"This place has gotten duller since we were here last time," Adriana comments as we walk down the boardwalk, passing by parents dragging their small kids around in strollers as well as teenagers running around screaming.

"I've yet to hear either one of you say anything nice since you've got here," Bryce tells the girls, and they both looked surprised by his honesty.

Their eyes are wide as they hold his gaze, but they both quickly shy away when he abruptly raises an eyebrow at them.

I smile a little at this, and Bryce notices as he reaches down for my hand, linking our fingers together.

I shift a little closer towards Bryce as we walk so that our bodies are pressed together at the side, and the way that Adriana and Addison are glaring at me doesn't go unnoticed.

I ignore them, enjoying the extra warmth I'm getting from being this close to Bryce.

Most of the snow from Christmas Day has melted, something that I'm not at all thrilled about, but today it's back down to a little below freezing point.

There's still enough snow on the ground for it to feel like the holidays, and I can't help but to feel nostalgia from when I was younger caused by our stroll downtown. It brings me back to memories of Charlie and I linking arms and skipping along the streets, our parents frequently reminding us to watch where we're going so that we wouldn't crash into anybody else.

It's a similar experience now, as Bryce and I are walking hand-in-hand with the twins laughing and chatting as they walk in front of us.

I know that I'm a little tuned out and lost in these memories, but I didn't realize that it was noticeable until Bryce gives my hand a squeeze.

"Are you all right, darling?" he asks me, and when I look up at him, there's a sort of sincerity in his eyes.

He has a perfect face. It's not even fair. Every single thing about him is perfect.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reply with a reassuring smile, leaning the side of my head against Bryce's arm as we continue to walk, just for good measure.

He bends down to kiss my forehead and I grin at him, tightening my grip on his hand.

Bryce and I walk in silence for a little bit, following the twins around as they point to all the shops and restaurants, seeing which ones they can remember and which ones are new.

Our quietness is how I catch a comment that Adriana makes, but I wish I hadn't have heard it in the first place.

"You should let them be. They're super cute together. And they literally look at each other like they're waiting to rip each other's clothes off all the time," she says slyly, making her sister burst out laughing.

I look up to see Bryce biting his lip, giving me the hint that he probably overheard their conversation as well.

Great! Just swell! This is certainly not at all awkward.

"Neither of them have a filter, huh?" Bryce asks me softly, and I chuckle, nodding at him.

He smiles, tugging me a little closer to him, and I'm glad he's not bringing up what Adriana actually said.

I mean, she must be kidding. There's no way that he looks at me that way, not when he's made it very clear that he's not interested.

But then again, he doesn't seem to associate intimate things with actual relationships, seeing as from what I've heard, he's done a lot.

With a lot of different girls.

Yet apparently he's never been in an actual relationship.

"Can we get some hot chocolate?" Addison asks, turning around to look at Bryce and I.

She sticks out her bottom lip in a pout and I resist the urge to tell her no just for the comments that her and her sister were making a minute or so ago.

But when I look up to find that we're standing right outside of a Tim Hortons, I would sound crazy to do that.

"Yeah, sure," I sigh, and they get huge smiles on their faces as they turn around to face me.

They then skip up the steps into the Tims, opening up the door and standing there patiently, waiting for Bryce and I.

"I would've made their sorry asses deal with the cold without hot chocolate, but you do you," Bryce whispers, and I chew on the inside of my cheek to stop from bursting out into a fit of laughter.

"Well then I'm clearly a better person that you are," I counter, sticking out my tongue.

It's clearly a joke, but I see conflicting emotions playing across Bryce's face after my words come out.

But right after that bit of emotion peaks through, he gives his head a brief shake, seemingly brushing away all those feelings. I don't bother to question him about what he was thinking at all, seeing as I'm sure he won't give me a straight answer.

We follow the twins into the small line of people waiting to order from the register, Bryce still holding my hand. I'm surprised he hasn't let go, but I'm not complaining.

After ordering our drinks, Bryce insists on paying no matter how hard I fight him on it. He always does this, and it really is sweet of him. The girls find our little back-and-forth funny, but after one death stare from me, they don't dare to say anything aloud.

After we grab our drinks, we decide to take shelter from the cold for a little bit longer, grabbing a seat at one of the empty tables along the windows.

Addison tries to snatch the chair beside Bryce, but Adriana grabs her arm, halting her from doing so. I give her a grateful smile, and she nods to me, pulling her sister down beside her as I take a seat next to Bryce.

"You're coming to my party on New Year's right?" Bryce asks me as we settle into our seats.

He then lifts his arm to wrap it around my shoulder, his fingertips momentarily grazing the bare skin of my neck, causing a shiver to shoot right through me.

"What party?" Addison chirps, and Bryce rolls his eyes at her, setting his cup of coffee down on the table.

"A high school party that you will not be attending," he says sweetly.

It's finally clear to me that he makes her really nervous, because she sinks back in her seat, turning to her sister to avoid further conversation.

"Whatever," she huffs quietly, making me laugh a little bit.

Watching Bryce take another drink of his black coffee, I crinkle my nose at him.

He notices the change in my facial expression and thinks for a moment before sliding his cup across the table towards me.

"It's really not bad. Just have a sip," he tells me, and though I'm wondering if this is a joke or not, I still hesitantly raise the cup to my lips.

I take a small sip of the warm liquid, and the taste is surprisingly bitter, even more bitter than I remember.

I pucker my lips as I swish the coffee around my mouth, and Bryce chuckles at my sour expression. He retrieves the cup from my hand, taking another sip himself. I swallow the liquid, watching as Bryce regards me with an amused look on his face.

"You're cute," Bryce laughs, watching as I take a hurried sip of my hot chocolate to wash out the coffee's taste.

I pinch him in the arm, and he uses his free hand to grab my wrist, pressing it back against the table. I watch as he intertwines our fingers, making Addison fake gag.

Bryce looks as if he's willing to splash his drink in her face, but I rest my head on his shoulder, causing him to go silent.

Adriana is watching us carefully, and when I make eye contact with her she lets out a huff, commenting, "You really expect us to believe that you two aren't in a relationship? Because you act like you're married. You might be fooling your parents, but I don't buy it."

"Yes. I expect you to believe that," Bryce answers calmly, and Adriana rolls her eyes at him.

It's blatantly clear that she's not pleased with his answer, but she's smart enough to keep her mouth shut.

"Why would you think that we're together?" I ask both the girls, and they don't even have to give me a verbal answer.

They both just look at Bryce and I's hands clasped together on the table, then looking up to how I'm resting my head on his shoulder.

Bryce takes another sip of coffee, ignoring their accusing glares.

"If you have a problem, you are more than welcome to walk home yourselves," he says, smiling wide as his eyes dart back and forth between the two of them.

They stay silent, wavering under his stare. He continues to watch them as if he's waiting for an answer, so they both give a shake of their head.

Beaming now, Bryce says, "Perfect!"

He then turns to look down at me, kisses me on the top of my head before pulling his phone out of his coat pocket. I watch as he unlocks the device, opening up his Instagram account.

He clicks right onto his profile, and I can't hide my surprise when I see that he has 9.7 million followers now.

"Wow," I accidentally say aloud, and he chuckles, shutting the phone off and setting it down on the table, the screen facing downwards.

"Are you tattoos real?" Addison asks all of a sudden, and Bryce blinks at her, clearly confused.

"Of course they're real. Why the hell would I have fake tattoos?" he asks her, and she shrugs at him.

"You also come across as way nicer on your social media so I don't know what's the truth anymore," she answers him smoothly.

Ouch.

"Well I think it's time we head out!" Bryce says, trying, and failing, to sound peppy.

I doubt that her words actually had an impact on him, but I'm sure that this was the last straw for him.

Bryce stands up from his seat, dragging me up with him and keeping his hand in mine as we walk over to the garbage can.

I finish off the final sip of my hot chocolate, tossing the empty cup into the bin. The twins follow us and do the same, and just like that, the four of us head out the door, back into the cold.

🌸🌸🌸

"Your cousins are gone, right?" Jasmine asks as I let her and Jordan into the house.

I close the door behind them, watching as Jasmine takes off her jacket, revealing a shiny black dress with a super low-cut neckline that looks great on her.

She takes off her shoes too, and Jordan does the same, both of them heading straight for the stairs without needing an invitation.

Jasmine insisted that she should come over and help me get ready for the party, seeing as I apparently don't party enough so I need to 'make a big impact' when I do go out. She thinks that I won't wear the right outfit if she doesn't get to have a say towards my decision, and it seems that today she thought Jordan would be of use to her too.

"Yeah. They left a few days ago," I answer, following them up the stairs to my bedroom.

Jordan takes a seat on my bed but Jasmine heads straight for my closet, flicking on the light switch before she begins to sift through all of my dresses.

I opt to sit by Jordan for now, but I realize that I won't have any time to chill as soon as I hear Jasmine's irritated huff from across the room.

