Aaron's POV - A year ago

"Han, I have high expectations about parties in Miami so it better be one hell of a party and if it's not, I'll end our friendship for you dragging me into this," I say when Hannah stops the car in front of a house where the music is blasting.

Even here in the car, we almost have to shout to hear each other. I actually don't have any expectation, I just want to leave. But as hard as I tried to talk her out of partying, cunningly because if I ever go straightforward with Hannah she does everything to prove me wrong, here we are.

"Relax Aaron, this is going to be one hell of a party. Now get out of my car because we are certainly not partying inside of it," she winks at me before open her door to get out.

I reluctantly follow her outside of the car. I don't want to spend my last night in Miami at some lame party but I want to spend it with Hannah. We won't see each other for another four months and talking over the phone is not quite the same as spending time together. And she's so fucking stubborn, I had absolutely no chance changing her mind.

"It's gonna be fun," she says with a wide smile and I can't help smiling back.

When I first met Hannah a year ago, I never thought we would get along. She can have this bitchy attitude sometimes but she's also the kindest person I've ever met. And today, she's one of my best friends.

The house before us is huge, as-big-as-a-fucking-mansion huge. The music coming from it is so loud I'm pretty sure the people on the other side of the city can hear it. The guy hosting this party as no respect for the neighbors. I already hate this. I sigh an turn to complain about this to Hannah but stop when I notice she's on the phone. She turns around the car to reach me when she sees me looking at her. She has put the person on speaker to hear what she is saying and we can clearly hear her as she yells on the other end.

"If you don't bring your arse in here within the next two minute I'll rip your eyeballs and feed Caroline with it. I don't think I can take any more of Chad bitting his bottom lip and winking at me, I might commit a murder if he gets any closer and I'm going to need you to help me carry his dead body. This will be all your fault," she says with a faint british accent.

I can't help but laugh at the girl's words. She seems even more bothered to be here than I am, and it bothers me a lot. I'm not the type a guy who likes to party, I'd much rather invite a few friends home and spend a nice and calm night than have a bunch of strangers puking in my bathroom.

"Calm down, Drama Queen, we're here. See you inside," Hannah replies before hanging up.

She brushes past me but comes to a stop when she notices I'm still standing next to the car.

"Are you coming or not?" She seems bothered and I don't know if it's with me or the girl. Probably both.

"Who's Caroline?" I ask her when I reach her and she shakes her head.

"My neighbor's snake," she replies with a shrug as she puts her phone back in her pocket.

I stop and look at her with furrowed brows. Who would name a snake Caroline?

"What the-," I start and she shakes her head.

"Oh boy, you don't want to know," she interrupts me and grabs my hand to pull me with her.

We get inside the house and the first thing I see is a girl throwing up in a vase full of roses. Elegant. This is going to be a long night and I'd much rather not be part of it, but here I am.

Hannah grabs my left arm with both her hands and presses her body against mine. Normally, I would put more space between us, I don't really like physical contacts. But there are so many people in here, we are all pressed against each other and Hannah is the type of person who always touches your hand or your arm whenever she talks to you so I don't mind it as much as I used to.

We make our way to the living room not without difficulties and Hannah lets go of my arm to walk up to a petite brunette sitting in the far corner of the room, her eyes locked to the floor as if she was lost in her mind. Even form the far distance separating us, I can tell she's gorgeous. Her brown curly hair frames her beautiful face and I don't even know how she manages to do that but when she looks up to glance around the room and her eyes briefly meet mines, they knock the air out of me.

I follow Hannah until we are standing next to the girl, well she is standing right next to her whereas I stop right behind Hannah. I want to be able to look at her without looking too creepy. That's a creepy thing to think.

She jumps when Hannah puts a hand on her shoulder and a murderous look appears on her beautiful face. If looks could kill, Hannah would collapse on the floor which is stained with beer. Not the best way out, if you'd ask me.

"Caroline is going to have enough meat for the next month," she says, well, yells over the music with a death glare and I'm glad to not be the victim.

