Kystan's POV

I have been running errands all day. With the party happening tomorrow, I need to have as much beer and snacks as possible to feed the guests. I carry crates of beer to the kitchen from where I'll align them in the freezer for cooling. When I come out to get another crate, a group of girls approaches me. The prettiest one among them winks at me. Despite standing besides me, she sidles even closer, pressing her body onto mine, and plants a folded piece of paper into my hands. Just like they came, they hurry away like nothing happened. I carry the crate into the kitchen before opening the piece of paper. I can't help but roll my eyes, when I see that she has given me her number and her name. It's astounding how many girls' numbers I have collected over the years. If Liza was here she'd be rolling on the ground with laughter.

Probably not. For the three days she has been in the hospital, her usually overwhelming presence shrunk making her look so small and vulnerable in her pale blue hospital gown. Her eyes though, were still intense and not so vulnerable. I could tell she was trying to tell me she was okay but I couldn't believe her. Not with the cast and how pale her skin looked. I wish I had been there, maybe I would have-. I am cut off from my train of thought when I accidentally place the crate on my big toe. "Bloody-" I place it on the side and sit down to nurse my throbbing toe. Asher and Luca walk in as I am sitting on the floor. They both help themselves to a beer. "That's not for you." I swat at their hands but they grab a bottle before I can take it away.

I get up to get the last crate, follow me like shadows. Luca says, "Liza sends her love."

My head whips to him so fast, I must have snapped a nerve. I raise a disbelieving eye at him. From the tone of his voice I know she can't have said that. And the way his eyebrows are waggling, whatever is following surely isn't good. "She was so distressed when she didn't see you, thought we had hidden you somewhere before we entered." I roll my eyes as I pass him.

"I don't need to know that." I tell him through clenched teeth.

He only laughs and slaps me on the back. Does he not see that I am carrying fragile things? "Whatever you say." he walks ahead of me and disappears into the living room.

Asher steps up to me and tries to rectify Luca's damage. "Don't listen to him, she just asked where you are and looked a little disappointed when we said you weren't coming." I shrug like I do not care but I am so glad he told me, I wouldn't have had much sleep tonight. "By the way, she was discharged." His gaze lingers on my face. As the mother of the group, Asher is prone to know me alot, sometimes too much. I can tell he is reading my worry like an open book. I look away.

I take a warm shower and lie in bed the rest of the afternoon. At some point, I fall asleep. I wake up to the sound of the TV blaring in the living room. From the sound of it, Luca must be watching a match. My hand feels around the night table for my phone, when I find it, I dial the newest number in my phone.

She answers on the first ring. "Who are you?" A male voice says.

I panic. Is she on a date with someone? I am about to hang up when I hear a struggle on the other end and seconds later Liza's voice comes through, "Hello." She sounds so happy.

"Um, hi." The burst of confidence I felt a while ago evaporates. I am not sure if this was the right thing to do." It's Kystan." Silence descends between us.

"So, did you have something to tell me?" She asks with a tinge of amusement.

"I wanted to know how you're doing." That was definitely lame.

"Oh." I want to face palm. If random was a person it'd be me right now. "I am doing great. I got discharged yesterday." Her voice is infused with so much happiness, a smile creeps onto my face as a result. "The party is still there tomorrow, right?"

I want to hug her for changing the subject. "Of course."

"I am definitely coming." She announces. I hear a man's voice protest in the background. Is that her boyfriend. From the sound of it, she starts walking. "Let me tell you a secret." Her voice lowers, "The doctor forbade me to go but I am still coming." She giggles like a little child. This side of Liza is new to me, and I like it already.

I laugh at how childish she sounds, "Well you can't come if the doctor forbids it." I say half-heartedly.

"Do you not want to see me?" Even though her question is playful, it pokes a hole into things I have been denying for some time now.

"Maybe." Evasive much.

"What if I want to see you?" The husky tone she uses makes my heart race.

"Umm-" She interrupts me.

"I am playing with you." She says, laughing heartily. "Well you are seeing me, want it or not."

"I'll pick you up." I blurt out before I can think twice. Why am I so nervous around her?

"Why? I can drive myself, even though I am in a cast." She protests

"Your leg is not healed enough to drive a car." Her end of the phone is silent for a while. When she comes back I hear voices in the background. I am reminded of the date she is with. "Do you need to go?" I ask with reluctance.

"Yeah. My dad wants my phone back. Can you believe my dad still plays games?" She asks with disbelief. "He was playing monument valley when you called. Sorry if he scared you, I know he does that sometimes." She is not on a date!

"I don't scare easily." I say with rejuvenated confidence..

She snorts, "See you tomorrow."

"I'll be there at eight." I hang up and lie down on my bed with the phone still clutched in my hand. Tomorrow can't reach as fast as I want it to.

A message pops up on my phone.

"Will there be any beer?" It's from Liza.

"Yeah. But none for you." I text back.

"You're such a party killer." She writes back with many pouty emojis.

"I take pride in it too." I reply with many smirking emojis.

"Ok, I give up. Good night." She writes back.

"You too."

"Wake up." Luca's annoying voice says in my ear.

"What?" I roll over to sleep some more. I close my eyes and try to recall what I was dreaming about.

"It's already 7:00 pm"

I scramble out of bed like I've been electrocuted. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I ask him as I race to the bathroom. I am done in less than 10 minutes and I go to sort through my clothes. I choose grey faded ripped jeans, with a black long sleeved t-shirt and a white short sleeved shirt layered over it. I grab air force ones as I exit the room in a hurry.

There are people milling about already. Most of them with beers in their hands. I head for the door. I meet the DJ in the doorway. "Thanks for doing this man. I owe you." we fist pump.

"No worries dude. Your parties are lit." I let him pass as I head to my Ford F-150.

I am driving out to Lupus street according to the address she sent me, which isn't that far to be honest.

A red light stops me on my path. As I wait for the light to change, I realize that I may meet Liza's parents today, and I am definitely dressed like a modern day Mick Jones, which isn't the type of guy you'd want hanging around your daughter. Hopefully, I can charm them with my words.

I look for house number 1256 along a row of homely residences. At long last, I find it and exit my car. I knock on the door and wait. I am ready to face her father. Liza opens.

One look at Liz, I forget everything else. Her face is radiating, her lips look even plumper with pink lip gloss on them. Her perfume smells so good, I want to stay in her vicinity.

"Hi." she in an airy voice. Her cheeks gain a rosy hue.

"Hey." I can't take my eyes off her. Even with the cast, she looks so beautiful. The pink body hugging dress she put on accentuates her body. "Are you ready to go?" The fact that she is already dressed tells me that she is.

"Almost." She says as she enters the house leaving the door open."Come inside." I walk into an open floor living room and dining with multiple family photos hanging on the walls. The house looks so well taken care of and loved, no wonder Liza grew up from here.

Liza continues into an adjacent hallway but I stay in the living room. I approach one of the photos on the wall. It displays an older woman standing with Liza at the beach somewhere grinning at the camera. The resemblance tells me it's her mother. She comes back holding grey rabbit-eared platform sandals "May you help me put them on? I can't bend down with the cast and all." She says with pleading eyes. I squat and lead her feet onto the shoes. "Thanks. We can go now." She says when I am done.

"You look amazing." I whisper in her ear as we are going to the door. 

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