I Went to Sleep Thinking About You, And I Woke Up Just the Same.

Novak and I are running, not knowing exactly where we're going to go..but then we run by a certain shop. I stop Novak, and he turns to look at me, all out of breath.

"SKATE SHOP! SKATEBOARDS!" I say to him, pointing at the shop that was next to us. The two of us jog inside, and go to the back desk.

"Two Bam Boards, please!" Novak says. The kid at the desk gives them to us, and Novak gives him the money.

"OH SHIT, YOU'RE BRANDON NOVAK?" The kid screams. "I'M A HUGE FAN, HOLY FUCK! CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH!"

"Yeah, sure!" Novak says signing something really quick. "What's your name, kid?"

"Tommy!" He says in shock. Novak finishes the note and gives him the pen. Novak grabs our boards, and my hand and jogs out of the store.

"Thanks for the boards, Tommy!" He says as he gets on his board. He gives me one of them and grins. "You skate, sweetheart?"

"I sure do! Now come on! We've got a game to win!" I say skating ahead of him. The two of us made it to the fountain, and I didn't see anyone there.

"WE WON! I NEVER WIN ANY OF THESE FUCKING GAMES!" Novak shouts propping himself up on the ledge of the fountain. He hugs me from up there, causing chills to erupt down my spine. "Looks like you're my new good luck charm, sweetheart!"

I smile at him as I prop myself up next to him. The two of us rest our boards in our laps and wait for the others.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" I hear someone scream from the other side of the fountain. I turn myself to see Bam and Dico running. "HOW DID YOU TWO WIN!?" Bam yells. Novak and I don't say anything. With grins on both of our faces, we hold our boards up in the air.

"Clever," Dico says. "Very fucking clever."

"Yeah, I do that professionally and I didn't even think of skateboards!" Bam says with a face palm.

"Raven thought of it!" Novak says wrapping an arm around me. "Now what did you fuckers get?" He asks. Brandon rolls his eyes and walks over to me, pushing a large bag of candy into me.

"Candy. FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS WORTH OF CANDY! BAM & BRANDON. YOU TOOK MY IDEA! THAT'S EXCITING," I shout happily. Brandon throws another bag at me, causing me to fall backwards. I feel a hand support my lower back, saving me from falling into the fountain. I look behind me and see that Novak was helping me. "Thank you!" I say smiling.

"Anytime, sweet heart. What's in here, anyway?" He asks as he opens the bag a bit more. His mouth opens wide, and then a smile begins to form. He looks like a boy on Christmas Day, right now..and it's pretty much the cutest thing ever. "SKITTLES? THERE'S SKITTLES. YES!"

"Fuck, who won!?" I hear Dunn ask with Rake behind him carrying all of their team's stuff.

"Novak and Raven!" Dico says angrily. I roll my eyes.

"You sore fuckin' loser!" I reply kicking his butt when he turns his back to me. He yelps and turns around, glaring at me.

"HOW? NOVAK NEVER WINS ANYTHING!" Rake yells walking over with a bunch of games and a few game consoles. "AND TAKE SOME OF THIS SHIT FROM ME, YOU FUCK." Rake adds throwing a few video games at Dunn's back. Raab and Glomb come over to us with practically a whole movie store in their hands.

"Alright, lets get the fuck out of here and go home," Bam says laughing. Novak takes the bags off of my lap after jumping off the ledge of the water fountain. He holds his hand out for me to take, so he can help me down. I glady take it, and the two of us catch up to the rest of the guys.

We all leave in the cars we came in, and we head over to a McDonald's..which we were kicked out of an hour after we got there due to Brandon and Raab starting a food fight.

"Since one of the groups bought a whole movie store..I say we pop in one of the movies when we get back!" Novak says to the group. Everyone agrees, and we all split up into the cars we came in. We drove away from the mall, and back to Castle Bam. As I'm in the car, talking to Raab and Glomb, I begin to think to myself about a lot of things.

These guys are already like family to me..and I've known them for only about three hours. And Novak..he's something else.

We make it back to Castle Bam, where I'm greeted by my dear Ville, along with an older blonde woman who was cradling him in her arms.

"Bam, who's dog is this?" She asks with a smile as she looks down at him. Ville just starts licking her face.

"He's mine!" I say with a smile, and walk over to her from behind the guys. She smiles at me. "His name's Ville."

"Is it now?" She asks laughing. "Great name! I bet my idiot son loves it."

"I DO, APE!" Bam yells.

"Anyway, I'm Raven. Brandon's cousin, and it's really nice to meet you!" I reply after turning away from Bam after his outburst.

"Oh, you're related to Dico? You're so beautiful..and..and polite! You are nothing like that cousin of yours!" She says. The guys start laughing.

"Ape! That's not nice!" Brandon says pouting and crossing his arms over his chest. He stomps out of the room, and sits on one of the couches. Rake and Raab follow him inside.

"Ape, what are you doing here anyway?" Bam asks as he walks up next to me, taking Ville out of Ape's arms, cradling him in his own.

"I'm cooking you baboons dinner!" Ape says. "And Phil's coming by later, too." She adds.

"Do you want any help in the kitchen or anything?" I ask her. She just looks at me in shock. "What's the matter?" I ask laughing.

"No one ever asks her if she needs help," Dunn says from behind me with a grin.

"No, but it means a lot to me that you asked! Thank you so much, sweetie!" She says happily as she hugs me. With a smile, I hug her back. She lets go of me, and turns to Glomb, Dunn, Bam and Novak. "Now boys, if you scare this one away..I'll kill you."

"Ape, first of all! She's related to Dico. She's used to all of this shit from him by now," Glomb says to her.

