Jae's brows furrowed once they left the elevator. His lips pursed together as he tried to tune her voice out and focus on a lingering sound he'd been hearing ever since a couple of days prior. He'd deduced that he'd probably been going insane but what had him thinking that he was still sane was that he only heard the noise when he'd been with Catalina. And no, it was not his thumping heart.

   "Do you...do you hear that?" He asked, interrupting her mid-sentence.

   "Hear what?" Catalina asked, looking over at him, a dark eyebrow raised and lips pouted to the side.

   He stopped walking and she did too, the sound also stopping. "There's this...ringing? I think? I don't... I keep hearing it."

   Catalina smirked. "Maybe it's the sound of Cupid's arrow." She winked.

   He frowned at her, rolling his eyes. "I'm serious, are you carrying a bell or something? I keep hearing a ringing or a jingle whenever I'm with you. It's so weird."

   "I think it might be your brain malfunctioning because I'm so pretty," she teased, striking a pose.

   "There! I heard it again!"

   She moved again and she too heard the jingle. "Oh! Yeah, it's a bell."

   "What? Where?" He scanned her over a few times, pouting.

   "On my key chain. Forgot about it, sorry," she giggled.

   "So, I'm not going insane! Okay, good." He brought a hand to his chest. "How long have you had that?"

   "For, like, a week, I think? I'm getting prepared for Christmas!"

   "It's two months away, Cat."

   "Hey, if there's one thing you should know about me it's that I love Christmas! I just love the snow and the lights, and the smell of fresh pine and warm vanilla! It's just divine!"

   "It isn't even Halloween and you're getting ready for Christmas?"

   Pouting, Catalina nodded. "Yes, is there a problem?"

   Jae shook his head, glancing away from her big brown eyes. "No, just s-saying. Anyway, what apartment was it?"

   "1605," Catalina replied. Turning back towards the end of the hallway and leading the way as they walked towards Daniel's place.

   They stopped at the door and she was the one to knock. "I think we should tell them, don't you think?"

   "Why?" Jae furrowed his brows, shoving his hand into his pockets.

   "Because they're my friends, and they deserve the truth."

   "Drea already knows, why should they?"

   "Because it's only fair, Jae. I'm sure you wouldn't want me to lie to you."

   "If it were me and you had your reasons, I wouldn't really care."

   She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "But that's because we haven't been friends for years. Personally, I feel I owe them an explanation." Realizing that they'd been standing outside for a while, she knocked on the door once more.

   He remained silent, not giving her so much as a comeback. Running a hand through his hair, he looked away from her, a pout on his lips.

   Catalina saw that he'd messed his hair up and without thinking it through, she reached out towards him and fixed his hair. His head shot towards her, bewilderment written on his face, nearly instantly, his cheeks began to colour red.

   "You made it!" They hadn't realized that Daniel had pried the door open for Catalina was caught up in Jae's messy hair and Jae was staring at her in embarrassment. "Whoops, my bad, didn't know you were having a moment," Daniel laughed awkwardly as the two young adults looked his way in shock. "I'll give you two a minute, when you're ready just come one in." He closed the door with a smile.

   Catalina gulped, covering her face, trying to hide the blush that pushed its way unto her cheeks. She pushed open the door and called out. "Stop being stupid, Danny, nothing was happening."

   Jae followed her soon thereafter and she led him to the living room, where he saw Madeline bundled up in a blanket on the couch, while Andrea was sitting cross-legged on the floor. Jae didn't see Daniel but he guessed he'd stepped into another room.

   "Did Danny walk in on you two kissing?" Madeline teased, wiggling her eyebrows. She leaned forwards slightly, puckering her lips and making a kiss-y sound.

   Catalina rolled her eyes. "No," she hissed and Andrea shot a glance at Jae, smiling at him. "He's acting stupid. Nothing happened," she assured, taking off her denim jacket and throwing it on the couch before sitting next to Madeline.

   Andrea and Jae had started to get along very well after their initial bickering. So, she patted the seat next to herself and he walked towards her, sitting down on the floor, right in front of Catalina. She offered him the bowl of popcorn she had in her hand. "Want some, kid?"

   He glared at her and took the bowl from her hands, taking a handful of popcorn. "Just because you're almost a year older doesn't mean you can call me 'kid', I'm not a kid."

   "If that's what you say, kid," she smugly replied, taking the bowl back. She had a smile on her face while she popped a kernel in her mouth.

   Mindlessly, Catalina had begun to play with Jae's hair, her body laying down on the couch as her head was propped up by the arm rest. He didn't complain, nor did he seem to mind at all. In fact, he'd been so focused on the popcorn and bothered by the nickname that Andrea gave him that he hadn't really been thinking about it.

   Jae looked towards the television, checking what it was that they were watching. He was surprised to see spongebob playing. "So, Philip?" He hadn't been sure if he could even ask about it, but he'd felt he'd been in the dark for long enough (although he'd only heard about it in less than a week).

   Catalina stiffened, her hand stuck in his hair and then she sat up on the couch, pushing herself up from her lying position and taking her hand off his head. She cleared her throat, pretending she hadn't heard him and the other two girls remained silent, as if they were nearly afraid to offer Jae an answer.

   "I hope you like nachos!" Daniel finally came into the room, platter in hand and splitting the awkwardness, allowing everyone to finally breathe. "I also made a jar of mojitos, so...hope you all drink." His statement was clearly directed at Jae for he knew the girls would run towards the jar of Mojito. In fact, Madeline volunteered to go fetch it from the kitchen, along with five glasses.

