The next morning, I felt a little groggy with a headache but I certainly felt better emotionally, after my conversation with Riley.

I decided to take a walk outside because it was a mild day and I knew that some fresh air could be good for my mind.

I got ready into a shirt and some jeans and then made my way out of the house, after saying goodbye to my family, of course.

Once I stepped outside into the cool, fresh air, I instantly felt as though I could close my eyes and be alone with my thoughts for a moment. It was a good feeling, especially considering I felt as though I had been around people all the time lately. As much as I loved my friends, there was nothing quite like having the chance to simply allow myself to escape.

It was only the morning, so I knew that I had the whole day ahead of me to make myself feel better about everything that had passed with Drew. I still hadn't spoken to him and Drew was stubborn enough to avoid speaking to me, too, until I cracked. It was just the way that he worked. I needed time, though. This time around, I wasn't going to go back to talking to him straight away as though nothing had passed between the two of us. I knew that it had and I was trying to do everything that I could to work out how I could deal with the feelings that I had, while maintaining a positive friendship with Drew.

However, as I walked on and pulled my jacket around me a little further, my thoughts focused on little other than Heather and Drew. Why did she have to be so damn pretty? Why couldn't I have been the one that turned Drew's head. I guessed that I should have been used to it by now but nothing ever truly changed. The two of them occupied so much space in my head that I wished I could get the mere thoughts of them to pay rent. At least then I would get something positive out of my mind constantly being at work with thoughts of the both of them.

As I walked on, I realised that I couldn't continued to ignore Drew for much longer. I supposed I was too sensitive at times but I knew how Drew got when he hadn't spoken to his friends in some time and I didn't want him to feel as though I had abandoned him.

So, although I probably shouldn't have done so, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialled Drew's number until he answered.

"I knew you would want to talk to me eventually. I knew that you would crack under the pressure of ignoring me," he said.

"Okay, firstly don't get cocky, Archer. Secondly, I wasn't trying to ignore you. I needed some space to think," I explained.

I heard Drew exhale with slight concern on the other side of the phone line, then.

"Why do you need so much time to think?" he asked me.

"It's what I do, Drew," I said.

He didn't argue with that.

"I think you lack confidence in yourself. You should go after what you want," Drew told me.

My heart skipped after he said that but I knew that I couldn't get my hopes up. It didn't mean anything. All Drew was trying to tell me to do was to be more confident. That wasn't in any shape, way or form an invitation for me to suddenly tell him all about my feelings for him.

"I wish that I could," I said.

"Why can't you, Zoe?" he asked me.

I could imagine him on the other side of the phone line with this great smile upon his face, as his eyes lit up with playfulness, as they always did.

"I don't know," I said.

I wished that I knew the answers to any of this. I hated always being so vague and indirect with Drew but if being upfront with him had the potential to break me, then I would rather avoid that.

"Look, I want to go on a date with Heather, so I'm going to ask her out," Drew told me, "We're going to go to this restaurant nearby."

Of course, he would take her to a restaurant. It only made sense given that Drew was an incredible romantic at heart and he only wanted to do whatever he could in order to make Heather happy.

I didn't know if it was going to work out, though. I wasn't even sure if Heather liked him back. I knew that everyone had their own types but I guessed that I had never fully comprehended how someone couldn't like Drew.

If Drew and Heather dated, then it was simply a situation that I knew that I was going to have to get used to, even if I felt as though my heart was being pulled out via my throat with a pair of pliers.

"It'll be great! I started helping out at my uncle's restaurant, too. I'd like to think that one day I could have my own business, just like you plan to, Zoe," he told me.

Drew's tone of admiration made my heart warm but it didn't change the fact that he had just told me that he was going to ask Heather out on a date. How was I supposed to deal with that? That wasn't to mention the fact that he had done it a mere week before Halloween, the one night of the year that we always spent together without a fail.

"What day were you planning on going out with her?" I asked him, as I tried to hold back the sadness that threatened to creep into my voice.

"I'll probably go out with her next Friday," Drew replied simply.

"Like, Halloween next Friday, next Friday?" I asked him.

"Precisely," he said.

I had to stop myself from my breathing becoming uneven.

"I've got to go and help Riley with his homework but that sounds great, Drew. It really does. Good luck," I replied and then hung up the phone, before he could get in a single syllable. I had been such a fool to believe that a phone call with Drew would ever fix anything. I knew that it could never fix the hole that I felt in my heart. He wanted her. He wanted her and I was going to have to accept that. Despite everything that I felt, I was going to have to accept it because I would forever care deeply about Drew and I wanted him to be happy, even at the expense of my own happiness.