It was two days after the whole hurricane thiasco. Nick was in his back yard staring at the water. The hurricane hadn’t caused much damage in his neighborhood. Some sidewalks had been pulled up a little and a couple of trees had fallen down, but no houses were torn up badly or anything.
“Whatcha’ looking at?” asked a voice from behind him.
Nick quickly turned around startled. It was Amy. “The water,” he answered.
“Can I join you?”
Nick shrugged. “Sure.”
Amy sat beside him and they stared at the water in silence. “That was quite a night,” Amy finally said.
Nick nodded. “I’ll say. You were amazing.”
“So were you,” she replied.
Nick shrugged. “Yeah right...”
Amy cleared her throat. “Nick, when I said I couldn’t have done it without you, I meant it.”
“That’s why you called me an, ‘incompetent moron,’” Nick pointed out.
“You called me a, ‘pain-in-the-ass-know-it-all,” Amy shot back.
“And I meant every word!” Nick retorted.
Amy playfully slapped his arm. “Nick!” she exclaimed.
“Well you are,” he said, “But I’m glad because if you weren’t I would have been completely lost.”
Amy smiled at him. “Well, I didn’t completely mean I what I said. I was just frustrated and stressed,” she began as Nick looked at her in disbelief, “Okay, at the time I meant it, but you proved me wrong when offered to deliver the baby...”
“Even if I didn’t finish it?” Nick asked.
Amy nodded. “Yeah because I know if I wasn’t there you would have done what you had to do.”
“You have more faith in me than I do,” Nick replied.
“You’re a noble guy at heart Nick. Even if you ask some stupid questions sometimes, you’ve got a good heart.”
“Well,” Nick began, “I’ll admit that what you said to me in the kitchen kind of got to me and one of the main reasons that I offered to deliver baby is because of all the stuff you said.”
“You mean you didn’t tune me out?” she teased.
“Yeah I know.. It surprised me too,” Nick replied
Amy chuckled. “Awww...” she said, then she nudged him, “Look we’re bonding..”
They smiled at each other, then Nick cleared his throat nervously. “You, uh, don’t think that we could... we would... you know...”
“Oh that’s romantic,” Amy teased.
Nick chuckled. “Yeah, I know.. But you know what I mean... Be an ‘us.’”
Amy nodded. “Yeah, I do.. and no, I don’t...”
“No, you don’t know what I mean?” Nick asked.
Amy shook her head. “No.. No as in I don’t think there could ever be an ‘us,’” she replied, “I mean, come on Nick... Just because we’re starting to, emphasis on starting, be civil to each other does not automatically mean we should date... Besides, I’m going away to college in a couple of weeks, we’d never see each other.”
Nick nodded. “Yeah I guess you have a couple of good points.. I guess in a way, it felt like the next logical step.. You know, like I have to..”
Amy chuckled. “Nick we’ve been fighting for 11 years. You’re like a brother to me and the last thing I want to do is feel like I’m kissing my brother!”
Nick laughed. “Hey, I’m sold! In fact, I don’t know what I was thinking a minute ago!” he said, then shuddered, “I look at you like a sister!”
“Oh my God!” Amy exclaimed, “You’re actually calling me family...”
Nick nodded bashfully. “Yeah, next thing you know I’ll be letting answer the phones in our house.”
Amy patted him on the knee. “Baby steps.. Baby steps...”
Nick smiled. “You’re going to be a great doctor someday, Ames, if you decide to be one.”
Amy nodded. “Thanks. I think I might be. It was an amazing experience to deliver that baby.”
“I’ll bet,” Nick agreed, “It was amazing just watching it.”
“Wait, I just realized something,” Amy said suddenly, “This is the first conversation where you’ve ever given me a complement..”
Nick thought about it for a second. “That’s right! Same goes to you!”
Amy laughed as Nick gestured a high five. “Wow,” she said as she returned the high five, “We’re really making progress.”
“BJ would be so proud,” he replied overdramatically
Amy giggled as she stood up, brushing some grass off her jeans. “Nick, it’s been a pleasure,” then she paused, “For the first time in 11 years...”
Nick chuckled as he held out his hand to her gesturing her to help him up. “Where are you going?” he asked as she helped him up.
“I’m going to help out at a shelter.. They really need it.. A lot of people lost their homes,” she explained, “Want to come?”
“You’re actually inviting me somewhere? Have I entered the twilight zone?” Nick joked.
“It sure feels like,” she replied, “So are you coming?”
“Yeah, of course... It’s sure more productive than sitting here staring at the water.”
Amy shrugged. “It clears your head.. You must do it often..”
Nick chuckled as they started heading out of the backyard. “I tell you Amy.. No matter how old we get, however we grow, no matter how close we become, somethings will never change...”
“I’ll always be able to outwit you!”
“Ha!” Nick exclaimed, “Just because you’re loud, stubborn, and rude doesn’t mean you can outwit me!”
Amy turned to Nick, who was two steps behind her. “Actually, that’s exactly what it means.”
The two looked each other and laughed. “Wow, another miracle,” Amy said.
“What?” Nick asked skeptically.
“You were finally right about something,” she replied with a smile, “Somethings will never change, like you and me... We still treat each other like we did 11 years ago.”
Nick nodded. “And we always will because that what our ‘us,’ is all about.”