Will

She's just as beautiful as I remember her but as I look at her from this close in almost two years, I notice more than I ever have from afar.

Her face looks more mature, like in the time I've missed her, her face has aged away from the baby face she carried from high school to the current young woman she is now.

Her shiny dark hair is longer- down to her waist compared to the shoulder length she had. She used to complain about how she hated growing her hair too long because it would shed more. Guess she doesn't care anymore.

I can't help but imagine what it would look like wrapped around my hand. Neck arched and her head tilted back in pleasure.

To say that I haven't really gotten over my crush for Thea is an understatement. I can't help but still see the girl who was my best friend and whom I shared my soul to. The only girl I've shared so much of my life with.

Sure, I'm no Saint and have been with my fair share of girls since our broken friendship. What's that saying? The best way to get over someone is to get under someone new. I'll admit to being bitter to her when she first started dating Zach but I was jealous that she overlooked the way that douchebag treated her.

I also wanted to pull away from my feelings from her but it clearly didn't work. Adding onto the fact that we naturally drifted apart because of her time mostly spent with Zach.

I could give less of a fuck that he was a standoffish asshole to me but the way he isolated her from me and constantly needed to prove to everyone that she was his girl in an over the top way pissed me off.

Thea will always be the one who got away despite us never truly being together.

The team beat UNC tonight and a lot of us are out here to celebrate. My family connection to this club offered us free couches and bottle service which costed us thousands of dollars but I argued with the guys about splitting the bill and charged it all to Dad's card. Not that he'll even notice. A few grand is nothing to him anyway. It'll get lost in whatever other shit he spends his money on.

I always seem to have this 6th sense when it comes to Thea. Like I'm so drawn to her that I can feel when she's around before seeing her.

As soon as I felt it, I looked around the dark club and saw her hot ass strutting towards some other couches. Even the pretty girl who was plastered to my side and flirting with me like crazy couldn't pull my attention away from Thea.

I didn't expect to see her here, I know she's not 21 yet and the girl I remember would've stressed over using a fake ID. Scared that the bouncer would stop her at the door and embarrass her in front of everyone.

But as I saw her walk alone in the loud club, head and shoulders held high, as if she owned the place I felt like I was watching a completely different person enter the room. The Thea I remembered would've been too shy and timid to walk in a loud and bustling place alone like this.

She would've wanted at least one friend to walk alongside with her to feel less insecure. Sure, she was her witty and sarcastic self around me but she's always carried herself to be on the shyer side around strangers (the only exception being if she's drunk).

I felt a sense of pride to see someone whom I cared so much about becoming the confident, beautiful girl that I've always known her to be deep down. I did feel some sadness at the same time that I wasn't in her life to see her grow though.

As I see her finish greeting Quinn, turning to me and not knowing whether to hug or say hi, I take things into my own hands and pull her into me.

The bitterness I felt about our friendship ending on not so great terms is out of my mind and the only thing I can think of is being able to squeeze her to me for the first time in forever. I feel her pull away from me but I decide fuck it and hold onto her a second longer, my hands grazing her waist dying to touch her more.

I saw her dickhead boyfriend and his friends leave some time ago so I'm not worried about him making a big fuss about it to her. Everyone saw the show he put on in the middle of the place. Grabbing her ass in such a possessive way and sticking his tongue down her throat.

Quinn looked at me with a "What the hell is wrong with this guy's face".

It's safe to say that my closest friends like him as much as I do.

I have to admit, I was a little jealous and sour that he had the right to kiss and grab her in a way that I never could but pushed that feeling out of the way. My feelings were fighting each other internally and I tried not to care until I saw how uncomfortable and confused she looked.

After that PDA show, she seemed to ignore my presence. She was clearly uncomfortable over the fact we made eye contact earlier. Regardless, my eyes have been on her the whole night. I saw the way she was dancing with her friends and I couldn't not look at her.

My eyes were like a magnet to her. Despite the crowded place, I never lost sight of her. I was debating on whether I should truly approach her or not when I saw her walking towards the bar with Stella. Quinn ended up announcing during my internal debate that he was going to get a drink and I figured, why not.

