Through a dusty classroom window Izzy watched Dom lean nonchalantly against a jacaranda tree. Her stomach twisted. Though she'd never admit it aloud, he was still in her thoughts every day.

Dom glanced up and caught her eye, as if she'd willed it. It'd been ages since she'd spoken to him, but she gave a small wave. They'd have to try to be friends at some point, after all. Dom smiled back. To her surprise, he seemed to be gesturing at her.

It couldn't be. Is he waiting for me?

Izzy wondered what Dom could possibly want with her. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. Lately, she'd started to feel okay about things again, like she'd have a future, even if it didn't involve him. When the lesson ended, Izzy hung back. She didn't want anyone noticing Dom was there to see her. She paused at the doorway and waited for him to come to her.

Dom stepped towards her. 'Hey, you!' he said, sounding cheery.

'Hey yourself. What's up with you?' Izzy tried to keep any anxiety out of her voice. 'I never see you these days.'

Dom shrugged. 'Exams, I guess. It's intense.'

'How are you?' she asked. 'How's the study going?'

'Alright, I guess,' he replied. 'Most days, it sucks. But what the hell, you know how it goes.'

Izzy smiled in sympathy. She didn't love exams herself, and she knew the HSC couldn't be easy on him. There was a lot of pressure on pupils at Watford in their final year, and he had the added weight of his parent's high expectations.

'It's good to see you,' she said evenly. Since that night at Abscond, there was always a slight reserve between them.

'You too,' he responded. 'It's been too long.'

Izzy thought she detected a note of nerves in his voice. She was intrigued. He'd never been nervous around her before. They fell into step with one another, following the throng of kids headed for the dining hall.

On the pathway ahead of them, Tal quit chatting for a moment and glanced back looking for Izzy. When she spotted her with Dom, she furrowed her brow and lifted her hands, questioning.

Izzy shook her head in response. Tal should know not to read too much into anything by now. She and Dom were always something and yet never quite anything. Tal shrugged and moved ahead.

Izzy turned to Dom and asked pointedly. 'So, what are you doing here?'

'Can I walk you to the cafeteria?' Dom asked. 'I need to ask you something...'

'Sure,' she responded. 'We're walking...'

'The thing is....' Dom paused and slowed his pace.

'Don't be cagey, Dom; what's on your mind?'

Izzy said firmly though careful not to sound unkind. He looked so nervous.

'So, the thing is, today Cole asked me if I would mind if he asked you to the formal.'

'Ahh...' Izzy managed.

'He kind of knows about how things went down with us.' Dom explained.

There's an us!

Izzy hadn't been expecting this conversation. She and Cole had hinted at going to the formal with each other—as friends. Besides, she'd assumed Dom would take Em to the formal. They were still friends and given they'd dated most of the senior year; people expected to see them together.

'Why are you telling me this, Dom?' she asked.

'Well because ...Iz, I do mind,' Dom said hastily. 'I want to go with you, and I've wanted to ask you for the longest time, but I wasn't sure you'd say yes.'

Izzy blushed to her roots.

'I've been thinking how to ask you,' Dom said, appearing not to notice her surprise. 'I got worried Cole would ask you first.'

Izzy smiled. She could tell he was in some degree of discomfort. The thought of Dom and Cole talking about this, amused her.

'What did you say to him,' she asked with a grin.

'I told him, I minded!'

'And...?' Izzy promoted.

'And... well, he said, I needed to talk to you because I was being a dick. So that's what I'm doing.'

'Anything else?' Izzy asked. She was certain Cole would have had more to say to Dom.

'Okay, so he also implied I couldn't expect you to wait around for me while I sorted my shit out...'

Izzy suppressed a chuckle.

'Hey, why are you laughing?' Dom shot back at her in mock hurt.

'It's kind of funny, don't you think? I mean, you two talking about who you're going to take to the formal? Cole chastising you.'

'Hilarious!' Dom said.

'It is!'

'So funny you haven't given me an answer, girl.' Dom nudged Izzy. 'I asked you a question?'

