Samantha was waiting in the dorm's common room for Emmett after lunch was over. He had wanted to get something from his room before they went into town for their movie. Thea was waiting with her, her nose wrinkled at Samantha in her leathers.

"While those make your body look nice, why did you pick that ugly green color for the lines and stuff?" she asked, carefully checking out the leathers.

Samantha looked down at them and gave them a closer look. "Well, they were on sale when I bought them, so they were cheap."

"Are you ever going to replace them? I mean, dad would probably let you buy a new set."

"I might, eventually. But these are comfortable and I haven't messed them up yet so why buy a new set?"

Emmett came in then and excitedly approached. "I looked online and there's a new action and a new romcom. Which would you rather see, Samantha?"

"Hmm, does the action flick have cars and explosions?" she asked, looking very serious. Emmett laughed. "Ah, I bet it has cute girls, right?"

"No, it's not got cars, but there was an explosion in the background of the picture for it, with a cute girl in front," he told her. "The romcom looked like it had a good story too."

Samantha thought about it, closing her eyes to make her look extra serious. "I think there's a very clear winner, Emmett."

"I thought you'd agree with me," he said. Then he teasingly asked, "What do you think we'll pick, Thea?"

"Action," Thea guessed, right as Emmett and Samantha shouted, "Romcom!" and gave each other a high five. Thea laughed and rolled her eyes. "You two are ridiculous. Why were you hyping up the action flick if you were going to choose romcom?"

Emmett shrugged. "Samantha always changes her mind when we pick action movies, so it became a joke after a while."

Thea "ahh'd" and looked back at Samantha, grimacing at the leathers again. "Are you sure you guys don't want me to call for a car? Or you can borrow mine. I don't mind!"

Samantha shook her head. "If you were going, we'd take a car. But Emmett and I like the bike, and he requested it."

"Okay, but…"

"Stop worrying so much, Thea!" Emmett said before he gave her a long hug to try and reassure her. "Samantha drives really carefully. And the bike is cool! You should really go for a ride with Samantha once, you know."

Thea shook her head. "You guys are nuts!" she exclaimed, then gave them both a hug. "Enjoy your movie, whatever you end up watching. And maybe one day I'll go on a ride with Samantha on her motorcycle."

That sounded like an empty agreement to Samantha, but she decided not to call Thea out on it. Apparently Emmett agreed because he just laughed and shook his head, having heard the lie. She pushed Emmett towards the door and waved at Thea.

"Maybe next weekend we can do something, all three of us?" Emmett asked as they walked to the door.

"I have plans next weekend," Samantha told him, "but maybe we'll plan some kind of sibling outing at some point."

Thea frowned, wondering what plans Samantha was talking about. She realized she hadn't really spent any substantial amount of time with Samantha since she told her about Kaguya killing her former boyfriend, and sighed. "I am a horrible big sister, huh.

Once Emmett and Samantha left, Thea went upstairs to her room to change into something more appropriate for a date. She found a lavender colored split sleeve shirt hanging in her closet and she pulled it on, pairing it with a pair of lightly colored denim capris. The outfit was flattering, to say the least, as it accented the best parts of her frame. She paired her ensemble with white ballet flats along with a pearl necklace, bracelet, and earrings.

Thea checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror and frowned, quickly running a brush through her long, honey brown hair before throwing it up in a messy bun at the back of her head. She pulled out small pieces of hair before plugging in her curling iron. While waiting for the iron to heat up, she fixed her eyeliner and mascara and applied a coat of a nude lipstick. Her body jumped at the sound of a honking horn outside causing her to roll her eyes. She picked up the curling iron and gave the few tendrils a quick spin before turning it off. Thea swiftly tossed her phone into a white clutch purse before heading out to meet her date for the evening.

Souma stood next to an old junker of a car that looked to have been spray painted gray and had several visible rust spots. She looked from the car to him, and noticed his appearance was quite the opposite from the vehicle that looked as though it could die any day now. Souma stood tall in dark denim jeans that fit perfectly, and a white button down shirt that had accents of green, bringing out the brilliant color of his eyes. He had rolled up the sleeves to his shirt to reach just above his elbow, Why does that make him so sexy? She wondered. His hair was still messy, but had some type of product holding it in place, and man did he smell amazing. He smiled at her as he looked her up and down.

