“nick, are you ready to...omg what happened in here?” brian asked looking at the clothes scattered around nicks room.

“I dont know what to wear!”

brian rolled his eyes, “nick were going to the beach. wear some shorts, a tshirt and bring a sweatshirt.”

“but what shorts and shirt?”

“ugh! your green board shorts and a black wifebeater. youve got two minutes then were going to pick up the girls whether your ready or not,” he said and walked out of the room.

nick made a face and quickly changed. he grabbed his bsb sweatshirt and hurried downstairs. jane met him at the bottom of the stairs and handed him a large picnic basket.

“brian already put the other one in the car,” she said.

nick nodded and headed out the door. jane grabbed his arm, “behave.”

nick rolled his eyes, “okay.”

“dont roll your eyes at me nickolas.”

“sorry mom. can I go now? their gonna leave without me....”

she kissed him on the cheek, “okay, have fun.”

he nodded and went out to the car. he got in the one brian was driving and they headed to the girls apartment.
*~*~*~*~*~*

they reached the beach after a half hour and unloaded the cars. aj staked out the “perfect” spot and they set everything up.

emma sat down on the blanket between howie and brian. amanda went to the supervise aj while he went to get ice cream and faye and kevin went to be mushy down the beach hand in hand.

“hey nick, come here,” emma said to nick who was sitting at the edge of the blanket.

he moved closer to her, “yeah?”

she smiled and played with his hair, “can I braid your hair?”

he nodded and turned so that his back was to her. she smiled and started to braid his hair into little tiny braids(like on the disney concert).

amanda and aj came back. aj watched emma braiding nicks hair while happily sucking on his popsicle. “hey emma, can you do that to my hair too?”

amanda rolled her eyes and sat down, “you dont have any hair.”

aj stuck his tongue out at her, “I do too, besides I was asking emma not you.”

emma tried her best not to laugh, “sorry aj. I would, its just your hair isnt long enough.”

aj made a face and sat down. nick glanced at emmas foot that was resting beside him. “hey emma, can I draw a little tattoo on your ankle?”

“it wont wash off when I go swimming will it?”

“um...i dont think so.”

“then go ahead,” she said resting her leg across his lap.

he blushed and asked howie for a pen, “does it matter what I draw?”

“nope, just as long as it isnt too big.”

he nodded and started to draw on her ankle. aj watched nick then glanced at amanda. he opened his mouth to speak and she shook her head, “no aj. you cant draw on me.”

“how did you--”

“I saw that look in your eye.”

aj pouted and she rolled her eyes. brian picked up the volleyball and spun it on his finger, “hey guys, you wanna play?”

howie, aj, and amanda nodded. nick made a face, not looking up from his drawing, “frick...”

emma laughed, “bri, go find faye and kevin. by the time you come back I should be done with his hair and he should be done drawing.”

brian nodded and went in search of the couple. aj glanced at amanda, “is there anything that you WANT to do?”

“not really,” she said turning on the portable radio.

aj frowned and laid down. brian came back about 10 minutes later followed by kevin and faye who both had guilty looks on their faces.

emma glanced up at them, “what did you two do?”

faye smiled, “absolutely nothing.”

aj looked up at them, “they were making out.”

faye blushed and kevin rolled his eyes, “shut up aj.”

aj smirked, emma laughed and tapped nick on the shoulder, “all done.”

he glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled, “thanks. im almost done.”

she nodded and leaned back waiting for him to finish. kevin sat down and pulled faye down on his lap, “okay, we need teams.”

“hmm...how about me, howie, nick, and emma. against you, faye, aj, and amanda.”

“woo hoo...im the only girl on my team.”

brian laughed, “then I guess emma is happy.”

“okay, im done,” nick said.

emma looked down and saw the little dolphin wrapped halfway around her ankle. she smiled, “a dolphin, my favorite.”

“is it okay?”

emma nodded and kissed him on the cheek, “thank you.”

he blushed and nodded. brian stood up, “okay, come on. lets play.”

“its hot,” aj whined by way of getting out of helping set up the volleyball net.

