Long Distance

Cereal.

[Ethan]

"They fucked," I blurted out as Rachel drove back home. Tonight made me not want to do anything, not even drive.

"How do you know?" She turned to me for a second before returning her attention the the road.

"I walked in on them putting their clothes back on," I recall, my fists balling in anger and frustration. "I'm so pathetic."

She didn't answer but instead placed her hand over my fist in a comforting way. It was times like these that made me appreciate Rachel more than usual. She wasn't the sappy kind of girl, she was real and chill which made her such a good friend.

"Don't give up yet," was all she said as we pulled into my driveway. She followed me inside and I marched up to my room. I undid all the buttons on my shirt, throwing it into the hamper and changing my pants into a pair of joggers.

Rachel knocked on my door before popping her head through the crack. She sat next to me on my bed while I rested my head on her shoulder.

"How am I supposed to not give up?" My voice cracks towards the end of my question. It felt embarrassing for me to be upset over this, but Aria was different, and I felt something for her. Something I had never felt with anyone before.

"If you love her, you'll fight for her."

[Aria]

I had never been so embarrassed in my life. How could we possibly forget to lock the door? To make matters worse, Ethan Owens of all people had to open the door and see me in only a bra and skirt.

For some fucked up reason, I couldn't seem to get the look on his face out of my mind. He looked affected by what he saw.

Well I didn't blame him, walking in on a couple was definitely an uncomfortable situation.

To be frank, however, I couldn't care less about what Ethan thought of me. Regardless of how he protected me at that party, I was engaged, which meant anything I thought I felt that same night when we kissed had vanished.

It was nothing but in the moment.

Everyone was celebrating the New Year and I joined Mason as we hugged all of our friends.

He hugged me, placing another kiss on my lips and just like the first time we kissed, I still felt those same sparks and the butterflies rumbling in my stomach.

_____________

Mason dropped me off at my house after the party. He told me he'd be back after he had seen his mom. I wiped off my makeup, brushed my teeth, and changed out of my outfit.

After cleaning up the kitchen, I sat down on the couch scrolling through my snapchat and seeing everyone's posts.

There was a knock on the door and I stood up to answer it. Mason stood there in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, a cheeky smile on his face.

I smiled back opening the door wider to let him in.

_____________

It was almost 3am and we were watching the Bachelor. I clapped as Crystal was sent home, Mason chuckling at my hatred towards the woman. She was heinous and I was happy to see Arie finally have some sense to send her back to wherever she came from.

Once the episode ended, we headed up to my room. I turned off all the lights in the hallway before snuggling up next to Mason's warm body and slowly drifting off to sleep.

[Ethan]

It was the first day of the New Year and I was back to moping. Rachel had tried to get me out of the comforts of my bed three times only to fail.