"There she is!" I was greeted by the glowing faces of Casey, Jules, and Estelle as I got back from work. "Hurry up and change so we can start drinking now." Casey told me as I shut the door behind me.

"I didn't realize we were having a little shindig this evening." I said as I walked back to my room and stripped out of my work clothes and changed into something more comfortable. As I changed I heard Estelle working the blender, clearly preparing margaritas for us all. "I hope you are actually doing an acceptable ratio of tequila to mix this time." I said as I sat down at the kitchen counter next to Jules. "Last time we were basically drinking an entire glass of tequila."

"Not to mention it was the worst tequila I've ever tasted in my life." Jules added with a shudder.

"Hey, give me a break. Last time I had spent most of my pay check covering part of that ones rent." She raised her eyebrow at me and returned to the margaritas. 

"And I have never been late on rent since then." I responded. 

Estelle started pouring her concoction into our glasses when Casey exclaimed from the couch. "Oh my God. Laurel, come here." I tried to protest, but she kept insisting.

"What are you even watching?" I asked as she rewinded the tv.

"Just shut up and look." She finally pressed play and I realized why she was so insistent.

"In recent news, Chris Evans is back in LA after finishing up filming on The Avengers. And it seems like he's back with Mystery Woman from earlier this year." The disembodied narrator spoke as a picture of Chris and I at dinner when we saw each other again was plastered on the tv. As much as I hated it, it was a great picture. The two of us were mid-laugh, but he was looking right at me and the look on his face... I don't even know how to describe it. 

I could feel all my friends eyes on me as I sat there looking at the tv, trying to figure out what I was thinking. I turned to Casey. "It's okay, really. I honestly can't be surprised about it anymore so it is what it is. Now let's completely ignore this and get back to getting drunk." 

And drunk we got. Jules and Casey passed out in the living room and Estelle and I covered them with blankets and brought out a wastebasket just in case. After I said goodnight to Estelle and went into my room, I saw that I had two unread texts, one from Adam and one from Chris.

Adam

I should be back from my conference on Thursday, wanna get together next weekend?

I closed out of that conversation without answering and opened Chris' message.

Chris

Are you free tomorrow night?

Laurel

Depends on what the activity is.

Chris

How good are you at planning parties? I've been roped in to hosting a Halloween party this year and I think I'm in way over my head.

Laurel

I guess I'm coming to your rescue.

*****

So we were friends.

And it was fine. We were making it work.

It wasn't like we were spending all our time together either. We would see each other a couple times a month, and everything was normal. Well, I wanted to seem like everything was normal. I had told myself that I didn't have feelings for Chris anymore as an excuse to get to see him and not feel guilty about it. That didn't work so well for me. 

I rang Chris' doorbell and was greeted by his bulldog running up to the door and barking at full force. I saw Chris sprint after him and scoop him up before opening the door. "Someone is very excited to see you." He laughed.

"I'm so happy to see you too, East." I loved on East for a little before I turned to Chris. "Not terrible to see you either." I joked and gave him a hug after he set East back down.

"I guess it's good to know where I stand in this house."

"It's always a good idea to have your priorities straight." We made our way into his living room where he had beers set out for the both of us. "Looks like you do have your priorities all set." I laughed as we sat down on the couch.

"Hey, if I'm gonna be forced to plan this party I might as well find some way to enjoy myself." He grabbed his beer, leaned back into the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table. 

I crossed my arms and stared at him. "I'm glad you're enjoying being able to lounge, but I will not let you invite me here just to plan this whole thing by myself." 

He sat up straight and looked me directly in the eye. "You are absolutely correct. No more lazing around it's all work from here on out." I could tell he was purposefully being annoying, but I just rolled my eyes. He relaxed and spoke again. "Okay, where do we start?"

"Well, you should probably make a list so you know what you need to buy. Have you thought about anything that you want so far?" He shook his head. "You are woefully unprepared." I said under my breath. "Let's start with alcohol because that is definitely the most important part of this holiday."

"I could not agree more." He said and leaned forward as I typed out a list on my phone. "Jungle Juice?" He questioned as he inspected my list.

"Look, I know we're not 19 and in college but there's really no better way to get plastered and have fun doing it." I responded.

"Well, I never went to college but maybe this will finally give me that experience I've been yearning for." 

The next couple of hours were a mix of us actually planning the party and continuing to catch up from our time apart. Being with him was so easy. It didn't feel like I had to force anything he was genuinely interested in what I had to say. Time had gotten away from us, and before I knew it I got an annoyed text from Estelle saying if I didn't get home in the next 30 minutes she was ordering Chinese without me. "Estelle is threatening to leave me without food tonight, so I should probably get going." I told him as I stood up and grabbed my now long empty beer bottle. 

"Shit, when did it get so late?" He got up too and cleared his stuff from the table. "Thanks for helping me out with this." He said as we walked into the kitchen. "I would not have been able to get my shit together enough to actually plan this as well as you did."

"I'm always available to come to the rescue. This better mean I'm on the invite list though."

"No, I was really just using you for your planning skills. I didn't actually want to see you there." He joked and I playfully slapped his arm. "Of course not." He said through laughs. "If anyone deserves the credit for planning what will definitely be the best party I've ever thrown it will have to be you." 

"You're lucky I'm not asking to be paid for my services." I poked his chest, trying to come of as intimidating but it clearly didn't work. 

"I'm extremely lucky." He said and held onto my arm. We locked eyes with each other and both fell quiet, unconsciously drifting closer together until we could feel each other's breath. He leaned down and lingered just before my face. Those few seconds felt like hours until I finally closed the distance between us and our lips crashed together. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer in to him. I ran my fingers through his hair and pulled him deeper into the kiss. I had tried to forget how amazing kissing him felt, but I knew now that I never would. Everything about it was perfect. Every part of me felt alive and ready for whatever might happen. No one else could make me feel like that. 

We pulled apart and I tried to catch my breath. It took me a few seconds to really realize what had happened. "Oh fuck." I muttered and stepped away from him, his arms falling away from me and back to his sides. 

"Shit. Laurel, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." 

I didn't even know how to respond so I stood in the kitchen across from him, silent for what felt like years. "I should go." I said suddenly and walked back into the living room to grab my things. 

He stopped me at the door before I could leave. "Please don't be mad. I'm so sorry."

"I'm not mad. I just-" I took a deep breath. "I just need to think about something. But I'll see you at the party." I smiled at him and walked out to my car. 

I needed to figure out what the fuck I was feeling and fast otherwise I'd be caught in a mess that I did not want to deal with.