My eyes stayed fixed on the television that was turned off in my living room. I didn't want to watch T.V., I just wanted some solitude. My room had a draining aura to it, and since Ajit and my mom weren't home, why not just sit in the living room.

I heard the doorknob twist open, but it didn't phase me. I didn't even look at the door's direction. I heard footsteps coming closer to me.

"I thought you liked your reflection, but preferring to glare your own reflection over the T.V. is just a whole other level," Varun teased.

He stood towering over me, as I stayed laying on the couch. I sighed and met eyes with him. I didn't really have the energy for banter. I was just exhausted.

"Why so blue, T?" Varun asked.

I pressed my lips together, "It's really nothing, Varun," I said.

He raised one eyebrow, "Nothing, huh?" he asked, scanning my face.

"You'd think it was really stupid," I admitted. My fucking father died, and I was sulking about a stupid prom?

"It isn't anything about Ezra, is it?" he asked, sternly. My eyes shot towards the left, avoiding his gaze. Varun's eyes widened and his knuckles were turning white due to his excessive grip. "I knew it," he said.

"It's stupid though, he didn't really do anything," I said.

Varun's tongue poked his cheek, as he shook his head. He slightly scoffed.

I felt myself getting frustrated. "There you go, this is exactly why I didn't want to tell you," I said.

Varun raised his hands, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he said, taking a seat at the end of the couch, near my legs.

We stayed quiet for about a minute, and I felt myself becoming calmer. I was thankful Varun knew me well enough to give me a second to breathe and calm down when I felt myself getting frustrated.

"Ajit's not here, by the way," I said, breaking the silence.

"I know," Varun said. I fought back a smile. Why was he here then? "He's with his girl," he said.

The way he said that so casually was still kind of jarring, but I was happy for Ajit, though. He really needed the support of a partner and if it meant he would get off my back, it was all good. Sure, I did feel that Ajit was being hypocritical by having a relationship of his own, but I wasn't too bothered by that at the moment.

"So, where's Ezra?" he asked, trying to cautiously bring us back to the Ezra subject.

"Subtle," I said, sarcastically.

He chuckled, "Whatever, I never claimed to be subtle," he said.

I noticed that Varun was making progress. Instead of calling Ezra a dirty name, he just called him by his name.

"He wanted to meet up today at school and apologize about leaving me in the park," I started.

Varun nodded intently.

"Well, he did that, and we were talking... and then your name got brought up," he said.

Varun raised his eyebrows, and stood up, leaning towards me, "My name?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, softly.

He watched me emphatically, "What did he say about me?" he asked.

I swallowed hard, "He didn't want me to talk to you," I admitted.

Varun shifted his jaw, "He said that?" he asked, through gritted teeth.

I shut my eyes, and nodded.

Varun took a large exhale, trying to calm himself. I knew he could tell that this was hard for me to say and he didn't want to break my trust in him.

"What did you say?" Varun asked.

I met his desperate eyes, "I said, of course not, Varun. I could never not talk to you," I said.

His eyes softened and he softly smiled. I couldn't believe that he would even hesitate to believe that I would say that.

"Then, of course, he got very upset. So, I brought up Olivia, the girl from the park and he let it slip that they went to prom together, and that crushed me," I explained.

Varun's jaw dropped slightly, and in the softest voice ever, he said, "Really... they went to prom together?" he asked.

I nodded slowly.

Like you know, Varun was there through the sleepless dark nights. He knew what I was doing on prom night, and it was depressing.

My mind took me back to that dreadful night. The door to my room was locked that night, and I heard a soft knock at the door.

Some time had passed since my dad died, but it still was incredibly fresh. The soft knock was obviously Varun. My mom would spend all day crying in her room, and if my brother needed me, he would knock harshly on the door or use his his spare key to my room. As for me, I just stayed in my room, barely eating, barely doing anything. Being on social media would sting too much and I couldn't just watch TV and see lives that were better than mine. Nothing seems enticing. So, I just stared at the wall, watched the clock as it ticked by.

I stood up and unlocked the door for Varun. He was the only one that wasn't yelling at me incessantly in the house. He was the only one that seemed to show me any sort of sympathy.

"Hey," he said, softly, "How are we doing?"

