Finally.

After all of my hard work, I've finally received my degree. I stare at it admiringly as I hold it in my hands, tracing my fingers along the frame.

"I did it," I say in disbelief to myself. "I did it."

Proud is an understatement.

I pull into the parking lot of Alex's school, and I push the door open and walk through the hallways, aimlessly trying to find Alex so I can tell her the great news. I hear the sound of high-heels, and I stop walking so I can listen to them and figure out which direction I need to walk. I make a couple of right turns, and the sound of the high heels gets closer and closer. I finally see a woman walking down the hallway, but I already know it's not Alex because the woman is blonde, and nowhere near Alex's height or body shape.

I take my phone out of my pocket, texting Alex so I can find out which class she is in.

Rian: baby, which class are you in?

Alex: I'm in Literature & Composition AP, why?

Rian: just asking 😏

I make my way to the main office, and I ask one of the ladies at the desk where her classroom is. I listen to my feet echo as I walk up the staircase, staring at the colorful posters that follow me. I peek through the doors of classrooms, and my body stops as soon as I see Alex at a desk. She's talking to another girl in there, laughing before returning to her assignment on the laptop. I smile as I watch her type rapidly, and her focus seems unshakable.

I slowly walk into the classroom, and once I'm behind Alex's desk I tap on her shoulder, and she jumps. Her eyes widen in surprise, and I smile brightly at her.

"Rian, what're you doing here?" Alex whispers, and I take her hand and I pull her out of class.

Once we're in the hallway, I grab her by the waist and I kiss her gently. The feeling of her lips curling into a smile against my mouth causes me to smile, too, and she pulls away.

"Rian, I'm in the middle of writing an essay!" She exclaims, and I smile.

"That can wait. I have the best news ever!" I say, unable to contain my happiness.

"What is it?" Alex chuckles.

"I got my degree." I reveal, and her eyes widen before she hugs me.

"You did? Oh, my God! That's great! I'm so happy for you, Rian." Alex says cheerfully, and her warmth spreads from her body to mine, giving me that fuzzy feeling.

"I just couldn't wait to tell you, this was too important." I say, and she laughs into my ear.

"That's great, Rian. You really deserve it, and all your hard work paid off." Alex says, beaming at me.

"Thank you, again. I really don't know how I did it, to be honest." I admit, and she grabs one of my hands.

"You did it because you used your intelligence and your motivation. You have so much of both of those things that nothing could get in the way of you and your degree." Alex says, and my smile starts to make my cheeks hurt.

"I also did it because I knew that I had the support from my family, and from you. I just didn't want to let anybody down." I say, and she shakes her head.

"How could you let anybody down? Everybody that knows you should be exceedingly proud of you, and if they aren't, then something's wrong with them." Alex says, and I chuckle.

"Yeah, after these couple of years I've finally got it. Now that I have it, we should celebrate." I say, and she nods her head.

"This is definitely worth a celebration." Alex replies.

"Would you accept my invitation if I asked you to attend the celebration with me?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I'd love to accompany you." Alex says cheekily.

The celebration has been under preparation for a while now. It's an elaborate party that hospital throws annually. Not only does it celebrate the addition of new people added to the staff, but it also celebrates the veterans who've been there before us like Dr. Russell Raymond. It's so extravagant that it almost is like a party that Jay Gatsby would throw.

"Good." I say, winking at her before leaning in for a kiss.

Alex's lips taste like strong black coffee, and I smile because that's the coffee that I made this morning.

"You had some of my coffee this morning, didn't you?" I ask playfully, and she nods.

"I needed a source of energy, plus the coffee you make is delicious. Maybe you should be a barista." Alex says jokingly, and I laugh.

"Is my coffee that good?" I ask, and she laughs.

"Better than Starbucks, and that's high praise coming from me." She says, poking my arm which causes me to laugh again.

Alex winks at me, sending a jolt of electricity through my veins, and we kiss each other again.

"I've got to get to class. Our essay is due at the end of the period." Alex says, and I nod understandingly.

"Yeah, I've got to go, too."

"You going to tell your parents?" She asks, arching her eyebrow.

"You just read my damn mind." I chuckle, and she does the same.

