Dedicated to Glamour_G for the support you've given my story! Thank you so much!

"What were the donuts for, exactly?" I asked as I propped my feet up on the desk in front of me. After throwing all of our balloons out the window and watching them explode on the wall of the neighboring building, Mark brought me back to Mr. Roswell's classroom.

He opened the small box that held two donuts in them. "For us to eat. What else would they be for?" He said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's it? I thought they were a part of your genius plan," I explained. He handed me a donut and took a seat beside me.

"Nope." He grinned. "Donuts are just good for the heart and soul. I thought we both needed one."

"Nice," I mumbled before taking a bite of my donut. We chewed our delicious donuts in silence for a few moments, enjoying them.

"Can I ask you something?" I piped up while clumsily wiping sprinkles off of my chin.

Mark raised an eyebrow. "You just did."

"For real, Mark," I deadpanned, pulling my feet off the desk and letting them drop to the floor.

"Okay, fine," he sighed. "What?"

"Why are you and Mr. Roswell so close?" I blurted. "I mean, you just seem to know each other better than a teacher and a student." I remembered wondering on the first day of class why they seemed so close.

Mark grows silent for a minute or two. He chewed on his donut in silence, leaving my question hanging in the air.

"He's my foster father." I almost didn't hear him when he said it. I was too busy staring off into space hoping I hadn't asked the wrong kind of question. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable. Besides, I didn't have many friends. I didn't want to lose one instead of gain one. "He has been since I was fifteen. I owe the guy, so when he noticed my drawing capabilities – even if it was technically vandalism, he put me on the fast track straight to here."

"Wow," I whispered at a loss for words. He noticed and smiled kindly, scratching the back of his head.

"I love it here, I just... I don't know. My mind wasn't mentally prepared for all the things that came with it," he explained. I could tell by the way he was talking that this was an important and touchy subject to him.

"You don't like being tied down? Hate the responsibilities?" I guessed.

"Yeah, kind of. How'd you guess?" He laughed nervously, like his big secret was out now.

"Lucky guess. You just don't seem like the type to stay in one place all the time," I told him.

"I've done a lot of stupid things in my life. Roswell's been nothing but nice to me. I don't get the guy. I would've already strangled me. So, I tried this. For him. But that's the only reason. I'm not really the kind of emotional artist type like everyone else is."

"You're a good person, Mark." I stood up to gather my things so I could leave. "Don't let that part change." I kissed his cheek and started walking toward the door.

"Hey, thanks for today," Mark said as I walked away. I shot him a smile and nodded my head.

"Thank you for today," I replied.

I felt much better than I had the last couple days. Asher didn't make my life worse, he just brought me back down to earth where I had to face life. That was not a bad thing in any way, I just needed to find a way to deal with it better than I had the last couple days. Water balloons just happened to be one way.

When I climbed the stairs to my apartment and found a hooded figure sitting outside my door, I wasn't sure what to think. He sat so casually on the floor, legs stretched out and crossed, hood lifted over his head so you couldn't see his face.

Then I recognized the tattered converses.

"Asher?" I asked, walking up to him. I didn't expect to see him there, especially since our big blow-out the day before.

"Hey, um, sorry for just popping up like this." He pushed his hood back as he stood up, towering over me. His eyes looked tired again and I instantly felt guilty.

"It's okay. Is everything all right?" I hugged myself as I stood there. The small amount of space between us was driving me crazy. I had the urge to tell him what I had just done, that I was close to feeling more comfortable in my own skin, in my own life.

"Not really, I guess. I just wanted to tell you that we put the barn up for sale." He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. "And someone called us, wanting to check it out. The only problem is that all of our stuff is still in it."

"You're really selling it?" I couldn't hide the disappointment in my voice. That was the place I found my second family, my favorite family. It was the place Asher and I become us.

Asher must have sensed the disappointment. "Well, I don't know. They just want to look at it. We have to make it look nice. Ben's not here to help and neither is Brody or Quentin. It's all up to Grayson and me."

"I have a feeling that you and Grayson won't make it any cleaner," I joked. I also knew what I was signing myself up for. "I'm sure Ellie and I could help. I want to, actually. It'd be nice going to see it again."

"You don't have to go." He shook his head, but a small smile stretched across his face. He failed to hide it.

"When are you going down?" I placed my hand on the door knob, ready to walk into the apartment.

"Next week, I think." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Between you and me, I hope they don't buy it."

I smiled and lowered my voice, "Me too."

Asher grinned and walked down the hall, disappearing down the steps. I pushed the door open and found that it was unlocked, but the scene in front made me wish it had been locked and bolted up so even a bomb couldn't open it up.

