I made my way down the stairs, skipping down with my backpack slung on my shoulders. For the oddest reason I was happy despite having worked till closing yesterday on a school night. And for the first time in three years, I allowed myself to leave the house with my hair curly instead of straight.

Let's be honest, I was too lazy to straighten my hair in the morning and when I got home last night I immediately knocked out but a can of mousse later and my hair never looked better curlier anyway.

When I entered the kitchen and saw someone that definitely wasn't a resident of this household talking to my dad, I was confused.

I haven't spoken to Kevin in a couple of days. I had taken Hayden's advice and decided to leave him alone now that I knew the reason behind his irritation on Monday. But seeing him here, this early, in the place I live, was a first.

He turned his head to look at me, a small smile on his face as he tugged on the sleeve of his purple sweater. "Hey."

I sat down next to him. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Kevin said he wanted to talk to you before school started." My dad answered, handing the both of us plates of food.

We both said thanks and the second my dad was gone, Kevin turned towards me, his hands reaching for mine. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"No, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."

"It's fine," I assured him, taking a sip of juice.

"I understand. Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, it just took a while get back to schedule I promise I won't be like that."

"Kevin, don't make promises you won't be able to keep."

He sighed. "Um, then-"

"Then if it happens again just tell me you'll need space and I'll give it to you. I get it. I really do."

"How did I get so lucky?"

This idiot made it seem like we were already dating. "We're friends." I clarified.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "After last Friday we're still friends?"

I stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You think I don't remember?" Kevin glanced at me, eating the pancake on his plate without syrup. Weird. "It's been the main thing on my mind for days."

"Oh," I grabbed the syrup bottle. "You mean when we spoke."

"Spoke?" Kevin shook his head at me, clearly getting that I was playing a game with him. "That's not what I'm talking about."

"Oh," I slapped my knee like I had a huge realization. "Then the hug."

"The hug was nice but that's not what I'm talking about either."

"Oh, you mean when you almost kissed me."

Kevin chuckled. "You mean when you were about to tell me that you wanted me to kiss you."

"What-"

"Don't deny it," Kevin linked one of our hands together and I could feel my heart beating in my ears. "If Hayden didn't come in and pull me away we'd be together right now. We would've kissed right now and me being here at your house, I would've kissed you again."

"Again?" I asked.

"If we had done so the first time."

There was silence. I looked down at our hands then back at him. "So you wouldn't kiss me right now?"

Kevin gave me his Kevin smile, the one that lit up his whole face. "It'd be the first time, S. It'd be pretty hard to stop if it was the first time and your parents are home. C'mon. I know you want me that bad but patience is a virtue."

I handed him one of the pieces of bacon on my plate, taking the grape from his separate bowl. His eyes lit up at the meat and I almost laughed at the excitement on his face. "Did Hayden tell you about him and Amelia?"

"Don't try to change the topic." His voice was low.

"Answer the question." I insisted, avoiding his eyes at this point.

"Yeah, he told me. How do you think about that?"

"I don't know. She likes talking to him. That's all I know." Kevin raised his eyebrows and I elaborated. "I mean whenever they are texting or something she has this little smile on her face."

"Oh, like the one you get whenever we're texting."

"Shut up."

"If it's for the record, Hayden's had a thing for her for a while too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's just that Emil's his buddy so he didn't want any problems. And when he found out about her feelings for Cam, he swooped in even though he really shouldn't have."

Before I could say another word, Raina came into the room. She stopped abruptly at the sight of Kevin, who's one hand was still holding mine. I expected her to say something but she just made a face, grabbed the money left for her on the table and left the house.

"Interesting."

"Very."

Kevin looked at me for a few moments more before speaking, "Your hair by the way."

He used to mention my hair a lot before. Always wondering when he would see it curly. "Yeah?"

"It's different."

"Good different or bad different?"

"S, the last time I saw you with your natural hair was ninth grade. When you came back in tenth I wondered what happened."

"I just wasn't a fan of curly hair anymore."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Then what made you not want to straighten it today?"

"I like a change."

"A change."

"Yeah."

There was a hint of a smile on his face as he took another bite of bacon. "I like this change."

I smiled. "I like this change too."

"Shut up bro." Hayden threw the fries at Kevin.

Kevin laughed, his arm around my chair. "It's true. Amelia, don't let this guy fool you."

I glanced around the table at my other friends listening to our other friend Monique talk about her and her boyfriend's latest adventure. Then I looked at Amelia who was acting as if she was completely disinterested in Hayden. She was leaning back in her chair, rolling her eyes at almost everything Hayden was saying sarcastically to her. I knew she already let her guard down around him. There was a little smile here and there.

Then I looked at Hayden and how he and Kevin were talking to each other, laughing their asses off.

Kevin's hand moved from the back of my chair as Hayden told another story. I didn't even have to look at him to notice that his hand moved over to mine, reaching down to touch my own.

He brushed his pinky finger against my finger. I linked my fingers with his before he could make the first move. He kept slipping his fingers out of my hold and when I got annoyed I swatted him on the hand. He hissed. "Jesus S."

When he smiled after, hiding it behind his other hand I intertwined our fingers again and he held it with my own.

"When do you think he'll ask her out?" Kevin whispered into my ear.

"He's your friend." I whispered back.

"He's gunna ask her next week, watch."

"How do you know?"

"I know Hayden. He works fast. If he likes a girl he'll be interested in her and only her."

"Well, Ames is going to say no."

"What?"

"Yeah. I know Amelia. She'll think it's too sudden and say no, watch."

"Okay bet. If she says yes I win and if she says no you win."

"What does the winner get?"

"A kiss. Win-win situation."

"You just want to kiss me."

"And so do you but you don't see me complaining. Fine. Forget the kiss. Five dollars?"

"Deal."

He sneaked in a quick peck on my cheek before pulling away from me without letting go of our hands. He stood up, keeping out hands locked. "Hayden, we gotta go. Talk to your girlfriend after."

Hayden got up just when the rest of my friends reacted, rather loudly at Kevin's hand in mine. Then the idiot decided to kiss me on the cheek again and I all but shoved him away fro me laughing. "Ugh, I hate you."

He laughed back, him and Hayden walking away when the rest of our friends at the table leaned in towards me. "Are you guys together now?" Robin asked.

"Uh, no."

"Why not?" Another one of our friends, Lili questioned.

"They'll get together when they want to get together." Amelia cut in, looking annoyed.

"Well, what about you and Hayden?" Monique asked her.

"What about me and Hayden?" Amelia shot back, making it clear that she didn't want to talk to them about it. She never really did talk to anyone else about her relationships.

Amelia leaned in towards me when the topic changed. I asked the same question, "What about you and Hayden?"

She shrugged and made a fave. "He's eh."

"Just eh?"

A grin came onto her face. "The good kind of eh."

"So?"

She shrugged again. "Yeah."

Yeah meant a lot of things. But this time type of yeah meant Amelia was starting to get over Cam. Just a little bit.