They hadn’t even been back five minutes and Katy was already rummaging through the bags most likely looking for junk food.  She grinned to herself when she stumbled upon some pretzels.  She took a seat at the bar and waited for Mandy to look at her before addressing her.

            “So I was thinking we should move the date thing up to 7 and then after you and Joey are done cooking, we could take Joey and Lance out to the lake to shoot some stuff for the video.” Katy suggested.  Mandy thought for a minute she was already really tired, but she knew that Brandi would feel more comfortable if Katy was not in the house during what should be a very romantic evening for her and Chris.

            “Okay, but just those two.  I think two is about all we can handle at once.” Mandy warned.  Katy smiled and got up to go tell the guys the good news and to get Joey so he could help Mandy with dinner, she had not forgotten about him even though Mandy wished she would.

            Brandi had been listening to their conversation and once Katy was gone she approached Mandy.  Mandy started to say something to her but she just shook her head to let Mandy know that she had heard and was fine with it.  She still had butterflies in her stomach about tonight and now that is was going to happen sooner, But at least it would be over quicker.

              “Why don’t you go and get ready for your date, Joey and I can handle the food.  I’ll come get you before we leave.” Mandy offered.  Brandi nodded and disappeared just as Joey emerged from the basement.  Mandy watch d Joey approach her, there was a twinkle in her eye.

            “So what do you need me to do?” Joey asked as he entered the kitchen.  He rubbing his hands together, edger to jump in and help out.  Mandy smiled at him and handed him the stuff to make a salad, surely he couldn’t mess that up.  “Katy said we are going out later to do some video stuff.” Joey said.  He was just trying to make conversation at this point.

            “Yes and I have a very important assignment for you.” Mandy said turning to Joey.  He lookup at her with such interest as he hands busily worked to open the salad bag.  “We have to keep Katy busy for as long as possible tonight, so Brandi and Chris can have a chance to talk.  It’s not that I don’t trust her, but her curiosity tends to get the best of her.” Mandy commented, she turned back and worked on preparing the food.

            “Yeah, I noticed that about her.  I think Lance and I can keep her entertained for a few hours.  Her and Lance seem to be getting along pretty well.” Joey said.  He took a minute to steal a glance at Mandy’s butt as she leaned over the sink.  Her jeans fit her shape perfectly.  If Joey had been paying more attention to what he was dong he might not have cut himself.  He yelped and instinctively put his finger in his mouth.

            “Oh my gosh, Joey are you alright?” Mandy said rushing to his side.  She put her hand on his arm and forced him to show her his injury.

              “It’s nothing really.” Joey said.  But Mandy wouldn’t have it; she pulled him over to the sink and helped him clean it off.  She ran her hands over his; they were so small and soft  in comparison to his masculine hands.  Joey became lost in her gentle touch.  She left him for a second to fetch a Band-Aid for him.  “You know I think its fine, really.” Joey stuttered.

              Mandy just shot him a sly smiled and proceeded to apply the Band-aid to his cut, then playfully kissed it.  She wasn’t trying to be a flirt it was just something that she had always done for the kids that she used to babysit for.  It always made them feel better, and Joey had to admit that cut was no longer bothering him.  He softly thanked her and she turned away to do something else.  Joey’s mind was trying to digest the softness of her lip against his skin, even for the brief moment.

              Joey stood there for a minute trying to get his mind right, that’s when he noticed something out the window that located above the sink.  He watched for a minute to see just exactly what she was doing, before asking Mandy.

            “What is she doing out there?” Joey asked.    Mandy rushed back to his side and looked out the window not expecting to see what she saw there in the backyard.

            “I thought she was getting ready for her date?” Mandy asked.

            “If she is then someone better warn Chris, that doesn’t bode well for him.” Joey said.  His concern for his friend’s well being was sincere but there was nothing that he could really do for him in this situation.

              “I’ll check on her, can you watch the food?” Mandy asked.  Joey nodded and turned to the stove, just hoping that he wouldn’t burn himself next.  Last thing he wanted was to look like a complete moron in front of Mandy.

            Mandy stepped out the back door and made her way to Brandi cautiously.  She watched Brandi repeatedly chuck something at one of the trees.    Brandi could fell someone watching her and glanced at Mandy before approaching the tree and removing the three small knives from it.

              “I thought you were going to get ready for your date?” Mandy asked.

            “I am.” Brandi said with a sly grin.  She began to throw the knives at the tree again, every time hitting her mark.  She could see the confusion on Mandy’s face out of the corner of her eye.  “I am working on my aim, so when he tries to run, I won’t miss.”

