The thumping sounds of high-energy music welcomed me and Ethan to the roof terrace of Fernandez's house. There were a lot of people at the party dressed in their best, fancy clothes. I recognized some of them from school and some of them I had never met before in my life.

The décor of the place was outstanding. It looked completely different from what I'd seen a few days ago with string lights on at night, a tented area with tables and chairs occupying the center of the terrace, a mini bar set up at the other end, and a small podium for the host to make a speech.

I spotted a few familiar faces in the crowd with crystal glasses in each of their hands; Steve, Kaden, and Emilio were chatting among themselves by the pool. Ethan saw his friends as well and without wasting time, he led me to them.

Steve was the one who noticed us first. "Look who's here," he said in amazement.

The other two turned their heads and gave us a nod of greeting which we returned.

"Yo, check out his fit!" Kaden exclaimed, pointing at the sheer shirt Ethan was wearing under a blazer.

Curiosity overtook him and Kaden moved closer and reach out to touch the translucent fabric but Ethan swatted his hand away before he could do it.

"Hands off," he grumbled making the other guy pout.

"You both look really good," Emilio commented. "I'm feeling severely underdressed."

"No way, I like your cardigan sweater," I admitted and he offered me a smile.

I didn't realize it has been a week since Emilio moved here. I had been so caught up with my stuff, I haven't welcomed him properly as a neighbor yet. I hope he was liking the new place.

"How's the party so far?" I asked them.

"It's alright I guess," Steve replied with a shrug. "The food slaps."

"Luckily, I am only here for it. No offense to your girlfriend, man," Kaden said to Ethan.

Ethan stared at him with a bored expression. He seemed mentally done. His friends had no idea the title was going to change. If only they knew the reason why we were here.

"What took you so long?"

I recognized that smooth low voice at once. It was Kaleb. I glanced back and saw him sauntering over carrying two glasses of drink, one in either hand, looking unbelievably handsome in a black suit.

"Woah, am I dreaming?" Ethan said, evoking laughs.

"Dude, why are you dreaming about me on a Friday night?" he countered while smiling.

His smile grew more profound as he handed Ethan one glass. "Here."

"Thanks."

Kaleb turned to me, his blue eyes piercing my soul coldly, making my skin crawl. "Sorry. I don't know what you drink."

"Do you want mine?" Ethan offered me his drink and I mumbled a 'no'.

"I'll get it myself, " I told him.

With that, I left for the minibar. I needed to get out of there otherwise I would be completely overwhelmed. Kaleb was bad news — that wasn't up for debate and being around him wasn't good for my mental or physical health. I wondered when he'd decide to stop giving me the death stare.

"Can I have a club soda with a lime?" I told one of the bartenders causing him to look at me like I just insulted his entire bloodline.

"Coming right up," he murmured and turned back to his station.

"Elle hired the best bartenders in town and you order that?" Charlie asked as he appeared out of nowhere, latching his hand on my shoulder.

I fought off a laugh. "I don't drink."

I took a small glance at him to see he had a forest green suit on and a black dress shirt underneath, unbuttoned at the collar. His neck was adorned with a pearl necklace, and he got a diamond stud earring in one ear, and a drop one in his other. He looked stunning.

"You should try Spezi then. It's my go-to non-alcoholic drink," he suggested.

"What's that?" I'd never heard of it in my life.

"Coke mixed with orange soda," Charlie described.

"Not a fan of Coke."

"Tonic water then."

I scoffed. "It tastes horrible."

My answer got him laughing. "Shirley Temple?"

"Now you're being rude." I faked an offense.

The bartender returned with my club soda and I took a long drink from it. Charlie went quiet suddenly, pushing back his styled blonde hair while scanning the bottles on the shelf behind the bar.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, I'm mixing drinks in my head. Trying to figure out which one you might like," he said.

"It's okay, Char. You don't have to puzzle yourself over that," I told him seriously.

"I don't mind. At least I get to know a little about you."

"That's not fair," I replied. "I wanna know something about you too."

He tilted his head to the side. "Is that so?"

I hummed in reply.

Charlie fixed his blue eye on me as his cheeks slowly turned rosy. "I heard that there's a light festival in town starting next weekend."

Oh boy, I knew where this one was going.

"Why don't we find time and make it a date?" he finished.

In my head, I was searching for a polite way to turn him down. Charlie's a sweet guy and the idea of rejecting his date request made me feel like I was about to strike a puppy. It was awful and he didn't deserve this. How could I reject him without hurting his feelings?

The twinkle in his eyes, the engaging smile that he was wearing on his lips, and the warm personality he showed me. I would hate it if all of that would disappear after. Aware that Charlie was still waiting for my response, I prayed that some sort of miracle would occur.

"Let's go find Elle," Ethan interrupted as he came up to me, saving me from the awkwardness.

Charlie's face turned pale after he saw Ethan. It was as if he'd seen a ghost from his childhood. The blonde-haired guy raised his hands in self-defense and backed up a few steps from me.

"I have to go," I told Charlie and waved before walking away from the place.

Ethan didn't say a word as he led me toward Elle's bedroom. I followed him closely from behind and what surprised me was when he seemed to struggle to keep his balance walking a straight line through the hallway. How many drinks did he already have?

