They arrive at Mike and Aly's place at 5:30PM.

The whole car ride would've been more bearable for Kellin if Jaime, Jess and Vic had chatted over something he actually knew about. He kept throwing a laugh here and there when something funny came up, or some little opinion when he could, but other than that it was terrible. He hated the whole situation. These were Vic's old friends, of course they had things to talk about and he shouldn't feel like he had to be included into it, but still, he felt kind of left out.

To Vic, however, Kellin not saying much was nothing out of the ordinary. He knows how much the younger boy hates speaking to strangers (or to anyone really), so he didn't force his friend into the conversations much. And he was just so happy to be talking to his old friends again, like no time had passed at all and they were back where they left off.

Soon enough, the four of them are standing at the front door. The house looks actually really nice, nicer than Kellin imagined it to be. It is your typical suburban home, with a long driveway filled with plants and grass; white walls, a huge doorstep and big windows. Kellin can already hear music and people chatting on the inside and he takes a subtle deep breath. New people. It sounds like a lot of them were invited and Kellin tries not to freak himself out so much. If he was annoyed by only two new-ish people, he doesn't want to imagine what's waiting for him inside. He wants to slowly walk back to the car and get the hell out, but before he can even think about it more the door opens and a fully pink dressed Aly welcomes them to their home.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" She says with a huge smile on her face. Since when do people say happy Valentine's Day as if it's Christmas? "Come on in, come on in." She opens the door for them to walk in.

Inside, the house is exactly what Kellin had imagined. Spotless, expensive looking and huge. The downside to it is how everything is decorated with hearts and flowers and everything Valentine's Day related. Why.

"Hey Aly, you remember Kellin?" Vic says to the hostess after giving her a hug. Kellin stops looking around and glances at the petite blonde in front of him. He manages to smile at her just in time.

"Yes, of course I do!" She chirps. "It's nice to see you again." She hugs Kellin and he manages to do the same, very awkwardly. "Oh, by the way Mike's on the kitchen grilling burgers with some of the guys, and everyone else is in the living room. Make yourselves feel at home!" She tells the two boys, and then goes to greet Jaime and Jess with equally big hugs.

​"Let's say hi to Mike." Vic says and walks to the kitchen which is a few halls down.

"I swear if the burgers are heart shaped and pink too I'll barf." Kellin says behind him and Vic snorts. Jaime catches up with them and the three boys enter the kitchen together. Vic's brother is grilling near the window and some other guys are chatting and drinking beers around the stool. It smells great, Kellin has to admit that.

"Brother!" Vic announces his entrance and Mike instantly turns his head upon hearing his brother's voice.

"Bro!" Mike says and walks up to him to hug him. "You're late." He says with a serious face and Jaime laughs.

"Hey, at least I came." Vic scoffs and takes a chip from a bowl in the counter besides the grilling pan.

"Yeah, yeah." Mike shakes his head and goes to greet Jaime and Kellin.

Kellin has already met Mike before, they've hung out whenever he visits Vic in New York and he thinks he's a great guy. Sometimes he's literally crazy, but he's good deep down. Kellin always teases Vic that Mike's the better brother of the two and Vic always punches his arm playfully whenever he says that. It's always funny to see his reaction.

Some of the other guys that are hanging out in the kitchen also greet them, and Kellin says "nice to meet you" way more than he expected. There were some guys that he remembered from one of Vic's birthday parties, but he couldn't match the faces with the names whatsoever. He's really not good with people.

All the guys talk for a little while in the kitchen, most of them were friends from high school and some even went to college together. They all had these stories to reminisce about and they all knew the inside jokes that made everyone laugh. It was like being in Vic's car all over again. Kellin had to fake laugh more than once and he hates it. He doesn't understand what that feeling on his stomach is. It's not the same warmness he gets from looking at Vic, it's something quite stronger, and he hates it just as much.

He stands there in the room full of people, but none of them mean anything to him. He doesn't know them, they are all strangers, and he doesn't really want to get to know them either. And he's an outsider to everyone too, everyone except one person. But that one person is too busy catching up with all of his old friends, and he doesn't blame him. He can't. It was obviously going to happen; it's just that he didn't count on it to make him feel this weird inside.

He tries though, being social and all. He tries to engage in conversation with this guy Tony who's standing beside him, but he isn't exactly listening to him. He doesn't mean to be rude, but his head is somewhere else and when his head runs somewhere else, it is really hard to make it come back.

What he doesn't know though, is that while he's zoning off into his alternate universe he is clearly unconsciously staring at Vic too, who is standing a few feet away from him talking to three guys and laughing his head off at something the redhead just said. He only realizes what he's doing when Vic's gaze catches his. And he quickly looks away terrified and takes a sip from the glass of soda he's holding, he pretends nothing happened and nods along to something Tony just said. He doesn't want to know if he's blushing or not.

