"Isn't this nice?" Trevor asks aloud, "a nice meal before we fly out of the snow to land in even more snow."

"I can't wait until we get there. There's no group of people I'd rather go Jack Nicholson on than you all," Jace says jokingly.

"You could have literally just said Jack Torrance, it would have made more sense," Trevor shook his head and laughed.

"Oh, yeah, because you're the curator of logic," Jace replied.

"Seven days of this," Evie said to me from across the table.

"And two plane rides," I pressed my lips into a thin line.

"It's too late to back out now, dear Ali," Trevor smirked.

"I'm not so sure," I tease, "I may just leave you alone."

"I wouldn't be in complete solitude. Audrey is meeting us at the airport after all." I glare at the mention. "...no one should spend Christmas alone."

"Oh, Ethan is also meeting us at the airport," Jace chimes in.

I watch as Trevor scowls at him. "Great," he says sarcastically.

"No one should spend Christmas alone," I say with a smirk.

"Who is he bringing?" Trevor sighs.

Jace shrugs, "he didn't say, I think they'll all be solo. Audrey, Tony, and Ethan..."

"Three's a crowd," Trevor says in annoyance.

"Four's a party...does anyone have any idea what Heather's doing?"

I stare down at my plate to avoid having to answer.

"Audrey said she has a family thing," Trevor replied.

Jace scoffed through laughter, "I doubt that."

"Why do you care?" Evie furrowed her eyebrows.

"I don't..." Jace attempted to explain, "but all of her friends are getting on this plane. It's a little weird that she's not."

"Did you invite her, Alison?" Trevor asks.

"Um—" no, because I saw any idea of travel plans leave her mind the moment she looked at that guy.

It would take Heather to do something so controversial as getting involved with a burnout.

But, I could have it all wrong...

For the life of me, I hope I do.

"Should we?" Jace suggested.

"You'll call her," Trevor nodded at me, "she's probably bored at home waiting."

Maybe you really don't want to see me, but I still made my way over...

You have to be mad at me, you have to be something because that's better than never letting me talk to you again.

So, I thought...

Before I walked into your building and saw you laughing with her...and then saw the smile fall from your face when you caught a glimpse of me.

"Hi..." I said hesitantly.

He sighed, "Heather."

...butterfly.

"How are you?" I continued, hoping to kill him with kindness.

"What are you doing?" Leo shook his head.

"Coming to talk to you," I responded casually. "Hello," I said to the curly-haired girl he was standing with, "I'm Heather," I put my hand out for her to shake.

"Yeah, I heard," She said smugly and awkwardly accepted the gesture.

"Come on," Leo grabbed my hand and led me into his apartment.

"It looks like we'll be going now, but it was a pleasure to meet you," I matched her arrogance with a smirk as the door closed in front of her.

"What're you here for?" Leo said in frustration.

"I convinced Ms. Chang that your...outburst during the presentation was apart of it. So, don't worry, your grade wasn't affected."

"I wasn't worried," he shrugged, "I don't care."

"But, as your tutor-"

"You're not my tutor anymore, okay?" He huffed and walked toward his bedroom, "you know where the door is."

I scowl and follow after him, "that's not your decision to make, Leo."

"God, I'm really not in the mood to put up with your shit today."

"Excuse me?" I glared, "fine, how about we bring that girl in here instead? I'm sure she can do a far better job at teaching you than I can," I take out the physics textbook and drop it on the desk.

"What are you talking- wait..." he pauses before scoffing through laughter, "Peyton? Are you jealous?"

"Why would I be jealous of her?" Who is she to you...

"Why do you do anything that you do? You're too self-centered to be understood by anyone other than yourself."

"You're being such an asshole," I rolled my eyes.

"My bad, I forgot that you expect me to cater to you like everyone else does. Because, I must be a real idiot for liking you, right?"

I cower back at his tone, "well, you don't have to be so mean...I get it, I'll leave," I look away from him and take a few deep breaths to alleviate the feeling of tears starting to well up in my eyes. It's not out of sadness...at least I don't think so, and it's not out of anger...but I don't like confrontation...not from him.

"Heather," He calls out when I turn away, "look at you, no, I didn't mean to-" Leo sighs and rushes in front of me, closing the door before I could leave his room. "Stop..." He puts his hands on my face, brushing over my cheeks with his thumbs as to wipe the tears that haven't yet fallen.