Every time he talked to me, he used the term "we." I wasn't sure if he was doing it intentionally, but it was incredibly comforting. He never made me feel alone by saying that.

I just nodded, I didn't talk much to people during those days.

"Good," Varun said, softly.

I assumed that he said good because my eyes weren't as tear-stained as usual and I seemed to be a bit more composed.

"Do you want me to bring you something to eat?" he asked, practically knowing the answer to that.

I shook my head no.

"Well, I'll just bring you a sandwich and leave it here. You could eat it if you want, or not," he said.

I didn't say anything. Varun turned back, and before he exited the room, he saw my calendar posted on the wall. In big letters on that day's date, it said "Prom."

He swallowed hard, and then looked over to my closet, which was across from him. On the floor, in a crumpled up, destroyed and ripped-up mess, was the satin green prom dress I had bought months prior.

It was prom night, and I was home, trapped and alone. Varun glanced over at me one more time with glassy eyes, before he turned back and went downstairs.

I knew that it killed him, the fact that he couldn't do anything to alleviate the pain. At that time I couldn't do anything either. It was just pain and hurt. Hurt that was indescribable. I just wanted to be a normal teenager, experiencing things that normal teenagers did.

Back to present day, the fact that now I know that Ezra might've been having the time of his life, ignoring my calls and living it up with Olivia killed me inside.

"He's a fucking idiot," Varun said, annoyed. I couldn't say that I disagreed.

I exhaled loudly, "Whatever, I should be over it right? It's been a while," I said.

"No, I get it, I'd be hurt too," he said.

It felt kind of nice to have someone validating my feelings. It was some thing that rarely ever happened to me.

Varun's eyes glazed over, until he grabbed his phone. He scanned the floor and then his phone and then texted someone.

He rolled his eyes, and texted back furiously, "Man, what the hell," he said.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's my cousin, she's being so annoying," he said. It was unusual for him to call anyone annoying, especially his cousin. I didn't know who his cousin was, but what could she have done that was that annoying.

"What's wrong?" I asked, again.

Varun side and rubbed his temples, "She's a make up artist and she urgently needs someone to do a glam look," he said.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Why urgently?" I asked.

Varun scanned the floor, "Er, she's in make up artist school and I guess she waited to the last minute to do her final assignment."

Oh, that was a dilemma. Even though I would rather do anything else, I felt obligated to offer myself up.

"Um, I could help her, I guess," I suggested.

Varun's eyes lit up as he straightened up and excitement. "Really?" he asked.

"I mean, sure, I could, but it's just what would Ajit say?" I asked, making sure we covered all our bases.

Varun scanned the roof, before he said, "He couldn't get mad about this it's a family matter. Also, he'll probably be home super late tonight if at all. His girl's got him wrapped around his finger."

Ew, that was way too much information, but I guess it worked.

Before I knew it, Varun and I were rushing to his cousin's house, who didn't live too far away to finish her makeup artist project.

Varun was speeding towards her house; that's what I knew it was serious. That's something that I really loved about Varun; he always tried to solve others' problems.

When Varun parked outside of the make-up artist cousin's house, I was in shock. This relative had a massive house, with huge glass doors. I could tell that there was this upper balcony portion, that made it look like it was some kind of banquet hall or something. It wasn't, though. It was just her family's house.

"Wow..." I said, out loud.

Varun's cousin swung open the door in a matter of seconds.

She took a sigh of relief when she saw me, and leaned in for a hug, "Oh, thank god," she said, pulling me in.

She pulled back and faced Varun, and I. She looked slightly older than us, but still in her twenties. "I'm Arheer, thanks for coming," she said.

"No problem," I said. She led Varun and I in, and I sat down in her makeup chair. "You have a really beautiful house."

"Yeah, my parents do," she joked.

I chuckled.

Arheer faced Varun, who was just watching us. "What are you still doing here, Varun? Go do something interesting with your life so I get to know my new friend," she said.

I laughed at her insult. Varun playfully looked her in fact away, and left us there. I wondered where he went but I felt comfortable in Arheer's company.

She immediately began doing her thing. She began putting various oils, creams and makeup products on my face and I just let her.

"So, do you think you'll ace this final?" I asked.

