before Evan grabbed my hand and pushed me out of the kitchen. The party felt beyond unwelcoming, and my heels could be the death of me. He threw excuses at people who inquired about our whereabouts—probably making them wonder to no end. This was no good at all, and when we were finally outside, I realized how incredibly worse the situation had gotten. It was freezing cold.

"Are you okay?"

Apparently, I was not the only one worried about me becoming an icicle. His alarmed eyes went over my body, and a grin spread across his lips. "How are you not freezing?"

"I kind of am," I looked away in embarrassment. "I think I'll head home, to be honest."

His eyes dimmed for a second, before he shook his head and swiftly glided the blazer from his arm to mine. My eyes had widened at his sudden movements, but he shunned my protests with a glare. "Nobody wants you having hypothermia. Take this."

"Won't you be cold, now that we're outside?"

He gave me another classic look. I sighed, smoothening the clothing and draping it over my shoulder, warmth immediately latching onto my skin. The familiar scent made me smile, and he saw.

He stood there looking at me.

"This is warm," I pointed out, eyes drawn to the sleeves. "Thank you!"

He had just laughed. While I stumbled on my steps, my incapability of walking visible as clear as day, he was just staring in confusion—much like he always did. "Are you okay, Edwards?"

I didn't have any sort of restraint whatsoever, so getting lost in his eyes seemed to be an easy feat. "I'm kind of not being able to walk."

"I don't think I can be of much help to that," he smiled. "Unless you want me to carry you."

"Absolutely not, thanks."

He gave me a small smirk. "You know, drunk you is kinder than sober you."

"Sober me is just as fine," I muttered in anger. "Maybe more realistic."

Amusement was prevalent on his face as he opened the door for me, eyes never leaving mine. I had no sense of time, because it seemed much more like a social construct than ever when alcohol entered my system—and going off with him was probably not the wisest decision. Where were we headed again? I didn't remember telling Stella I was leaving. This was no good.

"Hey," I waved a hand in front of him while he started the engine, "where are we going?"

"I am supposed to make it up to you, am I not?" he began, eyes playful and a grin on his mouth. "You'll see."

I slapped his arm. "Shut up and take me home."

"That's so boring."

"I'm tired, and that seems fun," I retorted with, eyes drilling holes into his skull. Moonlight only fell on one side of his face, and even with the dimly lit surroundings I could easily make out the scar below his ear. "Take me home, Parker."

When he didn't reply, I flicked my pocketknife right in front of his face, eyes sharp. "Take. Me. Home."

"Jesus fuck," he fell back on his seat only a little, a laugh escaping past his lips. He sounded worried for himself. Terrified of me. And as he should've been. "I am not kidnapping you or some shit. Calm down. Why in hell do you have a literal knife—"

"Because sometimes there's assholes on the streets, dear celebrity."

He shook his head. "Right. Do I get to live another day? It feels like I'm at your mercy now."

"Damn right you are," I muttered. At this point, I was slightly concerned for him. He did look like he'd seen a ghost, with the way his eyes stayed wide and alarmed. I was slightly concerned, but more amused. "Behave, and you might as well see daylight."

"I was just going to get us some Chinese food. But you're a pain in the ass, so you're going home. Nothing for you."

I grinned. "Never mind," I sang, stuffing the little weapon inside my bag. "It seems to me that we have encountered some change in plans, and I will, in fact, be getting Chinese."

If he wasn't already completely done with me, this was the last straw. With a long, dreadful look over to my seat, he sighed.

This was fun.

This was how I felt on a daily basis, so it only made sense if he dealt with the cards he was putting out every single day today. So, I kept speaking.

It was only a matter of time he told me to get out of his car.

"You know, this is the least you can do," I spoke, words sullen and eyes dramatic. "For ditching me for the whole party. Can't believe I thought I could trust you."

It really wasn't deep at all, but he didn't laugh. He just peered over, sighed again, and apologized.

This wasn't fun anymore.

"Why are you so serious all of a sudden? Now this is boring, Parker."

He ignored me. Parking on the side of the diner, I was left wondering, eyes running to the sky as a reflex. The stars were glowing, it felt like, and my drunken smile seemed like a specimen explaining exactly that. The place was surrounded by multi-coloured chairs on the outside and seemed empty—considering how it was midnight, I didn't question it. As far as it wasn't closed, we were good to go. Or so I hoped.

I hadn't realized when Evan had creeped up to me. It felt like he was going to scare me, but he just stood there, face devoid of emotions. "Oh my," I almost whined, but shut my mouth. A glare later, I had resumed babbling. "What are you doing? Did I. . .upset you?"

"See, I'm sorry if I did, because clearly—"

My back hit the car. Evan had walked closer, and now he was grinning. "You're too gullible, Edwards," and then, he poked my forehead. "And I'm not upset, so quit asking me that, okay?"

I nodded, eyes drawn to the ground. Then, he nudged me. "Anyways, fancy a picnic?"

"I—what?"

"That's what I thought."

▂

A drive and a Chinese takeout order later, we were sitting on a matted grass patch. I had no idea why he had a whole rug in his car for this spur-of-the-moment picnic that we were having at a very godly hour, but didn't have it in me to ask any questions. Devouring the noodles in my hand seemed a much better task to work on.

"Did you get bored when I wasn't there?"

I couldn't help grin at his almost expected inquiry. It was nice to see him care about the whole thing enough, because I had just considered it a form of joke. "Oh, please," I rolled my eyes. "I just said that so I could get free food. It worked."

"Remember when I called you a nice company? Someone fun to be around? Yeah, me neither."

I retorted in a heartbeat, on my mouth an overconfident smirk. "That's exactly why you're having a picnic with me, are you not?"

"Precisely."

