Krystina.

2 months later

"This is a big step, isn't it?" Savannah asks as I make lunch in the kitchen.

I nod my head, before shaking it. "Not really, no. I mean in some ways I guess it's a big step, but it's not that deep. It's just a parent teacher conference. If you can even call it that." I tell her, rolling out the dough for the pizzas we're going to have.

Savannah walks around the counter to sit on the other side of the island, facing me. "Well yeah, but it's the parent teacher conference that you usually attend alone." She says, putting emphasis on the word ' alone'.

"Well," I say as I walk to the refrigerator to retrieve the tomato sauce, " I guess I won't be attending them alone anymore . "

"Hmmm." She smirks, before standing and walking over to where I am. "Speaking of alone, what happened last night? " She asks in a conspiratorial voice.

I freeze for a moment, before quickly trying to regain my composure. But it's in vain. She saw the slip.

I feign ignorance anyway. "What are you talking about?"

Her smirk grows wider. "Really? You're going to play that card? On me?" She says.

"Savannah," I say as I add the finishing touches to the pizzas, trying to look as engrossed in my task as possible, "I honestly have no idea what it is that you're referring to, or insinuating." I deadpan.

"Ohh!" She laughs maniacally. "I'm referring to last night, after Bryan left for his sleepover. I asked you if you wanted to maybe have some girl time, and you told me, and I quote: "No. I think I need some alone time, tonight." You remember saying that, don't you? "

Grinding my teeth together, I grudgingly nod my head. "Yes, I remember."

"Good." She smile triumphantly. "Anyways, after you said that I went over to my place, and Kyle and I decided to have a movie-marathon. Halfway through, I decided that I wanted to watch Moana, and after searching for it for 15 minutes, I remembered the you came and borrowed it last week." She says, slowly moving closer, and closer toward me.

She smirks, noticing the looks of mortification and irritation on my face. "So I went over to your place, and when I didn't see the movie in the living room, I knew the only other place it could be, was in your bedroom. So, I went up the stairs, and knocked three times. Three. When you didn't answer, I thought you might be asleep. So, I opened the door. And do you know what I saw?" She whispers, leaning in close.

I stare at her quietly, knowing exactly where this is going.

"I saw absolutely nothing. Your room was empty." She says. "So I looked outside to see if your car was still here, and lo and behold, there's another car parked by yours in the driveway."

"So, Krystina, darling," she continues, " my dearest bestest friend, who I know would never, ever hold out on me, what happened last night? "

I clear my throat, attempting to piece together my thoughts. "It's nothing like you're thinking, Sav. I was in bed alone last night, then Stephen called and said he needed to talk to me. So we sat in the backyard, and talked. That's all." I tell her, shrugging nonchalantly, and making my way out of the kitchen.

Savannah's eyes glint mischievously. "Really, now? And what was it about this 'talk' that made you deem it necessary to wear your brand new Fashion Nova satin romper and heels." She says, causing me to stop in my tracks.

I turn around towards her, shocked. "You were spying on me?" I ask incredulously.

She shrugs, "I wouldn't have had to spy, if you didn't lie." She says in a sugar sweet voice. "I'm just saying, from my vantage point at least, that this 'talk' looked a lot more like a date to me." She says. "Especially that good night kiss on the cheek."

I roll my eyes, and start to make my way back towards her. "You're a pain in the ass, you know."

She laughs. "No need to sweet talk me, dear. I'm all ears."

I stare her down for a moment, knowing that it won't deter her in the slightest.

"I want all the juicy details. Now. " She says.

"Well, you're going to be sorely disappointed. There aren't any juicy details. We just talked." I tell her as I set the oven.

She gives me a hard look.

After the awkward dinner with his entire family, Stephen and I decided to try and "befriend" each other again. We've gone out two to three times a month for the past 2 months. We're not dating, or anything. Just trying to get to know each other again.

Now, is there some serious flirting going on during these outings? Yes.

Is it becoming more and more obvious that both Stephen and I seem to have romantic inclinations toward one another? Again, yes.

However, we haven't yet had the awkward "what are we doing" conversation, nor have we verbally uttered a word about our feelings. We always end the outing with a simple "I had a great time" and a kiss of the cheek.

A kiss that I will admit has moved closer and closer towards his always supple and never chapped lips over the past few weeks.

But Sav doesn't need to know all that.

"We talked about seeing each other more, and taking Bryan on some family outings. We've hung out casually a few times in the last few weeks, and he wants to do it more often. He also wants to hang out with Bryan after the conference. Okay? Now stop badgering me, woman."

"Awwww. He wants to be a cute little family." Savannah replies as she grins at me.

I roll my eyes, amused, as I leave the kitchen.

___________________

"Is this weird for you?" Stephen asks as he pulls up to the school.

I turn to him in my seat. "A bit, and only because I'm used to just going by myself." I answer truthfully.

He nods his head as he lets out a nervous breath. "This is a bit weird for me. I didn't even know preschools had parent teacher conferences."

And the way he says it, combined with his slightly overwhelmed look, causes me to fall into a fit of laughter.

Stephen looks my way unamused, causing me to laugh even harder.

"It's really not that funny." He says as he gets out of the car.

When he comes over to open the door, I halt him before he can start to walk towards the building.

I pull him close and smooth out the baby blue polo shirt he's wearing with a pair of plain dark jeans. His casual look.

"Stephen, it's just a meeting. There's literally nothing for you to be nervous about. He's a preschooler. All they do is count and color. It's no big deal." I say, trying to ease his nerves.

I grab him by the back of the neck, and turn his face towards mine, forcing him to meet my eyes. "Okay?" I ask, looking into his caramel colored gaze, trying to convey a sense of ease to him.

He holds my gaze and visibly relaxes, but makes no move to break our embrace. He looks into my eyes before his gaze slowly starts to move lower, and lower, and lower, until it lands on my lips.

Sensing his thoughts, I turn my head to break our gaze and hopefully turn down the heat a few degrees.

He meets my gaze once again, and I send him a small smile. "We need to get inside." I tell him.

He nods, removes my hand from the back of his neck, and kisses it sweetly before intertwining our arms and walking towards the school.

_______________________________________

Good lordt.

I've been writing this chapter since July, which is crazy since its still trash. :(

I needed someway to transition past all of that other stuff, and now that we've moved forward, the ball is-a-back-rolling.

Anyway, I'm going on break at the end of the week, and the Wi-Fi at home is GARBAGE. Bad for me, good for those who like this story, because there's not gonna be anything for me to do except watch the baby bro, and write. Serves me right for this long hiatus.

As always, thank you guys for your continued support and patience.

Let's get this thing started off with 100 votes before the next chapter? Great.

TTYL.

*Also my insta feed is kinda boring right now, so if you guys want to drop your insta/Snapchat names down below, feel free to do so!*