I hadn't spoken with Theo in a week. No calls, no texts... nothing.

It had almost been four months since he'd moved away, and I knew that it was inevitable for us to lose contact at some point. I had always feared it.

On some level, I thanked my busy schedule as it kept my mind away from him and our loss of contact.

I sent him a message before I headed off to work.

To: Theo: Frosty misses you x

Even now, after work and in the evening, when Linda and I were finishing up decorating at my house, I still hadn't received any kind of reply.

I had kept as far away from news of him as possible as not to torture myself, so I had no idea what he was even up to.

In a few hours, guests would start arriving and finally, Elliot, whom we were planning on surprising for his birthday today.

Both Linda and I had been avoiding him at the hospital today, wanting him to think we had completely forgotten what day today was.

"I have the alcohol ready," I checked it off the small to-do list I had on my phone.

"Great," Linda called from the living room, "I'm working on the lights!"

I sat down at the island table and looked through my messages.

I opened up my chat with Theo. My brows furrowed and confusion set in, when I realised he had read the message without having replied.

I debated on if I should send him another message, or maybe even call him, before guests would start arriving, but decided not to.

Everything about him living so far away was painful to me, especially now when we barely talked anymore. I should have asked him about that Spanish model when it first started circulating, because now it really felt like he had found someone else.

"Lettie, is everything okay?" Linda popped into the kitchen, looking beautiful in a black sequinned dress.

I gave her a small smile and was about to reply with the truth, until the doorbell rang.

"I'm fine," I decided to just tell her, before getting up and rushing past her to open the door.

__

"This will be the best movie night ever!" I told Elliot with a bright grin, leading him up towards the front door of my house.

Our friends were inside, the lights off so it would be even more of a surprise. I also had on a jacket, which hid my colourful and sparkly top. I had on simple, high-waisted, black skinny jeans, which really could pass for everyday use.

Elliot clearly had no idea, and my excitement for the surprise overpowered my worries concerning Theo and me.

"I like what you've done with your hair," he cleared his throat almost nervously, and I sent him a wide smile over my shoulder.

"I've just curled it a little," I shrugged, still not letting on that we were all very aware of it being his birthday.

"You look beautiful," his tone was more sincere than I would maybe have liked it to be.

"Thank you," I gave him a smaller smile, slowing down to a stop once we reached my front door.

I began fishing for my keys from the pocket of my jacket, while he stood next to me. From the corner of my eye, I could see him shifting on his feet and scratching the back of his neck.

There was no reason for him to be nervous, was there? He thought this would only be a simple movie night at mine, just him and me... oh, no. My smile faded. He couldn't, could he?

I opened the door and stepped inside first, preparing to turn on the lights once he had also stepped inside.

"Look, I know you're together with Theo Black, but I can't—" he had begun in a quiet tone, and I froze, obtaining a very good guess where he was going with that.

I quickly turned on the lights before he could continue, and a loud 'SURPRISE' was yelled by the mass of people standing in my living room.

With a small smile, I closed the front door behind us and took in Elliot's extremely surprised expression.

"Holy shit," he breathed out, eyes wide, a laugh slipping his lips as he got over the initial shock, "how— what?"

"Happy birthday!" His best friend, Mickey, neared him first with a big hug.

__

"I can't believe you did this for me," Elliot was smiling widely, speaking over the loud music and chatter which filled my downstairs, "how did you know to invite my friends as well?"

I sipped my drink and shrugged, "Linda's amazing at stalking people online. She found Mickey, and got him in on the surprise."

"That's incredible!"

"You deserve it. You've had a rough start at the hospital, we wanted to remind you how cool us nurses can me," I nudged him in a friendly way and gave him a smile.

"You're amazing, Scarlett..." suddenly us being alone in my kitchen began growing awkward for me.

My smile turned tightlipped, "there was many of us organising this, Elliot, I just provided the place and alcohol."

