"Fuck, Evanee," Craig sighed in relief, seeing the young woman standing at the front door. His arms wrapped around her tightly, engulfing Evanee in warmth.

"Are you angry?"

Craig let go and they say at the couch. "No. I was for a bit, but I understand that you needed the space. Where'd you even go?"

"Downtown LA. There was a hotel there and a gym," she explained. "And when I was there, this guy offered to 'work out' with me. He's apparently a counselor and I scheduled an appointment for today."

She rummaged through her bag and handed Craig the card. There was no doubt he was a bit suspicious, but Evanee could clearly see the worry in his eyes.

Craig said he would make some tea for the two of them and a late breakfast, while Evanee went upstairs to unpack all of her belongings. She and Jordan planned for their meeting to be at seven. She'd be his last client of the day and they'd go out for a quick dinner.

Once she was done putting her things away, Evanee went downstairs to see Craig sitting on the couch with his laptop on his lap. Two steaming mugs were on the coffee table and two plates of omelettes.

"A counselor for anxiety and depression?" Craig asked, hearing her walk down the stairs. "Is it that serious?"

Evanee wasn't sure of the answer. This meeting with Jordan would determine that, which was exactly what she told Craig. The entire situation worried him. Of course he knew that Evanee wasn't doing the best, but he didn't want to accept it. He wanted Evanee to be happy and to be the one to help her.

"You know I love you, right? Just platonically, if you want. You're important to me and I know that it's hard right now. Whatever you'll be talking about, I want to know. I want to know that you'll be getting better."

Evanee smiled. "I love you too, loser. Now, I think we should maybe do something fun before I subject myself to an hour long counseling session where I talk about feelings."

"Bar on Walnut?"

The bar on Walnut street had become a frequented place between her and Craig. Whenever they needed a drink, which wasn't that often, they walked there. It was near and it was welcoming.

"My treat," Evanee said. "Let me change really fast and we'll go."

So she ran upstairs to change into black, high-waisted latex leggings that she drunkenly bought on eBay after wanting to look like Olivia Newton-John in Grease. Then she put on a plain black tee shirt, a leather jacket, and black wedges to pull off the entire 'badass' look she was feeling.

"That's hot," Craig breathed out, seeing Evanee walk down the stairs. "Seriously. Not trying to flirt, but the outfit's really..."

He shuddered and slyly smiled as he stared at nothing in particular. Evanee couldn't imagine what was going on I his head.

"Time to go," she said, waving a hand in front of his face and grabbing her wallet and keys.

They began walking and in five minutes they were at the Bar, sitting down at their favorite stools and both ordering beers. Evanee tried not to drink much, only taking small sips of her bottle every few minutes so that she didn't come off as an alcoholic in front of Jordan.

"So this guy? Jordan Grey," Craig began, knowing his name from the website, "what do you think of him?"

"Charming and attractive and definitely someone I'd want to stay professional with during the appointment."

Craig stared at her. "Why?"

"Because I already suck at relationships. I'm not risking getting feelings for another person."

There was silence as Craig nodded in agreement and took a long gulp from his drink.

"So what you're saying is that he's probably attractive enough and charming enough to be a potential boyfriend?"

His use of the word charming resulted in an outburst of laughs from Evanee, catching the unwanted attention of everyone else in the bar. Maybe she did have too much to drink for the time being. She passed her bottle to Craig.

"He's definitely something."

Craig nudged her.

"Well, I say go for it." Evanee stared at him in wondered confusion. "Really. You have all this shit going on with three other guys. Two of them you met in high school and this other one feels as if he needs to protect you all the time. I think it's time you moved on to someone stable and maybe it's not Jordan, but you never know. He's a counselor and a relationship with him seems like a good idea. I want the best for you, honestly."

"I never knew really drunk Craig could be this honest."

He laughed and ruffled up Evanee's hair. "Well, I guess alcohol brings out the honest side of me. You ready to call a Cab and get to your appointment?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

---------------------

"Have you been drinking?"

That was the first question. Evanee wasn't exactly surprised and she couldn't help but shake her head nonchalantly.

"Only way I'd convince myself to actually go here," Evanee said, walking into Jordan's large office.

Craig had been in the Cab when she was dropped off in front of a grand building in LA and Jordan's office was just another example of how nice of a mess she was compared to all the extravagant stuff.

Jordan's office was as large as Evanee's living room with a single desk at the far end of the room with book shelves. Two other black couches and a black leather chair were placed at the center of the room, placed on top of a quaint white rug. In the direct center was a coffee table with several pamphlets and two mugs of hot coffee.

"You do know that it probably wasn't the wisest decision to come to this appointment when drinking is a result of depression, anxiety, or suicidal tendencies in some cases?"

"I don't drink regularly if that's what you're implying."

"Well, why don't we take a seat and drink some coffee so you can sober up?" Jordan smiled, sitting across from her in the center of the room. "So tell me more about these three guys?"