Hannah laughs out loud and I just give a small smile. Hannah seems unaffected by the girl's tone like it's a normal reaction from her. Or maybe Hannah always pushes things like she does with me and the girl can't buy her shit anymore.

"Loosen up Hashley, I'm sure deep down you wanted to come," Hannah tells her.

"Oh yes, I'm gonna have a blast watching people choke themselves with their tongue when they kiss and I might even throw a contest of who will puke in the weirdest place possible. Wanna join in? This is going to be terrific," she says sarcastically as she rolls her eyes. "Never in a million year, I would have come if you hadn't told me it was important. So where is the emergency so we can get this over with and go home? But if you ever decide to get wasted, call me so I come and pick you up. I hate you for making me come here but not enough to let you drive," the girl adds as she stands up, straightens her t-shirt and crosses her arms over her chest.

The smile on Hannah's face slowly reduces to become an apologetic one. I almost feel bad for her. Almost. But it's Hannah, she exaggerates everything, that's what makes her funny, most of the time. I'm sure the girl knows that but I don't think she will find this situation very funny. And I'm hoping really hard it doesn't fall back on me, her leaving the party because of Hannah is definitely not going to help me to get to know her.

"I might have exaggerated a bit..." Hannah bits her lips to refrain for smiling but it doesn't work at all, which exasperated the girl even more.

Hashley rolls her eyes and lets out a loud sigh covered by the music. "As usual."

"I wanted you to meet one of my friends," Hannah turns to me with a wide smile and takes my hand.

I don't know why I feel this urge to pull away from her, I don't want this girl to get the wrong idea. As soon as her eyes meet mine her features relax but her eyes grow wide.

"Hashley, this is Aaron. Aaron, this is Hashley, my best friend," Hannah introduces us and I wave at her.

"Oh hi. I- hmm - I'm sorry you heard all of this, I didn't know you were the emergency," she apologizes with an embarrassed look.

"It's fine, I didn't want to come either but Hannah is convincing," I reply and Hashley seems to ease a little.

"Tell me about it," she darts her eyes on Hannah who gives her a wide smile.

Hashley shakes her head, her curls bouncing. She slides a hand through her hair before digging her hands in her pockets and swinging back and forth on her heels.

"You could have made an effort in the clothing department," Hannah nudges her but Hashley takes a step aside to avoid it.

"This is a clean t-shirt, this is my effort," she retorts with a shrug.

I try to contain my laughter as Hannah sighs and shakes her head in desperation. Hashley is wearing a simple white t-shirt tugged in her high-waisted blue jeans and a thin black jacket. Simple yet great on her. On the contrary, Hannah went all out with her red sparkling dress.

There is an awkward silence, well, a silence full a blasting music but still awkward as Hannah is gripping my hand and the girl seems to be looking for the closest way out. I can't blame her, I would do the same if I could take my eyes off of her.

"I'm going to get us something to drink. You want something Hashley?" Hannah turns to Hashley as she breaks the loud silence.

"No, thanks," Hashley replies with a small smile.

"You come with me?" she asks when she faces me.

I briefly look over her shoulder to see Hashley. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes dart to the floor. Am I a good friend or a bastard? Hashley bends a little but immediately straightens back up with her nose crinkled and a disgusted look on her face. A really adorable look on her face.

"I- I'm going to wait for you here," I tell her as I mentally slap and congratulate myself at the same time.

I'm a bastard, but a happy one. Hannah looks disappointed for a second but she quickly smiles at me to hide it. I feel terrible to let her down, I'm so selfish. The other girl hasn't even looked at me for more than ten seconds and here I am abandoning my friend at a party. I'm a delusional bastard.

"Oh, okay. I'll bring you a beer," Hannah says with a wink and she heads for the other end of the room.

"Yeah, thank you," I say but she is already out of my sight.

I hate beer but as much as I like Hannah, I know there is no chance I'm getting to know this girl if she's around. She can be a little possessive with her friends. When did I become such an asshole? I take a few seconds to gather the courage to talk to her, which is totally unlike me. She makes my palms sweaty and mouth dryer than a fricking desert, definitely not attractive.

