Andrew loved California way more than he loved Ohio. He loved the heat and the air just felt different in his lungs than it did in Ohio—granted, that could be the LA smog, but he didn't care; he loved it.

Andrew also loved how much his family loved to have him visit. He just barely walked out of the airport and already saw his Aunt Amanda's car waiting for him, his cousin, Anthony, waiting outside of the car to greet him.

The younger boys eyes bounced between the terminal and the baggage claim exit. He didn't know where Andrew was gonna come out of, but he was glad Burbank airport only had two terminals. When his eyes did land on Andrew, they almost doubled in size and he made a sprint to the boy.

"Andy!" Anthony screamed, making Andrew look up from his luggage and to the boy that was now seconds away from jumping into his arms.

Andrew quickly let go of his suitcase and let the younger boy jump toward him. He laughed as he hugged Anthony back, ruffling his hair. "Anthony!"

When they pulled away, Anthony grabbed one of Andrew's luggage's and they started to walk towards the car. The younger of the two stared up at Andrew in amazement. "You've gotten so tall." Anthony breathed out and Andrew stifled a laugh, opening the trunk of the car.

"Eh... I was gonna say you shrunk." He muttered, throwing the luggage in his hands into the backseat before taking the bag that was in Anthony's hands and doing the same.

He closed the trunk and walked towards the passenger seat of the car. Andrew could hear Anthony complain behind him saying how he wanted to Andrew to sit next to him, but Andrew wanted to see his aunt.

He climbed into the passenger seat and Amanda smiled at the boy. "Aw, Andy..." She breathed out, leaning over the center console to pull the boy into a hug. "How are you, sweetie?"

"I'm good." Andrew muttered back. When they pulled away, Andrew got comfortable in his seat and Amanda started to drive out of the airport. "Glad to be back."

Ananda looked away from the road quickly to turn to him, a soft smile on her face. "We're glad to have you back."

Andrew looked in the backseat and frowned when he saw Anthony sitting alone. "Where's Sam and Uncle Daniel?"

"Daniel's at the dealership and Sam overslept, but I called her while we were waiting for you and she's getting ready right now. Apparently, you two already planned a trip to the beach for today?" Amanda asked and Andrew smiled at the reminder of the plans he made with Sam a week ago, worried she forgot.

He nodded his head even though his aunts eyes were on the road. "Yeah, I told her the beach was the first thing I need to go to when I got here. She offered to pick me up from the airport and take me straight to the beach, but I guess that plan changed." Andrew said, not too upset about their plan falling through and simply shrugging his shoulders.

Anthony leaned over the center console so he was in between the driver and passenger seat. He turned to face Andrew, a big smirk on his face. "Oh no, that plan was supposed to happen, but Sam's been all mad since her and her boyfriend broke up." He sassed, earning a whack on the head from Amanda, who didn't even turn her head.

...

When Andrew got to his aunts house. He quickly ran his luggage up to his room, changed into his beach clothes and ran back out of the house with Sam in less than ten minutes.

Andrew had his seat reclined back as Sam drove, his eyes staring up at the perfectly blue California skies, waiting for the salty smell of the beach to hit him.

So when the car came to a stop and Andrew realized they weren't at a beach but a strip mall, his entire demeanor fell and he turned to Sam. "Um... this is not the beach."

Sam rolled her eyes, parking the car right in front of a karate dojo. "I know. I want to see if Aisha would want to come with us too."  She suggested and Andrew perked up at the mention of the girl. He readjusted the seat, a big smile growing on his face.

"Oh my God! Yes! I've missed Aisha." Andrew sighed out, leaning back into the seat.

Sam laughed. She always loved how enthusiastic Andrew would get over just about anything. Andrew could make anything sound fun if he sounded enthusiastic enough.

She reached down to the feet of the passengers seat and grabbed her purse. After fishing around for her wallet for a few seconds, Sam pulled out a ten and handed it to Andrew.

"Could you head into the convenience store? Grab us some snacks and drinks?" Sam asked and Andrew looked down at the bill in the girls hands for a second before he nodded his head, taking the money and getting out of the car. "Yeah, sure."

Andrew walked into the convenience store and nodded to the man behind the counter. He walked toward the chip aisle and didn't even stop as he grabbed the nacho cheese Doritos. That was always his and Sam's favorite.

