All the surrounding little islands that we lived on were suburbs of downtown Charleston, and although I had been into the city a decent handful of times to take Nikki to the medical university hospital for her clinical trial appointments, I'd never driven any further into the epicenter of the city. Brooklyn had picked up Nikki and I, and we'd plan to meet Brooklyn's sister and her friends at a trendy bar/restaurant at the far end of the city by the harbor.

"You're gonna love this place, it's all artsy and shit," Brooklyn said, lowering the volume on the stereo as he maneuvered around the parking garage for a spot.

"Care to elaborate on artsy and shit?" Nikki leaned between the two front seats and pressed her hands on the center console. The subtle twang of attitude in her voice wasn't lost on me, but if Brooklyn had even noticed, he didn't care.

"Well, it used to be a church, like 100 years ago," he explained. "I can't remember when they turned it into this fancy bar/restaurant, but they kept a lot of the old framework and windows, so it has those cathedral high ceilings and whatnot, but now they're all written all over. There's paragraphs from The Art of War, and all other kinds of crazy stuff, plus some other local modern art just freehand painted on the walls."

Brooklyn swerved into a spot and put the car in park, glancing over his shoulder to give Nikki a sly grin. "So yeah, artsy and shit."

I could tell Nikki was holding back an infamous eye roll as we all got out of the car and made our way down to the street. Dusk was just beginning to settle in, and with it came a warm breeze rolling in from the harbor. We walked along cobblestone side streets to the bar, passing packs of bachelorette parties taking pictures and younger college students from the university, still donning their backpacks from their summer classes as they dashed back to their apartments to get ready for the night. It was like the peaceful, sleepy beach town I'd just gotten adjusted to had been flipped on its head, and the place I now called home had taken on this new, more eccentric persona. My house was only 15 minutes away, but I felt like I'd just stepped foot in a foreign country.

A few months ago, this would have been nerve-wracking for me - a new place in a new city directly fought with my disdain for change. But with Brooklyn, nothing felt uncertain.

Brooklyn wasn't kidding about artsy and shit, and when we walked into 5 Church, I was immediately sucked into all the words painted on the high cathedral ceilings. One block of text caught my eye, stark white in contrast to the black backdrop of the ceiling. All warfare is based on deception.

The stained glass windows painted the floors in soft colors as the sun continued to set. We made our way to the back of the bar, where a small group of people I didn't recognize congregated around Ella. She sat on a transparent barstool at the end of the bar, but slid off and immediately strode over to us in her high fuschia-colored heels.

"Happy birthday!" I greeted her as she pulled me into a tight hug.

"I'm so so so glad you came," she squealed. The scent of rosé wafted off her breath. She turned to Nikki and did the same, as if they'd been best friends their whole lives, but close friendships came easily to Nikki. It was obviously the same for Ella, and I was envious.

"I'm just going to find the bathroom real quick." Brooklyn pressed a kiss to my temple before walking away, and I found myself warm under his lingering touch. It wasn't hard to figure out these were all people that knew Brooklyn (or knew of him) as he high-fived and greeted people he walked past, and yet he was comfortable enough with us together to show me affection in front of them. I let a self-satisfied smile grace my lips.

"Drink?" Ella asked us, eyebrows raised.

"Soda water," Nikki shrugged.

"Whatever you're having." I nodded to the fizzy drink in Ella's hand. I took a spot at the bar a bit removed from the group of Ella's other friends, who I learned were mostly sorority sisters or adjacent frat bros from the College of Charleston, where Ella went to school. On the outer orbit of their circle, Brooklyn leaned against the bar and spoke to a tall, well-built guy with a head of thick, wild chestnut hair and a playful smirk etched into his baby-faced features. He glanced over at us, and I swore I saw the guy wink in our direction, but it wasn't at me. Ella turned away and slid my drink over to me.

"Who's Brooklyn talking to?" I asked her.

Ella cleared her throat. "That's Ricky. Brooklyn's best friend from high school."

I nodded, but that sense of dread I'd been trying to swallow for weeks crept back up my throat. Why wouldn't Brooklyn have ever mentioned someone who was supposed to be his best friend to me? I didn't have time to mull it over too much

"It's cliché, but I think it's cute," Nikki chimed in again.

"What are you talking about?" Ella asked with an eyebrow raise.

"You know..." Nikki gave Ella her signature grin, devious and wide with twinkling eyes. "Having a thing for your brother's best friend."

Ella nearly spit her drink out, clearing her throat again and frantically shaking her head. Her dark, curled hair bounced around her shoulders. "No, uh...I mean, it's not what you think. We just...we're not. Never have, never will. I've known him basically since we were in diapers."

"Sure, sure," Nikki waved her off.

