Notes:

Additional Cast:

Jessica Parker Kennedy as Sam Harris

Dominique Provost as Nicky Cooper

Nick Zano as Alex Summers

Sophie's POV

The first semester is officially over, thank goodness! A few more days and I would have probably cracked under the pressure. It exhausted me. Robin tried to keep me calm these days, especially after the nightmare fiasco, and of course Joss who knows how stressful these days are for me, but still it was so exhausting. Anyway, I got through this and I just can't wait for Christmas to be here, not because I particularly like Christmas as a holiday, but because the break helps me recharge and regain strength.

Also my birthday is coming up next week. I don't know how to feel about that too. At first when I was younger, i used to enjoy birthdays, my family and relatives gathered around for the Christmas holiday so the house was always full, and we celebrated my birthday all together. But the last few years, it became an ordinary day, you know, nothing special, so I can't say I am looking forward to it, like, I could live without birthdays.

I check myself in the mirror and apply my makeup, just a lipstick, and foundation like usual. Ro is taking me out tonight since our exams are over and I would be leaving tomorrow for my home and I won't be able to see her for 2 whole weeks! We are going to the movies tonight, which is something friends do all the time, and it's quite dark in the room, so we could hold hands, without people seeing it.

Soon enough my phone lightens up from a text, telling me Ro is at my front door, waiting for me, so I grab my purse and phone and leave the apartment. I spot her immediately, leaning on her car right outside of the building. She is wearing her grey coat, black ankle heeled boots, ripped black jeans and a burgundy shirt. Her hair is in a bun and she is wearing her dark red lipstick. I like this look on her, she is so sexy!

She smiles when she sees me and stuffs her hands in her coat pockets waiting for me to get near her.

"Hey pretty girl." She smirks my way, but doesn't lean for a kiss on my cheek like we usually do when we are outside, instead she mentions to me to walk around the car to the passenger's seat with a nod of her head. She follows me and with a quick move she opens the door for me and then runs to the driver's seat.

Once behind the wheel, she takes my hand and kisses my palm, and then grabs my chin and brings her lips to mine.

"Hey, babe." I rasp when I break the kiss and wipe out a lipstick stain above her lip.

"Ready for our date night?" she asks enthusiastically and I nod happily too.

"Yes, thank you for this, I wanted to spend time with you before I leave tomorrow morning." I pout at the cruel thought again, like I have been doing the past few days.

"I know babygirl, I wanted to spend my night with you too." she intertwines our fingers and starts the car. We make it to the next block when Ro curses profoundly.

"I forgot my damn fucking wallet! Damn it!" she seems frustrated. "We are gonna have to stop by my house again. Sorry baby." she says and makes a U Turn.

"No, Ro, it's ok, I can pay for the both of us, you don't have to go grab your wallet. It's my treat." I say squeezing her hand.

"What? No, this is MY treat. I am not letting you pay. Don't worry it won't take long." I don't argue and just nod as I turn on the radio.

We reach her house in 10 minutes. She parks the car a block away from the house cause their driveway has cars parked outside, unbuckles and looks at me.

"Come on baby." she says, killing the engine and then grabs her phone, and types something real quick.

"I could stay here and wait for you." I shrug. There is no point for me to get inside.

"Um.....no....no...you have to come inside....um...it's dark and I don't want to leave my pretty girl alone and unprotected. Come on." she says firmly and I raise my eyebrow. Ok... This doesn't make any sense. This is a nice neighborhood, with low crime rate. Nothing bad is going to happen, besides she could lock me inside the car if she is worried about my safety... but I shrug again, looking at my watch. The movie is in 20 minutes.

We both get out of the car and walk towards her house, engaging in a 2 minute conversation, until we reach her house. The lights are out, so Alex must be either at work or at Kira's.

Ro takes out her keys and unlocks the door mentioning for me to go in first, and I do so, she turns on the light and we walk past the foyer towards the living room, when -

"SURPISEEEE!!!!!!" I stop dead in my track starrng at the huge 'THE PARTY IS HERE' sign on the wall and 7 people looking back at me with smiles at their faces.

"What is this?" I turn to Ro whose smile is reaching her ears, while the others are approaching me one by one.

"We are celebrating your birthday, baby. Happy early birthday!" she beams as Joss is the first to hug me.

Vanessa, Alice, Nathan, Sam, Nicky and Alex, all hugged me tightly and wished me happy birthday as I stood there overwhelmed by this all. They organized a party for me. I have friends that throw out a surprised party for me! I never had that before....

