I MIGHT REGRET a little bit that I gave a shit about Hunter's words.

Because here I am, in the middle of dancing and drunken students, sipping my beer that Peter has pressed in my hand. He is already drinking his second one. So to say he's excited about Bronwyn would be an exaggeration. He's fidgeting more than usual, his gaze is constantly roaming over people, and he's talking to himself the whole time, which I guess is supposed to fake the conversation between him and Bronwyn.

"You really are the coolest guy I've ever met, Peter!" he exclaims in an extremely high-pitched voice that sounds so nothing like Bronwyn.

"I've only heard that three times from someone today," is the next sentence he says in his normal voice.

Even before a word leaves his mouth, I know he's using that bright Bronwyn voice again. "Wow, and you are funny too!"

I give him a long irritated look.

"What?" asks Peter normally now. "I can be funny."

A small laugh actually escapes me. "Has Sydney texted you when she's coming?"

"Let's see," he mutters as he fishes his phone out of his jeans pocket and scrolls around on it. "She texted ten minutes ago that she and Bronwyn would be here in ten minutes. Oh man, I can barely hold my phone because my hands are so sweaty."

"Just wipe your hands inconspicuously on your jeans when you talk to her and you'll be fine."

"Wow, thanks, I wouldn't have even thought about that idea now." Half grinning, he puts his phone back in his pocket.

"Do you want to tell Sydney about it?"

I know immediately that he's talking about Hunter's unannounced visit, and I'm completely undecided about that. I know I promised Sydney that I wouldn't shut her out anymore, but I just don't want her to worry unnecessarily. She was so excited about this party and I don't want her to spend it babysitting me.

The quiet voice in my head tells me that I'm making a mistake by keeping it from her. I really hope this voice wins as soon as I see her.

Peter raises his eyebrows when I don't answer him. "You're not going to tell her?"

"I'm still not sure myself."

"Well, you should be. You even say that she's the only one you can trust one hundred percent. How can you hesitate then?"

"I don't know if you can remember it, but the last person I trusted so much betrayed me. I don't know if it will mark me forever, what Gavin did. Then again, maybe I'm simply untrusting now."

"You're not. You probably just need a little bit more time."

I doubt it. What I need is my damn freedom so I don't have to stand here with my hood over my head and keep my head down. On the other hand, it's been my idea to wait to hand myself over. Am I ungrateful if my friends and Sydney alone aren't enough for me? In a way, I kind of regret not punching Hunter in the face. I could have let loose a bit of anger. Peter suddenly inhales sharply beside me, at which point I raise my head hesitantly.

And then I see her.

It feels like déjà vu at every party when I catch sight of Sydney. She is and will always be the prettiest girl I've ever seen, and it leaves me speechless, just like every time. She makes her way through the dancing crowd in front of Bronwyn and doesn't seem to have noticed me yet, which makes it all easier to watch her steadfastly.

Her hair falls open in curls over her shoulders, and I decide this is my favorite hairstyle on her. When she just doesn't do anything with her light blonde hair. She's wearing a white top and tight light jeans that show her long legs perfectly. When she spots me, the corners of her mouth lift and she shines as bright as the sun.

I already open my arms before she jumps towards me and have to laugh a little bit when she holds tight to me. We remain like that for a few seconds until she slowly pulls away from me and stares at my face, lost in thought.

"I have to tell you something." The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. I'm surprised myself that I plan to tell Sydney about it. My attention turns to Peter, who clears his throat loudly and glances at Bronwyn with red cheeks. "Cool party, right?"

I narrow my eyes a little. At least he doesn't ask "Well, how are you?"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Bronwyn replies, tilting her head slightly in amusement. "I wouldn't have pegged you as a party guy."

"What? I go to parties all the time," Peter affirms, nodding. "Loud music, drunk students, and urine-tasting alcohol are really great."

Sydney leans her forehead against my chest, laughing, and I also have to focus to stay serious. In my opinion, Peter still does better than the last time he faced Bronwyn.

Bronwyn shakes her head with a grin. "Do you have something against dancing, too?"

"Not at all, no. The fact that I loll around the dance floor like an octopus every time is actually pretty funny." Nervously, he rubs the back of his neck. "I can show you my moves if you want," he says.

"I absolutely wouldn't mind. One of my dance moves is called the 'Fish on Land,' and I bet you can't pull that one. No one's ever done it before." Bronwyn blushes a little bit. "Which could be because I haven't told anyone about it, let alone shown it to anyone."

Sydney raises her head, speechless. I can't quite tell if she's as amazed as I am that Bronwyn's cheeks have turned the color of a tomato, or if the idea of a dance step called 'The Fish on Land' has so disturbed her that she's lost her words.

Anyway, we both witness Peter and Bronwyn's dancing skills. I have to grin several times, especially when Bronwyn wraps her hands around Peter's neck at the end of their show and presses her hips tightly against him. I try to tell him with my face that he should put his hands on her waist because otherwise, they would be dangling down the whole time, but he is so busy hiding his grin that he doesn't even notice me.

"Bronwyn deserves someone as good as Peter," Sydney murmurs from beside me. "She doesn't like to talk about it, but Gavin and her dated once."

My eyes widen in surprise.

She nods. "I'm sorry I never mentioned it. She wanted it to be a secret because she was so ashamed of it, you know? She says she feels stupid for not noticing that there was something wrong with him, yet we've all been blind about it."

"She shouldn't be ashamed of it. It's not her fault that he's an asshole."

"So is Hunter, who she also dated."

I grimace.

Who knows if Hunter is really what we think he is.

