I squinted my eyes, feeling a slight burning sensation, un-allowing me to fall back asleep peacefully as I was before.

I groaned softly as I sat up, leaving the warmth of Noah's arms.

I tried to open my eyes, but the brightest light I had ever seen stopped me from doing so.

A flashlight, shining in my face. If I opened my eyes any more I probably could've gone blind.

"Do you have a reason for being out past curfew?" A female voice said, followed by a beeping sound from her walkie-talkie.

I looked away, still groggily rubbing my eyes.

"Hey Ash!" Noah's voice startled me, raspy and deep. His usual waking-up voice.

"Oh Noah, what a nice surprise." Her voice chirped.

"Can you turn the flashlight off?" I said, making it clear in my voice I was annoyed. I raised my hand in front of my face, blocking some of the light.

"Who are you?" Her tone of voice changed, from happy and flirtatious to snobby and almost condescending.

"Sorry, this is Melanie. My girlfriend." He introduced me, extending his arm to help me up.

I got butterflies when he said that. His girlfriend. We didn't really label each other, it was about time I guess.

I smiled nonetheless, earning the title of "girlfriend" was all I wanted. I felt happy, even though some weirdo with a flashlight was standing right in front of us.

"Hi." I smiled at her, even though it was nothing short of a fake one. She shined the light away, now only relying on the street lamp for illumination.

"Hello." She thinly smiled and shook my hand.

I immediately recognized her as the officer from when j got arrested. Officer Andersen, I believe.

"Didn't you get arrested? I remember you." She pursed her lips, shifting her weight to one of her legs.

"Um yeah, I didn't do anything wrong though." I awkwardly laughed, making Noah rub the nape of his neck.

"Right. Where were you at the time of arrest?" She smiled back with thin lips, obviously not amused.

Before I could answer, though, Noah broke us up.

"What do you want, Ashley?" Noah asked, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Like I said, you two are out past the state curfew. I'm gonna need to take you to the station." She pried her blue eyes off of mine and looked up at Noah, parting her lips slightly.

I didn't like her. She was... weird. Not in the way that a person usually is, but in a personal way. She had some sort of grudge against me, but she seemed to have a soft spot for Noah.

I noticed this last time too. How her gaze on Noah lasted longer than it did on me, and she always licked her lips when they were talking.

"Can I talk to you? Over there." Noah cocked his head to another direction, away from me.

She looked at me again, flipping her loose black hair over her shoulder.

"Alright."

Noah nodded his head at me, signifying everything would be alright, but I shook my head, biting my lip nervously.

They walked away, I heard their faint voices a few feet away. I wanted to eavesdrop so badly, but Noah picked his head up occasionally to give me a glare.

I exhaled sharply, bending down to pick everything up in the plastic shopping bags. I focused on cleaning instead of the conversation.

I glanced up from picking up, seeing Ashley's posture had changed, she was laughing and talking to him like they were friends. Maybe they were, but she was too friendly. That was when I decided I needed to do something.

I cleared my throat before speaking, "Can you unlock the car?"

I smiled at him, smiling even wider at her. It was obvious I had interrupted something, the look on her face said it all. Noah, on the other hand, smiled softly at me, tossing me the keys.

I walked away from them, feeling a sudden surge of confidence. Maybe I was just insecure. It wasn't any new information that Noah was fucking hot. Of course, there were people that would flirt with him. I couldn't do anything about it but trust Noah. And I do.

At least I get to say I'm the one dating him. No one else gets to say that, as much as they can fantasize.

*

"Finally, what was that about?" I sat up as Noah started the car. It had been almost 10 minutes, and I wasn't paying attention at all to what they were doing.

I didn't feel the need to.

"Oh, nothing." He grabbed my hand as I yawned, making an obnoxiously loud sound.

"Who is she?" I asked, hoping he would elaborate on the obvious relationship they had.

"Ashley is a family friend. She's completely harmless." He said, tapping his fingers on my palm.

"Oh. What did you guys talk about?"

"Not arresting us. She said it was the last time she would let it slide. Next time we are both getting fined."

