“Jane!” A voice right beside her woke her from her apparent stupor. She turned around to find Eric standing over her. “Did you not hear me calling your name?”

“Nah sorry, I'm busy thinking. “Jane motioned for Eric to sit down beside her while she continued to stay in thought.

“Thinking about what exactly?” Eric sat down on the rock and leaned his head onto her thighs while closing his eyes.

“What are you doing?” Jane wondered and stared down at him.

“I'm tired from running around trying to find you.” Eric yawned. “I checked your parents house, your house, even the edge of the forest. Eventually I worked my way here.”

“Since I'm tired and you're stuck thinking about something, I'll just use you as a pillow.” Eric rolled onto his side.

“Well if you want to know, I'm thinking about… how to talk.”

“How to talk?” Eric side eyed her with a confused expression.

“I'm struggling with figuring out what to say and how to say it for my big performance tomorrow.” Jane explained using air quotes.

“Hmm…” Eric hummed. “Honestly, knowing you, you shouldn't think about it and instead just wing it.”

“Just wing it?” Jane huffed a reply. “A little easier said than done. I feel like I'm gonna be even worse if I don't have some sort of speech planned.”

“Listen, I'm just saying, when have you ever prepared ahead of time? Remember all the presentations we had to do in school which you never had anything prepared for?”

Jane sighed. “Fine there's some truth to that, but it's a little different now. I'm not presenting to a bunch of children anymore.”

“It's a suggestion, you don't have to listen to me.” Eric said. “If you wanna practice I can tell you what I think.”

“Nooo thank you.” Jane shook her head. “If I wanna embarrass myself, I'll do it once tomorrow, so If you wanna see that, then you're gonna have to be there.”

“Ohhh that reminds me!” Eric shot off Jane's legs. “There was a reason I came to find you, I managed to get some time off tomorrow and was wondering if you wanted to walk around?”

“I've been wondering if you guys were doing anything, is anyone else coming?” Jane asked, happy that at least one person was free tomorrow. .

“Everyone's coming but Danielle since she's busy with work.” Eric replied. “We're meeting up at one o'clock, at the Little Goose.”

“I'll be there then.” Jane lay down on the rock and mumbled. “Tomorrow's gonna be fun, right?”

“Hm?” Eric lay next to her. “You still worried about what everyone's gonna act like after they finally put a face to your name?”

Jane hummed a response.

“Well, no matter what, just know you got people here that care about you– and people not here that also care.” Eric replied and grabbed Jane’s hand.

Smiling, Jane and Eric lay next to each other in silence while taking in the various sensations around them. The smell of redwood sap lingering in the air, the tickle of wind brushing against them, and the sight of the bright blue sky above.

That was all ruined in an instance. “Motherfucker this is uncomfortable!” Jane crudely swore and leaned up while rubbing her sore back.

“Language missy!” Eric jokingly teased her and stood up alongside the chuckling Jane.

“Are you free today?” Jane asked. “Wanna go somewhere more comfortable?”

Eric nodded in response and the two left the quaint field they hid away in, back towards the Bluegold house. Once they were back at their place, they quickly made their way upstairs into Jane’s room, a place they used to spend lots of their time in.

With a yawn, Jane closed the curtains in her room before she dove under her bedsheets and sprawled her limbs across the mattress. She rolled onto one side and closed her eyes while saying. “I'm taking a nap.”

“You asked me if I was free all day just to take a nap?” Eric sighed and suddenly Jane felt a weight press down on the opposite side of the bed.

Jane turned to see Eric laying beside her and asked. “Are you also trying to nap?”

“It might be… a little inappropriate for two people with partners to sleep together.” Eric answered. “I'll just chill here for a bit.”

“Ah who cares, we've done it plenty of times— I know Danielle or Mira won’t mind, they know enough about us already.”

“Still, we were kids back then.”

“Whatever, suit yourself. I'm napping.” Jane yawned and closed her eyes.

No one said anything else after that, only the quiet sounds of their breathing could be heard in their room. Who knows how long passed but eventually, Jane fell asleep and the adamant Eric couldn't help but closely follow behind her into the land of dreams

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***

“They look kinda cute, no?” Jane swore she could hear someone speaking. The voice sounded familiar but she couldn't pinpoint it just yet.

“Mm. You're not jealous?” Another voice asked.

“Not at all! I know Eric wouldn’t cheat on me!” The first voice answered. “Their best friends, it's kinda adorable seeing this actually.”

Okay they were definitely talking about her and Eric, Jane thought. With a groan, Jane opened her eyes to a bright room around her. Standing over the bed were some new friends of hers, Danielle Petal and Angeline Evergreen.

“Huh?” Jane mumbled, not sure why they were here, especially in her room.

“You're awake!” Danielle said. “Your mother says it's dinner time so come down and eat.”

Jane sat up and looked at the two with a confused face. “Dinner already? How long have I been asleep?”

“Not sure, did you hear the announcement my father made?” Danielle asked and Jane shook her head.