            “Brandi!  He isn’t going to run and on the off chance that he does please don’t throw pointy things at him.”  Mandy said.  Brandi laughed a little, Mandy took that as a sign that she wasn’t being serious or so she hoped.  “Where did you get those any way?  Something else from Katy’s collection?” Mandy added.

            “No, actually these are mine.  Katy isn’t around is she?” Brandi asked glancing around nervously.  She didn’t want Katy to get a hold of them; they were dangerous enough without her help.

              “They are yours?  Dare I ask then what you did with her stuff?” Mandy asked.

            “It’s safe, let’s leave it at that.  I’ll tell her where everything is when we get ready to leave.” Brandi offered.  Mandy didn’t really want to know where she might have put them, knowing would only put her at risk with Katy.  Katy could generally tell when people were lying to her and Mandy was the worst liar out of all of them.  There was still something unsettling about what Brandi was doing.

            “You sure you are alright, most girls take a shower, get dressed up before a date, and not try to kill a tree with lawn darts before a big date.” Mandy asked. 

           “First of all, they aren’t lawn darts, they are throwing knives and I am not killing the tree.  This is what I do when I am stressed, well one of the things I do.” Brandi said.  Truth was she was nervous and unsure about to night, but she would never admit that to anyone.  She just wanted to be left alone but it wasn’t like Mandy to walk away.  “It shouldn’t be unheard of for me to be a little stressed.  I mean we kidnapped five guy and the longer we keep them hear the more danger we are in.  And the more likely that someone will come looking for them.” She added.  Mandy nodded, she knew Brandi was right and she was fighting with that stressed feeling as well. 

             There was a sigh as Mandy looked back toward the house and all the trouble that lied in there.  She wasn’t ready to leave yet, but god they were starting to get into more and more trouble with each passing minute. 

           “All the more reason to start filming tonight I suppose.” Mandy finally said after what seemed like a long pause.“You sure Joey can handle it in there alone?” Brandi asked as if to change the subject.  It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk about this anymore, but the girls rarely talked about the danger in general.  It was like an unspoken rule they had.

            Mandy could see Joey moving around in the kitchen, she wondered if he was having trouble, but surely he would call for her if he needed help.  Brandi got close to Mandy and whispered something into her ear.  Mandy glanced at her friend but said nothing, as soft as it was Mandy wasn’t sure that she had heard right and ignorance was bliss.

            “Why don’t you go get dressed, you’re the one with a date tonight.” Mandy said as she started for the door.  “And put those things way, you never know when Katy might pop up.”

            “It sounds to me like you have one too.” Brandi joked.  Mandy glanced back her over her shoulder but said nothing.  It wasn’t a date for her if Katy and Lance were going to be there.  And well it just wasn’t a date.  She shook the thoughts from her head and proceeded back to the kitchen.

            Brandi smiled and cleaned her knives before placing them back into their protective sleeve.  She slipped them into her back pocket before following Mandy back toward the house, after all she felt like she should make an effort to get cleaned up and look nice for Chris.  He is the one that wanted this date and she wanted it to be perfect for him.

            Joey greeted Mandy with hopeful eyes as he was struggling to make since of the directions that she had left him with.  Mandy had to admit that he had done pretty well by himself, nothing was burnt or ruined.  Brandi slipped past them and made her way upstairs without a word spoken. 

           “So is she okay?  Is Chris safe with her?” Joey asked softly just in case Brandi was still close by. 

           “Brandi is just stressed, like everyone else around here.  But trust me he is safer with her than without her.   Brandi maybe a lot of things, but I know that she is very protective, of us and of you guys.  The kidnapping aside, she would never do anything to hurt any of us.” Mandy explained.  Joey blinked a few times; it was becoming clear to him just how close the girls really were despite all the fighting and picking on one another.  It reminded him a lot of how he used to be with the guys.  He would have done anything for them, he still would but now they didn’t speak regularly so it was hard to know when they were in trouble.

            Mandy could see the gears grind away inside Joey’s head but she didn’t say anything.  She ran her hand along the back of his neck and then pulled him closer.  He instinctively closed his eyes as she placed a soft kiss on his forehead.  It was such an innocent action but Joey felt his heart skip a beat in the moments the followed.

            “I am not going to report you.” Joey stated.  He took her hands in his and looked her in the eye as he spoke.  Mandy stood there her hands in his and she felt safe with him despite all that had happened and would happen.

            “I know.” She sighed.  “We’ll just have to see what fate has planned for us.”