Dedicated to DhariaBearda for being an amazing person over all. I love reading your comments and appreciate your support. Thank you so much ♥

Okay, the delay for this chapter could be perfectly explained by its length and plus I was sick so I was slooooooow.

But I like how some parts of the chapter have come out, but despise the others. And it needs editing which I'll do really soon.

Enjoy ♥

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"Holy hell," Mike chuckled as we danced among the sweaty bodies, all swaying on the beats of a techno song. "Okay, if she's whispering things to her girlfriends and all of them are giving you stinky eyes, how jealous is she?" he mumbled, tipping his head to my level.

I leaned to whisper in his ear, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, making sure that the action was in full display to Savannah. "Red hot jealous."

The smirk that appeared on his face was displaying the sense of victory that he was feeling but it faltered as his attention went back to the bottle in my hand as I took another swig from it. "Easy there. Wouldn't want you to drink the entire supply of the party."

"Oh boohoo. So what?" I made a dismissive face. "After all I am your favorite girl, right? And just FYI, it's just my third bottle."

Judging by the way my words were slurring, I wasn't sure if I was even sounding coherent to Mike or it was just blah blah blah from his respective but I was too drunk to dwell on it for long.

"And that's definitely enough for tonight." He tried to pry the bottle out of my hands, but I withdrew it behind my back just in time.

"Let me drink just a little more and in return I'll promise I'll leave Savannah fuming from her ears," I offered with a smile, looking straight into his kyanite blue eyes. Damn, those deep blues were gorgeous but in a different way, like spikes of icicles running from the outer circle towards the blackness of the iris, veiled by a thin layer of transparent layer. They were cold and blocked one to see what lied beneath them.

"I'll pay you a ten if you can do that," he told me, and in his eyes clearly glimmered a mischief.

I rolled my eyes. "If you're gonna make me look like a hooker, at least don't make me a cheap one," I said, stealing a quick glance over to Savannah to make sure she was still there and indeed there she was, eyes trained in our direction. "Consider it your birthday present."

And then I turned around on my heel, pressed my back on Mike's chest and let my one hand to go around his neck. Mike moved in sync with me and his hand wrapped around my waist from behind, holding me in place which was a good thing because there was very high risk that I might have fallen on my face with wooziness. Taking another gulp from the bottle of whatever was in my hand, I swayed my hips slowly with the music. Thankfully, the timing of the song was right otherwise it would have been quite awkward to dance like this with Coldplay playing in background.

It wasn't just the eyes of Savannah that we had on earlier, but the switch in our dancing style now had the full attention of a large amount of people there. I was certain I had seen Sebastian, Liam and Shay somewhere with mirrored frowns and disapproval on their faces. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that whatever I was doing was making me super uncomfortable, with the proximity between us too much for my brain to process, but the master of my decision capacity was the alcohol in my system now and it was making me do weird things without any second thoughts.

The music had completely invaded my ear drums and soon it felt like even my blood was flowing with the rhythm of the music, gushing through every vein like a flood. I closed my eyes, getting lost in the music and my thoughts.

We were eleven, when Anya had broken her leg after falling from stairs at school and had to stay at home for two months. I used to have a stuffed toy pig at that time that Anya loved a lot. She even gave it a name, Ms. Mocsa. I never understood its meaning but nonetheless I loved it just as much as I loved the toy. So when I had went to her house to see her, I had taken Ms. Mocsa with me and had given it to her, knowing that how much she loved the toy and that it would make her happy. I remembered the huge smile on her face after she tucked the toy the toy beside her, despite the pain in her leg. I was happy seeing her happy. But when I returned home at night, I couldn't sleep. I missed Ms. Mocsa. I knew I had given it to Anya willingly but that wasn't enough to help me get rid of the dull feeling like I had lost something. But I was just eleven and it was just a toy so even though it took me a while to get used to the idea of not having Ms. Mocsa with me, in the end I eventually did.

Unfortunately, I felt the same kind of sadness today, only intensified to a thousand times. And it wasn't the matter of a toy today and I wasn't sure I was ever going to get over this loss.