Having a full-on make out session on our living room couch was my best friend and Grayson. I let out a strangled cry and quickly turned my back to them. It was almost like walking in on your parents, only they were my two best friends.

"Bea!" Ellie squealed, shocked and probably embarrassed.

"Do you know how to knock?" Grayson asked, annoyed. By that time I assumed they had fixed themselves, so I turned to face them and their disgruntled selves.

I placed my hands on my hips. "Sorry, I didn't realize I would need to knock to come into my own apartment." I tried my hardest to keep a straight face, but the longer Ellie and I looked at each other, the less control I had over myself. The two of us burst into guffaws.

Grayson on the other hand was not as amused. He glared at me before crossing his arms over his chest and giving Ellie a stern look. She bit her lip to stop laughing, but of course it didn't last long. She burst into laughter once again and walked over to me. The grin on her face told me everything I needed to know.

This girl was smitten.

She grabbed my arm to keep herself balanced.

"What's so funny, anyway?" He asked in a defensive tone.

"Nothing, nothing." I waved my hands in the air as if to brush it off before looking at my best friend whose head was in the clouds. "Will you excuse us, Grayson?"

He narrowed his eyes at the two of us before walking into the kitchen. "Fine, but make it quick."

I chuckled at his attempt at being serious. I pulled Ellie into my bedroom and shut the door behind us. She plopped down on the bed and stared at the door.

"So? How did that go from zero to one hundred so fast?" I blurted out. Ellie giggled and crossed her legs, leaning back on her hands and hanging her head behind her.

"I have no idea. We were watching Steel Magnolias and I guess I was getting on his nerves because I was quoting everything they said... and he kissed me." Her words were jumbled together, but I figured them all out. I could see how Grayson would get annoyed because I do when I watch that movie with her. Steel Magnolias has always been Ellie's favorite movie. She could probably act the entire thing out by herself.

"Wow." I raised my eyebrows and took a seat next to her.

"What? You don't look that happy about it." Her voice filled with worry.

"No, no!" I assured her. "I'm just shocked. I would've expected you two to be pulling each other's hair out or hanging each other out the window, not that."

"Is he a good person, Bea?" She sounded as if she might have a break down at any second. She was letting her thoughts get to her.

"Grayson has a big heart. I think you'll keep him grounded and he'll do the same for you," I explained truthfully. Grayson had his flaws just like everyone did, but Ellie was the kind of person to grab a situation by the horns and deal with it. She'd be perfect for Grayson, as would he for her.

"Okay. Let's go stop him from burning the apartment down." Ellie laughed as she tugged me back into the kitchen where I watched the two of them dance around like they were on cloud 9.

*****

"Road trip!" Ellie called as she fell onto my bed. The clothes I had neatly packed and ready to place in my duffel bag toppled over from her impact on the bed. I groaned and sent a glare her way. "Sorry."

"How are you so happy?" A yawn interrupted my sentence. I began refolding my clothes and placing them safely in my bag along with my other essentials. Zipping it up, I tossed it onto the ground by my door before laying down beside Ellie.

"I'm excited. You always told me about this barn... How awesome would it be to live in a barn?" She exclaimed. "And just so you know, I didn't live in a barn, I raised animals in one. There's a difference." I laughed at her reference to the saying, were you raised in a barn?

"It's cool, yeah," I told her. "It's probably messy, though, knowing the boys."

There was a comfortable silence that settled between us. My stomach was doing all sorts of flips while I thought about what a trip with just the four us was going to be like. It made me nervous to be around Asher. I told him what I felt, but how could I be so sure? How could anyone say something and fully believe it when all these other things were going through their heads?

So many beliefs were being shoved my way at once.

"Quit over-thinking, Bea," Ellie said softly, pulling me out of my reverie.

"I'm not," I claimed.

"Yes you are," she argued. "You get all quiet when you're thinking. It's just a road trip. We're going to clean a house – technically a barn – but seriously, what could go wrong?" She sat up and looked at me, a smirk slowly spreading across her face. "Or right."

I chuckled and sat up. "Yeah, okay," I said sarcastically. We pushed ourselves up and grabbed our bags to meet the guys for the trip that could possibly go wrong – or possibly go right.

Asher was driving when he pulled up in front of the apartment. Grayson was leaned forward, pressing buttons on the dash that affected the radio. Ellie and I shoved our bags into the trunk of the silver Range Rover. As we climbed into the backseat, the radio continued changing between stations.