Her dick head boyfriend isn't around and if things get weird I can easily come up with an excuse to exit the conversation. Plus, it's been so long since I've been within speaking distance to her and I want to know if this connection that I've felt with her is still a real true thing.

I've been questioning myself if my feelings for her should finally come to a complete end. There's no point in pining after someone who's been in a long term relationship that may continue for awhile.

It's not like I'm looking for a relationship anyway. My focus has been on basketball and school and I can't have someone distract me from being financially free from my shitty father. Still, it's been hard for me to completely stop thinking about her.

I have my good months when she doesn't cross my mind, then out of nowhere something will pop up and I'll remember a stupid inside joke we would have and I would go back to missing her and our friendship.

One time, I was out getting coffee at a cafe and overheard a bunch of middle aged women gossiping about a family member. They reminded me of Thea's gossipy but loving aunts.

I give Thea a second to comfortably step away from our hug and look at me.

"Hey T, how have you been?" I ask her

In the flashing light, I can make out her flushed face and the light sheen of sweat on her neck and collarbone. How the hell am I suppose to get over her when she looks like this? All I want to do his lick up her damp neck.

Maybe Zach has rubbed off on her and turned her into a cliquey bitch? I know in the back of my mind that would never happen. She's too nice to ever turn out like that. Plus, Kari would call her out on her shit. She would never let Thea become that way. The lacrosse crowd is way different from the basketball crowd. Bunch of white privileged kids who would never admit to being privileged.

Yes, I know I have the exact same privilege that they do, however, I admit that I have it. I also educate myself on the different issues that minorities face. It would be dumb to not acknowledge any of this, especially with my diverse friend groups.

"I'm doing good Jameson. How are you?" She asks with a twitch of an eyebrow and a slight slur to her words

"Everything's good with me. We're out celebrating a win tonight."

I look over to see Quinn and Stella locked into their own conversation. I know immediately that Quinn wanted to give me space with her. I've never admitted my disdain towards my broken friendship with Thea but they definitely know it's there.

"That's great to hear! Congrats!"

As much as I've admired Thea from afar, I didn't think our first conversation would feel so dry and awkward. The silence between us used to be comfortable but now it feels forceful. Neither of us know what to say next.

"Uh, so how's your sister doing?"

"She's doing great. Alana is actually a freshman here. She plays soccer and apparently joined a sorority. Not sure how she finds the time to manage everything with school."

"What?! She goes to school here? I had no idea! Guess she didn't want to stray too far away from you huh? Please tell me you're letting her have fun and not being too overprotective." She says with a genuine smile on her face

I roll my eyes, "Alana does what she wants. I've caught her at one of our house parties and tried to kick her out but she didn't listen. So instead, I spread the word that she's my sister and made sure every guy in the house knew not to touch her or I would knock them out."

Her jaw drops and she bursts into laughter. My chest warms, I've missed her throaty laugh.

"You're lying."

"Nope, you can ask Quinn yourself." I say, with a grin

She smacks me on the arm and laughs, "You're a jerk. Let the poor girl have some fun. She wanted to be close to you not be controlled by you."

"Hey, she asked for it when she decided to come here and come to my parties." I say with a shrug

"Whatever." She says, while rolling her eyes playfully

And just like that, it feels like we're having a normal conversation.

Just then, Thea pulls her phone out of her pocket and frowns.

"Shit, Sisi is in the bathroom throwing up. I'm gonna head over to make sure she's okay. You coming Stella?"

"Oh shit, yes let me just grab a water bottle for her."

"Do you guys need any help or anything?" Quinn interrupts me just as I was about to ask

"No, we're good. We're just going to call an Uber home. Thanks guys, it was really nice seeing both of you!" Thea says while waving and scrambling towards the bathrooms

"Bye guys!" Stella says while getting lost in the crowd and navigating through it with Thea

I sigh. Just as our conversation was getting good she has to leave. I wish I got more time to talk to her. I'm not sure if that will ever happen again.

"Let's go, man." Quinn says lifting chin

***

Hi friends, it was really nice being able to write in Will's POV after some time. I've missed him! Thanks for reading ! c: