down the stairs in a dress. Surprising? No.

Sure, I was only going to eat dinner with the Jensen's, but the stories Emery told me about her mother made me wear the dress without second thoughts.

According to her, they rarely had dinner together since her parents were always away for work. But when they did, it felt like a meeting between strangers. Her mother always wanted them to dress formally and if they didn't do it...well, she didn't particularly tell me what was going to happen, but I didn't want to be a victim of whatever it was.

"You look hot," Emery said approvingly when I reached the living room. I was in a short, black, silky dress with a sweetheart neckline. Not that short since it was past my knees, but it shimmered whenever the light hit it a certain way.

"Well, you look even better." I gestured towards her strapless Ruby colored dress. The fabric looked so soft that I couldn't help but imagine using it as a pillow. I thought her dress looked way too fancy for just dinner, though.

"Thank you." She smiled. "I want to ask you something."

The sudden change of subject caught me off guard, so I gave a simple nod, which she took as a 'go ahead.'

"Promise you wouldn't get mad."

"I won't," I promised. "So, ask away."

"You know on the night before the party," she said. "Why did you come over crying?"

"Oh, Mum came home."

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"

I shook my head at her. "It was supposed to be a good thing if she ever picked up any of my calls or returned my voicemails. I mean, she didn't even plan on coming home, but lover boy wanted her to, so she came."

"Oh."

"I sound pathetic right?"

"You don't," she responded. "Your mum doesn't know how great of a person you are, it's her loss."

I smiled. "Thanks."

With Emery, things were easy. I knew I could talk to her about just anything and everything, and she'd have the right words to say. Even though I'd missed an awesome friendship with her most of my life, I was glad she'd appeared at a point.

Someone coughed behind me and I let out a small squeal. I turned around to give the person a piece of my mind, but the words died in my throat.

Caelum was in a tux.

There was something about a guy in a tux that made me fall weak in the knees. I wasn't expecting him to dress up because he was...well, Caelum. But he actually put in the effort, and that counted.

"Hi C!" I spoke after minutes of my shameless staring.

He returned my wave with a small one. "Uh, hi?"

Emery snickered. I glared at her, clearing my throat. "So, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I live here, Daesyn," he said, casually.

I nodded. "True."

"Daesyn," Emery chipped in. "Conversing with my brother seems fun, but let's go to the dining room, Father will be here soon."

At that point, conversing with Caelum and an extremely worse version of Caelum sounded like a better option, but none of them needed to know that.

Dinner was awkward and tense and every other thing that made me question why I was still sitting on the chair. Caleb, Caelum's dad, tried to make things less awkward by cracking dad jokes here and there and asking random questions, but it just wasn't enough. He knew it too.

"So, you're Emery's friend?" Caleb asked.

"And Caelum's too," I added. Even though I hadn't confirmed my friendship status with Caelum, I knew we were mere acquaintances. And since he didn't argue with me or his dad, I hid the grin threatening to appear on my face. He considered me a friend.

"The great Caelum can make friends," Emery's mum snickered.

"And you like being friends with them?" Caleb mused like Linda hadn't spoken, turning to me.

I nodded in affirmation, wiping my sweaty palms on my dress.

"I wonder how she enjoys being friends with him," Linda said.

Linda was petty. I didn't know what she gained by adding side comments about Caelum. The boy wasn't even giving her the satisfaction of knowing she affected him, but she was persistent. I guessed he was used to having her talk shit about him, but I was beyond grateful Caleb was different. I didn't want to imagine how Caelum and Emery would've survived in the house.

When Emery had said dinners in her home were like formal meetings, I had doubted her. But this...it was something else. I tuned back into the conversation when Caelum was leaving the dining table. What happened?

Emery looked at her mother in the eyes and shook her head. "That was low, even for you."

I stared at both of them, not knowing what to say, so I did what anyone in my shoes would do. "Please, excuse me," I said, following Emery out of the room.

"You should go to Caelum," Emery said. If I didn't know better, I would've thought she was still playing matchmaker.

"I would," I said. "If he wasn't so full of himself."

She sighed. "Please, Daesyn."

Something about the way Emery did it—the pleading voice her tone took...

I succumbed.

Caelum was looking outside through the window when I stepped into his room. His hair looked messier than it was before dinner and he had already discarded the jacket and the tie. From where I was stood, I could see his muscles since he'd rolled the sleeves of his white shirt to his elbows.

"C?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked without turning to look at me.

I ignored his question. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"How about later?"

"No."

"Then, when?"

"Never."

I tusked, a smile playing on my lips. "A problem half-solved is a problem half-shared."

He chuckled. "I think it's a problem shared is a problem half-solved."

I made him chuckle. That was progress. "Whatever, C," I said. "You get what I mean."

"Emery asked you to come here, didn't she?" he asked.

"You know it," I said, walking to the edge of his bed and sitting. "Come sit with me."

"No."

"Please?"

"Fine."

He was like a three-year-old throwing a tantrum. Only that I was indirectly begging him to open up. We sat for a while, me on the left-side and him on the right, saying nothing. The silence was becoming uncomfortable so I turned to him. "Do you want to talk about it, now?"

He blinked up at me with those familiar dark eyes of his, the pale moonlight from the window catching his face at endearing angles. He looked so beautiful, just staring up at me. He could pass off as an angel. A fallen angel.

I could say seconds or minutes passed before he lurched into my arms. It was wrong of me to divert my thoughts from Caelum to myself, but I couldn't help it, especially when butterflies exploded in my belly. He tucked his face into the crook of my neck and inhaled, and I felt his heartbeat slow under my palms.

He was hugging me, and I inhaled his actual scent for the first time ever. Not chocolates. Pine.

He fisted my hair, securing the other hand firmly on my lower back, and I dissolved into his touch. Tension be damned.

"Daesyn," he hummed, against my skin. "Don't leave me. I'm sorry."

Whatever he was apologizing for, I didn't know. But I sighed, giving in completely. From then on, I knew something had changed between us. Even if he wouldn't acknowledge it, I was going to do so.