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S E V E N


"WILL THESE BE enough?" Hadley asks Sadie, eyeing the packs of marshmallow and graham crackers littering the counter top.

She tries to make a mental calculation, wondering how many s'mores Dexter and Colin can shovel into their mouths before one of them dies of diabetes. She isn't quite certain she bought enough for all of them.

"Don't worry much about it," Sadie says with a dismissive wave of her hand. "We have pizza, and I'm sure Aanya's bringing more food than necessary. Again."

"You're right," Hadley concedes. She gives the stack of marshmallows another wary glance before finally stowing them in a larger plastic bag, grabbing some of their own shop's chocolate bars to bring with them too.

The door opens and Hadley looks up to see Colin. There's a pinched look on his face and his eyes look around the shop first before zeroing in on Sadie. Hadley raises a brow when she sees the smile on Sadie's face as Colin marches towards them, his strides quick and purposeful.

He stops when he's near enough, and only when he raises the CD case does Hadley bite her lower lip to suppress a laugh, taking a small, precautionary step back.

"What," he practically seethes out, "the fuck is this?"

Sadie gives him a look of mock remorse. "I'm sorry. I honestly thought it was your CD I'd sat on and broke."

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?"

"Well, it's not like you checked either," Sadie points out. "I mean, I know you're not the brightest crayon in the box but..."

"I'm not what?"

"Oh, it's a figure of speech, honey. It means—"

"I know what it means," he nearly growls. "Well, news flash, 'honey'. I got into the same college as you."

Sadie flashes him a sickly sweet smile. "Aren't you just excited? All those days we'll be spending comparing notes, pairing up for assignments, doing homework in the library."

Colin pulls back and gives Sadie one last sour look before turning away, leaning back against the counter with a prominent glower on his face.

Sadie gives Hadley a satisfied look, to which she replies with a smile and a shake of her head. She has long given up on trying to understand why, exactly, Sadie enjoys pissing Colin off this much, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it.

Colin busies himself with some game on his phone, seemingly intent on ignoring Sadie and, apparently, Hadley, so the two girls just continue double-checking the things they'll be bringing to the beach with them.

Dexter left a while ago to buy some pizza and they're waiting for him to come back and for Aanya to arrive (most likely bringing enough snacks to feed a whole army).

They almost always usually meet up at the shop whenever they go out in groups. They say it's because it's close to everything else, but Hadley suspects it's actually because they're looking to get some free candy from her father (which, of course, he'd enthusiastically provided before he and Mom left a couple minutes ago).

Taylor hasn't come home since yesterday. He spends Fridays with his friends and Saturday mornings nursing a hangover. Not that Hadley's complaining. In the two weeks he's been back, she's quickly beginning to remember why she'd looked forward to him moving out for college.

She can hardly believe that she herself is moving out soon, too. She's already been exchanging e-mails with her roommate and she seems nice enough, but even though she was the one who made the conscious decision to not go in the same university Dexter will be going to, she was still completely anxious about the whole thing.

It'll be a lot to take in, and she won't have any of her friends with her to help her adjust, so she's mostly been feeling torn about leaving.

Dexter's probably a lot more worried, though. He's always been protective of his mother and though Adrian, who chose to work and focus on his music instead of going to college, will be there to look out for her, Hadley knows Dexter still isn't all that comfortable about leaving.

Hadley teases him for being a mama's boy, but truth be told, it has always been one of the things she finds endearing about him, especially since he's never tried to deny it.

"When I first introduced you to her," Dexter once told her, "I was scared shitless. I wouldn't have hesitated to throw you out of the house if you hadn't liked her. It's the ultimate deal-breaker."

Hadley adores his mother though. She wouldn't even be surprised if Dexter told her it's the only reason he chose to still be friends with her.

"I got pepperoni and Hawaiian!"

The three of them look up to see Dexter holding two family-sized boxes from Giovanni's. He comes in with a flourish, bright-eyed and loud and hopelessly cheerful.

Hadley likes him best like this.

He walks straight towards the counter and Hadley makes room for the pizza, pushing everything else to the side, and as soon as he sets the boxes down, Hadley reaches over to ruffle his hair.

"Good dog," she says, a smile playing on her lips.

