𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙, justin foley ✓

xiii. the night they met; part one

[ A/N: i suggest you to play the song 'the night we met" by lord huron when justin picks up cassie ]

CASSIE FELT LIKE she was almost dreaming as she stared at herself in the mirror. Her dress was floor length and black, and Justin Foley was taking her to the winter formal. Even after what he did, she felt she could make an exception. They weren't just exes to each other. They shared their deepest secrets, desires, and thoughts with each other almost every night. The connection they had, Cassie couldn't just forget it.

   With a sigh, she grabbed her clutch, applied another coat of lip gloss nervously, and waited downstairs until the clock ticked eight o'clock. When the doorbell rang, she walked over hesitantly and opened the door as the night breeze washed over he gently.

   Stood on her porch was her eloquent date, Justin Foley. In a black tuxedo, Cassie was blown away by the sight of him. Both of their eyes had attracted shock and admiration for one another.

   "You look beautiful," he finally said, hands shoved in his pockets shyly.

   After pulling herself together, Cassie finally smiled, her cheeks flushing a rosy pink, "you don't look too bad yourself."

   Justin chuckled, and stepped up to hold out his arm for her to take. When Cassie wrapped her arm around his, she closed the front door behind her and followed Justin to his car. Once inside, he turned up the radio and on the way there they sang the lyrics to the songs they used to dance to around midnight when they weren't stargazing. Justin always thought it was lame, but he would do anything she wanted. Cassie was and is still his world.

❁❁❁

THE GYMNASIUM WAS filled with different colored lights flashing on the dance floor and the walls. A disco ball hung from the middle of the ceiling, and music blared from the DJ section looking over the dance floor. Behind the very expensive looking music equipment stood Tony Padilla laughing at something Ryan Shaver said. All at once, Cassie knew this was a night nobody would forget, and as Justin took her to the dance floor during the next slow song, she almost forgot why they broke up.

Cassie's height allowed her to lay her head on his shoulder and their hands were interlocked beside them. Moving a couple steps every few seconds to the rhythm made the moment serene.

"You want to know something?" Justin asked.

Cassie took her head off his shoulder to glance at him in question, "what?"

"I love you."

Cassie almost froze in place, because the way he said it and the place they were at made it sound twice as amazing. Her heart started to beat faster in the best way possible, and the feeling that used to come when around him during their relationship came back in an instant. Thoughts, memories, and other little things swarmed into her head, and reminded her of all the good they had minus the bad. The good was supposed to outweigh the bad, and it did for the most part, but what Justin had done had made all the good disappear. Cassie longed for his actions to be taken back, because otherwise they'd still be who they once were: in love.

Before the same words could fall out her mouth, her best friend approached them with his friendly smile and charismatic aura.

"Can I steal her?" Zach asked Justin considerably.

Justin looked back at Cassie for either approval or for her to say the words he had said moments ago back was unclear to her, but she nodded towards him. Their hands separated and he walked off to the what seemed the punch table.

Zach placed one hand on her waist and connected the other with her hand while her other hand rested on his shoulder. The rhythm of the song began to move faster and seconds later, Cassie was being twirled around by her best friend.

When it slowed down, they kept a steady pace and Zach began to bring up the topic lingering in her mind, "you're a princess, you know that?"

Cassie grinned, "and why is that?"

"You're kind and considerate, and you never put yourself before others," Zach complimented politely.

"That might be my downfall," Cassie bit her lip thoughtfully looking nowhere in particular.

"Why?" He questioned out of curiosity.

"I don't know. A lot of people have hurt me, but I always give them second chances when I shouldn't. I trust too easily, it's a weakness," she explained, beginning to frown after replying.

"No, it's a gift. You're able to confide in more people when you trust easily—"

"Or get hurt by more people," interrupted Cassie, but not before sighing, "sorry."

It was a trait Cassie had to always say sorry when she felt she had wronged someone on accident. Had it never been on purpose was never the case, she was a kind person. As a human being like everyone else, Cassie did have flaws and things that broke her down or picked her up. She was like everyone else who had been hurt; expecting an apology when she apologized constantly. Justin had apologized, but he had hurt her more than she thought she could take, and an apology wouldn't fix what he did.

"You're fine, don't apologize, Cas," he replied soothingly, "Justin knows what he did was wrong, he's trying to make up for it. He shouldn't have done it, everyone knows, but don't keep punishing him. He won't love you if you keep him holding on by a thread. I know you need to heal, too, but the kind of love you both had doesn't always come around too often."

   Silence came, and Cassie was at a loss for words. The night wasn't over yet, and it seemed like everyone who had walked into the gymnasium knew it, too.