Ro was the last to hug me. I nuzzled my nose on her neck and hugged her tight in an embrace that lasted longer than the others.

"You came up with this, didn't you?" I feel her nod.

"The others helped a lot. I wanted you to have the best surprise party ever."

"Thank you Ro, thank you so much." I mumble while my head screams 'I love you' but we haven't exchanged I love yous yet so I swallow the words.

Then I turn to my friends. "Thank you guys, this so so cool! Thank you for honoring me like that." I smile genuinely at them feeling my heartbeat so damn fast, cause of the joy. I feel so happy right now, with them, here, for me.

"Whatever, Ford, I am here for the cake, so bring the damn Cake." We all turn and look at Sam, who is looking back at us shrugging. Nicky elbows her in the ribs. "Fineeeeeeeee, I am not here just for the cake, which my mamma made for you, by the way. I am very happy to be here. I really like you, Ford." Nicky facepalms, Ro facepalms, and everyone is silent, which creates an awkward vibe... until I burst out in laughter. It's no secret Sam is not so fond of me, but I find it amusing, really. She might be scary but she's also honest and I like it.. so I start laughing, and so does she, looking relieved that I wasn't offended by it.

"Ok, let's bring the cake!" Alex yells, and we all sit on the couches with me kneeling in front of the coffee table waiting for my birthday cake.

"There you go, Sophie." Alex puts the Vanilla cake in front of me. Written on the cake is a 'Happy birthday S.L.' and 18 small candles around it. Robin has her phone in front of my face, clearly recording this, and on the count of 3 they all start singing the song, Sam is only mumbling it, eyeing the cake dangerously of course. I feel my cheeks hurt, and for the first time it's because of the smile plastered on my face. Once they are all done, silence feels the room, while they wait for me to make a wish.

Now, I am not to believe in this kind of stuff, 'cause there's no way it will come true, but caught up in all this euphoric feeling, I dare make one.

I hope all my dreams and Benjie's dreams...oh and of course Robin's, come true. I look at her feeling grateful and loved beyond measure. I do wish them every happiness from the bottom of my heart.

Ro is the first to kiss me, followed by Joss and then one by one hug me and kiss my cheeks. Sam was the last to do so, but despite everything she did hug me tightly and punched my shoulder lightly afterwards.

"Present time!" Ro announces and she makes me sit on the couch.

"I'll go first!" Vanessa rushes over to me with enthusiasm and hands me a middle to large box enclosed with a fuchsia wrapping paper and a small white ribbon. I don't know if she has done it herself. There is a huge chance for that, considering the choice of colours. "Happy birthday, Sophie!" She beams and waits anxiously for me to open her present.

"Oh, hey, it's a bag! I really like it, Vanessa, thank you so much!" oh my God, this gift giving thing is awesome. So much different from receiving a paycheck. This is so exciting. Oh and the bag is so my style. Postman bag style, brown leather-ish. It's fake leather but who cares? This is an amazing and very thoughtful gift. I get up and beaming I hug Vanessa, really tight, showing her my gratitude. "I really like it, thank you."

I so love this right now. "Next?" I ask and sit down again, as the next in line comes bearing a gift.

"Happy birthday, girl! This is for you! I hope you like it otherwise I will have to kick his ass!" Alice says with a wide smile, pointing at Joss and she gives me a bag from a clothing store. I reach inside the bag and pull out a black blazer, with a white lapel. I am definitely wearing this on our Christmas family dinner. It's so elegant and it's my favourite colour, black matches everything!

"Thank you Alice, I really like it." I hug her next but not so warmly like Vanessa, cause we are not so close yet. "I am definitely wearing this soon." she steps away and the next one approaches.

"This is from me and I chose it myself so I hope it goes well." Nathan tells me with a smirk and gives me a small bag compared to my previous gifts. "Happy birthday, Sophie." I fish out a rather big book.

"Holy Moses, WWII?" I say looking at the book smiling like I was just offered the Pulitzer. "I love history, Nathan, you just made my semester, I was out of books to read."

"Not your strongest point!" Joss coughs, putting his hand in front of his mouth and I give him a glare. He doesn't miss an opportunity to mock me about my loss even on my birthday for god sake.

