My uber dropped me off at the Lincoln center at 6:40 pm. I felt grown up in my dress. Womanly. Which was apparently the same thing as feeling confident while uncomfortable. I waited by the fountain taking pictures of the building to text Nicole and my mom. 

At 6:50, he still wasn't there. I decided to call him when he picked up the phone, I barely recognized his voice. He sounded hoarse and stuffy.

"Uhhg Lia, I am so sorry," I heard him groan into the phone. "I caught the flu or a bug or something. I completely fell asleep around noon and forgot to call you. I feel like such an ass."

"You sound pretty awful," I said.

He made the mistake of chuckling and started coughing and wheezing.

"I'll make it up to you, Lia, I promise." He said and in a voice that sounded as if he was going to pass out.

"Alright, I'll hold you to it. Feel better," I said and hung up.

"Great," I said to myself, leaning back against the stone fountain. I looked up the bus times to go home and saw there was one in 15 minutes. I decided to stay for a bit, and people watch to pass the time. The location was stunning, and everyone was dressed up to watch the show. I groaned as I remembered that my dad was home. I didn't really want to be around him. He was going through one of his lows, which meant loud music that waxed poetic about a broken country. I wondered if I could just go catch a movie at the movie theatre and then get something to eat before heading home. As I pondered what to do with my time, I noticed a familiar face amongst the cloud of people.

"Liam?" I called out

He paused and then turned around at the sound of his name.

"Look at you, fancy pants."

"What are you doing here?" I asked. He was also dressed well, in a suit. I never had seen him dressed up before. He was even wearing a tie.

"There's an art exhibit I was going to go to, but I have some friends that are going to watch the ballet, and I had to drop off some tickets. What about you."

"I had a date."

"A date? Had?"

"He is really sick and couldn't make it."

"He couldn't tell you this before you made all this effort?" he asked, motioning to my outfit.

"He apparently was not conscious for most of the day."

"Sounds like an excuse."

"Nah, it was a date with Gareth; he doesn't seem like the time to stand someone up."

He burst out laughing, "Gareth Smith?"

I rolled my eyes. "Everyone has given me the same reaction already; you guys are jerks."

He put his hand around my shoulder, "I'm sorry he just has a reputation as not being very bright."

"He's nice."

"Yeah, yeah." He said done with the subject. "So you were stood up. What are you going to do now? You're all dressed up. Want to come with me to the exhibit? They're going to have some Klimt pieces on display."

"Sure." Grabbing my clutch.

He held his arm out for me to hold.

"I hadn't seen you in a while," I said as we walked.

"Yeah, I've been swamped."

"I missed you," I said. I had. Liam had been such a good friend to me over the summer. Showing me the city, training with me when Maria couldn't, or when Robbie had been really rude, and I didn't want to go to her house. He was fun and distracting, and he could be a good listener when he wanted to be.

"Missed you too, Lia," He said, kissing my head.

The exhibit was beautiful, and in true Liam fashion, he knew everything about all the pieces. After we were done looking at the available selections, we decided to take a stroll outside to catch up. The night had become colder, and I buttoned up my coat as we stepped outside.

"Want to grab something to eat?" He asked, noticing I was freezing.

"Hmmm, I could eat some sushi," I said, smiling at him.

"Sure, I know a place," He said and began to lead the way.

We sat down in a small cozy restaurant whose seats weren't chairs but cushions on the floor and ordered our food.

"So, how's everything going with you? How's your dad?"

"Everything's, good. School has become more manageable, and my dad is there. As usual," I said.

He chuckled, "I didn't think the word manageable could ever be used in a sentence describing Trinity."

"What about you?" I asked.

"Good, a little stressful with lacrosse and school. I sent in my college applications; now it's just a waiting game."

"What would be the best-case scenario?"

"I would like to go to Princeton, but that isn't going to happen, with my records."

"Because of everything that happened with Robbie,"

"Yep," he said disgruntled. "I had one of the admission interviewers ask me about it already. At this point I'd be lucky to get into Brown."

"Hey, are you sure it wasn't all a misunderstanding?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, "No, Lia it was not a misunderstanding."

"It just doesn't seem like him."

"It 'doesn't seem like him'" He laughed, "Oh god, he got to you."

This time I narrowed my eyes.

"No, he didn't. We've just become friends."

"Friends, with Robbie? That's cute, Lia. Robbie doesn't have friends; he has girls he sleeps with."

"Not true. Robbie has been friends with Lana for years."

"Yeah, because her brother is the human version of a bulldozer and will kill him if he lays a hand on her," he explained, a sour expression on his face.

"Well, I am not sleeping with him."

He looked at me, analyzing my expression.

"You're in love with him."

I stayed silent, and he exhaled a dry laugh. "I should have known," He said, shaking his head and putting his napkin down.

"What does it matter?" I asked.

