Chapter 59: ♠Chapter 46♠

Hey, hey, hey!

Here's a good 18,500+ words for you, to make up for the last few stressful chapters.

♤♠♤

I stuffed, hopefully, the last bag into the back of my mom's SUV and shook my hands out. Making sure, everything was set, I pushed the button on the elevated door and heard the beeps before it started lowing itself to close.

"Road trip, road trip, road trip." The chant kept going and I smiled before turning around.

"Okay!" mom said loudly, getting all their attention. "These are the rules." A round of protest went erupted and I grinned. They should've known better. This isn't the first time any of them were going anywhere with my mother.

Naturally, I told my friends about my plans to go to New York for the weekend and of course they all wanted to come. But not all of them could. Mostly because they work. I was able to get the weekend off because I didn't take a lot of days off unless it was necessary.

Thion was here because he doesn't work on weekends, which still makes no sense to me. He'll work all hours of the night during the week but never on weekends and somehow he's fine in the mornings.

Jess doesn't work so she's here and according to her, she had nothing better to do. She'd said it as if the trip itself was a nuisance and I'd been begging her to join us. I hadn't. I'd told them what I was doing and they invited themselves.

The other were Nate, Sean, and Carlos. They all took the weekend off. I didn't ask what excuse they gave their employers. I didn't want to know.

The men in our group obviously have zero priorities.

But lastly...

My eyes went to Ari. She had a smile on her lips as she listened to my mom lay down the rules. It might be amusing to her because she'd never had to hear them ten thousand times before each trip me and my friends went on.

Her mom had allowed her to come with us. Mostly because my mother was chaperoning. She'd actually told me that to my face when she came to pick up Ari from school yesterday (whenever she had a day off from work or went home early, she'd pick Ari up from school).

Her hair was out today. Ari's, I mean. A beautiful array of curls and kinks framing her face perfectly.

Of course, she was wearing sweatpants. At least she wasn't wearing a long-sleeved shirt, like usual, but a regular white T-shirt that she'd tied at her hip. Still, it was Friday evening, the sun hadn't even started to set yet, and it was warm out. I don't know what it was about it that made her look as hot as she did right then.

I blinked when I realized I was staring for far too long and looked away the same time her eyes moved to me. I glanced at her again, but when I did, she was looking down at her feet that were in a pair of slides. She was smiling at her brightly-painted red toenails and holding out her hands in her pockets, extending her large sweats.

"You're not staying with us?" I heard Jess ask.

I looked over at my mom.

My mother laughed and I sighed, leaning against the car and shoving my hands in the pockets of my joggers.

"No, we're all staying at my dad's." They turned to me. "She's staying at a hotel."

"I'll stop by," my mom said, then added, "maybe. Now, who's ready to go? We have a few hours to knock off and if any of you have anything you'd like to see before sundown..."

My excitement came back full force and I grinned. "Whoever's riding with me, get in."

I leaned away from the SUV and made my way around to the driver's side.

"We're all riding with you," Carlos said. I knew that, but they could've changed their minds. That's why I was taking the SUV. We could all fit in there and most of our bags were in the car my mom was taking—her Benz.

"Who's getting in the back?" I called, opening the door to the back and pulled the seat forward.

"That would be us." Carlos and Sean walked up next to me and I stepped back so they could get in. Carlos winked at me.

My eyes narrowed. "You two do any sort of mess back there and I flip the car." They laughed as if I was joking. Okay, I am, but this is my mom's car and as much as I don't know the extent of their relationship, I wasn't taking any chances.

Sean sat down and pulled the seat back into place with a loud 'click'. His arms draped over the headrest as he grinned at me. "No worries, Richson. I'll keep him in check."

"You've always been a cockblocker," came from my right. Thion slapped my shoulder. He held my gaze and said, "Stop."

I rolled my eyes, but my attention zeroed in on Ari who climbed into the backseat. I shamelessly stared at her ass that stayed in the air until she settled in the middle.

There was a low whistle and I looked over at Thion. His eyebrows danced and he was grinning. I shook my head, but I couldn't not laugh. I stepped away and got into the driver's seat.

I smiled at Jess who was already cozy in the front seat with a pillow behind her head, unfolding a blanket with some famous singer on it, and her shoes already off.

"It's really just two hours," I said teasingly, reaching over to take a gummy worm from the large pack next to her on the seat.

She turned to me as she draped the blanket across her legs. "Drive this vehicle."

I smirked and winked at her. Her lips twitched but she couldn't hold back her smile. "Don't even try that hot mess with me. I'm not Ari." A sound came from the back seat, but Jess ignored it with a grin. "You're not my type."

"Tell him, baby girl," Thion cheered. "Let em know who daddy is."

"Excuse me!" Ariana protested. "But if you could leave me out of those kinds of talks, I'd be grateful."

I bit my lip to stop my laugh and leaned on the center console then turned to look back at Ari. I knew she was embarrassed even though she was smiling.

"Don't think too much into it. She throws people under the bus when she's flustered," I told her, and it was somewhat true. It's always been a thing for Jess. I knew she was just being herself though and probably wanted to see us squirm.

Ari grinned. "I've noticed."

"Open the sunroof," came from the back.

My eyes went over Ari's head and I stared at Sean and Carlos before asking, "Do you have your seatbelts on?"

Sean lifted his hand in a 'what the heck' way from where his arm rested around Carlos's shoulder. "What does that have to do with the sunroof?"

My grin was devilish. "It's not opening until seatbelts are on."

They groaned and I sat up, feeling too satisfied with myself.

My friends had always thought I was bossy when we went on trips. Especially our cabin trips because I didn't allow drinking, alcohol, or sex. I don't care.

Not that I can stop them from doing any of those things, but when I threaten to tell their parents, they listen. And I don't joke about it. We lost a couple of people in our friend group because of it, but do I care? No.

I'll be the one that gets all the blame if someone ends being rushed to the hospital to get their stomach pumped. Or my name's going to be in the sentence if someone ends up getting pregnant, contracting an STD, or dying. I think not.

I pushed the start button for the SUV and listened to the collective sounds of seatbelts clicking.

"Now, was that so hard?" I teased, adjusting my mirror to see everyone in the back. All of them, except Ari, flipped me off. She was too busy smiling. That beautiful smile.

"Every time we go on a trip, I question why we're friends. You know that, right?" Nate said.

I shrugged, enjoying this like I always did. "Yeah," I sighed. I messed around with my rearview mirrors and finally opened the sunroof as I waited for my mom to pull out of the driveway.

It didn't take too long, but it was longer than the time an average person takes before leaving. My mom has OCD and has to triple check everything before she leaves to go anywhere. I've learned over the years to be patient.

Soon enough, she was on the road, and I was following her on our usual route onto the highway.

"What are we listening to?" Jess asked, scrolling through Spotify on her phone.

"Daniel Caesar, please," Ari said before anyone could put a suggestion in. "Everything."

Jess danced in her seat, which means no one was going to be able to have her change what she plays for a while.

A familiar, soothing beat came through the car's speakers and I wind the windows down the same time Jess turned the music up.

The drive was a mixture of karaoke, gossip, future planning for college, and... us being us. We also planned what we were going to do once we're there.

Thion was down for anything, Jess wanted pizza for dinner, Nate wanted to go to actual karaoke and the rest of the guys decided they wanted to go to the arcade. So Jess looked up one in the city that's close enough to my dad's house. We had a long night ahead of us and all of us were looking forward to it. At least that's what I thought.

My eyes kept going to Ari in the rearview mirror. She hadn't said anything, and I wanted to ask her if there was something she'd like to do but I didn't want to put her on the spot. I decided to ask her when we got there.

Two and half hours later we were pulling into a gated home and following the roundabout landscape to the front of the three-story, Mediterranean-style house.

"Your dad's still saying 'fuck you' to the one percent of freshwater we have left on Earth, huh?" Nate said as I parked the car, referring to the large fountain spurting ridiculous amount of water, that the tiled driveway curled around.

There was some snickering and I smiled and turned the car off. "I actually look forward to your debates Nate," I said. This was something my dad and Nate always argued about whenever we came here. It got heated, but it's fun to watch.

I changed the subject when I turned to them. "It is," I looked down at my watch, "a little after six. It's still bright out. The faster we get the greetings and living arrangements for the next day out of the way, the faster we get out of here. Anyone wants to change or shower..."

"Changing," Jess said, undoing her seatbelt.

"Same," Ari said.

Carlos raised his arm from the back. "Might shower. I was sweating like hell in gym."

Ari snorted. "Not I."

My lips twitched in amusement. "I'd say... we should be good to go around... 7:30. 7:45?"

"It should still be bright out by then," Nate said.

"Cool, let's get this shit on the road, I'm getting excited," Thion said and opened his door and hopped out.

"Bags in the back!" I called and opened the trunk so anyone who was closest could grab a couple of bags.

I got out of the car and saw my brother already standing by my mom. Both of them were grinning from ear-to-ear as she ran her hand over his low-cut hair. I almost paused. If there was anything my brother hated, it was how he looked without hair.

My eyebrows raised as I made my way over. "Hey mom, can you open the trunk?" I said then turned to my brother. I nodded once with a barely-there smile while he was grinning like I was an early birthday gift. "How's it going?"

"How's it going?" he retorted. We shook hands and pulled each other in for a hug. "How's it going with you? Is it opposite day or what?" He stared at my hair that I'd let grow out more than it ever had in years.

I shrugged, my smile becoming more genuine. "Wanted a change for a little bit. I'm getting rid of it soon." I ran my hand through my hair a couple of times to keep it from falling back onto my forehead. "One second," I said and turned to mom. "Mom, we're going to the arcade in a little bit."

She pointed at me. "You know the rules."

I nodded in good humor. "I know the rules."

"I'm serious," she said, and I stopped myself from groaning. "If any of you come up missing, I will castrate the rest of you. You're not children but look after each other."

I smiled. "We will."

"You guys just don't get enough of the arcade, do you?"

I looked at my brother. Alezander. "We like having fun."

Zan grinned in that mischievous way of his, telling me exactly what was coming. "Aren't you getting a little too old for that, little brother?"

"Alezander," mom hissed.

I told myself I wouldn't let him get to me this weekend, so I didn't take offense to his jab. Instead, I smiled at him. "Get some friends, Zan. Real ones."

A second later, my mom gripped his ear between her fingers and I watched with a satisfied grin as she dragged him off to the side, enjoying the sound of his whines.