"You are lucky no one got me scissors so far." I also comment and fake smile politely. Anyway, back to Nathan. I was about to buy a book about the markets, but history stole the show. I hug Nathan too, a bit awkward still, but I hug him nevertheless. He is so tall, never noticed before. Well, he is in sports, anyway..

"Next, please!" I clap my hands excited about the next one.

"Happy birthday, sis! I hope you will hakuna your tatas now that you've grown a year." He beams at me giving me a small bag as well. I guess by the size of it, it is a book as well. Joss never buys me books, like ever, which is really weird.

The moment I reach inside my speculations were right. It is a book, oh it better be about an important figure of something. Only it isn't.

'Lesbians for dummies.' I spent some seconds, trying to figure out if this is actually a book-book, or a prank book, like does it have actual words written in it? And of course the next thing I do, is open the book to see for myself. It is an actual book..... Why?

"Are you kidding me?" I eye him, while the others stay quiet it. Sam is holding her stomach while Ro awkwardly nudges Sam's shoulder with hers.

"No! This is your gift! I think you need it desperately." Joss says in the most serious voice and winks at Sam, who can't stop laughing. I spot Alice trying to hold her laughters.

"Ok, like for real, where's my perfume? You always get me expensive gifts, and this is clearly a joke, right?" I ask again, cause frankly the book makes me a bit embarrassed in front of all of them. I know I am not the most educated people on the planet, but I am not that lame, Google has saved me, plus Sam is laughing, and it's only a matter of time before they all start laughing, right?

"Ok remove the blue screen now and relax! This is your gift." he reveals a small white bag behind his back with a pink ribbon and it's obviously from a beauty shop. I take it right away to open it. "I just wanted to tease you a bit! The temptation was too big and I couldn't resist!" he gives me a warm hug.

Ok, now I relax visibly. No one else laughed, although Sam is still flustered. I hug him back and open the small box to find of course a Channel no9 perfume. "Awwww, you always know what perfume to buy me." I hug him again and try it on immediately. I breath in the scent and it takes me back home since it's mother's favorite brand too. "Nailed it again, you dork." I put the bag aside along with the book.

"I am taking that book, Ford. I am curious as fuck." Sam's hand takes the book and I can see Robin eye roll and Nicky chuckle. "Oh, look it says about scissoring! Get out of here!" Sam exclaims and Robin snaps the book out of her hands. What's scissoring? How are scissors relevant?

"Ok, ok, Sammy, that's enough, let's give our gift." Nicky hands me over a book-like wrapped gift. I unwrap it while Sam out of the blue punches my shoulder.

"Now don't get too excited!" she says and I look at the gift. The 'How to get away with murder' in DVDs. "Great, huh? It's the bible Ford, you should be grateful." Nicky smiles politely while Sam is more excited than I am. I could watch this on Netflix, but saying so, would get me punched again, so I accept the gift and hug Nicky, not sure if I should hug Sam as well. She nudges my shoulder though so thankfully I don't get to sweat about it.

Alex is next. " I suck at giving gifts in general, ask this kid right here, so Ro told me what to buy. It's pretty hipsterish though, sorry in advance." I unwrap the gift and Ro gets near me.

"Ok, the moment I saw it I thought it would be an awesome gift for me, but I thought it would be a perfect gift for you too. It's practical." she tells me and I take a look at the present. Now, I have in my hands a brown leather wrap wallet. I untie it and see it has slots for money, cards and a phone sleeve! It's so hipster but perfectly practical. I love it!

"Thank you Mr. Summers." I smiles brightly at him.

"Alex, Sophie, just Alex." He points his finger at me, smiling as well and I nod.

"Ok, now my turn." Ro says clapping her hands. The bag she is holding is bigger than a clothe store bag. I look at Ro whose eyes are sparkly, so smiling and nervous I open the bag and take out my gift.

A photo album.

The cover is light blue and in black bold letters 'Sophie' is written on the front.

"So that you can storage all the adventures from now on. I took the liberty to put some photos of you. Hope you like it." and I could hear a few aww from Nicky and Vanessa in the background. Soon the others start talking with each other not paying attention to us so I focus on my present.

I open the album and the first pic I see is me smelling flowers at the park the first Sunday we hung out together.

"I thought you were photographing the flowers. We weren't together then." I ask, cause I don't remember her taking a picture.

"You were equally beautiful." She smiles brightly. "I also got you this." She whispers and takes something from her pocket. A silver star necklace.

"Ro you got me the album, the necklace is too much." I try to complain but she stops me by cupping my cheek.