He continued to the refrigerated drinks and his eyes scanned over all of the options as someone else walked into the store.

Andrew clicked his tongue as his eyes danced over all of the options. When he finally found a cone and an Arizona tea, Andrew silently cheered to himself, grabbing the two drinks.

He walked to the cashier and smiled at the man when he walked right up. "Just these three, please." Andrew muttered, placing the two drinks and the bag of chips onto the counter.

His eyes stayed glued on what he was planning to buy, hating making eye contact with cashiers. He listened to the items scanning and he finally looked up at the cashier once he finished scanning his last item.

"$6.58." The man said and Andrew nodded. He reached into his front pocket and dug out the ten dollar bill. Andrew smiled, running the bill through his fingers to iron it out before he handed it to the man.

The cashier just stared at the bill, his eyes jumping back and forth between Andrew and the ten. "Oh, we don't take cash." The man said.

Andrews face dropped and he squinted at the man behind the counter. "You don't take cash?" He asked and when the cashier shook his head, Andrew blinked in shock.

"How do you not take cash? It's... well, it's cash! It's like the basic payment method." Andrew asked. The man just shrugged, as if he's seen this reaction from costumers hundreds of times before. "Sorry, man. We only take card or Apple Pay."

Andrew sighed, pushing the ten back into his front pocket. He reached toward his back pocket for his wallet and shut his eyes when he found out it was empty. "Shit." He muttered.

He opened his eyes and pointed towards the exit. "I left my wallet in the car. Let me go grab i—"

Andrew was cut off when two boys stood beside him, the two of them dumping everything they were planning to buy on the counter with Andrew's things.

The taller boy of the two handed the cashier his card and shook his head. "We've got his stuff covered." He said. The cashier looked back and forth between Andrew and the two boys before nodding, starting to ring up everything.

Andrew turned to face the boys that just bought his snacks and dug back into his pocket to fish out his ten. He finally got a good look at the two; one of them was a tall tanner boy—the one who paid while the other was a little shorter with a bright blue mohawk.

Huh? Guess that is a real haircut.

"Thanks, man." Andrew said, finally grabbing onto his ten. He started to hand it to the taller boy, but he was immediately waved off, the boy shaking his head and pushing the ten back toward Andrew.

"No, dude, you're fine." The boy said and as Andrew nervously pushed the ten back into his pocket, the boy smiled. "I'm Miguel, this is Hawk." Miguel said, pointing to the boy next to him.

Andrew held back a laugh. Hawk did not look like the kind of guy that would like you laughing at his name but you've got to cut Andrew some slack. The boy with the mohawk is named "Hawk"? It's pretty funny.

"Andrew." He introduced himself and Miguel squinted at him.

"Are you new here? I haven't seen you around before." Miguel said and Andrew immediately shook his head.

"No, no. Um... I used to live here when I was younger. Now, I visit my cousins out here every summer." Andrew said, and then he squinted, a nervous laugh leaving his mouth as he looked between the two boys. "So it's kinda like being the new kid every summer. I only know like... two people my age."

The bell above the store door chimed but none of the boys turned to see who it was until the person who walked in let out a loud gasp. "Andy?!"

Andrew turned his head at the familiar voice and immediately broke into a smile when Aisha came running towards him, zooming right passed her karate friends to pull Andrew into a hug.

Andrew laughed, hugging Aisha back as Miguel and Hawk turned to each other with confused looks. They looked back to the pair when they started to pull away. Aisha stared at Andrew with wide eyes and a big smile.

"I thought you stopped visiting to go to theater camp over summer." Aisha said and Andrew let out a dry laugh, hating how fast he had to bring up theater camp.

"Ah... Yes, that was the plan. But when your boyfriend cheats on you with his own understudy, it's hard to ever want to show your face there again." Andrew said, an uncomfortable smile on his face. Aisha's jaw dropped, her eyes softening.

"No way! Christian cheated on you?" Aisha gasped out and Andrew pulled his lips into a thin line and nodded his head. "Yep. With a guy that looked just like him, might I add so... I'm glad I got out of that when I did." Andrew said and Aisha cringed.

"How do you guys know each other?" Hawk finally spoke, looking back and forth between the two.

