It seems like a cruel joke to have to direct the school play this year. Typically, I'm all in for things like this, but the cast has already been set, and the play, that's another story. Romeo and Juliet will be played out by none other than Elliot Monroe and Dylan Andrews. Fuck my life.

The rest of winter break, Elliot spent a lot of her time with Judah. Oliver did his best to keep me entertained, but it didn't help much. Even though I tried to act cool when I actually did get to see her, I don't think I succeeded. Regardless of our intentions, this arrangement has already begun to put an unwelcome strain on our relationship.

The only time I get to spend alone with her is in class and now it seems it will be more often than before. I've been reading through the script while I wait for everyone to arrive during my free period. Elliot enters first with her hair intricately braided down her back and a large bag slung over her shoulder.

"Dress rehearsal, eh?" I say over my book.

She winks at me. "No, just my first fitting, Mr. Graham."

I bite the inside of my cheek to hide my smile. I love it when she says that.

She drops her bag to the floor with a thud. "I may need your help with Dylan." She motions over to where he's currently leaned back in a chair tossing a ball in the air. "He's kind of an idiot."

I set my script down and hop off the edge of the stage. "I can try to run lines with him."

She rolls her eyes. "It's going to take a lot more than that." She lowers her voice a little. "I think he's only doing this so he can hang out with me. He's acting weird."

My eyes drift to where Dylan is sitting in front of the stage. Cameron walks down through the aisles and sits next to him—he doesn't even glance over at her.

"Are they fighting?" I whisper to Elliot.

She shrugs. "I don't think so, but I haven't really talked to her much either. She was still being a dick at Holden's party."

"But she thinks you're with Judah, right?"

"As far as I know."

I laugh lightly, picking up my script again. I tap her on the shoulder with it. "Maybe you should find out. Have a girls' night."

She gives me a tight smile. "I'll get right on that."

I shake my head as she carries her bag backstage. Cameron could be a problem for us. I catch her staring sometimes and that makes me nervous. Girls like her are always looking for the quickest way to get to the top. In her case, destroying Elliot. Best friends or not—I wouldn't put it past her.

The rest of the cast files in, along with Dylan Andrews, who finally decides to pick himself out of that chair. For the first time I'm thankful everyone thinks she's with Judah so I'm not forced to watch her hang all over Dylan again. I wonder what scenes they chose?

A small mousy girl comes up beside me. "Mr. Graham."

I look down at her and smile. "Hello, and you are?"

"I'm Darcy Benton. Your director's assistant."

I shake her hand. "Oh, nice to meet you. I'll be needing your help. This is my first day, and I'm not sure where we're at."

"The balcony scene, sir."

Fuck me. Of course we are. "All right then. We'll begin there."

Surprisingly, everyone moves around like a finetuned machine. The stage transforms as the balcony is shifted out. Dozens of stage-hands carry trees and other props turning it into the Capulets back garden in a matter of minutes.

I give an appreciative nod. "Okay, that looks great. Where's Romeo?"

Dylan swaggers out with a stupid grin on his face. "Right here, Mr. G."

"Do you know your lines?"

He waves me off. "Of course. We've been working on this for weeks." He leans into me. "I'm almost to the part where I get to kiss her. Not that I already haven't or anything."

My nostrils flare, but I keep it in check. "All right, take your places."

Elliot enters the balcony and she takes my breath away. Her hair is flowing down her shoulder, and her dress is covering most of her body, but it's fitted in all the right ways.

I take a breath. "Okay, you can start from your last line, Juliet."

Elliot smiles, but not at me. "Romeo, lose your name. Trade in your name and take all of me in exchange."

Dylan moves forward, raising his hand up the tower. "I trust your words. Just call me your love, and I will take a new name. From now on I will never be Romeo again." His deep monotone voice is already making me cringe.

"Cut!" I yell. Dylan looks at me in confusion, and Elliot huffs a frustrated sigh. She wasn't lying about him being shit.

I walk up to stand next to Dylan and place my hand on his shoulder. "You are proclaiming your love to her." I motion to Elliot. "This girl is your one true love. Forbidden to you by all accounts, and yet you stand here and pledge your undying devotion. You sound like you are reading off the menu at Arby's."

A couple of snickers flow through the room and Dylan blushes. He tilts his head to me, lowering his voice. "Um, dude. I'm not good at this. I just wanted to be in a play with, Elle." He nudges my arm with a smirk. "You know what I mean."

I pat him on the back with a little more force than I intend to. "Yeah, I know what you mean." I take a small lap around the stage, before moving back to Dylan. I place my hand on his shoulder. "Theater is about expressing emotions through words. You need the audience to feel what you're saying."

He still has a dumb look on his face, so I try another approach.

I motion to Elliot. "She's a pretty girl, huh?"

Dylan nods and gives Elliot a wink. "Like the hottest."

I stifle an eyeroll—and a throat punch.

"Okay, the hottest girl is in love with you and you love her. Now, can you prove that to the audience? Pretend it's just you and her up there and no one else."

Dylan nods again, a little more appears to be sinking into that thick skull of his.

