*Something always caught her eye, no reason left for her to hide*

"Kitty run off on you?" His voice is smooth, playful, and for some reason she finds herself smiling at the sound of it. "Man, I hate when that happens. Maybe you should get her a leash, I hear those work really well with Kitt-"

She laughs, playfully pushing his arm, "You're funny."

"You're cute."

Tyler raises an eyebrow, "Always the charmer, aren't you?"

Grinning, Jake raises his arms over his head popping them before leaving his wrists against the back of his neck. "Well, I do try to be on my best behavior. It's in my job description to be nice to all the residents. At least, I would hope it is."

"Oh? Are you always...this nice?" She resists the urge to roll her eyes, happy that she's got someone to talk to. Since she's got her new phone she's had nothing to do. With Kitty out of the apartment (and having taken keys), the receptionist on her break, and no one to talk to, she's taken to sitting down in one of the lobby chairs and playing random games. She's managed to download a few fun ones, mainly Piano Tiles and Fruit Ninja.

"Well..." He plops down in a chair next to her, "what do you have there?"

"A phone. It has things on it." She does roll her eyes this time. Pressing her legs under her body, she turns to face him. "You're too young to really own this place. You can't be over twenty. So, are you really the owner?"

Jake, whom she's slowly starting to figure out likes to smile, turns up one corner of his lips. "I might be. I might just have worked myself up to a good position. I might, in fact, just be a random stranger off of the street. What are you, oh-lovely-lady, willing to pay to find out?"

"What payment are you wanting?" Shit! What type of guy is he? Come on, Tyler, don't play the sleep for information card. If he tries, you turn him down. Okay. Okay. Dammit, why's everything got to be so complicated? Why is he just looking at me?

"Perhaps...a date?"

She blinks, feeling her heart calm down a little. A date? She voices her confusion.

This time it's his turn to laugh, "Yes, a date. Normal people go on them, you know. Why? Scared I'll bite you?"

"Scared I'll bite you." She mocks snapping her teeth at him, and he laughs again. It's nice, laughing and talking to someone. Like she's gaining another friend.

Unlike in high school, where everyone knew her to be RL at home, she's new here. No one knows her past, or if they do they're afraid to admit how they know. No one here seems to want to hurt her, or to be interested in her for what everyone used to be. It's not just her body being looked at, it's her eyes. Tyler finds herself agreeing, somehow or another, to get up and go to an arcade with him. An arcade. A middle-school version of the movies. Despite how stupid and silly it sounds, a shiver of excitement runs through her.

"Be warned," she tells him as they walk outside, "I haven't been to an arcade in years...but I was a champ when I was ten."

He gives her a challenging grin, "So was I. And eleven, twelve, thirteen..."

"So, basically you spent a good part of your life being a gamer geek, is this what I'm hearing?"

The air is warm outside, the sun just beginning to set, and the city looks beautiful. The arcade is just a street down, though she wonders if wishing it were a bit farther away is a good thing. A date. At an arcade. Oh, if my Mom could see me now. She'd have a good time with this too.

Immediately after getting her phone she had tried to call...everything went to voice mail. Her Mom didn't answer, her Dad didn't answer, and she certainly wasn't going to risk calling the house. They'll call eventually...she reminds herself as Jake's fingers brush against hers. It's just a small, insignificant little touch, yet it's cute. Nonetheless, she takes a bit of a step away, not enough for him to notice, but far enough away so it doesn't happen again. What am I going to get myself into? Guys are stupid. Don's proved that, Wes proved that...but he is cute...

The arcade, from the outside, isn't all that much to see. The lights in the sign are faded in places, and the sign itself has a color scheme only Kitty could have picked out. Bob's Arcade! it reads. "This place looks like a ball of sunshine. How old is this?"

"Older than me. Maybe thirty years old?"

"Great, now I can guess your age. Between nine and thirty." She laughs, giving him a grin and walking in through the door he holds open.

