After a few hours, I head inside to start dinner, letting Rose and Sym know I'm going. I didn't want to disrupt the fun the guys were having, especially Daniel. He would guilt trip himself so bad, but he looks like he's having fun. He's smiling for once, it's nice. It doesn't have to end yet, so I'm not going to make it end on my account. I get up to the house and wash my hands before setting to work making chicken parmigiana with homemade fettuccine alfredo, with a side of french bread and zucchini noodles in with the alfredo to add something healthy to what is otherwise a heart attack on a plate. I'm about halfway through grating the zucchini when the door opens.

"Hey, need any help?" Daniel asks, drying his hair out on a towel.

"Oh, hey Daniel!" I greet with a smile, "Sure! If you wanna add the cheese to that pot for me, but dont turn the heat on yet."

"How much? There's a lot there." He asks, washing his hands.

"All of it."

"Are you sure? There's like six pounds of cheese here." He asks again, putting his hands next to me on the counter and leaning forward, a smile on his face that reads 'you're fucking with me'.

"Yup! I need all of it." I link, adding the zucchini noodles to the pot of regular noodles to soften them up.

"I mean, you're the boss!" Daniel laughs and throws the entire bowl of mixed cheeses into the pot already filled with cream. I turn the heat on low and set hin to stirring it while I pop the bread in the oven and finish up the parmigiana sauce, his unusually happy face warming my chest.

"You're amazing." Daniel compliments me before blushing, "At cooking, I mean." I blush and turn away so he cant see, pretending to check on the bread.

"I'm not all that good, I just did it a lot for a really pretty crowd is all." I play off his compliment and we go quiet. After a second of kicking myself, I ask Daniel to call everyone in as I add some finishing touches.

"Woah, Dove! You made all this??" Mason asks as I'm slicing the bread, his mouth agape.

"Yeah. I mean, I had help from Daniel so don't give me too much credit." I wipe my hands on a towel as everyone starts serving up. Me and Andrew are the last to get to the table.

"Help or not, this looks amazing, and I'm sure the taste will reflect that." Andrew bumps his shoulder with mine when we finally sit down. I give him a slight smile before watching everyones faces as they take their first bites.

"Oh sweet stars above, this is fucking delicious, Dove." Sym looks to me excitedly before diving into her food like she'd been starved for weeks.

"She's right. It's amazing Dove, well done." Rose adds on and I relax. I'm so glad they all like it.

"You just gonna watch us all eat like a weirdo? Eat, hon." Andrew chides me lightly and I remember I have my own plate to contend with.

I'm not used to cooking and getting to eat what I made, usually there'd be nothing left so I'd have a PB&J or something. But here I am with my favorite people. I like this moment, I don't want it to end. But, before I know it, we've all finished our food and the moment is over.

"Oh, thank you? We could've gotten those." Daniel says as I grab everyones plates.

"I can get it, don't worry. Thank you though!" I reassure him with a smile before taking everything to the sink. I start running hot water to fill up the sink when I see the dishwasher open up next to me.

I look to see Daniel filling the dishwasher with all the easy dishes, Andrew gathering up the pots and pans for me, Syn wiping down the table while Rose cleans the counters and Mason sweeping everything. I feel a couple tears spring my eyes as I watch my friends help me clean up. With Andrew switching to drying and Daniel putting it all away, it's safe to say we have the kitchen spotless in under 15 minutes.

"Thank you guys, you really didn't have to help me."

"Ha. Do you know how ungrateful we would have to be to let you clean up everything alone after you just made us dinner? And a delicious one at that!" Sym laughs and everyone else nods.

"Yeah. No one should have to do everything themselves." Mason agrees. My heart warms to the point that I wouldn't be surprised if I spontaneously combust right then and there.

"Now that we're done with the heart warming 'friendship is magic' moment, who wants rootbeer floats and movies?" Rose asks and Sym throws her hand up in the air enthusiastically. I put my hand up too, laughter escaping my lips.

