{{Dedicated to @goodbyez because she left an amazing comment on the last chapter and also because she is a sweetheart}}

Rhea was having a hard time grasping how she'd gotten herself into this mess.

Ever since she'd realized Caleb was her soulmate, she'd been eager to be around him whenever she could, but that didn't mean she was up for spending an entire evening in close proximity to his girlfriend. Granted, it felt good that Caleb apparently cared enough about her to want to introduce her to his friends. But it also meant that he thought they were strictly friends. After all, you wouldn't want to introduce a girl you might be interested in to your girlfriend.

Her attraction to Caleb was by no means instantaneous. For weeks, she'd thought of him as a really great friend—someone she could rely on. It was after the big revelation that she started to give thought to the possibility of something more. Even then, she didn't go from zero to a hundred very quickly.

As she laid awake countless nights, she contemplated the possibility of this turning into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Were her feelings for Caleb genuine, or was she developing these feelings because she thought she was supposed to? These thoughts would more often than not end up giving her a dull headache.

All of a sudden, the triweekly Chemistry lessons had become a burden. She tried her hardest to behave naturally, to not let her jumbling mess of conflicting emotions affect their friendship. Some days it was easy; she could just sit next to Caleb and quietly joke around without incurring Mr. Martin's fury, exchange silent looks whenever the teacher's back was turned to them. Other days, she would withdraw into herself fully and stare at the back of Mr. Martin's head as he filled the blackboard with class material, erased it, and filled it again.

For the first couple of times, Caleb tried to ask her if something was wrong; to which she'd always answer with a distracted smile and a shake of her head. As weeks passed, he adjusted to this new side of Rhea, learning to not question her fluctuating mood.

October went by so fast, the whole things was a blur of confusion, conflicting emotions and sleepless nights. The party would take place on the last Saturday of October, which was just around the corner now.

Rhea all but begged Willa to come with her to the Halloween get-together to offer moral support, if nothing else, but Willa couldn't be persuaded. In her defense, it was her and Wade's two year anniversary and it was only natural that they'd want to celebrate alone rather than spend it at a party where they wouldn't know anyone save for two people.

That, of course, didn't stop Rhea from trying to guilt-trip her two best friends into coming at any given chance. She dug deep into their friendship history to unearth all the times she'd been there for them, including the first time Wade and Willa had a huge fight and she persuaded Willa to take back a desperate-for-forgiveness Wade.

When she realized they weren't going to budge, she gave up trying and focused her advances on someone else to have all the backup she could possibly get. Her main incentive was to not walk into the party alone.

What if Caleb was preoccupied? What if he wasn't there yet? Even the thought of stepping into a house full of total strangers by herself made Rhea want to run in the opposite direction as fast as she could. That's why she asked Caleb to meet her out front so that she would have him by her side during her entry. It wasn't that she thought Caleb's friends would be anything but nice, but the prospect of meeting new people was still terrifying. Luckily, Caleb was easily convinced and he promised to wait for her at seven o'clock, threatening her to abandon her to her own devices if she made the mistake of showing up late for good measure.

When the dreaded, yet inevitable day came and she neared the address at five past seven, she was afraid that her five minute delay would drive Caleb to make good on his threat. So she was pretty relieved to notice Caleb standing in front of a garden gate with his hands tucked inside the pockets of his dark wash jeans. She also noticed a distinct lack of overcoat or a jacket, which was odd; it was freezing and Rhea thought so as she snuggled deeper into her coat. Judging from the slight flush on his cheeks, he'd either been waiting for her for a long time, or he'd got started partying and downed a couple drinks. Him having gone inside beforehand would explain the absence of his coat, so she decided on that option.

"Hey," he said, sniffling once. Rhea noticed his nose was beet red along with his cheeks. He must have been standing outside a while for the cold to get to him that much. Maybe it was a little bit of both options.

"Hey, thanks for meeting me here."

"Sure," he gave her a smile. "Oh, I have something for you."