I was about to yell at my friends to come get their bags, but when I turned they were already on their way over. I opened my mouth to shout some nonsense, but the words stopped when the front door opened and my dad came out. But he wasn't alone.

My lips pressed together and I eyed the woman who came out with him. Her hand was clamped in his so I think it was safe to assume that they were more than friends. My friends must have seen the change in my expression and turned to see what I was looking at. They all stopped.

The woman's smile was wide but stiff and I could tell she was nervous just by her posture and almost robotic movements. She had dark, straight hair that was cut in a bob and she was almost the same height as my dad who was a couple of inches over six feet.

She smiled so hard, the crinkles around her mouth and the edge of her eyes were probably a lot more visible than they would've been otherwise. My mom said that's why she didn't smile too much now. The thought almost made me smile.

I didn't move an inch, but I knew my friends had snapped out of it. I could hear shuffling toward the back of the car, telling me they were getting their stuff.

My dad stopped some feet away with a smile that didn't really meet his eyes. "Son," he started and I fought to keep my expression neutral. He's never called me that and it sounded weird, "this is Gianna. We've been... seeing each other for a few months. I thought it was time you two meet."

I didn't know what to do with that. Anybody else would've smiled, shook her hand, maybe even hugged her. And if it was anybody other than her, then I might've done one of the first two, but it was her. And the worse part, I was sure, I've seen her before.

I didn't smile when I said, "Do I know you?"

She blinked multiple times as if she couldn't believe I was talking to her and stumbled over her words when she began speaking. "No, no. Not really."

"You might've seen her at a barbeque or two when you were younger," my dad said. My eyes turned to slits. Just a little, but I'm sure anyone who'd been looking, noticed.

"Where are my friends staying?" I zeroed in on my dad. "I'll be in my usual."

He cleared his throat. "Actually, if you don't mind- since you're just here for two days, you could be separated from the outhouse for a weekend.

My jaw clenched and I swallowed. "I've been here for shorter and I still stayed there. What's so special about now?"

Something rested on my arm and I knew it was my mom so I didn't have to look. I averted my gaze from them, shaking my head with a humorless laugh. "Whatever."

I went to the back of the car to get my bag and Ari was already standing there with her duffle bag in her hand and trying her best not to look too nervous. Another one of those overwhelming urges to kiss her came and went as I took in her stance and her 'okay, what should I do?' look.

I tried to smile and take her bag.

Her expression changed then. She gripped her bag, moving it away from me. "I don't need you to carry my bag," she said lowly.

"I want to," I said just as low.

She shook her head. "No."

"Give me the bag," I demanded.

Her lips twitched and she moved closer to me. "This is not the time, obviously."

I let out a breath. "It's making me feel better." It was. Our banter had always been one of my favorite pastimes and the second I saw the opportunity to feel something other than the anger that was building in me, I went for it.

Just seeing her smile was calming me down and I started to see some bright sides of things. If I stayed in their crappy house, I'd be closer to her all the time. Maybe we can get a room next to each other.

That might... not be a good idea though.

"Who're you hiding?" Zan said.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye even though I can't see him even a little bit.

"That your brother?" Ari said, smirking.

I nodded slowly, kind of unsettled by the look on her face, but she had a power over me that made it impossible for me to keep a straight face when she smiled at me in any kind of way.

She tried to peer behind me. "What's his name? Jehovah's Witness?"

I heard a cough from Sean who was standing closest to us. Thion straight-up hollered and my smile spread uncontrollably over my face. "You just come for everyone don't you?"

She smiled sweetly. "He picks on you all the time, right?"

I shook my head slowly and mouthed, "I want to kiss you," without thinking.

She grinned and mouthed back, "Do it."

By the way her eyes sparkled and her grin turned evil, she was daring me to do it. In front of everyone. If we were alone, she would've never said that. At least, I don't think so.

A throat cleared as I was going through the pros and cons of pulling her against me and kissing her senseless. I blinked and shook my head, tilting my head back and eyeing her as I stepped to the side and turned around.

"Ari that's my brother Alezander, and my dad, Zeke," I pointed them out to her, then gestured to her, "Dad, Zan, this is Ariana." She waved as I gestured to my other friends. "I'm sure you remember my friends. Not everyone's here this time." I managed a genuine smile at them.

I saw that everyone had their things together and quickly tried to get out of this situation. I reached into the trunk for my bag and said, "Are we gonna be shown to our rooms?"

"Do you always talk like you're at a hotel when you go places?"

I looked down at Ari and she was giving me a dirty look, but I know it was her way of lightening my mood. She knew I got off on our arguments. The fake ones anyway.

I leaned down and she tilted her head back defiantly. "No one's talking to you."

She made a face. "I'm not hurt," she whispered loudly.

"Okay!" Nate moved forward quickly, and I looked over at him. He introduced himself, reminding me that the woman was still here. I pursed my lips and the others started introducing themselves.

I rolled my eyes, but then my eyes stopped on my mom and Zan. Zan had that annoying glint in his eye again as his eyes moved from me to Ari. And mom... well, she didn't look happy. I don't know what she saw between us but she was going to kill me.

My friends were already moving toward the house after my dad told them they could have the same rooms as always. Then he and Nate got into their debate about the fountain. That's going to keep going until the second we get back into the car to go back to Pennsylvania.

"Char," a soft voice said.

My gaze snapped to the woman who anxiously watched my mother, her hand tightening around my dad's. Even my friends stopped from their path to the front door and turned around.

My mom's gaze moved to the woman slowly. She didn't smile. She gave her the same stare she gave everyone she didn't know. Her eye twitched though. It was barely there, but I saw it.

Then she said, "Gianna," in a detached tone. The familiarity with how they regarded each other, told me they knew each other. Long before this.

She turned to me the next second and tried to soften her tone and expression. "Have fun tonight, be careful." She turned to look at the rest of my friends. "All of you."

My friends responded but I didn't. I couldn't. All I could think was... they were friends. They have to had been friends for my mom to react like that. And the way they addressed each other... Their body language, the eyes, tone... I wasn't stupid.

"I'll see you all tomorrow at the complex," she said, walking around the car.

"Charlotte," my dad said, letting out a sigh.

His response was like a parent getting frustrated with their kid. It was enough for my fists the ball.

My brother's face fell and his hands dropped from where they were folded over his chest. "You're not staying?" This was probably the first in forever since I've seen him so disappointed.

Mom stopped in front of him and leaned up to kiss his cheek briefly. They had a short conversation before she turned and gestured to the car's open trunk. "Christian, do you mind?"

I hurried to close it but went around to the driver's side before she could get in the car.

"Mom, wait."

I stopped in front of her and she waited for me to say something but I didn't. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to ask what was going on, but I had to know she was okay.

She saw it in my expression and smiled. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and gave me a hug. When she pulled back, she kissed my cheek like she did my brother and placed her hand on my jaw.

"Stop worrying about me," she said. Her smile was forced.

Pissed didn't come close to what I felt seeing that look on her face. It was obvious she wasn't happy.

"Have fun tonight."

I frowned.

"Christian," she said firmly, "I'm a grown woman, I'm more than fine."

I wanted to push this topic. I wanted to leave with her and stay in a hotel. I wanted to know what her relationship with the woman was because I knew that was what bothered her more—not that dad had moved on. He's been on dates, mom has met some of his other dates before and she never reacted this bothered. She regarded all of them the same, but this woman. She means something. Or meant something.

She was trying to play it off, but after living with her my whole life, I see her better than anyone else.

Pushing away the growing questions and my need to defend her, I nodded. Her smile came easier this time and that was a little reassuring that she was okay. She was just caught off-guard. And so was I.

We said our goodbyes and promised to see each other tomorrow and I moved away from the car and watched it disappear down the tiled driveway. I didn't move until she was out of sight and didn't acknowledge anyone who tried to get my attention.

I was not staying in that house.

No one stopped me when I made my way to the side of the house—making my way to the back.

When the outhouse came into view, I felt myself calming down. It was my safe haven anytime I came here.

It wasn't huge, but it was enough for just me. With two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchenette, and a small living room, it was everything I needed at the end of the day from being around my dad and brother half the time. It was quiet and I got to do anything and everything I wanted that made me happy for a few hours. It was the best part of 'visiting'.

But when I went in and was making my way to the main bedroom—my bedroom—and saw a girl sitting on my couch... I almost lost it.

She'd heard my shuffling and turned around from her spot on the couch in front of the TV. When she saw my face, her eyes widened and she jumped up from where she sat.

I eyed her, biting my tongue against all the ways I was thinking to kick her out. I didn't know who she was, but she was not staying here.

"Hi!" She almost shouted it and stumbled over her words. "You must be Christian? I'm Amber. Gianna's daughter? Your dad told me you stay here whenever you-"

"Then why are you here?" I said before thinking.

She looked taken back for a second but got herself together quickly. "I guess I should've listened to your dad when he said you'd be a caveman about anyone being here." She let out a nervous laugh while I checked my watch.

It was almost seven. I still had time for a shower. I wasn't going to at first but with everything that's going on, I needed it.

"But I'm not really staying here," she said. "To be honest, your brother is... not the most pleasant person to be around sometimes so I've been hiding here you can say."

I looked at her then and let out a breath. That I could understand. "Why do you think I stay here?" I forced a smile when she did and reached up to run my hand through my hair. "Look, you can hang out whenever you like, just don't..." I stopped and looked around. "Don't move anything."

Her eyebrows raised and she nodded slowly. "Okay. Hasn't happened so far."

"When I get attached to things," I started, "I get really attached so having someone here doesn't make me very comfortable. This has nothing to do with you, I'm just used to being here alone and I preferred it that way."

She nodded easier this time and flipped her dark curls over her shoulder. "I understand. I'll," she pointed to the door, "go."

I shook my head despite wanted to usher her out myself. "It's okay. You can do whatever. I'm leaving in a few minutes anyway. If anyone else comes in..." I glanced over at the door and shook my head as I made my way toward the short hall leading to the master bedroom. "Kick them out. I don't want to see anyone until I get back out there."

She responded with a hesitant, "Okay..."

I went straight to the bathroom instead of going to the bedroom. I turned the shower on before stripping down and hopping right in, not even waiting for the water to get warm.

I timed myself to get out of the shower ten minutes after seven. I dried off, moisturized, and put on underwear, pants, and socks on before going over to the mirror above the sink. I was running my towel through my hair when there was a bang on the door.