“can I see the ball please?” amanda asked brian.

he nodded and handed her the ball. she walked over to aj and bounced the ball off ajs forehead, “sit down and stop whining.”

aj pouted and rubbed his head. howie elbowed brian and pointed to emma and nick. he had somehow gotten himself all twisted in the net and she was trying to help him out. the only problem was that neither one of them could stop laughing. “has he asked her out?”

brian smiled and shook his head, “at least not yet.”

emma tripped over nicks foot and laughed, “okay. you sit still and ill unwrap you.”

he laughed and nodded. she finally managed to unwrap him and helped him to his feet, “next time we dont play with the net.”

he laughed and nodded, “agreed.”

they finished setting up and got into their teams. it was obvious that the guys were more serious about the game than the girls. the three girls looked at each other, shrugged and sat on the blanket.

aj glanced at them then at brian who smirked and whispered something to him. aj smiled and went over to the girls, “whats wrong ladies?”

amanda shrugged, “you guys were having fun without us so we just decided to sit down.”

“aw, im sorry. can I give you a hug?”

she looked at him like he was crazy and the other two girls raised their eyebrows. aj looked at all of them, “what? I just wanted to hug her...like as an apology.”

amanda shrugged, “okay, I guess.”

aj smiled and reached over to hug her. but instead picked her up and raced to the water. kevin and nick saw this, ran over to faye and emma, picked them up and carried them out to the water.

emma held onto nick tightly, “no nick! please!”

he laughed, “what do I get?”

“um...a hug and a kiss.”

“okay.” he quickly set her down. she smirked and shoved him down into the water. “sucker.”

“hey! no fair!” he grabbed her ankle as she started to run and pulled her down with him.

emma sat there, totally soaked. “ooh, you brat....” splashed him in the face and stuck her tongue out at him.

he laughed, “okay, okay. im sorry.”

she laughed, “good. so am I.” she stood up and took off her tank top to ring the water out of it.

nick turned bright red and looked away. emma glanced at him, “nick...i do have a bathing suit on ya know.”

nick stood up and nodded, “yeah...i just wasnt expecting that.”

they headed back up the blanket and emma said, “well if it makes you uncomfortable ill put my top back on.”

nick shook his head, “no, im fine. dont put it on.” he blushed realizing how ackward that sounded.

they reached the blanket and nick handed her a towel. amanda came stomping up to them and grabbed a towel.

“amanda, come on. I was just playing,” aj said following her.

amanda glared at him and dried herself off. “um...aj...she cant swim...” emma said.

ajs eyes widened, “omg...im SO sorry.”

amanda rolled her eyes and sat down. aj frowned and walked off. nick went to talk to him while emma sat down with amanda.

“why dont you just give him a chance?” emma asked.

“he just threw me in the friggin ocean!!”

emma rolled her eyes, “yes and nick threw me and kevin threw faye.”

“but you guys can swim!”

“amanda...shut up. he didnt know you couldnt swim. just chill out and when he comes back, give him a chance.”

“why should I? from the minute we met, hes been annoying to only me.”

emma rolled her eyes again, “because I said so.”

“and since when do I lis-”

“always because im always right.”

“no your...” emma gave her a look. amanda pouted and mumbled, “stupid brat.”

“respect your elders,” emma said laying down beside brian.

“your only a month and half older.”

“which makes me a month and a half more mature.”

amanda rolled her eyes and laid down.
*~*~*~*~*~*

kevin watched the bonfire that seemed to be growing more each second, “brian, dont add anymore wood to that.”

“its not as big as I want it yet though...”

faye sat down in kevins lap and he wrapped his arms around her. she watched as brian continued to add wood to the fire, “is it possible to burn down the beach....?”

emma laughed and shivered slightly, “well, im freezing so the bigger the better.”

“I have a sweatshirt in the car if you wanna borrow it,” nick said.

emma glanced at his outfit, “dont you need it?”

he shook his head and lied through his teeth, “im not really cold. do you want me to go get it?”

she nodded and stood up, “ill go with you.”

“k, brb guys.” the two of them headed up to the parking lot.

“btw, I dont think I ever thanked you for inviting me here so thanks.”

he smiled and nodded, “im glad you came.”

they got to the car and nick got his sweatshirt and handed it to her. she smiled and put it on.

nick looked at her and couldnt help but laugh considering the sweatshirt was about three times too big for her. “you look better in it than I do.”

emma blushed and shook her head, “thats not possible.”

“believe me, it is.” they headed back to the group. “hey, um...can I ask you something?” she nodded and he took a deep breath, “um...well...do you maybe wanna go out...?”

“really?”

he blushed and nodded. she smiled, “I would love to.”

he looked at her a little surprised, “really?”

she laughed slightly and nodded. he smiled and kissed her on the cheek before they joined the others.