The gullible part of me really wants to give that thought a chance. But I've seen way too much good in people and only been disappointed afterward. So I really have to stop myself from giving Hunter a chance.

She wrinkles her nose a little bit. "Oh man, she really does pick the wrong guys all the time. Shouldn't that be a warning sign that Peter will end up being an asshole, too?"

I shake my head. "Peter's one of the good guys. I'm almost sure of it."

"Almost sure?" Smiling, she tucks her hair behind her ears. "Whatever. What exactly were you trying to tell me earlier?"

My hands are starting to sweat now, which is why I wipe them on my jeans. On one hand, I'm really excited to see Sydney's reaction, but on the other hand, I know exactly what she's going to say. "Hunter ... He wanted to talk to me about a half hour ago."

Sydney turns pale. "He wanted what?"

"He literally begged me to not leave the apartment tonight because ..." I take a deep breath. "He said Kolin was going to bring the police after me."

"That doesn't make any sense. I mean, not long ago Kolin was saying that he wasn't planning to do that. Not yet."

I tell her that the video camera seems to have changed everything for him and that he knows that I have it. Although nothing useful has been found on it yet, Hunter has told us that the evidence is a video and not a picture. In any case, I assume it is the evidence, otherwise, I don't think Kolin would do this kind of thing.

"We have to go then," Sydney decides when I'm done with my narration. Her face is still a little pale and her voice sounds all scratchy. "We have to find that video, Dean."

I don't know why it amazes me so much that she's actually worried about me, but it does. She seems literally panicked and can barely stand still as her nails dig into my upper arm. It doesn't hurt much, but it's starting to scare me, too.

"Dean, please," she whispers, "Hunter has to tell the truth if he helped us the other day before we went to Tennessee."

"You wanted to come here so bad. And we're not leaving until I've had a chance to dance with you."

"Dean." My name out of her mouth sounds like a contradiction. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"And I don't want to leave until we've danced once." Smiling, I wrap one of her unruly curls around my index finger. "Just a dance, Curly. Let me do this for you if you have to deal with my chaotic mess again afterward."

"I like dealing with your chaotic mess, Walker."

Grinning, I pull her onto the dance floor by her hand. At first, she protests, but she doesn't have a chance against me, especially when I lift her up and end up carrying her near Bronwyn and Peter, who are still dancing close together.

After I put her back down, she sullenly blows a light blonde curl out of her forehead. "You're stupid."

"And you're beautiful."

"I'm glad you noticed."

Surprised, I raise my eyebrows. When did she get so confident? Whatever the trigger was, I like it, which is why I grin immediately and pull her against me by her waist. She makes a surprised sound and then we stop talking. We're certainly not the best dancers, but Peter and Bronwyn have us beat every time, even if it's not particularly hard.

Sydney's hands are placed on my chest and I place mine on her lower back, so we dance to the beat of the music for a while. I look at Sydney without blinking, because I meant what I said. She is beautiful, especially now with her closed eyes and her head slightly tilted back in her neck, almost as if she is expecting me to kiss her. I close my eyes as well and let the music and her movements guide me until she suddenly grabs my hands and pushes them significantly lower.

Surprised, I open my eyes and look at her admiring face. My hands are now on her ass and I can't help but grip a little tighter, eliciting a yip from her. I have to grin.

She placed my hands on her ass after all, not me.

My gaze wanders over her forehead, which is covered in a light film of sweat, then I suddenly stare at her pink lips, which are the perfect shape for kissing.

Peter is right. I've waited long enough, so long that my self-control is going down.

I lean down to her, slowly, not wanting to scare her. Her eyes seem almost dark blue as she moves a little closer to me as well. Sydney swallows as her gaze falls on my lips, lingering there.

Suddenly, someone grabs me by my shoulder and pulls me back so abruptly that I stumble a few steps. Whoever is behind me is about to experience his blue miracle, that's for sure. Even Sydney looks like she's about to throw her little fists out.

"Kolin, what the hell?" She glares angrily at her ex-boyfriend.

Kolin looks at least as angry as Sydney and walks toward me threateningly. If he thinks he's scaring me with his fierce expression, he's wrong.

"If I were you, I wouldn't provoke me right now," I say as a well-intentioned tip.

But he only laughs contemptuously. "If I were you, I would pick up my legs and run as long as you can."

And just then, I hear it.

Sirens from everywhere, almost as if there were hundreds of ambulances outside the building. The music of the party is suddenly gone and a kind of murmur goes through the room. Police lights flicker in the huge windows, reflecting in Sydney's huge eyes widened in shock. Peter and Bronwyn are immediately beside me, also looking as panicked as Sydney.

For some reason I'm not, no, in fact, I'm completely calm.

Maybe I knew it was coming. When Hunter warned me, a small part of me knew he was telling the truth because, after all, I know him and I know what he looks like when he lies. Even though I wanted to wait until the next college party, it almost feels right not to run now. To stand still. Not to be afraid.

I turn to Sydney, who is frantically shaking her head with tears in her eyes, and I suddenly know that she is the reason I'm not running anymore. I want to face what's coming and with luck get back to her so I can finally say I deserve her. To be able to take her out on a real date that is in public and not in an apartment, in the woods, or at a deserted park.

Kolin really has the balls to put his hand on my shoulder again and grin stupidly at me. I can tell he's enjoying every single second of this. I don't know if he didn't get enough attention as a kid or what the reason is for his dislike towards me. I just know that at this moment he's getting exactly what he's wanted for a long time.

"Have fun in jail, Dean Walker."

-