It's warm inside, with bright lights and the sounds of childhood loudly ringing out. There's a few kids, a few teenagers, and one or two adults in the place, but overall it's pretty empty.

"Isn't this place great?" He asks her, taking her arm and leading her over to a man standing behind a desk. "Hey, man! What's up?"

"Jake...man, weren't you here just last week?"

"Last year, but what's the difference?"

They both laugh happily, the older man's more of a wheeze. He wipes at his pretty blue eyes, the only part of him besides his clothes that seems to have color. His hair is gray, and his skin is something along those lines, but there's a bit of red in his cheeks. "Well, you here with your girlfriend?"

"Maybe." He looks back at her real quick to give her a wink, and she finds herself rolling her eyes again.

I feel like such a kid. "No," she tells the man, "we're just friends."

"For now." He just couldn't resist, could he?

The old man appears tickled by them, "Oh, isn't that adorable. Well, you know what to do, Jake. Feed the machine, get your coins, and run wild. I'm guessing you two will want a pizza and soda? Or popcorn chicken, we've got a party tray for two for just eight bucks. Comes with drinks and refills."

He looks back to Tyler, who shrugs, "Well, if it's all right with her, the popcorn chicken sounds good."

"Yeah, I've had pizza a lot lately, honestly. Not that it ever gets old."

"Nothing gets old...things just get better or worse." Jake gives her another wink before paying for their food. "Well, old man, we're gonna find ourselves a game to play...You know my old seat, right? Island thirty two, seats fifteen and sixteen. Leave the food, we'll find our way to it."

"Will do! Have fun!"

"When don't I?" Jake gives her a look as the music playing changes. "Sounds like a song you'd know all the lyrics too."

"Does it?" Tyler wants to disagree with him, but as the song gets into it she does start singing the lyrics. "Boys only want love if it's torture. Don't say I didn't, say I didn't warn ya."

"You don't sound half bad!"

"Oh, shut it. So, what do you want to play first?" She looks around the place, noticing the games and trick-games she used to love back when she was a kid. Looking back at Jake she notices something she hadn't before. "Why are you wearing sleeves in summer?" He's wearing a black shirt with red sleeves, cute but more than a bit out of place. Jake's also wearing darkish jeans. What, is he goth? Not really a bad thing, but he doesn't seem like it.

Jake doesn't seem to lose his happy-go-lucky but look-at-my-mysterious-air at all,"The heater in my office is broken, so it's like the north pole in there. It's a habit of mine to not be a Popsicle. Or, I could be lying and really I'm just too cheap to go summer clothes shopping."

She chuckles, "Always filled with mystery, aren't you?"

"What can I say? A good mystery keeps you wondering."

"No other way to get the girls interested in you?"

He leans in close to her, his eyes sparkling, "It's the best way."

The next hour is a blur of games, fun, laughter, and a whole lot of Taylor Swift songs. He's really good at making me laugh...but he's definitely no comedian. He's hot, mysterious, funny...God, he must have some awful drawback. I bet he snores like a bear. Giving him a small smile over her slightly over-sized Rootbeer float, Tyler takes a long drink of it. Little bits of ice-cream foam stick to her lips, and she giggles as she licks it off. "So, this has been fun."

He nods, popping a piece of popcorn chicken into his mouth. "It really has. So, want to go another round of Blasters with me after we're done eating? Or are you getting tired out?"

Though not meaning to, she yawns as she reaches over to grab another piece. He shoves the box in her direction, and she blushes a little as she eats. "I'm getting a little tired..." In her head she adds, from smiling so much. "But, I mean, we've only been here what? Fifteen, twenty minutes?"

"Try an hour and a half."

She nearly chokes on her food, "Really? It doesn't even feel like any times passed!"

"I know. So, why don't we go cash in our tickets? We can go for a walk before going back home if you'd like."

The idea sounds good, but a little pain in her back reminds her of what happened last time. Though it's been nearly a week since her cut broke open, she doesn't want to risk it happening again. Especially not on a date. "Maybe not a walk, if that's okay with you. My back's a little hurt from work." It's okay to tell white-lies on the first date, isn't it?

