I couldn't help the smile that bloomed on my face from Chase's words, although they didn't make sense in the slightest.

I looked up at him, looking for a trace of a laugh, a clue that he was making fun of me. His face didn't hold a laugh, however, it didn't even hold a smile. He looked completely serious.

"You've been waiting for me, huh?" I joked with him, expecting him to break his serious look.

He didn't. He only looked down, his eyes felt like lasers the way I felt them on my face. Chase shook his head, just slightly, and his hands slowly wrapped around my waist.

"Yes, Indie," Chase told me, "I've been waiting for you."

My chest was on fire from the way he could light me up with his simple speech and touch. I felt like I was about to float away with how light he made me feel.

And considering that I've felt so heavy lately I could have sworn I was about to sink at any moment, that was saying something.

"I hope I was worth the wait," I let out, only faintly aware of the fact I had been silent for a moment, the two of us simply staring at each other.

Finally, Chase's face changed from his serious expression. A small grin came to his face, as if I had said something funny. Like an inside joke that I wasn't a part of.

"You have no idea," Chase muttered, and his grip around my waist became tighter.

He pulled me closer to him, and I immediately tilted my head upwards, knowing what was coming. I wasn't disappointed as his lips found mine, but it wasn't a simple peck like I had planted on him earlier. No, it was like our kiss in his bed last night. The pressure was strong enough to take my breath away.

"Are you guys coming or did you plan on eating each other's faces for lunch?" Asher's voice rang through the air, accompanied by Bella's laugh.

I smiled, our lips still pressed together. Chase pulled his head back, a small laugh leaving his own lips. He still looked at me, however, his eyes running over my face, like he didn't want to take his eyes off me for even a second.

"Shall we?" I asked, grabbing his hands that were still wrapped around my waist. I pulled them away, so I could separate myself from him.

He didn't let me. His hands did leave my waist, but his right arm snaked across my shoulder, pulling me into his side as we began to walk towards Asher and Bella, who were waiting for us at the door to Grady's.

I met Bella's eyes, she looked like a proud mother watching their kid's first dance recital. I stuck my tongue out at her, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

Chase's arm didn't leave my shoulders while we ordered, he kept me pulled close to him. Close enough that I was blanketed in his smell, his cologne mixed with cigarette smoke. I wondered how it was possible he still carried that smell, yet I had never seen him smoke.

"So," Asher started, once we were seated at a table. It felt foreign, because from all the times we had been here, we had only ever sat at one table, and it wasn't this one.

Asher had one of his hands on Bella's thigh, and he was wearing a grin that was similar to Chase's. I knew by the way his eyes constantly moved back to Bella, he was loving every second with her.

"So," I mimicked, taking a sip of my drink. "How did you guys find this place? I could have sworn this place was our little secret."

I looked at Chase who sat beside me, his eyes met Asher's. He gave him a knowing glance that left me wondering what it meant.

"This place is hardly a secret," Chase finally said, flicking his eyes towards me. He looked like he was hesitating before he spoke, like he had more to tell but didn't want those words to leave his lips. "We've been coming here for years."

"What?" Bella said. "No way, we came here all the time. We would have ran into you."

"Bella, doll," Asher said, causing Bella to roll her eyes at the nickname. "Do you think it's possible that you simply didn't notice anyone in life, except for Indie and..."

Asher let his voice trail off, not saying her name. It didn't matter, we all knew who he was referring to.

Chase cleared his throat, no doubt he could feel the way the mood at the table took a nose dive. "We've seen you guys here before. You used to sit at that table," he pointed to the table in the far right corner, the table I had just been thinking about.

He was right, that's where we used to sit when we came here. I racked my brain, wondering how it was possible we had been in the same coffee shop as the boys, especially one as small as Grady's.

"Oh," I said, feeling bad.

"It's fine," Chase smiled at me, his hand reaching out to gently stroke my arm.

"The real question is why you two never came and spoke to us," Bella interjected, leaning back against her seat and looking between the two boys. "Didn't like what you saw until you were forced to work with Indie on the project, huh?"

