The weekend party at Connor and Ella's apartment came earlier than I expected it. As much as I wanted to sleep over at their place yesterday, I couldn't. Connor and I got back to throwing insults at each other a day after I got mad at him because of all that Aaron drama.

Aaron!

Well, apparently, when Ella told me to 'think about it' for once my brain complied to her words and I still haven't stopped thinking about what she said to me. She told me to be careful so that's what I was this whole time. I barely talked to him during office hours and I plan on ignoring him throughout this party which wouldn't be so difficult considering that he's going to stick by Lizzy's side for the rest of the night.

"If I didn't know you, I would say you were jealous of her," I hear Ella smile through her words and I turn around to give her a look.

"Are you drunk already?" I look into her eyes and she shakes her head.

"No, I was just commenting on all the glaring that's been going on ever since Aaron and Lizzy stepped into the party, hand in hand, may I add." She clicks her tongue and I laugh at her.

"I need to find your boyfriend and tell him that you're high on god knows what."

She shakes her head at me as she casually throws one of her arms across my shoulder and leans in closer, "You're perfect the way you are, Diana." She whispers before pecking my cheek and lets go of me.

Her words bring up a smile on my face and I beam at her like an idiot before finally forming words in my mouth, "I love you, Ella."

She laughs, "Of course you do, no one else will tolerate that lazy ass of yours."

Before I can respond to her, I feel an arm snaking around my waist and just I turn around, my lips are met with a deep kiss.

"Woah!" I gasp as I step apart and Derek grins at me.

"Miss me?"

"Nope." I playfully punch his shoulder and he laughs.

"Oh c'mon, who else have you been sleeping with otherwise? I'm sure every guy eventually wants 'strings attached' shit." He mocks me and I flip off my finger at him.

"But you don't, at least when it comes to me." I wink at him teasingly and then I hear Ella clearing her throat.

"I swear to god, there's no sexual tension between you two that can be of entertainment to me because all you do is either have sex, or discuss it. Spare my ears, guys!" She rambles before disappearing to find her boyfriend.

"She's drunk already, isn't she?" Derek laughs and I nod.

That's the thing with Ella, she's the first one to get drunk at her own parties. According to her, she's in her comfort zone so she doesn't need to worry about anything - if that makes sense.

Derek closes the distance between us again as he kisses me roughly and that's enough for me to know that he's upset about something. His hands move to my hips and he grinds his own against mine but I kiss him anyway, maintaining the sync of the kiss. His kisses move to my lower jaw as he backs me up against the wall, forgetting about all the attention we are driving to ourselves.

I quickly take ahold of his face in hands as I cup his cheeks, "Let's go find a bedroom, yeah?" I give him a small smile and he nods.

Ella's apartment is almost as big as mine so it doesn't takes us long to reach her guest room, which also unofficially is my bedroom. As soon as Derek locks the door behind him and takes a step forward, I step back as I raise a hand in front of myself.

"Alright, what's wrong?" I question and he frowns.

"Nothing, I just missed having sex with you." He tells me and I try not to laugh.

"We don't do that 'missing' shit with each other, Derek. Tell me, what's going on?" I sit on the bed and gesture him to join me.

He sighs as he finally moves to sit beside me and we both lie down, maintaining an appropriate distance between each other.

"My parents want me to move out." He blurts and I immediately sit up straight on bed.

"They what?" I nearly shout and he gives me a look.

"You heard me."

Yes, I fucking did. Derek's old enough to move out and he probably should've done it years back but I know why he cannot do that. His ass cannot afford an apartment and all the expenses that come along with living alone.

"But why?" I question, even though I do have a hint where this is going to head.

"With Aaron and I being in the same place, they think it will cause a lot of family problems and it already does. But, since Aaron lived alone in California for a long time, they think it's better if it's me who moves out." He explains and I sigh.

His response just confirmed my doubts, "Does this have anything to do with the fact that your mother caught us making out?" I hesitate while asking, but I question him nonetheless.

"Yes, it does. She thinks I'm too old to be dependent on them anymore and that I keep bringing girls home which obviously goes against the rule."

I don't blame his parents. This guy is twenty five years old, of fucking course he should move out and start focusing on his life rather than wasting it but like I'm the one to talk.

"Look, I do mean to sound rude and blunt so that you get my point. I think your parents are right. You aren't getting any younger Derek. I haven't known anyone who's been living with their parents at the age of twenty five. I would have appreciated it if you loved them and contributed to the family, but all you do is shit. And don't try to argue me on this because we both know I'm right."

