Julian was at the lake. And it was ironic. He shouldn't be there because it reminded him of Wynter. But Wynter wasn't here. Julian hadn't expected him to be. He was probably at Serena's house right now, waking up because of the harsh sunlight and finding a beautiful girl lying on his naked chest. Julian wanted to be happy for the other boy and so he tried to be. He convinced himself that he was happy for him but he knew deep inside that it was all a lie.

The Dexter twins along with Janelle and Sammy were about twenty metres away, chasing away their hangovers by resting under the shade of tree leaves woven into majestic canopies. The canopies let in cool wind that washed over their skins soothingly.

"He hardly ever comes here" Janelle commented, taking a swig of her lemonade before climbing into Aiden's lap to watch the movie playing on his laptop.

Aaron looked up from his crossword puzzle with a slight frown "He never comes here" he corrected.

Sammy shrugged "Maybe it's because of yesterday night. Wynter and Serena were like all over each other. And everyone knows Julian is practically in love with Wynter Black. I'm pretty sure Wynter knows too"

Aaron sighed, crossing his arms behind his head he lied down on the ground. The gravel and sand prickled his back but he was used to it. He had been here very often, just lying down and staring up at the sky blankly. Wondering what the reason for existence was....wondering why he was stuck in his body. A small insignificant speck in the large universe.

Sammy sat beside him, knees pulled up to her chest as she looked over at the boy she was in love with. Aaron David Dexter. The most craziest, irrational and insensitive person in the whole world. He had laughed at her as she was crying over the death of Augustus Waters in the movie version of The Fault in Our Stars. It should've made Sammy hate him or even slightly dislike him, but she was surprised to find out later on that she still felt the same. The same fast heartbeat. The same smile on her face when he spoke with her. The same catch in her breath when her pale skin brushed against his tanned milk chocolate skin.

And the same pang in her chest when he had dismissed her love confession a week before. Not even giving a thought about it.

I love you....she had said when he was over at her house, painting with her for the fundraiser event.

He had tilted his head, a forced smile, Don't do this to yourself, Sammy. You know we'll never work out.

Sammy stood up suddenly, making Aaron sit up because of her fast movements "What's wrong? Another bug climbing up your arm?" he teased light-heartedly.

She didn't reply, bending down to pick up her phone, sunscreen and lipgloss. Sammy was done. She was done killing her self-respect and running back to the boy who led her on cruelly. Giving her hopes one day and crushing them the next day. She would wake up in the morning, always determined not to even look at Aaron Dexter's face. One smile directed at her with loud cheerful yell of Sammy! And she was gone again. The same cycle repeating over and over again.

When she started to walk away, Aaron's fingers clamped around her wrist "Where are you going?"

There was no sincerity or concern in his eyes. Plain curiosity.

"To someone who will understand me"

Aaron scoffed and let out a laugh of disbelief " What? To Julian? Don't get me wrong. I like the guy. He's one of my friends in fact. But I think he's the one who needs therapy...."

Aaron hated doing this. He hated pushing away people who mattered to him. People he loved. Aaron loved Sammy. Samaira Akhtar. The girl with the most beautiful smile ever. He used to take pride in the fact that he was always the one to make her smile. Make her laugh. Her deep brown eyes twinkling as he swung her up into his arms and jumped into the lake with her clinging onto him, cursing him out like a sailor. The girl who punched him in the face when she was on her period because he made a joke about her favourite boy band.

But he didn't want her to know he loved her. Because if she knew, she'd be at his side every moment of the day. And it wasn't even that he didn't want it to be that way. He would sell his soul for it. But only if things were different. If he wasn't diagnosed with a heart condition. If he didn't have to go to the doctor's every other month. He knew she'd love him still. That nothing would change. But Aaron didn't want her to deal with his shit. She had enough to worry about. Her fashion designing course at a large university. And a modelling offer this year. It didn't surprise him. She was so beautiful.

"Aaron....could you be anymore insensitive?" Sammy gritted out, before wrenching herself out of his grasp and walking off towards Julian.

Julian smiled when Sammy put her head on his shoulder. He put an arm around her and held her close.

"Sammy—"

"No," she cut him off, "I don't want to feel better Julian. Let me be."

"If you wanted me to let you be....you wouldn't have come to me" he said softly.

"Let's talk about you," she said, "How did you feel when you saw Wynter and Serena making out?"

Julian let out a low chuckle "You're using my own lines against me?"

Sammy didn't answer "Well?"

Julian exhaled in resignation "It felt like someone was poking hot iron rods into my stomach. My chest felt like there were tons on rocks just chilling on it"

"And your heart?" she asked. He breathed out against her hair and closed his eyes in pain.

"I couldn't feel it beating. It felt.....dead" he admitted, gently touching his heels to the overflowing water by the edge. Cold sparks ran up his legs and Julian wondered how Wynter managed to stay underwater for so much time.

"Like mine always feels lately" Sammy smiled humourlessly.

"Sammy....let me tell you something. Aaron loves you."

