Amber's pov:

"Food is here!!!" Julie was the first one to notice the waitress who was bringing the first four trays of food to our table.

"Finally!!! This dinner was about to turn into a human sacrifice, and I was voting Luke as tribute." Gianna exaggerates, throwing an evil grin towards Luke.

"Ella..." he whines nervously while she rolls her eyes.

"Gianna no bullying Luke at the dinner table."

"Hey he started it!"

"No I didn't!!"

"Yea you did!!!"

"No I didn't!!!!!!"

"Children. Actual children." Ally mutters under her breath, giving pity towards her twin sister, who only looks back and forth between her boyfriend and Gianna with a given up expression.

"This is the exact reason why our friend group can't go out in public most of the time." Ella says under her breath, while Julie gives a small laugh.

"I can't even believe how many times I've been kicked out of restaurants because of the boys. You think this is loud? If Ashton, Zander, and Jake were here we would have been kicked out by now."

Everyone nods their head besides Liam and I, not really knowing the rest of the boys that well.

But I've gotten to hear plenty of stories to be able to imagine what Julie had to go through.

Even though they are graduated, all their legendary pranks are still talked about through the halls, their reputations never leaving.

I'm not even kidding when I say that people at our school acted like they were celebrities, but in reality, they were just a few popular boys who weren't afraid to be themselves and make highschool memorable.

I wish I wasn't afraid to do something like that.

But I wonder if Liam and I will ever meet them since we are now 'apart of the friend group.'

With that thought dancing around in my head, I look at Liam, who sat there grinning at the rest of OUR friends.

I haven't really thought much about it, but this is a whole new experience for him too.

Like I said, it's always just been the two of us, so now that we are actually part of a group, it's feels different.

But a good type a different.

To be honest, I really want Liam to have the chance to meet the rest of the boys, especially Ashton, because it was his boxing reputation that pushed Liam into boxing this year.

He was able to find something that he truly liked, and I am really happy for him.

Especially considering the fact that Liam has had a very rough past. When he came out as gay, a lot of people quickly judged him and treated him like the gum stuck to the bottom of their shoe.

It broke my heart seeing being treated badly almost everyday, knowing that there was nothing that I could do to block out all the hate and rude comments.

He wasn't even able to enjoy sports because of the amount of bullying that he had to go through by other boys.

It really wasn't until that moment in highschool when he started to have more confidence in himself.

And when he started to gain more confidence he showed others that their words did not hurt him, and overtime people started to stop picking on him.

At first, Liam was very nervous about boxing because he was afraid of reliving his past, but that one push from being inspired by the boys got him to take that chance.

I suddenly feel a nudge as I look over at Damien, who had a worried expression upon his face.

"Are you okay?"

I nod my head, confused by his expression, "Yeah, why?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know, I just looked over and you seemed teary eyed for a second." He says before thanking the waitress who sets his plate of food in front him.

She then gives me my plate of food as I also give her a thank you while turning back towards Damien, "Oh sorry, I was just thinking and didn't even realize I was tearing up." I say, a little embarrassed that he caught me being emotional over my own thoughts.

"What were you thinking about?" He asks before taking a bite from his food, wincing from it being too hot.

"Nothing much really. I was just thinking about how it was really just Liam and me before you guys invited us to your friend group."

He looks at me, "You and Liam must have a lot of history together huh?"

We both look up at Liam, who seemed unaware of our conversation.

"Yeah we do, but what about you? Was it always the same group for you?"

We look back at each other as he rests one of his elbows on the table, putting his chin in his hand as he looks at me.

"To be honest, at first, I was alone. Up until middle school I was extremely shy and it was hard for me to make friends. I had trouble starting conversations and it was hard for me to trust someone once I met them."

My eyes widen, "Wait really? But your so popular now, I would have never guessed."

Thinking back to moments where everyone in the hallways would stare at their friend group, just wishing to be apart of it. It just surprised me that there was a time that Damien didn't have that reputation.

"I know, it's weird isn't it? But it wasn't until I met Ashton where things changed. He was the first person I really got to know and trust."

"How did you meet Ashton?"

He almost laughs at the memory, "It's kinda funny actually. Ashton's pranking reputation began in middle school, where it started off with him pranking other students like stuffing other students lockers with toilet paper or putting glue in other kids hair..."

"Oh he was that kind of kid..."

He chuckles before continuing, "unlucky me, I ended up being one of his targets. It was just a harmless prank, he found a toad outside of school that morning and put it in my book bag. But at the time, I may or may not have had a fear of toads."

"Toads... Are you serious?! I mean, I understood the clown story and all..." I try not to laugh as he pouts at my words.

