present

ALICE.

After our short conversation, I found myself gazing out the window again, letting my mind wander. I started to think about how everything used to be so different. He used to be so different.

**

"Alice?" Austin called, walking into our shared apartment at the time.

"Yeah?" I called back from the bedroom.

I heard footsteps moving towards me, and I turned around to see Austin holding a box of chocolates, leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom.

"I may or may not have gotten you a present," Austin murmured with a soft smile.

I giggled and ran up to him, crushing him in a hug. I kissed him as I took hold of the box of chocolates. I pulled out of the kiss and twirled around with the box of chocolates.

"You got me my favorite," I exclaimed, giggling as I kissed the box of chocolates.

"Of course," Austin murmured with a huge smile. "I know how much you love Dove, baby. Sometimes I think you love it more than me," he mumbled with a pout.

I kissed him again, causing a small smile to form upon his face.

"You know that's not true," I said, smirking and winking at him. I popped one of the chocolates in my mouth and sighed in content.

He smirked and tried taking a chocolate from the box, causing me to move the box away from him.

"Hey," he exclaimed as he laughed, trying to grab the box of chocolates. I kept twirling around and moving away from him so he couldn't reach it.

"You'll have to catch me," I exclaimed, darting out of the bedroom and running towards the kitchen.

He ran after me and we met at the counter, him being on the other side of it. When I would go left, he would follow, both of us trying to catch the other off guard. Finally, I decided to sprint to my right, only for him to catch me and pick me up.

"No!" I giggled, holding the box above both of our heads.

"I just want one," he exclaimed, trying to reach the box with his freehand.

I took another chocolate from the box and was about to put it in my mouth, but he grabbed it with his freehand and ate it.

He sighed in content at the flavor, relishing in his victory.

"Now I know why that's your favorite," he sighed, his eyes closed in pleasure.

I giggled and popped another one in my mouth, sighing just as he had.

The two of us stared at each other for a few moments before he spoke up.

"Just one more," he pleaded, a sad expression on his face with an eyebrow raised.

"No!" I exclaimed, giggling as I held the box up once again.

He laughed as he twirled the two of us around, continuously reaching up to grasp the box.

"Please," he whined, setting me down on the counter.

I smirked as I took a bite of another chocolate, causing him to pout. I handed him the chocolate I had taken a bite out of and he ate it, smiling at the flavor.

The two of us looked into each other's eyes for quite some time, relishing in the moment. Our love for each other passing between each other like a wavelength that only we were connected to, and it was perfect.

He pulled something out of his pocket as he said, "I got something else for you today too."

He held a small navy blue box in front of me. A hand covered my mouth as I set the box of chocolates down on the counter, a huge and shocked smile plastered on my face.

He took a deep breath before asking me the question that I would always and forever regret answering.

"Marry me?"

"Yes."

**

I sighed as I looked out the plane window, trying to divert my thoughts from him. Things used to be so easy when it came to us. We were two fun, loving people who did dumb shit together and got away with it. We loved each other, or that's how it used to be.

I looked in the reflection of the window to see Sebastian hitting his phone screen rapidly. I turned around to see he was playing a game on his phone, one that looked quite easy but also quite addictive.

"Fuck," he grumbled, unhappy with what happened within his little game world.

"Someone's grumpy," I mumbled, my eyes meeting his but my face not completely looking at him.

He smiled and shook his head. "I just get addicted to things too easily," he mumbled. "And I get frustrated too easily," he confessed.

"You seem perfectly fine to me," I sighed, referencing my experiences with Austin to my time with him. Austin and Sebastian, from what I could tell so far, were nothing alike at all. Austin was very easily frustrated, making him very violent. Sebastian, on the other hand, seemed quite innocent when he was frustrated.

"Perfect is the complete opposite word to describe me," he said, flashing me a kind and quick smile before going back to his game.

I peered over at his phone to notice he was playing a game which involved a ball bouncing and going through holes in these circular platforms. He avoided the oddly colored parts of the platforms for quite awhile, only to meet his death when he accidentally landed on one of them.

"Goddammit," he grumbled, running a hand through is hair. "I fucking hate this game."

"What game is it?" I wandered aloud.

"Something my friend told me to get, uh, Helix Jump," he mumbled, once again going back to his game.

"Can I try?" I squeaked out, desperately wanting to beat the level that he couldn't.

"Sure," he sighed as he once again died. He handed me his phone and I began to do what I saw him doing.

After a few short moments of my attention being completely devoted to this game, I beat the level.

"Haha," I laughed sarcastically, handing him back his phone.

He rolled his eyes before flashing me a smirk. "I guess you're better with balls than I am," he murmured.

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "Pervert," I murmured back, causing him to chuckle.

"I was just making a joke. I apologize," he laughed as he held his hands up in surrender.

"I'll let it slide," I mumbled, flashing him a smile. "This time."

He smiled and set his phone down in his lap, ignoring the bouncing ball until his screen went black.

"Got any addicting and frustrating games on your phone?" He asked.

I flashed him a soft smile before I mumbled, "I would have to have a functional phone in order to get these so called 'addicting games' you're speaking of."

He raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?" He wondered aloud.

I shook my head. "No SIM card," I murmured.

"Why?" He asked, one eyebrow raised.

I sighed and closed my eyes. "Just too much bullshit going on." Another lie..well, not completely. Bullshit was the correct and also incorrect term to use. I didn't need Austin searching my location. I didn't need him or his friends finding me. That's why before I left, I went to the nearest twenty-four hour bank and got as much as money as I could so I wouldn't have to use my credit card.

He nodded his head in understanding. "I get what you mean," he sighed. "I've had to do it before too. Just," he murmured and waved his hand around. "Too many people and bullshit blowing my phone up."

I smiled softly and twisted the bracelet on my wrist. "Yeah. Something like that," I murmured.

He smiled and went back to tapping on his phone while pulling out a pair of earbuds from his pocket.

"Wanna listen with me? Since you don't have a phone technically," he murmured, an eyebrow raised.

I hesitated before answering in almost a whisper, "Sure."

He smiled and handed me the earbud, prompting me to put it in my ear.

"Have any preferences?" He asked as he scrolled through his Spotify playlist.

I shook my head. "Anything you want to listen to is fine," I murmured.

He pressed the shuffle key on his playlist and "This is How I Disappear" began playing by My Chemical Romance.

"Is this ok? I can change it," he asked as he bit his lip.

I nodded my head and sighed, closing my eyes as I leaned my head back against the seat. "This is perfect," I murmured. This song brought back a few memories, and all of them were fairly good. All the memories that flowed through my mind were about him.

They were about Billy.

(also im probably going to keep updating the cast of this as new characters come along- like Billy is portrayed by Dane DeHaan now and so on and so forth)