She seemed very concentrated in what she was doing, "Huh?" she asked, and then seconds later, she immediately said, "Oh yeah, fingers crossed."

***

About an hour passed, and Arheer was practically done. She did my hair and make-up.

She smiled at me, admiring her finished work.

"Do you want to take some pictures now?" I asked.

Arheer slyly smiled, "Wait, we just need a finishing touch." Arheer backed out of the room and came back seconds later with a beautiful red, flowy, puffy prom dress.

My eyes lit up, "You want me to wear that?" I asked in awe.

"Well, yeah," Arheer said, "I didn't give you that bold red lip for nothing."

I couldn't rip my eyes away from that dress. It looked like it costed hundreds of dollars. Of course, Arheer had something like this lying around.

I slipped on the dress in front of her, and it fit like a glove. Luckily Arheer and I seemed to be the same size. She came up to me, with her phone in her hand, ready to take pictures.

"I'm so going to ace this," she said, not holding back her proud smile.

I agreed with her. She brought her phone up to my face and then clicked a picture. She took a second to observe the picture she took, and she looks slightly disappointed.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Hmm," she said, brining her phone camera down, "The lighting in here is completely awful, let's just go upstairs to the balcony and take them there."

That seemed to be a good idea. That balcony was beautiful and outdoor pictures were always better than indoor ones. I agreed, and she took my hand and led me up the stairs. We had to climb up three flights of stairs until we finally reached the outdoor balcony.

"Shit, I think I forgot my charger, you go ahead for a second, and I'll run and go get it," Arheer said.

I watched as she turned back, and I took a step towards the balcony. I opened the door, and there stood Varun in a suit and tie.

There were hundreds of candles lit up and rose petals on the floor. There were Christmas lights dangling and soft music playing in the background. The site was spectacular to see. Everything was so lit up and so beautiful. Between the contrast of the roses, the Christmas lights and candles, it was all so beautiful. The sun was also setting which added to the scene.

Varun did they're in the most handsome. I was elongated and he looked absolutely marvelous. How he cleaned up everything and himself so quickly was insanity.

My heart was beating so fast and glowing at the fact that this was all a set-up. He did this for me, and he was the sweetest person ever.

I walked up to him slowly. "What's all this?" I asked softly.

He came close to me, and twirled me around, watching my puffy dress spin, "Do you like it?" he asked.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes. No one had ever taken so much effort to do anything this sweet for me.

Varun immediately gently placed his hands on my cheeks, "Hey, no, don't want to ruin that Arheen's hour of makeup do you?" he joked.

I chuckled, breaking away from my previous almost-teary state.

"You did this all for me?" I asked in disbelief.

The music was slightly becoming louder and a slow song was playing. Varun softly reached for my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

We were swaying so close to each other. "No," Varun teased, his words coming out as soft as a whisper, "I did this all for me."

I couldn't help but smile. It was my face's initial response. Varun stayed watching me. I closed my eyes and rested my head on Varun's chest.

He brought one of his hands from my waist to my hair and was stroking it. I felt so comforted and all I wanted was him at that moment. His fresh laundry and peppermint scent flooded my senses. He smelled so freaking good and his hugs were heavenly.

"Varun," I mumbled against his chest.

"Hmm," he hummed, making his chest vibrate. Speaking of his chest, I could feel his heartbeat racing quicker than mine. Which is odd, because he seemed so calm.

I pulled back to face him. "Varun," I said, again. I brought my hands up to his face, and placed them there. They were immense butterflies in my stomach and my heart was pounding, but I was too afraid to make the move.

"Tara," Varun said, softly. He glanced down at my lips and then my eyes. He cupped my face, and I dropped my hands from his.

He leaned down, and brought me close, until he smashed out lips together. Fireworks were imploding in my stomach as his soft lips mirrored mine. He kissed me slowly, savoring it, and his lips were soft.

He gently was holding my face, and I reached for his hair. I tugged softly at his hair, which made him slightly groan into the kiss.

We were magnetic. It didn't feel right to stop. It felt like we had both been longing for this moment for ages. From the times, when we helplessly stared at each other's lips to the moments between us that lasted a second too long. The tension between us was undeniable. So, we didn't stop. We drowned in each other, because it felt right.

This was the most magical prom I could've ever asked for.