44 ~ November

"Where are we going to find food this late?" I scoff, crossing my arms as he grins.

"Savannah, we're in the city now!"

"So? I've never seen anywhere this side of town!" I argue as Brett walks towards the side of the house and down the side, out towards the road. I unwittingly follow him, curious as to where the food is.

"Trust me." He says and I almost laugh. I mean really, after everything he's ever done to me he expects me to trust him? There's more chance of Becky giving up sex.

"As if." I scoff, "Where are you going?"

"Come on!"

"Brett!" I hiss as he walks further down the road. Glancing around at the empty road I grit my teeth, torn between going back to the party or going for food. I know that I am no longer in the party mood, and Elena is fine with Polly - food sounds so tempting right about now. As if understanding my predicament, my stomach rumbles, firmly settling my case.

"Keep up!" Brett calls over his shoulder and I grimace, hurrying to catch up to him.

"Don't order me around!" I snap, "Don't think I didn't notice that you didn't reply about joining the family business."

"I'm a Winters. I'm the heir to the Winters Atlantic Corporation." He snorts, "That's not something you're able to forget."

"Don't they care about your happiness?"

"We've been over this thousands of times."

"I know but..." I trail off, "I don't understand why they don't want you to be happy."

"They probably can't see that I'm not." He shrugs, "My Dad's the worse of the two. At least my Mother sometimes listens to me." He adds, "She cares a little too. She told me I had to get rid of that motorbike."

Damn, I remember that motorbike. I still remember how turned on I felt staring at him dismounting from it. And now it's gone? I suppose that's a good thing.

"She did?"

"She saw me return on it after we went to the lake that time." He laughs at the memory. I feel a slight pang in my chest at the happy memory I have, one of my favorite moments of that Summer. "Apparently it's too dangerous. She sold it the next day." He grumbles, "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to disappoint you."

"After everything that happened I don't think that should have been your concern about what disappointed me." I scoff, crossing my arms once more as we walk close to the park.

"Fair point." He admits, his voice quiet. I bite my lip as we continue to walk, the silence eating up the tension between us. It's a comfortable silence, and I know that both of us don't quite know what to say next. Mistakes were made between us, and it's hard to know whether we'll ever be able to see passed those.

As we round the corner Brett gestures before him and I look up to find a small light, the tiny stand still open.

"Hot dogs?" He asks as I look on, speechless.

"I still don't know if I like them." I eventually reply.

"You devoured that one at Stanford pretty quickly." He counters.

"I was hungry." I justify, shrugging. "Sure, why not." I give in, the slight drunken state of my mind craving the greasy fast food.

"Two please." He asks the guy, who nods, quickly producing two. I don't even want to know how long they've been cooking for, but frankly, Tipsy Savannah doesn't care that much. "Here." Brett hands me one, before pulling out his wallet. I glance over the various condiments set out alongside the table beside the stand and select a couple.

"Once again, I can pay for myself." I argue, adding the finishing touches to my hot dog before stepping forward.

"It's fine." Brett retorts, handing a note over to the vendor. I roll my eyes, digging into my own purse.

"No really, here you go. Have a tip." I smile, handing another note over. Brett watches me, shaking his head slightly as he smiles.

"Stubborn Savannah has got a lot more stubborn over the years."

"I've learnt a lot." I retort, turning to walk away from the stand. He follows and I take a bite of the hot dog, the drink in my stomach making it a thousand times tastier.

"So you left the diner?" Brett asks and I grimace at the memory.

"Yeah. I realized you were right." I admit. "Surprisingly." I smirk, "It wasn't worth it."

"I'm glad you got out of there."

"They're selling it off now. One of the bosses died."

"Good."

"Brett!" I exclaim, my eyes wide.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean that." He replies, looking down at me, his eyes slightly apologetic.

"You do!"

"A little bit." He admits and I smile.

"Me too." I agree, taking another bite of my hot dog.

"That place was awful." He reminisces and I nod.

"At least you never worked there." I point out, "I never understood why you jocks kept coming in."

"It was cheap."

"For good reason!" I insist, "Anyway, money has never been an issue for you!"

"Liam convinced us to go there the first time. He was having money issues." He explains, "We went with Ashley and her friends." He says and I can't help but roll my eyes. "I'm sitting there, waiting for someone to take our order and suddenly you come up to us, a small, blonde haired girl with blue green eyes and the fakest smile I'd ever seen." He smiles at the memory and I tear my eyes away, back to the half eaten hot dog. "I was drawn to her."

"Funny."

"It's true." He says softly and I bite my lip, still staring at the food. "Although I never intentionally meant to cause you to fail your driving test later that day." He continues, "Sorry about that."

"It's in the past." I remark before looking back up and round at the dark, empty space. "The park is so eerie at night."

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" He asks and I shake my head, enjoying the peace. It might be slightly spooky but at college you never get somewhere this quiet, even the library fills up most days. Plus, I know that Brett could fight anyone off. Meanwhile I'd run away, leaving him to battle the attackers on his own.

"No. I'm okay here." I assure, before taking another bite of my hot dog.

"Is that nice?" He asks, gesturing towards my food and I grin.

"Incredible."

