Sophie sings as we step through the door, "you're back!" I kick my shoes off and shrug my jacket off, placing it on the hook.

She rushes over to us at lightning speed, crushing us both together in a hug. My cheek's squished against Penny's and my arm's left immobile at my side. "Mom." She groans.

"Sorry," she chuckles softly before releasing us.

Now it's Henry's turn to hug us. His arms are wrapped around us a lot looser than Sophie's were. It felt like we hadn't seen each other in a couple of days whereas Sophie's hug was similar to the one you'd give someone if you hadn't seen them in a couple of years.

Penny tosses her keys to the side and walks into the kitchen with open arms. "I'm starving." She declares, proceeding to yank open the fridge and stick her head inside.

"Well," Sophie places her hands on her shoulders and turns her around. "You can't eat anything out of there. We have plans."

We wait for her to tell us what she's talking about, but she doesn't get the chance as the door's opened, and I come face to face with the person I've been dreading to see for the past forty-eight hours.

I hate the way my body reacts as soon as he enters the room. It's like it's addicted to him. My heart pounds in my chest and butterflies erupt in my stomach. Whenever he's here I feel like I'm alive. Well, my body does anyway. My head feels the opposite.

Why can't my body catch up with my head?

I try not to let the effect he has on me show for more reasons than one and avoid eye contact with him, instead choosing to look at the potted plant in the corner. I'm sure he wouldn't be looking at me anyway. My gaze involuntarily lifts to check but I glue it back to the floor. Definitely not.

Another pair of shoes passes me and, knowing that it isn't Archer, I allow myself to make eye contact with the person. His black curls, tanned skin, and signature leather jacket are the last things I expected to see. He doesn't usually come around here, not that I've seen anyway.

"You're right on time, son," Henry says.

My eyes glide over Archer's frame and towards Henry. I have to force them to not linger on him. Who knows what would happen if I looked at him? I may be keeping it together right now but as soon as those soul-crushing brown eyes meet mine it'd be a whole other story. The last thing I need is tears streaming down my face in front of everyone.

"We thought we could all go to dinner seen as we haven't spent much time with you over the holidays. Tyler, you're welcome to come to." Sophie reveals. Tyler gives her a grateful smile, accepting her offer so easily, unaware of the inner turmoil I'm feeling.

I notice Penny's eyes narrowing slightly as if she's disappointed, her arms folded across her chest. I don't think she likes him very much.

"Great, let's go. If I don't eat anything in the next five minutes I'm going to pass out."

*

We all shuffle into the restaurant and wait to be seated. Penny hasn't passed out yet, but she was more grumpy than usual when we were sitting in the backseat of her parent's car. She claimed she should have been able to go in her own car seen as Archer rode with Tyler.

It seems like the God's were working in my favour. The last thing I need is to be crammed next to him of all people.

We follow the waiter to our table and take our seats. I'm last to sit down and, of course, the only seat left is next to Archer. Maybe the God's weren't working in my favour after all. Tyler's next to him. Penny, Sophie, and Henry are seated on the opposite side of the wooden table.

I debate asking to swap seats with someone, but I don't want to raise their suspicions. To them, Archer and I are simply two acquaintances who happen to live together. To us, it's a lot more complicated. Instead, I shuffle to the edge of my seat, so I'm as far away from him as possible. My body wants the opposite of my head, my body wants to be pressed against him, but I don't care what my body wants anymore. My head knows what I need.

"How was your time in London? Did you enjoy spending time with your family?" Sophie starts the conversation.

I wipe my sweaty palms on my black dress, clearing my throat. "It was," I trailed off, trying to find the right word. "Eventful. But, yeah, I'm glad I got to see them."

Eventful. That's one word for it. Going to the local fair or dropping your ice cream is eventful, being told that the person you thought liked you didn't need your shit and regretted it all is downright crushing.

I sneak a glance at Archer when he's engaged in conversation. His body's rigid. He's sitting pin-straight in his chair as his leg bounces under the table. Anyone with eyes could see that he didn't want to be here. More importantly, he didn't want to be here with me.

I find myself irritated by his uncomfortable posture. He knew what he was getting himself into when he said what he said that day. We live in the same house, there was no way we could get away with avoiding each other like the plague. We have to deal with it and act like everything's okay. He shouldn't have lashed out at me if he wasn't prepared to deal with the consequences.

"How about you, Tyler, how was your Christmas?"