"Nah, you didn't really expect me to buy just one tiny photo album, did you? I would be way too cheap!" Ro kisses my cheek and I blush.

"You are perfect." I kiss her cheek too and point at the necklace. "Help me put it on?" she smiles and I turn around so that she can put it on me, and after she is done, she pecks my nape sweetly.

"It looks perfect on you, baby." she comments and I beam. She is perfect....

"Thank you, babe, I really love it." she looks so proud of herself. A few seconds later Ro gets up excited.

"Alright people, photoshooting time! Strike your poses!" Ro announces as she grabs her polaroid camera. "Gather around the cake!" she instructs and they circle me as I take the cake in front of me and smile for the camera. Once done, Ro starts taking pictures of them while I sit there and watch them make their poses. Alice is doing the model pose, with her hand on her hip but she winks animatedly in a not model way. Joss is next who sits on the armchair, holding a glass looking like the Godfather, this guy literally poses for a magazine. Damn leos and their super confidence.

Nathan is next, arms crossed on his chest, a smirk on his face and a raised eyebrow. Vanessa poses with her head at the side, holding her hands intertwined in front of her chest, with a sweet smile on her face. Sam and Nicky pose kissing of course, while Alex after taking a goofy grimane, goes next to Alice and puts his arm on her shoulder ready for another pic, before he comes and takes a photo with me.

Best birthday ever.

Vanessa's POV

I am so happy we managed to pull out the perfect birthday surprise for Sophie! She was so clueless and her reaction when we jumped out of nowhere with her birthday cake was priceless! I leave the birthday cake on the counter and sigh as I think of how much Sophie has changed in the last months. College suits her. And Robin suits her as well. She has played a huge a part on helping Sophie get out of her cell. I believe Sophie has a unique effect on Robin too. Robin is a sociable and positive person in general but I've noticed she is smiling all the time without a specific reason. In my opinion, they are both the best versions of themselves now that they are together.

"Thank God I came, are you daydreaming in the kitchen?" Nathan smirks at me from the kitchen's door frame. "There are hungry people out there waiting for the cake." I haven't talked to him since our last class together two weeks ago. Well, I saw him at our International History I exam. We didn't sit close to each other so our whole interaction was limited into a wave before the exam began.

"Yes, I am on it." I tell him and I look at the cupboards confused. Where did Robin say she has the plates?

"Yeah, in a century maybe." Nathan opens the upper cupboard on the left and gets out the plates. I go next to him and stand on my toes to help him. "You get the spoons, okay?" He smiles and gives a little pat on my nose with his finger.

"Fine." I giggle and go by the sink. There are three drawers here, um... Could it be...?

"It's in the drawer in the middle." Nathan reads my mind.

"Oh, thank you. You've been at Robin's kitchen a lot?"

"A couple times." He leaves the plates next to the cake and leans his back on the counter. "You look stunning tonight." What?! Did he just make me a compliment? I wasn't prepared for this. I turn around and see him looking at me playfully from head to toe.

"Um, it's nothing special really. I got this dress today, Alice insisted it was totally made for me." I look down at the white dress I am wearing. It has long sleeves and some metallic details on the shoulders. It goes till a little higher from my knees and it is kind of tight. That made me think twice before I eventually bought it but Alice said to bring the booty out in the game and somehow convinced me.

"I would agree with Alice." Nathan remarks while licking his lips. Wow, he doesn't even bother to stare in some discreet way. He is standing across me and I can feel his eyes burning me. Okay, I need to make it to the counter without tripping. These boots Alice gave me are not that high but under Nathan's gaze I can easily lose my balance.

"Alice is like the fashion police. She also made my hair and makeup." I say casually approaching the counter and leave the spoons next to the plates as well. My hair is in a loose bun that rests on my right shoulder. My lips are red so the rest of the makeup is pretty simple with a light line of eyeliner and some mascara.

"She did a good job, She had a promising raw material though." Play it cool, Vanessa. Play it cool. I take the spoons and put them on the plates to occupy myself. "Your lips are fucking tempting." What?!

"Alice said red was a must." I gulp.

"Alice this and Alice that. I am talking about you." Nathan leans closer with arms crossed and pupils dilated.

"Thank you." I smile at him. He smiles back at me. I can feel my knees trembling. Just the usual way for my body to respond to Nathan. "Um... I forgot the knife! And the spatula!" I go back to the drawer, I definitely need some space from him. "Do you know where are the napkins too?"

