TONIGHT EVERYTHING FELT POSSIBLE. Mateo spun Gabriela around in the blue and silver flashes of the discolight, even the shadows glowing as their laughs intertwined. Chase had left his position at his makeshift DJ booth to someone else and had joined them, immediately pulling Bas in for a reluctant hug on his part. Amelia was right behind him, though she kept glancing at the door, like she was expecting someone to come in. Before he could think more of it she noticed his gaze and offered him a happy smile, throwing her arms around Chase's neck after.

"What's the deal with all these lovebirds here?"

He had dipped Gabriela right at that moment and the both of them were looking at the person who had spoken, a grin appearing on Mateo's face. Milo truly had grown on him and in a way Luca was starting to as well, despite how often he lost his temper. In a way he found it amusing, so it was fine. Smoothly he pulled Gabriela up again, back in his arms, before waving at the guys.

"Glad to see you two could make it," he said," are you enjoying the party?"

"I just arrived," Milo shrugged, before adding," but I already saw five people puke on my way here, so that promises much good already."

"Does it though?" Luca frowned.

Milo ignored him, glancing at Gabriela instead, looking almost shy. "Hey, I have an update by the way."

"About that girl you were talking about before?" she said.

"How did you know?" he blinked.

"It was obvious," she chuckled," but anyway, tell me. Did everything go well?"

"It did," he smiled," I followed your advice and just went for it. We're officially together now."

Mateo held out his hand and slapped it against Milo's. "Great, man. I'm happy for you."

"I'm happy for you too!" Chase shouted, hugging Amelia tightly as they swayed off-beat to an old pop song.

The sharp edges Milo had carried earlier had softened now and it was visible in the way the light spilled from his expression, like thinking of his girlfriend alone was enough to fill him with warmth. Luca beside him was another story, still looking as harsh as ever, but he seemed happy for Milo, in his own way.

"Hey," Bas said as he walked towards them, acknowledging the guys with an inclination of his head," I'm surprised to see you two came here together."

"We did very much not come here together," Milo replied immediately, emphasizing the word not with a shake of his head," I just had the misfortune of bumping into him in the hallway."

"Misfortune my ass," Luca scoffed," everyone here knows I'm a riot. You are the insufferable one here."

Milo's lips parted as he pointed at Luca in disbelief. "Are you actually delusional?"

"You annoy the fuck out of me, Nichols," Luca scowled.

"Anyway, let's get wasted," Milo said with a jerk of his head at the attempt of a makeshift bar on their left, which basically just consisted of some chairs pushed together and liquor bottles stacked on top.

"Yeah, sure," Luca said.

Before they both left Milo stopped in front of Bas, hand on his shoulder as he nodded at him. "I'm sad to hear you're going. I don't know you that well yet, but you actually seem quite fun."

"You seem petty," Bas replied.

Milo blinked and Mateo quickly came in between, translating it for him. "He means that as a compliment."

"Of course," Bas blinked, looking confused.

"Oh, alright," Milo nodded," well, you seem quite petty as well."

"Thank you, I am."

"What kind of weird conversation is this?" Gabriela murmured.

"I have no idea," Mateo whispered back.

Milo was off then, Luca close behind as he nodded at Bas one last time in farewell. The two of them honestly had an incomprehensible kind of friendship, though Mateo wasn't even sure if he could call it that. Despite how complicated their interactions were to understand, Luca and Milo still laughed as they downed a shot together, another one following immediately after.

He didn't have long to think about it, because at that moment Amelia stepped back from Chase, his hands in hers, and spoke.

"You know I like you very much, Chase," she said.

His friend looked like the moon had fallen out of the sky, eyes completely starstruck as he watched Amelia.

"No, I didn't," he stammered, a blush coloring his cheeks.

She smiled widely, pecking him on the lips. "Now you know."

"Just get married already!" Penelope shouted from her position on the stairs, a big grin on her face.

Imani rolled her eyes good-heartedly at her girlfriend, before giving Chase and Amelia a thumbs up. The two didn't even look embarrassed, rather than that they just looked happy as he wrapped his arms around Amelia's waist and lifted her up in the air, his gaze filled with absolute adoration. She placed her hands on his cheeks and their laughs intertwined with the music.