Still dancing with full energy, I opened my eyes and looked up. I stared at the glow stick chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Were they still up there?

Whatever, forget it.

Two songs later, Savannah left the left the room, pissed off and I walked back to the drinks table to get my hands on another bottle or cup or anything. Near the edge of the table, there was a tall bottle of clear liquid. Assessing it to be vodka, I picked it up and looked around for shots glasses but when I couldn't, I shrugged and decided to help myself with the bottle.

"Woah, okay, that's definitely enough." Mike yanked off the bottle. I snatched it back from its neck and earned a strict look from him.

"Noh, you're gonna be sick," he said, scowling. "How much are you planning to drink?"

I smiled innocently, fluttered my eyelashes. "How much can a person drink at once without dying?"

"Okay, you're behaving weirdly. Give that to me. It's time to go home." He demanded, pointing at the vodka.

I pouted. "No, I wanna drink more!" I objected. "And if you let me, I might even consider the unwrapping thing," I said, battling my eyelashes, and snaking my arms around his neck.

Mike snickered, shaking his head like I was putting on a comedy show for him or something, but then it faltered a little as something behind my back caught his eyes and he muttered, "I'm so fucking dead."

Before I could form even a simple 'what', someone spoke, "Mind if I borrow her for a minute?"

I immediately turned on my heels, but the turned out that booze and spinning are not a good combination, because I stumbled and had to hold on to something and this something turns out to be Daniel's hand as he tried to stop me from falling.

Getting back on my feet, I straightened myself and then kept a straight face not knowing what to do, but then Mike said, "All yours, dude" and then walked off in some direction.

Little traitor.

I rolled my eyes and then noticed that Mike had also taken the bottle with him so I grabbed for a cup this time.

"Having fun?"

Looking at him from above the rim of the cup, I nodded my head at him and then narrowed my eyes. "Why do you care?"

That's right, I was still annoyed that he was with Anya now. Not annoyed at him, just annoyed in general. I didn't have the right to blame him. I was the one who told him to go after her, after all.

But still I just couldn't think of them together without wanting to ripping someone's head first.

"I don't," he simply replied with just as cool and calm look on his face.

Okay, was so not expecting that answer.

"Oh," I muttered. "Good, cause you shouldn't anyway."

Looking straight in my eyes, he stuffed his hands in the front pocket of his dark jeans that looked good with the bright blue shirt that was the exact color as his eyes. Damn, he looked great. Actually, not just great. Heart-stopping, breath-robbing great.

"I know," he said, still keeping his calm expression on. "But let's just say I am not exactly fond of the idea of you dying like this."

"A couple of drinks doesn't kill anyone," I replied, taking another sip from the cup.

"That sure didn't look like a couple of drinks," he said as he stepped closer to me and slid the cup out of my hand and surprising even myself, I let him. 

The control that boy had over me.

I stood straight but didn't dare to look up into his eyes so I kept my eyes down as he reached so close to me that there was such a space that could only allow a paper to pass through it. It seemed such a thrilling moment, like the possibility of things that could happen if one of us happens to close the gap.

"I was waiting that you would stop on your own but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen so I had to come down," he said.

My head snapped to look at him, and I don't know why I giggled. I giggled! This wasn't the time to giggle, you fool! 

"You saw all of that?"

"You mean you and Mike?" Instead of any riling emotion, there was stillness in his eyes, like vast stretch of calm water. "Yeah, I did."

"And?" I asked, not able to comprehend what was going in his mind.

"And nothing," he said, still in his relaxed tone. "Now, come with me. You need to go home and sleep and judging by how much you were drinking, maybe try to wake up alive tomorrow."

"I am not going anywhere," I said and after shrugging my shoulders, I walked off in a random direction but I could sense that he was following me.

"We can do it this way or I'll throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here. Either way, you're coming with me."

Wide eyed, I stopped in my tracks and turned around. "You wouldn't."