With that, he procured an item from the back pocket of his jeans. It was a black cat ears headband, which coincidentally matched with the all-black outfit she'd chosen for the day. She moved to take it from him, but he beat her to it. Rhea's breath faltered as he placed it on her head gingerly.

"It's not a dress-up party, but we like to keep up the holiday spirit by accessorizing a little bit. Since I forgot to mention it to you, I thought I'd dive into Caroline's stash to find you something last minute."

"Thank you." She gave him a grateful smile for being thoughtful enough to include her in their little tradition. "So where's your accessory?"

He lifted his index finger as if to say give me a minute and retrieved another headband from his back pocket—this time, devil's horns. He placed them on his head and gave her a boyish grin, raising his eyebrows and making her let out a laugh at his goofiness.

"C'mon," he said, chuckling. "I'm freezing my ass off here."

The event was taking place at Scott's house, whose name she hadn't heard before and whose parents were apparently out of town for the weekend. They started towards the quaint looking house and when Caleb noticed Rhea's nervous fidgeting, he bumped her shoulder with his playfully.

"Are you sure me being here is a good idea?" she asked the question she'd been replaying in her own mind endlessly for the past three weeks. So far the answers she'd come up with were no, not really and hell no. To her, this was a bad idea on so many levels, it wasn't even funny.

"Of course," Caleb answered, unaware of her inner turmoil, "there are so many people here tonight I want you to meet. They can't believe I finally made a friend at school."

She chuckled at his words; she'd taken notice of Caleb's antisocial ways. Before he'd become a regular at their lunch table, he'd either been napping in his car during lunch break or having lunch by himself. She was curious about his reasons, though she had a pretty solid guess. He probably didn't need any more friends and neither did he have time for them. The two of them becoming friends was purely coincidental; it was born out of having to spend time together so much. But then again, their relationship had been steered on by coincidences for far too long for that to be a coincidence.

When they finally made it to the front door, Caleb turned the door knob without knocking and as soon as the door was opened, a quiet indie track made its way to Rhea's ears at the same time the smell of the house did her nose. She'd always found the way every house had a distinctive smell of its own fascinating. This one smelled like a mixture of fabric softener, cinnamon and beer.

The door opened to a wide hall and the living room was just to the left of the door. She quickly shrugged out her coat and eyed the coat hanger warily. Caleb gave her a nod and she hung her coat next to the others, using the moment to breathe deeply so that she could calm her nerves. When she took a step back from the coat hanger Caleb raised an eyebrow at her as if to ask if she was okay, and she smiled at him reassuringly. She'd be fine, she could do this.

There were no more than ten people in the living room, and all except Caleb were unfamiliar faces. Someone must have said something particularly hilarious, because at least three people broke into loud laughter. Rhea instantly felt out of place.

"Wow, you really weren't kidding about this not being a party," she said to Caleb.

"Well, everyone who matters is here," someone said to her right. Turning towards the source of the voice, she saw another familiar face that had somehow escaped her attention during her first sweep of the place. Not that she'd met this person before; no, she'd only seen him once, through someone else's eyes.

The guy she labeled as Xander in her mind stood to her right, giving her an admittedly very charming smile. She smiled back in answer to his words.

"That's Xander," –Caleb started pointing people out to her, who in turn either raised their cups or gave her a nod in greeting– "Luke, Anne, Hailey and Scott." Everyone looked so relaxed, which made sense, seeing they'd probably known each other for years and they'd been doing this every year for a while now. "Yasmine's not here yet."

"Hey everyone." She gave them a small, timid wave as her eyes swept over them all. "I'm Rhea."

Everyone answered with hearty welcome's and so nice to meet you's, making Rhea relax the slightest bit.

She sat down on one end of the couch and Xander plopped down next to her. Caleb set down on the other side of Xander. The couch was too small to comfortably accommodate the three of them so they ended up sitting so close, their thighs were pressed together. On the other couch set Luke and Anne, whose bodies were situated way too intimately for them to be just friends. On the armchair, Hailey sat on Scott's lap, the back of her head resting on his chest. Apparently, everyone in this group of friends came in pairs except for Xander, who gave off the vibe that he was single and more than ready to mingle.