"You're not even going to yell things at them too?" Bas frowned at Mateo," how very unlike you."

"What do you mean?" Mateo said indignantly, a hand on his heart," I will let you know I am a gentleman who would never do anything like that."

"You literally stalked my love confession to Sahar."

"To be fair," Gabriela said," we all were present for that."

"Did I hear my name?"

They turned around to where Sahar was standing a couple feet away by the entrance, Bas' face lighting up once he saw her. She waved happily at them, beckoning for them to follow as she took a step back through the entrance again. The three of them did, Mateo just giving the hauntingly empty stage on his right one last look before he exited the room. Seeing it like this made the truth sink in even more, but he was numb to it now. Gabriela squeezed his hand, noticing his brief shift of emotions immediately, and he squeezed back reassuringly. Bas' gaze had lingered on the same spot as well, before he brought it to Mateo's, and when they looked each other in the eyes and nodded, that's when they both knew they were going to be just fine.

"Come!" Sahar said as they got closer, starting to walk towards the hallway herself as well," I need to show you something."

"Where did you disappear to?" Bas said, catching up with her," you left me all alone with these crazy people?"

"You'll forgive me once you see what's outside," Sahar smiled teasingly at him.

"Give us a hint," Gabriela said," you know I'm bad with surprises."

"You'll like this one," Sahar promised her.

They walked past all the students partying in the hallways, Sahar leading them on staircase after staircase, until they finally reached the rooftop. Mateo was surprised to see it unlocked, but before he could ask any questions she threw the door open, exposing them to the chilly air.

There was something about the world at midnight, something about the way it seemed like there was nothing else except the beating of your heart and your thoughts. Right now the world consisted only of the four of them, the soft breeze glittering with the promise of spring as they stepped on the wide rooftop. Despite everything he had managed to get away with and every rule he had broken at this school, this place he somehow had never set foot on, and as Mateo looked at the way the rest of St Joseph was sprawled out beside them silently, the windows flashing with colors and the night sky a saturated blue, he wondered why he hadn't done so before.

He had half expected to see something big when Sahar opened the door, but he couldn't see anything yet. On their right he noticed the auditorium, which was in the small building next to them, the ceiling of glass it had making it easy for him to look right in. It looked like a snow globe somehow, with everyone running and laughing, the music muted all the way up here. They followed Sahar to the edge of the roof, Mateo almost feeling nostalgic as he looked at this school, which had known him better than almost everyone in the world had. He had so many memories in this place and tonight they all seemed like they would last forever.

"Where is the surprise?" he asked.

"Is it an animal?" Bas frowned suspiciously," you know I hate birds."

"I still think that's really strange and we're going to discuss that further," Sahar chuckled," but no." She pointed up then, a wide smile on her face. "I thought I'd arrange something for our farewell party."

Mateo was about to say something when something flashed above his head and as his gaze snapped upwards, he couldn't help but part his lips. Fireworks were exploding all around them, in different colors; blue, purple, pink, silver. Bas was the first to laugh, a carefree sound, Mateo following quickly after, and then they all were laughing, on top of the world and high on recklessness.

"Eco-friendly fireworks," Sahar beamed," aren't they pretty?"

Mateo placed his arms around Gabriela and Bas, pulling them closer as Bas took Sahar along in the group hug, all of them looking up at the beautiful sight above. From down below in the auditorium he could hear people shout about it as the discolight dimmed, and for a moment no one spoke.

"I'm really happy I met you guys," Bas murmured, voice almost drowned out by the fireworks. The silver rained over them as he continued, voice sincere. "When all of this mess has sorted itself out, when we have life back on track again, we'll meet again, won't we?"

"We will," Mateo promised.

He smiled, truly happy.

"We're friends forever after all."

aahhh the last chapter!!! who knew it would finally happen, i started this pre-covid even i think. thank you so much for reading, i really hoped you all enjoyed this fun side project of mind about ella's father which turned out way longer than i had expected and took it's own life. i'll be adding the bonus chapters at the end of sinful, so they'll be coming once that's finished! again, thank you for taking this journey with me, love you all xxxx