"What happened?" Kian asked, motioning for me to take a seat next to him.

Kyla and Derrick were on the dance floor and so was Tyler with one of his friends who asked to dance with him.

"I bumped into Seth," I mumbled, shutting my eyes and exhaling through my nose.

"Oh, no," I heard Kian say. "Did he say anything?"

I turned my head to look at him. "I walked away before he could."

"Good," he said. "You don't deserve any more shit from him."

"I guess," I responded.

"Ava, it's okay," he said, reaching forward to put his hand on mine. "It takes time getting over a break-up. Do you remember how long I took? Wasn't it like two months?"

"I think it was more like five," I commented.

"My point is," he cut in, ignoring my comment. "Take all the time you need. Hate him for as long as you want, be angry at him. If you want to, throw a few punches but take your time to heal. You'll be fine soon."

I felt a smile come on my face as I squeezed his hand back and nodded.

I looked the at the dance floor to see an out of breath Tyler approaching us.

"What are you doing sitting here?" he yelled over the music. "Come, let's dance."

"No, I'm good," I responded, shaking my head.

"Come on," he insisted, reaching for my hand. "You won't even give me one dance tonight?"

I stared at his face for a few seconds before caving in. The puppy dog eyes and the pout were difficult to say no to.

"I'll be back," I told Kian as I kept my on the table in front of him.

"Take your time," he said suggestively with a wink.

Rolling my eyes, I let Tyler lead me onto the dance floor. Once he found a satisfactory place on the dance floor, he spun around whilst moving my hand around his head and smoothly guiding it on his shoulder. He then proceeded to place his hands on my waist and pull me closer. After a moment's hesitation, I decided to wrap my hands around his neck and sway along with him.

"How are you even moving in those heels?" he asked, looking down at my heels.

I laughed and said in a low voice, "I'll let you in on a secret. I actually practiced walking in these in my bedroom for a whole hour."

His eyebrows shot up. "That's a lot of dedication."

"Yeah, I've recently discovered the hardships women go through in order to look good," I said, nodding.

"If the outcome of your hardships is this," he said, "then it's totally worth it."

I chuckled in response and a confident grin came on his face too.

"Hey, I'm sorry about earlier," he said after a few beats. "It was out of place. I shouldn't have said that."

"It's okay," I said with a sigh. "I overreacted. I was already nervous and then, when you said that, it was just kind of unexpected so..."

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

"No, no, it's okay," I said, giving him a reassuring smile.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I broke away from Tyler and turned around to find myself looking at Seth. He didn't address me and instead, spoke to Tyler.

"Do you mind if I steal her for a bit?" he asked Tyler.

"Uh..." Tyler's eyes shifted to look at me before looking back at Seth. "Sure."

Tyler let go of my hand and moved away. We exchanged a glance before he left the dance floor. Seth reached for my hand and wrapped his other hand around my waist. My gaze shifted from Tyler's to meet Seth's. The familiarity that his deep eyes gave off twisted my stomach into knots and unlocked something in my heart.

"You didn't let me finish earlier," he spoke up. "I was about to say that you look ravishing."

I tried to pull away from him. "Seth, let me go."

"Why?" he asked, an innocent look on his face.

"Because I don't want anything to do with you anymore," I said through my teeth.

"Ava, I've tried so many times," he pleaded. "I'm sorry. Just let me explain myself to you once. Let's get out of here, we can go to some coffee shop and talk things out. We can still work things out."

"Why? Why do you want to work things out?" I questioned. "So that you can use me again?"

"I want to work things out because I love you," he said, his last words coming out a whisper. "I love you so much. Every passing day that we haven't talked has been killing me inside. I can't live without you."

In that moment, a split second of sympathy surfaced for him inside of me. However, I wasn't going to forget what he did. I still don't know whether I can trust him.

"Let go of me, Seth," I said, my eyes focused on his chest.

I expected him to protest and I was ready to break free from him but he didn't. Instead, he loosened his grip on me and just like I asked, he let me go. Surprised, my eyes flickered up to meet his and I could see the pure pain in his eyes.

No. Don't fall for it. Not again.

I spun around and walked away from him and towards where Tyler went.

For the next hour, I quietly sat in a seat next to Kian. Tyler tried to talk to me when I came back from my dance with Seth but I gave him really short responses. Eventually, one of his friends came looking for him so he excused himself. Kian could sense that I didn't want to talk so let me be.

"Hey you," Kyla said as Derrick and her walked towards us, slightly sweating. "What's wrong?"

"Seth," Kian answered for me.

"What did that ass do now?" she asked, grabbing a chair to sit down next to me.

"What is he doing now?" Kian said, pointing at the stage where the DJ was.