"Would you just pick one station, please? I'll make one of the girls sit up here if you can't be a worthy DJ," Asher threatened. Grayson mocked him before settling on a station.

Outside, the snow was still falling. I knew it would be a cold trip, but hopefully it would be worth it.

"So, are you guys ready for a road trip with the best person ever?" Grayson asked with a cheesy grin while pointing his thumbs toward himself. I pulled my headphones out of my pocket and plugged them into my phone, stuffing them in my ears. "Way to be a party pooper, Bea."

"She's not always a morning person," Asher chuckled. I smiled to myself and looked up to see his eyes looking back at me through the mirror. Beside me, Ellie nudged my elbow and wiggled her eyebrows. I just shook my head to dismiss it and turned on my music so it would play softly. Before I knew it, I was asleep.

I woke up an hour later where the first thing I saw was the snow covered hills passing us by. Looking over at Ellie, I found that she was passed out, her arms folded across her chest and she was sunk down into the seat. Grayson sat in the front seat with a pair of headphones in as he played a game on his phone. Some DJ he was.

"Hey, sleepy head," Asher said to me. "I was hoping someone would keep me company."

"Sorry," I apologized. "I didn't realize Grayson was going to be such a sucky friend." He laughed at that and I moved over so that I was sitting in the middle where we could talk better.

"I was going to ask you," he started. "If it was okay if we stopped to see my mom. Dad called me and said she hasn't been doing very well for the past few days."

"Of course," I told him. "I haven't seen them in forever."

"I know Mom really misses you. Every time I go to see her she mentions your name," he informed me, chuckling.

"I miss her too." It was silent for a few moments until a special song came on the radio. American Idiot by Green Day began playing and I smiled brightly at Asher. "I think we need to get these two fired up, don't you?"

And with that, I turned the knob for the volume and quickly covered my ears with my hands. Asher squinted his eyes as if that would help. The best part was that Ellie woke up in a tizzy, looking around like she had just woken up from a nightmare. Grayson, who had been daydreaming, jumped and looked back at me, looking like he might strangle me at any moment.

It was totally worth it.

*****

The barn looked the exact same as when I last saw it. Still red, still old, and still a barn. The inside though, I could not say the same for the inside. Everything was rearranged, and I don't mean that it a good way. Things were thrown all over; clothes were scattered on the furniture, pop cans and beer cans were setting in random places. To make a long description short, it looked like a frat house.

"What happened here?" Ellie gasped, taking in the view. She had hearts in her eyes when she saw the barn at first. I didn't blame her, the place was gorgeous. It's just... boys lived here. That's the only excuse I could come up with.

"I think we had a party the last time we were here," Grayson said, cocking his head to the side. He walked over to a lamp where a piece of lace fabric was dangling. I already knew what it was before he showcased it. "Somebody got it on!"

"Grayson!" Ellie exclaimed, rushing over to him to slap the thong out of his hands. "We call this butt floss," she added.

"Butt floss?" He was completely engrossed in the topic. That was all I heard before I followed Asher into the kitchen to scope out the area.

"So, you think you had a party?" I was genuinely interested in knowing. Did they really get wild enough to forget a party that left this mess? I picked at a few stray pieces of clothing that I recognized one of the boys wearing at some point.

"I remember it, but I couldn't say the same for anyone else." He gave a light chuckle, not taking his eyes off the counter he was cleaning up.

"Why?" There was no subtle way for me to ask.

"I guess I just wasn't... feeling a party," he said, then paused for a moment. "It was the night you and I broke up."

I felt my face heat up. "Oh."

I remembered the phone call we had, a very heated one at that, which ended in the worst possible way. We ended our relationship that night, not realizing just how difficult it would be for either of us to overcome.

"I'm sorry." It was the only thing that I could think of to say.

Asher turned around right after it slipped out of my mouth and opened his, ready to say something. Ellie's loud squeal interrupted him. I hurried into the living room to see Grayson holding his stomach, bent over and laughing, while Ellie tossed the same thong across the room, a disgusted look on her face.

You can only imagine how the rest of my day went.

___________
This was going to end differently, but I decided to do that in the next chapter. I think you're going to love it because #Basher!!!

The picture was found on Tumblr, credit to whoever it belongs to.

I chose the song Here it Goes Again by OK Go because, just imagine it playing in the background as the four of them are cleaning up, telling stupid jokes and throwing disgusting things at each other. It's kinda perfect.

Teaser: Very important pillow talk among Bea and Asher, a visit to Lia and Scott (Asher's parents), and a run-in with an old friend from the first book! I can't wait to post it!