Knowing Ethan, he wasn't much of a drinker. He hated being drunk -- or so he claimed -- and the last time he did it was when... actually, it has been a while ago. I couldn't even remember the exact moment.

But tonight was different, I guess. He needed that liquid courage to do what he was going to do.

"Enter, ye who dare," Elle's voice muffled from the other side after we knocked on the door.

Ethan and I stared at each other searching for any trace of hesitancy. My nerves were kicking in at the top and I bet he was feeling the same. There was no backing out now. With a deep sigh, he twisted the handle and pushed the door slowly.

"Be quick, guys. Everyone's expecting me to show up in five," Elle said when she saw us stepping inside.

Elle looked all dolled up and pretty in a pink ruched bodycon dress. Her golden tresses were styled into loose waves and she covered her hair with a beret. The birthday girl was gorgeous for sure.

"It's not going to take long," I assured her.

"Elle," Ethan moved to stand in front of her, taking her hands in his. It caused her to slightly frown. "We are here to apologize to you."

I nodded. "We're sorry."

"What we did..." Ethan paused. "Actually, don't blame Andy. He has done nothing wrong. It was all me. I dragged him into this mess the same I did with you."

I roughly grabbed Ethan by the shoulder and turned him around to face me. I couldn't believe he lied to me and tried to make himself a scapegoat. That was not what we agreed to at all.

"What the hell? This is not what we discussed," I reminded him.

He looked down, unable to meet my eyes. "Yeah, I know."

"Are you drunk?" Elle asked him with a straight face.

"A little bit but that's not the issue here."

She broke into a smirk. "Right, 'cause the issue would be you being an ungrateful, lying prick."

Ethan squeezed his eyes shut, perhaps ashamed of what he had done. I understood Elle's anger and frustration but we came here to make amends, not rub more salt on the open wound.

"He made a mistake," I interrupted. "And he deeply regrets it."

"You have no saying in this, snake," she snapped, pointing a finger at me.

Though her words cut me to the bone, I made myself keep calm. I needed to be level-headed about this.

"I know I don't have the right to ask for your forgiveness, but I still wish you'd forgive us. If it's not for me then for him," I told her.

I looked at her pleadingly and her anger faltered. A silent sigh escaped her lips before she put her usual deadpan face on.

"You know what, although it's fucking sad to be hurt by people I trust the most, I'm not going to hold a grudge over it. It's my birthday and I'm going to choose peace," Elle said.

"I also said a lot of mean things just now and I'm sorry too," she continued.

"Thank you, Elle," Ethan told her.

"Now come here, guys," she encouraged. Her arms spread out wide and ready to receive us.

Not wasting a second, we leaped into her embrace, almost toppling her over in the process. Elle let out a cheerful laugh as she patted our backs. It has been a while since I heard her laugh like that.

I pulled back only to find out she was inching her face closer to Ethan's, she wanted to connect their lips. I waited to see what his reaction would be except he only stood there acting all frozen.

"There's something else Ethan wants to say," I said, pulling their attention away from each other.

I raised an eyebrow at Ethan to signal him to talk. He nodded in return and had his eyes shifted back to her. I could tell he was nervous from the way he had to clear his throat a few times before he could speak.

"Andy and I, um, we are..." he trailed, breathing quite fast. "We are..."

Realizing Ethan was having a hard time telling her, I rubbed a soothing circle on his back. The same gesture he always used to calm me.

Elle grew restless, narrowing her eyes at him. "You guys are what?"

"We want to tell you that we are —"

"Just be quick! I don't have much time," she butted in, raising her voice slightly.

"We are hoping that you'd let us stay," he blurted out. "And celebrate your birthday."

Elle simply answered him by pressing her lips against his. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. Not because he didn't come out to her. No, I could wait until he was ready. It was the fact that he didn't address that he was with someone now and he allowed himself to be kissed by Elle while his 'someone' was there.

"Of course, you two can stay. We have a lot to catch up on," Elle told us after she pulled away.

"Oh, we definitely will," I replied. My small body began to shake. It was trembling out of nothing but frustration.

Elle turned to me and flashed a smile. "Anything else?"

I diverted the question to the quiet guy beside me. "Ethan?"

"No," was his only answer.

Emotions got the better of me and the familiar rush of heat came over to my face. A lump grew in my throat. It was hard to breathe all of sudden, like my heart was tightly constricted in my chest. I felt the corner of my eyes prickling and I hastily blinked it away.

I wanted to scream at Ethan for being a wuss. I wanted to tell Elle everything she needed to hear but I couldn't. To out someone for my own sake would be a terrible thing to do. To tell on her boyfriend for wanting to break up with her didn't seem like my place either.

A frown settled on Elle's face as she took a long look at Ethan's. "You sure you have nothing to add, babe?"

"Nope, just want us to be back like before," he confirmed. His face was stoic, conveying how serious he was about this.

"Isn't that what we all want," Elle replied.

I sneered as I heard their words. "I can't fucking believe it."

Ethan didn't respond to that, only stared at me. He also did nothing to prevent me from leaving. I wasn't sure how to take that but all I knew was that I had to get out before I broke down in tears.

---------

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!