Even though my words are harsh, I try to explain it to him in the most understanding way possible but the way his eyes turn into slits, I know that he didn't took my words well.

He sits up as well as he looks directly into my eyes, "You don't fucking understand Diana, I cannot afford a place for myself. Do you think I like living with those shitheads? I hate it! But I have nowhere else to go."

"Then rent an apartment, start working and live there. You ain't a child anymore who needs someone caring for you, alright? I know you do some shit to earn money, that I can bet is illegal but stop with it. Get your life together, start looking for a proper job and an apartment. I'm sure it will all work out." I snap at him and he sighs.

I stare at him as he runs a hand through his hair and then turns his fingers into a tight fist. I would love to be a distraction to him right now but we both are aware that this is a real problem and he needs to get it sorted.

"Oh my god!" I hear him gasp and I frown.

"What? You're going to freak out like a girl now?" I almost laugh at him before I look into his eyes and they are deep enough to make me overthink about what's going on in his head.

"I can move in with you! You live alone, we both can pay half for all the expenses and it can all be fucking fine." He grins at me and I gulp down the knot that has been formed in my throat.

"No." I choke out the words and the smile from his face immediately disappears.

"What?" He scowls at me.

"I'm not okay with you moving in with me." I say, my tone loud and clear.

"What, why? Is it because you think I'm making anything between us official? I am not, we both know those have never been my intentions. You will know when you'll hear moans from my bedroom every night." He winks at me playfully but I immediately get up from the bed.

"I'm not going to repeat it again Derek, you're not moving in with me. Find a place for yourself." I say as I start moving towards the door.

"Are you fucking kidding me? After everything we've been through you're denying to help me when I need you?"

His words make me stop immediately and I turn around to face him. I don't even care to subtle the bitter laugh that escapes my lips, "What have we been through, Derek? Sex filled nights, is that what we're talking about here? I'm sorry but that doesn't gives you an entrance to my private life. We're fuck-buddies. No strings attached, remember? Let's keep it that way because living together will be more than a string." I snap at him before leaving the room and slamming the door behind me.

I sigh as soon as I step out of the room and close my eyes to let the calm set inside of me. Derek's suggestion not only took me by shock, but it also shook my insides from the core.

"Hey, are you okay?" I hear a familiar voice and open my eyes to find Lizzy.

"Yeah!" I snap at her before making my way to the kitchen where I find myself a bottle of beer.

To be honest, I prefer bourbon over everything in situations like this but even beer would work right now, hell so would Vodka or anything else.

"Easy there, killer!" Connor bumps his side with mine as he snatches the bottle from my mouth.

"Not the time to mess with me, Connor." I warn him.

He immediately scowls at my words and sets the bottle aside on the counter before sliding up on the counter to sit.

"Sit with me?" He says in a soft tone and I comply, I don't have it in me right now to argue with him, or with anyone.

"You promise not to mess with me?"

"Yeah yeah, don't be a crybaby." He pinches my side and I glare at him but sit at the counter nonetheless.

"Where's Ella?" I question him and he points towards the living room where she's playing beer pong and I laugh at the sight.

"What's got you all worked up?" He finally asks and I look away from him.

"It's nothing."

Connor's like my second best friend, whatever I tell Ella eventually goes to him but we barely have moments where we talk about what's really going on.

"You can trust me Diana, you know that." He says in a gentle tone and I nod as he takes a swig from the beer bottle.

"Derek wants to move in with me."

As soon as I speak the words, Connor chokes on the beer and immediately starts coughing and I try not to laugh at him.

"Please tell me that's some absurd joke." He blurts as soon as he sobers up.

When I just stare back at him blankly, he knows I ain't kidding but I speak nonetheless, "His parents want him to move out, considering he's getting old and all, and he has nowhere else to go so that left an idea in his mind where he wants to move in with me." I explain and I see as Connor's expressions harden.

"Is he a child? He's a grown up man who should be settled by now, why does he even live with his parents in the first place?" He spits and I give him a small smile.

"Like I said, Con, he cannot afford a place. He's basically ruining his life."

He puts a comforting arm around me as he speaks lightly, "What are you going to do, Dee?"

"Nothing, moving in isn't an option. He can't know Connor, he just can't. I don't care about losing a fuckbuddy, but I would lose him as a friend if he ever finds out. Besides Ella and you, he's the only person I have close to a friend. You understand me, don't you?"

I know I sound vulnerable and I hate sounding this way but when Connor just wraps me into a comfy hug, I sigh deeply.

"Oh my god! Don't move." I hear Ella's panicky voice and immediately look at her standing in front of me.

"What's wrong?" Connor and I both ask at the same time.