All our heads turned to see Seth standing on the stage with a microphone in his hand.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt your fun," he said into the microphone, causing all eyes to turn to him. "I just have something I want to say. So, there's this girl...and I happen to really, really love her. But I was dumb and foolish and selfish and I made a stupid mistake that pushed her away from me."

A few heads turned around to look at me and I wanted to dig a hole and shrivel up in there. I felt tears forming in my eyes and I found myself furiously trying to blink them away.

"I think I've come to the realisation that there's nothing more I can do to try and get her to talk to me; to try and get her back. But I just want her to know that I truly am sorry for what I did and I agree that there's nothing I can do to that will make up for my mistake. I never, ever meant to intentionally hurt her. All I want her to know is that I love her and that if she gives me a second chance, I will never ever let her down."

My throat clogged up and I bit the insides of my cheeks to stop myself from crying.

"So, this is a song that I dedicate to her. It's by Elton John and it's called 'Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word'."

Kyla, Derrick and Kian turned to look at me. My eyes shifted from Kian to Kyla and then to Derrick. I pushed my chair away and got up to leave the room. Rushing past a group of people, I pushed the door of the gym open and ran straight ahead. I collapsed onto the stairs and just let myself cry. I sobbed and sobbed till I had no more tears left.

I don't know how long I sat there for before I heard footsteps behind me. I quickly wiped at my face with the sleeves of my top and cleared my throat. The footsteps neared me and I felt a shadow come over me before someone sat next to me.

"Hey," Tyler said softly. "What happened back there..."

I avoided eye contact and said, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"I know, but just hear me just hear me out, Ava," he insisted.

My eyebrows pulled in but I nodded and let him continue.

"Whatever he said back there," he began, "it sounded genuine. He sounded like he'd given up but he also sounded raw and desperate. Ava, I can tell that he really loves you. I don't know what he did that has angered you so much but trust me when I say this, it is not easy for a guy to apologise let alone do it publicly. It's not my place to say anything but you should really give the guy a second chance."

"You're right," I said, turning to look at him. "It isn't your place to say anything."

He looked like I had just slapped him but it didn't take long for him to regain his composure.

"This is honestly the perfect opportunity for me to swoop in and be the guy who's going to be there for you right after a break-up," he said. "But instead, I'm here telling you to go after him- telling you to go after the guy who loves you so much and will do everything to keep you happy. I'm telling you to go after the guy you love."

I felt a new wave of tears approaching me. Sensing that, Tyler scooted closer to me and hugged me from the side.

"Do you really think so?" I whispered. "Do you think he'll keep me happy?"

"If he doesn't, I'm going to be there to hit him and knock some sense into him," he joked. I chuckled in response. "But from what I've seen and heard so far, he really seems to regret what he's done. I think it's time you forgive him. I mean, the guy dedicated an Elton John song to you, what more do you want woman?"

I laughed, sniffing. He stood up and patted my shoulders a few times. "Come on, get up. Go get your man."

He offered me his hand and pulled me up. I gave him a smile before I started walking back to the door of the gym. After taking a few steps, I stopped in my tracks and turned around to look at Tyler standing with his hands in his pockets. I rushed forward and gave him a hug.

"Thank you," I whispered.

After wiping my face and making sure I didn't look red anymore, I walked back inside. As I walked through the crowd of people, many people turned to look at me and engaged in their daily dose of gossip. I spotted Mason ahead and walked towards him.

"Hey, Mason!" I called out.

"Hey, Ava, how've you been?" he said, giving me a quick hug.

"I'm doing okay. Have you seen Seth?" I asked quickly.

"Yeah, I think he went out towards the stands," he said, pointing in the direction of the back door.

"Thanks," I said and walked away from him.

I pushed the double doors open and made my way to the stands slowly, trying to formulate a speech in my head. I wasn't going to take him back just yet. Instead, I was going to take him up on his offer of going to a coffee shop and talking things through. I want to hear what he has to say. I may be ready to accept to apology but I haven't completely forgiven him yet. I did, however, want to work things out together.

I stopped in my tracks as I saw Seth with another girl. The girl's hands were on his shoulders and they were standing rather close. The girl took a step forward, causing light to fall on her face, and her eyes closed as she moved her lips closer to Seth.

The girl was none other than Carla.

I felt the urge to puke as I turned around and ran, the sound of my heels echoing loudly.

"Ava!" I heard Seth call out behind me but I wasn't going to stop.

A/N- 2 updates in 2 days?! You're welcome. Did you like the chapter?

But oooOoOOoOoo drama drama drama. Ava finally manages to come around and Seth strikes again whoops. Wasn't his little speech so sweet though?

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