"I can't think of anything that's going to stop me," he answered, easily. "So what's it gonna be?"

"Nothing," I replied, frowning. "I'm not coming with you."

"You are."

"You didn't even reply to my text, why should I come with you?" I spoke hurriedly, words tumbling one after the other and mixing up in the process.

"Because that's the most important issue we have that needs to be sorted out?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," I answered, with a exaggerated aghast expression. "Nobody ignores my texts. Nobody. Got it?"

He chuckled. "Alright, princess got it. Now come on."

And then I couldn't keep it any longer and just had to mention her. "But what about Anya? Won't she mind?"

"I'm sure she wouldn't," he said, cocking his head to side, like analyzing something.

"Tssk, Daniel. So rude of you to leave a girl alone after like this," I tried to make it sound bitter but it came out something like a mix of a giggle and chuckle.

Daniel closed his eyes, shook his head, pursed his lips and then opening his eyes, he chuckled. "You're jumping to conclusions again."

Oh

"But Mike and Liam, ...they said..."

Oh, well now I felt stupid. Good think I was drunk.

"Well, okay," I mumbled, feeling sheepish. "Good for you, then."

Rolling his eyes at me, he grabbed my hand and directed both of us through the crowd. Being too dazed for my own good, I didn't object at being towed.

"Aah, I can feel air in my lungs again," I breathed out, as the cool air of outside replaced the heavy and hot temperature of inside. Even though I was drunk beyond the level where the fresh air could help me, but it still felt a hundred times better than inside.

"Where's your car?" Daniel asked as he tried to locate my car among the cluster of vehicles outside.

"I didn't bring my car." I leaned against a wall, and blinked several times to clear my hazy vision.

"So how did you come then?"

"I came flying, on my magic carpet."

A dead pan face was what I got in response. I mirrored his expression. "Really?" he asked.

"Really?" I repeated in a low pitch to sound like him and then laughed. "It's funny how you talk. So serious and broody all the time." I switched back to the deep voice. "Hi, I'm Daniel Cohen. I hate rainbows, puppies and all the sparkly things of the world."

"What are you mumbling?" he asked, probably not getting even a single word of what I had said.

"I said that I think you should smile more." And then I pressed the tips of my pointer fingers on his cheeks where his dimples appeared whenever he smiled. "I really like when you smile."

Sober Norah would definitely have not approved this. I mean not that anything that I said was untrue. Hell, I didn't just like his smile. I loved it. It was like feeling the warmth of sun after a cold winter day on your skin, like something that makes you feel safe and happy from within. It was like all the good things in the world coming together, but I wasn't sure that I wanted him to know all these things.

Although, too late for that now.

Daniel didn't say anything, just looked down to me, and what I recognized as amusement in his eyes. Realizing that he wasn't going to say anything, I took my steps back and started to walk towards the main gate. "Let's go."

"Where?" I heard him ask.

"I don't know. Just somewhere," I answered, skipping on the path like a little girl.

"I thought we were going home." He walked up beside me.

"I can't go home."

"Why not?" He sounded worried, a little change from what he had been sounding till now.

"Because I don't want to," I simply said, shrugging and kept on walking, well more like stumbling, soaking in the cold air of the night which felt like million tiny needles on my skin. "Just keep on walking."

"You're drunk, Norah," he said, like a matter of fact. "You won't be able to walk too far."

"Has anyone told you that you talk too much?" I asked, using my casual tone. I heard him chuckle and I just couldn't help but steal a look at him, knowing that he was smiling. By now, it was like a universal fact that I loved his smile, one of the best things in the world.

"We should have become friends much earlier than we did," I spoke and I myself didn't know from where was this coming from. The words were just coming out of my mouth, unsupervised. "Things would have been so different."

He stopped in his tracks. I did too and turned to face him. "How?"

How? That was a nice question.

Too bad I couldn't tell him the answer.

The music from the party could be heard from where we were. It sounded muffled, but still audible. And the music was all that loomed in the night because both of us stood silent.

