"Dilly bear... you home?"

A disgruntled scoff sounds from my best friends kitchen, informing me that Dylan is in fact home and as usual, is objecting to his nickname which he so openly despises. When I round the corner of his top floor apartment, I'm greeted with a sullen glare, it does little to sway my glee though as I stare at the graduation cap a top his shaggy dark hair.

"I've told you not to call me that about seven thousand times.."

"I'm sorry.. I am," I hold my hands up and smile with a mischievous smirk. "But I can't take that pouty frown seriously when you're wearing that cap on your head."

"You're wearing the same one!" He sighs with exasperation as he puts the OJ back in the fridge.

"Yeah but it looks so cute on you!"

I take a seat on the opposite side of the kitchen island, plucking a croissant off the granite counter top before proceeding to stuff my face.

"Damn Dilly bear, you should just skip culinary school!" I mumble through a full mouth of French delectable goodness. "You already make the best food I've ever tasted."

"Thanks Bea," he smiles sweetly, pushing the plate towards me. "I still have a lot to learn though.. I just can't believe we're graduating already."

He stands across the island from me, staring off into the distance for some time before his eyes meet mine again, noticing my obvious silence.

"How are you feeling?" He asks cautiously, pressing both of his palms flat on the surface, leaning on his outstretched arms. "I mean, I know you're not particularly thrilled about law school, but are you okay?"

I smile sadly, avoiding direct eye contact as I toy with a crumb on the countertop. The fact that I was being forced into a career path that held absolutely no interest to me was just one of the many things that threatened to diminish what should be one of the most exciting days of my academic existence. I didn't even want to open the can of worms that was my mothers very recent diagnosis, but knowing Dylan, he'd bring that up too. Not to hurt me, just to make sure I'm not completely falling apart.

"Hey, when your Dad is the number one lawyer in Manhattan and your guaranteed a high paying job as long as you don't crash and burn in college..." I hold my arms out, palms face up as if to welcome an argument, however the obvious sarcasm in my smile is a major contradiction to my over enthusiasm. "What's there to be sad about, ya know!"

"Maybe you can still back out.." Dylan shrugs his shoulders half heartedly. "Tell him this isn't the path you want to take."

As much as I admire Dylan's support, despite the fact that I know he's only trying to make me feel better, I can't appease his suggestions. We both know that there isn't a chance in hell Kevin Blake would let his daughter become anything other than an upper manhattan attorney.

"It is what it is Dilly," I ignore the pointed look he gives me for the nickname, "if you ever poison anyone when you become a culinary mastermind, you'll have me to bail you out!"

I snap my fingers and ooze as much delirium as I possibly can. Fake it till you make it right?

"Is your.." Dylan falters a little, running a hand through his hair and I know exactly what's coming next. "Is your Mom coming?"

"Nope," I fight the tears that threaten to soak my cheeks, biting the inside of my cheek as I inhale deeply through my nose. "Dad thought it was best not to risk her making a scene."

"She deserves to see you graduate!" He argues, not taking his eyes off me as he walks around the island, approaching me with caution before he wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me to my feet. "She'd wanna be there."

He rests his chin a top my head, letting me safely excrete a few tears into his soft blue dress shirt. I may as well get it out of my system. I clutch the front of his chest, regretting a situation that I had absolutely no control over. I couldn't stop what had happened to Mom five weeks ago, I couldn't take back the doctors words or my father's actions to have her locked away. I couldn't change any of it but I desperately wanted too. I wanted to reverse the damage that had ultimately torn our family apart.

An evil part of me wished it had been my father, a man who I was no longer close with. A man who was forcing me to follow a career path that I had no passion for. Why did it have to be the woman who'd been my best friend from the day I was born?

I take a multitude of deep breaths. Forcing the tears to slow as Dylan strokes the length of my blonde locks, calming me into a steady more stable state, just as heels clacking on the marble floors start to resonate around us.

"Ooh, look at you two!"

Judy Archer, my best friends mother and a woman who I thanked every day for bringing such a gorgeous boy into this world, stands in the entry way, smiling kindly with a camera in hand. Her elegant red, sleeveless dress hugs her incredible frame, gorgeous pearls cascading down her neck. I shrug out of Dylan's comforting embrace, moving a step away and forcing a smile on to my face.

