Elliana X Jason

Forty, Closure

"Please, mom!" Emily begged.

"Is Kiara okay with it?" Gemma asked Elliana.

"Yep." Elliana said. "Please!"

"And your mom?" Gemma turned to Stacy.

"Yeah, she's fine." Stacy replied.

"Alright then." Elliana, Emily and Stacy held hands and jumped. "I'll drive you, though."

"Mom!" Emily cried. "That's so uncool!"

"Well, what else could you do?"

"I'll drive!"

"Emily, you don't have your driver's license."

"I have my driver's permit?" Emily offered.

"Yeah, no. Not happening. Either I drive you, or you're not going." Gemma said.

"Fine." Emily groaned.

They all walked out and hopped into Gemma's car.

"Hey, Gemma, can we stop at my house for a minute, please?" Elliana asked.

"Sure, honey."

They pulled up a few minutes later. Elliana fished her key out of her bag. She probably shouldn't still have it at the bottom of her bag, but she hadn't bothered to move it. She entered her house and jogged up to her room. She walked into her closet.

When she'd gone to her first high school party, she'd made the mistake of dressing up. She'd since learned that people dressed casual to these things.

But... she looked up at the dress she'd worn for her fifteenth birthday. Blue and pink and beautiful. And it wasn't... it wasn't too fancy. And after the week she'd had, a week of looking like she'd just woken from a coma, she wanted to look good.

She quickly changed into the dress and ran to her mirror, braiding her hair as quickly as she could. She grabbed a bold lipstick, some eyeliner, mascara and her favorite eyeshadow pallet, opting to do her makeup in the car.

She ran back down and quickly hopped back into the car.

"Damn, girl." Emily grinned.

"How far is it?" Elliana asked.

"Cole said about thirty minutes." Stacy replied.

"Good. Imma do a fancy makeup look." Elliana said, opening the eyeshadow pallet-that thankfully had a mirror.

The drive passed in silence. Elliana had just managed to finish a perfect smoky eye and bold red lip as Gemma pulled up to a mansion that could rival Elliana's.

"Ground rules; No drinking." Gemma said.

"Duh." Emily muttered.

"No getting rides from sketchy people. You call me. Oh, and be careful. Stick together, and don't get kidnapped." The three girls flashed three thumbs ups.

Gemma laughed. "You girls look so cute. Can I take a picture?"

For all the fun she was, Gemma was still a mom. The three girls jumped out of the car and stood in front of the driver's window with linked arms.

"It's adorable. I'm sending this to the parents group chat." She said, typing away on her phone. "Have fun!"

The three girls walked into the party, and immediately the pounding music started to give her headaches. She noticed some kids she knew around, but none of which she knew well enough to talk to. Although she could barely hear anything over the music, she could hear a group of people chanting 'EMMA!' and surrounding a tall blond girl who smiled broadly and raised a red solo cup. Elliana laughed as a sea of red flew over the whole room. Obviously, none of her friends had a cup, but Emily jokingly raised her red bag.

They held hands as they made their way down to the dance floor. Elliana looked around and analyzed the people at the party. The shy people in the corner who didn't want to be there. That was her once upon a time. There were the people who were way too into it, dancing their butts off as sweat coated their faces. The guys who snooped around asking every girl if they wanted him to get them a drink, even though they all probably had girlfriends. Then the actual normal people, dancing and having fun.

Just about as soon as they hit the dance floor, 'Party Rock Anthem' started playing. The girls laughed immediately and started jumping up and down with the rest of the room.

The rest of the night was a blur to Elliana. She'd had fun and she'd danced. After a few hours, she'd gotten hungry and decided to look for a snack.

Pushing her way past people, she finally found the kitchen, and thankfully, a bowl of cheetos. She grabbed a handful and walked back towards the dance floor, trying to find Emily and Stacy. After a long time, she realized she was lost.

She could try calling them, but she doubted they'd hear her over the music. She shrugged. This wasn't life-or-death.

Elliana managed to push her way around to the front door. She sat down on the porch and texted Emily and Stacy where she was, and that they could meet her when they wanted to leave. They'd been at the party for a while, so they'd probably leave soon anyways.

She sat down and snacked on her cheetos. After a few minutes, she pulled out her phone and scrolled through social media for a little while. Then she heard the front door open.

She knew that it was probably some random leaving the party, but it was instinct to turn around anyways.

Jason stood there.

"Oh. Hi." She said, turning back around to stare at the cars driving by.

"Hey." Jason muttered, sitting down.

"What's up?"

"Not much."

A long silence.

"Do you want a chip?" Elliana asked awkwardly.

"No thanks."

More awkward silence.

"You... um... look really pretty."

"Thanks. I tried."

She didn't feel the need to complement him back. It didn't feel right.

"Can I just say, I'm really sorry. About everything." Jason said.

"I know."

"And I really wish it could've worked out. Maybe one day..."

Elliana, who hadn't looked at Jason the entire conversation, turned to face him. "I don't need another breakup speech. Of course I feel terrible. But I've gotten my closure. All I can say is that I hope that you do too."

"All I can hope is that one day, you do too."

The words attacked Jason's soul. He felt like a terrible person for not being able to get over her. He knew she didn't deserve to be burdened with his feelings. Every part of him urged him to beg for her forgiveness, for her to come back.

He couldn't. It would make everything worse. It would make it worse for him, even worse for Elliana. And of course for Rebecca, which would make the whole situation for nothing.

So he swallowed down his words and nodded at her.

"I'm sorry."

While all of Elliana's answers in the conversation had felt cold and robotic, the final one felt all too emotional.

"Me too."

The End

A/N OMG guys last chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IMPORTANT: Book three is called The Burning Fire Of Love, And That Of Death. Will be posted in two wednesdays. Next Wednesday I'm going to post a bonus chapter that alternates between Ryan and Cole's perspectives.

Thank you so much for reading guys, and I hope to see you on book three to complete this four year (so far) journey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!