cody woke up with anaya still wrapped around him, still in a deep sleep. he looked down at her with a small smile as he ran his hand down her back. when he stood he moved carefully so that she wouldn't wake up, he held her head in his hands and placed it softly on a pillow so she could continue to sleep. anaya mumbled a bit, scaring cody into thinking he had awakened her but her breathing got heavy again and she turned over.

he went into the bathroom and he took his morning piss, sleepily rubbing his eyes after he washed his hands. he used the in-room coffee maker in the hotel room to make them both a cup of coffee, "hey, naya," he bent down and gently shook her arm, "naya."

"hm?" she replied, half asleep.

"i made you some coffee," he said, extending the cup out to her. her caramel brown eyes opened lazily as she saw him standing above her, his hair ruffled and messy from sleep. she took the cup gratefully as she sat up and took a ginger sip.

"thank you," she mumbled, avoiding eye contact, "tastes like piss."

cody snorted on his drink and nodded, "yeah, it's not the best. what are we gonna go see today?"

"let's go downtown, there's a nice restaurant down there," anaya stretched, "or we can go to visit my family."

"your family?" cody asked, "like your parents?"

"yeah," anaya stood and looked through her luggage for clothes, "why? you scared?"

"pfft," he scoffed, "scared? no."

"liar," anaya smirked, "no need to be scared, my mom barely speaks english, you'll just have to smile and nod."

cody felt a bit relieved when she said that, smiling and nodding sounded easy enough to do. they both got showered and dressed, brushing their teeth at the same time in the bathroom and finally leaving. anaya showed cody the local transportation, buses and such to get around the city. they were different from america, they were clean and not full of litter.

"are you hungry?" cody inquired, "know any good breakfast places?"

"nah, my mom will make us something, let's go there now, i haven't had a homecooked meal in five years," she texted her mom, informing her that she was on her way with her friend, and her mom agreed to making breakfast burritos and her famous fried potatoes.

"will your dad be there?" cody wondered aloud.

anaya looked at the floor for a second in deep thought then sighed, "no, uh, my dad died a week after i moved out to the states."

"naya," cody placed his hand in hers and regretted that he had even opened his mouth in the first place, "i'm so sorry."

she plastered a fake smile across her face but cody could see that her eyes were swimming in tears, "it's no problem."

cody was unsure what to say next so he squeezed her hand a little harder in an attempt to show his support. anaya pulled a wire that requested a stop and they got off the bus, but they didn't unlock their hands, anaya looked down at them, "friends, huh?"

"friends can hold hands," cody reasoned with her, "friends can do that."

"can friends kiss?" anaya asked, stopping on the sidewalk and making cody stop with her.

they were standing down her old street, she spent years there riding bikes with friends and walking home from school. she could see her house from where they were standing. cody looked down at her, his other hand finding hers, he chuckled to himself a bit before looking at the sun high in the sky. anaya kept her eyes trained on him, his hazel eyes and 5 o'clock shadow.

"what?" he asked he asked as he looked back at her, the corners of his lips turning up in a half smile.

"kiss me," she said.

cody gripped her face with his large hands and looked at her for a second. she closed her eyes in anticipation so pulled her face up a bit before placing his lips on hers, feeling the warmth of her breath. he could feel anaya smile into the kiss, making him smile, "why're you smiling, dork?"

anaya laughed as they pulled away, suddenly a foot of space between them, but their hands were still entwined, "nothing. let's go."

she tugged his arm a bit down the sidewalk and he quickly caught up, following her. she showed him the corner store she used to buy candy from when her mom was gracious enough to give her money. she showed him the first place she had ever smoked weed and where her first boyfriend first tried to cop a feel on a bus stop bench. they stopped in front of a semi-small house, her old home.

she took a deep breath and rang the doorbell, almost immediately the door flew open. a tall, tan, hispanic woman opened the door, she looked strikingly similar to anaya. the woman threw her arms around her daughter and began to sob out tears of joy, "mija!"

cody pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures of them hugging, he assumed anaya would want this memory to be saved. anaya wiped away a few tears as they pulled away.

"mom," she said, stepping back and gesturing to cody, "this is cody, the one i told you about."

her mother looked at him up and down and said something to anaya in spanish, they both laughed which made cody feel only slightly uncomfortable.

"thank you for giving anaya the ticket to come," she spoke with a heavy accent, but she definitely knew english, "our family greatly appreciates it. call me mom, or linda, or mama linda."

cody smiled kindly, confused how she was speaking english, but nodded his head. mama linda approached him and gave him a bear hug, pecking his cheek softly before entering the door once more.

"i thought she didn't speak english?" cody whispered to anaya, "what happened to 'smile and nod'?"

anaya chuckled, "i thought catching you off guard might be funnier."

they entered the house, it was warm and cozy. there were several women there standing in the space between the kitchen and the living room, all young, around anaya's age. they all squealed as soon as she stepped in, running to her and scooping her up in their arms. cody enjoyed seeing anaya with friends, taking a few more pictures for memories sake. once the air had quieted, the girls turned their attention to cody. all of them were stunning, exotic looking women, but they all regarded him skeptically. one of them mumbled something about "gringo" and the group laughed.

"guys, stop," anaya said, her accent suddenly 100x thicker, "this is cody, my, uh," she hesitated, "um, friend."

cody tried to hide the twinge of hurt he felt as he heard her say that, friend. she labeled him as a friend after asking him to kiss her less than ten minutes before, a friend. he smiled and placed his hand out as he introduced himself to her friends.

"i'm yamilet," a girl in a simple blue sundress said, shaking his hand, "nice to meet you, uh, chodey?"

"uh, cody, actually," cody corrected, "nice to meet you."

"he's cute, yaya," a girl with thick accent said, looking at anaya then back at cody.

"yeah he is," anaya mumbled in agreement, looking at the ground.

"i'm valentina," she said.

cody paused before shaking the girl's hand, she was almost flawless. she had no makeup on but her skin seemed to glow, she was short and lean, but her hips had curves. her long hair fell in waves down her back, tucked under each ear, "wow, hi," cody said, his mouth agape slightly in awe.

valentina giggled and turned her attention to anaya, wiggling her eyebrows. anaya tried her best not to roll her eyes, nodding somewhat encouragingly at her friend.

the last girl introduced herself, "and i'm luciana," she said shortly, not bothering to stick out her hand, just giving a quick wave.

"so, these are my closest friends," anaya said, "now let's eat breakfast," she clapped her hands together, "i'm starving."

she exited the living room and walked to the kitchen where her mom was already waiting. yamilet and luciana followed, but valentina hung behind, looking at cody. her tongue moved along her bottom lip, as she walked towards him.

"it was very nice of you to give yaya a ticket to come see us," she said as she ran her hand flirtatiously down his toned arm, giving it a little squeeze, "very nice."

when she said that, something told cody that she wasn't talking about giving away the ticket. against his better judgement, he flirted back, "well, i am a very generous man."

valentina giggled and let go of his arm, walking into the kitchen and joining the rest of the party. cody watched as she walked away, his eyes not leaving her swaying hips.

a/n: anaya should start looking for a new man