I jerked away from it since the sink was basically right by the door. I stared at it, half expecting another loud bang, but what came next was worse.

"Chringle if you don't open this damn door we're gonna have serious problems!"

I dropped my chin to my chest, not being able to hold back my smile, then my laugh. I set the towel down and opened the door.

She started the second I was in view, with her arms crossed and her neck doing some impressive moves. "You told her to kick me out?" I opened my mouth to explain. She didn't let me. "I'm starting to think you love it when we get into real arguments cause you keep pushing me, kid." My eyes went to the ceiling when she kept going.

I leaned back to look at my watch that was on the side of the sink. 7:27. Looking back at her, I let my eyes roam down her body as she went on and on about me being a shitty person. Or something along that line at one point.

Her hair was in a neat bun that I knew took a while to get that way, with two twists in the front, falling over her eyes but she didn't seem to care.

She'd changed into a black crop top and light washed jeans that were high waisted, hugging every curve on her. I couldn't overlook anything. She was wearing an outfit I'm sure her mother would never approve of. She'd worn crop tops before, but they always covered... everything.

This one was tight and had two thin straps on each of her shoulders. She was showing more of her than what I've seen since I met her, if I didn't count that time she was half-naked in my room. Her brown skin was smooth and I wanted to touch her. To feel if she was as smooth as she looked. And then... cleavage.

"Are you listening to me?" She clapped loudly in front of my face and I blinked. I'd drowned out everything she was spurting.

I couldn't help it, I placed my hand on her hip and I didn't have to pull her forward for her to move to me. My hand moved to her lower back and I pulled her against me. It didn't shut her up, but her voice had lowered to grumbles.

We've been in a good place since our whole issue was sorted out. We were basically back to normal but for some reason, it's been more... tense being alone with her than before. Now, it was like she couldn't even walk by me without me touching her, and she's been a lot more handsy than normal.

It wasn't in a bold way. She would absentmindedly place her hand on my back or my thigh or my knee—things like that. Not that it bothered me.

I smiled at Amber who tried her best to act normal. I don't know what Ari had said to her but between that, Ari's ranting, and what I just did, she was struggling to form words.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you I brought friends."

She couldn't control her expression now and her eyes fell to where my hand kept moving across the small patch of skin between the bottom of Ari's crop top and the top of her jeans. Amber looked back up at me just as quick as her gaze fell, disbelief on her face.

"You two are friends?" she retorted.

My eyes averted as I thought of what to say. "Something like that. She's mostly here to nag me, as you can see." I looked down at Ari who was still grumbling under her breath and feebly trying to act like she wanted me to let her go. Adorable.

A smile formed on Amber's lips and she did that slow taunting nod. "Right."

I held back my smile and said, "There's more. And they'll probably be down here soon banging on the door like this one did, so I'd say just let them in. They will interrogate you and I apologize in advance."

She started turning away, her smile growing. "Sure."

I rolled my eyes. Another stranger that immediately knew more about Ari and I's relationship than I wanted them to.

Stepping back, I pulled Ari with me and pushed the door until it was slightly ajar—I didn't want to lock it since that would be too suspicious.

"Why'd you tell her to kick me out?"

I groaned, leaning away to see her face better but still keeping my arm around her. "I didn't tell her to kick you out. I wasn't thinking and I forgot you guys were here. It was mostly directed to my dad and brother."

"Oh," she said, her eyes moving all over my face. She placed her hand on my bicep. "You okay?" Her voice had dropped to a whisper.

I broke our gaze, not wanting to think too much about what happened a while ago. "Fine."

We were quiet for a moment. "Wanna maybe talk about it?" she got out hesitantly. Her other hand pressed against my bare torso, and it felt like a brand against my skin. Even with that, all I could focus on was my mom's expression before she left.

I shook my head, closing my eyes briefly. "Not today. I just wanna go out and have fun. Forget everything for a while."

"Okay," she said, using that same soft voice, and running her fingers over my bicep slowly.

I bit my lip to stop myself from doing something stupid, like flirt. "You didn't give her a hard time did you?"

She craned her head back in that way defiant way of hers. "Who is she, that's the question." But she didn't let me answer. "Don't answer that, I know who she is. She told me. What's she doing here? I thought they said this was basically your house."

I huffed, letting my free hand roam the side of her thigh. Mostly I was pulling at her jeans, trying to see how tight they were. They were pretty tight but she didn't look uncomfortable, I could always tell when she was.

"I was going to kick her out. But then she told me why she was here and it was a pretty good excuse." I shrugged and she gave me one of those looks that said 'keep talking'. I smiled because the thought of her being jealous was strangely satisfying. "She was trying to stay away from my brother."

Her glossy lips pursed, and she looked away. "I guess that is a valid reason."

I shook my head. "The only one that could've moved me at the time. He's a literal pain."

"Okay," she said cheerily, lifting her hand and dropping it on my arm lightly. "Why am I ready before you? It's almost time to leave. I even ended up taking a shower." She looked me over as much as she could with us pressed against each other.

"Come on. I know the others aren't ready."

She laughed. "It doesn't matter. You're the one who said 'oh be ready by this time'," she dropped her voice low to mimic something that sounded nothing like me. "At least you smell nice."

I smirked, leaning down. "Yeah?"

"Your hands are straying, Christian," she said smoothly.

I froze, becoming aware that my hands had indeed strayed. The hand that had been massaging the spot above her jeans had moved down and was resting on her backside, while my other had a tight grip on the back of her thigh. One tug and I could have her leg wrapped around me. Wouldn't take much to have both of them doing that actually.

Just as I was about to move them back to appropriate parts of her body, I felt her hand slide into the back of my hair and tug lightly. My head tilted back slightly and I sighed.

"I have to be dreaming."

She let out a cute giggle that made me smile. "You dream about me?"

I didn't realize my eyes were closed until I opened them and I gave her a cheesy smile. "Everyday."

She did that giggle again and it made me warm all over. If I could hear that sound all day every day, I'd be a happy man.

"How long do you think we have until they get here?" I said gruffly, leaning down to place my forehead on hers.

Her reply was said under her breath. "Dunno." Her hand tightened its grip in my hair and it was official; this is why I grew it out.

She had no clue how much I missed her. After we worked everything out, we went back to normal but I still tried not to push myself on her too much.

We still had the occasional touches, but whatever was happening here, hadn't happened since we'd made up. This—our hands on each other, breaths mingling, and feeling everything fall away until it felt like nothing else existed...

I've read that in books, but I've never felt it until this girl. It was ridiculous that someone could make me feel like this. And even though we're as close as we could get, I had no clue what to do with myself. I wanted her closer.

"I missed you," I murmured, pressing my lips to hers softly.

She let out a long breath and I knew she wanted to say something, but she didn't. Whenever we were this close that always seemed to happen.

I wrapped my arm firmly around her waist and leaned down to hook my hand behind her knee, kissing her again softly. She did something with her tongue that had my skin feeling like it was getting tighter on my body.

I'd already lifted her off the ground and was about to set her on the edge of the sink when there was shouting.

I groaned against her lips, but she bit my lip and kissed me once. Slow and sweet, making me groan again, but for an entirely different reason.

Another round of shouting ruined the moment. "Hate them," I said lowly, setting her back down on the ground.

The shouting got louder. It wasn't arguing kind of shouting. Just our friends being their loud selves.

I didn't look at Ari before I turned toward the sink. I ran my hand through my hair in frustration.

Her hand ran across my back as she walked past me and farther into the room. I glanced at her out of the side of my eye as she sat down on the closed toilet lid and crossed her legs. I eyed her as she stared at herself on her phone, wiping her fingers over where her lip gloss was smeared around her lips.

Shaking my head, I took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror in front of me. She's playing me like a board game but with how desperate I was for her... I'm ashamed to say I wasn't even upset about it. I reached up to wipe the gloss off my lips and turned the faucet on to wash my face.

"Can you pass me my face stuff? They're in my bag, on the top." I ran my hand down my wet face.

"Hell y'all doing in here!" The door slammed open and Thion walked in.

"Can you not break the door? I need it since it's obvious I won't be alone in here much," I said, not moving from my position.

"Here." Ari set down my stuff on the sink next to me. "You been using these all this time?"

I hummed and she stood there and watched me do my whole routine. The rest of the guys lounged around in the doorway and hall, talking about whatever it is that they're talking about.

I laughed as I was massaging the acne cream into my face. "What?"

Her head shook. "You're skin... it's just so clear."

Smiling, I glanced at her, then at myself in the mirror. "Not really, I still have spots and-"

She waved it off. "Yeah, but it looks a lot better than when we first met. Most of it's gone and I'm just-" she gestured to her face.

I tilted my head as I stared at her. "It's really not that bad, Ari."

She pouted. "You don't tell me. My face is taking forever to clear up."

I turned to her, crossing my arms. "It takes a while. And you have to find what works for you, you know that."

"Yeah, but I want my face to look like yours," she whined. I grinned and when she realized what she said, she rolled her eyes with a smile. "You know what I mean."

"Whatever you're using is working, though. Just keep doing it and stop being an impatient snob."

Her eyes narrowed. "I am not a snob." But the way she said it, along with her body language, wasn't convincing me.

I leaned down to level my face with hers and said, "You kind of are."

She made a mocking expression and some weird noises. It was the cutest thing.

Leaning in, I pressed my lips against her cheek. I ignored the suggestive whistles from the guys and moved to kiss her forehead next.

When I pulled back, she had her lips pressed together but couldn't hide her smile and was staring at me with those eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes, and that adorable expression. I fought myself not to kiss her lips next.

"Can I say something?" Nate said from where he now sat on Ari's previous seat.

"No," Ari and I said at the same time.

I straightened and walked around her, grinning at Nate. He wiggled his eyebrows at me teasingly and I shook my head in amusement. I was simply in too much of a good mood to even care about their teasing.

"Where's Jess?" I asked, getting a tank top and a shirt out of my bag to put on.

"She was doing her makeup when I left her," Ari said, posing in the mirror and checking herself out.

When she placed her hands on the edge of the sink and got up on her toes to push herself closer to the mirror, it raised her backside up. I shamelessly stared at her ass. She looked amazing in those jeans.

I looked away to ask, "What time is it?"

"Eight o'clock," Carlos said. He was sitting on the floor against the wall, directly across from the door.

Thion was leaning against the doorjamb, looking so smug I wanted to throw something at him.

I slipped my shirt on after putting on my tank top and got my cologne from my bag.