Soon enough were all strewn about on the six seater couch with rootbeer floats watching some comedy we found on Netflix. Mason and I are next to each other with Andrew laying across us, his head in my lap. Sym and Rose are cuddling in the corner, and Daniel is on the floor in front of me and Andrew, his head resting on Andrews chest/my thighs. I feel the peaceful warmth spread over me as I finish my drink. It feels weird to be happy. No drama, no stress, the feeling of love practically oozing out of the room. Feeling completely and utterly safe. It's weird but I kind of like it. My thoughts get farther and farther away as I fade to black.

*~Don't worry Dove, it's weird for me too~*

A couple days later, Calum and the boys arrive. We give Andrew the whole needless talk about them not knowing about our secret and not to mention it. We spend most of the day swimming and exploring the town. We found a mini golf course, and me and Daniel destroyed the competition.

"I wonder if you were lying when you said you'd never played before." Daniel teases and I bump him with my shoulder.

"Nope. I've never picked up a putter before, must be natural talent I guess." I tease and he laughs, using his putter to splash me as we walk by a stream. I gasp in surprise at the cold water before laughing and splashing him back. Soon enough it turns into a water fight and an employee has to tell us to stop, causing Daniel and I to both fall into a fit of giggles but still feel bad for disrupting the course.

"Wow, Daniel getting in trouble? I'd dare say you're a bad influence Dove!" Calum teases me, his arm around Symali. I stick my tongue out at him. We hadn't told the boys I could talk yet, not knowing how to explain my extremely fast recovery. We're planning on telling them as soon as we have a plausible explanation, but we're just keeping quiet for now. Ashton found a drive-in theater, so we decided to go for a showing when it gets dark enough. The theaters lot is pretty empty, not that we really mind. We park right in the middle for the best view, right next to a red truck with some people in the bed who wave to us when we pull in with our three cars. Calum, Sym, and Andrew all head off to get snacks and drinks while Daniel and Mason set up blankets on the front of all the cars in case we want to sit on the hood. I try to help them but they keep insisting I do everything so I should relax for once. I decide to join Ashton, Archie and Eli (I changed their names for copyright reasons, don't worry about it) in talking to the couple who waved.

"Oh! Hey Dove, meet Jameson and his girlfriend, Cherry! This is our friend, Dove!" Eli introduces us and I smile and wave.

"Hi, I'm Jameson." A man sticks his hand out and grabs mine in a warm handshake. I see Jameson translate something to Cherry in ASL and my interest picques.

"Are you deaf?" I sign and she nods, smiling wide at me.

"Are you?" She signs back.

"No, just mute from an accident." Her eyebrows fret.

"That's horrible! I'm sorry. I was born deaf, so I can't imagine having something so important like that taken away from me like that." She goes on, but I get lost about halfway. Luckily Jameson cuts in and translates for me.

"I'm luckier than most," I shrug with a half smile, "Also, sorry, I'm not that fluent yet." She waves off my apology.

"It's okay. You know more than most. It's nice to talk to someone like this." Even when she's slowing down her signing for me, Cherry's hands move so gracefully and smoothly while mine look like a toddler is controlling them, "Do you have a sign for your name yet?"

"Ah, no. What should I do?" Cherry taps her chin for a second before lighting up. She makes the sign for 'D' and puts her finger against her lips with that same hand.

"I like that a lot!" I respond, repeating the motion over and over.

"So to introduce yourself would look like this: 'Hi! My name is C-H-E-R-R-Y. Cherry!" She explains, her sign for her name being a cupped hand on her head, the tips of her fingers touching her long red hair.

"Yeah, but her family calls her 'Cherry'." Jameson teases playfully, his sign for Cherry being both of his hands cupped on his head, making them resemble animal ears. Cherry pokes him, a pout on her face for a split second before the wide smile returns.

"How long have you two been together?" Archie asks and they both put their hands up in a 5.

"Five years, six in December." Jameson smiles, his bright white teeth contrasting brilliantly against his dark lips. I never knew someone's teeth could be so bright.

"Aw, that's so cute!" I sign, my heart melting. If my relationship doesn't look this in love after six years, then I don't want it.

"Wow. Are you two going to get married eventually?" Eli asks, his eyes sparkling, Jameson shrugs.

"We never really thought about it. Probably? I think we're both just trying to finish college and get our lives put together right now, so who knows what the future holds." Jameson responds, his ability to speak and sign at the same time so fluently still astonishing.