"Second, we like this girl. She's cool, and she's a sweet heart," Dunn says as he drapes an arm over my shoulders. The four of us walk inside, and towards the couches. I feel someone pull me down, and I'm now sitting between Bam and Novak.

"Do you want your dog back?" Bam asks as he's patting Ville's head.

"You don't look like you want to give him up just yet, so I'll let you hold onto him," I say to him. His eyes light up, and he continues to pet him.

"Alright, so what movie are we going to watch?" Raab asks.

"SAW III!" Bam yells as he pops the DVD. "Now where the fuck is that remote?" Bam asks looking around. He pokes at my sides, pushing me closer and closer into Novak. I turn to him and smile shyly.

"...Sorry.." I say as I attempt to move myself back. Bam continues poking me so I'm sitting in Novak's lap. He's just laughing, telling me that it's alright. "BAM, STOP!" I yell laughing, as I lightly smack his shoulder and sit back down in my spot on the couch. I hear someone scream a high pitched and nauseating sound.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" Dunn and I shout. Raab just raises his hand and smiles.

"I found the remote!" He exclaims, waving it around in the air. We all just laugh, as he presses play. I feel an arm drape over my shoulders, and the movies starts to play.

An hour into the movie, I begin to fall asleep.

Two hours later
I wake up to the sound of a reving engine. I open my eyes, and I see trees just zooming past, and I see a blue sky, and I begin to stretch. I turn myself, and see that it's actually Bam that's driving me, and Ville's in my lap.

"Hey, sleepy head!" He says with a grin, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Hi, Bam!" I reply with a yawn. "How long was I out for?" I ask.

"About two hours, I think. And Dico decided that maybe you should go home for a bit, and rest some more. We saw that you were asleep, so Novak carried you out to the car." Bam says to me, with his eyes on the road. I smile at the thought of Novak carrying to my car. "And since Dico's car ran out of gas, I decided that I'd drive you home," Bam says, stopping at a red light.

"Ah, alright!" I sigh. "I don't know what happened. I just got really tired during the movie, and sleep sounded awesome, then. And..thank you, for today. It was so much fun! I needed a day like this."

"You're welcome, Ray. But listen...can I ask you something?" He asks me as the light turns green. I nod, and he smiles. "What's up with you and Novak? And don't lie, because I know there's something up. And..I just hate liars in general."

Laughing, I just shrug. "I really don't know. But you noticed?" I ask, and he just nods.

"Raven, please. Whoever didn't notice how you two we're together, they're fucking blind. You like 'im." Bam says. "You can definitely tell me, Ray! Like I said before..today, you have become my best friend. You can trust me," He adds laughing. With a sigh, I turn to face him.

"Alright, fine. I like him," I say in defeat. "I just met him, though. It's wierd."

"What's wierder is how he is with you. I've never seen him like that with any girl. Because you see..Life Partner's known for..his..promiscuity.." Bam says, sounding out the last part. I laugh a little.

I would of never thought that, I thought to myself.

He laughs a bit, too. "But, Ray. I'm being serious. He's known for his rep as a womanizer kind of guy, and he's known for his straight forward attitude towards women. He'll be like, "You..I'm fucking you tonight." And he'd flirt with them, and next thing you know..they're in his room fuckin' doing it." Bam says. "But..he likes you..you're different. You're a change for the better for him, I think. You'll be good for him."

"Bam, thanks for telling me all of that," I say with a smile.

"So, have you been in any relationships recently?" Bam asks me. I feel a cold chill go up my spine..and most definitely not the good kind. "Ray?" He asks concerned. "Did I poke at a sensitive topic, or something?"

"Y-yeah..but I haven't talked about it in a long time, and it's about time I told someone, I guess," I say rubbing my arms, for some sort of comfort that I couldn't find.

"Raven, what happened?" He asks rubbing my shoulder, as he parks the car infront of my house.

"I was with this guy..for a long time. About two years. And, within the last six months of our relationship..something in him just snapped.." I say with a sigh. Bam just looks at me.

"Go on, Ray. It's okay," Bam says. I look down at Ville, and back up into Bam's eyes.

"He accused me of cheating, when I actually didn't. It was actually him that was cheating in our relationship. And..when I worked up the courage to tell him that I knew what he was doing on the weekends..with another girl, he got mad, and told me that THAT doesn't mean that I have the right to go around and cheat..and then things got out of hand-"

"The bastard didn't hit you, did he?" Bam asks, with anger in his eyes. I just look away from him, and nod.

"I was put into the hospital..three times..on his behalf-" I start to say, and then I'm interrupted by Bam starting up the car. "Bam, what are you doing?"

"We're going to this fucker's house? No one should do that to anyone, ever. You didn't deserve that!" Bam says.

"BAM! Please, don't do that," I say to him calmly, with a few tears stinging my eyes. "Besides, he lives in New York anyway..." I say to him. He just sighs, and takes the key out of the ignition.

"Who else knows?" He asks.

"..just you. Brandon doesn't doesn't know. No one does. Except for the dog," I say with a grin as I rub the top of his head and kiss it.

Bam just smiles. "You talk to your dog?" He asks as he starts petting him, too.

"Of course!" I say to him laughing. "Ville's an amazing listener." I add. He just laughs and looks up at me.

"You really should tell Dico, or at least Novak.." He says to me. "Alright, now that you're actually here..I don't think you should go home. You're sad now, and you need your friends. And since you're already in the car..we're going back to my house!" Bam says starting the car up, once again. I laugh, and dry my eyes.

"Bam, thank you for listening," I say to him as he begins to drive.

"You're welcome, Ray!" He says, and then beings to speed up. "Now we've got a party to plan!"