"Okay, I'm ready." I slipped my phone into my pocket and zipped my duffel bag shut, lifting it from the floor. "After I put this in my room."

We left the outhouse about fifteen minutes after eight. We all said bye to Amber who'd gone back to watching the TV and I playfully told her to stay out of my room. I was serious though because I have a problem with people being in my personal space and touching my things.

If you're going to steal anything, then sure, but do not play with my stuff.

She said she'd be leaving soon anyway so that made me feel better.

We took the path around the side of the house to get to the front instead of going through it, and texted Jess to meet us outside. I was avoiding conversation with everyone currently residing in there and I was not going to go in unless someone was dying.

Thion volunteered to drive as we're approaching the car and I happily agreed.

Jess met us in the front as everyone was loading into the car and we were all shouting for her to start moving faster. I'm sure she heard us from inside because we were that loud.

I held my hands up after seeing what she was wearing. "Wait," everyone stopped, and I looked between Ari and Jess. "You both know we're going to the arcade, right?"

Jess was wearing what I heard people call a 'T-shirt dress'. The shirt stopped a little higher than mid-thigh and was black with a huge black and white picture of 2 Pack smoking on the front. There was a black belt with silver ornaments pulled as tight as it could go around her waist with the end of it hanging to the end of her shirt. She had on black stockings that went all the way up and over her knees and some fancy boots that were a couple of inches above her ankles.

"What are you trying to say?" Jess eyed me with a teasing glint in her eyes and a smirk on her lips, flipping her straight dark hair over her shoulder.

I looked at Ari and she adjusted her glasses on her face with a mocking grin.

Laughing, I shrugged. "I'm just saying."

"Oh, so all the guys get to walk out looking sexy and shit but when we're feeling ourselves, we get questioned?" Ari said, leaning against the SUV casually. "You know, I was gonna wear some really nice shorts with this." She pointed down at herself. "The ripped ones with the tear on the ass," she added, grinning when my mouth practically fell open and my eyes roamed her body. The image was vivid in my head and I have no clue what I'd do if she'd worn that.

The guys let out catcalls that I couldn't even focus on, I just kept staring at her smug look. She's trying to kill me.

"First of all," Thion said, taking a step forward and holding his hands up, "ain't nobody agreeing with Rich. Y'all fine as hell, so get your fine asses in the car and let's go." He did a motion with his hand.

"I wasn't saying anything was wrong with-" I stopped, shaking my head. I can never get anything right. "I think you two look gorgeous."

"Awww." Jess walked over to me slowly, while swaying teasingly.

"You just want us to be comfortable?" Ari said, walking over to me the same way with her hands behind her back.

Taking in a deep breath and exhaling, I was relieved that she knew me so well that I didn't have to trip over my words anymore to explain myself. "Yes."

Jess hugged my arm on one side and Ari wrapped her arm around my waist on my other side.

"I just love seeing you get red," Jess said under her breath but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ari laughed. "I know right."

I chuckled despite their enjoyment at the expense of me being flustered. "I hate you."

"I'm jealous."

I looked up and Thion's eyes were jumping from me to Jess to Ari and back. I snickered. "Easy for you to say, you don't get embarrassed."

He tilted his head back with a funny look on his face. "I can be embarrassed."

"As he says it like it's an acting part," Nate said teasingly with a laugh. He was sitting in the car on the back seat with his legs hanging out.

"Is that my little brother?"

"Okay," I said, stopping myself from scowling at my brother's voice and moved my hand from Ari's hip. I don't even remember putting it there. "The moment's over. Everyone in the car."

I was trying to untangle myself from the two girls when I made the mistake of looking down at Ari. I stopped because she was looking at me the way she did when we were in the bathroom alone together a while ago.

"Ouuu," Jess said lowly, slipping away from my other side. It was enough for me to look away from Ari and over at her.

Ari stepped back, shoving a grinning Jess playfully.

"We're having a little chat later!" my brother called out.

Nate had hopped out of the car so I could pull the seat forward. I waited for Jess to settle in her seat in the back row of the car, pulling her shirt down when it went up a bit too far and almost exposing private areas.

I ignored my brother who kept shouting nonsense from the porch and smiled when she laughed and plopped down heavily with a hand underneath her. She'd place her hand on the back of her thighs to hold the fabric down after realizing what I'd been doing.

"Thanks," she said with a grin. She slipped the strap of her purse off her shoulder and readjusted her legs.

I peered back there. "Good?"

She nodded and I stepped back, letting Nate get in the back with her. Seconds later, I was in, sitting behind the passenger seat and buckling myself in. I was next to Ari who was practically on her knees, leaning on the center console to get to the aux cord, with Carlos was on her other side.

Because I couldn't help myself, my eyes went to her ass. Again. I had no clue what was wrong with me. It was just right there. That, and the exposed skin above her jeans was tempting as hell. I'd reach down and try to pull her pants up but I knew there was no way it'll be moving with how tight it was.

Soon enough, a song was playing from an artist I've heard before but couldn't place, and her hips started moving. My eyes went to the car roof. Christ.

The volume went up and I heard her laugh at something Thion said as he started the car.

My eyes moved away from her when Carlos reached over and held his phone out to me. I leaned toward it and as much as I tried to keep my expression blank when I looked up at his grinning face, my smile slipped when I looked at the picture again.

Sometime, when I was all flustered and standing between my two beautiful friends, he'd taken a picture with them grinning up at me like the devils they were and me looking down with a smile. Even in the picture, I could see how red my cheeks were. But all I could think was that I left my camera in the room and I could've gotten some great pictures tonight.

I couldn't help it. I looked away from the picture and said, "Guys, can I go get my cam-"

"No," they all said together.

I leaned back and smiled when all of them started laughing. "Wow, I just thought we looked good that's all."

Ari sat back and pulled her seatbelt on and that's when Thion finally started driving, rounding the fountain and following the tiled road back to the gate.

"And we do," Ari said, dropping her hand on my thigh. She looked up at me with a smile. "But we're late and the sun's going down. You still get great pictures with your phone anyway."

I narrow my eyes at her playfully and she mimicked me.

Looking away from her, I sighed dramatically. "I guess. If y'all don't mind low quality." Then I added under my breath, "I need better friends."

"You can't get any better than us, sweety."

Looking down at her and that glint in her eye, I almost felt suffocated not being able to kiss her. Sure, I could, and as much as I trust my friends, this wasn't really something I wanted them to be in on. I know they have their suspicions, but I prefer it to stay that way, no matter how much what they're thinking is probably true.

With my lips parted, and I let my tongue glide over my bottom lip. Her eyes followed it and her own lips parted. When she met my eyes again, her pupils were dilated and hell if I wasn't a second away from trashing all logic and that voice in my head telling me to look away.

"Is it hot in here? Y'all don't feel that? Open these windows," Jess's voice said from the back.

I looked over my shoulder at her and she had her head tilted away slightly, trying to hide her grin. I heard Nate snickering and knew they'd seen what almost happened. Then out of reflex, my eyes went over Ari's head and I looked at Carlos. He was staring right at me, his grin almost cracking his face.

"I thought I felt a wave or something," Thion piped in and I shot a lazy look at the side of his head even though he couldn't see me. The windows went down and I reached up to run my hand through my hair.

"Who wants to listen to SoMo?" Ari said out of nowhere, reaching for her phone.

My eyebrows raised and I eyed her, my eyes pausing on her cleavage for a moment before I zeroed in on her face again. "You listen to SoMo?" All she did was nod like it was no big deal. I turned to her as much as I could with my seatbelt on and repeated louder, "Excuse me, you listen to SoMo?"

She turned to me with a weird look, eyeing me. "Yeah, so?" I continue to stare at her. She smirked. "You know all his songs aren't dirty. Even though the dirty ones are great." She busted out laughing when my eyebrows went higher. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

I kept my eyes on her for another moment before turning forward again, mumbling, "Nothing."

She tilted her head and took me in and I knew she wanted to say something. In the end, she decided against it and presumed to play SoMo—clean and dirty songs alike. And singing along to all of them.

As frustrated as it was watching her doing a bunch of suggestive moves in her seat, and some of the things coming out of her mouth, it was fun.

She was a big goof when she was in a good mood—which was more than half the time—and this was no different. I watched her with a permanent grin the whole time. I wasn't the only one either. Carlos had the same expression and I could hear Thion's laughs and chuckles from the front seat. Sean and Nate were too busy joining the concert and Jess just recorded most of it.

That was our whole thirty-minute ride. I didn't even realize when we got to our destination—only looking out the window when the car finally stopped. I noticed the fairly dark sky and Thion telling us to get out and he'll go find a parking spot.

The music was still semi-booming and when we got out, Ari was still dancing. But now, since she was standing, her body started doing more expert moves, drawing the eyes of people coming and going from Round 1.

"People are staring at you," I said but I couldn't get rid of my grin.

I remembered one time when she used to shake being the center of attention. I feel like it's because she's back in New York. She did say she came alive with the city.

I didn't expect her to stop, but I equally didn't expect her to reach out and grip the front of my jeans to pull me to her. Again, my eyebrows raised and I stared down at her as she swayed to the music still playing.

"Dance with me," she said. I looked over my shoulder teasingly and then back down at her. She nodded with a wide smile.

"Who said I could dance?" I retorted, but my body was already moving with hers.

"Thion," she said easily, rolling her hips in a way that had me tilting my head to get a better angle at her.

"Of course, he did," I replied, laughing when she started to do some crazy moves for the hell of it. I followed her lead, adding some colorful moves myself. We kept going even as Thion pulled off and the music was fading away.

For a moment, I forgot where we were and only got pulled out of it when I heard catcalls. And a lot of them. Some, I knew were coming from our friends, but others I spotted from random people who'd stopped to watch us. With their phones up.

That did it, and Ari's shyness came back. She leaned into me, covering her face, but still laughing. My head tilted back as I laughed and wrapped my arms around her, hugging her to me and turning to my friends who were standing off to the side. Jess was recording and so was Carlos—both of them sporting huge grins.

I shook my head, unable to stop smiling, and looked down at Ari. "Ready for some fun?"

She got herself together and pulled away enough to look up at me properly. "I'm ready to kick your ass in some of these games, yeah."

"Yeah?" I eyed her challenging. "Right."

Walking back slowly, she rubbed her hands together dramatically with a shrug. "You'll see."

It was my turn to shrug, acting nonchalant. She won't be getting off easy that's all I know.

"Guys, get together, I want pictures," Jess called.