Ella scoffed and tried to play off her embarrassment with annoyance, but the way her eyes dimmed when she looked over at Ricky said more than enough. She glanced down at my empty glass. "Anyway...another drink?"

"Yeah, sure," I nodded. I felt the liquor pulse through my jittering veins as I continued to watch Brooklyn and Ricky with sheer fascination, although seeing them together, they looked more like an old married couple than best buds. I tried my best to lean closer inconspicuously, catching bits and pieces of their discussion.

"You don't understand, you really don't." Rough and deep. Brooklyn.

"Then help me understand. I want to help you." Smooth like velvet. Must have been Ricky.

"Now you want to help me?" Brooklyn snapped. "You shut me out, remember?"

Ricky sighed heavily, the dejection more than apparent in his voice.

"Hey," a voice beside me said, dull and nearly muddled up in the music and other voices. I turned to face a tall stocky kid with a shock of dirty blonde hair. "You're one of Ella's friends, right?" he asked.

"Uh...yeah," I replied as I tapped my fingers on my glass, wet with perspiration. I tried to crane my neck around him to get another glance at the other end of the bar, but his bulk and mass blocked my view entirely.

"I'm Dalton," he said, sticking out his hand. "I go to school with Ella."

"Natalie."

His hand was warm when I took it, and with his red cherub cheeks, he had the disposition of a teddy bear. I probably could have been nicer, but I'd lost Brooklyn and Ricky in my line of sight, and my nerves buzzed.

"So you uh...you're here with Brooklyn?" he asked with a sheepish grin.

"She is."

A pair of hands brushed against my waist, and with them came a whiff of cigarettes and sandalwood cologne.

"It's fine, we're fine," I insisted. But Brooklyn's hands remained on my waist, pulling my body closer into his.

"Dalton Caldwell," Brooklyn said in a low voice. "I thought the bar had a no dogs allowed policy, yet somehow you managed to sneak your way in here. Did someone misplace your leash?"

Ricky snickered beside us. I had never heard Brooklyn speak with such venom in his voice, and it caught me off guard. When I went to touch his hand, it was hot and clammy.

Dalton scoffed. "Some things never change, do they Keller?"

Brooklyn shrugged. "Guess not."

I watched Dalton slink away without another word and disappear into a different group of people.

"You are such an asshole," Ella said with an eye roll. "I don't get you sometimes, Brooklyn."

"And I don't know why you're still friends with that guy, Ella," Ricky interjected. "I'm pretty sure he would spike girls' drinks at frat parties."

"I could kick his ass," Brooklyn muttered. He ran his hands up my bare arms, sending shockwaves through me from his twitching fingers.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I pulled away from him. Sweat beaded across his forehead, and when he looked down at me, his eyes darkened.

"I'm fine," he answered quickly. "I'm great. Seriously, don't worry."

The rest of the night went by with relative ease as we all talked and drank, and I'd fallen into a good conversation with two of Ella's sorority sisters about the last season of Game of Thrones. Brooklyn spent most of the night with Ricky, ducked away in conversation at the far ends of the bar. The later it got, the more people began to flood the bar, and all the heat and bodies began to overwhelm me.

"I'm just going to get some air," I leaned over and felt like I had to shout at Nikki, who nodded in response. I wove my way in and out of people, desperate to taste the cool night air. I made it out to the stone steps at the front of the bar and took a few deep breaths. I had nothing to be worried about, but my body didn't see it that way, and it ran away with my anxieties before my mind had a chance to reign it in. I stood out there until a gentle breeze dried the sweat at the back of my neck, and my heart didn't feel like it was going to burst from my chest.

When I went back inside, I could hear shouting coming from the back of the bar, and any dread I'd just tried to swallow down came back in a fury. I shouldered my way through people until I could place the voices, and my heart sank into my stomach.

"Dude, what the hell is your problem tonight?" Dalton groaned.

"Right now, you're my fucking problem." Brooklyn said with a horrifying calmness. He rolled his head back and cracked his neck.

I squeezed my way through to Ella and Nikki, who stood on the edge of the little circle that had formed around Brooklyn and Dalton

"Brooklyn, don't," Ella pleaded.

"Stay out of this Ella," he snapped.

"Ella," Ricky whispered in Ella's ear, but loud enough for me to hear it. "He's so strung out, you can't reason with him."

"No he's not," Ella squeaked out, soft enough that I'm sure nobody else could hear her. "Brooklyn, stop it, please."

Nikki remained uncharacteristically silent, but reached down and squeezed my hand. The room spun.

Dalton laughed in Brooklyn's face. "That girl of yours will see you for what you are soon enough," he spat.

Brooklyn moved closer to Dalton until they were inches apart. "Don't you dare go there. Leave her out of it," He said through clenched teeth.

"Or what?" Dalton raised an eyebrow.