"The first two I met my senior year in high school. I was that classic nobody who put herself in a bad situation. I fell in love with one of them, Evan. He was far from perfect, but he tried mostly. I despised him when I first met him. He was the arrogant, popular jock that everyone admired and he was the one who introduced me to his friends, one of them being Jonathan."

"And did you start taking interest in Jonathan after falling in love with Evan?"

"I had no interest in Jonathan whatsoever in high school. He was just a close friend at the time and after I met Evan, I started to hang out with him and his friends. Everything was fine I guess, but my friend David liked me at the time," Evanee laughed nervously.

Jordan took a long sip of his coffee and smiled. "Seems like everyone loves you."

"It was high school and senior year was when I really started taking an interest in guys and dating. Evan and I were slightly perfect for a time, but I moved to Manhattan for three years for college. I didn't really give him a heads up and the night before I left, he cheated. Our relationship was basically ended there."

"And what exactly happened in Manhattan?"

"I went to college and I grew up. I was alone there, didn't really have friends. I used to have long hair back then; down to my waist. Decided I wanted to change everything about me; my hair, my clothes, my attitude. It worked for a while. I was happy with being alone and doing my own thing, but a few months before graduation, things got difficult. I wasn't sure why. Nothing bad was really happening, but I was just lost. I don't know what I was thinking but I tried to kill myself. My aunt Gemma, the woman who raised, found out and she was there for me for a while. I shut her out though and she went back here to California."

Evanee breathed out unevenly. She should have drank more, maybe then she wouldn't be so emotional. Her past with the guys wasn't difficult to talk about, but Manhattan was an entirely different story.

"David visited a few weeks after I graduated when I told him I'd be moving back. I vowed to abandon my past with them, excluding David. It didn't work and something got heated. Then David introduced me to Craig. I needed a roommate, he was a perfect candidate and everything was fine. Then there was fight, yada yada yada, we made up, but there's feelings that nobody wants to talk about now."

"And that's exactly where I come in. What do you want Evanee?"

She shrugged. "Not to have conflicting feelings. I was drinking with Craig before I came here actually. He told me that he wanted me to be happy and that my past with any of them might not provide me with that."

"And what do you think?"

"I like the idea of being single and keeping to myself, but I'm at that point in my life where I want to be happy with someone for all that emotional, spiritual, and sexual shit that comes with a relationship."

The appointment continued on. Evanee wasn't sure of the time, but before she knew it, the appointment was over. It certainly didn't feel like an appointment, more like talking to a new friend about life in general. There were basic things such as events that have happened in her life recently that they talked about like Gemma.

Though at times, their conversation became a lot more deep and emotional and Evanee couldn't help but immerse herself in the conversation. It was as if the entire world didn't exist, only them in that single room. Evanee had finally found her own getaway. Running away to LA or taking some time off was always her method of coping, but this worked. She just needed someone to talk to.

"So where are we planning to go?" Evanee asked once Jordan was packed up and ready to go.

"A restaurant downtown."

It didn't take long to get there and by the time they did, a waiter had already lead them to a table.

"This place looks a bit expensive," Evanee whispered, staring at the menu prices. "I know a burger place not too far from here."

"Evanee, it's fine. I'll be paying and money isn't an issue."

"Well, if that's the case, I'll be ordering the plate of ribs for $20. Oh, and wine."

Jordan laughed and lowered her menudo that she could look at him. "I'm pretty sure you just sobered up. Let's not have any more alcohol."

The waiter came back with a friendly smile, writing down an order of beef ribs, spaghetti, and a secret bottle of grape juice that Jordan whispered for to the waiter. Evanee wasn't amused.

"This isn't wine."

"It's basically wine."

"Without the alcohol, which makes it not wine."

"I think you're cute."

"I think you're incredibly out of my league and too perfect."

"Evanee Pierce, you will be the absolute death of me," Jordan laughed, raising his glass of grape juice to toast with hers. "To the most eccentric, blatantly honest, stunning, and charming woman I've ever met."

"You've met Jennifer Lawrence?"

"I've met the future love of my life."

It wasn't until after Evanee had raised her glass and drank the grape juice that she realized what Jordan had said. Spitting out a mouthful of grape juice onto a waiter in an expensive restaurant probably and making her date laugh so hard that he also spit his grape juice on the waiter wasn't exactly what she imagined for a first date, but it was better than anything she could have ever imagined.

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IVE BEEN SO BUSY AND I AM SO SO SO SORRY TO ALL OF YOU READERS WHO HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR AN UPATE. Junior year is killing me. It's literally only been a month and everyday, I'm just swamped in homework. I'd write on weekends but I've actually been going to a lot of places with my friends and family.

Very sorry again, so here's a long, crappy, and unedited chapter by moi. Vote and comment

And as always I hope he enjoyed(:)

P.S. Don't forget to check out 'The Boy Behind the Mask' on W1LDC4T43 's profile.

I'll be putting 'Revolutionaries' and 'Rogue' on hold for the time being.