"It was okay. I was planning on spending time with my girlfriend, but she had other plans." He shrugs nonchalantly.

Instead of looking at Sophie seen as she asked the question, he's staring directly at Penny.

"I'm sure she wanted to be there," Penny reassures him and his lips curve into a grateful smile.

The waiter wanders over to our table, grabbing his notepad out of his pocket and asking us if we're ready to order. Penny's the first to list off the food that she wants. He raises his eyebrows at how much she's ordering. I giggle slightly. She gives him a look that says 'what? I'm hungry'.

The time we wait for the food to arrive is short and the time it takes us all to clear our plates is even shorter. Who knew that you could make a burger taste so good? Maybe I should put on the darkest clothes I own and break-in during the night just to steal the recipe. That would look slightly ridiculous on my record.

"I need some air." Archer's chair scrapes across the floor as he stands up.

Impulsively, I excuse myself too and find myself following him outside. The wind wraps around me as soon as I step out of the warmth of the restaurant. I cross my arms against my chest as I turn the corner.

He's leaning against the brick wall with his head tilted towards the dark sky. My hands play with the hem of my dress. Do I just go back inside? I doubt he's noticed my presence yet. It's not too late for me to slip away.

"What are you doing here?" His voice startles me. Well, I guess he decided for me.

"I needed air." I lie.

"Right." He dismisses with an eye-roll. He doesn't look at me as he talks, he keeps his gaze trained on the stars above.

I stay still, the silence suffocating me with every passing second. I find myself getting lost in my thoughts. This was a bad idea. It's too quiet. The events of the past couple of days are replaying over and over again and tears are threatening to fall. I push them down.

"Okay, well, I've had enough air." He heads towards the door.

I find myself grabbing his wrist to prevent him from walking any further. He stops in his tracks and turns, his eyes narrowing at me. I drop his wrist instantly. He rubs it as if my touch had hurt him. The look in his eyes definitely hurt me.

He gives me an impatient look as if I'm wasting his time. Is that all I am to him now, a waste of time? I sigh deeply. "Did you mean it?"

"I don't-"

"You know what I'm talking about," I cut him off. "Did you mean it?"

He stuffs his hands into his pockets and blows out a breath as if we were having a casual conversation. This is everything but casual. I feel like claws are ripping at every part of me, trying to drag me away. It takes all of my willpower to stay rooted to the spot.

Something in his demeanour changes before he says his next words. It's only a slight change but I notice it. His eyes cloud over and his hands form fists at his side. "You don't know me at all, do you?" The harshness in his voice causes me to stumble backwards.

"What?"

"If you did, you'd know that I don't just say things for the sake of it. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it." His eyes are narrowed and focused on me.

"But-" I choke out, not knowing what else to say.

There was a part of me that hoped he acted on an impulse that night and regretted what he said. That part of me is as stupid as my body is for reacting the way it does to him.

"Madison," hearing him say my name causes a lump to form in my throat. "We shouldn't talk. We can be civil around other people but that's it."

"So, you expect me to just act like we don't like each other, just like that?" I can't believe the words that are coming out of his mouth. It's hard for me to pretend I don't want him; it must be hard for him too. It has to be.

His eyes darken and as he talks. I find myself falling back and leaning onto the wall for support. I'm afraid my legs will buckle underneath me.

"I don't like you, Madison. I never did. You were right about what you said that day. I do drop girls when I'm bored of them and I'm bored with you. Soon you'll be gone, and we can both go back to living our lives without each other." He spits.

Each word feels like a scalding hot knife's piercing my skin. It's being pushed further and further with each second.

"That's how it should be." He mutters to himself, but I hear him.

He turns around and walks back into the restaurant without another thought and I'm left leaning against the wall trying to make sense of it all. I flip off his retreating form before sliding to the floor in frustration. I cover my face with my hands and allow the tears to fall.

This is how he makes me feel. He makes me sad. I shouldn't like someone capable of making me feel this way. But I do. I didn't lie when I told him I liked kissing him and I thought he wasn't lying when he told me he really liked kissing me too. Now I know that he was.

I knew there was no use in trying to save what we had. It's pointless. It was all pointless.

After a while, I wipe my eyes and smooth out my dress. I'm not going to let him do this to me. I'm not going to leave them all without an explanation to wander the streets feeling sorry for myself.

I do the only thing I know I can do. I take a few deep breaths before going back inside and taking my seat at the table next to the boy who crushed my hope. That night, I do the best acting of my life.