"Guys, I said don't move, get back to hugging each other. I need to save this rare memory to relive it every time you insult each other," she explains as she pulls out her phone and I laugh at her and then look at Connor.

We both cringe at each other and then look at Ella as we simultaneously respond to her, "Naah!"

Her mouth drops open like a child who was just told that Santa isn't real. The thought makes me grin until she starts screaming, "Why the hell not?"

"The moment's gone, El. Let it go."

But the way her eyes almost well up with tears at my words makes me want to strangle Connor with my hug.

"Alright babe, click the picture, I'm hugging her." Connor assures her as he gives me a deadly glare and I hug him back with the most fake grin on my face.

"Awww, I love you both." She tears up as she stares at the photo and both Connor and I step down to hug her.

Ella's an extremely weird drunk, she can be happy one moment, extremely emotional the next. She would be turned on in an instant by Connor and then the next, she would be the ultimate bitch. Basically, being drunk gives Ella all sorts of personalities.

"Alright guys, I'm gonna go get drunk now." I announce to the love birds and Connor gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

I step inside the living room and catch a cup of Vodka from someone after making sure it's super clean and doesn't belongs to someone else.

"Hey, did something happen between Derek and you?"

I turn around to find Aaron standing few feet away from me, looking worried.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"He wouldn't stop drinking and swearing at everyone, I thought maybe you could help?"

"Well, he's not a child who'll throw a tantrum and get everyone's attention, just let it be. He needs to grow up." I snap before focusing my attention on teenagers who are getting wasted.

Who invited teenagers to this party? They aren't even allowed to drink.

"Would you at least tell me what happened?" He sounds concerned and I shake my head.

"Let it be." I shrug before making my way to Ella's bedroom.

I know where Connor keeps his bourbon stashed inside the closet and as much as I believe in respecting other people's privacy, I desperately need bourbon right now. After collecting the bottle, I get out of the apartment and make my way to the terrace. I'm craving peaceful moments to get drunk, but mostly to get ahold of my thoughts. I take a seat at the fire exit staircase as I look down at the city running wild below me and the stars shining bright above my head.

It takes me few seconds to rip off the top of the bottle and then my tongue meets the bitter taste as I cringe, closing my eyes but savouring the taste of it nonetheless. I would love some ice cubes with it, but I think making too much demands wouldn't get me anywhere.

"Diana?" I almost lose my balance from the sound of my name and tighten my grip around the bottle.

"I could've fallen down from here and died." I shout at the silhouette of the person who's disturbing my peace.

"I saw you sneaking out and thought you could use a friend."

When the person steps closer and I finally get to see the reflection of him, I groan out loudly.

"Get away from here, Aaron. If you think I'm a mean person, then I'm the bitchiest as a drunk." I warn him.

"Oh, I'm sure you can't get any worse than you already are, so you can quit worrying, I ain't leaving." He tries to pass me a small smile and I glare at him.

"I don't like you, Aaron. You don't fit my category of friends, please just go away."

With that, I take another swig from the bottle but before I know, he's snatching it away from me.

"Give it back to me, you ass! I earned it when I found it," I slur and he frowns at me.

"You're halfway down to this bottle and I think you've had enough, now let's talk about what's got your panties in a twist. By the way, that goes for both Derek and you." He admonishes me but the way he speaks immediately makes me laugh.

"Panties in a twist, really Aaron? Don't you have Lizzy to babysit, go take care of her."

He scowls at me as he sits by my side and I'm well aware of the fact that there's barely any distance between us but considering the cold breeze, it feels good to have someone by my side to provide me the warmth.

"Why don't you like her?" He asks, sounding genuinely curious.

"Why are we switching from topic to topic?" I shoot back and he purses his lips in a straight line.

"Are you going to answer that?"

I click my tongue as I wink at him, "Are you going to answer that?"

"Alright, you're a crazy drunk. Tell me, why don't you like Lizzy?"

I sigh as I let my head fall back and look at the stars, some of them are twinkling as bright as ever but then there are some that would go unnoticed if someone didn't look hard enough.

"You see that star, Aaron?" I point towards the most brightest one and I can see from the corner of my eye that he's looking at me but then he looks up and nods.

"Yeah?"

"And the one right there?" I point a bit far away and he squints his eye and takes a moment to respond back.

"Mmm?"

"This star right here, represents people like Lizzy and you, and that star, the one that took you so long to notice, that's the people who are fucked up like me." I give him a lazy smile and he stares back at me with deep emotions in his eyes.

