"You know, I don't mind this color as much as I thought I did," I say, as I examine my hot pink nails.

"I love it," Eleanor says. We've gotten almost matching gold dresses. We also have gold and white heels. Well, Ellie has flats and I have four inch platforms. We eat dinner and now we're getting mani-pedi's. It's the last thing before I drop her off at her house.

"Did you have fun?' I ask her.

"Yeah! I can't wait for tomorrow!" Ellie says.

"Oh, speaking of the dance, you know that guy that I've been hanging out with? Colton?" I ask her. She nods. "Is it alright if he goes as my date?"

"Of course!" she squeals. Our nails are almost done drying.

"How's your mom doing?" I ask her.

"She's good. Just working a lot," she tells me. I nod. "Oh, I can't wait to see Ian tomorrow." I laugh.

"Lovestruck, are you?" I ask. Eleanor grins at me.

"He's so dreamy," Ellie says. I smile and shake my head.

"I'm glad he makes you happy," I tell her. She nods and stares off into the distance. I can't help but smile. She's so happy.

I mean, Ellie's a generally happy kid, but she's been through a lot. I'm just glad she has Ian. It'll be good to finally meet him tomorrow. I hope Colton behaves.

Oh, shit. Colton. He didn't believe me today about Greyson. He doesn't trust me. I don't know if we're just messing around or dating, but if he doesn't believe me then we're in a lot of trouble.

He's such a jackass. Greyson's going through a lot and he just needed to talk to someone. And that's all we did, talked. Plus, Greyson's totally hung up on Ms. Rollins. I saw the way he looked at her. There's no way Greyson would ever go for anyone but her.

Why can't Colton just trust me? Why does it even bother me? If Colton was gone for twenty minutes I'd want to believe him. But it's Colton. And Colton's a manwhore so I'd probably think he was fucking some girl.

Jesus. Just let it go, Andy, I tell myself.

"Hey," Ellie says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I ask her.

"I think our nails are done drying," she tells me. I nod and stand up.

"Do you want me to spend the night at your place? Give your mom a break?" I say. Ellie nods as we walk out of the nail salon.

"Yeah! That'd be great!" Eleanor says. I smile and pull out my phone and tear Colton: Hey, I'm gonna spend the night at Ellie's place. Is that cool with you?

My phone buzzes: it's cool. do u want me to grab clothes for u?

I text him: Yeah. Thanks. See you tomorrow.

He texts: say hi to ellie for me. bye.

I put my phone away just as Ellie and I get to my car. We throw the bags in the back and she climbs into the front. As we're driving to her house, she turns on the radio. I smile at her and she smiles back.

Her phone buzzes and she looks down and then her grin widens. I look at her and raise my eyebrows. "It's Ian!" Ellie tells me. I roll my eyes.

"You should probably text him back then," I say. She grins and then starts texting him. I shake my head and my mind drifts to Colton. Before I know it, we're at Ellie's house. She and her mom live in a small house, Ellie's dad's out of the picture.

I leave my bags in the car and grab Eleanor's as we walk up to the house. Ellie's still texting Ian. She can't stop grinning. She unlocks the door as we walk in. I set the bags in the living room. I look at my watch. It's 8:46.

"What do you want to do? We could watch an episode of something?" I say. Ellie looks up.

"Yeah, I'm gonna take a shower. Can you get it ready in my room?" Eleanor says. I nod and we walk upstairs. She grabs some stuff from her room and then goes into the bathroom. I walk to her room and turn on the TV.

I hear a car pull up in the driveway and then the door open. I walk downstairs and see an exhausted Ms. Hopkins.

"Hey," I say. She smiles when she sees me.

"Oh, Andy! I didn't realize you were here," she says. She pushes a piece of hair out of her face.

"Yeah. We went shopping for the dance she has tomorrow. Is it okay if I take her?" I ask. Ms. Hopkins nods.

"Yeah, that'd be great. Truth be told, I forgot she even had a school dance," she says. She drops her stuff on the couch and then walks to the kitchen. I follow her.

"Can I stay over?" I ask her. Ms. Hopkins nods as she opens a bottle of water. "Cool. I'll leave early for school, but I can pick her up from school and then bring her to and from the dance."

"Thank you, Andy," she says. "I'm gonna go watch a show. Can you get Ellie ready for bed?"

"Sure, no problem," I say. Ms. Hopkins nods and then walks into the living room. I feel bad for her. I don't actually know how old she is, but I'm guessing somewhat young. Eleanor's whole situation is hard and she's dealing with it the best she can. I shake my head as I walk up to Ellie's room.

She's laying in her bed watching something on TV. "Your mom's downstairs," I tell her. She nods. "I'm gonna go take a shower, okay?" She nods her phone buzzes. She grins and texts something back. I smirk and shake my head. Young love.

As I step in the shower I start thinking about Colton again. I don't know why it bothers me so much. It's not even like we're dating. I mean, we kind of are but we aren't at the same time. It just sucks that he didn't trust me. And then that fucker Bryce was saying shit.

I don't know. I like Colton and maybe that's why it hurts. I don't want us to be over before we've even had a real chance to get started. Shit.

I probably need to go back to living with my parents. It's been great staying with Colton and Alex but I care about Dad at least. I couldn't give a rat's ass about Mother.

Shut up, Andy. Chill out. Just worry about Ellie and tomorrow. You'll spend time with Colton and see where you guys are at. Just chill the fuck out, I tell myself.

I finish washing my hair and step out of the shower. I brush my teeth and get dressed in my clothes. I turn off the light in the bathroom and walk back into Eleanor's room. She's still watching TV.

"Hey. You said good night to your mom, right?" I ask her. She looks up and nods. Eleanor yawns.

"Yeah, she gave me my meds." Ellie blinks and rubs her eyes. "I think I'm gonna go to bed. You'll stay with me, right?" she says. I nod and turn off the light. She turns off the TV and I crawl in next to her.

Ellie curls in next to me and throws her arm around my waist. I put my arm around her shoulders. "Night, Andy. Love you," she says.

"Night, Ellie. Love you too," I say.

We both fall asleep pretty fast. I wake up when I hear my phone buzzing. "Son of a bitch," I mutter as I look at my watch. It's 3:17 AM. I gently shift Ellie off of me and get up and grab my phone from where it's charging. I sit back down on the bed. I have three unread messages from Colton.

hey

how's it going?

sry it's late

I sigh and then rub my eyes. I text back: I'm good. How are you?

My phone buzzes: good. how's Ellie?

She's good.

that's good. I see the three dots that mean he's typing. My phone buzzes: i miss u.

I miss you too.

i'm sry 4 being such a prick. A small laugh escapes my lips.

It's okay. I wait a couple of seconds before typing: I think I'm gonna move back in with my parents. My mom's a bitch but I love my dad and I have to do it sometime. You know?

He texts: if u think so. i've liked having u stay with us.

I know. I've liked it too. But...I just have to, Colton.

it's ok. whatever u think is best. ur always welcome with us.

Thank you.

no prob.

What are you doing up so late, anyways?

couldn't sleep. i couldn't get myself to stop thinking. what about u?

You woke me up.

yeah.

Not gonna apologize?

nope. u were probably dreaming about me anyways.

Whatever. I should go back to bed. Good night, Colton.

sweet dreams, Andy.

I turn my phone off and plug it back into the wall. I fight a smile as I crawl back into bed. I think Colton and I are going to be okay.