"Clay!" Alissa shrieked as Clay snuck up behind her and shook her shoulders. "You asshole!" She frowned at him as he raced past her, winking her way. She had her hands on her hips, but I could see the hint of a smile on the corner of her lips.

        "You love me," Clay taunted as he went through our fridge to grab a Hi C.

        I stood back with my elbows on the island while I watched the two bicker back and forth with the occasional wink from Clay and the playful scowl from Alissa.

        I didn't have time to focus to their shameless flirting. My mind was only on one person.

        Darian.

        After spending the night at Aaron's and Gavin's apartment and me giving him a hand job as a "thank you", we had been texting back and forth. We hadn't reached the sexting stage yet, but I knew it was inevitable. At the moment, we just talked to catch up on each other's lives.

        It was a great way to distract me from Rosalyn, and I was a horny guy with needs. Darian was right. I wasn't into casual hookups. I would much rather be sexual with someone I knew.

        It was for fun.

        I never really noticed this before, but Darian wasn't a bad looking guy. He was muscular but not too ripped. He was tall enough to keep up with me, even though I was still a little taller than him. And I couldn't forget his light stubbles that ran across his jaw. I bit my lip as I thought about him.

        Darian was sexy.

        It also didn't hurt that the dude knew how to work his mouth and hands. I was definitely going to enjoy whatever we had for as long as I could because he was right. It was a great way to bond after two years of disliking each other.

        "Kenji!" Clay snapped his fingers in my face, removing me from my thirsty thoughts.

        "What?"

        "Did you hear me?" I stared at him in confusion. "Obviously not. I asked if you wanted to meet up later at Shirley Shakes to go over our notes for Anthro."

        Oh, yeah. Anthropology was our freshman seminar, and we had an exam coming up soon. I groaned. "Sure."

        "Awesome." Clay moved his focus to Alissa. "I'll see you guys later." He smirked and came close to her to pinch her ass. Alissa squirmed and slapped his arm away while Clay laughed.

        "Clay, you ass!" He winked at her.

        I rolled my eyes.

        "Bye, 'Lis," Clay said to her before looking to me. "See you later, Kenji." I pulled him into a side hug.

        After putting his shoes back on, he smiled at Alissa before walking out and closing the door behind him. Alissa turned to me.

        "I'm not the only one who sees that, right?" She approached me with her arms crossed. "He flirts with me. All the time."

        "You have to be blind to not see that," I confirmed while she took a seat at the island, next to me.

        "Exactly!" Alissa said with a look of frustration on her face. "Either he's thirsty as hell, or he likes me." Oh, it could be the former, too. "But I think it's the latter." Her gaze dropped and a sheepish look crossed her features. "I like him, too."

        I stared at her blankly. "Alissa." She looked up at me. "You don't have to tell me you guys like each other for me to know. It's pretty obvious."

        "That's my point. We like each other, and it shows. I keep waiting for him to make a move so we can take the next step, but it isn't happening." She frowned.

        "It'll take time. It's kind of intimidating moving from just friends to something more."

        Having sexual encounters with a friend was much easier, than say, starting a relationship with one.

        "Yeah, but we haven't been friends in two years. I thought it'll be easier to make that transition with those circumstances than if we remained close friends the entire time."

        She had a point. "You're right. But like I said, give him time."

        Alissa nodded with her lips curled into her mouth. "Can you talk to him?" she asked with her gaze on me.

        I groaned. "Alissa..." What the hell was I?

        The love doctor?

        "Please, Kenji," she pleaded, grasping onto my arm. "You guys are meeting up later today to study for Anthro. Please talk to him. Just find a way to move the conversation over to me and him and ask him what his plans are regarding us. I hate being left hanging like this. Please..." She looked up at me with hopeful eyes, and I sucked my teeth in frustration.

        How could I say "no" to her? Man, Alissa. "Fine," I sighed.

        Alissa squealed, jumping in her seat. "Thank you, Kenji!" She pulled me into a crushing hug, and I wrapped my arms around her, too.

        "Anything for a friend," I mumbled.

Clay picked me up two hours after Alissa left for us to go to Shirley Shakes. We jammed out to one of Clay's rap mixtapes and I had to admit, it was on point.

        His music taste was pretty similar to Darian's. Speaking of Darian, I thought he was going to be happy now that I listened to rap, but I sensed a bit of tension from him when we talked about it that day.

        I didn't think about it too much though because Darian was weird like that.

        A couple minutes later, Clay and I parked at the little fast food restaurant and made our way in. It wasn't too busy, and there were plenty of seats outside of the restaurant. Unless it was hypothermia-inducing cold, I always sat outside. It was better than being stuck inside a crammed space and having everyone listen in to your conversation.

        As soon as I opened the door and allowed Clay to enter, my eyes scanned the area since I hadn't been here in a while. Clay and I made our way to the front to order, but my pace slowed when my eyes landed on the person at the register.

        Darian.