"Let's try it."

"No! Eat your own!" I exclaim, moving my hand away as he tries to grab it.

"Come on!" He pleads and I shake my head.

"Absolutely not!" I object and he grimaces, grabbing hold of my free hand and pulling me back towards him. My slightly drunk brain is not able to stop as I stumble towards him and I gulp back some air as my chest collides with his. His eyes widen slightly at the contact, his breath catching as he glances down at me. I am certain that he can hear my heart hammering against my rib cage at the close proximity, my hot dog long forgotten.

He moves his face an inch closer to mine, our eyes locked together, my breath ragged as his hand tightens around mine. A surge of excitement flows from my stomach and around my entire body, Brett's contact causing an involuntary release of adrenaline. I want him close to me, and I never want him to let go.

A sudden scurrying noise from the right disturbs us, and our heads whirl towards it to see a squirrel run into the dark undergrowth. It's enough to snap me out of whatever drunken trance I seem to be in and turning back to his gorgeously entrancing eyes I cough before pushing away, letting go of his hand and holding my hot dog out to him.

"Alright, fine!" I give in, offering it out.

"I forgot how territorial you were over your food." He teases before reaching out and taking a bite. "That is good." He admits.

"Told you." I grin, "Some of the best combos seem crazy." I shrug, taking it back and savouring another bite. My sweet chilli sauce drips down the side of the meat, coating every angle, the onion laying across the top, adding to the flavor.

"Not sure everyone would agree."

"It's no fun being 'everyone'." I mutter and he grins.

"That's true." He concurs, "Would you like to try mine?"

"Mustard and spicy mayo? Absolutely not." I grimace, turning my head away from him as he takes a large bite.

"You're missing out."

"I'll take your word for it." I scoff, taking the final bite of mine.

"You'll never know."

"I'm glad!" I retort and he shakes his head.

"Go on, try a bit." He urges, holding it near my mouth.

"Leave me alone!" I giggle as he tries to force me to try it. "No!" I laugh as I attempt to dodge his food, moving my face away from him as he follows with the hot dog, "Brett!" I grimace as he laughs and I stop fighting, finally opening my mouth and taking a bite. The flavor instantly disgusts me and I pull a face as he laughs, taking a step back. "Urgh that's gross!"

"You, the Queen of strange combinations, think that is gross?" He smirks.

"Absolutely!" I cringe, "Never do that again!" Suddenly my phone springs to life and I hastily dig it out of my jean pocket, glancing quickly at the screen before answering it. "Elena?"

"I've lost my key!" She announces and I can't help but roll my eyes. What is it with this girl? Is it really so hard to keep track of three metal sticks?

"Where are you?"

"Sat outside our dorm room."

"I'm on my way." I reply before hanging up and placing the phone back in my pocket. I look up at Brett, his expression curious. "I have to go. Elena is locked out."

"Let me walk you."

"No." I retort before turning away.

"I'm still going to follow you, to make sure you get back safe." He calls out and I roll my eyes, continuing down the path, away from him. I hear his footsteps behind me and quickly look over my shoulder to see him.

"What?" I ask and he shakes his head, continuing to stalk behind me. "Stop doing that, weirdo!"

"I'm not going to stop until you're safely inside your dorm." He retorts.

"Fine." I admit defeat, stopping to allow him to catch up. "Walk with me then." He catches up, shooting me a quick smile before I turn my head away, looking forward.

"How are you enjoying college so far?" He asks.

"I was a bit worried that after all these years of worrying about being able to pay for it, I wouldn't enjoy it." I admit, "But so far, so good."

"Good."

"You?" I ask, glancing back up at him to see him smile.

"It's alright."

"How did you even choose to come here?" I can't help but ask, the question having played on my mind for the last two months.

"I'd only applied to Stanford." He replies, "My parents knew the Dean here so they were able to find out who was in charge of late applications and get mine in first."

"You should have just gone to Stanford." I mutter and hear him take a large intake of breath.

"Not after how I treated you." He objects, "You deserved Stanford. I didn't." He remarks, "I really am sorry Savannah."

"Stop apologising." I snap slightly, "I'm never going to forgive you so it's pointless."

"I understand." He says softly, "I don't know whether I'll ever be able to forgive myself." He adds and I slowly sneak a look at him to see a regretful expression on his face as he stares at the path ahead of us.

"What happened to the arrogant jerk I went to high school with?" I can't help but scoff.

"He's still in here. Somewhere." Brett smirks, looking down at me as I shake my head. "Here we are." Brett exclaims, stopping and digging his hands into his pockets. "Night."

"Night." I reply, smiling at him before I turn to walk into the dorm. "Brett!" I call after him, whirling back round to see him staring after me. I quickly shrug off his jacket, walking back to hand it over to him. "Thanks for walking me back." I smile.

"Of course." He replies, watching me as I turn back around and head to the building. I dig the keys out of my pocket and swipe them across the door, grabbing hold of it as it unlocks and pulling it open.

Glancing back across the street, he is still stood watching me leave, a sombre expression pinned to his face. With great surprise, it pains me to see and I raise my hand in a quick wave before ducking into the building and letting the door slam shut behind me.


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