"Okay. So, what do you want to get with our...what? I think we have a little over two hundred tickets." He grins, looking at their stack. They bulge out of the little cup they got to contain them, a proud reminder of a fun night. "I vote on getting that shark."

"The blue one?" She wrinkles her nose.

He laughs, "What, you don't like sharks?"

"Not that shark! It looks like it'd eat my eyes out!"

Jake raises his arms out in surrender. "Fine, fine. What about the skull?"

"That's like, four hundred tickets! We hardly have three hundred, and that's a stretch as it is. What about the puppy dog? That blue and white one?" She bats her eyes at him, but he isn't giving in any.

"Not the puppy! It's so...over-done. Besides, if we get the puppy, you're totally never going to let me play with it." His face has been over taken by a playfulness that Tyler can only assume she has as well. "Why don't we get split the tickets up in half and decide when we're up there?"

"All right...let me finish my drink before we go then."

"It's a deal."

"You're a deal."

"Your Mom's a deal."

"Low move, man. My Mom's in the hospital." Tyler stirs her drink with her straw, teeth cold from the ice-cream that hasn't even started to melt yet.

His features get softer, "Aw, sorry. I didn't mean anything. What happened to her?"

"She's got cancer. Or, at least, I think she's in the hospital...It's been a few weeks since I've talked to her. I'm afraid to go up there, honestly. I could get in a lot of trouble. I love her though, you know?" She sighs, using her straw to scoop up the vanilla ice-cream into her mouth. "Her and Dad will probably be pissed at me whenever they finally talk to me again."

"They aren't talking to you?"

"Well, I just got a phone tonight...they haven't answered any calls. Everything went to voice mail."

"Did you try their cells?"

"That's all I called."

He seems honestly interested in her, which makes her happy inside. It's unusual, having someone besides Alise or Kitty ask about her life...but it's not a bad thing. "Why didn't you call home?"

"Don might answer."

"Ah, you two have a fight or something?"

She nods, muttering "or something" under her breath.

Jake nods himself, finishing his drink with a large gulp. In the light of the arcade he looks both handsome and scary. His face, half lit up and half in shadows, seems both caring and distant at the same time. Part of her wants to make him care more, to spend more nights like this, talking and having fun with him. Another part of her wants to run though, unease spreading through her. No guy has ever been this nice, this gentlemanly. Something's up. There has to be something wrong here. He knows my brother....Oh God. He's not going to tell Don where I am, is he? "Jake? Do me a favor, will you?"

"Mm?" He asks, looking as caught up in his thoughts as she is.

"Don't...don't let Don know that I'm staying in the apartment, will you? I'd rather keep him off my back for a bit. He's...he's not all that nice a person."

Jake gives her a small, sad smile. "Certainly. I'm sorry you two aren't getting along. Hopefully you can work things out later, though, right?"

"Right."

Just mentioning Don seems to suck half the life right out of her, but if Jake's good at anything it's making her smile. He jumps up, grabbing her hands and pulling her up with him. "Come on, grab the tickets! We're going to claim our prizes."

She doesn't disagree, walking with him and holding the cup in her fingers like it's a bottle of alcohol. Her skin tingles from where he had grabbed her; his hand had been warm and inside she knows that she hadn't wanted him to let go. I'm a preteen and he's my first crush, at least...that's what it feels like. A blush crawls across the back of her neck, and she lets her hair cover her eyes a little bit. "Feed in the tickets, oh-one-in-charge."

Jake, showing his teeth, gladly does so. They end up with three hundred and fifty-four tickets, and as she looks between the number and the items on the wall, she's overcome with excitement. What should we get? We can both get a lot. One hundred and fifty something each, right? One the other side of her, a little girl with numerous messy braids in her hair stares up at the blue puppy Tyler had seen before. The number on her receipt only reads fifty-two tickets though, not half enough.