"So, Rhea, how are you?" Luke attempted to engage her in conversation as both and Xander intently listened in. It was nice of them to try and feel her feel welcome. However, it was the tone of Luke's voice that startled Rhea. It was deep, rich and tinged with a heavy British accent that glided over the space between them smoothly.

"I'm good, thank you," she said. "It's so nice of you guys to invite me tonight."

"Oh, nonsense," Luke said in all his British glory. "We're more than happy to meet the only person that managed to make friends with our boy Caleb."

She gave a smile in answer, not knowing what else to say. When her curiosity finally got the best of her she asked, "What's with the accent?"

Luke chuckled before he answered, "I lived in Brighton until I was eleven."

"Good thing you have it," Xander piped in, "it's the only thing you've got going for you."

"Now remind me, dear Xander, which one of us is here with their girlfriend tonight?" Luke retorted, draping an arm around a very amused looking Anne just to emphasize his point.

Rhea pursed her lips to keep herself from smiling at the two friends' antics. That's what always happened whenever she hung out with a new group of people that knew each other well. No matter how funny the jokes were, she'd find herself struggling to keep a straight face because she could never know for sure whether there was an inside joke in there somewhere and she'd try to avoid making an ass out of herself by laughing at something she didn't actually understand.

"Yeah, whatever, Romeo," Xander said, feigning annoyance though Rhea could tell he was fighting a smile of his own. Turning to Rhea he said, "You want to get a drink?"

"Sure." She was smiling now, amused at their banter.

They got up off the couch, walked through a narrow hallway and made their way towards the kitchen. The kitchen was pretty small. So small that they were almost pressed against each other as she stood against the kitchen counter and he reached around her to retrieve two tumblers from the overhead cabinets.

"Do we really need glasses? I was expecting a red solo cup," she said as she reached for the glass he held out for her.

"Not if I want to have a shot at impressing you." He winked at her. Rhea chuckled at his antics, though she couldn't decipher whether he was one hundred percent joking or if there was some truth to his words. He pulled out a fancy looking bottle from the refrigerator and poured some of its contents into the glass in Rhea's hands. Then he poured himself a drink.

"So..." he trailed off as he placed the bottle back in the fridge. A self-confident smirk took over his features as he continued, "Your boyfriend couldn't make it?"

"Nah" –she gave a noncommittal shrug– "he was too busy being nonexistent."

"Now that's what I like to hear." He clinked his glass against hers as he held her gaze, a mischievous twinkle dancing in his eyes.

They talked in the kitchen for a while and Xander inquired Rhea about her favorite band, her favorite movie and what shows she watched —they had strikingly similar taste in almost everything— and she felt all nervousness slowly leave her body.

It all came back in full force when Caleb ducked his head into the kitchen and enthusiastically said, "Yasmine's here. C'mon I want you to meet her."

*

She was stunning, that was the only way to describe her, really. She had warm bronze skin, deep set, rich brown eyes that looked like the best kind of chocolate there was and a thick mane of dark brown hair that framed her face perfectly. While she was by no means bad-looking herself, Rhea felt like she dimmed in comparison to the exquisite beauty that was Yasmine and the shiny aura that seemed to radiate off of her. She was wearing a white dress and on her head was an angel's halo. As opposed to the devil's horns Caleb wore. Rhea's heart sank at the sight.

Shaking off the stupor she'd fallen into, Rhea forced herself to smile back at the girl before her who looked genuinely happy and intrigued to meet her as she extended a hand. "Hi I'm Rhea."

"Yasmine." Yasmine gave her a sweet smile as she shook the hand Rhea had extended, which made Rhea want to grimace in return. She realized then that all this time she'd hoped Yasmine would turn out to be a horrible person. Because snarky comebacks and passive aggressiveness she could handle; but sweet smiles and polite words felt like prickling needles.