She doesn't seem to notice my sudden panic as she softly smiles at me. When I finally open my mouth to properly introduce myself, some guy jumping around throws his arm around me while holding his beer with his free hand. His arm circles my neck as he sings the lyrics of the song currently playing at the top of his lungs while jumping. I yank free of the wasted guy, but I somehow manage to make the situation even worse as my shoulder hits his cup and spills it on Hashley.

She gasps, her mouth wide open. There wasn't much left in the cup, but enough to leave a large stain on her left shoulder. The guy hasn't even noticed as he already found a new victim to jump around with. When I look up from the stain, I see Hashley laughing so hard tears are threatening to spill. I can't help but join her and we laugh about the absurdity of what just happened. Once we manage to calm down, I decide I'd rather skip the introduction part and I take a step closer so she can hear me.

"Do you mind if we wait outside? I'm pretty sure the next step is us ending up deaf or covered in someone else's vomit and I certainly don't want to experience that," I tell her and she nods.

I take a step in the direction Hannah and I came in earlier when Hashley puts a hand on my shoulder to hold me back. I look at her and she points at the floor with a disgusted look. I follow her gaze and notice puck all over the floor. That explains her crinkled nose from earlier. She motions towards the back door only a few feet away and I follow her through the crowd. Once we are outside, she takes her jacket off and ties it around her waist.

It's warm for a night of April but there is a cold breeze. I don't offer her my jacket simply because I don't wear one, which I regret now. She doesn't seem to mind the breeze.

"I envy my sister. She's sick with fever and couldn't get out of her bed. I hate this, I never should have agreed to come," She says when we reach the front of the house and she immediately turns towards me with wide eyes.

"Not that I didn't want to meet you. I mean, I didn't know you existed about fifteen minutes ago so if I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known I was supposed to meet you. God, I'm sorry, what I'm saying doesn't make sense," she adds as she covers her face with her hands. "I just think parties are the worst place to get to know someone."

I couldn't agree more, yet I'm happy I agreed on coming to this one.

"Yeah, the music is so loud you can barely hear the other yell and you are interrupted every thirty seconds by a guy either jumping next to you with his arm around your shoulder as if you were pals or by a person throwing up a few feet away. I can't think of a worse place to get to know someone," I tell her and she laughs.

"Hannah really chose badly here. How long have you been dating her?" she asks and I almost choke on my own saliva.

She definitely got the wrong idea.

"Oh no, we're not dating. We're simply friends," I quickly correct her, trying to sound as detached as I can.

"Oh okay. Sorry, it's just that I'm confused she's never mentioned you. No offense, I know Hannah can be quite secretive so don't be mad at her," she says and I shake my head.

"I'm not. She's never mentioned you either so I guess we're even," I tell her and she laughs again. "Hey, do you want to go for a walk? Just to get away from the poor music taste of the DJ. How is it possible it is even louder outside the house?"

"Hm... I don't know..." she says hesitantly as we reach the end of the path leading to the house.

"I swear on my life I won't do anything out of the line," I say with my right hand held up between us.

She laughs but quickly stops to shoot me a suspicious look.

"That's exactly what a murderer or a rapist would say to lure their prey," she furrows her brows and stops walking.

She's completely oblivious to the effect she has on me. I am the prey, I've never felt less confident than I do now and from the speed my heart is beating every time she talks or simply looks my way, I can assure I don't have the upper hand here. She does, yet she doesn't know and it's probably better that way.

"You'll have to take my word for it," I tell her and she shrugs.

"Alright. But I'm warning you: I have a really loud and high pitched scream and I won't hesitate to use it. And I have to be home by one in the morning or my sister will send the whole police department after me if I come home ten minutes late," she complies and we both start walking away from the party.

"Really? She's sick and she's going to stay awake till one a.m.?" I remark and she stares at me with her lips tight.