"Why are these all so long?" she asks, grabbing a lilac purple dress off the rack and holding it up in front of her body.

"That's what she said," Jordan feels the need to joke, and I elbow him right in the rib cage.

If it were my decision, I would much rather be spending my New Year's Eve at home in bed, but instead, I'm being dragged to a party.

Certainly not ideal.

Not to mention that my best friend has been in my room for approximately thirty seconds and is already tearing my closet to shreds.

Jasmine hangs the purple dress back up, and I pout at her, standing up from my seat.

"Hey, I like that dress!" I try to defend, appearing behind Jasmine and running my fingertips against the velvet of the dress that she's decided she doesn't like.

"Why?" she asks, turning around to face me, and I cross my arms, narrowing my eyes at her.

"I wore that to the final audition for Phantom of the Opera," I whine, and the fire in her eyes doesn't even flicker.

"Well then I can tell you right now that your voice booked you the role, not your outfit," she snickers, and I gape at her.

She then gives me a huge smile and we both end up bursting out into a fit of laughter, causing Jordan to get up from my bed to walk over towards us.

He ends up standing right in between us, touching the purple dress the same way that I was.

Turning to Jasmine, he asks, "You're relentless today, huh Jazzy?"

She laughs at him, squeezing his shoulder and replying with, "I'm just being honest, J."

Jordan puckers his lips together at the new nickname, shaking his head at her.

"Don't call me that," he requests, and she ignores him, flouncing off to the other side of the closet.

She pulls the red dress that I wore to the party at Ryan's cottage out, giving it a quick glance before deciding that she doesn't approve.

"It's cute and all, but you wore it last time," she explains, hanging it back up and moving on to the next dress.

Her next selection is a silky white dress that has long, off-the-shoulder sleeves. Her eyes twinkle when she sees it, and she spins around right away, practically flinging the garment my way.

I take it from her and she smiles, grabbing my hand and dragging me out back into the bedroom.

"You like this one?" I ask, and she nods rapidly at me, Jordan appearing behind her. I'm surprised that she found anything in there that appeals to her, and I'm in even more awe that it's fairly modest too.

Heading for the bathroom to change, I close the door shut behind me, switching on the lights before stripping out of my leggings and tank top. I fold them before setting them off to the side on the floor, then turning to look at myself in the mirror.

I like my body just fine, but I can't ignore the fading red marks on the right side of my stomach.

They're not a happy reminder at all, and the sight brings back awful memories of a much darker time of my life.

I shouldn't have done it, and I'm glad that I've moved passed it, but that doesn't mean that the ache inside of me still isn't there.

Desperate to move away from that unpleasant moment, I pull the white dress on. It's clings tight to my body and falls right to my knees, not to mention that the material looks really pretty in this lighting, seeing as it almost sparkles for some reason. I have to adjust the sleeves a little bit, suddenly insecure as of to how much of my shoulders are showing, but I decide that it's different and a little outside of my comfort zone.

Change is good, as people say, so I just go with it.

"Damn, you look hot," Jasmine compliments as I step out of the bathroom.

I walk across the room to toss my old clothes into the laundry basket, then shutting the closet door and heading over to sit at my vanity.

Jasmine joins me, and her eyes dart to a tube of red liquid lipstick. I already have light makeup on my face and a coat of mascara on my eyelashes, so I take the lipstick from her, twisting open the lid and applying a thin layer of the red pigment to my lips.

When I turn around to face her she squeals, then grinning at me. "God, you look so pretty!" she gushes, and I smile back at her, reaching for her hand to bring her to the rack of shoes I have.

She suggests the nude heels and I smile, slipping them on as Jordan joins us.

"Time to head out?" he asks and we both nod at him.

We're almost out the door just as a thought strikes me, causing me to rush back inside the room and towards my dresser.

I grab my cherry blossom necklace from where it's sitting on top, clasping it around my neck before joining Jordan and Jasmine once again.

Charlie meets us at the top of the stairs, and as we're walking down he asks, "Can I catch a ride with you guys?"

Jordan nods to him, and everyone hurries to put on their shoes and jackets.

I'm about to reach for a jacket myself, but Jasmine shakes her head at me.

"But it'll be cold," I explain, and she laughs, carrying her jacket in her arms.

"Yeah, outside. But we'll be inside, and a jacket would ruin the effect. I'm leaving mine in the car," she answers me, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes, taking her advice silently.

"You should really stop bossing me around. You're lucky I'm even coming in the first place," I tell her, and she replies by sticking out her tongue at me.

"Whatever. Let's go," she says, grabbing my hand and tugging me outside of the house.