Sighing, she motions for the ticket guy to come over.

"You know what you're getting?" He asks, his voice slightly bored.

"Give my half of the tickets to the girl in the braids." She tells him, shrugging slightly in the girl's direction. She looks up at Tyler with a toothy grin, three of her bottom teeth missing and one chipped. Tyler grins back, feeling happy. "What's your name?"

"Kaile. What's yours?"

"Tyler."

"That's my friend's name! But he's a guy. Are you really giving me half your tickets?"

"Yep! My friend and I've got to go soon, and I don't need them anyways. You spend them wisely, now okay?" The girl nods, and Tyler bends over a little, as if to tell the girl a secret. Voice lowered, she leans in next to her ear, "That blue puppy up there, it's cute isn't it?" The girl nods vigorously. "Well, I hear that if you count your tickets good and long enough, and you be a good girl, you might just have enough to get it."

"Really?"

"Really. Have a good day now, Kaile!"

"You too!"

Tyler looks back over at Jake, who's shaking his head in wonder. "What?" She asks, feeling lighthearted and giddy.

"Nothing, you're just full of surprises."

"Oh, hush it. What'd you get your with your tickets?"

"Well, it's not as charitable as yours...but..." One fist is closed, and he pushes it out towards her for her to open. "I happen to think these are pretty interesting."

"Rings?"

"They're skulls and mustaches! You can't get better than that, now, can you?"

"Well..." She laughs, picking two out of his four and putting them on her fingers. "Thank you for your donations to the Tyler-gave-away-her-tickets-fund."

He gasps, pretending to be injured. "My rings! No...you can't take those!"

Sticking her tongue out, she pulls him away from the desk so other kids can claim their prizes. "Too bad. I did."

"You're being childish!"

"You took me out on a date to an arcade, what did you expect?"

"Good point." Jake loops his arm through hers as they walk out. Tyler, amused by their date and glad that they're touching again, walks beside him with content. "This has been...really fun, Tyler. We should do this again sometime."

"Yeah, we should. You're not that much of a creepy landlord guy."

"Not that much, oh? I guess I'll have to do better to impress you."

She gives him the best flirtatious grin she can manage, "That you definitely will. That is, if I don't die from grinning so much in the process. I swear, you're face must be permanently glued in this 'everything is funny' look."

"I thought it was a good thing when a guy makes a girl smile. Isn't it supposed to raise my good boyfriend points up by ten?" Unable to find a comeback to that, Tyler just laughs at him, leaning her head against his shoulder. "See? You're all smiles tonight. You're pretty when you smile."

"So are you."

"Yes! You see, I've spent my entire life waiting to be called pretty. I can die happy now." He pretends to die, falling up against a brick wall hands reaching up towards some invisible white light. "Look, I see...I see..."

"I see that I'm obviously dating a ten year old," Tyler comments, her voice sarcastic. She pulls him away from the wall, sending another twinge of pain through her back. "Come on, let's get back to the apartments before someone calls an ambulance."

The walk back to the apartments is short and breathless for her. She checks the time as he once again holds open the door for her, Nine Twenty-one. "So, we're dating now?" He asks on their way up the stairs. Tyler shrugs, giving him a sly smile. "Is that a yes?"

"Are you asking?"

"I might be."

She pauses next to her door, a single finger pressed up against her lips as she pretends to think on it. "In that case, I might be saying yes. Gotta keep up the mystery, right?"

"Right." He takes a step closer to her, a twinkle in his eyes.

She just looks at him, feeling her heart speed up a little as he leans in even closer. Their lips almost touch-and then he's moving, gently kissing her cheek and pulling away. She blushes madly, unable to hold herself from grinning like crazy. His face mirrors hers. "Gotta keep up the mystery," he whispers. With that, he nods his head to her and leaves her leaned up against her door, looking after him until he's down the hall and gone.

It's only after she gets inside the apartment that she realizes she never did find out about his job.