"Do you wanna dance?" I asked, like it was so normal to ignore the question he had asked. Daniel didn't seem too fazed by this though. Guess he was now used to my evasiveness.

"That much dancing with Mike didn't tire you enough?" He asked as we started walking again, much slower this time.

"Not really," I answered, shaking my head. "But it was fun. Mike's a great dancing partner."

Oh God, why was I saying these things. Haven't I learned anything from every time he gets jealous?

"Yeah?" he asked in a tone like people use to just carry on the conversation and definitely not like someone who was even a slightest bit affected by what I was saying.

"Yeah," I answered, confused whether it was my drunken state that was hindering my ability to observe things.

Well whatever.

"Fine, if you don't want to dance, how about hide and seek?" I put forward the first bizarre idea that came into my mind.

"What?" he asked, incredulously and was now probably questioning my mental health.

"Yep, count till ten!" And then I sprinted to my right.

Alright, alright, maybe not sprinted. It was more like an awkward combination of running, falling and limping.

Now if there was a "How to be a hide and seek champ" then I am pretty sure, don't try to climb a tree while drunk would be the rule Numero uno, but since I was the resident rule breaker, I did exactly that.

I tried to climb a tree.

Yes, that's what I did. No kidding. But in my defence I was drunk, okay?

"What are you doing, Norah?" Daniel came running too. "Get down!"

I looked down at him from the height of just one branch above the ground level because that was all that I could manage to climb. "No, you're supposed to count till ten and then come find me. You're ruining all the fun!"

Daniel sighed and hung his shoulders in defeat. "Norah, please come down. You'll hurt yourself."

"But I want to play!" I whined, holding on to another strong branch.

"Just come down and we'll play it again," he negotiated, like trying to knock some sense into a five year old.

"Promise?"

"Yes."

"Okay," I said, and prepared to jump when I heard him yell.

"No, don't jump!"

I sat on the branch. "You're confusing me, Danny boy. Do you want me to come down or not? What did you have to be such a confusing person. Geez!"

"Really? I'm confusing?" He had disbelief painted all over his face. "Have you met yourself?"

"No," I answered. "But it's a shame. I'm awesome and I wish I could meet myself."

"Has anyone told you that you talk too much when you're drunk?" He asked my question from earlier.

"Yeah, whatever I know I am awesome." I waived off his semi sarcastic note. "Now help me get down."

"Hold on a second," he walked over to the place just under the branch that I was on and wrapped his hands around my leg that were dangling in the air.

I squealed as Daniel swiftly pulled me down and as my feet met the ground below. "Now, let's play again!" I said, happily.

"How about I just take you home instead?"

"No, I told you I can't go home. Nathan would be so mad at me." I was frankly quite scared thinking how Nathan would react to me binge drinking tonight. I didn't want to see him disappointed in me again.

I was so caught up in thinking about Nathan that it took me a while to realize that I had just mentioned about Nathan in front of Daniel. I looked at him but there was no unusual reaction from him.

Either he was playing it really cool, deliberately not showing any reaction to mess with my head, or he really wasn't bothered about me anymore.

I didn't know which I hated more.

"Do you remember Nathan?" I asked. "The guy from the parking?"

"Yes, I do." And the leveled tone made another appearance. "Seems like a nice guy."

"He is," I agreed. "But just in case Anya forgot to mention it. There's nothing between me and Nate. Dead twin's boyfriends are strictly off the table."

For the first time tonight, something caught Daniel off guard. "He is..."

"Yeah."

Before things could fall silent again between us, which I surmised were going to seeing that Daniel had suddenly fallen silent, I switched the topic. "Count till ten!"

And this time, I actually tried my level best to run as fast as I could. Seeing a narrow distance between the boundary walls of two adjacent houses, I decided to take the path so as to cross over to the road that lied to the other side.

The narrow recess was narrower than I thought and when I came out on the other side, I had scratched my shoulders against the brash bricks of one of the walls. 

I could hear Daniel call my name to get back there and as I kept running away towards the end of the street, it kept getting fainter.