"Though a small, woodsy wedding has been something I've dreamt about since I was a kid." Cherry grabs my attention away, the childish glimmer in her eyes almost sucking me into a wistful daydream of fairy lights and vine covered arches. I just sign 'beautiful'.

"What are ya'll going to college for?" Archie asks, seemingly relieved to be moving on from the wedding topic.

"I'm going into written translation and Cherry is going to be a wildlife conservationist."

"Woah! That's so cool, how many languages do you speak?" Ashton asks eagerly.

"Eight. English, Spanish, ASL, German, French, Hindi, Finnish, Mandarin, and I'm learning Korean right now."

"Holy shit." I sign, trying to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. That's so many!

"Oh hey! There's a sign I know." Ashton chuckles and we all laugh. I hear Sym call from behind us to get ready for the movie so I swap numbers with Cherry quickly before hopping onto the Impala, which is parked behind me. Sym and Calum are there too and hand me popcorn and some sour candy straws. I blow a bunch of kisses in succession to Sym to show my appreciation.

"You got it kid." She grins at me. The movie and seems to fly by, Cherry and I texting our thoughts to each other since no one will be bothered by our phones since it's still rather light outside. Cherry seems like a really cool person and I hope we can be friends. Plus, she could teach me more about ASL! It's crazy how many languages Jameson speaks.

They both seem so sure about what they want to do in life. I wonder what I want to do? I never really got a chance to consider it when I was growing up. I have a fantastic skillset to be a stay-at-home mom one day, but do I want to be a housewife? I'll have to give it more thought.

Well and it's okay if you don't know right now honey. You only turn 18 next week. Don't stress yourself, remember to have fun right now while you can.

You're right. Speaking of my birthday actually, thanks for telling Syms wolf about my birthday! Now everyones making a big deal about it! I pout, forgetting there's other people around.

Well! She asked! You know how persistent Charm can be!

No I don't, you wolves tend not to talk to anyone besides each other and the soul you're mingled with, i.e; me in your case.

Well I mean, yeah. if you want, I could go chat everyones ear off and show them I'm the cooler half of this duo.

I roll my eyes at her comment, a small smile playing at my lips. Yeah, right. After another movie, we decide to head to a nearby diner.

"I feel bad for this team." Rose remarks and I give her a confused look, "Think about it. We just walked in right after rush hour with a group of nine of us into a small town diner, and you know we're about to spend a ridiculous amount of money on food, so the owners are thrilled. The cooks and waitstaff? Not so much."

"Alright I know ya'll just heard all that, so everyone on your best behavior." I warn and see everyone kinda straighten up, their voices lowering a significant amount. But now that Rose mentions it, I do see everyone on staff staring at us. They push two tables together and sit us all down.

"So Dove, how long have you been learning sign?" Archie asks and I pull out my phone.

"Just a couple weeks now, maybe a month? I don't know a whole lot yet."

"You know a whole lot more than the rest of us, so well done. Give yourself more credit." Andrew gives me a smile while nudging me with his elbow. I nudge him back with my shoulder, unable to hide the smile creeping across my face. Sym goes on to ask the boys how the tour went and I notice Daniel fidgeting anxiously in front of me.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask and he looks up, his eyes startled.

"Crowds aren't really my thing. Out of everyone from the band, the only one I know is Calum and that's only a little, plus everyone is looking at us. But I'm okay, it's just freaking me out a little is all." He tries to give me a smile but I furrow my brows.

"Do you wanna step out for a second?"

"No, I'll be okay, really." Even as he reassures me, his leg is bouncing like crazy and his head is hanging, like he's trying to become invisible. I start looking around for something to distract him.

I notice we have an excess of napkins and look up on my phone how to fold one of those paper football piece triangles. Once I have one that seems sturdy enough, I tap the table to get Daniels attention. I waved the football piece and he chuckles, putting his fingers up as an end goal. We take turns flicking back and forth and I feel accomplished as he seems to calm down the longer we play. Pretty soon we order our food and it's delivered incredibly quickly. Since we have food, me and Daniel stop playing for now. I'm halfway through my chicken salad club sandwich when Daniel's sliding over a tic tac toe game on a child's menu. With a sly smile, I mark a circle in the right hand corner. We go back and forth quietly, the rest of the world melting away as we play. We're in the middle of a particularly tough game of hangman when we notice everyone else getting ready to leave. We get up quickly, not realizing we had already paid the check and all. We all think the staff sincerely before heading back to the house, stuffed like holiday turkeys and happy.