Thea raised her eyebrow while she looked from Souma, to the junker, and back again. “Yes, she runs and she’s perfectly safe,” Souma answered her silent question. “She’s a little beat up on the outside, but you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover!”

“I’m more amazed that your father lets you drive this thing around, given how much he hates having a bad image,” Thea said as she walked closer to it.

“Yeah, well, he does hate it. And he’s tried to get rid of it ever since he pushed his last name onto me, but I’m a fighter! He’s not gonna get rid of my girl that easy! She’d have to die before I let her go!” Souma exclaimed, sticking out his chest and looking proud.

Thea stared at him for several moments, fighting the smile trying to come to her face. “Right. Well, let’s get this over with,” she said finally, having lost the fight with her smile and lowering her face to hide it from him.

“Oh yeah. Here, let me get the door.”

It creaked open, forcing Thea’s body to cringe. The inside of the old junker was rather clean for its age, she slid inside. He shut the door after she was settled inside and it sounded as if it were about to fall off entirely. Seconds later he entered the car himself and the drivers side door made the same awful creak, almost as bad a nails on a chalkboard. “Sorry about that.” He apologized, noticing the twist in her facial features. He closed the door and started the car. She was surprised when the engine quickly roared to life.

“You know, I’m almost surprised that you waited for me by your car instead of shadowing yourself up into my bedroom uninvited again.” Thea poked at Souma as he drove.

Souma sighed, “You are never going to let that go, are you?”

“No. I’m not. Its creepy, and stalkerish.”

She had a point, even if he was innocently in her room to learn more about her, it was still an invasion of privacy. He had just gotten so used to sneaking in and out of rooms to threaten people for his sister or to eavesdrop on things that it didn’t occur to him that she would be upset, let alone find out.

“Again, I am very sorry. I have been doing this for so long that I must have forgotten my manners. I don’t want to stalk you, and that wasn’t my intention.”

Thea was silent for a while longer as they drove down the countryside. She could see the sun beginning to set behind the distant tree-covered hills. Trees lined the road for miles, “Where are we going anyway?” She asked suddenly.

“We are going to Hillcrest.”

“What’s in Hillcrest?”

“Well,” Souma started as he glanced over to the passenger seat with a smile. “They are having their harvest festival this weekend.”

Thea remembered going to the Hillcrest harvest festival as a child with her family. Her mother and father would take turns riding rides with her, and her mother loved stopping by the petting zoo they had every year. The smell of pumpkins and apples danced in her memories, the beautiful aromas of fall.

Souma could see a mix of emotion on Thea’s face, “Is that okay? I guess I should have asked you what you wanted to do.”

Thea looked up, not realizing that she’d been so lost in thought. “Yes, it’s fine. I am sure we will have a lot of fun.” She smiled at him before turning back to stare out the window. The trees that had once lined the road turned to corn and wheat fields with a farmhouse showing up every minute or so as they got closer to town.

Souma followed signs that directed him to the festival parking as they entered the small town. They were arriving later in the evening which gave him several decent parking choices, he pulled into a spot and killed the engine. He quickly opened the door and rose from the car, pocketing his keys as he made his way to the passenger side of the car.

Souma opened the car door, offering his arm to the beautiful girl accompanying him for the evening. Thea took hold of his arm as she lifted herself from the seat, Souma turned and shut the door behind them. They started walking toward the sounds of laughter, screams, and music.

The smell of pumpkin and apple hung in the air and it reminded Thea of old times, a tear fell from her face and she wiped it away, but not before Souma took notice. “What’s wrong? We haven’t even started having fun yet.”

Thea smiled, “Nothing’s wrong, Souma. It’s just, this reminds me of when I was younger. We would come as a family before my mom-” her voice trailed off but Souma understood.

The couple weaved their way through small crowds of people as Thea reminisced and Souma listened intently to her memories of her mother. It made him happy that he could bring those fond moments back to her mind. “Are you hungry?” Souma asked as he felt his stomach gurgle.