Being in the part of the town that was still in the construction phase, most of the houses of both sides of the roads were either unoccupied or were still being built so it was just the sound of my heels clicking against the road that disrupted the silence of the place until I heard a soft whimpering sound coming from the shadows and a tiny white cat made a run towards an alley.

"Wait, little kitten. Wait!" I yelled and decided to follow it just because it seemed like a fun idea at the moment but just after mere thirty seconds of running later, I had lost the cat and was also lost in general.

This neighbourhood was even quiter than the previous one with no sign of anyone living here, just rows and rows of empty buildings, covered in plastic sheets.

Until now it was all drunken fun for me, but now there was a fear that was slowly creeping in. I gulped, and fished for my phone in my pocket but came out empty handed.

Shoot, I had left my phone at the party.

Quick! Try to think where I came from.

I looked in all the directions to find any opening, any corner that seemed even a slightest bit familiar, but nothing hit.

"Daniel!" I yelled, but I knew it my bones that he had not heard it and when all I got in reply was the cold silence of the night, my suspicions were confirmed.

I tried again, but my voice got stuck in my voice when I caught what was the distinctive sound of someone's footsteps coming from behind. I prayed it to be Daniel, but when no one spoke, it was clear that it wasn't him.

I turned around, but there was no one there and surprisingly, the footsteps stopped as well.

My mouth felt dry, my palms were sweaty and my mind was whirling.

It couldn't be him, right? He couldn't be back.

I felt my breathing hitch up dangerously.

No, no, not right now. He couldn't be here for me so soon.

But how was it soon? It's been three years. It has been a long enough time, longer than I deserved.

So this was how it was supposed to happen? In the middle of the night, in a strange neighborhood?

And then the sound of the footsteps began again, but this time I didn't wait to find out who they belonged to. I just ran away from them.

Not trying to figure out which direction I came from anymore, I took the way that I felt would take me somewhere safe, but no matter which way I turned, the footsteps followed.

I tried to focus on just finding a way out, but at one point my curosity got the best of me and I took a glance back.

There was no one that I could see.

And before I could turn my head back to get my eyes back on the road, I slammed into something.

"Done playing Norah, the explorer yet?" I felt every single tissue of my body relax at his voice.

Thank god, he was here. 

I was safe now.

Not even thinking twice, I threw my hands around him, holding on tight and buried my face in his chest and welcomed the warmth that I got from it. I screwed my eyes shut, and just kept my focus on the rippling waves of sweet smell that belonged to Daniel.

"Norah, what's wrong?" He asked when I didn't reply.

"I... I...he..." that was all I managed to say in between the short breaths.

Daniel pulled me away a little to get a look at my face and there was cute little frown that went up on his lips. Before he could say something, I hid my face against his shirt once again.

It was amazing, how his presence had brought the sudden change in my sense of security.

Noticing that I didn't want to say silent, Daniel didn't say anything either, just held me closely and it was so comforting.

God, I had missed him so much.

There was no awkwardness between us as we stood there in between the darkness and silence. It was like natural for us to be so close to each other, like this was how it was meant to be and I didn't feel even a twinge of embarassment as I looked up to his eyes which were already fixed on my face.

Our faces were close, so close that it was hard to resist the need to make the closeness even more. So I did. I stood on my toes.

But then I paused, and thought about it. I couldn't use the excuse of my mind going blank everytime. I had to think clearly if I were to do this. But there would be so many complications if I went ahead of this.

I looked straight in Daniel's eyes which were waiting patiently for me. I brought my hand to his face and ran my fingertips lightly on his cheek.

Why was he still here? After everything I had put him through? After all of me pushing him away.

What was the crazy reason that maybe made him like me?

He did like me, right? Because it would be a shame if it was just a one sided thing. Even though I had a million reason why I didn't deserve him, there was one reason that made me too selfish to walk way from him everytime.

I loved him.

I loved Daniel.

And that did it.