"It matters a lot. You know he was a dick to me. You know all the bullshit he pulled. Why would you fall in love with a guy like that?"

"It wasn't something I planned."

"It was for him. You can bet on it. Everything Robert does is planned meticulously."

"That's not true," I said, and I could hear my voice adopt a slightly shrill tone.

"So what are you holding out, so he proposes at graduation or something?"

"No," I said, already upset.

"Then why haven't you slept with prince charming."

"He hasn't wanted to yet," I admitted.

He looked at me strangely. "He's planning something then. He has another motive. Getting some girl jealous or something."

"Stop," I said, putting my napkin down.

"You're going to get hurt. Nothing is ever easy with Robert."

"Stop it," I said, shaking my head. I felt myself close to tears.

"I just don't want you hurt, Lia. He's not a nice guy. His family is even meaner. They will hurt you."

"Maria has done nothing to you."

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm not talking about Maria. Just date a guy like Gareth. I know I made fun of him, but compared to Robbie, he's a much better choice."

"Stop."

"You don't know what you're getting into Lia. There is so much you don't know."

"Liam, if we're going to stay friends, we need to stop talking about this right now," I said, wiping my cheeks.

He looked at me. His eyes were hard, and I could tell he was angry, and he wanted to keep going.

"Fine," he said and threw his napkin down. "Fine, then we'll stop being friends. I can't hang around someone who's fucking Robert Bennet. It's too pathetic for me to deal with. I'll get the tab," He said, standing up.

I sat back on the cushions and felt a whole new set of tears coming. When Liam left, I took out my phone and looked up an Uber to take me home. 12 minutes. I sighed and sat back. I was not going to wait outside with how cold it was.

During my wait, my phone rang, the ID said, Lana.

"Lia, I know you're on your date, but—"

"I'm not," I said, my voice a bit hoarse.

"You're not? Why? Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked, clearing my throat.

"A lot; do you think you could come over and help us out with these invitations and the rest of the planning? We're so overwhelmed."

"Yeah, I just called an uber I'll head over," I said, getting up to go outside.

"Tell him we will tip really well," Maria yelled in the background.

"Okay," I said chuckling.

I went outside, and the driver was waiting at the curb.

"Hey, "I said, going around to talk to him through the driver's window. "No chance you would be willing to drive me to New Jersey?" I asked.

"Are you nuts?" The guy asked, appalled I would even ask such a thing.

"They tip very well."

"How well?" He asked as I was showing him the address.

"That well, huh?" He said, looking at the maps app on my phone, "Get in," He said, and I got in the car.

I leaned back in the leather seats and looked at myself in my compact mirror.

I didn't look too bad, I thought.

"I have makeup wipes in a bin under the seat." He said, looking at me through the rear-view mirror.

"Seriously?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, it gets me 5 stars with drunk college girls who are being dropped off to Netflix and chill."

I let out a soft laugh and reached under the seat.

"Can I take a mint too?" I asked and saw him nod.

When I got to their house, Lana was the one who opened the door.

"Hey," She said, pulling me into a hug.

"Lia, you look so pretty," She said and ran outside to give the driver his promised tip. She came back up the entrance steps and grabbed my hand to lead me up the stairs.

"Is she okay? How is she doing?"

"She's calmer. She's totally wasted and high strung, though, just a warning."

We came into the room, and she was on the floor with Robbie, her head on his lap; he was stroking her hair, and her face was tear-stained.

"Oh, you're back," I said, surprised. He had told me he would be back on Monday.

"Yeah, I tried calling you earlier to tell you, but your phone went straight to voicemail. I got an early flight back." I felt his eyes trail down my body and then back up, he held my gaze for a moment, and I felt a familiar tension flood the room.

"Lia," Maria said, sitting up. "You're here," She sniffed, breaking whatever moment flowed through Robbie and me.

"Yeah, of course," I said, walking to her and kneeling down in front of her.

"Oh, you look so pretty." She slurred, taking my hand. "Oh no, were you on a date? Did I ruin your date?" She cried and flung herself on me.

"She knows your date was canceled; she's just wasted to the point she can't remember anything after 20 minutes passed," Lana explained.

I hugged Maria.

"Don't worry, he was sick; you didn't ruin anything."

"Where were you then?" Lana asked; "You weren't home. The driver had your route on his phone."

"I found a friend, and we decided to have dinner to catch up."

Maria hiccupped. "A boy?" she asked.

"Umm, yeah," I said hesitantly and did not miss the way Robbie's gaze snapped up.

"Okay, well, I am way too drunk to process anything right now, but you're going to have to tell me tomorrow," Maria said, squeezing me.

I looked up to meet Robbie's eyes, amused by her sudden display of emotions. He was quiet and avoiding my gaze, becoming very enthralled with a loose thread in his sweater. I could see a muscle in his jaw clenching.