Planning Your Future

Couldn't Be Happier

April 18, 1994

JD's POV

I wake up and look over at Eva. She slept over last night. Kyle stayed at Erika and Veronica's dorm so Veronica stayed at Alyssa and Miles' apartment. "Hey, I have to be at the studio soon." I tell her. "Okay. I have a class in an hour anyways. Happy birthday by the way." She kisses my forehead. "Thanks." I kiss her on the lips and get out of bed.

After we leave the dorm, I drive to the studio. "Hey." I say when I walk in. "Hey! Happy birthday!" Veronica smiles. "Yeah. Happy twenty-second." Owen adds. Sam comes in behind me and says it too. We rehearse our old songs a little, then we go over the new ones.

"So you wanna get drinks tonight?" Veronica asks as I'm packing up my guitar. "Sure. Just you and me?" I ask. Veronica and I haven't had quality time in a while. We've been busy with rehearsal and spending time with our partners. Last time we spent time together alone was Christmas. Alyssa is surprisingly okay with us being alone, even after the song situation on New Years. She understands that neither of us have feelings for each other. "Yep." She says, patting me on the shoulder and walking away. "Okay then." I smile.

I go back to my dorm to get ready. Erika agreed to take us there and pick us up so we don't have to worry about driving home. "Well I hope you guys enjoy yourselves." Erika says before we get out of the car. "We will." I smile at her. We go inside and order drinks. "So how are things with you and Eva?" Veronica asks, smirking. "We're good. I really like her." I tell her. I really do. Her and I work better than me and Zoe or me and Veronica. We still fight like normal couples do, but it's not like it was with my other two exes. "Glad to hear it." She takes a sip of her drink. "What about you and Alyssa?" I ask. "I'm sure you don't want to hear about Alyssa and I. We're good. But it's your birthday and it'll be better spent not talking about my love life." She tells me.

"Are you sure you guys are okay?" Sounds like she's afraid to talk about it. "I don't know. She's upset about us hanging out tonight." She says. "I thought she was okay with it." She's seemed fine when we hung out before. "She feels bad for being upset. She told me to have fun but I can tell she wasn't happy about it." She finishes the drink and sighs. "I'll talk to her. Don't worry." I assure her. "Okay. Now enough about me. Let's get drunk." She laughs. "Sounds good." And we do get drunk. When I wake up the next morning, I don't recall anything that happened after Veronica and I's conversation about Alyssa.

"Hey bud. You guys have fun last night?" Kyle laughs. "What happened?" I ask him. "You guys got drunk and that's about it. You stumbled in here about midnight and passed out. Didn't know you drooled." He says. "I only do it when I'm drunk. Now don't tell anyone." I say. "Okay okay." He chuckles as he walks out for class.

I go to the bathroom and try to wake myself up by splashing some water on my face. I drive over to Miles and Alyssa's apartment. I knock on the door and Alyssa answers. "Hey. What's up?" She looks confused. "Veronica told me you were upset about us hanging out. I just wanted to tell you that I understand why you're upset. But I can assure you that there's nothing romantic between us anymore. I'm with Eva and I couldn't be happier. And I know the same goes for Veronica with you." I say. "I know that. I just got really worried for some reason and I felt bad about it. I know she doesn't love you but I couldn't stop thinking that she did. I'm sorry." She rambles. "It's okay. I just wanted to assure you of that. She's not upset that you felt that way. She was worried about you." I tell her. "Okay. I'm gonna talk to her later. Thank you for telling me this." She touches my shoulder. "You're welcome."

After I get back to Harvard, I go to Veronica's dorm. "Hey. Come in." She says when she opens the door and sees that it's me. "I talked to Alyssa. She's gonna talk to you about it. I think it's going to be okay." I walk in. "Great. Thank you for doing that. I don't know what I'd do without you." She hugs me.

I go to class and then meet Eva for lunch. I tell her all about the situation and she listens intently. "I can understand that. It is weird how close you are considering you dated. But I understand you two don't feel anything for each other." Eva says. "Weird? What do you mean?" I ask. "Not weird. Just not common. I don't talk to any of my exes anymore. So it's just strange seeing someone who is as close to their ex as you are with Veronica." She explains. "Oh. Okay." I nod. "So are you excited for your graduation? That's in a month, right?" She asks. "Yeah. It's gonna be weird to be out of school at first. But I'm excited for what comes next. To be able to focus on the band." I say.

We part ways after lunch, me going back to Veronica's to check on her. "Hey. Alyssa just left." Veronica seems to be in a better mood. "Did you two talk?" I ask. "Yeah. She apologized for being upset but I told her not to be. Thank you." She hugs me again. "You don't have to keep thanking me, Ronnie. I'm happy to help you. Always." I hug her back. "I know. I just really appreciate it." She lets go of the hug and smiles. "Of course." I smile back.