"I'm sorry," I breathe out.

"Yeah, I know...I'm just having a rough week."

"We can talk about it."

Because it's nice to know you're not only upset with me.

"I don't really want to," he answers honestly.

"Please?"

Leo presses his lips together and walks back over to his bed, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling. "It's dumb...my friend...well, Matt, remember him? We're like brothers...all of us, me, Zach, Danny, and Matt. But, he hates my guts right now, I did something stupid because I thought it would help him. It didn't though, I made things worse and got him and his brother thrown in jail. It was a mistake...but he doesn't care. He wants me dead, and I don't even blame him..."

I look at him empathetically, though he's not facing me. "I don't believe it...you're too close to fall out that badly."

"I don't know," his jaw clenches, "we've never fought like that...never laid a hand on each other until then."

I move to where he is on the bed and lay next to him. "Rage passes...but, he loves you...and love stays."

"That sounds nice, butterfly, but I'm not sure that's how it works with us street kids," Leo says doubtfully, "we're stubborn as hell, and we hold grudges. You have to have loyalty...and Matt thinks I betrayed his. His brother is a stupid dropout, roid-head, and he was going to really fuck over Matt...but Matt doesn't see it that way. He hates me."

"Leo..." I thread my fingers through his hair, which makes him turn to face me, "can you imagine hating him forever?"

"No, but-"

"Then what makes you think he can?" I ask, and he shrugs in response, his eyes still locked on mine.

I smirk subtly at how distracted he got from our closeness.

"Butterfly..." He says.

"Leo," I reply.

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

"You didn't."

He gives me a brief smile, and we lay in a palpable sense of dissatisfaction.

How does 'goodbye' wind up here?

...And, how do your lips taste today?

I slide over to kiss him, slow and with ease. His eyes closed before mine did, like he wasn't at all surprised that this was going to happen.

I wanted his hands to trace down my body the way they did before and for him to hold me close to the point where we're pressed together...but he pulled away.

"Heather," he said softly, "...don't kiss me if it's out of pity."

I nodded, and he turned to stare up at the ceiling again.

I lifted up and glanced over at him...everything about him is so pastel blue. It gives me an inexplicable feeling of being swept into a breeze, delicate and light, with no way out of it.

You are every pretty line I have ever written, so, I wonder...how you could possibly think I'd kiss you for any reason other than wanting to feel my heart race.

I rest my hand against his chest and lean down to gently place my lips on his again.

He catches on quickly but lets me lead and keep control. When I move, he moves...following behind hesitantly like he's scared of doing this.

I grip his shirt in my hand and hum in blissful frustration. That seems to strum up excitement in Leo because I soon feel his grip on my waist...tight and desperately pulling me onto him.

Finally.

"Who lives here-"

"Sh," Danny shushes me and knocks on the door.

We stand outside of it for a while, waiting for the sound of footsteps to get louder.

A girl opens it, wearing nothing but a tank top and panties, "Dan the man," she narrows her eyes and smiles. "What do you want?"

"Amanda," he nods in greeting, "have you seen Matt around?"

"I don't know, have you been to Jordan's house?" She asks.

"He's not there."

"Hm," Amanda starts to think, "I'll go ask Kat...you can wait here or come sit on the couch."

Danny shrugs and goes in behind her.

"Who is Kat?" I question as I look around the apartment confusedly. None of the furniture seems to match, but it still feels really comfortable. The carpet on the living room floor is shades of pink and purple, and the sofa is a nice red. They even have a lava lamp...my mom said I couldn't get one of those.

"Mandy's roommate. She's pretty hot but too old for you, so don't get any ideas."

"Noted," I nod and take a seat on the couch next to a pile of laundry.

We turn toward the hall when we hear Amanda's voice along with the sound of another girl's.

"She hasn't seen him, Danny," Mandy sighs.

"Not since two nights ago outside of Club Six," Kat adds.

Danny eyes her with intrigue. I wonder if it's because of how dark she lined her eyes...or the fact that she too is fittingly in just her underwear and a cropped tee.

"What was he doing there?" I speak up when the silence gets to be awkward.

"...you brought your little brother?" Kat gazes at me...she has the voice of Mila Jovovich in that movie about getting high.

"Something like that," Danny replies. "Listen, if you see Matt, let me know...but, don't tell him I'm looking for him."

"Why not? What's going on?" Amanda crosses her arms.

