"Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday dear Frederico,

Happy birthday to you!"

Loud cheers and claps were heard everywhere. Alexia laughed brightly as she pulled her little brother into a warm embrace, followed by people's 'aw's'. Their house was filled with family, close friends, neighbours.. There was a pile of gifts on the kitchen table and everyone was eager to congratulate the little Valdez.

"Happy birthday Freddie!" Kissing his forehead, she tightened her grip. Freddie groaned. "Get off me!"

She let him go and he ran away towards the gifts. Everyone laughed again and the crowd of people started to talk or congratulate him themselves. Alexia sighed and turned around, looking at the hundreds of people.

She didn't know half these people. Neither did Freddie. But of course, birthdays are the biggest excuse to get everyone gathered around. It's always the same. During the morning Freddie can invite the people he likes, his friends from school, etcetera. During the evening, though, the house turns into a ballroom and the most important people show up. It's important to act and look at your best those nights.

"What are you thinking about?" The low voice muttered. Alexia could feel his hot breath alight her skin and she sighed, taking a small step back. "Nothing."

It was Damian. His dark hair was stylishly swayed and he was wearing a simple shirt and jeans. He was attractive... but not as attractive as Jason.

Jason.

Alexia has been spending the past hours comparing her fiancé to her ex-boyfriend and so far it's been horrible.

"It's something, I recognize that face."

"I was just thinking about how different you are compared to other people." That was no lie.

"That's why you're marrying me, babe." He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist, dipping his head so he could kiss her passionately. She kissed him back, but not as hungrily as he was kissing her. If he was going to persuade her into having sex while it's her little brother's birthday, she was going to hang herself. Besides, their sex was lame.

"Actually," Alexia broke the kiss and took another step backwards, "I'm marrying you because we're forced into doing that because you want to be the leader when my dad gives up his spot."

Damian raised his eyebrows.

"Excuse me, I have to go talk to someone." She turned around and quickly waltzed away, trying to find someone to occupy herself with.

The first person she laid her eyes on was Dominic, so she latched herself to his arm and didn't let him go until he asked her to.

"I don't know what you're trying to do." He muttered, eyeing her strangely. Alexia rolled her eyes. "Can't I be with my brother? I love you!"

He laughed. "Who are you trying to avoid, Lex?"

"Damian."

"Ah, I get it."

She pulled up her eyebrows and chuckled softly. "Oh please. You don't get shit. You didn't marry Carina because you had to, you married her because you wanted to. The only reason I'm marrying Damian is because dad picked him to rule the business once he was out."

Dominic narrowed his eyes. "Well it's true, but it's been like, I don't know, three years? You must love him now."

"Can people stop assuming that?"

"So you don't love him?"

"I never said that!"

He stared at her confusedly. "Are you on your period or something?"

Alexia let go of his arm. "Very mature of you, Dominic, the period question. Ha-ha, I'm cracking up."

"I really hope you're not using crack."

"I—Oh my God, never fucking mind!" stomping away, she furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance. How the hell did he know that she was on her period?

"How are you, sis?" This voice was Teo's and for once she was relieved to see her brother. Not that she didn't love him, just that he was exactly like her and that it was tiring to be with someone just as stubborn as you are. "I am great."

"I see right through you, Alex."

"Lies."

"I tried! Anyway, I can see something's up. What is it? It's Freddie's birthday, you should be just as thrilled as I am." The sarcasm in his voice was double as bad as usual and together they eyed the bouncer and all the clowns, children's laughs roaring through the place.

People kept bumping against the two siblings because it was so crowded so they decided to take a walk, leaving all the children's madness behind.

Alexia leaned against his shoulder, trying to forget the cold. The snow scrunched under their feet as they walked slowly, both buried in their own thoughts.

"Do you remember Jason?" she whispered, finally having the courage to say something. Teo looked down at her.

"Of course I do. We were great friends."

"That's all you remember?"

"No, but I thought you didn't like talking about it. Isn't the subject a little difficult for you? Why are you suddenly asking me this?"

"He goes to the same college."

It was silent.

"That's unfortunate."

"Is it? You could start hanging out with him again." Alexia purposely didn't look at him and stared at the big building ahead of them, which was coming closer every step. The mall.

"Alexia.."

"What?"

"I can't and you know it. As much as I'd love to, mom would hate it and you would develop feelings for him again. I'm not stupid—I know they come back. I've had it before, you know."

She waited shortly before she replied. "My feelings for him never went, you stupid. I don't even love Damian. I care about him, but I don't love him. You out of all people should know that because you know how much I loved Jason. Or love him."

"So you still love him? After all this time?"

"I guess so. I don't know. At least there are feelings there."

"That's fucked up." Teo wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her tightly into his side. Never in his entire life has he felt so bad for his little sister. "And the worst part is that Chaz and Ryan say he never forgot me."