I looked over at her, then back at Ari, and reached out for her. She slapped my hand away playfully, but let out a shriek when arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the ground for a second.

Sean settled her in front of us as he stopped next to me and Carlos stopped on my other side. Nate sat on the ground in front of Ari and I had no clue what possessed him to do that but I didn't say anything.

Leaning down, I whispered in Ari's ear, "Smile pretty."

"Do I ever not?" She retorted before I pulled away. She had no clue how right she was.

Thion came back a few minutes later and we all made our way into the large building, blending in with the excited crowd of friends and family. We all got cards and loaded them up with the number of credits to last at least an hour. Then we found somewhere to stand where we weren't in anyone's way.

"I kinda wanna go kill some stuff over there..." Nate trails off, taking a few steps back with his thumb pointing over his shoulder.

I followed where he was pointing with my gaze and saw a reserved area with a bunch of videogame stations. It was already occupied with countless people since the place was packed.

"Same," Carlos said, looking around at us.

"And I just wanna browse." Ari shrugged.

"Okay, this might work," Thion said, drawing our attention, "We're going off in groups so grab somebody-"

Carlos pulled Nate and Sean to his sides with a huge grin. Then Thion played along and snatched Jess's wrist and pulled her in front of him. Then they stared smugly between Ari and I.

"Really?" Ari said, staring at them blankly, then shook her head and rolled her eyes. Thion went on talking as if nothing happened.

"We're only breaking up for a little while, then we're all meeting up in the back," he pointed toward the far back of the arcade where the bowling alley was located on an elevated floor. "We're gonna grab some food and go bowling, then if everyone's still up for it, we'll reserve a room for karaoke. Sounds good?"

We all agreed in a mass of grumbles then everyone started branching out. I was busy staring at Ari when Thion called over his shoulder, "Check your phones!"

I glanced to my left where Thion and Jess were maneuvering the crowd, with his arm thrown lazily across her shoulders.

"You can um," I look back at Ari, "You can go with them if you want," I offered. She'd gotten a little closer after I'd looked away and as more people kept coming and going, she moved closer.

Shaking her head, she said, "I don't."

My eyes squinted as I thought back to her reaction of practically being paired with me. "I'm not r-" Someone walked between us, cutting me off and she closed the distance between us.

"Don't start that mess," she said, shaking her head again. She took my hand and turned around. "Let's go find something to do."

As she waited for a crowd of people to pass, my eyes flickered down to our hands, then up to the back of her head. Then down and up again. Until finally, the path was clear enough and she tugged on my hand enough that my eyes stayed on the back of her head.

"Can we eat first, though?" She said over her shoulder, raising her voice so I could hear her over the sounds of games and laughter. I shook my head with a smile, letting her lead me. I guessed she'd been here before so she knew where the food court was.

"I haven't eaten anything other than gummy worms in the past couple of hours and if you don't want me to fall over then-"

I cut her off, laughing. "Okay! I get it. We can go get something. All you have to do is ask."

We waited for what felt like forever before we got our food. We decided to go with something light to satisfy her since we're getting more food later. We shared an order of a medium pepperoni pizza, barbecue wings, medium fries, and a large coke. It seemed like a lot but we both eat like savages.

"I swear, if I had to wait another minute, I was gonna say something," Ari said as we settled at an empty table among the dozens that were taken. We set our food down first before sitting across from each other.

"I don't doubt it," I humored her, throwing a fry in my mouth.

She sighed, pulling the small basket of wings toward her. "I don't say this a lot," she started, practically salivating down at the food, "but I really love that you want to fatten me up sometimes."

I choked on my laugh and the handful of fries I'd stuffed in my mouth a second ago. My eyes welled up as I coughed into my elbow and tried to clear my throat. She kept going.

"Because, like, I don't have to pay for my own food and embarrass myself since I'm broke half the time. And I'm never hungry when I'm with you. But then the worst part is, I can't fit into my good clothes and my mom keeps bothering me about it." She takes up a drumstick. "And that makes me want to eat more food. Generally, I really don't know if I want to thank you or hate you to be honest, but right now," she finally met my eyes, bringing the piece of meat closer to her lips, "I could kiss you."

I cleared my throat one last time and take a sip from our coke. Leaning forward, I reached for a slice of pizza. "You keep saying that, but you never do it." I keep my eyes away from hers, and when I finally look up, both of us were chewing and staring at each other.

I watched her clean the drumstick down to the bone with precision and suck on her fingers coated with barbecue sauce.

"It's not that I don't want to. It's just," she shrugged, reaching for a slice of pizza next while her other hand got some fries, "never the right time." She placed the fries in her mouth, her cheeks blowing up, and I smirked.

"I like seeing you eat," I said without thinking. "Not in a weird way," I rushed out. "You just... don't care. At first though," I took a large bite out of my pizza. She folded hers in half and did the same. "At first, I just hated that you basically went the whole day without eating- I still do. It's like you were scared of food or something-"

She made a sound, placing her hand over her mouth and chewing out, "I was not scared of food."

"You acted like you were, so I started feeding you! That was the only way you ate anything. I couldn't depend on you to feed yourself." Her head went back and she laughed heartily. The sounds brought a grin to my lips and people from other tables to glance our way.

I finished the rest of my slice of pizza and reached for a napkin to wipe my mouth and hands as she lowered hers to the paper plate in front of her. It was an official action that said we were having this conversation.

She snatched a napkin herself and cleaned her mouth and hands too as she said, "Excuse me, but I was not your problem." A teasing smile stayed on her lips.

"No, you weren't. You were my friend even though you didn't want to admit it-"

"I knew you for not even a week," she said, leaning forward. I forced myself not to look down at her chest. "You had no obligation to me and you still don't."

I looked away, searching for words to say. "Well, I liked you," I said hesitantly but looked back at her and finished, "and I still do."

Her eyes fell to my lips and stayed there. The juvenile thought of dragging her to the nearest corner to make out came to my mind. Lately, it felt like that was my number one goal in life. She could let out a huge burp and I'd suddenly want to kiss her.

I couldn't help how reckless she made me feel. I wanted to lean across the table and kiss her. Right there in the middle of everyone. It's not like any of these people know us anyway and who knows where our friends had wandered off to. One kiss wouldn't kill anyone. But I'd certainly go mad if I didn't get one soon.

"I hate you," she said but eyed me in a way that said otherwise.

"Do you really?" I taunted with a smirk, pulling the basket of wings toward me.

A sexy grin was on her lips as she shook her head. "I fucking hate you."

I mirrored her expression and bit into my wing. "Cursing doesn't make it any more believable."

Leaning back, she picked up her pizza again. "You just make me- ugh!"

I hummed, reaching for some fries. I didn't look at her when I said, "We both know you've got the hots for me."

"Excuse me?" She gaped at me.

I pointed at her face, shaking my head. "Don't even do all that mess. I see the way you've been looking at me these past couple of days."

"Oh yeah, really?" She said sassily, nodding and eyeing.

"Yeah," I reply to her retort unapologetically.

"Okay, and how's that?"

"Like you wanna-" I stopped myself. This was one of the rare times when I know I'm about to say something I shouldn't and my brain decided to catch up with my mouth, successfully shutting me up in time.

I could tell she knew I was going to say something immensely inappropriate and crude because she set her pizza back down and sat back slowly. Her eyes were slightly wide and an incredulous smile was on her lips.

"No, don't stop now. What was that?"

Biting my lip, I shook my head and went back to my food.

She leaned across the table again and said slowly, "You... are going to hell."

I couldn't stop my laugh. "Can you stop wishing that on me?"

She leaned back with her own laugh and her hands held up in a surrender motion. "I'm just saying. You like to sit there acting all virgin and shit-"

"Again!" I laughed. "How does one act virgin?" I retorted. "You know, just because your mouth and mind are filthy doesn't mean I'm acting like- what you said. Which still makes no sense."

"You don't know nearly enough about my mouth to be running yours so..." She finally started eating again after that retort, and yes my mind skewed toward the double-meaning in that statement.

"Now who's going to hell?"

Eyeing me, she said innocently, "Still you. I don't know what you're talking about."

Humming, I stuffed my mouth full of fries then got another slice of pizza and bit into it dramatically. I knew she was staring at me but she's used to it. She ate just as ugly when she wants to.

"You know, you might want to breathe," Ari said, and I zone in on her again, "between chews. And you should, because if you start choking that's it for you. I am not touching your body."

I started making wheezing and choking sounds automatically and she laughed. I chuckled, smiling at her as much as I can with my mouth full.

We sat there for over an hour, talking as much as we were eating—talking while we were eating. It got bad to the point where we caught people looking at us weird. That's mostly because we got loud and obnoxious sometimes and happened to be stuffing our faces when they looked our way. It's not like Ari and I cared much. We either just shushed each other or tried to hold back our laughs—which we failed at. We still got a few smiles though.

Minutes later, we're standing side by side at the edge of the arcade, searching for our first challenge.

Suddenly, she turned and started walking backward, pointing at me. "Air hockey. Now."

I eyed her with a grin. "Yes, ma'am."

She rolled her eyes and threw her head back dramatically. "I hate you!"

My gaze went over her shoulder at a group coming down the narrow aisle and looked back at her and said, "Stop." Her feet immediately planted. I outstretched my hand and she didn't question it, just moved back to me quickly as if someone was chasing her.

"What? What's going on?" She only looked over her shoulder when she was close enough to me.

I snickered, looking down at her. "I didn't want you to get run over."

She looked back up at me with a blank stare. "You could've just said!"

Grinning, I pulled her closer. "It's not my fault you're paranoid for no reason. Who's after you?"

Her eyes widened and her fingers dug into my arms. "If you tell me to 'stop' in a serious voice while looking over my head, I'm going to assume something bad's going on and I'm gonna run. You know this."

I shrugged, my gaze dropping to her exposed skin. My eyes followed the column of her neck that's visible, then over her shoulder and across her chest. Before I could help it, my hand moved up and I slipped two of my fingers under the thin strap of her top, running them up and down slowly, brushing across her skin.

"You," she says lowly, "are a huge flirt, Christian."

"You love it."

"Do I?"

"Mhm." I moved my hand to run from her shoulder, down her arm. "You only use my whole name when you like something I do, or you're threatening my life."

The latter had her snorting but then her head tilted forward, dropping to my chest and she let out a groan slash whine. When she leaned back again, she just stepped away and said, "Air hockey." Then she walked away.