"I can't believe you're graduating!" She squeals excitedly, walking towards us. "I need a picture!"

She reaches out and quickly wipes a stray tear from my cheek, smiling with an unspoken understanding before she pushes Dylan and I closer together. That's what I love about this woman, she's here, she always has been and she always will be, I can count on her for anything. But she always seems to know when to say something and when to show me that she cares, without making me talk about it.
I love her.

"Say Dilly bear!" She chimes, snapping the shutter button.

"Mom!!" Dylan whines as I burst out laughing, curling over in absolute glee and feeling the heavy weight on my chest start to lift.

"Mom, ya know why he hates that nickname, don't you?"

Brecken, Dylan's older brother, slinks into the kitchen, dressed sharply in a charcoal suit and black tie. His chocolate locks are styled messily, much like his brothers and his smug smile, which is permanently etched on his face, exposes his pearly whites. "Because people use the word 'dilly' to refer to Dildos."

"Oh!" Judy gasps, whipping her head towards me. "Is that true!?"

"Technically," I admit sheepishly, feeling Dylan's laughter vibrating from beside me. "But I didn't know that until I started calling him that!"

She rolls her eyes, an amused smile tugging on her lips as she starts to strut out of the room. "We're leaving in five!"

"So it's finally graduation," Brecken saunters towards me, a predatory smile on his face. "Do I get that date now Bea?"

I feel Dylan stiffen beside me and when I turn to look at him, his eyes are darkened, glaring at his older, not as attractive, brother. They haven't always had the most easy going relationship, but when it comes to Brecken's advances on yours truly, things get particularly volatile.

"No Brecken." I sigh, stepping back so his steps don't allow him closer proximity. "I just said that to get you off my back. It's not happening."

His smirk doesn't falter and becomes somewhat infuriating. He'd been attempting to take me out since Dylan had first introduced me to his family, he's only two years older than the two of us, and he'd informed me that when I was eighteen and graduating, I should give him a chance. However, I'm well aware that he's just interested in sex. The multitude of discarded women proves that theory. He'd recently started working for his parents BMW car dealership and he was filling the stereotypical role of sleazy, car salesman so so well.

"Tell you what," he points his finger at me, his eyes darting between Dylan and I. "I'll leave you alone, when you and Dylan finally admit you've got it bad for each other."

My eyes widen, shooting towards Dylan who's face has turned beetroot red and if looks could kill, his brother would be an incinerated corpse right now.

"Shut the hell up Breck," Dylan snarls, moving a little closer towards me. "It's not like that. She's my best friend."

I watch as some sort of silent exchange goes down between the two Archer boys, their eyes locked on one another as Brecken smiles infuriatingly, as if he knows something that he's not saying. Dylan glowers furiously until Brecken finally shrugs and strolls backwards, towards the entry way. "I'll call you, sugar!" He sends me a flirtatious wink before he turns on his heel and disappears.

"Are you okay?" Dylan asks, turning towards me with a look of concern now in place of the undeniable fury that had just been there.

"Of course," I shrug with a light laugh. "It's just Brecken and his usual crap. Meh, nothing I can't handle."

He looks as though he's about to argue, reaching forward and brushing a piece of hair away from my face. "Ready to graduate then?" He asks skeptically, as though I'm too fragile to accept my fate.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

~ ~ ~

I wrote the little note below in 2017 ! Hahah. This story has just been hanging out, waiting for my attention and I finally struck inspiration ! YAS. Also, Ashley never gave up on this book and constantly harassed me to re publish it. Thank you Ashley. Lmao.

The tense will probably change from present to past as I get further in because the first six chapters were done so long ago and now I mostly write in past tense. It's kind of hard to switch between ! Haha. Thank you for joining me here. x

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Hey guys so that's the prologue to my new story. The next chapter will be a seven year jump into the future and there's a lot in store for the characters you've just met.!

I'm not sure when I'll update this story as my other two books are my main priority. But I wanted to get this out while it was fresh in my mind. !