SHE WAS RUNNING AWAY from him. Mateo sat baffled on the floor for a second, staring at her retreating back, before jumping up and chasing after her.

"Gabriela!" he yelled," wait!"

Shit. Had he jumped the gun after all? But she had tried to kiss him! Perhaps he had misunderstood -

"Fuck it," he whispered under his breath then, shaking his head as if to shake the thoughts out.

No use pondering about it. The only one who could give him a clear answer to all his questions was running in front of him after all. She was fast though. Where he got stuck in the crowd she managed to slip between the people and keep running, causing the distance between them to grow.

"Hey, Mateo," a guy grinned," what are you doing here?"

"Chasing Cinderella, apparently," he sighed.

His friend looked confused, but Mateo left him behind then as he just pushed a few people out of the way and started sprinting. They were down to the first floor now, but when he reached the end of the last stairway and looked around, he couldn't find her.

"There he is!" Chase called out, his voice slurring," the man, the myth, the legend. Come over here, dude!"

Mateo rushed over to him, grabbing him by his shoulders.

"Chase," he said urgently," have you seen Gabriela?"

"No clue," Chase said," why? Are you finally going to confess your undying love to her?"

When Mateo didn't reply, Chase's eyes widened.

"Wait," he said," have you already done it?" He flashed his teeth then in a bright grin. "Mateo Martinez, you scoundrel!"

"We'll talk about that later," Mateo said," I need to find her first."

"Did she run away from you or something?" Chase chuckled.

Mateo raised an eyebrow and Chase's hand flew in front of his mouth.

"Jesus," he said," I'm on a roll! Let me predict more -"

"I will hit you," Mateo warned.

"Okay, fine," Chase said," I'll help you, my courageous friend, out of the kindness of my heart." He looked around then. "I'm guessing Penelope knows where she is, so let's find her."

"How would she know where Gabriela is?" Mateo frowned," she was with me until just now."

"Dude," Chase said as he slung his arm around Mateo's shoulders," you're still young and inexperienced, I see. Women always know where their friends are, it's some kind of inbuilt GPS or something."

They started walking and Mateo shrugged Chase's arm off his shoulders, too busy with worrying about Gabriela to joke along right now. His friend didn't seem to mind, his eyes wandering through the large crowd. Though Mateo usually loved being surrounded by people, right now he wished for nothing more except to be alone with her. The need to yell at everyone to get out pricked under his skin, but he kept it in. This was no time for him to cause a scene.

"Hey," Chase said then," wasn't Sahar here too?"

Oh fuck. He had forgotten about that.

"Uhm," Mateo said," probably around somewhere, but never mind that."

"So she is here?" Chase said, his eyes lighting up hopefully.

Mateo rubbed his neck awkwardly, not sure how to reply. His initial decision had been to protect Chase from the heartbreak he would suffer tonight when he saw how close Jay and Sahar were, but was it up to him to do that? God, if Gabriela was here, she would've known exactly what to do.

"Hey," Mateo said, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder to keep him from walking on," do you really like Sahar?"

Chase looked a bit taken aback, but when he answered that tell-tale blush was already consuming his cheeks.

"I'm starting to," he confessed," she's just gorgeous, how can anyone not?" He gestured at him with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Except for you of course, but you've been blind for anyone but Gabriela for years."

"How can I not be?" Mateo shrugged, before glancing at Chase," but you find her gorgeous? That's all?"

"Not only that," Chase said," she's just the sweetest person as well." He frowned then. "Why?"

Mateo sighed, before just tilting his head to the ceiling. To hell with his careful approach, he never was a guy suited for something like that anyway.

"I saw her come in with Jay," he said as he looked back at Chase then," they looked quite close."

Chase blinked, before shaking his head slowly.

"It could just be friendly," he said.

Mateo thought about the way Sahar had looked at Jay, that glimmer he had in his own eyes as well when he looked at Gabriela.

"Could be," he said," I just wanted to warn you."

His friend looked lost for a moment, but when his eyes landed on someone in the crowd something more akin to determination flashed in his eyes.

"Then I'll ask her myself," he said.

Following his gaze, Mateo found Sahar, who was laughing on the table she was sitting on, Jay leaning against the side of it. When he found Penelope and Imani standing there as well he felt relief, before feeling a flash of guilt at the fact he was so selfishly thinking of Gabriela when his friend needed him.

"I'll come along," Mateo said as he slapped Chase on his back.

"What are you going to do?" Chase said as he frowned at him suspiciously.

"What?" Mateo exclaimed," I should be worried about you, not the other way around!"

They had reached Sahar then, the new girl too engrossed with Jay to really notice them.

"Really?" she said, a smile on her face as she leaned forward," you like comedy? I always guessed you more the horror type."

"I don't mind horror," Jay shrugged," but I always preferred movies in which, though everything may go wrong, it still ends up fine in the end."

"I like that too," Sahar said softly," the thought that no matter what kind of bad thing is happening, that too will pass."

Jay seemed gentler somehow. That raw anger was still in his eyes and etched across his skin, but he was lightning in summer rain now. Chase cleared his throat then, every little bit of warmth in Jay disappearing as quickly as it came when he looked up, a full on thunderstorm again.

"What?" he snapped.

"I just want to talk to Sahar," Chase frowned," there's no need to get mad, dude."

Mateo knew the fight would be there before Jay even jumped to his feet, Sahar's attempt to stop him futile. The little hint of vulnerability there had been was gone now, his shoulders squared and his fists clenched as he stood in front of Chase.

"Jay," Sahar said, grabbing his wrist but not succeeding in pulling him back.

"Stay back, Sahar," Jay said, his eyes focused on Chase's.

"The hell I won't," she said as she slapped him on his back," stop. There's no need to fight."

"Come on, guys," Mateo said, placing his hands on both their shoulders and pushing them apart," let's all relax here."

Jay's eyes flashed with anger as soon as he touched him and before Mateo could back away Jay shoved him.

"Hey," Chase snarled.

Despite the hard push, Mateo only had moved one step back and he quickly restored his guard. This was no time to fight nor did he really want to at the moment. He had too many things on his mind and the liquor was making it all blend together in one huge mess.

Jay spun around towards Chase then and he punched him straight in the face. He stumbled backwards and then punched Jay back, their whole fight a flurry of fists and anger. Penelope was frowning at the whole spectacle, but Sahar seemed far more displeased.

"Stop," Mateo sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Even if he found Gabriela right now, what use did it have? She was going to attend a great university and live a perfect life, but what about him? He honestly didn't even know what he wanted to do next month, let alone the future. How was he going to make her happy?

Jay whirled around and if Mateo hadn't been so lost in his thoughts he'd have been impressed at the kick he delivered. Chase barely managed to block it, before kicking Jay's other leg to make him lose balance.

Mateo closed his eyes for a moment, growing tired of this situation real quick. When he opened them, his voice resounded through the room.

"I said stop."