I didn't even try to hide my grin. She loved it.

The night became a blur of lights, laughing, cheering, and a bit of trash talking. Okay, a lot of trash talking.

After Ari buried me in Air hockey, thrice, we went on to less competitive games where we had to work together to win instead of feeding into her unhealthy need to crush the other in everything. I always knew she turned terminator under the right circumstances but tonight, she went a lot harder on me than she normally would. I had to defend myself from her attacks—physical and verbal.

Suffice to say, a lot of feelings were hurt in the hour that had passed, and not just mine.

We all met up to get food like we promised and went straight for the bowling alley. That took a good two hours out of our night. We thought it would be a lot more difficult breaking off into groups since there were seven of us but Thion, thinking he was cool or something, decided to sit out. He wasn't a huge bowling fan. That's the excuse he went with.

Naturally, Ari and I ended up on different teams. She was with Carlos and Sean, while I went with Jess and Nate. We won, obviously, something I rubbed in her face for a while after.

Ari was a sore loser. And I do mean sore—the biggest of them all. She's all death stares and pouting whenever she loses anything. But the best part is that she gets borderline psycho whenever she doesn't get a strike, or when she lost any game the entire night for that matter. It was the best part of winning and I watched it every time with a happy grin.

Our friends find it scary of course, even though they've seen her like that a dozen times. It just gets better every time for me. Truth be told, Nate's not far off the crazy train himself and is almost just as competitive as Ari.

After giving Nate a few more minutes to gloat and Ari to sulk, we got some more snacks after reserving a karaoke room. That part of the night was much more fun than competition.

It was a lot less blood-filled and threatening, and we gave ourselves a challenge. Each of us sang a song from each decade starting from 1980, and it was awesome. Actually, most of our performances were in the form of groups but everyone got to choose a song, as well as a couple who went solo.

I have no clue how long that took, all I know is, we were practically stumbling out of the building a little after two in the morning, high on soda, ice cream, and fries.

"The last time I heard you sing like that, was like... never!" Nate said, throwing his hands up in dramatics as he addressed Sean.

Sean was one of the best singers in our group but he hardly ever did it. It's not that he hated it, he just didn't find joy in it. He'll sing, but it's not a passion. It kind of sucks because he could go somewhere with a voice like that, but he has his ambitions set on something else.

Sean grinned. "I was in the mood to go all in."

"I got some good videos too," Carlos said, pulling Sean into his side more from where his arm hung lazily over Sean's shoulders. "He and Ari were iconic."

"Oh no, he and Ari were iconic," Sean said, pointing at Nate. I snorted a laugh when Ari grinned with a dreamy look in her eyes, placing her hands on her chest.

She really was though. It was like she turned into a whole different person when the music came on and she got into it. She sang and danced like it was just her in the room even though most of the songs she sang were with someone else.

I've never seen her like that, surprisingly. Sure, I've seen her get goofy and bang her head through songs before, but practically seeing every muscle and nerve in her body became attuned to the music and her singing her heart out? It's something I wouldn't mind seeing more often. Just to see her let go completely and truly be her was shocking but gratifying.

"You were completely amazing," I heard myself say. No use taking it back now, so I embraced it and smiled at her.

Her smile softened and she looked away, pressing her lips together. When she spoke, she held her hands up. "I figured I won't be getting another chance like this again for a while, so..." She dropped her hands with a loud exhale. "My mom hasn't even seen me like that. That was reserved for staying home alone, so you're welcome."

Thion draped his arm around her shoulders and said, "We were honored." She grinned up at him and I smiled and looked away as we followed Thion's previous instructions toward our car.

"I honestly thought we'd be out of here at around eleven or something," Thion said again the same time he pressed the alarm for my mom's car and it lit up a few cars away, "and be able to crash a party somewhere, but I'm bout ready to crash."

A round of agreement spread around and seeing how Thion was dragging himself, I knew it was time for me to get back behind the wheel again.

I announced that I'd drive and caught the keys when Thion threw them to me without me having to repeat myself.

First thing I did when I unlocked the car was led Ari to the passenger seat and opened the door for her.

"What are you doing?" She laughed, glancing back at me.

I leaned down to say in her ear, "I'm pretty sure you're the only one who isn't going to be sleeping in the next half an hour to forty-five minutes, and I'd like the company."

She didn't protest after that, and I closed the door when she settled into her seat, then rounded the front of the car.

The time and mental capacity of my friends had them all ready in less than five minutes. It had always been our thing. Whenever we planned to go anywhere, we're mostly always on time but stand around idling and never leave when we plan to. Then, at the end of the day when we're all tired and worn out, we're more than ready to be home and in bed so we leave quicker.

That's why, in less than ten minutes, I was already pulling out of the parking space and into a short line of traffic and people weaving through the lot—on their way home like us.

Ari was on the aux again, but unlike the other times, the music was playing at a lower volume. We held conversation for about fifteen minutes into the drive before I heard the first set of snoring.

I looked over at Ari with an amused grin the same time there was a low snicker from the back. Ari was smiling at the road, telling me she heard it too, and I turned back to the road, shaking my head. If my senses were any good, I'd say that was probably Carlos.

By the looks of things—the traffic on the road—we'll probably be back to the house before three. We all agreed to go see the apartment at eleven in the morning, and even though I hadn't warned anyone, they knew I'd leave them if they're not ready by then. They weren't obligated to come, but they wanted to see it, and I wanted them to see it. Hopefully, they can drag themselves up early enough.

I glanced at Ari out of the side of my eye and sure enough, she was still up. Since I've known her, I'd never seen her sleep during a car ride and she told me she didn't do it either—no matter how long the drive was. She physically couldn't.

"Hey," I said, hardly taking my eyes off the road. She looked over at me with a hum. A couple more snores had joined in behind us, but it was easy to drown them out. "I didn't get to ask you- is there anything you'd want to do? While we're here?" I glanced at her quickly, then back at the road. "I noticed you didn't say anything when we were making plans and stuff."

She stayed quiet for a moment but I knew she was thinking, so I waited for her to figure it out.

"Just my dad, but," from the movement, I could tell she shrugged, "it might be too far from here."

"No, we can-" I glanced at her again. I just wanted to pull the SUV over so I could talk to her properly but ran my hand through my hair instead. "We can go see your dad."

"Are you sure?" She said lowly, her voice hesitant. "It might be too far."

"Ari," I said firmly, keeping my voice low in the quiet car, "It's okay. It's no problem. We can go tomorrow afternoon or Sunday morning before we head back home. Cool?"

"Okay," she all but whispered. "Thanks."

I looked over at her with a smile. "It's no problem at all. Other than going to see the apartment, we really have nothing better to do. Better we use the time for something good rather than running around the city like a bunch of delinquents."

She let out a low sound that could've been a laugh. For a moment, I felt content. It might have been the amazing day I had (for the most part), or the quietness of the car with just the sound of heavy, unconscious breathing and the music playing in the background...

It could've been a number of things right in this car, but I settled on it being everything.

The whole thought of coming here at first was a bit dreadful and maybe if I'd come alone it would've been. Once again, my friends prove to be the antidote for everything wrong in my life. They always seemed to dig me out of dirt even if I'm not the one who put me there and I found myself, as I looked at them through the rearview mirror—even with most of them knocked out and practically drooling all over each other—wondering why I tried to push them away.

All I knew, it wouldn't be happening again.

The blue numbers on the dashboard showed 3:19 AM when I parked by the fountain outside the house.

Ari got out and I turned the light on in the car before turning to wake my friends. Carlos was already slapping Sean's cheek gently to get him up. In a few minutes, everyone was up and stumbling out of the car. Nate actually tripped but Ari caught him before he could faceplant.

I locked the car and handed the keys to Thion as he's stretching and rubbing his eyes. I held up the key to him that was for the front door and told him as such. He was the only one in their right mind when he was tired.

He led everyone across the driveway that was as wide as a four-lane road, but I held Ari back.

"Chris," she whined in that sweet way of hers and looked up at me with tired eyes. It was enough for me to feel guilty. "I'm tired."

"You can stay with me."

She gave me a look and I sighed. It sounded a lot more stupid now that it was out in the open.

"Forget I said that."

She shook her head. "No, it's not that I don't want to. You know your mom would-"

I nodded, cutting her off. "I know. It's just that the thought of it sounded a lot better and I forgot all about her."

It wasn't a factor of how my mom would find out, either. My brother would tell her, I was sure of it. That wouldn't be him being vindictive, though, he'd bring it up as one of his desperate ploys to embarrass me or something, and get me killed in the end.

"Good night, then," I said before things could get awkward between us and sour up a perfectly great ending to any night.

I'd already been backing toward the side of the house where the path led to the backyard and outhouse.

"Do you make your own breakfast when you come here?" she said, successfully stopping me. "Like, in the outhouse or do you come back here-" she gestured to the house.

My eyes burned, telling me I'm a lot more tired than I realized. "I usually make my own, yeah. I really don't leave unless it's necessary." I forced a laugh. "Every time I come here, it feels more like a business meet than anything."

She gave me another one her infamous looks that told me she wanted to question it, but she didn't. Instead, she said, "I can come over for breakfast?" She smiled.

My lips twitched into a smirk. "Kind of a downgrade from the breakfast in bed you were going to get, but if you don't mind..."

Her smile was bright despite her half-closed eyelids. "Goodnight, Chris," she said, mocking exasperation. We were both backing away from each other now—still smiling. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Looking forward to it." I gave her a dramatic bow and she shook her head, biting her bottom lip against a smile.

I briefly remind her to lock the front door when she got in before turning and half jogged toward the side of the house.

♤♠♤

I entered my dad's dining room with Ari practically hanging off my arm. I yawned noisily, not even bothering to cover my mouth, as we both took a seat at the table. Some of our friends were already seated, with the exception of Thion and Carlos. Those two were not going to make it and I almost told myself to skip breakfast and stop by a Starbucks or something in a couple of hours but I promised Ari breakfast. The things I do for her...

And I was making her breakfast moments ago. She was already there—in the outhouse—and I was almost done with a batch of chocolate chip pancakes when my father's girlfriend, Gianna, let herself in and was standing inside the open kitchen.

Backtrack to when it was around seven-thirty. I was sleeping soundly and comfortably when a heavyweight had fallen on top of me, successfully jerking me out of sleep. Ari had just rolled off me and slipped under the covers, muttering that I should keep the door locked, before we both fell asleep again.