"Go. I'm sure they're going to be more than happy when they see you." Alex says, and she gives me a peck on the cheek.

We split from each other, and I make my way down the stairs and back to my car before making my way to Sacramento. As I'm moving along the road, my eyes will drift to the passenger seat as if I'm checking if my degree is okay, or something like that.

Foolish.

I pull into the driveway of my parents mansion, and I quickly jump out of the car while holding tightly onto my framed degree. I hold it behind me after I ring the doorbell, and after a while of waiting, I see Vanessa sprinting towards the door with a wide smile on her face.

"Rian! How are you?" Vanessa asks happily, throwing her arms around me.

"I'm doing excellent! How about you?" I ask.

"I'm okay. We weren't expecting you! What's brought you over here?" She asks while beckoning to me to come inside.

I walk past her, and the sound of the door shutting echoes slightly. I walk side by side with Vanessa, and as we walk into the living room we see our parents and Brendan sitting on one of the couches.

"We have a visitor!" Vanessa cheers, and I smile when my mom launches off of the couch and into my arms.

"Rian, honey! It's so wonderful to see you!" She says, and I smile as she tightly hugs me.

"It's good to see you, too." I reply, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

My father comes to hug me, too, and the look that is exchanged between us sends a chill through my spine. The conversation that we had the last time I visited rings in my head, and as we hug I feel a certain heaviness set in my bones.

"It's nice to see you, how've you been since we last spoke?" He asks into my ear.

"I'm doing great. You?" I ask.

He just gives me a weak smile and nod before stepping aside to let me speak to Brendan.

"Hey man!" Brendan exclaims, slapping my back when we embrace.

"What's up?" I ask, and he chuckles.

"Nothing man, what about you? You're practically foaming at the mouth with excitement." Brendan says, and we all laugh.

I take my degree from behind me, and I lift it up. A scream comes from my mothers throat, which startles me at first, and then she attacks me with hugs and kisses.

"Congratulations! Oh, I'm so proud of you!" She says happily, hugging me so tightly that oxygen is being forced out of my lungs.

"Yeah, kind of struggling to breathe, Mom." I say, and she laughs before letting me go.

I look up and see Vanessa holding her phone out, and I smile before she counts down from three. My parents grab their phones out, too, so I continue smiling.

"V, how do you take a picture?" Dad asks, and I laugh.

"Press the circle on the bottom." Vanessa says, and my dad furrows his eyebrows together.

Vanessa walks over to him, and she takes the photo for him, and his eyes widen in realization and I smile at how he isn't very tech-savvy.

"I knew you could do it, son." My dad says, embracing me again. "I knew you'd make me proud."

His words replace the heaviness in my body, and I smile. There was nothing else that was more important to me than making my family proud. Especially my parents.

"I can't believe you actually did it." Brendan says, and I roll my eyes.

"Are you really happy for me, or are you being sarcastic?" I ask, crossing my arms and quirking my brow.

"No man, I'm kidding. Congrats." Brendan says with a chuckle before hitting my arm.

We all sit down together as a family in the living room, and they're loudly babbling about their excitement for the celebration that's only a couple of weeks away.

"So Rian, are we finally going to meet Alex?" My mother asks, causing my cheeks to warm up.

"Yes, yes. I asked her if she'd like to come, and she instantly accepted." I reply, smiling like an idiot.

"I cannot wait!" My mother says, bouncing with excitement.

"Me either, it's going to be the best celebration I've been to." I say, thinking of Alex.