"Yeah but they can wait." He breathes down my back and rests his hands on the sink next to each of my sides. I don't know what I am supposed to do. He has practically traped me and if I turn to face him, our faces will be so dangerously close.

"I thought you said there is a hungry crowd waiting for the cake, we wouldn't want to make them angry as well." Why am I here? Ah, yeah, knife and spatula. "Plus, I don't want to be late, we shouldn't stall."

"Late for what?" Nathan rests his head on my left shoulder and I can feel him smirking.

"Ashton. He is waiting for me at his place. I told him we had arranged this surprise for Sophie but I don't want to stand him up." Nathan immediately takes a step back. Good, he put me out of this catch-22.

"You... You are going to his place?" He runs his hand through his hair. I nod in confirmation and go back back to the counter. "Like this late?" He follows me.

"It's not that late." I shrug.

"Are you kidding me? It's fucking 10!" He points at the clock on the wall.

"I am no Cinderella, don't you worry." I say laughing.

"No, you're not but you got all dressed up with the help of Alice playing the part of the damn godmother!" His voice is louder. He is acting kind of strange, isn't he?

"And what part are you playing?" I narrow my eyebrows, puzzled but smiling. Nathan eyerolls and takes the cake and the plates in his hands.

"Take the rest." he orders and gets out of the kitchen. We were supposed to cut the cake in slices and then get them out but he ignored it. I bring the essentials at the dining room where everybody is gathered.

Alice's POV

The surprise that Ro arranged for Sophie was really sweet and thankfully it all went pretty well. That was really weird since in those kind of events someone always messes up some detail and the whole plan backfires. Sophie seems to enjoy herself and Robin couldn't look happier than she is now. I think she is delighted by just seeing Sophie smiling.

All our friends had been invited as well to this secret party or better gathering, because let's be honest we are 9 people here. Joseph came some minutes later after me and Vanessa, but we didn't have the time to exchange a word, at least on our own. We haven't said anything about the kiss we exchanged last night. Through the whole party he was throwing glances at me and I tried really hard to ignore him. It was a big mistake to put on the dress he chose for me. A huge one!

Not to mention that sometime while we were waiting for Sophie and Robin to show up Nathan came at me saying 'Alice respect' and then giving me a high five, which I accepted in a mechanical way. At first he was 'It was awesome' , 'I still can't believe you did it' and 'Seriously I thought you two were about to have sex in front of us.' Then he kept on bugging me until Sophie started to open her presents by throwing hints about the kiss. He was like 'What's happening with you two' and 'Interesting get back at Ashley' raising an eyebrow. I was trying to avoid the conversation at any cost and saying that it meant nothing and that I wanted to irritate that bitch.

After the cake, which was so delicious and I even asked for a second slice, Robin started taking pictures of all the gang. We all struck hilarious poses especially Joseph, who received many eyerolls and huffs from Sophie. Sometime, as Robin was taking a photo of Sam and Nicky, Joseph came next to me, grabbing me by the waist and shouted at her.

"Ro, take a picture of us!"

I stay there astonished, as he always manages to make me. His expression is playful and I have no idea what crosses his mind. Robin turns towards us with a smile, but Sophie chimes in.

"For god shakes, Joss. You must have been in the majority of pictures. I am the star of the evening!"

"That's why your photo album will be marvellous!" he winks at her. "Plus, I don't have a picture with Alice, my recent close friend." he adds playfully.

What's that supposed to mean?

"Ok guys, say Rumpelstiltskin!" Ro says holding her Polaroid camera.

"Come on Alice! Follow the pro!" Joseph brags with a smirk and I eyeroll. Then he grabs my waist tighter and I lean closer to him. His cologne is intoxicating again, but I try to stay focus on the camera. Then we smile and Robin takes the picture.

"I love it!" Robin exclaims happily. "Take a look, guys!" She says and she hands over the photo to Joseph.

Truly it's a very nice picture. Ro is very talented at this. Joseph's hazel eyes distinguish beautifully. His smile is magnetic even in the photograph and the black trousers and his olive shirt look so good on him. Then I look at myself and I like the sight. The dress fits so nice on me, combined with my classic black pump. My hair falls on curls and my makeup is simple, with black eyeliner pointing my eyes and a dark red lipstick pointing out my lips. I wonder how I pulled such a great makeup style. Seeing me together with Joseph like that makes my stomach feel an unexampled feeling. It's not the nagging one, but something completely different. It's cozy and warm.