"How would you know?"

"Apart from the fact that he's been staring at you with puppy eyes since the past three minutes?"

"I'm sick of it all Julian. He doesn't care. He watches me break and he just watches....He builds up my hopes and then crashes them. I'm so tired Julian. It's like he's hiding something from me. It feels horrible" Sammy let her tears drip down her eyelashes. Her shoulders started to shake and her sniffles grew into silent sobs.

"Does he know?" Julian asked quietly. He felt cruel for bringing it up but she had to know that people can keep secrets until they want to share them. And maybe he could keep a secret too. He didn't have to tell Wynter. He could hide it for as long as he could. After all, there's a difference between hiding the truth and lying.

"You're no help at all" Sammy grumbled, burying her face into Julian's chest and closing her eyes. Julian stroked her hair with a small smile on his lips.

"I'm just here to listen" Julian answered.

"Can you listen to Wynter then? He probably has a reason for what happened last night"

Julian was surprised that Sammy was defending the other boy. She usually just suspected without a thought. Maybe it was just her long lost maturity returning. He decided to give it a go. The next time his phone rang with Wynter's ringtone, he actually picked up.

Julian was seated in a diner when his phone buzzed on the wooden table. He ran his finger over the screen and put the phone to his ear "Good morning, Sunshine!"

"It's afternoon" Wynter replied. Despite the dryness in his tone, a pinch of relief could easily be detected. He had seen Julian the night before from the windows. Hugging Ren and crying into his shoulder. The dark-haired boy had felt a sick twist in his stomach. Guilt.

Serena, had been the girl's name. She had smiled at Wynter, He does like you. Go get him, tiger.

"Ren was right, I am stupid" Julian mumbled, lifting up a hand to wave at the waitress. She smiled back and did a two fingered salute as she walked into the kitchen, probably to order his usual.

"You're not stupid" the other boy said.

"Yeah I know. I'm just kidding. You take everything so literally" Julian laughed, leaning back in his chair and staring out of the window.

He was glad that Wynter didn't bring up last night. It'd mess things up and the only messed up thing Julian wouldn't mind was his bedroom. It always looked like it was ravaged by a bunch of animals, trying to find food.

"Julian...that guy. Caleb? Wasn't he the same guy who dated you last year?"

"Not really. We just kind of messed around, had fun, you know? You were an ass back then. I tried to talk to you once. To ask if you wanted to go to the school trip. You stared at me like I was mad and walked off. Man, being class leader sucks"

"Yeah....good thing I'll never be made one. Caleb seemed so fascinated by your hair though...."

Wynter was hoping to get as much information as possible about how Julian felt about Caleb. He didn't know what he was going to do with that information and it bothered him. It was like he just wanted to know why. And it didn't make a whole lotta sense but nothing about Julian ever did.

"Hmm yeah....he was kinda surprised that I dyed my hair——"

A loud thud on the other side interrupted Julian. There were a few curses and another thud before Wynter spoke again.

"You dyed your hair? Your hair is not naturally strawberry blond?"

"Wynter William Black! Did you just fall off your couch?" Julian questioned, smiling at the reaction he received.

"Yeah, I fell off the couch. Why would you dye your hair?" Wynter demanded in disbelief as if he was betrayed by someone he trusted with his life.

"Because I like to dye my hair"
"I thought you were originally—"
"Yeah no. My hair was really like Ren's. Corn yellow.....but a little darker I guess. I can't really remember"

"Do your roots not grow out or something?" Wynter asked. He was pouting and it was childish but he was angry that he didn't know this particular fact about the other boy. He always thought he knew everything about Julian. But now he realised that he can never know everything about Julian. The human character is vast, unique and unending. A perfect example of infinite. You can never get to know a person fully.

"They do. You're just not very observant" The green-eyed boy replied easily.

When Wynter thought of Julian....Julian's face, Julian's hair or Julian's eyes were never in the equation. It was always Julian's words, Julian's laughter and the things that he felt when he was with Julian. The thoughts tended to lean not towards the physical but the emotional aspects.

"Says the person who didn't notice that the sole of his shoe was coming off until it finally did"

"Hey! In my defence I was too busy eating my ice cream!" Julian protested with a smile.

"Hey Julian....come over—"

"No," Julian interrupted, " I promised I'd hang out with Ren"

Wynter knew Julian was lying. And knowing only made it hurt more " Stop lying. Ren is meeting Reagan's parents today. He won't be back until evening. Julian, come over....please"

There was silence on Julian's side for a second. When he spoke, his tone was tight and forced.

" You knew. Didn't you? You knew that I—"
" Yes" The dark-haired boy admitted and a second later he heard Julian hang up.

A/N- It's happening! It's finally happening. Stay **beep** calm!

Stay tuned for the next chapter! Love you all!

Also this thing with Aaron and Sammy is kinda gon be a side story so please don't get pissed...I felt like the book shouldn't be focused on only the main characters. I mean...drama happens everywhere right?

Keep on livingxx