I shifted in my seat, feeling sleepy. I shrugged in response. I wanted to ask about her mannerisms, her aggressively flirtatious mannerisms.

"Did you notice she was kinda... I don't know, kinda flirty?" I eased into the question.

"She's always like that. Don't worry about it." His fingers weaved into mine, making me smile.

"Whatever you say." I breathed out, looking out the window into the dark sky.

*

"I'll see you tomorrow?" I smiled at him as I stepped out of the car.

"Maybe. Ryan and I are doing some stuff." He looked down at my shoes, running his hand through his hair.

"Just, let me know you're alive, okay? Sometimes I get worried." I giggled.

"Of course baby." He winked at me before I waved at him, turning to walk through my door.

My parents were gone, thank god. I wouldn't be able to stand it if they were still here. The billions of question my father would ask while my mother sat there just adding on to it.

It was quiet, which made sense. It was nearly midnight.

I tiptoed to Audrina's room, peeping in to see her asleep soundly. Her phone's speaker playing music lightly into her ear. I shut the door, quietly going to Tiffany's room.

I cracked it open, only to see her sitting up with her head in her hands. She looked distressed, her face was red and I even heard soft sniffles.

I hesitantly pushed the door, looking at her with a frown.

"Are you okay?" I whispered, sitting down on her bed next to her.

She flinched, looking up at me with red and glossy eyes.

"Tiffany, you can tell me anything. What happened?" I rubbed her shoulder, kicking my shoes off.

"Mom said something. After you left, outside." She sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

I listened intently, breathing softly.

"S-she said Natalie and I were cute together. She thought we were dating." Tiffany shook her head, looking at the floor.

"Did that make you upset?" I asked, trying to figure out what the problem was. Sometimes my mom said stupid things. But Tiffany knew that, it was actually one of the traits she loved about my mother.

"N-no. We just ignored it." She sighed.

"But then she went inside to look for you. And Natalie kissed me." She broke into a sob, hugging me.

I gave her a strong hug, shutting my eyes and letting her cry into me.

"I liked it." She breathlessly pulled away, wiping her mouth.

"I liked it so much, that I kissed her back." She laughed softly, using her sleeves to wipe her teary eyes.

"That's okay Tiffany. You're okay." I ran my fingers through her matted hair.

"I think I'm gay." She began weeping, burying her head in her hands.

"There's nothing wrong with that Tiff. I still love you, nothing's changed." I reassured her, hoping I would make her feel better.

"W-what if me and Natalie date?" She took a deep breath.

"If you both feel like you're ready for it, then go ahead. No one's going to judge you." I frowned. Why would she think I would hate her, or something? I wanted her to know I would always love her no matter what.

Everyone would. If anyone had anything to say I would do something about it.

"I know." She smiled at me. "But my parents-" Tears ran down her face again, and she grabbed a pillow to cry in.

"They're gonna hate me. T-They'll disown me and think I'm gross and they're gonna-" her voice broke, making her fall into my arms and cry again.

I grabbed her shoulders, furrowing my brows.

"You don't have to tell them yet. You just found out, they don't need to know. Take your time." I smiled, hoping that was good advice. I couldn't imagine what she was going through.

I knew her parents. Her mother was Mexican, her father was also Latino. They were amazing, the nicest people I had ever met. They always made sure I ate and had a roof over my head.

But they were also, unfortunately, homophobic.

When Tiffany moved out to be my roommate, her parents thought she was a lesbian. They made her get a boyfriend just to confirm she wasn't gay.

They broke up as soon as we moved in. Her parents still don't know.

She always talks to them, on the phone. They haven't seen her in two years, the most they've done was a facetime call.

But, they lived in a different state. Traveling was a fortune they unfortunately couldn't afford yet.

"But when they find out-"

"They won't." I smiled at her.

She sniffled, giving me a big grin.

"Thank you so much."

"We can talk about this tomorrow. Get some sleep." I gave her a tissue and let her wipe her face with it.

"Goodnight." She gave me a hug.

"Night."

--