Brooklyn grabbed the collar of Dalton's shirt. "I'll kick your ass so hard you'll be spitting out my shoelaces."

"I dare you," Dalton said.

Brooklyn glanced around, finally making eye contact with me. I silently begged and pleaded with him, hoping he'd see it in my glassy eyes. Brooklyn slowly released Dalton's shirt. He sighed and took a step back.

"I knew you wouldn't," Dalton said with a cocky grin. "You fucking pus-"

Brooklyn's fist collided with Dalton's jaw in the blink of an eye, sending a loud cracking sound echoing through the room. Dalton stumbled backwards until he hit the floor with a thud. Blood came running down his chin and neck.

It didn't take long for security to descend on the scene, and in a flash they were leading us out of the bar and onto the sidewalk outside. I let out a sigh, maybe even out of relief, as all the humidity in the air lifted. I seemed to be the only one relieved.

"Why do you always have to ruin everything!" Ella screamed, shoving her brother in the chest. "It's my fucking birthday and you can't even keep it together for one day!"

Brooklyn remained still, his eyes blank and hollow as his sister continued to shove him in the chest. Eventually Ricky pulled her away.

"Let's go Ella," Ricky said, but she fought against him too. "Come on, we can go somewhere else, it's not a big deal."

"You're just never going to change are you?" She cried as Ricky led her down the sidewalk. Brooklyn didn't follow.

"I'll go with them," Nikki said quietly to me, still holding my hands. "You take Brooklyn."

Brooklyn held out his keys to me, and I snatched them before stomping ahead in front of him as we walked back to the parking garage in silence. It wasn't until we'd gotten on the connector that I finally found something to say to fill the silence.

"I don't understand you," I said in a low voice. "Why would you do something like that?"

Brooklyn held his hand in his lap, which had begun to swell and bruise. "I don't know," he sighed. "I'm not this kind of guy, I swear. I'm just...tired of people trying to use what I've done wrong against me."

"Well you can't keep giving them reasons to think you're still in the wrong." I reached for the radio and flipped through the stations, just like he usually did. Another long bout of silence dragged on as we drove through the night. Street lamps illuminated the car in small bursts of light, where out of the corner of my eye I'd catch Brooklyn's ragged features.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" he asked, his voice still soft. "I'll deal with the fallout tomorrow I just...need some peace and quiet right now."

"Yeah, alright," I sighed out.

"Thanks Nat," He reached over and gave my hand a squeeze. "And I'm sorry."

I eased my eyes open slowly, and even before I had fully come to, I felt the warmth of him engulf me.

"Brooklyn," I mumbled, still blinking the sleep out of my eyes.

"Good morning," he murmured into the top of my head.

I sighed softly as I pressed my face into his bare chest. All the events of last night came flooding back. Even in the early morning fog of his tired smile and cloudy eyes, I loved looking at him.

"You should have woken me up," I said.

"I couldn't. You're beautiful when you sleep," his voice was barely a whisper.

I brought my lips up to his. It was nothing more than a quick, gentle kiss, but it made the world melt away around us. I pulled away but kept my forehead resting against his. After what seemed like an eternity of heavy breathing and hazy glances, Brooklyn kissed me back. Not the fierce, hungry way from the night before. Instead, it was sweet and delicate, and he held me like I was made of glass and any sudden jerking movement would break me.

"I'm sorry about last night," he said after pulling away. He leaned into my hand that rested on his cheek, and his eyes were glazed over with a sleepy lust. "I never seem to do the right thing around you. I guess I'm just...scared."

He brushed a strand of hair away from my face.

"Scared of what?" I asked.

Brooklyn inhaled deeply. He cupped my face with his hands and pressed another kiss to my forehead. "You," he muttered. "Us. What this is becoming."

I felt a shiver rip through me, and I wiggled myself closer into his body, desperate for the heat that radiated off of him.

"I should probably go soon," he mumbled into the top of my head. "No point in delaying the inevitable."

"You think your parents are going to be mad?"

"Depends on what Ella's told them, but seeing as how I almost single-handedly fucked up her birthday party...she probably told them just out of spite."

I nodded. "Okay, I understand."

Brooklyn slipped out of bed and threw on his clothes from last night. He pressed one last kiss into my forehead. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Let me know if you need anything."

He gave me a smile as he gently closed my bedroom door behind him.

I went in and out of sleep for the next couple of hours, but at some point my phone began buzzing in the sheets beside me. Dread crept up my throat again as I opened the message.

UNKNOWN: Just so you know, your boy is using again.

My hands trembled as I typed a response.

NATALIE: Who is this?

[UNABLE TO DELIVER MESSAGE]

I dropped my phone beside me and let out a long, shaky breath. As soon as I thought things were going well, as soon as I thought we'd stepped out of the shadow and into light, more clouds rolled overhead.

✗✗✗