I stared at my reflection in awe.

It seems like it was only yesterday that I was graduating high school, and today I'm graduating college.

It all went by incredibly fast.

"I'm so proud of you Frankie," her voice says from a distance.

I turn around to see Sophia standing at the door.

"I'm so nervous I can't even think about about graduation," I sigh.

She grabs onto my hand.

"Tonight's going to be hard Frankie. It definitely will. If I know anything, it's that they'll come around. They always do," she says.

"It still could go really bad," I say.

"I thought Dylan.."

"I've told him a few things. He's very in the middle about my plans but he didn't object. He just doesn't know the details at least," I say.

"Don't worry about that right now. Right now is one of the happiest moments of your life. Enjoy that," she says.

I nod my head.

"You have 7 minutes before you have to report to the auditorium. Get in there before you're late," She tells me.

With once last look in the mirror, I smile and force any thought of what may happen tonight outside of my brain.

__________

"I did it!" I shout happily as I run into Xander's arms.

"I'm proud of you kid," He says while embracing me tightly.

"Thank you," I smile.

I smile and say 'thank yous' as I hug everyone until I get to Claude.

I was unsure if he was here because he felt like he had to be here or if he genuinely wanted to be here.

Regardless, I embrace him.

If I were to look back on this day, I would terribly regret not getting along with Claude.

"Thanks for coming," I tell him.

"I told you I wouldn't miss your graduation for anything," he says lowly.

When we pull away I stare at him, confused.

"There was a rough patch, we talked it out. No need to drag it on any longer," he says referring to our phone call last night.

"Thank you so much for forgiving me," I smile.

"You've been my person since third grade Frankie. Bumps in the road won't change that," he explains.

I once again hug him.

"Who is ready to eat cause I know I am," Marco questions.

"I am so ready to eat," Sophia smiles.

"Let's go. We rented out the venue for you Franks," Felix says.

If this was any other day, I would have been excited to hear that.

I was kind of hoping us being in public wouldn't stop them for making a scene if they were to have one.

There goes that idea, looks like I'm going to have to improvise.

I force a smile as we all begin to walk to the parking lot.

"Congratulations," he says lowly.

I look to my side.

"Thanks Leo. I'm really glad you're here," I smile.

He shrugs his shoulders.

"Of course," he smiles briefly.

We walk in silence for a bit before he speaks up.

"I appreciate you calling me last night. It helped. Kind of. Well, it helped enough," he says.

I chuckle lightly.

"I'm glad you picked up. Thanks for actually talking to me and allowing me to explain everything," I say.

He nods.

"Better to hear it now then later," he shrugs.

"I'm really sorry," I apologize.

"Don't be. You and Benjamin have long, complicated and unresolved history with complicated and unresolved feelings," he whispers the last part.

"I never meant to hurt you, Leo. I didn't at all expect for Ben to come back into my life," I say.

"You don't need to apologize anymore than you already have. I'm not going to hold it against you. At this point the only thing we can do is move on," he says.

"I just don't want you or Claude or anyone to think that I'm choosing him over you guys. Cause I'm not," I tell him.

He stops and looks me straight in the eye.

"Frankie. It's okay. I understand," he says with a soft chuckle.

I sigh in relief.

"Okay everyone get in a car, it's time to eat and Chris is already there," Marco ushers.

___________

"So then I finally learned how to lock that stupid storage closet," Marco scoffs.

Everyone laughs at the fifth story Marco tells this evening.

We've already gone through the main course and now we're on dessert.

Who knows how many more stories Marco will have for us.

Despite his usual silliness, I recognize that Marco has changed a lot.

Working with Dylan, Tomas and Xander has really changed Marco and Felix.

In a good way.

"We haven't been there in a while. I almost forgot how the place looks," Sophia says.

"I know right. We went there for a few sessions and then we stopped," I point out.

"Yeah we remember. You two said you wanted to focus on school. How ridiculous," Felix mocks.

"Only you would think education is ridiculous," Xander says.

"That's cause it is. Completely pointless. The biggest scam of the century," he says.

Xander rolls his eyes at this comment.

"So what are you going to do with all your free time now? Chris asks turning his attention to me.

"Well, I'm going to enjoy my well deserved summer. Then when the time comes, I'll be working alongside you all in event coordination and design," I smile.

"Wow, you're actually going to do it. Welcome to the team," Marco smiles proudly.

"Thanks. I'm excited," I reply.

"Now we're only waiting for Sophia Alice," Felix says.

Everyone turns to her.

Her eyes go wide.

"Unless you guys need a personal stylist, which you guys definitely could use, I don't think I can really help you," she smiles.

"I think I have a pretty good fashion sense," Felix says obviously offended.

"Sure," Sophia smiles tightly.

I laugh and roll my eyes playfully.

I was about to say something when I heard my phone buzz from a text message.