At the time, I hadn't really comprehended it because of how tired I was but when I got up about two hours later, I was confused at the lump that was next to me before I remembered she'd broken in.

I'd tried to get her up only for her to push my face away and curse at me, so I'd left her to go to the bathroom and start breakfast.

A few minutes into my discussion with Gianna—her insistently trying to get me to come to the main house for breakfast despite seeing me making my own, and me turning down the offer—Ari had walked into the kitchen with her eyes basically closed.

My voice had started to get harsh too because the woman just wouldn't quit. Ari—through her grogginess—had convinced me. Right now, a perfectly perfect stack of pancakes was back in the outhouse getting cold because this woman just couldn't leave me alone.

I bitterly snagged a few pancakes from the platter in the center of the large dining table and filled my plate. They were plain.

Ari stickered next to me, making her own plate. It's obvious she saw how miserable I was and heard all my grumbling.

"It's not funny," I said to her. I got some bacon next. "She dragged us out of the house only to feed us plain pancakes?" I retorted, widening my eyes at her.

She turned to me with a smile. "Just eat."

Shaking my head, I sighed and got some eggs. "All the crap I do because of you. She's lucky you came out cause-"

A loud screeching sound cut me off and Thion dropped down in the chair across from me. His jaw was clenched and his hair out—an afro of bleach-blonde kinks on top of his head.

My eyebrows raised, if that hair and face was any indication, he was not happy. Thion hardly ever let his hair out outside of the confines of a bed. His bun is always in place, no matter what. He was pissed.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and tilting his head forward to press his fingers to his forehead. His hair followed the movement, and I pressed my lips together to hide my smile.

"Good, T?" Sean said, grinning. Thion shook his head slowly, and Ari giggled next to me, picking up her glass of water and taking a sip.

Jess snickered, making my smile slip and turn into an unapologetic grin.

Nathion sat up a moment later, slumping back in his chair with a loud exhale. He left one of his hands a fist on top of the table, motioning as he spoke. "You know your stepmama came up there and woke me up?" Thion said and my smile immediately fell.

"She's not my stepmom."

He kept going on his tangent. "Let me tell you, I was going to cuss her as-" He stopped himself, letting his eyes go to the ceiling. A bunch of choking sounds went around the table and Jess said his name with a disbelieving laugh. "I know she's new to the fam or whatever, but somebody's gonna tell her she's not my mama," he said once he was under control, looking around at the rest of us.

His eyes roamed the food set out on the table until he lifted his hand and dropped it back on the table aimlessly. "I'm not even hungry, bro. We ate enough shit last night to last me the day."

That had me smiling again and I shook my head and cut into my pancakes.

"Just have some fruit or something," Nate suggested as he chewed.

Thion sucked his teeth loudly and eyed the bowl of fruit salad before reaching for it. "If y'all want me to hold my tongue this morning, somebody need to get me some coffee," he said, pouring a mountain of fruit on his plate and setting the bowl next to it.

"The usual?" My brother's voice came from behind me, his tone dripping with amusement.

Thion grunted already chewing on a few grapes. He was separating the fruit on his plate. I didn't hear my brother's voice again, so I'm assuming he left to get Thion what he asked for. We all knew he wasn't joking.

He continued grumbling under his breath, but it's when he muttered something about not taking orders from "random white people" that we all went up in hysterics.

In the next ten minutes, everyone in the house was at the table. Soon we were confirming the events for the day, along with my dad giving us an extra hour and a half to get ready. Then conversation switched to our night out.

"I heard you guys coming in last night? Sounded fun." Zan was grinning, his eyes moving over each of us.

"My bad," Carlos said groggily. He too was forced to come down for breakfast. He was having a harder time keeping his eyes open.

"Wait, what happen?" I asked.

Ari replied, leaning a little closer, making me look down at her. "He knocked into a table in the dark and we all kind of... laughed." My lips twitched. "We should all be apologizing, actually."

"We weren't our normal loud if that helps..." Nate trailed off, his eyes doing a weird thing as he visibly cringed.

Zan laughed. "Trust me, we know."

"I'm guessing you all had a lot of fun if you came in so late. Or early, I should say," Gianna said. I eyed her for a second, seeing her large smile, before focusing on my food again. My friends agreed with that and went on to explain various parts of the night.

Thion was unnaturally quiet and I have a feeling it's because he's still not in a good mood. He hated it when anyone woke him up. If he'd gotten up on his own, he would've been much better, even if he was still tired. It's a thing with him—he hated being bossed around in any way, especially by people he didn't know.

When there was a moment of quiet, a throat cleared. My father spoke. "Uh, Ariana?"

Both of us looked up at the same time. I saw Ari glance at me through my periphery, but I kept my eyes on my father. While he kept his eyes on her.

"You and my son stayed together?" my father said, his eyebrows raising, "Last night?"

Letting out a long breath through my nose, I let my eyes move to his left where Gianna sat. Her eyes were on her plate as she scooped up a fork of greens and placed it in her mouth.

"Uuuh," Ari started with an awkward laugh, "I actually didn't stay there. I just went over this morning. I knew he was making breakfast and I like his cooking so..." She shrugged and shifted. My eyes followed her hands under the table but not before seeing them shaking.

I lost my appetite, feeling the anger I pushed away yesterday come back tenfold. Because why did it matter if she had. It was no one's business what we did. It might be his house, but why should it be a problem.

"Can't argue with that," my dad said teasingly, trying to lighten whatever tension had fallen over the table. "Learned from his mom."

"Hello," I said, mocking enthusiasm. When he looked at me, my fake smile widened into a grin. "Hi. Thank you. If you're going to talk about me, I wouldn't mind being addressed directly." He gave me an exasperated look. "And what if we had?" I retorted, letting my eyes move to Gianna again. She was staring at me this time, and I held her gaze. "Would that be a problem?"

Ari nudged my leg with hers and said my name under her breath.

"Well, making sure my son and whoever he's seeing is being safe isn't a crime," he said.

I rolled my eyes and sat back tiredly. I turn to Ari and said, "You wanna tell him or..."

Ari spoke hesitantly. "Chris and I aren't... together... But you're not the first to think that, anyway."

Gianna finally said something, like I knew she wanted to. "That's good," she nodded, her bob following the movement. "Relationships like yours rarely work out, but I can see you two a very good f-"

"Wait, wait, what?" It was Jess who'd cut her off.

My dad looked at the woman, his eyebrows drawn in confusion as he said, "Gia."

Her words had planted a sick feeling in my stomach and I felt my hands closed into fists—my left on the table cloth and my right around my fork. If I hadn't liked her before, I despised her guts now.

While she stumbled to redeem whatever she thought she meant by that comment, Ari quietly pushed her chair back and left.

"I let her force me out of bed?" Was the first thing Thion said in the last half an hour. He shook his head and got up from his seat next. His arm stretched above his head and he snatched another grape from his plate before leaving too. "Gonna go check on my girl," he said over his shoulder, leaving the room in silent tension.

"This," I said firmly, not saying it to anyone in general, "This is why when I come here, I don't stay in this house." I kept my eyes trained on the platter of pancakes in front of me.

The table had gone silent. "I have never been comfortable in here because every time I come here it's something new. Whether I'm being humiliated constantly for no reason, or being drilled about girls or when I'm gonna hop in bed with someone- I will never be comfortable with the two people I'm supposed to feel safe around and I won't act like I am. But this-" I lift my eyes to my fathers and the apology and tiredness I saw there nearly undid me, but I didn't let it, "this is the worse. And I don't blame you for whatever sick views she has." I gestured to the woman next to him without looking at her. "I'm just tired of coming back to the same crap. There's no going forward in this house and I can't be a part of that."

I got up, letting my eyes move to Gianna. From here I could see her breath stuttering. "And you will be nothing but a body walking around here from now on. Avoid me and don't even look at her."

I knocked on the door to my room even though the door was wide open and I could already see her clearly. Ari stood in front of the vanity, pulling at the two high ponytails on either side of her head.

"Ready?" I took in her usual—sweatpants, a loose crop top and vans—with a smile. Somehow, she made it look phenomenal and it wasn't just because the fabric was a bit snug in the back, or her crop top was exposing the skin above her waistband; she just had a beautiful aura to her.

She nodded and took up a tube of lip gloss from the vanity then spun to get her cute little Jansport bag from the end of the bed.

"What happened?" she asked, slinging the thin strap over her shoulder and getting her phone.

I chewed on my bottom lip, thinking back to my conversation with my father a few minutes ago. He'd asked to talk to me and I went. I wanted him to defend that sorry excuse of a woman he said he was dating. He didn't. The first thing he did was apologize and promised to apologize to Ari.

It's not that I expect the worse of my father, I just stopped hoping for the best. He's not a bad guy, we've just haven't been on the best terms for a while.

But he apologized on the woman's behalf even though I basically told him to shove it. He shouldn't be apologizing for her because she's not a child and she's more than aware of what she said and what it meant.

"He apologized," I told Ari as she walked over. "Convinced me to keep the apartment."

I was going that far. At the time, I just didn't want anything to do with them and was already thinking about just dorming this semester. I was too late to, but I would try anyway. I'm overdramatic but if she was someone who I was going to see regularly, I didn't want it. Especially if it'll end up being a ploy to force me into tolerating her.

She shook her head and stopped in front of me. "I get that what she said was... suspicious, but that shouldn't make things worse between you and your dad. It's not like he told her to say it.

"I know." I looked away from her. "I know that what she said wouldn't be something she'd be crucified for but..." My eyes went back to her. "I don't want to be around anyone with that sort of mentality. It's negative and makes me sick. And who knows what other kinds of crap she has locked up in her head."

"Doesn't matter to me as long as she doesn't say or show it," Ari said, her head tilting back to look up at me. "You thought I got up from that table because my feelings were hurt?" She grinned. "I've come across a few racist, prejudiced assholes in my time- that was nothing. But for some reason... I just didn't want to give your folks the wrong impression of me so soon."

My eyes went to the ceiling. "Respect is earned, Ari. You can't let anyone say whatever they want, no matter who they are. You think my friends haven't gotten into altercations with my family? Thion's been kicked out of that house more times than I care to count. So if you're offended or you feel threatened by anything, say so."

She just stared at me so I felt I had to say, "Even if you don't, Jess will. And she did. Dad told me she had a few things to say after I left, and she... said it."

She smiled and I turned to look over my shoulder when I heard. "Hell yeah, I did." Jess stood in the hallway, one hand on her hip defiantly. She looked between the two of us.