"What? They looked freaky back then!! But continuing, I ended up passing out when I found it and had to be sent to the nurse. I guess Ashton got word of it, considering we were in different grades and you now how in middle school different grades weren't mixed with one another, and he actually felt bad. Which was weird to me because he never felt bad from all his pranks before hand."

"This is actually pretty interesting."

"Shhhhhh."

"Sorry."

"He ended up faking an injury to go to the nurse so when I started waking up he was there. He apologized for putting the toad in my book bag and explained how it was only supposed to be a harmless prank and he only chose me because I was younger and there would have been more of a reaction from me than anyone in his grade level. He just didn't expect my reaction to go that far. Which basically explains Ashton's personality, his mind likes to make childish decisions but he never intends it to go too far."

He takes a deep breath and continues, "After that, we slowly got to know each other over time and became close friends, which ended up with me joining the friend group."

My mind blanks, processing the whole story in my head.

I guess I always sorta wondered how the full friend group came to be. Although this was only one part of of the story, I find it cool how when highschool came around, it was their friend group, Ashton, Luke, Zander, Jake, and Damien that took highschool ranking to another level.

It's funny how it was just last year that their group was labeled "The bad boys" simply because they enjoyed pranks and were well known for boxing.

If I didn't know this prior knowledge and someone came up to me saying that Damien was labeled a "bad boy" I would have laughed in their face.

I guess it's just the use of the definition that confuses people. Just because you like to bend the rules a little bit doesn't make you mean or heartless, as the term would usually be thought of as.

They are just different. But not that bad type of different, the kind that would be one in a million.

They were the one in a million kind of friend group that everyone wanted to be a part of.

"To this day, do you still do pranks? Even though three of the boys left for college?"

At my question, Damien smirks, already giving me the answer to my question.

"They aren't as insane as my early highschool days, because Julie would kick our behinds to another planet, but every once in a while when they visit from college we always have to do atleast something to keep our reputation alive." He winks at me before turning towards his food as I do mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That was so good~..." Ella sighs dreamingly as we all nod our heads, exciting the cafe.

"I definitely wouldn't mind this being our new hangout spot. I could eat the same food I just had for the rest of my life!" Julie says, rubbing her stomach.

She continues, "But not going to lie, I think I gained five pounds in that one sitting, I just couldn't stop." All of us groan at the thought, knowing that it was probably true for all of us.

But at least the boys had boxing to go back to, I don't think me walking back and forth from my room to my kitchen will get me enough steps, even if it is...

A lot of back and forth.

"Okay so we have three cars, Julie, Luke, and Damien, who is taking who home?" Gianna asks, looking at the cars before back at us.

"Actually, Amber and I are going to go on a walk, so I can take her home." Damien says.

Everyone's head quickly turn towards him.

Then at me.

Then back at him.

Then back at me.

...

A silence filled the air making me slightly uncomfortable as nobody responded to his words.

Weird.

I couldn't miss the look that Gianna and Julie gave each other as if they were trying not to either smile or scream.

Gosh my new friends are weird.

"YES-... I mean... uh sure. I'll take Liam and Gianna home and Luke you can take Ella and Ally." Julie says, her excited voice making me a little suspicious.

"That works with me." Luke says, waving at all of us as he and the two girls head towards his car.

"So where will you guys be going-..." Gianna was soon elbowed by Julie as she laughs nervously while looking at us.

Damien and I look at each other confused by the suddenly strange atmosphere around us.

"I guess we should get going." Julie says, waving at us as she drags Gianna to the car.

But Liam stays behind, and since he was already standing close to me, he was able to quickly whisper in my ear, "I would say don't do anything that I would probably do if I was walking with my crush, but that would make it boring."

My cheeks instantly going red as I push him away, "Bye Liam!!"

He sneakily gives me a wink before chasing after the two girls, while I on the other hand face a puzzled Damien.

"What did he say?" He asks, taking my hand as he leads me away from the cafe and towards a small trail that ran along all the other restaurants and stores around the area.

"Uh... he just said not to... get lost." Even after the random pauses in that sentence showing signs of my questionable thought process, Damien somehow managed to believe it as we walk side by side down the trail.

I'm not saying I'm slightly freaking out because our hands are interlocked but I am slightly freaking out.

My hands don't normally get sweaty so I'm just hoping that this isn't one of those moments where my body decides to try new things.

Taking a deep breath to try and calm my racing heart down, I take in the surrounds. On one side, there were all the restaurants and stores, but on the other side, there was a beautiful lining of nature like bushes, flowers, and trees that led to the woods.

The large trees stuck out covering the trail providing a nice shade from the sun, even though the sun was a good ten minutes away from setting, I still enjoyed the sense of protection it brought.

"I haven't been on this trail before, it's really pretty." I say, looking up at him as he smiles at me.

"My parents have taken me a few times on this trail before. Especially as a little kid, since I had so much energy, I think that they just wanted me out of the house." He says, looking around also, a smile plastered on his face.