I can guarantee it.

~~~

"I need your help."

"With what?" Xiu asks, picking the skin on her lip.

"So Rian invited me to the huge celebration, and it's a pretty big deal if I go with him. I don't know what to wear, and the party starts in a couple of hours." I say, frantically looking around in the closet for the perfect dress.

All day I've been anxious about this celebration. It's around 5:00 o'clock, and I called Xiu and Savannah over to help me get ready.

"Why are you stressing? You're gonna look amazing! Once Rian sees you, he won't be able to look away." Savannah says, and Xiu nods in agreement.

"I don't know why I'm nervous, I just am." I admit, and Xiu wraps her arms around me.

"Hey, listen to Savannah and I. You're going to this party with Rian, and as long as you're with him, you have nothing to be worried about." Xiu says, placing her hands on my shoulders.

"You're right, you're right. I just need to focus on finding the perfect dress." I say, taking in their advice.

After a while of searching, I pull out a dress that still has a tag on it. It's one of the dresses that Rian bought me at Bebe, and it's the long-sleeve sheer mesh dress with the opulent sequin details.

"Yes! Put this one on!" Savannah cheers.

After I'm done changing, I walk out of the closet to reveal how the dress looks on me. Xiu and Savannah's mouths both drop in awe.

"How do I look?" I ask.

"You look perfect!" Savannah squeals.

"That dress looks so good on you!" Xiu says, and they both stand up and lead me to the bathroom.

Savannah dumps all of my makeup out of my bag and onto the counter, and Xiu grabs my comb.

"Guys, guys, it's fine. I know how to apply makeup and do my hair on my own." I say, and they both look over with raised eyebrows.

"You can't trust your best friends?" Xiu asks, sounding mildly offended.

"No, no! I can, it's just that—" I start, but Savannah shushes me.

"If you can trust us, let us work our magic on you." Savannah implores.

"Fine. Just don't give me a clown face." I say, and she smiles.

"With an event as special as this, I wouldn't even think of doing that."

Xiu takes my hair after combing and straightening it, and she puts it all up into a big bouffant bun. After finishing my foundation and powder, Savannah holds one of my many eyeshadow palettes, and she starts applying it carefully to my eyelid. With this preparation, I feel like I'm a celebrity about to hit the red carpet or something. Xiu grabs the blush and applies it to my cheeks while Savannah opens my liquid eyeliner.

"If you move, everything is gonna be fucked up and I'm gonna have to restart." Savannah says, and I smile.

She slowly inches towards my eye, and moving carefully along it. While she works on my eyeliner, Xiu grabs a dark shade of lipstick and I automatically open my mouth without her having to tell me to. Once she's finished applying it to my lips, they step away from me and allow me to look at myself in the mirror.

"Damn. Maybe I shouldn't have doubted you guys." I say with a chuckle.

"I told you that we'd work our magic." Savannah says, making jazz hands.

"Thank you. I definitely needed you guys to help me get ready, and you helped get rid of some of my nerves."

"We did?" Xiu asks in surprise.

"I'm still a little nervous, but not as nervous as I was before you guys got here." I admit, and they both smile simultaneously at me.

We all hug, and I pick up my necklace that Rian gave me before putting it on.

"I love that you wear this necklace everyday. That's so cute." Xiu says, and her cheeks blush.

I smile while looking down at the necklace, and I take Rian's initial in my hand, and I kiss it. The coolness of the letter against my lips sends a chill down my spine, and I smile before grabbing my clutch and walking out of the bathroom.

Savannah and Xiu walk to the top of the steps, and they stop me from walking any further.

"How much longer do I have to wait?" Rian complains, and I smile.

"Not anymore! We present to you, Alexandrianna Hawkins!" Xiu and Savannah say in unison.

They step aside, and I take a deep breath before turning from the wall. I grab the bannister, and I slowly walk down the stairs towards Rian. It feels like everything has slowed down, and that all eyes are on me. Once I make it to the bottom of the stairs, Rian walks towards me and he grabs me by the waist.

Rian emits confidence, but I detect no arrogance in his demeanor. His three button suit is precisely tailored to match his perfectly contoured body, and the tie is black and sleek.

Rian's eyes stay on mine, and his jaw is to the floor. His gaze retraces over my body multiple times, as if he's not seeing properly. His eyes devour every inch of my body, causing my legs to become wobbly. I stand in front of him, and Rian is still gawking at me with his mouth opened as if he's at a loss for words.

"Careful, you might catch some flies." I say jokingly, and we both laugh.

"You look so beautiful." Rian says, and his cheeks redden as a bashful smile creeps on his face.