Kellin didn't mean to feel so miserable, but his mood changed so suddenly it was hard to catch up even for him. He wished to be drinking something stronger, but he knows it would be a bad idea, so he opts for the next best thing and excuses himself to go to the bathroom.

When he locks the door, he stands in the little room and breathes in and out slowly to relax himself. Why is he being this weird? Why is he feeling this weird? He doesn't get it. Why can't he be social and fun and become best friends with everyone in the next room? Why can't he be more like Vic? He quickly shakes his head. He's being dumb. And ridiculous. And just dumb. He doesn't want to be BFFs with everyone outside that door. He doesn't want to be like Vic. He wants to be with Vic. Not across the room from him talking to people he barely knows about stuff he doesn't care about.

Kellin shakes his head again. He's being overly dramatic for no specific reason, he's being an idiot. He's... oh no. He can't be, can he? He can't be jealous? That's just something Kellin does not feel ever. Why would he be jealous anyway? No, he can't be jealous; he can't be because that would mean... no. He's just not jealous. Not at all.

Kellin closes his eyes and groans. He leans into the sink and opens the tab; he pours water onto his hands and throws it on his face. That will make him think clearly, hopefully. He looks at himself in the mirror and tries to come up with an excuse for himself and these monumentally ridiculous thoughts, but before he can, a knock on the door brings him back to reality and he stands up straight.

"Coming!" He yells and flushes the toilet. He dries his face with a towel and opens the door.

Vic stands there with a worried look on his face. Kellin almost gets a heart attack since he expected anyone but him. He has good composure, though and the tanned boy doesn't even notice.

"Hey, you disappeared." Vic says and Kellin walks out of the bathroom. Well, he wishes he could disappear from this situation right now if you ask him. The dark haired boy shakes his head to quite literally get rid all of his dumb thoughts away, and turns to smile at Vic.

"Can't live without me, can you." He replies smugly, but deep inside he winces at his choice of words. Vic chuckles and walks besides Kellin.

"Let's go say to the girls in the living room." Vic says. "They'll kill me if they hear I'm here and haven't said hello to them yet." Kellin nods. Great, more people to be jealous of. No, not jealous.

Anything but jealous.

+

The living room is an even crazier mess of pink, red and hearts. Kellin almost loses it right there on the spot but he manages to keep his cool and tries not to roll his eyes. He has to give credit to Aly though; all these decorations must have taken her a lot of time and money. Too bad, she could've done so much more with that time and money.

When they walk into the living room, all Kellin hears is squeals and cheers from who he guesses are the girls. They all tell Vic to go over there and say hi and all that stuff. They all look genuinely excited to see him. To Kellin it is honestly no surprise.

"Vic it's been so long!" A girl with short blonde hair says. She was sitting on the loveseat with other two girls and for some reason she seemed familiar to Kellin. He sees them talk for a few seconds when it finally downs him. It's the girl from the pictures at Victor's house. Jenna. It clicks so fast in his head that he doesn't even register when Vic starts introducing him to the girls. It's only when Vic calls his name that he reacts and shows a quick smile to the women sitting on the couch, saying something like "Hi, I'm Kellin," and shakes their hands.

They also say hello to the rest of the invitees sitting across the room and soon after Jenna and the other girls make little room for Vic to sit down with them on the loveseat and Kellin awkwardly sits on the arm of the sofa. They all start chatting again and then the rest of girls that are sitting around them get into the conversation as well. Kellin chimes in here and there when he can, but he's already tired of doing this over and over again, so he keeps quiet for the most part.

He glances at his friend and pretty girl Jenna laughing together at something someone said and his stomach ties into knots. Worst part is that he can totally see how they were together back in the day. Hell, he even sees them together now, which only increases that awful feeling inside him. What if they still have feelings for each other? High school Vic was probably head over heels for this girl and you know those dumb things people say about first love and all. It never goes away. He can picture it so well, former lovers getting back together after years of separation on, of course, Valentine's Day. He sighs very loudly, in his head.

"Kellin, can you take a picture of us real quick?" his ridiculous train of thought is interrupted by one of Jenna's friends, who is handing Kellin her phone. He wants to say no, take the first bus back to New York, go home and hide under his blankets for the rest of eternity, but instead he takes the phone and says sure.

He stands up again and walks back a little to get everyone into frame. He can only imagine what the caption will be for this picture. Kellin takes a few shots and hands back the phone to its owner, who thanks him with a smooch on his cheek. Oh, my God. He tries his hardest to smile at her, but if she believes the smile is genuine then...

Suddenly, the guys who were hanging out in the kitchen enter the living room and some of them are holding trays of food, appetizers and drinks. Everyone in the room cheers and they all stand up to grab beer bottles, cocktails and burgers. Kellin wouldn't be surprised if all those guys are all the girls' boyfriends. It's still that stupid day of the year after all. He guesses it's a must to spend the day with the person you love/like/lust over or whatever. Kind of like he is.