"Since you promised on your life, I think I can be honest," she says after a few seconds contemplating telling the truth or not. "She took some medicine before I left and she passed out twenty minutes after. She's a heavy sleeper and she has a fever, the combination is probably going to keep her asleep for at least ten more hours."

"Do not share this information with anyone. Who knows, they might be your killer," I point out and she chuckles.

"Yeah, thanks for the tip," she retorts as the corner of her mouth twitches in a smile.

The music slowly fades as we walk farther from the party. We can still hear it resonate but it is no longer bothering us. Silence settles between us, but this time there is nothing awkward about it. It's one of those silence you share with the people you know well, the one that you don't feel like filling with small talk. We walk a few more minutes without saying a word until Hashley breaks it.

"So how long have you been friends with Hannah?" She asks as she looks up from the road to me.

"Almost a year. We met last year during summer break," I answer, trying to remain as elusive as I can. I don't really want her to know we met at a bar where her friend was completely drunk and started hitting on me while I was ending things with my ex-girlfriend. That's also when I noticed people were a lot less attractive when they were drunk.

"Oh really? Where did you meet?" She questions again and I look at her.

The look in her eyes almost pushes me to tell her everything, but I refrain myself for Hannah. She made me swear I would never tell how we met, she was too embarrassed by her behavior.

Her big blue eyes seem to see right into my mind, maybe even my soul. The way she looks at me makes me understand that she is not making small talk, she is genuinely interested in my life. Which is quite disturbing as my heart starts to race at the possibility I'm not the only one who wants to know everything about her.

Elusive, Aaron, elusive.

"In Portland," I answer and look down on the road.

"I remember now!" she exclaims and turns around to walk backward so she can face me. "She invited me and my sister to come with her and her mother for two weeks in Portland but we were flying to London for the summer. Too bad we missed this," she mutters the last sentence but I manage to get it.

Hell yes.

We walk for a couple of hours around the neighborhood until we found a bench a couple of streets away from the house. She's so easy to talk to, I don't remember being this comfortable with someone I've just met ever. I try everything I can to make her laugh. She's so adorable when she does, I want to listen to this sound for the rest of the night if not more.

We mainly talk about music. She seems so passionate about it, I keep asking her questions so I can stare at her the whole time she speaks. The way her eyes lights up even more when she talks about her favorite artists is mesmerizing. She tells me that her favorite artist of all time is her sister, she tells me how much she loves sitting next to her when she plays the piano and all the time she speaks about her, I can see how proud of her she is.

"What are your plans after you graduate high school?" I ask her after she confessed to me she wished she had her sisters talent.

Hashley sighs and looks down at her feet. She starts fidgeting with the hem of her t-shirt and shrugs.

"Do you want to know what I truly want or what everyone expects me to do? Because I can already tell you the second option is the one I'm going to follow," she says in disappointment. I want to take her hand to comfort her but I don't want her to think I'm taking advantage of the empty and dark street to make a move on her.

"Alright, let me rephrase. What do you want to do once you graduated?" I ask again and a crooked smile appears on her face.

"I want to travel. I want to go on a humanitarian trip to South America, then to Europe and Asia and finally to Africa. And then, maybe, I'll go to college," She answers, her eyes still focused on the ground.

"Why can't you do that?" I say with a frown.

"My parents are the reason why. They want my sister and I to enroll in some college in Portland. I didn't even try to talk them out of it. My sister did though, she said she wanted to go study music in Boston. They told her she couldn't live out of a dream. I guess the same applies to me," she tells me and this time, I take her hand in mine.

"You can't let your parents decide. They already live their life, don't let them live yours," I remark as she looks up at me.

"Tell that to overprotective parents," she scoffs and looks away.

A black car passes and honks at us. Hashley chuckles and shakes her head but we both remain silent. We get lost in our own thoughts. We are just two people reflecting on our future and desire. All of a sudden, Hashley turns her head towards me, a panicked look on her face.

"Oh God, Hannah must have been looking for us for hours!" she exclaims and reaches her back pocket to take her phone as I do the same. None of us has received a text from her, but we both sighs