I moved closer and pressed my lips lightly against him with only one thought on my mind, that if there was anyone ever going to be in my life, it would be Daniel. I couldn't imagine anyone else but him.

I tangled my fingers in his hair as I felt Daniel respond to the kiss. It was like an exposion of emotions in my stomach as lips made small movements against mine, like a fire building up slowly.

Could we stay like this forever?

As the fervourous drive grew between us, so did the urgency of the way our lips and hands moved.

I took his lower lip in between both of my lips and bit on it softly, earning a smile from him. I smiled in return, but whined as I felt him pull away but was back to being happy as he kissed my neck after pushing my hair back to get better access.

I bit my lower lip but couldn't stop the moaning sound that escaped my mouth as Daniel left a trail of small kisses that were moving up my neck, and I felt Daniel smirk against my skin.

That smug idiot.

But I loved that idiot so instead it made me smile even more and the smile was intact as he reached the back of my ear, his hand moving against the skin of my waist that was peeked through the cutout area of the dress. I turned my face towards him so that the side of my face was against his.

"Daniel I-"

"Shut up," he ordered, nuzzling against my hair.

"Huh?"

"I'm not letting you ruin everything this time." He left another tender kiss, this time on my temple. "So shut up."

"Okay, I won't," I whispered, still smiling with my eyes closed. "But you need to take me back to the party."

"I'm not letting you drink," he answered, in whispers too making a shiver run down my spine, like a good shiver if that was a thing.

"I don't want to drink. I left my phone in Mike's back pocket while dancing."

Daniel pulled away, with a not so pleased look on his face. "Really? You had to mention that now?"

"Why? Are you jealous?"

He moved closer until our foreheads were in contact. "Very."

I smiled. "Really, cause you seemed fine with it earlier."

"I was trying to play it cool," he answered.

"You're cute." I flicked my nose against his.

"Would have looked cuter if I hadn't fought the urge to punch the lights out of Mike when I saw you two together," Daniel answered and then his eyes roamed down to my dress. "Oh and by the way, you look hot."

I chuckled, completely enjoying this little flirt thing we were doing. 

"Though I bet you would hotter without that dress."

And then I stopped chuckling and punched his arm. "Ew, you did not just say that."

"I believe I did." He shrugged, grinning widely. "And if you don't believe me, we could always make it happen practically. No one's around here anyway."

I rolled my eyes and I turned to walk, my hand linked with Daniel. "I'm sure Mike would be happy to test your hypothesis."

"Norah, that's not funny," I heard him say in a dead pan voice.

"Well, I sure do find it funny," I turned around to smile at him.

"Let's just go and get your god damn phone back."

I chuckled as we kept on walking back towards the party.

When we got to the place, it seemed even louder and more tighlty packed with people than when he had left. It was hard to make way between the ocean of people.

"He's not picking up his phone," Daniel told me, his phone against his ears as he tried calling Mike for the third time. "I'll go find him."

After I nodded at him, Daniel left a quick peck on my forehead making the butterflies in my stomach go wild. "I'll be back."

I watched him weave his way through the crowd and then when he was out of my visible range, I didn't know what to do anymore. I mean was it was weird to just stand there with the smell of alcohol all around me, which was now feeling nauseating.

I wiggled my toes and fiddled my thumb around to keep myself busy but when the air started to feel too suffocating, I decided to get out of the place to get some air.

Pushing my way out, I stumbled a few times but it was all worth it when I could feel my lungs working again.

Shutting my eyes, I sat on a decorative rock and exhaled a few times until I was sure that I wasn't going to throw up. My stomach didn't feel stable anymore and I felt that I was going to pass out but was startled by the sound of glass breaking.

I turned around and was a little surprised to see it was Anya, standing a few feets away from me looking down at the pieces of a broken bottle and the spilled drink.

"Shit," she cursed as she bent down to pick up the pieces.

"Anya, no," I dashed towards her. "You are going to hurt yourself."

Anya looked up, finally noticing that I was there too. A lazy smile slowly crept up on her face. "It's you," her slurred tone indicated that she was drunk too, and by the looks of it probably more than I was. "I was hoping to run into you."

