, cinnamon, and coffee. Little Vince had become accustomed to it; any time he smelt a combination of the three, he thought of his mother. "Mom?" the eleven-year-old called out to the sandy blonde, who had an apron on.

Amanda turned to her son and smiled warmly. She placed a hand on the back of his head and guided him to rest against her hip. She then bent down to hug him gently. "Do you need something, Vincent?"

Vince pleaded with his intense blue eyes. "Can Jamie come over, mom? I want to show her the tree house!"

"Well," the blonde started in a tease.

"Please, mom! I'll be good, I promise!" the eleven-year-old whined, tugging on his mother's apron.

"Okay," Amanda kissed the bridge of her son's nose. "You win."

"Thank you, mom!" Vince began excitedly as he hugged his mother again.

"No problem, kiddo. Go get washed up for dinner. I'll call your little friend's house, maybe they'll join us."

Vince didn't need to be told twice. He ran down the hall to the bathroom, faster than Amanda had ever seen her son run before.

-0-

By the time Janine brought her daughter over, eleven-year-old Vince had been pacing through the house. Amanda told her son there was no need to pace; it certainly wouldn't make Jamie get there faster. Little Vince didn't care either way.

When he heard a knock at the door, the eleven-year-old was sprawled out on the floor, watching TV. Vince sprung to his feet as if it were life or death. "Mom, they're here!" the boy called out as he ran to the front door.

"Just answer the door, darling. I'll be right there!" Amanda called from the kitchen.

Vince bobbed his head in agreement and opened the front door. His little grin spread wider as he saw his best friend. The boy stood aside and let Jamie and her mother inside. Peter was working late again and couldn't make it.

Janine walked in ahead of her daughter, heading to the kitchen to see her best friend. Jamie smiled brightly at Vince and hugged him tightly.

"Nice to see you, too," Vince said, happily squeezing the little brunette back. He then picked up Jamie and placed her on his shoulders. Rushing towards the dining room table, he grinned as his best friend let out a few bubbly giggles.

Amanda Faraday watched her son with a warm smile. The way he interacted with his best friend was too adorable for words. She could tell that those two had something special going on. The blonde placed down a plate of food in front of Janine, and did the same for Vince and Jamie as they sat down at the table.

After the two inhaled their dinners in a record speed, Vince dragged Jamie outside to see the new tree house.

The little brunette raised a hand to block the brutal California sun from her eyes as her best friend led her out of the back door. They ran down the patio steps, to which the tree house came into view.

Jamie stopped dead in her tracks as she took in the seven foot high tree house. She never had a tree house before…

Vince turned around to look at the brunette. "Are you okay, Jamie?"

"Uh-huh," she answered a bit timidly.

The mini sandy blonde squeezed his best friend's hand, passing her a grin. "Come on then, you gotta see how cool this is!"

Jamie was all excited, until she started climbing the ladder after Vince. That was pretty high up…

Once Vince got up to the hut, he looked down at the little brunette. "Hey, are you okay down there?"

"Um," the seven-year-old began, curling against the ladder for balance. "This is really high up!"

"Just don't look down, it'll be okay," the eleven-year-old passed her a grin.

Jamie narrowed her eyes at her best friend. "That's easy for you to say! You're already up there!"

Vince dropped to the floor and held his hand out over the ladder. "Just climb up to grab my hand, and I'll pull you up."

The little brunette shot him a wary look. "Are you sure you won't drop me?"

"I promise, Jamie. I won't drop you," the sandy blonde offered her a smile.

Jamie let a whine escape her lips as she climbed two more steps to get to Vince's hand. When she grabbed onto it tightly, he pulled her up. As he tried to sit up to give her room, the brunette ended up on top of him.

She blushed brightly, scrambling to her feet. "I guess I pinned you like on The Lion King," Jamie began shyly.

Vince chuckled, a little embarrassed as well. "I guess you did."

The little brunette held out a hand and helped her best friend to his feet.

"Thanks Jamie," the sandy blonde smiled, giving her a tight hug.

She accepted the hug, only to hold on tighter when she looked down at the ground. "Vince, I don't like being really high up."

"Aw, is little Jamie afraid of heights?" Vince teased, baring an arm down on her head to give her a massive noogie.

The eleven-year-old was constantly a playful bully to his best friend. He would tell her that he could beat her up, but he never did. Let someone else threaten his little girlfriend, though… The last kid to do that was spitting out sand for a week from the face plant into a sandbox.

Jamie giggled as Vince continued with the noogie. "Vince, stop it!"

The mini sandy blonde pressed his best friend's little frame into his and hugged her again. "You know I'm just playin'."

If someone asked Vince who Jamie was, he would tell them that she was his girlfriend. When they would pull out the cootie card, he would tell them that girls have cooties. Jamie wasn't a girl. Just his girlfriend.

The little brunette was let go a moment later. She was frowning at the height difference between the tree house and the grass again.

The eleven-year-old noticed his best friend's expression. "C'mon," he began gently. "Let's get down to the ground, play a game of tag."

Jamie nodded happily, watching as the sandy blonde began to climb down the ladder. She felt safer knowing that Vince was in front of her, rather than behind her.

Once the eleven-year-old was on the ground, he made sure the brunette got there as well.

"You good now?" he asked, carefully watching over her.

"Uh-huh. I think so," Jamie began, passing her best friend a smile.

"Okay," Vince grinned, tapping her on the shoulder. "Tag, you're it!"

The brunette opened her mouth in shell-shock, giggling a moment later when the sandy blonde ran away as fast as he could.

The eleven-year-old stopped by a flower bed and crouched behind a tree that grew in the middle of it. He snickered into his hand as his best friend walked around looking for him.

He was doubled over in a quiet laughter when she began calling his name. What he hadn't known, was that she snuck up on him while he was busy laughing.

Jamie smiled at Vince when he looked over and saw her next to him. She tapped him on the shoulder lightly. "You're it, Vincey."

The brunette put up quite a chase. It took the eleven-year-old about five minutes to even catch up with her. By the time he was millimeters away from touching her arm, she sprung away in a rapid speed.

"Missed me, missed me! Now you gotta kiss me!" Jamie teased as she ran away.

Vince grinned. "How can I kiss you if you keep running away?" he asked while he was chasing after her.

"Ew, Vince! I was just kidding!" the brunette squealed as her best friend got closer to her.

The two teased each other like that for about an hour or so. It wasn't until the sun had begun to set, that they knew how late it had gotten.

Vince had finally caught up with Jamie when Amanda's voice echoed through the sky.

"Vince, Jamie! It's getting late, time to come inside!"

Both children looked at each other, grins on their faces.

"Race you to the house," the sandy blonde offered through his staggered breaths.

"Nuh-uh," the brunette said, also out of breath. "Piggy-back ride."

"Okay," Vince said, defeated. He let his best friend climb on his back, to which he secured her legs on either side of his hips and walked towards the house.

Jamie leaned her chin against the top of his head, smiling. "I love my best friend."

The sandy blonde smiled. "Yeah, you're pretty cool too," he replied jokingly.

How was the chapter, guys? Stay tuned for the next!