"Ro, it's great! Thanks!" Joseph beams, giving back the photo.

"Thanks, I try!" Robin winks. "You can keep it if you want!"

"Alice, I think you should have it!" Joseph gives me the picture and I take another look at it. I really like it.

"Thanks Ro! It's pretty!" I beam to her and Robin giggles, before she turns and keeps on taking some more pictures of Sam and Nicky.

Then I turn to Joseph with an annoyed look.

"What was that?"

"Ro just took a picture of us?" Joseph answers again with a sarcastic question and I eyeroll. "Seriously Alice, you have a severe comprehension problem!"

"Not that, you moron! The whole 'Ro take a photo of us' charade." I exclaim pointing at Robin, who is talking with Sophie now.

"We're friends! Friends take pictures together, right?" He says casually. What is he trying to play here?

"I recall you called me a recent close friend, didn't you?" I ask with wide eyes, trying to maintain my voice indifferent, but I think I failed.

"I think after last night's events we grew more closer to each other than usual friends do, so it justifies the term. Plus, it happened yesterday so it's recent." He says in his usual casual style, like he explains one plus one equals two.

"We didn't get closer to each other!" I say firmly and try to keep my voice low.

"I think you kissing me is a bit closer than just talking." he says meaningfully with a steady voice.

"It was nothing! It meant nothing! It was just to piss off your bimbo!" I exclaim, still trying to keep it down low.

"I feel so used right now!" Joseph says, using his innocent face and trying to look like a hurt puppy. I don't know if I should eyeroll or exhale from the gibberish that I hear.

"Are you kidding me?"

"No! You used tongue!" He says in a serious face.

"Me? You did!" I counter back and I raise a bit my voice. Then I see Nathan taking glimpses from us, while he's talking with Sam. Of course he does. He was watching live at the first raw. "We can't have this conversation here!" I tell him firmly, trying to gather myself together.

"I think you're right! Come with me!" he says and grabs me by the wrist, taking me out of the living room. His action caught me off guard again (Screw your martial training Alice), but I let him lead me to see what he has on his mind. I observed that everyone was very focused on their conversations, so they didn't notice us getting out. He leads me to the upper floor. Why not the kitchen? Oh right! Everyone is getting in and out all the time.

Once we're up, Joseph opens a door and behind it there is a mini living room. There is a huge TV with a PS and one couch. It looks like a man cave. I think Ro's uncle, Alex use it as his sanctuary. The whole room is filled with guitars. Electric and classical ones. They must cost a fortune, and I recall Robin told me that her father was a musician, so those used to be his guitars. I get the reason they keep them. The sentimental one is more important than the economic. My mother's favorite stuff decorates my house in DC as well.

"How did you know about this place?" I ask him curious, when I get in.

"I discovered it at Ro's party, trying to find the restroom." he answers, closing the door. Then he turns around and he stays still looking at me from head to toe. He's gawking like he's watching me for the first time tonight. His hazel eyes are scanning me, but not in the disgusting way a man looks a woman he wants to nail, but in a way of admiration and amazement.

"You look beautiful." he remarks looking at me straight in the eyes, without blinking. It was just a small sentence, that slipped his mouth so easily, but this small phrase had such a huge impact on me. When I am around him I try to maintain my feelings under control, but he storms in and he breaks every control that I've put every effort to sustain.

"Thank you!" It's all I manage to say. I can't come up with any quip, but the truth is I don't want to.

"So you've put on the dress after all..." His voice is soft and husky.

"I can't resist to a new piece of clothing. Not to mention Vanessa was badgering me in wearing it." I state in a steady and indifferent voice. I was staring at the dress, which was spread on the bed, the whole afternoon, thinking if I should wear it or not. I was dying to put it on, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. Then Vanessa saw it and she couldn't stop effusing over it, so I decided to go on with it and screw the rest.

"I like it when you come up with funny excuses!" he smirks.

"Look who's talking! If I remember correctly you strongly insisted that I wasn't your type, but suddenly you admitted that you were faking it!" I shoot at him, remembering our abruptly interrupted conversation at Nathan's victory party. Let's see what he's going to say about it.

"I am straight forward and I am not going to hide anymore that I find you attractive!" he says and bites his lip. Oh my God! What did he say? My heart starts pounding faster. It takes only one word from him to make me lose my ground. "So I come up clear. What about you? I can't believe that the kiss was just to piss Ashley off..." His eyes are penetrating me.