"He's off the fucking rails and pissed at Leo...and probably me too, and I don't want 'em to think I'm picking sides," Danny shook his head.

"Are you?" Kat smirked.

"Nah, I'm not going to do that. They're both morons," He replies, giving her the same sly look in return.

It's like they've had sex or something...that, or they want to.

"How noble of you," she said through light laughter.

"Yeah— well," Danny breathed out, "Thanks."

"Any time."

I take that as a goodbye and start to head for the door in hopes that Danny will get the same idea.

"See you, Zach," Amanda waves.

"What are you in such a rush for?" Danny says in amusement.

I wait until I'm in the hall to respond.

"You were flirting with that girl. You're a dick."

"Was not," he slaps the back of my head. "Shut up, kid."

"Where are we going?" Elizabeth asks as she trails behind me through the airport.

"I realized something— I am currently paying you for no reason, and that's not a very good business move, wouldn't you agree?"

"Okay?"

"So, until there is an actual stage for you to entertain on, you will be assisting me with anything else I might need."

"And what might you need?" She raises an eyebrow at me.

"All legal things, I can assure you. You will be accompanying me for a week in Idaho, I'll have you back before you know it, so don't worry about missing any family time."

"My family is in Portland," Liz replied.

"Don't I give you enough money to afford travel?" I glance back at her as I continue walking.

"Well, I'm not really close with them," she shrugs, "and I don't want to talk anymore about it, thanks in advance for being quiet now."

I shake my head and sigh to myself.

Ode to biting the hand that feeds you, right, Elizabeth?

"Just board the plane," I instruct and step aside to let her in front of me.

"But, I didn't bring anything. You can't just call me and expect me to take a flight without any notice-"

"The plane," I point toward the door, "get on it."

She clenched her jaw but kept her mouth shut as she ascended the stairs. I went up behind her and gave a charming smile to the flight attendants we passed.

Thank God, Trevor remembered not to hire from the same company we used during our trip to Cabo last summer...I figured he would, just to be an asshole.

I definitely fucked two of them, one on the way there, and one on the way back. I also promised to keep in touch— and for some reason unbeknownst to me, they believed I would.

"Ethan," Jace called out when he saw me, "you made it," he added happily.

"Mhm," I smiled thinly.

Trevor's eyes shot up at the sound of my name, and we glanced at each other before looking away.

I knew Jace was exaggerating when he said that Trevor wanted me here. Water under the bridge, my ass. He probably just wanted to rub it in my face that he's screwing Alison now, but that is why I've got Elizabeth...and she better not leave me alone with either of them.

"Hi," she said kindly as we passed through the aisle.

"You don't have to speak to them," I said lowly to her.

"That would be rude," she responded before turning to our seats and taking the one by the window. That's my seat, but...as you wish.

"Here," I take out a notepad and pen from my bag before putting it overhead. "You should write this down." Liz rolled her eyes before clicking the pen anyway, "after we get settled in, call my lawyer, his name is Kevin Hollings tell him the contractors will be done in two days and to set up a meeting with the manager of Joan's Cabaret, I want him on my payroll."

"Where do I get the number?"

"I'll give you it when we get there. Keep writing, " I reply, "There's an event nearing, and I need new suits— make an appointment at Paul Stuart...and then find a place near there to get yourself fitted. I was going to wait until after auditions to view— uniform ideas, but I think I'll do it sooner."

"A lingerie shop?" Liz raises her eyebrows.

"Something of the sort, yes, Elizabeth. They sell dancewear too, I'm sure. Though... it would help if you had your measurements now, write down that I need to get you clothes while we're out. You can sleep in something of mine, and I'll have clothes for you by tomorrow afternoon."

"Where will I be sleeping?"

"There's plenty of rooms, you can take a spare," my eyes scan over the notes she took.

"Six?" She questions.

I shake my head, "Five."

"So, who is she with?" Elizabeth nods toward the front where Audrey is walking in.

Jesus, smite me.

"The hell hounds," I sigh and turn away so that I don't have to see her passing.

"Is she an ex of yours?"

"She wishes," I roll my eyes, "she's too much of a problem."

Even now, for example, I'll have to share a room with Tony since Audrey decided to show up unwanted.

Each room only has one bed, with Tony, I could make him take the floor. With Elizabeth...I will have to take the floor...

And maybe that's better than admitting to bringing a girl I'm not even having sex with.