“God damn it Joey!  Don’t be such a baby and get back over there.” Katy snapped, stomping her foot like a child.  They were quickly losing day light and she wanted  to get this shot done.

            “I am not going over there; I swear I saw something move.” Joey explained folding his arms across his chest and shaking his head in protest.  Katy wanted him stand on the edge of this cliff overlooking the beach so she could film him for the music video.  But after walking over there for a few minutes he swore he saw something move out of the corner of is eye and now was refusing to go back over there.  They were in the middle of nowhere so Katy was sure that he had just seen a snake, but what she couldn’t figure out was why a big guy, like Joey, was afraid of a little snake.

            “Fine, I’ll take care of it.” Katy said going over to where Joey claimed he saw it and searched the tiny reptile out.

              “Katy can’t, we can just film someplace else?  That thing could be poisonous.” Mandy begged, she wasn’t about to rush her to the ER when the stupid thing bit her.  But just as the words left her mouth Katy snatched the snake up, holding just behind the head, like her brother had shown her all those years ago, so that it couldn’t bite her.  She smiled her evil grin and before Mandy could even react.  Katy took off after the three of them with the tiny green snake in hand.

            They all scattered and darted around trees as Katy chased and taunted them with the snake.  She was smiling and having a great time at their expense.  Little did they know that had the simply stood still she would have lost interest and dropped the poor thing long before she wore herself out.  But as usual Katy hadn’t thought this  all the way through by the time she had finish tormenting the others the snake; it had wrapped itself around her wrist making releasing it slightly more difficult.

              “Just toss it over the side.” Mandy begged as she leaned over trying to catch her breath.

              “Working on it.” Katy stated carefully unwinding it, but the snake was determined not to make it easy for her.  She finally tossed it over the cliff.

             “That was mean you didn’t have to kill it.” Lance pouted.  Katy just shook her head she was sure the flexible creature would survive its fall.  She pointed to the spot that she wanted Joey and waited for him to take his place.  Joey was breathing heavy but he took his place away, his chest moving rapidly up and down as he gasped for air.

            “You are supposed to look as if you are searching for love, not like you are dying.” Katy joked.

            “I wouldn’t be dying if you had chased me.” Joey fired back.

              “Come on Joey fake it, make pretend.  Hell pretend that Mandy is off in the distance somewhere.”  Katy explained.  At this point she would roll Mandy down the hill with the snake if she thought it would get Joey to focus and do a good job.  Joey smiled and glanced at Mandy, he secretly hoped that no one had noticed but he suddenly had his motivation.

              Joey looked off into the sunset and thought about what he was looking for.  He kept his face serene as waited for Katy to get what she needed.  Katy watched him through the camera; she was finally getting something that she could use.  But Joey wasn’t faking, it was written all over his face, he really was thinking about something.  He casually slipped his hands in his pocket, this was taking longer than it should, and how much footage of this did she really need?  It was like Joey was one of the more popular guys in the group.  He was just Joey.

              “We’re golden, great work big guy.  Now come on Lance let get back down there and shoot your stuff.  Lance’s shot would be simple as well; he just had to walk along the beach toward her looking off across the water.  As they were hiking back down to the lake, Mandy tripped on a tree root that was sticking out of the ground.  She fell and cried out as her knee made contact with the hard ground.  Within second Joey was by her side while Katy just stared at her dumb founded, she was generally the one to trip over everything.

            “Are you okay?” Joey asked sweetly, the concern for her plastered across his face.

            “Yeah I am fine, just bumped it.  I will probably have a bruise.” Mandy explained, she started to get up but Joey scooped her up in his arm and proceeded to carry her, the rest of the way down.  Katy looked at Lance and pouted.

            “I am not carrying you.” Lance simply started.  Joey set Mandy gently down on the sand before taking a seat beside her.  “So where do you want me?” Lance added trying not to stare at the other two as they seemed to get cozy on the beach.