____________

Turning off the engine to my car, I take a deep breath.

I get out of the car and immediately, I notice his presence.

When he sees me, he smiles.

"Frankie," he says brightly.

"Ben," I say.

"Congratulations," he says.

I give him a tight smile.

"Thank you."

"I was really surprised to see your call yesterday. I didn't expect you to reach out and all," he says.

"I also would have never expected you to call Dylan of all people. I guess we're both surprised at each other's actions," I say.

He steps closer to me.

"Frankie when I told you I came back for you, I meant it. I don't want to go through the same thing we went through when we were seventeen," he says.

"I understand that. Although your initial approach was definitely not the best," I comment.

"I knew what I had to do Frankie, and it worked. I left the ball in your court," I respond.

"That and my conversation with Dylan is why I called you last night. If I'm being honest I didn't think you were serious at all, Ben," I say.

"Why? I've tried-"

"Because after we moved, you didn't reach out to me. Not once in 4 years did you ever try to reach me. I tried so many times to reach you. Through burner phones, through Sierra, but nothing," I frown.

He nods his head in understanding.

"Then all the sudden these notes and coded messages. It all felt so unreal," I explain.

"It almost felt as if you were just playing with me. To get back at my brothers," I shrug.

"I know. I wanted to reach out to you but you don't understand the power your brothers had over the town at that time. There's nothing I could have done," he says.

"Either way. It hurt. I really thought we were better than that," I shrug.

"We are, Frankie. I wouldn't be here if we weren't," he responds.

When I don't respond he continues.

"You and I both know that. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here having this conversation," he points out.

I sigh.

Despite my previous attempts of hiding and neglecting the truth, I knew he was right.

It was the only thing keeping us here.

"I know. That's why I'm here. You calling Dylan really caught me off guard. Any person with a brain knows better than to approach Dylan with what you said. It really made me think about what you told me in Florida," I say.

He nods, urging me to continue.

"Ever since Seattle I've been conflicted. Going back and fourth with myself on what to do. I kept thinking about the tension between you and my brothers. I never considered myself and what I wanted. In fact I ran away from that. It wasn't until I spoke to Dylan that I realized I had to put myself first. Although it may hurt some people, I have to do what's best for me. I have to choose myself," I explain.

After a moment, I continue.

"We left a lot of things unresolved. But that's something I want to work on. With you," I say.

He almost looks surprised.

"Are you serious? He ask.

"I am. But it's going to take time. It's going to take time for us to rebuild that trust. It's going take time to get to where we want to be. But it's something I'm willing to do," I smile.

Reflecting my emotions, he smiles but wider.

"This time I want it to be under our terms. I'm old enough to make my own decisions and handle whatever comes with it."

"Okay. I get it. I'll do it everything to make sure that-"

"Before we get into all of that there's something we need to do together. Talk to my brothers. I refuse to have a repeat of our past situation. I don't want there to be a wedge between us," I say.

He nods his head in understanding.

"Okay. When do you want to do that? He asks.

"Today." I say.

His eyes go wide.

"Today?" He asks.

I nod my head.

He just stares at me.

"What are you waiting for? Get in the car," I instruct.

"Oh you meant today, today," he says.

I roll my eyes and grab his collar.

"Don't waste my time. I already have to sneak you in with my car," I say as we move towards my car.

____________

With shaking hands, I open the front door to the house.

To my surprise, everyone, including Chris and Claude were at the house.

"Frankie your back!" Sophia beams.

Everyone turns their attention to me with smiles on their faces.

I simply give them a small smile in return.

I turn my attention towards the front door, and nod slightly.

With an unsure look, he steps in slowly.

The mood instantly shifts.

As I expected, everyone wore shocked expressions.

I see Marco's face turn from a smile into a frown.

Within seconds, Felix and Marco have their guns drawn and pointed at Ben.

No surprise there.

"Guys, I brought him here," I say slowly glancing at Dylan.

He seems to be debating with himself internally.

"You what?" Marco asks confused.

"I did," I respond.

"Why would you bring him here? He questions.

"Because we need to, actually I wanted to," I stutter suddenly forgetting all that I had to say.

Felix clocks his gun with a serious look.

"Dylan," I plea looking over to him for help.

He rolls his eyes and sighs.

"Fine. You two put yours guns down," he commands.

With those words, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

I sigh in relief.

I see Felix and Marco share confused looks between each other.

Nonetheless, they start to lower their guns.

That is until someone else speaks.

"Keep them up," Xander instructs.

Everyone's eyes shift to Xander with confused expressions.

Him and Dylan are just starting at each other.

Felix and Marco look at each other again, confused on what they should do.

Xander was the eldest so whatever he says goes, but Dylan is right after him and they've always been on the same page.

"Drop your guns," Dylan says once again challenging Xander.

The house was silent as we watched the two have a silent battle with their eyes.

This was not going to end well.