She smiled. 'Actually, I don't think technically, you asked me anything at all'

'Ahh, you're driving me crazy!' Dom stopped walking and turned towards Izzy. He looked directly into her eyes 'Isabella Storm, will you please go with me to our year 12 formal?'

Izzy paused. She thought carefully about what Dom was asking. Of course, it would be lovely to go with him, but there were other considerations. She knew it would hurt Em if she agreed.

As they navigated the steps down to the eating hall, Izzy said: 'There's something I need to know before I answer you.'

'Sure, what is it, Iz?' Dom responded with a sideways glance at her.

'Why has it taken you so long to talk to me? I'd almost given up on you.'

Dom looked sheepish but didn't answer straightaway.

'I mean, I heard via the grapevine that you had feelings for me,' Izzy reproached softly. 'But you've barely spoken to me in months. I didn't know where I stood with you.'

'Iz, I'm sorry.' Dom said. 'It's been hard, y'know?' He certainly looked remorseful.

Izzy wrinkled her nose urging him to explain further. She wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily.

'The truth is, I fucked up everything so badly; I just didn't know how to handle it. With you or with Em.' Dom said hastily.

'It's a messy situation,' Izzy agreed. 'But you could have talked to me?'

'I guess,' Dom said. 'I think I just chickened out to be honest. After what happened with Pascal, I didn't want to feel like that about a girl.'

'But you started dating Em almost straight after Pascal,' Izzy was confused.

'I met Em when I was feeling raw about everything that happened with Pascal, and she was just so much fun.' Dom tried to explain. 'I loved hanging out with her, well, with all of you guys. It was like a load off, y'know?'

'It was fun,' Izzy conceded.

'But it wasn't serious. At least not for me. As you know, Em and I had a lot of sex...,' Dom looked at Izzy apologetically, '... and it was a welcome distraction.'

'Yeah, she's not one to shut up about that stuff,' said Izzy. 'But then what happened?'

'Em was easy going at first. She knew I messed around and didn't seem to care. That is, until you and I hooked up, of course, then she had an issue!'

'I was there,' Izzy responded dryly.

Dom smiled. He seemed to have relaxed and was speaking more freely. 'Everyone seemed to think that what I had with Em was much more than it was. Including her aparently.'

'You can see how she might think there was more to it than just a casual fling.' Izzy said. 'You spent a lot of time together. You even met her parents.'

'Yeah, we did, and that's just the thing,' Dom said. 'I didn't think I gave her the impression that I was in love with her, or I didn't intend to, put it that way, but in hindsight, I can see that's what she hoped for....'

'Hmm mmm...' Izzy mumbled noncommittedly.

Dom slowed down and looked at Izzy. 'Then Em went to Japan, and we did what we did.' He smiled.

Izzy laughed. 'Again,' she said, 'I was there!'

Dom stopped walking and took Izzy by the hand. 'Then, of course, I said, what I said, and I couldn't take it back and it all went to shit!'

'Agreed.' Izzy scrunched her face. Her hand felt warm in his and she was starting to feel conscious that people were looking at them.

'You weren't talking to me,' Dom said, ignoring the growing crowd of nosy students surrounding them, 'and I guess Em was just there through it all.'

'Hang on!' Izzy said, feeling suddenly annoyed. 'I wasn't allowed to speak with you!'

'I know!' Dom was quick to reassure her. "I know how Em is –she can be tricky. I spent months trying to fix things with her when I shouldn't have. I ended up hurting her even more in the end.'

'Yeah, you did,' Izzy said irritably. 'It wasn't your finest hour.'

Tal chose that moment to interrupt them, pulling gently on Izzy's arm. 'Y'okay Iz? We're going in. Do you want me to save you a seat?'

Izzy nodded. 'Thanks. I'll be there in a sec.'

She turned to Dom. 'I better go,' she said reluctantly. 'We'll cause a scandal talking here like this.'

Dom laughed. 'Let them talk,' he said.

'I don't know, Dom,' Izzy said. 'I think Em believes you're going to get back together. She talks like you're still a couple. Not that she talks to me much, anymore, but to other people.'

'I know. It sucks.' Dom said, 'but I have tried to be clear about our breakup. We're not getting back together. I can assure you of that.'