Now that we were here together, and that we've grown closer, I really wanted to ask him questions that've been on my mind.

Like if I was the only one who knew about his sister.

Of course, there was always that voice in the back of my head, 'what if it's too early for that?'

I would probably curl myself up in a ball and cry if I'd accidentally hurt his feelings.

Should I just beat around the bush until he says it himself?

What if I make it too obvious?

My own thoughts drown me as I stare at the side of his face, debating the best way to ask.

"You're staring-..."

"Who all knows about your sisters condition..."

WELL.

That's one way to put it.

The shock is evident on his face as looks back at me, the gears turning in his head.

You messed up.

You messed up.

You messed up!!!

"Oh-.. no-... wait... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked-..." before I could finish my rambling he let's go of my hand and places both of his hands on my shoulder, squatting down the tiniest bit so that we were eye to eye.

"No-.. no you're fine. I was just thinking, I didn't mean for you to freak out." He says, moving a strand of hair out of my face that probably fell from me suddenly stressing from my straightforward question.

"It-...It's okay. I just thought I hurt your feelings for a second and I got worried." I give him a shy smile, to which he returns.

"You didn't. But to answer your question, only Ashton and Julie really know about it besides you."

My mind contemplates his words.

If only two of his friends know, why did he tell me of all people? Also considering it was right after we met.

"Do you mind if I ask why only three people really know?"

He nods his head, "It's not that I'm embarrassed of my sister or don't want people knowing, it's just that I guess it's really hard for me to talk about it. It's not something that I tend to bring up when I talk to people so I just don't mention it at all. Ashton found out a couple months after we first met because he happened to go to the hospital over something dumb that he did and happened to see me. Julie just found out because Ashton blabbers to her more than an old lady at bingo."

"If you don't like mentioning it to people... then why did you tell me?"

The grin on his face falters as he looks away from my eyes, "I-... well do you remember what happened the day I told you?"

I try to think back, "We both happened to be at the hospital together?"

"No, before that. That was the day you saved our butts from being kicked off the team. That day I had a lot of respect for you, even if we barely knew each other. And for some odd reason, once I told you, I had a sense of relief. I've never openly talked about my sister or even gone so far as to let people meet her because I'm so protective over her. It was nice trusting someone. As I think I mentioned it before at dinner, it takes a lot for me to trust someone, but once I do I'm not scared of opening up."

"I'm actually the same way. Before you, I really only trusted Liam. Although it wasn't hard for me to talk to others and make friends, I've never gotten so close to tell them about-..."

"About-..." Damien notices my pause and squeezes my shoulder lightly.

"About my mom passing away when I was younger. It's something hard for me to open up and talk about, so not a lot of people really know unless they knew my family before or know my father pretty well."

He takes in a deep breath, "I'm... really sorry to hear that. Coach doesn't really open up to us about his personal life, which is why I didn't even know he had a daughter."

I give him a small smile, "It's not your fault that you didn't know. My dad is the type of person who likes to separate his personal life from his outside life. People would get curious of who his wife was if he started talking about me all the time, so he avoids it and just savors the moment when we are together to himself. But you know there's always those curious kids who probably did a background check on my dad and found out. I wouldn't even be surprised if they are on the team, but I don't really mind if people know, I just wouldn't want them coming up to me and trying to talk about it."

He nods his head in understanding, "If it makes you feel better, I'm really thankful that you trusted me enough to talk to me about it. I know saying all of that must have been hard."

I shake my head at his words, "Surprisingly it wasn't hard to tell you those things at all. You are really easy to talk to and I feel really comfortable around you."

You know, when my heart isn't running a thousand miles per hour and my face doesn't look like the first color of the rainbow.

"I few really comfortable to be around you too, and I'm so happy that we became friends. Since we started talking, you've always been there for me and made me smile more times than I can count. I think that's why Julie and everyone else are so bewildered by seeing us together."

I chuckle at his words, but little did he know that most of that was basically because I'm pretty sure all of them know about my big fat crush on him...

Which by the way I still have to have a 'friendly' chat with Liam about that...

And I wouldn't be surprised if sooner or later Damien found out about it too.

But for now, I'm just savoring the moments of us together.

"Look!" Damien's shouts excitedly as he takes off in a sprint in front of me, leaving me startled but confused as I chase after him to a small clearing from all the trees that gave a clear view of the sunset.

"Woah, it's gorgeous." I couldn't stop the words form coming out of my mouth as I took in all the beautiful colors.

"Sunset has always been my favorite part of the day."

"Why?" I ask looking over at him as he takes my hand in his.

"Because it marks the end of a day and makes me look forward for what's to come the very next day."

"How do you know that something good will happen the very next day?"

He looks away from the sunset then at me, "Hope."