He leans into her touch with a laugh. "Just so you know: I'm only letting that one slide because this feels good."

"You let everything slide when it comes to Hadley," Sadie comments. "She could steal your soul and sell it to the devil and you'd still let it slide."

"That," Dexter protests, pulling away from Hadley's hands to look at Sadie, "is not true."

"Please," Sadie returns. "She broke your heart and you let it slide."

"Well," Dexter huffs, but doesn't say anything else. He glances at Hadley as though he's waiting for her to cut in, an amused smile playing on his lips.

Before she can come up with a response, however, the door opens to reveal Aanya. She waves goodbye to someone outside before turning to them with a smile.

"Hi! I brought some trail mix," she says, raising the plastic bag she was holding for them to see, "but maybe I didn't bring enough..."

"You did," all four of them say in unison. Colin doesn't even have to look up from his phone.

"I guess this leaves Andy," Sadie says and Hadley doesn't miss the glance she sends Dexter's way.

"She'll be here soon," Dexter hastily assures them.

They figure they might as well start loading everything into Colin's pickup truck while they wait. Hadley's stepping out the shop with the s'mores ingredients in hand when she spots Andy half-running towards them, a few strands of her dark hair escaping from its bun.

"Hi," she says, casting a worried glance at Hadley. "Sorry. Did you guys wait long?"

"You're just in time," she replies, offering what she hopes is a reassuring smile. She breathes out a sigh of relief when Dexter steps out behind her, saving her from any further awkwardness.

"Did we get everything?" he asks Hadley, but then he sees Andy and smiles. "Hi!"

Her face immediately relaxes into a wide smile. Hadley turns away, going back to the task at hand. She places the plastic bag in the backseat and waits for everyone else to come out. She locks the shop up while everyone greets Andy hello.

They always use Colin's car when they all go somewhere together, but since there were usually six of them with Henry around, Dexter and Hadley always volunteer to sit in the back outside so they wouldn't have to squeeze themselves in the cramped backseat.

Henry might not be here, but Andy is, and before Hadley can volunteer, Dexter says, "Andy and I can sit in the back." He looks at Andy. "You don't mind, do you?"

"It sounds fun," she replies, giving him an enthusiastic smile.

Dexter doesn't notice, but everyone pauses for a second. Hadley looks down, pretending not to feel Sadie's stare, and before anyone can make a big deal out of it, Hadley opens the car door and gets into the backseat.

Everyone else follows suit, save for Dexter and Andy. Hadley looks out the back window to see Dexter helping Andy up and turns away when Sadie slides in next to her.

"That's a new record," Sadie says, giving Hadley a knowing look. "They're not even going out yet and already, she's breaking Dex-Ley traditions."

Hadley lets out a punctuated breath. "Sade."

"I'm serious. It took the last girl two months."

She knows there's no way to win against Sadie (something Colin apparently still hasn't learned), so she shuts up and looks out the window instead. The engine rumbles to life, and Sadie's still looking at her with that shrewd look on her face.

Hadley tries her best to ignore what Sadie's implying, but she can't help it.

Andy's taking her place too fast, too soon—and the worse thing about it is that there's really nothing Hadley can do about it.

After all, she doesn't deserve to be next to Dexter in the first place.

She never really did.

And that's why she left.

* * * * *

"How're you finding Rivermount so far?" Dexter asks Andy. Colin isn't driving that fast, but he still has to shout a little over the wind to make sure she can hear him.

"Honestly?" She hesitates, but he nods, and she eventually lets out a sigh. "I miss the city."

"But wouldn't you rather spend your summer in a beach town?"

Something flashes in her eyes, but she quickly looks away. Dexter doesn't miss it though. He's spent so much time carefully watching the slightest shifts in Hadley's expressions in an attempt to know how she's feeling, so picking up the changes in Andy's comes almost too easily to him.

"My parents are getting a divorce," Andy says, leaning closer to speak into his ear. Some of her hair brushes against his skin, but he stays still to listen. "That's why Mom decided to go to this whole vacation."

He takes in a sharp breath.

She pulls back back and gives him a weak smile. "That's why," she says, "I miss the city."