"I didn't notice," I half-lied, eyes trained straight ahead, ignoring the way his fingers would thread through his hair. "I had Stella and Chloe by my side, after all. Xavier was with us for almost the entirety, too, and oh, I had time to catch up with Jayden."

As soon as his eyes snapped to mine, I grasped what I had said. Normally, slip-ups like these wouldn't ever happen—but with my sanity being long gone, I felt like I was walking on a tightrope all this while. Especially with him.

"Catch up?" his question floated tensely in the air, syllables worthy of splitting iron into tiny pieces. "You do know him, don't you?"

"Listen," I sighed. There wasn't a point hiding this, especially with my brain wrecked and slowed with the alcohol. "I crashed into him once on the streets. He behaved strangely, with the way he would do just about anything or simply just address me. Turns out, he was a friend of mine when we were really young. I knew him when I was seven—but then he moved one day without a word. I saw him for the first time after years that day when we were playing billiards, so naturally, we had some catching up to do today."

His eyes were sharp, but words carefully gentle. "You mean to say you just recently started recognizing him?"

"Yes, because he didn't even hint at who he was, even after seeing my awful memory," I scoffed. "How was I supposed to know that he was the guy I used to play with during lunch when I was a literal toddler?"

He laughed a little, but it died in a heartbeat—and before he could inquire even more, I decided to put forward a question. "Why do you not like him?"

"I don't not like him," he began, eyes astray. I squinted mine in doubt, wave of accusation directed towards him. They looked anything but friendly. "Okay, well, maybe I do. Him and I have never been close. There's some differences you cannot let go of, I guess."

I had no idea what it meant, so I just let the question hang loose in the midnight air. He smiled. "I'm happy you got a friend of yours back, Laura."

A singular sentence had no permission to go right through my heart, but it did. "Yeah," I forced myself to say. "Me too."

When I finally looked back up, his eyes were wild and running, expecting something out of me. I dropped the gaze on the ground, twisting a strand of my hair with my fingers. "What were you up to, though?"

"I was working. . ." he paused, toying with the rings on his fingers. "I was in the studio for the whole time, trying to record some stuff. Which, I know—worst timing, considering I promised somebody a little something."

"Oh my God," the second half of whatever he said flew right above my head, and his laugh made it all-the-more exciting. "Do you have anything recorded yet?"

"Plenty. You'd be surprised, Edwards."

"Gotta hear it to believe it," I chanted, eyes drawn together sceptically. "So, when's it coming out?"

"When's what coming out?"

I rolled my eyes. "Really?"

"Not anytime soon."

"The world needs to hear it!"

"No, it doesn't."

Disapproval shone on my face in bold shades, and I couldn't help but sigh. "What's with this attitude? Play me something."

"One day," he grinned. "I don't have anything on my phone right now."

No force in me could question him after that laugh of his—and how it felt like springtime was incarnated. "You're a bad liar, you know."

I waited for him to be offended or for his infamous comebacks to roll by, but he just smiled. "Says you."

"What does that even mean? And last I checked, we are supposed to be showing off our talents, not hiding them away."

"Right," he leaned in, face amused and eyes shining. "Then, would you agree to sing with me in the future?"

My eyes enlarged. I was no match to him. He was too close. I had no idea what went through his head at times. No, at all times. "No."

"Why not?"

"Why'd you even ask me that? We both know I'm not that good—if even any," I shifted a little backwards, but his face remained where it was, right atop his palms.

"I think," he paused, stood up, and extended his hand for me. "That you're unfamiliar to all the steps."

Grabbing onto him must've been in the top ten regrets of my life.

He pulled me up at the speed of light and for a second too long I was too close and he was smiling and time was freezing and he wouldn't let go.

"Because recognizing your talents comes before showing them off, hm?"

His breath hit my cheek, fingers brushing lightly over my wrists. Coherency and I couldn't go hand-in-hand if he was this close. ". . .okay."

Seriously?

He laughed. Something hit my head. I looked up at the sky, and a fat raindrop hit my cheek. We both cursed at the same time. The curses were different. Nothing about this was funny, but we both proceeded to laugh anyway. Together.

"We should head home," he offered, and I quickly crouched down to pick up the belongings scattered on the floor—a feeble attempt to ignore his heated stare. The rain had started, but it was not pouring. If it weren't for the fact that it was 1 A.M, I would've forced him to be here for a little longer.

Then it dawned on me. "Evan, what the hell is the time right now?"

"It's, uh—it's one thirteen. A.M."

Shit. Great. Fuck. "And you didn't bother telling me?"

"Why should I be telling the time to you? You have your own phone."

"Because you dragged me here," I groaned. "It's way past my curfew, idiot."

"You had curfew?"

I stuffed the things in the backseat of his car. He was still standing with slightly alarmed eyes, hands on the door. "Are you going to get in a lot of trouble?"

The rain thought this was the time to start pouring. I gave him a look, and then narrowed my eyes. "If I manage to live another day, I'll be sure to let my parents know of your existence."

When he didn't respond, I punched his arm lightly. "You're very welcome."

▂

The rain was just a drizzle if the twenty panic-ensued seconds of pouring were ignored, and as soon as I spotted my house in my periphery, I was out of the car in a heartbeat. Evan continued to chuckle, and the sound resonated until it had filled the air around us to the brim. Maybe that's what everything about him did—overpower everything else in the universe—like being at constant war with infinity.

I quickly realized how I had grown a little too accustomed to the blazer around my shoulders, and rose a hand for him to wait.

He was already seated back inside the car.

"Keep that, Edwards," he gave me his signature grin. "I'd like you wearing that in the future."

Idiot, I thought. Like I ever would.

• • •

no thoughts just evan & laura roasting the shit out of each other in attempts to flirt

i hope you enjoyed! i love you if you're reading. like, too much