Stop.

He gladly takes a bottle of beer the funny redhead hands him and thanks him dearly. He so needs a drink right now. The burgers are not heart shaped as he expected them to be, in fact they're pretty good and he takes one in a plate and then sits down on a free space on one of the sofas, besides some girls who are talking among each other about who knows what. Kellin tries not to down the beer in two seconds, so instead he starts to eat his food.

He looks around again and sees Vic over the dining table talking to Mike and Aly. Well, at least Jenna isn't around anymore. He's also eating and drinking a beer and God, Vic looks good drinking beer. And the way he smiles over whatever it is his brother is talking about make his insides get all fuzzy. He has the best smile, he thinks. And the prettiest lips. He has-

"Hey, you're Kellin right?" A brunette girl plops down beside him on the couch, pulling him back from his mess of a head. He realizes the previous girls are gone now.

"Uh, yeah," he nods and takes a sip from the bottle. "Hi."

"Hi," the brunette smiles. "I'm Taylor." Her hair is long and wavy and her eyes a clear shade of brown. She's very pretty too. And he thinks she could totally be his type if he wasn't so into Vic. He's not into Vic. He groans internally. He just has very confusing thoughts about the older boy.

"So, you're a friend of Vic's right?" She asks and Kellin nods again.

"Yeah, he begged me to come with him over concert tickets." He says, taking a bite of the burger. He didn't know why he said that. He hasn't even thought about the dumb concert tickets at all until now. He's sure that isn't the reason he came all the way to Albany though. He would've done it over nothing. Taylor laughs, however, and Kellin grins himself. "I'm joking," he continues.

They talk a little bit more while they finish their food and turns out he didn't hate Taylor all that much. Once he got to know a little bit more about her, he came to the conclusion that she was cool. Turns out she's dating Jack, one of Mike's friends from college and he tries not to feel bad for having thought she was his type. She lives a few miles away from Mike and Aly's house and is currently attending grad school for law which surprised him a lot.

He also surprises himself when he starts talking about himself. He ends up telling her about how he and Vic met each other, which she laughs a lot at. He doesn't know how it is that he's talking so much to another person that isn't Vic, but he kind of likes it. He tells her a lot about their lives back in New York, how he's planning to finally start writing a novel since he has an English degree, and how Vic wants to open up his own bar, he swore her to secrecy though. Vic would kill him if he finds out he spilled that secret.

Taylor smiles the whole time Kellin talks to her. She realized way before she sat down beside him of what was going on in his heart. She is intuitive most times, that and, she saw him stare at Vic more than once during the evening, so that definitely gave it away for her. And she wanted to help him with Vic, in the best way possible.

One thing about her though, is that she doesn't quite have a filter, so when she asks Kellin, "You love him a lot, don't you?" she doesn't mean any harm at all. It just slips. And she realizes her mistake a little too late.

Kellin chokes on his beer. The liquid spilling down his mouth a bit. He closes his eyes and tries hard to not let the drink get to his nose and actually choke on it. He puts the bottle down and Taylor hands him a napkin, laughing a bit.

"Sorry," Kellin says, regaining his composure. "But, uh... w-what? He laughs, but it comes out strained. His heart starts beating rapidly. And the warmth, the warmth is definitely back too.

Taylor notices his struggle and she feels bad for two seconds before remembering how much she wants to help him with Vic, and if this is the only way for him to come to terms with it then she'll keep going.

"You heard me," Taylor grins, but Kellin wants to actually throw up now.

"Um..." Kellin is blushing, he knows that, and he hates to acknowledge it even more because he just blushes more. "I mean, I guess... He's my best friend." He continues, better play dumb and get this conversation over with.

"Yeah," Taylor presses. "But you're in love with him, right?"

Kellin regrets ever saying she's cool.

He's speechless, he doesn't even know what's going on, it feels like the room is spinning around him and he has to take a breath. "I... don't know what you're talking about. I'm... not, I..." he frowns to himself and looks down. He's trying to even out his breathing, he's trying to convince himself he's dreaming. Yes, this isn't happening, this is a dream he's having. A nightmare.

Kellin hasn't even figured out what he feels himself, he doesn't even know what it is that he feels, it confuses him the hell out, it drives him crazy. All he knows is the warmness on his stomach, and the increased beat of his heart, and the blood rushing to his cheeks whenever he's around Vic. But love? Could it actually be that? Could it be that all he's been feeling, all that's been driving him insane for the past year or so is something as simple as that four letter word? It can't be. Then again, why does it make so much sense?

"Kellin?" He hears her voice again and he snaps his head in her direction.