A FEW DAYS LATER

"So, Dove! What do you wanna do for your birthday? It's day after tomorrow, isn't it?" Mason asks as we sunbathe on the beach.

"Ah, I don't know man. I've never really celebrated before and honestly, this whole trip has been more than I could've ever asked for, so I don't know." I say out loud, knowing the band is out getting a snack refill with Sym and Rose.

"I guess that's fair. These past few days have been so busy with all the partying and fun stuff that it feels nice to just lay here like this for a while, you know?" He responds, flipping onto his stomach and stretching out his shoulders.

"Exactly, and I think everyone feels the same way. Daniel and Andrew picked up a puzzle last yesterday and that's all they've been doing today. I had to practically drag them away to get them to eat lunch earlier." I chuckle at the thought and Mason whips out his signature breathtaking grin.

"Who would've thought the way to tame a group of teen wolves is to just let them party till they drop." Mason muses, his smile only growing. The truth of this statement makes me laugh.

"You're totally right. I should pick up some knitting needles, yarn, and a cat and accept the granny in me now." I tease and he rolls over onto me, his freshly warmed back heating up my stomach.

"Hey man, kitting isn't just for old people. Rose knits." Mason says defensively and I giggle.

"Does she really? Thats kinda cool though. I could never, though I do remember my mom used to knit a lot when I was a kid. Her fingers were so nimble, truly amazing to watch." I reminisce to a time when life was simple. Sitting on the porch swing with my mom as she knit, never truly making anything, but appreciating the hobby of it anyway.

"Yeah? Your mom sounds like a cool lady."

"Oh, she was the coolest." Andrew cuts in, effectively startling me, "She used to always make cookies for Dove's class and put everyone's initials on them in frosting, and she always made me one even though I was a few years older."

"That sounds so sweet." Mason remarks and a sad silence falls between us.

"So what're you doing out here? Last I checked you were hotglued to that puzzle." I change the subject quickly for fear that I might tear up and cry if we keep talking about my mom.

"We finished it!" Andrew boasts proudly, his hands on his hips.

"Wasn't that thing like 6,000 pieces? Jesus." I laugh and Andrew taps his forehead.

"Life is easier with enhanced eyesight." He says and I laugh again.

"You look like a meme when you do that." Mason teases and Andrew flips him off with a smile.

"Where's Daniel then?" I ask curiously.

"Right here." Daniel says from behind me, making me jump.

"You ass!" I yell, smacking his arm playfully, "You scared the hell out of me!"

"Does that mean I get my sweet angelic Dove back now that Daniel has scared the demon out of you?" Andrew teases and I laugh, smacking him too.

"Hell no! This is who I am, deal with it." I flip my hair over my shoulder, mocking the 'popular girls' in movies. We all laugh as I hear a car pull up in the driveway.

"Must be Sym and them." I mutter, getting a hand from Andrew.

"How did you hear that, but couldnt hear Daniel come up behind you?" Andrew picks at me and I shove him lightly.

"Because you were distracting me." I grin and pull my phone out, slightly saddened that I cant just talk forever.

"Oh! Dove, thanks." Eli thanks me after I help him reset his pile he's carrying right as it was about to topple over. I give him a smile and head to the others to help.

"We got this Dove." Sym says kindly, which is her way of saying she doesn't want me to help. I pout.

"I'm not fragile. Let me help." I protest and she sighs.

"You just refuse to relax." She chuckles and hands me a couple bags to carry in. I had inside to see Daniel and Mason putting everything away. I got to head out the door again when Andrew and Sym come through, their arms so full it looks like they had a 'who can lift more' competition.

"That's the last of it." Rose says, coming in after them.

"Wow. Thought yall were just going for some snacks." I giggle as I look across the bags of food they brought. Theres at least 15 paper bags here.