“Then a good few hours at least—” Danelle was interrupted from Jane’s sudden realization.

“Wait, what are you guys doing here?” Jane questioned them. “Aren't you busy Danielle?”

“My mother thankfully took over for me which left me free, so I ran and grabbed Angeline then came here to see if you wanted to hang out with us tonight.” Danielle explained. “Then when we showed up here, your mother answered the door and told us you were upstairs with Eric… I didn't expect to see this though.”

Jane rubbed her messy head and stood up. “Ah, sorry… well…”

“Don't worry about it, I understand enough about you two’s relationship, this is completely fine with me!” Danielle flashed a smile and shook the still sleeping Eric awake.

‘She's actually the best.’ Jane couldn't help but think that after seeing Danielle's reaction.

Eric shot out of bed and looked a little guilty but was quickly appeased when his girlfriend said she didn't mind.

Weirdly enough, it was Danielle who led everyone downstairs where a large dinner was prepared at the table.

“Ah everyone's here now, come sit down and join us for dinner!” Rosalie beamed with excitement and ushered everyone to a seat at the table.

Everyone squeezed into a spot around the table, it was a little tight as they had an extra three bodies more than normal, but they made it work. Elbows to elbows, they all began to help themselves to the food around the table while chatting together.

Firstly Angeline introduced herself to Rosalie and Jeff, who warmly greeted her in return. They know who she was in fact, it was easy to spot an Evergreen, but they hadn't met her before— well maybe as a child. Then there was a person they had already met early in the day and that would be Danielle. But now that she and Eric were here together, many questions about their relationship came firing out of Jane’s parents' mouths.

They hadn't had many chances to ask Eric about his relationship before because he’s been doing his own thing for a while now, but now that they had a chance, they weren’t gonna miss it.

“Who made the first move? It had to be Danielle right?” Rosalie curiously stared at the couple sitting next to each other.

“Mhm, that's right!” Danielle proudly said. “He was too shy to confess so I took it into my own hands.”

“Ah good for you!” Rosalie chuckled and watched Eric get somewhat embarrassed— which only made her laugh more.

Thirty minutes later, the dinner was already over and cleaned up, Abigail was tired and was getting put in bed, while the group of friends found themselves in the living room.

“So you said you wanted to hang out tonight right?” Jane asked Danielle. “What's the plan?”

“I don’t have one, just wanted to see you guys and do something together.” Danielle replied. “I would love to have people over again, but the basement is kind of a mess cause we're using it to store things right now.”

“You guys can come to my place.” Angeline spoke up.

“Really?” Danielle's eyes lit up. “I haven't been to your place in so long!”

“A month is that long?”

“Hehe, yep!” Danielle giggled.

With a destination now, everyone filtered out of the house. Jane made sure to tell her parents where she was going just in case they worried then left towards Angeline’s house.

The evening sun overhead lit up the land in a dim orange and was about to disappear beyond the treetops in the horizon. The heat of the day was lessened since it was late, creating a perfect temperature for the four of them to casually walk in as they headed towards Angeline’s place.

Except that four turned into three after Eric suddenly spoke up. “I gotta head home instead, you three girls have fun together.”

“What why?” Jane asked.

Eric sighed, “The only reason I get part of tomorrow off is because I took the earliest shift and I’m in charge of doing all the prep work. I gotta wake up at like four in the morning.”

“Alright then, have fun.” Jane said before she joked. “Good thing you already got some sleep today though”.

Waving goodbye, Eric split off from the girls and went home to get an early night's rest while they continued to Angeline’s house. It wasn't too far from the Bluegold’s and they arrived at the familiar realtor building Jane had visited recently.

They passed through the main work floor, and after unlocking a door, they went upstairs to the second floor which was the living area. Unlike the lavish main floor, the second floor was just your normal living space but a little more spacious than most others.

“So what do you guys want to do?” Angeline asked.

“Hmmm, maybe have a few beers? Chill out and talk?” Danielle suggested and got two nods in return. Angeline grabbed them all a couple of beers and the three sat down around her soft green couch and started drinking.

It didn't take long for many bottles to find themselves empty around the table, the three girls already drunk.

“You know I haven't had a chance to ask yet, but I seem to faintly remember something happening at Danielle’s.” Jane asked. Angeline wasn't drunk enough for her barriers to break down completely, but an ever so slight blush crawled up her cheeks.

“Lets just say… I'm dating Robby now.” Angeline casually dropped a bomb.

“WHATT!?” Danielle shouted. “When did this happen!!?”

“Well…”

Hours passed as the three drank and talked to each other, Jane felt her relationship with Angeline was already exponentially increasing each time they hung out like this. Since it was late and they were drunk, a plan was implemented— they would stay the night.

Unlike last time, they didn't stay up that late because two of three had something to do tomorrow. After lots of drunken talks, they all squeezed into Angeline’s king sized bed and dozed off with happy expressions.

Tomorrow was the big celebration!