Aisha and Andrew turned away from each other and face the two boys. Aisha pointed at Andrew with her thumb. "Oh, Andrew is Sam's cousin." Aisha explained and Andrew smiled at the mention of his cousin, not even noticing Miguel and Hawks faces drop.

"Oh my God! You guys know Sam?" Andrew asked, the idea of having a bigger friend group for summer sounded like heaven to him.

But then he noticed the way Miguel wouldn't look at him anymore and Hawks clenched jaw.

Andrew gulped, looking to Aisha for help and the girl winced, realizing her mistake. "Miguel and Sam actually just broke up."

Andrew felt as if all of the air had just been sucked out of the room. His eyes widened as he looked back and forth between Aisha and Miguel. "Oh, God..." He muttered, looking to Aisha with widely embarrassed eyes.

Miguel noticed this and laughed, making Andrew turn back to him, absolutely mortified, but when Miguel shook his head, Andrew let his shoulders relax.

"It's okay, man. Just because I'm not with Sam anymore doesn't to mean we can't be cool." Miguel reassured and Andrew let out a relieved breath of air.

"Does that mean I shouldn't invite you guys to the beach club with me and Sam?" Andrew asked, wincing a little as he pointed to the parking lot where Sam was waiting for him. Miguel frowned, but tried his best to cover it up with a smile as he dipped his head.

"Maybe another time." Aisha said, taking the heat off of Miguel. She gave Andrew a small frown as she gestured to Miguel and Hawk. "Our sensei's having us watch this movie for class." Aisha explained and Andrew's eyebrows furrowed.

"You do karate now?" Andrew asked. Aisha, Hawk, and Miguel's eyes brightened. The three of them turned to each other before they turned back to Andrew.

"Yeah, you should totally join. It'll really help you back in Ohio." Aisha offered. When the two of them first became friends one summer when Andrew was visiting, they immediately bonded over the bullying they faced at school.

Miguel and Hawk turned to each other at the mention of Ohio, neither of them knowing what Aisha was referencing.

Andrew gave Aisha a small smile, shaking his head. "No, I'm sorry. I already told my uncle that defense won't help me when it's words they're using, not fists." Andrew said and Hawk stepped forward, lightly hitting Andrew on the arm to get his attention.

"That's why Sensei Lawrence teaches us how to fight offense." Hawk blurted. He was a little shocked at how quick he was to try and get this boy to join karate. He didn't know him. He just met him.

When Andrew turned to face him, Hawk wrapped his arm around Andrew's shoulders and raised his free hand up into a fist. "So even when those assholes are only saying shit, you can still defend yourself."

Andrew looked between the three nervously. In all honesty, he felt like they were trying to get him to join a cult.

But surprisingly, it was working.

He gave them a small smile and moved himself out of Hawks arms. "I'll think about it." He said, starting to walk backwards toward the exit. "But I should really get going. I don't want to keep Sam waiting for too long."

He gave the three a big smile. A genuine one. Even if he decided not to join karate, he hoped he could still hang out with them. "I'll see you guys later." Andrew told Miguel and Hawk, the two boys nodding back.

Andrew turned to Aisha, pointing at her with the family sized chip bag in his hand. "Ish, call me when you can. We need to catch up."

Aisha chuckled, nodding her head and with that, Andrew walked out of the store and back towards Sam's car.

He threw everything into the backseat of the convertible and hopped over the door to get in, not even trying to open it. Sam rolled her eyes at her cousin, and held back a smile so he wouldn't find out she thought it was funny.

"You ready to go?" Sam asked as Andrew put on his seatbelt.

Andrew sighed, leaning back into his seat and throwing his head back so the sun would hit his face. "I've been waiting for the California beach for the past two years." Andrew hummed, happy to finally be back in Los Angeles.

He turned to face his cousin, his eyes staying on her as he grabbed the two sunglasses that were sitting in the center console. He lazily put one of them on Sam, almost poking her in the eyes before he put the second pair on himself.

"Let's ride." He said and Sam giggled, starting the car and driving out of the strip mall. "You're so stupid."

emily speaks...
there was so much bro talk in this chapter oh my god it was painful to write💔😖

i love andrew so much he's so
IM SO EXCITED FOR THIS FIC