        He hadn't seen me yet because he was helping out a customer, so Clay and I continued making our way over to him. When the customer left, his attention shifted to us.

        His eyes bugged out when they landed on me. "Kenji?" he asked when Clay and I stopped in front of him. His gaze moved to Clay, and his face dropped. "Clay..."

        His eyes returned to mine, and I stared at him with my hands deep in my pockets.

        "Darian," Clay said, stunned. "Long time no see, buddy." The corner of Darian's lip twitched slightly as he forced a smile at Clay.

        "Back atcha." His voice came out flat.

        "You work here?" I finally asked.

        "Yup," he said with a nod of his head, and I nodded back. An awkward silence took over until Darian said, "What can I get you two?"

        "Well," Clay started, "I would like..."

        We ordered our food, and it took no more than five minutes for us to get it. Afterwards, Clay and I got our drinks. A Pepsi for me and a Hi C for him. Then we made our way outside.

        Before I walked out the door with Clay, I glanced back at Darian, who was staring at me even as a customer talked to him. I looked away and walked out with Clay.

        Clay just had to pick the spot near the window that had a perfect view of the register. Great. We sat down.

        We ate first because we both agreed without words that studying wasn't going to work out unless our stomachs were full. We ate silently, but it wasn't awkward surprisingly.

        But I couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched, so I peeked inside the restaurant. Sure enough, Darian was staring at me and Clay. As soon as our eyes met, he quickly looked away.

        I smirked before taking another bite from my burger. He thought he was being slick.

        "What are you smirking at?" Clay asked while dipping his fry into his honey mustard.

        "Nothing," I said with a shrug.

        Clay glanced back at Darian through the window before turning to face me. "Can you believe he works here?"

        "I can. I see him," I said, being a smartass. Clay sent me an unamused look.

        "I'm being serious. I bet he doesn't even go to college." I frowned slightly. I didn't like Clay's tone.

        I felt protective of Darian all of a sudden.

        "What are you implying?" I placed my burger down and rested my elbows on the table.

        "Nothing," Clay said. "It's just a shame, you know." He took a bite from his burger and chewed it before continuing. "The dude was wicked smart in middle school. He could have gone places, but it all went downhill in high school when he befriended those goons. He started getting into trouble. His grades started slipping. He stopped talking to us and shut everyone out but Camila.

        "Now, he's here. No college education, and he'll probably work here his whole life. It's sad." Clay stared at the table between us with his eyebrows furrowed together. "I know Darian, or at least I knew the old him. He could do so much more with his life."

        Clay resumed eating his burger and fries. What he said pissed me off a little because I didn't like the thought of people talking down on Darian, but he was right. I looked through the window at Darian, and I watched him clean the counter with a rag.

        Darian did deserve better than this.

        There were some people who were perfectly content with not going to college and their plans for the future were unorthodox, but it made them happy.

        I had a feeling Darian wasn't one of those people, but he was only making it seem as if he was.

        Darian was extremely smart, and I doubted it faded in high school. Something just changed in him. Something that made him into the Darian we saw now instead of the boy I grew up with. That night at Gavin's and Aaron's apartment reminded me that the boy I grew up with wasn't completely gone.

        He was just dormant.

        And I was going to bring him out again.

        "Yeah," I finally said. "People and things change." I picked my burger back up. "You and Alissa sure haven't." This was my chance. Time for Love Doctor Kenji to work his magic.

        Clay paused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

        I shrugged. "You guys always used to flirt and there's always been a...tension between you two. It's only getting more obvious as time passes."

        I took another bite from my burger, eyeing him. A tint of red dotted Clay's cheeks. "We're just friends who like messing with each other."

        "Bullshit," I said with my mouth slightly full. "You guys have fooled us with that 'just friends' crap all the way through middle school and parts of high school but not anymore." Clay placed his burger down, focusing on me. "It's obvious you guys like each other. You two are just beating around the bush."

        "Alissa is gorgeous," Clay confessed. "She's also funny as hell and one of the sweetest people I've met, which makes her all the more beautiful." He smiled down at the table. "She's always been beautiful, but lately she's embraced that side of herself more, and I like it."

        "'Just friends' my ass."

        Clay narrowed his eyes at me. "What I'm trying to say is, yes, I'm attracted to her and I care about her, a lot. I've always cared about Alissa, and I always will." He was telling me things I already knew. "But it'll never work between us." Wait, what? "We have too much history, and we've been through too much together. I don't want to risk all that history getting in the way of our relationship if we do decide to take that step.

        "She's been gone for two years, Kenji," Clay said. "After Camila's death, she and Arya up and left. Not only was one of my best friends dead while one of my other best friends continued to ignore me, but two more of my best friends were out of the state." He laughed, but it was strained. "It hurt a lot." He looked me in the eye with his expression crumbling. "Alissa leaving like that? It hurt more than I thought it would."

        "Clay..."