"I might not live here but I've been here far longer than she has so if she thinks she has an opinion, I'll be happy to let her know her existence doesn't count unless we say so. I swear to God, old white people just get under my fucking skin." She huffed and I bit my lip against a smile. "Anyway, you guys ready? We're leaving."

Ari giggled before walking over to Jess and linking their arms. She led her down the hall but held out her hand behind her as they talked. I eyed it for a second before reaching out and taking her hand. I don't know why I thought she wanted something else, but when she laced our fingers together, all doubts left my mind.

We met my mother outside the large building. It looked more like a hotel than an apartment complex. I've seen it and been in it before, seeing as my dad was partnered with the owner, but I was seeing it in a different light now because I was going to be living here.

Ninety percent of the building was glass and apparently, I was going to be on the fifteenth floor. I told my father I didn't need anything fancy and while I wasn't complaining, this was as fancy as it got.

"I'm jealous," I heard Thion say, his eyes taking in the lobby as we followed dad and my mom who were a few feet in front of us. They looked like they were in an intense discussion but unless there was shouting, I won't be getting in the middle.

"I might come stay with you a couple weekends," he said and I smirked. "We good?"

I snickered. "Sure. You're always welcomed. Without drugs or alcohol."

He cursed under his breath and there was a snort.

"What if I got a prescription?"

I couldn't deny that I was nervous the entire way up. I was finally about to see where I would be living for the next four years (hopefully). This was actually happening, and it was going to be real. The second the door opened, and I stepped in, it'll be official.

My father called me up from the back of our group when we were all standing outside of one of the random honey wooden doors. He handed me a single key that I hesitantly took from him after someone nudged me in the back. I was staring at it weird for a while.

My dad just smiled at me and patted my back. He gestured to the door. "Whenever you're ready."

"Make it quick, though," Carlos whispered loudly. I shook my head to myself, hearing someone shush him. I'm more than sure it was my mom.

"You could've stayed," Sean said. Carlos was still stumbling through each step because of how tired he was but still decided to come here, so he's being cranky about everything.

While the two went back and forth, I inserted the key into the keyhole and turned. There was a click and I took the key out—out of habit—before turning the door handle and pushing the door open.

The first thing I saw were the windows. Lots of windows on the opposite side of the room, to where the whole wall was just glass. The view looked over a large expanse of roads and buildings. I immediately wished we'd come here at night.

The area that stretched out in front of me was obviously the living space. It was as big as my living room back home, only the floor was a mixture of different hues of grey. I was used to honey-gold or mahogany brown but surprisingly, I liked this.

It was such a drastic difference, but it still looked great. It kind of fit with all the windows and light. Let's not forget to white walls. They were stoic white—almost blinding—not off, or with a tinge of beige. Just white. I like it too. And again, it fit the atmosphere.

Out of the side of my eyes, I could tell the kitchenette was to my right but I didn't focus on it yet.

As I walked farther into the vast space, I let my eyes move slowly from the left of the room to the right. There was another closed door right behind the front door and I assumed it was a coat closet. Then my eyes trailed across the blank walls until it stopped on another door right at the corner where the right wall and the glass windows met across the room.

My father must've seen me looking at it because he stepped beside me and pointed to the door. "That's a guest bathroom. You have two and a half."

My eyebrows furrowed. I turned to him. "Two and a half?"

He nodded. "Bathrooms."

I bit my lip as I thought. "In an apartment, dad?"

He held a finger up and said, "Condo. There were just two at first, but we added that one," he nodded to the door. "I figured if you had anyone over, there's no need for them to walk through the whole place to get to the bathroom unless you want them to."

A slow smile spread across my face. "That's actually perfect. I don't plan on having anyone here except these guys," I looked back at my friends. Some of them had already moved inside, some still standing in the door, staring in awe. "Still- thanks, dad." And I meant it. How could I not?

He smiled, one that reached his eyes and held an arm out, urging me to go look around some more.

I turned entirely to the right wall, letting my eyes run over the place again, already seeing a theme, and my furniture laid out in my head. I knew where the couches would be, the television, coffee table and bookcase. My mom was already across the room and fiddling with the handles to two doors that led to a balcony. I didn't notice that.

Turning on my heels to give the rest of the place my attention, I finally focus on the open kitchen.

There was a dark grey marble counter connected to a white column—separating the space from the living area. Majority of the kitchen was different shades of grey. The counters were the same dark grey with light particles and patterns while the cupboards were a lighter grey with black handles.

A metallic grey fridge was already in place and I could see a few utensils already scattered across the counters. As I got closer, I saw that the stove was black and above it against the wall, I hadn't noticed, was a microwave in the small space that was made for it.

"We still haven't gotten stools yet, but I was thinking black?" My dad said behind me. I turned to him, but he was still talking while peering into the kitchen. "You can choose what style you'd like and we'll have them before you're settled in."

I grinned teasingly. "And mom's the interior designer."

"That's simple matching, sweetheart. Don't give him hope."

A rustle of something went around the room from my friends and I heard Thion say, "Damn. She really just came for his artistic abilities like that," under his breath.

"Couldn't be me," Jess muttered and they snickered.

I looked over at my mom, chastising, but she was too busy taking in the space, trying to see what she can fit where and what would look good. The spot she stood in was right across from the opening of the kitchen with the opened balcony doors a few feet to her left. We both knew the dining table would be going there.

My dad though, just smiled, not looking the least bit bothered. He's heard worse over the years and according to them, their banter had died down from when they were married so he was used to it.

Mom said they were nearly as bad as Ari and I, but not quite. When Ari and I go at it, we aim for feelings most of the time. We break each other.

My attention moved to another part of the condo this time. Straight ahead there was a hallway with a door at the end of it but I could still see that there was a right turn.

"You can go," my dad urged me, his hand patting my shoulder for a second. "That's going to be your workspace."

My eyebrows furrowed and I realized my excitement wasn't at its peak until he'd said that. I turned around to look at him as I walked backward. "Workspace?"

He grinned in amusement. "I know you still do photography. Don't you?"

"Yeah..." I drawled, a queasy feeling crawling in my stomach the closer we got.

The sun shining into the apartment got cut off once we entered the short hallway and I saw why. Before we got to the door that my 'workspace' was supposed to be behind, there was another door on the right wall. I stopped and pointed at it.

"Oh yeah," my dad said, stopping to look at it too, "That's one guest room."

"One?" My voice had risen then. Does he know I'm just one person and I don't need a lot of space?

"Are you just going to repeat everything I say?" He retorted but I could tell he was having fun with my reactions. "It's not huge. This one's a smaller size. It was just a space that was there, so I told them to knock down the wall and do something with it." His hands went into the pocket of his slacks and he shrugged. "It's not done, though. Some electric work and painting are still getting done."

I bit back and a smile and shook my head at him before turning and taking the few steps to my most desired room right now. I briefly peer down the hall to my right before grabbing the knob to the room and pushing it open.

I gaped for a moment, pacing to the center of the room. It wasn't huge—surely wasn't basement space—but... it was enough. And it was mine.

The entire left wall was glass, like the living space and there was a window on the wall across from the door. These walls were a light grey and the floor was light, beige-colored tiles. It didn't match the rest of the house either but it didn't bother me. I liked that this was different but still kept the aesthetic—heck, I would've loved it if the ground was covered by a mahogany brown carpet and red walls.

I turned in slow circles, my mind doing that thing where it started to map out where all my equipment would go and what color storage drawers I'd be getting and where they'd go. And whether I'd be pinning my photos up to dry against the solid wall or the glass one.

I'd probably have to use the guest room as a darkroom or get some really heavy curtains or shades for this one.

After that, it was kind of a blur. He showed me the master bedroom, that was master in every way; with a walk-in closet and its own bathroom. Then the main bathroom, the laundry space that was hidden behind two closet doors in the hall, and the other guest bedroom.

All in all, I was more than pleased. I didn't expect anything this... extravagant. He more than outdid himself. I kind of found myself thinking that he probably combined two rooms into one for me but I didn't want to ruin my mood and decided to drop it.

"Palette," my mother said impatiently when I was out in the main room again.

I hummed, looking around. "Off the top of my head," I paused, walking into the open space, "I need black-"

"You do."

I smiled, shaking my head. I turned to give her a look and she held her hands up, telling me I can go without interruption again.

I trailed backward until I'm standing next to her. Another sweep around the room and I noticed everyone was off in their own world, wandering the place and ouing and awing at whatever they thought was nice.

"I need dark gray to contrast against the floor." I squinted, trying to picture the living room. "Tan or fawn instead of white or beige. And... brown. Not a lot though, just a few things to create a nice balance. Possibly chestnut or ocre."

When I looked at her again, I hardly had time to think before she was hugging me. "I've taught you so well," she said, almost sounding giddy. I chuckled when she leaned back, holding my face with a bright smile.

"Also..." I said, hesitating, and she hummed, her fingers tugging at my hair. "Something lavender."

She met my eyes then and tilted her head. Her expression told me she was trying to imagine what one thing in that color would fit in with everything. Her cheek twitched as her lips pulled up in an unknowing grimace. "Lavender." The word was said in a confusion, questioning tone but somehow still sounded like a statement—something she just said.

I knew it wasn't her saying no, she was just having a hard time seeing it, so I went on. "Or orchid. Maybe a potted flower I could put on display out here."

Not long passed before her expression smoothed out and she searched my eyes until she was sporting a small smile. "I can see that."

♤♠♤

This damn thing took me hours to edit and it's still not perfect.

This book... is slowly coming to an end unfortunately and I'll talk about what's in store for it at the end. It's going to be a series (the FORBIDDEN series) but it's a bit complicated. But not really.

Once I start explaining, I think you guys are going to like it.

Basically I'm working on a bunch of stuff right now which is why I haven't been updating much. And summer's flying by like a bitch and I'm not where I need to be.

But for now, I'm focusing on finishing this book between now and next week so I'm not working on anything else yet.

Anyway! This chapter was a whole 50+ pages. I'm not kidding. It probably won't seem that way, but it is.

A pain in my ass but I love my babies.

AND! If you haven't, follow me on Instagram (myqueens.30). My followers have been getting some sneak peeks and getting in on some stuff beforehand and will continue to.

I've been working on a new cover for this story and they got to see the final product. They seemed to like it.

I might update this cover in a few days or just show it to you guys in the next update but we'll see.

Stay safe and tuned for updates, you'll like the next few chapters.