"It's still so kind of you. I- Scarlett, can we go outside for a moment?" He was inching closer to me, and my smile faded.

It was later during the night and, even with a proper amount of alcohol in me, I knew it wouldn't lead to anything good.

"We really should get back to the living room," I cleared my throat, holding my glass close to my front.

His eyes studied mine for a moment, before he nodded.

I felt as if I basically rushed in to my living room right after, where everyone else was chatting, dancing and having a good time.

I scanned around to find Linda. She was sitting on the couch with Cherry, Elise and Emma.

"Hey," I sat down between Cherry and Linda, huffing out a breath before taking yet another sip of my drink.

"This party is such a success!" Cherry grinned happily, "Elliot must be so happy!"

"Yeah... he is," I nodded, brushing the subject off.

"What's up?" Linda nudged me gently, but I just shook my head.

"I'll tell you later, I just—"

"Lettie!" I looked up at the sound of Red's excited voice, "you're dancing with me."

He extended his hand out for me, and I raised my brows at him, "huh?"

"Come on, girly," he chuckled and tugged me up.

__

I was a giggly mess by the time it was well past midnight, almost three AM.

"No, no, don't go yet," I was shaking my head at Elise and Linda who were the last ones – who weren't staying the night at mine – to leave.

"We'll see on Monday," Elise hugged me, "I'm joining you two for lunch."

"That's nice," I gave her a smile once we pulled back.

"You'll be fine?" Linda raised her brows at me.

I nodded, "yes, of course."

We said bye, and I closed the front door. I jumped when I turned around and found Elliot standing there.

"Can I stay the night?" He asked. We'd both had a bit to drink, and I had managed to let his awkward behaviour toward me pass.

I smiled and gave him a nod, "sure. You and Emma need to help me clean up in the morning though..."

"Of course," he grinned, "I still can't believe you'd go to all this effort for me."

"Linda and Mickey did more than I did, not that it's a competition, or anything..." I waved my hand around.

I slipped my heels off, knowing tiredness wasn't a good addition to the alcohol already in my veins.

"Thank you," Elliot took me aback completely by pulling me in for a hug.

"Oh... it's no problem..." I cleared my throat and hesitantly hugged him back, "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"I really did," he pulled back with a gentle smile, not taking a step back from me. I felt his hands pull back from the hug, not missing to glide over my hips in the process.

His action immediately made me take a step back.

"I'll go make the guest bed for you, okay?" I avoided his eyes and began walking towards the stairs.

There were glasses everywhere, and also decorations, which I would spend tomorrow cleaning up. I knew I'd also have a hangover.

"Scarlett! I'm going to sleep!" Emma called from my bedroom.

I sighed after a small stumble, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep.

"Hey, I'll take care of the bed," I heard Elliot nearing me as I began ascending the staircase, "you go to sleep."

"Are you sure?" I glanced back at him, "I can show you where the covers are..."

He shook his head, a faint smile on his lips, "I'll manage, thank you."

We arrived at the top of the stairs, and I turned to him.

"Look, Elliot..." I began awkwardly, "me helping to arrange this party for you doesn't mean that I— you're a great friend, alright? Nothing more..."

He studied me for a moment in the dimness, and I hoped he'd understand what I was getting at.

"I know what you mean. You're a great friend too," he replied understandingly, seeming a tad disappointed.

I gave him a smile, "good night."

"Night, Scarlett," despite what I'd just tried to message through to him, he leaned in and kissed my cheek, before turning to walk towards the guest bedroom.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and turned to walk into my room, where Emma was already cuddled up in my bed.

After removing my make up and changing into pyjama bottoms and Theo's hoodie, exhaustion had me almost rushing towards the bed.

"Good night, Em," I reached to cuddle her, and received a soft murmur in reply.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I reached for it.

From: Theo: She won't have to, for long xx

I was too tired and tipsy to start wondering what he meant by that, and instead sent him a heart emoji and let myself fall asleep.