   Jae stood from the floor and offered to help Daniel, which the brunet allowed him to. He set the nachos on the coffee table and Catalina immediately jumped towards the platter, taking a paper plate and filling it with no remorse. "Thanks Danny baby, you're the best. Love you," she puckered her lips and sent a kiss his way.

   Daniel frowned. "You shouldn't do that while your boyfriend's right there. It's not fair to him."

   "It's okay, isn't it Jae-Jae?" She looked up at him as she took her seat on the couch.

   Jae nodded, facial expression remaining indifferent. "I don't really care."

   "Seems to me like he cares!" Madeline set the jug on the table and nudged Catalina. "You shouldn't bully him like that!"

   "What I-"

   "I don't care because we're not dating." Jae interrupted Catalina.

   The room fell silent and only the murmur of spongebob filled the room from the television. Catalina stared at Jae, her brows furrowed while Andrea chose to keep quiet as she stared at the television mindlessly, nibbling hesitantly on a nacho. Madeline and Daniel standing in shock, regret colouring their faces.

   Daniel cleared his throat. "Um...Look, I don't think this is that bad. I mean, if it bothered you, you should tell her and she won't do it again. There's...er, no need to break up."

   Jae sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We're not dating at all. It's all just an act."

   Madeline nibbled on her lip, eyes wandering over to Catalina to see what she'd say.

   "Yeah, we're fake dating," she said with no expression. "We just need to make his parents believe that we're dating and well, now Philip too...because why not?"

   "Oh." Daniel frowned. "Woah, okay."

   "...Wait? So this." Madeline signalled at the two of them. "This is just...fake?"

   Both Catalina and Jae nodded.

   "And you knew, Drea?" Daniel gasped, realizing she wasn't fazed the slightest. "What?"

   Andrea stood from her seat and gave a hopeless smile. "Did you think I'd suddenly had a change of heart?" She poured the mojitos and handed them out in the ever so silent room. "To a fake relationship!" She cheered, "Because why not?"

   Everyone stared at her as she lifted her glass and took a sip. "Are you all just going to stand there or are we gonna have some fun?" She asked. "And nachos?"

   Madeline frowned, taking a sip of her drink and nodding. "Okay, I see."

   Daniel blinked. "Did your parents buy it?"

   Jae nodded. "Catalina plays a convincing girlfriend."

   Catalina didn't add anything, she just went back to sitting on the couch while downing her drink.

   The television was turned off by Andrea and she scrolled through her phone before music started blasting through the speakers. "So, Catalina has been teaching us how to dance Salsa and Merengue. When we all meet up, we dance a bit and so now she's gonna have to teach you too."

   Catalina laughed, taking Andrea's hands, "We'll do a demonstration. I think he's confused."

   The two girls began dancing and Jae was impressed to see it all. Catalina's movements were quick and steady and Jae couldn't help but stare in awe.

   "So, how do you do that?" He asked.

   Catalina laughed, extending her hands out to him so he could take them. Hesitantly, he took her hands and she pulled him unto the carpet while the others began to practice. Placing his hand on her waist, she led him through simple steps. "Slowly," she mumbled and then intertwined her hand with his free one and landing her other hand on his shoulder.

   He was looking down at his feet, fumbling over and messing up a few times.

   "It's okay," she assured after seeing his troubled face. "Here." She pulled away and stood straight. "It's all in the knees and hips. So..." And she went on to teach him. It didn't take long for him to get the hang of it, although he still seemed a bit stiff.

   They'd fallen on the couch, breathless and laughing. Jae would admit that it was fun and he was enjoying himself.

   "It's good to see you smiling and laughing," Catalina commented.

   He shook his head, taking a sip of the mojito. "What is this? This is so good."

   "Passion fruit, vodka and lemon." She smiled, seeing that his cheeks were red. "Are you tipsy?" She asked, the music was loud and the others were still practicing their dancing.

   Jae shook his head. "No, but I'm guessing I'm all red...right?"

   Nodding, Catalina reached out to him, the back of her hand pressing against his cheek. "It makes you look cute...wow, you're on fire."

   He turned away, her hand slipping from his face and he was thankful his Asian flush was covering his true blush. He'd started to notice that Catalina was touchy, to everyone though, not just him. She always seemed to make physical contact with people; with Daniel, Madeline and Andrea it was more prominent. But now, he noticed she'd also started to do it with him. The fixing and ruffling of his hair, when she wrapped her arm around his shoulder, when she touched his cheek just then or when she'd wrap an arm around his or slap his arm playfully.

   She'd gotten up from the couch and excused herself and he watched as she disappeared around the corner to where the washroom was.

   The couch sank next to him and he looked over at Andrea. "Hey." Andrea offered a smile, leaning back unto the cushions. "Have you realized that you've fallen for her, buddy?"

   Jae laughed. "Yeah, right," he shook his head, sipping from his drink. "Hey," he looked over at her again, frown wrinkling his face, "does Cat always act like that?"

   "Like what?" Andrea nibbled on her straw.

   "Touchy, I guess... like she..."

   "Yup! She's like that. It's not flirting, really, at least, that's how she is with everyone. People think she's flirting but if you know anything about Latin women, they're naturally like that. Well, most of them."

   "Oh...I thought so."

   "Do you like her?"

   Scoffing, Jae's lips stretched into a straight line, "What? No. I already told you."