He shakes his head, his grip on the bottle gets tighter. "I don't know what you're talking about Taylor," he manages to say, his smile gone, the pain in his stomach getting worse.

"Hey, it's fine," Taylor says placing a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugs her off immediately, she still smiles though, and continues. "I won't say anything okay? And I certainly won't tell Vic. Maybe you should do that yourself..." She keeps smiling, like she knows everything, like she has it all figured out. Kellin instantly regrets ever talking to her. This is exactly why he didn't trust people with anything.

"Look," he says quietly, kind of regaining his self-control. "I'm not..." he sighs, "...whatever you said about Vic and I. It's not like that. He's my best friend. You're... you're just seeing things differently. It's not— we're not. And we won't. That's just— that's ridiculous. So don't go around thinking that, alright?" He surprises himself again at how quickly the words flew out of him. Maybe he needed to say all that out loud to finally get over it and move on. It's not like that. We're not like that. We won't be like that. "So if you'll excuse me I'm going to drop this to the trash." He motions to the plastic plate where he served himself the burger and the beer bottle and stands up, quickly walking away from her without saying anything else.

Taylor looks at him walk out of the living room and sighs. She truly didn't mean any harm. She does know exactly how Kellin is feeling, she felt all those things for her boyfriend Jack a long time ago when they were just friends in college. She knows all about the confusion and the increased heartbeats and the longing for having that person around all the time and as much as possible.

And that's why she figured Kellin out, even when he hasn't himself yet at all. Well, maybe what she did wasn't so bad. Maybe she actually helped, even if he hates her now. Because something tells her Vic feels the same way for Kellin too. And isn't that what everyone says? That when a person is infatuated by another one close to them, there's a high possibility that the other one is just as well?

+

Kellin quickly enters the kitchen and throws the plate away. He leaves the empty bottle on the counter and opens the fridge looking for a new one. He's breathing heavily and feels cold all over. Damn weather. He opens the tab and takes a big gulp of the beverage. That will make him feel a little bit better. He still wants something stronger, though.

He keeps drinking the beer and paces around the empty kitchen like a mad man. How could this Taylor girl say something so crazy? Where did she get that bullshit from? It's just such a random thing to say to someone you barely even know. And what if someone else heard? Will everyone know by now? But know what? He's not in love with Vic! She's wrong, she's so wrong. And he made that very clear.

But, if she saw right through him, what if everyone else already did too? What if his –whatever–he's feeling for Vic is so damn obvious to everyone except for him? What if Vic already knows too and he just pities him and that's the only reason he's still friends with him? No, he couldn't go there. That's just too messed up to even think about.

He shakes his head repeatedly and keeps downing the beer. He wants to open up the scotch he saw inside one of the cabinets earlier, but he refrains himself. Who knows what he'll do if he actually gets drunk. Then that would be a party to remember.

He hears Aly's loud and chirpy voice coming from the living room and he prays she's not coming to this kitchen. Luckily for him she's only calling everyone to the living room. He walks closer to this window that looks over to the dining and living room and opens up the blinds just enough for him to see what's going on in the outside room. He sure as hell won't take part into whatever Mike's girlfriend is planning to do. Not even if they paid him.

"Okay, okay everyone pair up, boys and girls please!" Aly shouts and everyone gets up from their sits and walk closer to where she's speaking.

What are they going to do, play the bottle? Kellin thinks.

"It's time to play some games!" She continues and Kellin rolls his eyes. Of course. This day couldn't get any lamer.

He keeps peeking through the blinds, and then he wishes he didn't because he sees Vic pairing up with none other than Jenna, and they are laughing and looking like they never left high school. Even his outfit matches her flowery red dress. Prom king and queen right there. He wouldn't be surprised if Aly has a pair of king and queen crowns for the winners.

The perky hostess explains some stupid game about dancing on top of a page of newspaper, but every time the music stops the couple has to fold the paper over to make it smaller and dance even closer together. Kellin doesn't even want to see since it sounds so lame, but his eyes are glued. Then the music starts playing and he sees as one by one the couples lose because they step in the wrong space, all except Vic and Jenna. They end up dancing so closely together, Kellin's head tricked him into thinking they would kiss any minute now. And he could actually feel his heart break at the thought. No need to deny that by now.

He doesn't want to see any more of this stupid game, he can't take it. And he turns around just in time because a girl enters the kitchen right then and finds Kellin leaning casually against the wall beside the window, sipping on his beer.

"Hey, aren't you going to play outside?" She asks while opening the fridge. She takes out a pair of beer bottles and turns to look at Kellin.

"Uh, yeah sure I was just looking for another one." He motions the beer in his hand and smiles. The girl nods and walks to the flip door again.

"Come quick, it's so much fun!" She says before disappearing through the door.

Yeah, sure; so much fun.

Kellin shakes his head and finishes the last of the beer.

"Fuck it, I'm out of here."