Thea paused and realized that she too was starving, “Yes, food sounds amazing.” Souma lead her to a food truck where he ordered a soft pretzel with cheese sauce and a large order of french fries for them to share. They walked down a few vendors to pick up two fresh squeezed lemonades, and carried their items over to a picnic table situated in a makeshift food court.

Souma split the pretzel in half and Thea took the piece he held out to her, her stomach growling in anticipation. They talked about school and their likes and dislikes while eating their dinner of fair food. Once finished, they stopped by another food vendor and Souma paid for a funnel cake for them to share.

The crisp dough and sweet powdered sugar hit the spot as the sun disappeared over the horizon. The lights from the rides lit up the night and they decided to have a little fun before ending their night. Souma purchased tickets from one of the carnies and they got in line for the Scrambler.

When it was their turn, Souma handed the tickets to the man and they headed to a seat. Souma allowed Thea to go in first and then he took the outside of the seat. The young carnie manning the ride came by to make sure the safety bar was in place and he disappeared to check the other passengers as well.

After a few minutes the ride began, it started off slowly and with each pull of the ride it got faster and faster. The lights of the ride and others around them were just blurs now and Thea’s body slammed into his. They both laughed, but he picked that seat for a reason. He wanted to be sure he didn’t squish her but at the same time, he wanted her close to him. They stayed that way for the remainder of the ride, but it wasn’t like they had much of a choice in the matter.

After the ride came to a stop, it took them a few seconds to get their bearings back, Thea still leaning into Souma even as they walked through the exit gate laughing.

As they were calming down a little, Souma grinned and said, “I love how you feel pressed against me.”

Thea quickly pushed off of him, her face hot, and cleared her throat. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t that great for me,” she mumbled, keeping her back to him as she looked around the fair to let her face cool. Why was it so hard to calm down?

“That’s too bad,” she heard Souma say a little softly. “Hey, what about going on that one next?” he asked, coming up to her back and pointing. She hesitated a moment and gave him a small sideways glare, which he seemed to sense as he turned to look at her. “What? I swear I have no ulterior motives!”

“Uh huh.” She couldn’t help herself but grin, and shook her head. “Well, at least it’s one where we can avoid physical contact. I’m not sure I could handle more cooties from you right now.”

“Whoa, I don’t have cooties!” There was a short pause as they started to walk. “Though, I wouldn’t mind more of your cooties. Should we hold hands? How about a kiss? Man, I’d like a lot of that kind of cooties.”

They wandered around the amusement area riding several rides they came across. As the sky darkened entirely, dusk becoming night, Thea asked, “Can we ride the Ferris Wheel next?”

Souma smiled at her as they were stepping off of the Gravitron and nodded gently. She smiled back and led the way to the towering wheel. When they arrived they were immediately sat in a seat and their seat moved upward. After a few more stops of letting people on the ride, it started moving in a continuous circle.

“This is so relaxing.” Thea sighed as she looked out over the fairground. Most of the park was covered in darkness with only street lights marking the pathways, but the lights and sounds from the rides was like a kaleidoscope of color.

Souma stared at her for a moment before speaking, “Thank you for coming out with me. I’ve had a great time.”

She looked over and flashed a toothy grin, “I am glad I said yes. This has been a lot of fun, and it was great being able to look back on my memories. I know that wasn’t your intention in bringing me here, but it really means a lot to me.” Souma put his arm around her and gave her a light squeeze before relaxing and leaving his arm around her body.

Once the ride was over they decided it was time to be heading back with almost an hour drive ahead of them. Souma purchased two bottles of water and another funnel cake for the road before heading to the parking area. He was able to find his car with ease and opened the door for Thea.

She slipped into the seat and reached out to take the bottles and paper plate from him. He shut her door and instantly appeared in the driver seat beside her. Thea looked over and gave a startled scream before smacking him in the arm, “Damn it Souma! Don’t do that!” He laughed as he started the car.

The first half of the drive home was filled with laughter and Thea teasing Souma with bits and pieces of funnel cake, but it wasn’t long after that that he realized that she had fallen asleep. He sighed and stared at her as long as he could before turning his attention back to the dark road before them. She looked like a Goddess and he wished that this night didn’t have to end.