"Chaz and Ryan? Jesus Lexi, that is really fucked up. I don't even like Damian, all he wants to be is the next mafia-leader, boss, whatever. He will never be able to pull it off like dad does every day. Fucking pussy, marrying a girl just so he can have her father's position. I don't know why mom and dad support this! Why can Dominic marry Carina? Why can Stefano marry nobody?"

Alexia looked up and frowned. Why was her brother so affected by her love life? Unless... of course. He wants their dad's position, he doesn't want Damian to have it. That explains.

"Should we plot something against Damian? I still have some left from dad's fighting lessons."

Teo chuckled shortly. "I think we'll have to live with it."

An hour later, they were strolling through the mall with no destination. They both just wanted to stay away from the house as long as they could and neither of them had to say it out loud.

"Let's eat something." Alexia suggested. Teo nodded and they both walked into a snackbar, jointing the long line.

After they ordered, they sat somewhere in a corner and silently ate their chicken, sometimes commenting something about the person that just walked in.

"She's a housewife—look at her hair! I'm pretty sure her husband doesn't let her eat chicken, but she loves it, so she has come here secretly." Teo pointed at the small, firm lady with the exploded brown hair. Alexia laughed. "And where are her children, then? And her husband?"

"Her husband is working. Like always, and she dropped her children somewhere so she can have a nice, silent meal. Hey, I'm good at this!"

Alexia giggled and rolled her eyes. "It's my turn. Do you see that man? Man, he invented this place. Sometimes, when the food turns out to be bad, he just hides it in his stomach. See? He might look fat but that's because he saves us all from food poisoning."

Teo snickered. "What about his family?"

"Well, obviously his wife died of food poisoning. Oh, and he accidentally ate his son so his daughter ran away."

"That's a good one. My turn, do you see that slim, tatted guy?" Teo pointed at a tall guy with tattoos embroided on both his arms, two kids on each side of his body. The three of them were standing in the queue to order something.

"I do."

"He's a junkie. Parents kicked him out, forever on the streets," Alexia nodded as she adjusted her gaze on the guy. She couldn't look away. Was that...?

"—fucks every girl he can. Kind of like Stefano. His clothes look... okay, so he stole from the queen and now he can afford a house and pretty clothes. Those two children? He hates them. Got two women pregnant, both on the same time. Helped both women without the other knowing and then kept the kids himself."

Alexia widened her eyes in realization as she put a hand on Teo's shoulder, trying to stop his rambling. "Teo, that's.."

"The kids hate him. He has a nice quiff, though, hey, what's up?"

"That's Jason." She muttered. Teo's mouth fell open as he turned around, looking at the guy. Jason was now ordering his food and Alexia could even hear him talk. That beautiful, velvet voice..

"Jax, those are too spicy for you. I'm telling you—mom will kill me. I'll just get you a kiddy menu."

The little boy with the blonde hair shook his head. "No! I'm not a kid!"

"I can't believe it. What happened to him?" Teo exclaimed in surprise. Alexia sighed. "You can't imagine. He has changed so much."

"He still cares for his siblings. That's nice."

"It is."

Teo and Alexia kept their gazes on Jason and when he got his food, Teo started waving wildly, "Yo McCann!"

Jason's face shot up and he furrowed his eyebrows, trying to see who called his name. Alexia felt her chest burn and whether it was good or bad, she started blushing. As Jason started approaching them, she indirectly looked at herself in the window. Every time Jason was around, she started blushing. Every God damn time.

"Teo?" Jason laughed. Teo jumped up and pulled Jason into a manly hug. Alexia didn't look at them and instead looked at Jaxon and Jazmyn. Damn, they have grown.

"Hello, I'm Alexia. Do you remember me?"

They both nodded and she melted inside.

"You should sit here, man." Teo invited Jason and Jason didn't disobey. Fuck.

-

After a while—hours—Jason's phone rang and he excused himself. Alexia looked at Teo in anger. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Teo shrugged. "I thought you'd like to be in his presence."

"I do! I love it!"

"Then what's the problem?"

"Every time I look at him, I either feel like crying or attacking him with my feminine hormones!"

"I did not want to know that."

Alexia slumped in her seat and covered her face with her hands. "I love him, Teo, and I'll be marrying someone in nine months. I can't just hang out with him—I can't." and because of the fact that she sounded so hurt, Teo apologized and promised they'd leave when Jason finished his phone conversation.

He looked so good. His torso was covered in a black shirt and it was extremely tight, showing off his beautiful body. He wore jeans, shoes.. the usual. Alexia couldn't help but gawk at his sexy jaw line, his plumped, red lips and his big brown eyes. Can he be any hotter?

Can he not?

Can he just stop it?

"That was my mom. We have to go home, dinner at Ryan's."