"Caleb and I have chemistry together," she felt the need to explain. "I mean the class. It's not like we're attracted to each other. That'd be weird, right?" She chuckled nervously. God, this was a train wreck already.

Instead of glaring daggers at her like she'd expected, Yasmine let out an airy laugh, startling the daylights out of Rhea.

"You're funny," she said. "I can see why this one" –she pointed to Caleb affectionately– "would want to be friends with you."

As Caleb and Yasmine traded an affectionate look, Rhea's eyes were automatically drawn to Caleb's hand resting on Yasmine's hip and the way they seemed so comfortable with each other. It all felt too real, and the need to leave grew in her chest. Just so she could maintain politeness, she fought against the tightening feeling in her chest as she smiled and nodded at the appropriate places while Caleb regaled the tale of the less-than-friendly nature of their first meeting to Yasmine. Listening to it now, she realized she'd been unreasonably harsh with Caleb.

"I was having a bad day," Rhea said in her defense.

"Was it that time of the month, because that certainly makes some things clea—" His words died in his throat when Yasmine smacked him at the side of his head.

"Don't joke about periods unless you've suffered through one." There was a stern look on Yasmine's face, but it was obvious from the tone of her voice that she wasn't mad.

"Sorry, babe," Caleb said, grinning down at his girlfriend and the term of endearment was enough to constrict Rhea's chest even tighter, but when Caleb bent down to press his lips lightly to Yasmine's, she just had to get away.

"I, uh, need to use to bathroom," she said and made a hasty retreat.

She dazedly walked down the hallway and stared at identical looking doors. The first door turned out to be someone's bedroom so she closed it quickly. She located the bathroom on her second try and swiftly locked herself inside, leaning against the sink as she took deep breaths.

It was fine, it would all be fine. She'd gotten through the worst part.

When she became accustomed to the tightening feeling in her chest a couple minutes later—she hadn't expected it to go away, anyways— she unlocked the bathroom door and stepped outside.

Her first stop was the kitchen so that she could get a drink to ease the nerves lighting up in every inch of her body. With a can of beer in hand, she made her way to the living room and sat down next to Xander once again, who was quick to engage her in conversation. The couple she'd been avoiding for the past ten minutes was nowhere in sight and she didn't feel like questioning their whereabouts, so she conversed quietly with Xander instead.

When Caleb and Yasmine entered the living room and sat down on the loveseat across from the couch she was sitting in, she was prepared for the feelings that coursed through her, and she was more than successful in bracing herself against them.

As the evening progressed, the individual, quiet conversations all meshed together into one big, loud conversation. It flooded effortlessly, the banter between the boys making her laugh until her sides hurt as they regaled tales from their past to her. Everyone, including Rhea, was buzzed on beer and having a good time.

As it was nearing midnight, Rhea announced that she was supposed to be home soon. She was the first one to show any intention of leaving, but as soon as the words left her mouth, everyone was set in motion. Ten minutes later, everyone –except Hailey, who was apparently staying the night at Scott's—were shrugging on their coats and biding thanks and good night to their host.

Luke and Anne took off hand in hand and so did Caleb and Yasmine. Rhea tried her hardest to not wistfully stare after them. Xander offered to walk Rhea home and despite her assurances that she'd be fine, she found herself standing on the porch of her house fifteen minutes later with Xander by her side.

As she was digging into her purse for her keys, Xander spoke up, "I'm thinking I should take you out some time."

She winced slightly before she turned around to face him. "I don't think that's your best idea," she said.

"How do you know, you have nothing to compare it to." Xander was nonplussed by her rejection, still grinning at her.

"That's how bad it is," she quipped. Then, more softly, she added, "I'm just not looking to date anybody right now."

"I'm getting the feeling that's because you're looking to date a certain somebody?"

Rhea's heart suddenly started beating against her ribcage violently. Surely she hadn't done anything around Caleb tonight to give herself away. Or had she? Before she could shakily churn out a response, Xander continued, "Whoever he is, he's a lucky guy."

She let out an inaudible sigh of relief. "Goodnight Xander," she said, smiling softly at him.