Miles looked good in a tux. Really good.

I'd spotted him from across the room after looking around for almost ten minutes. The party was already packed with people in sparkling gowns and nice looking suits. Miles was laughing with Owen, over in a corner next to a display of helium filled foil balloons with Vivian's grinning face on them. Just as I suspected, her face was on everything.

Miles wore a mask. It was small and black and only covered his eyes. If it weren't for his signature smile I probably wouldn't have realized it was him.

My eyes were trained on him as I made my way through the mass of people in their best dresses and suits. It was like tunnel vision, the dancing bodies blurring as I moved to get my boyfriend.

"Hey," I said once I was in front of him.

He looked up at me, his jaw dropping slightly. He pushed the mask up into his hair as he took in my appearance. My cheeks flushed as his eyes roamed every inch of me.

"Hi," he said, finally meeting my eyes. "Aren't you grounded?"

My attempts to scale back my smile were futile. It could've been some lingering adrenaline from my escape or maybe just the fact that I hadn't seen him in about twenty-four hours. Whichever it was made me want to skip the small talk and go in for the kiss. So, I did.

Kissing him was satisfying. Like finally settling a craving. It wasn't rushed like in the halls of school—so quick that our lips barely touched. There, without nosy teachers, we could take our time and enjoy it.

"Ahem!" Owen let out an exaggerated cough.

Miles and I broke apart for some much needed air. My face flamed at the thought of our make out having an audience.

"That was painful to watch," Owen commented, snatching a slider from a servers tray as they passed by, which he ate in one bite.

"Then don't watch," Miles said to him. His attention stayed on me, his arms slipping around my waist.

"What else am I supposed to do?"

Miles's lips fell into a frown as he let out a small groan. I kissed his cheek to let him know that we would pick up where we left off later.

"There are people everywhere," Miles pointed out. "Mingle."

I turned around in his arms, pressing my back into his chest and looking out at the crowd. He was right, the place was packed. And I couldn't help but notice a few of girls shamelessly checking Owen out.

"There's only one girl I want," he said, nodding to the opposite side of the room.

I looked over to see Chelsea taking pictures at the photoshoot station that was equipped with a professional photographer. She hadn't complained about her ex sending her unsolicited roses or giant stuffed animals, so I assumed Owen took my advice and backed off.

"This giving her space thing is hard," he confessed, pouting like a small child. "I had to change her number in my phone to Miles' because I kept wanting to text her."

"For the record," Miles spoke, "I loved that poem you sent me the other day."

"It wasn't a poem," he defended. "The rhyming was accidental."

I was intrigued. "What was the poem about?"

"It wasn't a—" he stopped mid-sentence. His eyes grew wide as he gulped. "She's coming over here.

Sure enough, Chelsea was making her way over to us, her black gown dusting against the floor.

"What do I do?" Owen asked, his voice panicky and rushed.

It was cute that she still made him nervous.

"I didn't know you were coming," she said to me. Owen was frozen in place, watching the exchange. "I thought you were under house arrest."

"Snuck out," I admitted. "This could be the last time you ever see me alive."

The three of us laughed while Owen remained creepily still.

I thought Chelsea was going to let the poor guy suffer in agony. Instead she turned to him and said, "You're drooling."

That seemed to jolt him out of his trance-like state. I didn't get to watch what happened next because Miles lead me away.

"Since this could be my last night with you," he said as we maneuvered through the crowd, "I plan on getting every moment out of it."

The ballroom was large with a dance floor on one side, the buffet on the other and seating in the middle. It was like a maze getting through everyone and everything as Miles lead me to... wherever.

"Where are we going?" I asked, narrowly avoiding a waiter carrying a tray of drinks.

"You'll see when we get there," he said, shooting me a playful wink over his shoulder.

We went up the grand staircase. The black and gold ribbons wrapped around the railing, upon further inspection, had small "V's" embroidered on them. At least no one would forget whose birthday was being celebrated.

After a short walk down the hall Miles knocked on a a closed door before pushing pulling out key card and opening it.

"Vi?" he called, poking his head in. "Good, she's not here."

He pulled me inside the room which looked more like a dressing room than a hotel suite. Clothes, shoes and hair extensions were left messily all over. None of it seemed to bother Miles as he lead me across to the balcony doors.

The cold air wrapped around me, reminding me that I forgot to grab a sweater before my escape.

The sky was almost black, dotted with stars, planes, satellites—whatever they were, they made the sky look beautiful.

"It's not much, but we're alone," he said, hopping up to sit on the balcony's railing. He was too much of a daredevil for me at times.

I pointed to a sign that depicted an image of a stick figure doing exactly what Miles was doing, a large red "X" drawn over it.

"The girl who snuck out of her house is telling me to follow the rules?" He laughed, but planted his feet safely on the ground anyway.

"I think she overreacted," I told him, wrapping my arms around myself. "It's not like you and I did anything."

He shrugged off his suite jacket and stood in front of me as he draped it over my shoulders. "We did some stuff."

I laughed, rolling my eyes. "We kissed. A lot. Nothing sexy."

"Nothing sexy?" He looked appalled. "How's this for sexy?"

He grabbed on to either side of my face, kissing me hard. Suddenly, my back was against the wall, my hands were in his hair, his hands were...everywhere. I had to admit, it was pretty sexy.

I was happily lost in the sweet taste of him until I heard shouting.

"Call me back when you get this!"

Vivian.

Miles and I separated, but not before she saw us. She was wearing sweats, half of her hair up in rollers and face full of make-up.

"God, Miles, were you just going to do the girl on the balcony?" she huffed as we walked back into the room. "Don't let me stop you though. You can have the room because I'm done with it. I'm done with this entire party."

That last sentence made her voice crack. She quickly covered it up with a wary laugh, pacing the room. "When they told me about the stupid divorce they promised that my birthday would be the one day a year they set aside their crap and be there for me. And now look, my dad is stuck in Florida because of the dumbass weather and my mom can't even pick up her freaking phone!"

The room fell silent enough for the bass of the music from downstairs to be heard. All I could think about was my call with Victoria. It probably wouldn't be the best time to mention that. Still, it was weird. How could she call me and not her daughter?

There was loud cheering from the party below us. They were down there having a blast while the birthday girl was having a breakdown.

Vivian let out a loud, groaning sigh and dropped to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest. "I'm done. I give up."

"Alright," Miles said, walking over to her. He pulled up from the floor, despite her stubbornness. "You're going to put on your dress, go downstairs, have fun and then cut your cake."

Miles had to hold her up because she refused stiffen her legs. She pouted, he sighed like a parent having to deal with a child's tantrum. Seeing them like that, like the platonic friends Miles claimed they were, almost made me forget that they hooked up once. Almost.

"You put on the dress, you eat the cake," she said, finally standing on her own and pushing Miles away. "All of this is pointless without my parents."

"Do you really want your parents here?" Miles asked. "I've seen how you dance. Your farther would not approve."

She actually managed to crack a smile. It quickly faded as she sat in the living chair. "I just really wanted at least one of them to be here."

It was weird seeing her so...broken. I'd seen cracks and slivers in her confident act before. That mask had completely crumbled, exposing a little girl who just wanted her parents. The part of me that used to yearn for the same thing called out to me.

I knew where her mom was, or at least where she was a few hours ago. That information could help Vivian track her down. I'd be helping.

"She's at a launch party."

Vivian and Miles whipped around to look at me.

"What?" Vivian asked.

"That's where your mom was when I spoke to her," I clarified.

The way Vivian glared at me made one thing clear: I didn't help, I just signed my death warrant.