I nodded, pulling her up from her arm. "Come here."

"Why is it you every time?" Anya spoke, a tone defeat in her voice.

"What?" I asked, as I helped her sit on the rock.

"I asked what is it about you that he chooses you every time?" She frowned. "I mean no matter how much you hurt him, it will always be about you for him. Norah Bishop. It's like the only name he has ever learned."

"Anya, calm down," I mumbled, not knowing what else could be said right now especially since I was drunk myself and it was hard to form a coherent thought.

"No, I won't!" she exclaimed looking at me with disbelief and then her eyes caught on something behinf my shoulder. I turned around to find Daniel walking towards us, a little confused about what was happening.

"Anya..." Daniel began but Anya cut him off.

"Why?" she demanded, standing up and walking up to Daniel.

Daniel didn't say anything, probably because nothing that he could have said would have done any benefit. 

Anya shook her head and then even though it was clear that she tried not to cry but tears still escaped from her eyes. I silently watched as Anya clutched Daniel's shirt and sobbed against it, and just as silently, Daniel held Anya up and allowed her to cry. Shortly, his eyes found mine, but I looked at my feet immediately as I couldn't help but feel a little bad for Anya.

Her sobs started to get quieter and soon she was passed out and it was just Daniel's hold on her that was keeping her on her feet.

"I think you should take her home," I suggested, my eyes on Anya's limp body.

"Yeah, I should," Daniel said, with a strange nervousness in his voice, like he feared that suddenly thing had changed taken a turn or worse between us, and how I was avoiding to meet his eyes, I didn't blame him for thinking that.

My eyes on the ground, I nodded. "I'll catch a ride with Shay."

"No, come with me."

I looked up to find every bit of seriousness in his eyes.

"But-"

"Norah, come with me."

"I shouldn't."

"I told you I'm not letting you ruin everything again."

I exhaled and nodded hesitantly.

Anya's house was silent as Daniel's car stopped in the driveway. I got out first to open the door on Anya's side so that Daniel could carry her in.

"Check her clutch. I'm sure she has a key with her." Daniel pointed to the silver clutch lying on the seat as he picked Anya up.

I nodded and did as instructed. After finding the key, I unlocked the door to the house which was one of my favorite places to go to a few years ago.

I didn't say anything as I followed Daniel to Anya's room but there was a strong nostalgia I got as soon as I entered the light green colored room, which I could still navigate with my eyes closed.

So many sleepovers, dance parties, sing alongs. This room held so many memories for me.

The hardest thing after Em was to let all of it go. Let Anya hate me. Losing my best friend. What I wouldn't give to have that time back?

I could feel Daniel's eyes on me as I removed Anya's shoes and put the covers on her. I pulled the heavy bracelet from her wrist and turned to keep it on the night stand when I saw what lied on it.

It was Ms. Mocsa, the same toy pig that I had given years ago. I couldn't believe she still had it, especially with the way things were between us.

"I've texted Juliet. She'll stay over tonight, until Anya's parents arrive tomorrow," Daniel told me.

I looked up from the toy to him. "Okay."

"Do you need anything?" Daniel asked, taking a glance at the stuffed toy.

"Yeah, umm. Just water." I said, and settled down on the bean bag lying near the bed.

Without saying anything else, Daniel left the room to get to the kitchen that was on the ground floor.

I closed my eyes, and let out an exhausted sigh. So much has happened tonight and I was afraid what was going to happen tomorrow. With Nathan, with Anya and with Daniel, especially with Daniel.

And with all of that on my mind, I didn't know when I lost consciousness and slipped into sleep.

But the sense of being moved woke me up, though not completely. I was stuck in an in-between state.

I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt too heavy. All I could make out that I was in a car and Daniel was driving and the road ahead didn't look like it lead to my house.

"Go back to sleep." Daniel stroked my head.

"Where are we going?" I asked groggily.

"Away."

"Okay."

Wait, what?

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