Dexter isn't used to consoling people. He never really had to do so with Hadley, which is probably why he'd fucked up so bad when she showed up at his house in tears. Aanya would have known what to say in situations like these and for a second he wishes she was here.

But she isn't, so instead he tries the next best thing.

He shifts a little so that they're almost completely facing each other. "Tell you what," he says, "Spend the summer with me and I'll do my best to make sure you at least enjoy your stay here."

She stares at him for a second, the shock evident on her face, before suddenly dropping her gaze. Dexter can't tell for sure, but he thinks she's blushing, and for some reason, the thought makes him grin.

He nudges her. "What do you say?"

She looks up at him, almost reluctantly, but then she sees the smile on Dexter's face and slowly, she gives him a small, hesitant smile. "Sounds good."

There's something about her that makes Dexter feel at ease. Warm. Maybe it's the fact that things seems simple with her. Less complicated than things were with Hadley. With Hadley, he had to spend most of his time trying to figure her out like a riddle, or a puzzle, or a challenging Physics problem on an exam he's sure to fail.

He doesn't hold it against her. He's used to it—enjoys it, even, knowing he can read her better than other people do—but there's something refreshing about spending time with someone who doesn't feel the need to hide every little thing from him.

They spend the rest of the ride talking, Dexter doing most of it as he acts like a pseudo-tour guide, pointing out places of significance and adding comments like "I could take you there, if you want" every now and then.

It's not a very long ride, and soon enough the truck comes to a stop. There aren't a lot of people on this side of the beach. It's too far from all the concession stands the people around here put up for the tourists, which is why they don't mind driving all the way here whenever they decide to go for a swim.

"You guys all right?" Aanya steps into Dexter's view just as he helps Andy climb down.

"We're good," he replies just as Andy's foot slips.

There's a startled squeal, but Dexter moves fast, his arms snaking around her waist to secure her to him. Her hands are braced against his shoulders, her eyes wide as she looks down at him.

"Got you," he murmurs.

He feels her exhale, taking one hand off him to brush some stray strands away from her face. He lets out a surprised laugh when he sees the relief wash over her face. It's like a bright-colored dye on her, clinging onto every facial feature so that it's difficult for anyone not to see it.

He carefully lowers her, and once she's steady on her feet, she breathes out a "Thank you so much."

One corner of his lips lifts into a smile. "No problem. But don't you think it's too early for you to go falling for me?"

She opens her mouth to say something, but she ends up smiling instead so she shuts it and, once again, bites her lower lip instead. She looks away with a shake of her head and Dexter can't stop the grin from growing on his face.

When he looks up, he notices everyone looking at them. He clears his throat and ignores them, making a show of taking a plastic bag and suggesting they should go and set things up.

It doesn't take them more than ten minutes to get a steady fire going down by the shore. They huddle around it and open the box of pizza. They all take slices of their own, and soon enough, Colin starts passing around the cans of beer he'd probably taken from their grocery store.

Colin's family owns one of the two grocery stores in town, which means he's probably richest among them.

It also means they rely on him to get the booze.

Dexter sits next to Andy. He'd usually sit with Hadley, but when he patted the spot next to him in a silent offer for her to take it, she shook her head and went to sit between Sadie and Aanya. Not that that's anything new. She once told him she prefers making herself scarce when he's with other girls.

"Girls get jealous easily," she said when he asked her why, "I'd rather not get myself into any drama with them."

"But it's not like there's anything between us."

"Yeah. Try telling them that."

He refused to understand this logic at first though. He wanted her to get along with his girlfriends too. Only when Sadie insisted that that's never going to happen did he let it go. (When it comes to Sadie, you really just have to let anything go.)

"Dex?"

His eyes snap to Andy's. "Yeah?"

She smiles, just a little, and says, "Thank you."

The shifting light from the fire makes the shadows on her face dance and her eyes flicker in the darkness. She'd shaken her hair out of her bun so that it falls in waves around her shoulders. He's always thought of her as cute up until then, with all those animated expressions of hers.

Like this, however, she looks more like a painting, one he wants to steal and keep all to himself.

"You're welcome," he tells her, then, more playfully, he adds, "Besides, I don't think I'd mind spending time with you all that much."

"I mean it."

She catches his eyes, and when their gazes lock, his smile softens. "Me, too."

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