        "I just got her back after two years," Clay continued. "I like where we are right now. It's safe. I don't want to lose her again by dating her." He bit his lip, trying to keep his composure. I felt bad for Alissa because I knew she wouldn't like this answer, but I knew where Clay was coming from. "Alissa and I wouldn't work out. I just know it; us dating is too risky." Clay ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back in his seat. He stared past me at nothing in particular. "If you haven't realized by now, I'm a coward."

        I jerked my head back. "How?"

        Clay leaned on the table towards me. "I'm a coward, Kenji." What the hell was he talking about? "Why do you think I cut you and Honoka off?" I leaned back. "I'm a coward."

        "Clay, you're not—"

        "I was a coward back then, and I'm a coward now," he cut in. "That summer after sophomore year was hell, for all of us. It was all overwhelming." I had never seen Clay so serious before in my life. He was always joking around and being goofy and seeing him like this scared me. "I hate to say this, but I dreaded being around you and Honoka after everyone else was gone."

        I pushed aside the feeling of hurt and kept listening instead. "You guys didn't do anything wrong, but being around you didn't feel like it used to," Clay said. "Instead of just hanging out and goofing off, it was tense and depressing every time we were together. Every time I was around one of you, I couldn't help but think about the others and all that had happened that summer. I hated being reminded of that because all those terrible feelings would come rushing back." He sent me an apologetic look. "I associated you two with every negative emotion the accident made me feel. It got to the point that I didn't want to be around you guys anymore. It was easier to stay away from you. That way, I could forget everything and push all those bad feelings away, even if just for a little bit."

        Clay ran his hands down his face before continuing, "So I kept my distance, and I always made excuses why I couldn't hang out with you two. I kept doing it until eventually, you guys stopped trying. I don't know specifically when we moved from best friends to acquaintances or when we moved from acquaintances to practically strangers, but it happened. And it was my fault." Anguish crossed his features. "It was my fault because I was a coward, and I couldn't get my shit together. In my twisted mind, I thought cutting off all reminders of the situation would make it easier to deal with. In the process, I abandoned you guys, just like Darian abandoned us."

        "Clay, it's okay, man." Yeah, it hurt then and it still hurt like hell now, but that was years ago.

        "No, it's not okay. What I did to you and Honoka was wrong. Back then, I thought I was doing what I needed to do to cope. To survive. In reality, I only caused my best friends more pain, and for that, I'm sorry." He sent me a sheepish look. "I'm sorry, Kenji, and I'm sorry to Honoka. I'm sorry for being a coward." He avoided my gaze.

        "Clay?" After a couple seconds of contemplation, he finally lifted his head up to look me in the eye. "That was so high school, man." A smile broke on the corner of his lips. "We graduated for a reason. We're done with that shit hole." His smile spread into a full blown grin. "Everything that happened in high school, stays in high school. Got it?" He nodded with a hint of hesitance. "Got it?" I asked more assertively, and he nodded with more force. "Good. Now that that's established, don't worry about it. You're our friend again. We can make things right between us now. Yeah, we drifted apart and we all made mistakes, but that was the past. Now, all we can do is move forward."

        "Thank you for understanding, Kenji."

        I almost gave him a hug because he looked like he could use one, but I decided against it. Maybe after our study session, I could take him back to my apartment so he could apologize to Honoka himself and maybe she would give him the hug he needed.

        We started studying a few minutes later, but the whole time, my mind was rogue on my and Clay's conversation. I told him everything in high school was in the past, and we were moving past it now. I smiled and glanced inside Shirley Shakes every couple of minutes to get a glimpse of Darian.

        Maybe it was time I put what Darian did behind me.

        What he did was terrible, but he genuinely seemed like he wanted to make it up to me. He was being so nice and lately when I was around him, he didn't remind me of the Darian I feared junior year. He reminded me of that dormant boy from middle school, and I was willing to forgive that boy.

        When Clay and I were heading out, Clay continued to walk back to his car while I halted in my steps. I turned around and re-entered the restaurant instead. "Darian." I got more stares than necessary, but I only cared about one. My and Darian's eyes met. "I wanted to say 'bye," I told him.

It sounded extremely lame, but fuck it. I wanted to see him before I left.

        Darian appeared taken aback but flashed me a grin anyway. "Bye, Kenji," he said, his eyes brighter than ever, and that was all I needed.

        My grin broadened, and I turned back around and headed outside to meet up with Clay. The whole time, I felt Darian's eyes on me, and it felt damn good.

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* Sorry for the late update guys! Life got in the way, but I hope this chapter made up for it. What do you guys think? Loving Danji?

* Comment your thoughts and vote if you enjoyed this chapter because it'll be much appreciated! :)

* Also, I was watching the UK's Skins and I heard the song above and was completely smitten by it. I haven't stopped listening to it since, and I keep thinking about Kenji and Darian every time I hear it, so I couldn't help but include it in this chapter. :)

* Song is "Good Times Gonna Come" by Aqualung.