"I do?" I ask, nervously giggling afterwards.

"Yeah." He says, and he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.

He puts his forehead to mine, and we hesitantly kiss each other before lightly laughing like we're two elementary school students who just kissed for the first time.

"Okay, okay! Enough loving, you guys gotta go before you're late." Savannah says, and I hug her and Xiu one more time.

"Thank you, again."

"That's what best friends are for." Xiu says, and I smile.

I turn around, and I see Rian holding out his hand. Our fingers entwine, and the warmth of both of us is being shared. His thumb glides down mine, sending a shiver down my spine. Rian grabs the door handle, and opens the door for me.

Once we're outside, I see a sleek Rolls Royce outside, and I see a man standing outside of it. The man has grayish-brown hair, he wears a black suit and his smile is exceptionally wide.

"Mr. Peterson! How are you this evening?" The man asks.

"I'm doing really great!"

"Ah, who's the lucky lady?" The man asks.

"My girlfriend, she'll be accompanying me at the celebration tonight."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Alexandrianna, but just call me Alex." I say politely, and he shakes my hand.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Patrick, and I'll be your chauffeur for the evening." He says politely, opening the door for me.

Patrick ushers me inside of the car, and I thank him before he shuts the door. Patrick rushes to the other side of the car, opening the door for Rian. He looks over at me, grabbing my hand again.

"Get comfortable, because we'll be driving for a while." Patrick announces.

"How far away is the party?" I ask curiously.

"You'll see." Rian says, winking at me.

About an hour and thirty minutes later, I see an iron gate being opened, and Patrick slowly drives for a while before finding a parking spot. Luxurious cars surround the large marble fountain, and once we come to a stop, Rian gets out of the car. He walks to the other side, opening the door for me, and he holds out his hand for me to grab.

"Thanks." I say, and he smiles brightly at me.

"You're welcome." Rian says, and he reaches in his pocket.

He takes a thick wad of money out of his pocket, and he hands Patrick a $100 bill.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Peterson." Patrick says, and Rian smiles.

"You're welcome."

Patrick soon drives off, and Rian takes my hand and kisses it softly.

"Right this way." He says politely, and I smile before we walk inside.

A gasp leaves my throat, and I look in every direction as I see a ginormous crowd of people only seems to get larger, and all I see are women wearing elegant dresses, sipping from their champagne glasses. All of the men in their identical black suits laughing and telling jokes. The loud music blares, and the crowd gets rowdier as their dancing becomes frenzied. People herd around the crates of food and bottles of wine or champagne, drinking aimlessly just so they can get drunk.

"This is the only time they will act this crazy. Any other celebration is tame." Rian says into my ear.

"I can tell." I reply, laughing.

The opulence and revelry of this is exciting, and I smile before following Rian.

"Hey! You made it!" A man with caramel skin yells.

"Jordan!" Rian exclaims, and they smack each other on the back.

"Rian!" A man with black hair and green eyes exclaims.

"Elijah!" Rian yells, and they hug each other too.

"You guys may remember her from the hospital that one day, but you never got to know her name. This is my girlfriend, Alexandrianna Hawkins." Rian says, introducing me to them.

"It's nice to meet you." I say timidly.

"Nice to meet you, too. I'm Jordan, and this is Elijah."

He holds out his hand for me to shake, and he shakes it a little too hard. Elijah does the same, and his handshake is too soft.

"Rian's told us many things about you." Elijah says, smiling at me.

"Yeah, I told you guys how we met. It started off as just a distant admiration of each other, but it blossomed into something more." Rian says, and my insides are buzzing.

"Yeah, we could tell by the hickey on your neck." Jordan says, and the three of them laugh.

"Yeah, Alex must treat you real good." Elijah says, and I feel my cheeks warm up.

"I mean, I love him so why wouldn't I?" I reply, and Rian kisses my cheek.

"Awww, how sweet." Jordan says in a high pitched voice, and Rian rolls his eyes.

"Don't be so shy, Alex. Let loose, tonight's definitely a great night to do so!" Elijah says before sipping his wine.

"She hasn't been to one of these before, once I show her around I'm sure she'll love it."

"Yeah, I was just going to suggest that." I say, and Rian smiles before waving goodbye to Elijah and Jordan.

As we're walking, his hand slips around my waist and he pulls me closer to him.

"Great friends you've got." I say, semi-sarcastically.

"Once you get to know them you'll adjust."

Rian's eyes peer up, and they follow something but I'm not sure what it is.

"Follow me."