"Believe it or not that was the case. Your chick was getting on my nerves, so I had to act. There were two options to make her shut it. Either I would have hit her or I would have kissed you. The second seemed that it would irritate her more, not to mention that I can't beat people up just like that, so I went for the second." I tell him without blinking, trying to maintain my voice steady.

"As I've said your excuses are funny. Just admit that you wanted to do it." he remarks and I can't believe in my ears. He's provoking me to answer back. Not gonna happen.

"I didn't see you resist too much to it." I raise an eyebrow.

"You didn't leave me much of a choice." he shoots playfully and I eyeroll.

"Like you didn't enjoy it." I shoot back.

"I didn't say that!" He smirks. "But don't tell me you didn't either."

"I explained to you that..." I start saying, but he interrupts me.

"Cut the crap." He gives me a meaningful look. "You wanted it and you enjoyed it. Admit it!" he provokes me.

"No I didn't! It was just a kiss and that's it." I lie firmly. Only God knows how much I wanted this kiss, but I will never ever admit that to him. He should never find out.

"I am not so sure!" he smirks.

"Are you out of your mind?" I shout at him and then I ponder a bit."Let's turn the tables here. You said you enjoyed it and you couldn't keep your hands short." I point a finger at him.

"I am not going to lie. I enjoyed it and that's it. As it matters to me it was just a kiss and nothing more. I am not so certain for you though." he smiles mischievously. He provokes me so much. Of course it was just a kiss to him and nothing more. I didn't expect something different. I was aware of that, but why is it nagging me?

"I know you are used in having girls drooling over you, but not me. I did it just to piss that bitch off and I succeeded. It's done now." I say casually, trying to show that I don't give a fucking damn.

"Sorry I am not buying it!" he raises his hand in the air turning his back to me.

"What do you want? To kiss you again to prove you wrong?" I joke, chuckling as this idea seems so absurd. That makes him turn around to face me.

"That's not a bad idea!"

"Are you kidding me? I was joking! I am not going to do that!" I protest.

"Then I am right! I have an impact on you!" he smiles cunningly. Damn this guy. He always provokes me so badly. How does he manage that? I have to shut his mouth once and for all.

"Fine! I will prove to you that it means nothing to me!" I exclaim and I go closer to him.

When our distance becomes non existent, I raise my head a bit to look at him and then at his lips. Then he leans his head towards me and our lips meet. I try to maintain it soft and calm, but he provokes me by tickling me with his tongue. He wants it dirty like that and I am not going to disappoint him. I part my lips more and his tongue finds mine. His hands touch my neck and mine find his hair. The battle of dominance starts once again and Joseph bites my lip as the kiss becomes more aggressive. Then I lick his lips and I back off with a victorious simper.

I try to maintain a poker face and show that nothing happened. I hope Joseph buys that.

"Did I persuade you? Just a kiss!" My face is expressionless, while all my feelings are going crazy inside me.

Joseph examines my face carefully and I have to say he looks a bit surprised. I hope that means that he has bought it.

"It's good we clarified that! Back to friends?" he stretches his hand. I look at it attentively.

"Back to friends!" I stretch my hand and we hand shake and I think it's more strong that it has to be.

As we are about to leave, I stop.

"Um you have lipstick all over your..." I say pointing at his mouth, which has red spots. Oh my God! I devoured him! All he does is chuckle.

"I'll go to the bathroom to remove it."

Then we get out of the room and I walk down the stairs and after a while Joseph follows. Thankfully nobody noticed we were gone, since they were laughing and talking to each other. Actually I didn't know for how long we were gone, but since nobody asked we're good. After a bit, I take Vanessa to Ashton's place. We talk about different stuff in the car, trying to distract my mind. I tried to fish some things about Ashton too, but Vanessa being Vanessa was feeding me her usual answers.

Then I came back and the rest of the night rolled normally, until we left. Me and Joseph didn't stay alone after our interaction upstairs. We were always among other people, but we talked like we usually do. I guess that those two kisses are the only thing I could take from him and it's better to keep it friendly. Joseph is not the guy, from whom you demand something more. I didn't schedule those kisses, but I don't regret them. No matter what I will never show to him what they really meant to me.

A/N: What do you think of surprise parties? Has anybody ever thrown a surprise party for you?