Izzy smiled weakly. It wasn't much but it felt good to hear this from Dom directly.

'I'm so sorry about all this, Izzy,' Dom said softly. 'I know that I'm responsible for you two falling out. She was your best friend. I thought you must hate me.'

'I kind of did,' Izzy said. 'As much as I could hate you. It was bad between Em and me for a while, I'm not gonna lie.'

'My bad,' Dom said. 'I wish I could make it up to you.'

'It's okay. Water under the bridge, as they say.' Izzy said. 'Maybe one day, she'll forgive me. At least she's talking to me again. It's a step forward.'

Dom's expression changed and in a more serious tone, he said:

'When your mum died, I wanted to be beside you, Iz. To support you, y'know, but then I thought it was so inappropriate after the way I'd acted towards you. I didn't even think you'd want to talk to me, let alone want me around.'

'It's okay.' Izzy responded lightly. 'I got your message. It meant a lot to me.'

'Wasn't enough, I know it...' Dom said, hanging his head. 'I felt horrible about it. I was thinking about you every day.'

Izzy squeezed his hand to reassure him. 'I don't think anyone could have made me feel better,' she said. 'Besides, I wouldn't have been much fun to be around.'

'That's not the point, though,' Dom said.' You must miss her.'

'More than you could believe.'

'I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do? I'm here for you now. You know. Anything you need, please trust me. I know I've got a lot of making up to do. But I'm not going anywhere, I promise you.'

Izzy looked down at the concrete footpath. 'I guess you just need to know; I'm fragile now. Heartbroken. Some days, I seem to do okay, but others are so frickin hard, I don't want to be around people. Maybe you too—I can't imagine that right now, to be honest, but it's possible.'

Dom nodded his head slowly. 'Okay, how about you just tell me when you feel like that, and I'll try and help if I can or give you space, whatever you need.'

Izzy lifted her head and looked at him. 'The thing is, I don't know what I need from anyone. I know what I don't need from my friends, though.' She resumed walking slowly and Dom moved into step beside her.

'Yeah? That's a place to start,' he said.

When they reached the door of the dining hall, they stepped aside to let through the other kids scrambling to get in.

'I don't need you to fix me,' Izzy said firmly. 'I'm okay. I know how lucky I was to have my Mum. I just have something inside me that doesn't want to let go right now, so don't expect for me to be all happy. I want to kind of dwell in my thoughts, in my memories sometimes. That's all.'

'I understand,' Dom said slowly. 'At least I think I do.'

'Thanks, that's all I need.'

After a short pause, Dom said. 'I've been so self-obsessed. I'm trying not to be that way. I've changed recently, I think. I'm taking my study much more seriously, and just trying to prioritise what's important. And Iz, you are important to me. I've had you in my head forever since way before we even kissed. Maybe that's why I've been such a dick. I didn't know how to handle it. I was scared I'd stuff it up. I know now that I want to be with you no matter what.'

Izzy put her hand on Dom's arm to stop him from talking. She'd waited months for those words, never believing they would come.

'Dom?' she said. 'I want to be with you too.'

His answering smile was beautiful.

'The thing is,' Izzy continued gently, 'I don't think we can be together right now, not for a while anyway and I don't think we can go to the formal together. It would be like rubbing it in Em's face, y'know. I don't want to hurt her anymore.'

'Mmm...' Dom said. 'I get that, but....

'I think we could all go together maybe, as friends,' Izzy rushed to reassure him. 'Me with Cole and you with Em. You guys are still talking to each other. We could share a limo or something. What do you think?'

Dom seemed uncertain, but he paused before speaking. 'I can see how that'd work,' he agreed. 'It'd keep everyone happy. You'd be with me, though, really? Like secretly...'.

Izzy laughed and they spontaneously hugged each other. She longed for Dom to kiss her, but beady eyes were everywhere. Instead, he squeezed her hand and stepped away. 

'Can I walk you to the bus later?' he said. 

Izzy blushed and nodded. 

Dom suddenly beamed at her. 'Meet you outside the library at four?'

'Okay.' She turned to enter the dining hall. 'See you then.'