IN HIS NAME, I PRAY.

Sugar: [may or may not be kind of totally definitely SWOONING over the fact that Joe just attempted to kiss her through the phone, falling back against the pillows and smiling even though she knows he can't see it] I definitely heard that. And I'm going to make sure that there are, like, tooons of kisses in the future so that you'll always have something to remember me by.

Sugar: [is sort of taken aback by the serious turn of the conversation, and she knows that's due, in large part, to the fact that Sugar isn't exactly the sort of person who people ever really have serious conversations with in the first place - she's Sugar, so that should sort of mean that everything's as light and airy as cotton candy at all times, right?] I... I don't know, actually. I mean, I went to Paris and all and that was MY choice but a big reason why I'm here now is just because I don't really have anywhere else to go, you know? I mean, I think I'm starting to get to the point where I can, like, make my own money and stuff and not HAVE to worry about them or worry about what's going on with them. I can just leave, and I can be Sugar Motta in all her awesomeness all on my own. [A beat] I am happy, though. I mean, I'm sort of still bummed about how some stuff is going, maybe, but I'm actually, like, happy where I am. And I know you're kind of starting to be a sort of mega part of that, so I hope it doesn't freak you out.

Sugar: [lets out a sigh that she knows probably sounds more like those dreamy ones from cartoons than anything else] I'm glad that you'd totally be my own knight in shining dreadlocks and save me at the end of the story, though.

Sugar: You realize that me hiking is probably going to be a lot of me COMPLAINING right? But, I mean, if you needed anything to totally tell you that I'm into you, I'm pretty sure this is it. Because I've never hiked before, and I definitely wouldn't hike for just ANYONE. We totally have different ideas of paradise, but I still want to see what you think it is.

Joe: [can't hide the smile that pulls at his lips hearing Sugar's words and he's more than sure that she can hear his lips curling into a grin through the receiver] I don't think I can ever forget you, honestly.

Joe: [grows silent for a moment listening to her. What did it say about him that he felt bad for her? Not in a 'poor baby' sense, but more so in the sense that he truly saw that not every family was like his.] I'm rooting for you, ya know? You deserve to be happy and to know that you /do/ have places to go surrounded by people who care about you. [a pause] I care about you. And I like that I can make you happy.