"You think you can do that?"

He smiles. "Yeah, I'll give it a try." He pops a mint into his mouth. "I get to kiss her soon."

I grit my teeth. "Okay, everyone! Places."

Dylan moves to stand at the base of the balcony, appearing more relaxed than before. He gives a thumbs up and closes his eyes for a moment. With one last deep breath, he finally speaks. "Oh, are you going to leave me so dissatisfied?"

A coy smile crosses her lips as she leans over the balcony. "What satisfaction could you possibly have tonight?"

He takes a step higher. "I would be satisfied if we made each other true promises of love."

Her chest begins to rise and fall faster, but her eyes remain locked on mine. "I pledged my love to you before you asked me to. Yet I wish I could take that promise back, so I had it to give again."

He reaches for her hand. "You would take it back? Why would you do that my love?"

Elliot's face falls, and she pulls back and plants her hands on her hips. "Is that better, Mr. Graham?"

I smile. "Much."

Dylan grins. "See, angel. I can be super romantic for you."

Elliot smiles back at him, but it's forced. I don't know what exactly happened in the last few minutes to make her seem so upset, but I can see it in her eyes. Our situation isn't easy no matter what environment we're in. We constantly have to be mindful of the way we interact with each other in public, and that's hard. I knew it was going to be difficult, but I don't think I realized how much it would affect her.

***

In an attempt to make Elliot feel better, I decided to do something nice for her. Since we can't even go to the movies or anything remotely normal, I found a way to get around that—with Oliver's help of course.

I'm just packing the last of my supplies in the back of my truck when I see Elliot walking out of the back door. She smiles when she sees me, and it penetrates straight through my chest. I don't even wait until she's all the way across the driveway before I pull her to my lips. She kisses me for a moment, and then all too soon, pulls back.

"What are you up to?" she asks, still smiling.

"It's a surprise for you."

The way her eyes light up at my words already makes it the best night. I toss a few more heavy blankets into the back and motion to the passenger door. "Get in, baby. It's almost dark enough."

She raises an eyebrow, but complies, practically skipping to the door. I follow behind and make sure she gets in okay and plant another kiss to her lips before closing the door for her. When I make my way around to the drivers' side, she leans over and unlocks my door for me. I know it's a small gesture, and probably one that many people do, but for some reason it makes me smile. Everyone can form their own opinions about Elliot, but what I see is a girl who cares about everyone. She's kind and thoughtful and she does it so effortlessly some people may see it as a show.

What I see is a girl who just wants to be loved.

I pull off onto a dirt road with the directions Ollie gave me in the back of my mind. It seemed simple enough, go past the bridge, turn on the dirt road right before the orchard. So far, so good. I see the old barn in the distance and there's tracks through the worn grass where other people must come to hook-up. That's not what this is about, though. I want to show Elliot we can be like normal couples—just as long as nobody sees.

When I put the truck in park, Elliot turns to me with a grin.

"Oliver told you about this place?"

I nod.

She laughs. "It doesn't seem like somewhere he would hang out."

"All Oliver said is this is the most romantic place he could think of. I didn't ask for details."

She laughs again and we both move to get out of the truck. Elliot walks around outside, taking in all the trees with snow-covered branches hanging down around us. I'll have to thank him again later. This place is pretty fucking amazing.

Elliot continues toward the largest tree in the row and runs her hand along the bark. I watch her for a moment and then lower the tailgate to spread blankets across it for us to sit on. When I turn back, her hand pauses on one of the trees for a moment and then she turns back to me with a smile.

"What?" I ask, when I see her expression.

She shakes her head, still smiling. "Nothing." She walks over and wraps her arms around my waist. "This is about us tonight." She kisses my cheek. "What do you have planned?"

I kiss her other cheek for good measure before placing a longer one on her lips. Placing my hands on her slender hips, I lift her to sit on the edge of the tailgate. "It's a little colder than I thought so I brought extra blankets."

She gives a demure smile, trailing her fingertip down my arm. "I can think of a few ways we can keep warm."

The man part of my brain—my cock—agrees with her wholeheartedly, but the smaller, more rational one, wants this to be romantic—and maybe a little kinky, too.

I hoist myself up to sit beside her. After pulling her between my legs, I wrap a wool blanket around us. She snuggles into my chest as I reach in my pocket for the remote to the projector Oliver set up for us earlier. After a moment, the screen lights up on the old barn and the movie begins to play.

She sighs happily. "You brought me to a drive-in."

I kiss her ear. "I know they're your favorite."

She pushes back against me deeper and rests her head on my shoulder. I chose a movie that's cheesy as fuck, but I know she loves it. Before the opening credits even begin to roll, she places her hands over mine as they are wrapped around her and whispers, "Even if this is the only date we ever go on, it will always be my favorite."

I lean down and kiss the side of her head. "Every moment I have with you is my favorite."

If anyone could hear us now, they would call us love-sick fools. But fuck em'. I love her and she loves me, and if I had to sit in artic temperatures and watch Dirty Dancing off the side of an old barn every night for the rest of my life I would. I love her that much—and that's all that matters.