"You're something else, Diana Rose." He whispers and I frown at his words before he starts speaking again, "Everyone is different and no one's perfect in this world Diana but you know what makes you the greatest among all? You love yourself, you know how to embrace your flaws and imperfections, I think that's what makes you different and stand among everyone else." He finishes with a small smile on his face as he tugs a lose strand of my hair behind my ear.

In my dizzy state, it takes me several seconds to let Aaron's words settle in and when they do, I stare at him with my tongue tied inside my mouth. I have no idea how to respond to him, I would have if I wasn't drunk but I do stupid things when I'm drunk.

My eyes flicker down to his lips and I have this sudden desire to kiss him, not because he said those things but because I have no other way to kill this awkward silence and c'mon, sex is the only thing I'm good at.

I immediately cringe at the thought of Aaron and sex in one sentence.

'And here I thought for once you could feel emotions,' my subconscious snaps and I try my best not to laugh but immediately fail when a smile appears on my lips. Aaron frowns as he retracts his hand back to himself and I try my best to not to look at him funny.

"Your brother wants to move in with me." I blurt out when I cannot think of anything else.

"Wow!" I hear him gasp after a second.

"Can you tell your parents to not help him even if he begs them to rent him an apartment or to get him a job. He's old enough, he needs to learn that this isn't how life works." I say, my tone immediately serious.

Aaron scowls at me before parting his lips to respond, "You guys aren't going to move in together?" He sounds surprised and I laugh.

"What even made you think I would want to live with him? No offence, considering he's your brother." I scoff.

"None taken."

"Anyway, I have my reasons why I don't want Derek to move in with me but even if I didn't have those, I wouldn't have let him. He needs to start acting like an adult." I say, rubbing my temples before snatching the bottle from Aaron's side and taking another swig.

"You drink way too much." He points out.

"And who are you, my dad?" I gaze at him.

"You never told me about your family." He immediately says and I go cold in my seat.

Breathe, Diana! He's just a random guy, you can calm down.

"Well, considering I've never told you anything about myself, I don't think I owe it to you." I give him a bitchy smile and he frowns.

"Are you bipolar?" He immediately snaps and I think before laughing this time.

The way I act around him, it would make anyone question that.

"Not actually, just there are few exceptions of people around whom I act like that. You happen to be one of them."

Before he can respond, my phone starts ringing and I pull it out of the inner pocket of my jacket. Uncle Marcel's name flashes on the screen and I immediately frown. I get up from the stairs and make my way to the far end of the terrace, away from Aaron.

"Hey, is everything okay?" I ask in a panicky voice, almost coming back to my sober state as I try my best not to slur.

"Um, yeah, there's nothing for you to worry about considering what you're thinking about but I need a favour from you." He says in the speaker and I immediately sigh.

"Thank god! Hell, tell me me, what is it?" I sigh.

"Charlotte's flight will be landing in an hour, I want you to pick her up from the airport." He says and my first instinct is to laugh.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No! The driver was sick so I had to send him back home and your aunt and I are busy, well, you know what I mean. Just go and pick her up, it will give you both some time to bond." He tries to convince me.

"Uncle, please don't do this to me." I literally beg and then I hear some movement behind me and I turn around to find Aaron looking at me with worried expressions.

"Diana, do it for me, it's a request, please." He hangs up after that and I throw my phone against the wall.

"Fuck!" I curse out loud enough for Aaron's eyes to go wide with my actions.

"Diana!" He calls out to me as he takes a careful step towards me but I glare at him.

"Just leave me the fuck alone, Aaron! I mean it, just go away." I scream at him and he backs off a bit before walking towards me.

He stops when he's not even a feet away and then carefully touches my shoulder and wraps a reassuring arm across my waist as I stare at him.

"Why wouldn't you just leave?" I whisper at him and he gives me a smile.

"Ask yourself Diana, do you really want to be left alone?"

"Yes, I fucking do want to be left alone. Please just go!" I beg, not sounding rude just begging him and he sighs.

"Will you be okay?" He asks, his tone laced with concern.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just go." I push him away a little and though he looks disappointed, he nods.

However, as stubborn as he can get at times, he doesn't leaves before picking up my phone from the ground and looking at the broken screen.

"I'll get it fixed and give it to you tomorrow, alright? Or am I not allowed to do that much either?"

I look at him with blank expressions, "Okay." I sigh, not wanting to say anything else before I turn my back on him.

For the next fifteen minutes, I just stare at the sky, not wanting to move but then I craved liquor so I drank more. When it finally feels like I have enough alcohol in my system to face my evil cousin, I move towards the terrace gate.

Hell, let's go pick fucking Charlotte!