            “Just go that way and walk toward me.”  Katy said waving off down the beach.  It was starting to get dark now but the sunset made the scene that much more romantic.  Lance sprinted down the beach and then walked toward Katy as she filmed.  “Looks great Lance, but one little thing.” Katy said.  Lance looked at her trying to be very professional.  “Take your shirt off, it is after all the beach.” Katy said with a smile.

            Lance smiled back at her and shook his head.  He was after all pretty shy and the air was a little chilly.  None of the other guys had to take their shirts off so why should he.  Katy and Mandy exchanged glances; her knee was starting to feel better already.  And Joey’s closeness was making her slightly uncomfortable.

              “Lance just take it off, or I will take it off for you.” Mandy fired back, much to Lance’s surprise.

              “You wanna bet?” Lance asked and then took off down the beach.  Mandy quickly got up and took off after him.  It wasn’t like Lance was trying to make an escape attempt he was just trying to have a little fun.  They had been locked in a basement for about a week; he needed to stretch his legs.  Katy fell onto the sand next to Joey.  He was kind of shocked that she hadn’t taken off after Lance as well.

            “Should we go after them?” Joey asked.  Katy shook her head; they should just let them have their fun after all.  It was nice to see both of them laughing and having a good time for a change.  Katy knew Mandy had been on pins and needles about Joey since this whole thing started.  It was a guilty feeling that she just wasn’t used to.  Mandy had asked Katy more than once how she did it, just not caring.  But Katy didn’t view that as a gift.

             “How are you doing?” Katy asked turning to Joey.  He thought about the question, it was after all an odd thing to ask at a time like this.  They watched as Mandy tackled Lance to the ground, the two of them rolled around for awhile.  Joey felt guilty as he started to feel a little jealous of Lance in that moment.  He had no right to be.  Joey ran his hand through his hair and fixed his eyes to the ground.  He felt Katy’s hand on his shoulder comforting him.

            “What happens when this is over?” He asked, completely ignoring her question.

            “No one knows, I can’t predict the future any more than you can.” Katy stated.  To be honest Katy was just trying to live in the moment, planning was something that she didn’t like to do, it was best to just let things happen naturally in her mind.  Katy picked up and handful of sand and watched as it slowly slipped through her fingers, it made her smile and reminded her of the lyrics to one of N Sync’s songs.  She couldn’t remember exactly how the song went but it was very touching none the less.  Katy took Joeys hands a cupped them together before pouring the sand into them and whispering something into his ear.  As she pulled away he just glanced at her, still processing what she had said to him.

            It wasn’t long before Mandy came running back to them, flinging Lance’s shirt in the air like a flag.  Lance was close being still trying to get it back.  Katy allowed herself some time to look Lance over.  He looked great and this was going to be awesome for the video.

              “Let’s do this already.” Katy commented and got up.  She latched on to Lance’s arm and pulled him away from Mandy.  Mandy just smiled and taunted him some more.  She looked down to see Joey still watching the sand as it fell back onto the ground.  He seemed deep in thought and Mandy could only wonder what Katy might have said to him that would put him into a mood like this.

            “But… I feel so naked.” Lance pouted running his hands up and down his arms for added warmth.

              “Then you better make it snappy.” Katy added and pointed him in the right direction.

              “You might as well give it up, Lance; I don’t think you can win against these two.” Joey commented, as he snapped back to reality.  Lance rolled his eyes but wasted no time in running back down the beach, so that they could get this over with and he could get dressed again.  Lance walked toward her trying to be as sexy as he could and still convey the right message. 

             Katy finally shut the camera off and sat back down signaling to Lance that they were done.  Lance joined them and Mandy tossed his shirt back to him.  He wasted no time in putting it on which made Katy sad.  She knew he was gay and that was okay, but it didn’t mean that she couldn’t enjoy looking at him. 

             The four of them sat there in silence for awhile, letting the sun disappear from the sky and bathe them in darkness.  That’s when Katy realized that they hadn’t brought any flash lights in their haste to leave, so finding the car was going to be a challenge.  She wasn’t in a hurry to leave though, it was nice out, a little chilly sure but quiet.  No one said anything for a long while, until Katy spoke up to inform them of their situation after all the bugs and creatures of the night started to stir around them and it was creeping her out a little.