Asher and Chase both looked at each other, a humoured look on their faces. They looked like they wanted to burst out in laughter but were restraining themselves.

"I don't think you realize," Asher finally said, shaking his head. "You must not realize."

"Realize what?" I asked, confused.

"It's like you three had a force field around you," Chase explained, taking a bite of his food. "Like you three were over there, completely separate from the rest of the world, and everyone else was over here."

"That's not true," I argued, shaking my head in return. "We were in the same world as everyone else."

"Were you?" Asher asked, causing me to fall silent.

I looked at Bella, she had the same look on her face that I assumed I was wearing. We were both thinking back to life before we knew the boys, to when Isla was still here.

Maybe... maybe we had created our own little world around each other, but we didn't notice because the world was so great that we didn't need to notice.

"It doesn't matter anyways," Asher continued. "Thanks to that photography teacher, here we are."

"Yeah, but do you think if that didn't happen, we wouldn't have found our way to each other?" Bella asked him, but I think she was asking all of us equally.

We were all silent, as though we were evaluating the circumstances.

"No," Chase said suddenly, "I don't think so."

"I think we would have," I told them, shrugging. "Everything..."

I let my words trail off, stopping the sentence before it was formed. I was about to say everything that is meant to be, will be, something my mom used to say to me, but the words felt wrong on my lips. I wasn't quite sure why they felt wrong, but I'm positive it had something to do with the fact that Isla wasn't sitting here with us.

"Hey," Chase's voice snapped me from my thoughts. I felt his hand land on my thigh, gently rubbing against the skin, bringing me back to reality. "You okay?"

I nodded, refocusing my eyes. They were all looking at me, concern on their faces. Bella's face though, it also held understanding.

"I'm fine," I told him, "it's fine."

I felt rocked by the changing of my emotions. Last night I had felt so happy, and this morning so devastated. Then at school I had felt like a puppy in love, and now I was contemplated what fate had to do with my best friend being dead.

Maybe grief isn't only the wave they say it is. Maybe it's a roller coaster too.

"Speaking of photography," Bella shifted the focus from me, thankfully. "How's your project going?"

I looked towards Chase, knowing I didn't have much to offer. I was thankful that he had taken the lead on the project, because without him I'd be lost.

"It's going good, I think," he told her. "We're almost done. We have to submit it this week."

"Already?" I asked him, wondering where the days had gone. "How many more shots do we have left to take?"

"A few," Chase said, he looked like he was counting in his mind. "Maybe four."

"Should we work on it tonight?" I asked him.

"You can't have Chase tonight, sweetheart," Asher let out instantly. They were talking with their eyes again, the two boys.

"Oh," I mumbled, feeling disappointed that Chase had other plans.

"Why, what are you two up to?" Bella asked them, glancing between the two curiously.

Chase curtly shook his head at Asher, his eyes narrowing. Asher only looked back at him for moment, before he grinned.

"We have a show tonight," he said, Chase sighing in protest. "You should come, both of you."

"A show?" My eyebrow arched, I tried to catch Chase's eye, but he was staring at Asher like he wanted to kill him.

"Mhm," Asher hummed, "a show at the hole."

"You're telling me I almost missed seeing you play the guitar again?" Bella asked Asher, causing me to laugh.

"Yeah, why are we the last to know?" I asked them, looking at Chase in particular.

"Yeah," Asher widened his eyes at Chase in an exaggerated way. "Why is Indie the last one to know, Chase?"

Chase clenched his jaw, clearly Asher was not supposed to let this information out.

"We'll be there," Bella answered for both of us.

Asher raised his eyebrows at Chase at Bella's words, as if he was daring him to say something. Finally, Chase broke their stare, looking back towards me. He looked hesitant, like he wasn't sure what to say.

"You really want to come?" He asked me, and I wondered why he even had to ask.

"Yeah, Chase," I answered, grabbing his hand. "I do."