That voice.

"That's okay man, we have to leave too anyway. It's Freddie's birthday and the real party is in just a few. You know how it goes."

"Nice. Happy birthday. Hope I'll see you around, Teo."

Oh, God.

"Sure thing. Hey Alexia, you okay? Say good bye to Jason."

"Alexia?"

Can he say Alexia again? It's a turn on.

Alexia shook her head, trying to get rid of her thoughts as she looked at Jason. "See you, Jason."

He stared at her and opened his mouth, then closed it. With a small nod, he turned around and left with Jaxon and Jazmyn.

Come back!

"Get me out of here, now."

-

The weekend went by in a blur. Several meetings between tall, muscular men had passed, several times of Damian trying to get her to fuck him, several times of hugging people she's supposed to know, several times of telling these people what an honour it is to have them, several times of her bursting out in tears, several times of her little brother throwing mud at her dress..

It was a mess and Alexia knows damn well why it was. Jason fucking McCann. He did all of this.

As for now, she's back on campus. Her feet were taking her to the cafeteria but she wasn't exactly awake enough to realize it. She was exhausted, upset and suffering from heart ache. Knowing she was going to face Jason sooner or later, her heart skipped beats tiredly. She was tired of seeing him. She was tired of her heartbeat rising whenever she heard his voice, she was tired of sweating whenever he touched her—accidentally or not.

Her eyelids laid heavily on her eyes as she slowly shuffled further through the snow, the bell tingling loudly as she stepped inside the cafeteria. It wasn't that crowded.

Maria's voice consumed the entire place. "Hurry up with that hot chocolate, punk!" and "You shouldn't even be hired! All you do is sit on your ass you capullo!"

Alexia quietly sat down somewhere in the back and laid back on the couch, sliding her hand over the soft material of the pillows. Her chest rose with every breath she took and she closed her eyes, getting dizzy of the smell of warm coffee and sandwiches.

Two hands grabbed Alexia's shoulders and started shaking her body feverishly after what felt like forever. Drowsily opening her eyes, she realized she must've fallen into a light sleep. Ryan had his face close to hers, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes big.

"You slept here?"

"Why—me? Oh please." Just awake or not, there was no day she could live without her sarcasm and cynics.

"Just wondering. Enjoying the new couch, though?" Ryan snickered and sat down on the chair which was in the opposite of the couch. Putting a hot, steaming, white mug on the table in between them two, he eyed her in confusion.

"Yeah. Personally I think it's great."

He laughed again and shook his head, carefully taking a sip of whatever the hell was in that mug. "How are you, Lex?"

Alexia shrugged. "I don't know. This is just so confusing."

"Because..."

"Because! I don't know. Just because. Do you mind giving me some of that?" The hot damp suddenly started to look attractive and her stomach rumbled at the thought of the warmth. "I do mind, actually. Get your own."

"Jesus Ryan, you're not being very nice today. Trouble in paradise?" Alexia faintly remembered a girl named Sienna.

Ryan didn't respond. She felt slightly guilty, all she had done for the past days was worrying about Jason, just Jason, while Ryan was one of her best friends too.

"You can tell me, I know I haven't been an amazing friend since I'm back and all that but come on, tell me. Distract me."

Ryan shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I get it."

"So?"

"She says I don't pay enough attention to her. She feels, and I quote, 'abandoned'. I never meant to make her feel that way. I love her, Lex, but it's like I can't show it. I really don't know what to do. We've been dating for almost a year and this has never been an issue before."

Alexia knit her eyebrows together and tried to find a solution, but all she could think about was that Jason never made her feel that way.

"Are you sure you love her?"

The cafeteria's bell rang at that moment and both of them looked up, seeing Jason slowly stepping inside. He greeted Maria and scanned the place, his gaze stopping upon seeing Alexia and Ryan. Alexia took a deep breath and created a little smile aimed at him.

Jason made a shocked movement and she saw that, feeling her cheeks colour red. His lips curled into a simper, and warmth spread itself through her entire body.

She didn't need that stuff Ryan was drinking.

At that moment, two arms wrapped around Jason's torso and his smile fell, breaking eye contact. She saw his jaw clench aggressively and stared at the two feminine arms. A head popped up from behind his body.

Ryan groaned softly. "Shit." Turning around, he faced Alexia, but her eyes were focused on the dark haired girl.

"Just... Screw her, Lex. She's nothing."

Alexia shrugged. "I don't care." But her eyes were still plastered to how close their bodies were and especially to how he didn't push her away. Or to how he neared the table they were sitting at.

"I'm not staying here if that is going to eat breakfast with us." Ryan complained, loud enough for Jason to hear.

Alexia didn't make a sound, "I'm not staying here anyway." and with those words she left in a hurry, her vision blurred by her watery eyes.

Jason hadn't said a word.