Los Angeles...
At Chad and Crystal's wedding...
"Now let us welcome our lovely newlyweds, Chad Johnson and Crystal Parker!" the host of the says through the mic as the guest starts clapping their hands for the beautiful couple.
Chad and Crystal walks down the aisle as all the guests starts cheering for them. The happy couple stops in their steps as they reach the middle of the dance floor. A classical music starts playing as Chad and Crystal shares their first dance together as a married couple. They couldn't stop smiling at each other through out the whole dance, as everyone watch them in awe.
"Yeah," says Nate who's eyes are fill with happy tears at the sight of his friend now married.
"Man, calm your tears! You can't worry Chad on his wedding day with your immature tears," Liam says, sounding insesitive to the dirty blonde hair boy.
"I'm crying happy tears, just so you know," Nate says with an attitude as he starts wiping his tears.
Jack smiles at the sight of Nate's funny attitude, before he turns his head to continue watching Chad and Crystal dancing together beautifully.
"Jack Pierce?"
A familiar female voice caught Jack's attention. He turns his head to see a familiar girl with long brown hair walking towards him, followed by two other girls and a guy.
"Kristen!" Jack says as he smiles at Kristen and her three friends, Ken, Elaine and John, who are also members of Chad's gang along with the other guys.
"I didn't see you the last time I heard you were in LA," says Ken with a smile.
"It was a quick trip," Jack states.
"And we actually thought we saw Nate crying then," Elaine says, before she burst into giggles.
"Can you guys please not mock my tears for a day?" Nate says sarcastically.
"Did Nate just admit that he has tears?" Kristen tries to hold her laugh.
"Ok, I think we had enough jokes. Sorry, Man," John says.
"Thanks, Bro," Nate says. "I'm gonna get a drink first. See ya!" Nate starts walking away to get hinself a glass of his favorite drink.
As the music comes to an end, Chad spins Crystal around before catching her in his arms and planting a kiss on her lips, making the whole crowd cheer for them.
"How are you guys lately?" Jack ask.
"It's ok," says Kristen. "Just boring old stuff."
"I see. By the way, where's Grayson?" Jack ask.
"Umm..he's talking with some friends over there," Elaine says in a low tone as she starts to glance at Kristen who suddenly looks uncomfortable.
Hearing that, Kristen tries her best to form a smile on her face to hide how uncomfortable she's truly feeling. "Excuse me. I'm gonna get a drink," Kristen says. She starts to walk away from the others.
"Is something wrong?" Jack ask as he starts to question if he had asked anything offensive that Kristen had walked away.
"Kristen and Grayson broke up," says Elaine, surprising the others with the sudden news.
"What?" Jack ask in disbelief as he suddenly feels guilty for asking about his friend Grayson in front of Kristen. He thought they were still dating.
"What happened?" Jack ask.
"A week after they agreed to start dating, Grayson went on a mission to Sao Paolo which could last for months. At first they thought about having a long-distance relationship, but due to their busy schedules and lack of time, they couldn't meet each other often, and eventually they got trust issues and argued. That's when they decided to end things, but thought about remaining friends," Elaine says.
"I see..and Grayson is here?" Jack ask.
"Yes, he is with his new girlfriend, Jessica," Elaine states.
Hearing this, Jack feels pity for Kristen and also guilty that he had accidentally kind of hurt her feelings. He thought about checking up on her.
"Excuse me," Jack says as he walks away, leaving Elaine, Ken, and John in confusion.
Jack walks pass the crowd, as the music starts playing again and everyone starts to dance together. Jack sees Kristen standing in the corner of the massive ballroom while holding a glass of champagne, looking all elegant in a strapless black dress complete with black heels. He approaches her slowly as he sees that she has her vision focus on the crowd of dancing people.
"Hi!" Jack says.
Kristen turns her head to see Jack. She gives him a small smile.
"You're not dancing?" Kristen ask with an elegant tone.
"No. I just got a drink," says Jack as he takes a sip of his red wine slowly.
"Some say that people dance better when they are a bit tipsy," Kristen says, before she takes a sip of her champagne.
Jack turns his head to see Kristen. "I suppose so," says Jack. "Kristen, I..."
"It's ok. I'm totally over it," says Kristen. "Don't feel sorry for me," Kristen adds as she tries to hide the amount of emotions she's feeling.
"Kristen, I'm so.."
"Please, I know exactly what you're about to say. It's not your fault. Please, we don't have to talk about it," says Kristen as she tries harder to hold her tears with her stern voice.
Jack notice that Kristen is about to burst into tears in any second. He walks to stand in front of her, covering her figure from the crowd of people dancing. He didn't want people to see her tears especially knowing that he was the one who cause it. He feels too guilty. Jack puts his glass of wine on the table beside them, and holds Kristen's hand.
"If you don't want me to talk about it, I won't," says Jack. "But let me just say, that everything's gonna be ok."
He's trying to calm her down at this point by trying to give her some positive words.
Kristen stares into Jack's eyes as the two get into eye contact. She takes a deep breath looking at Jack. She didn't mean to make him worry at the thought that his words made her felt offended. Deep down she knew Jack didn't mean to offend her. She had known him quite well since he's good friends with her cousin, Chad. Yet she is still trying to accept reality as it is that she and Grayson are no longer together, and that he had moved on faster than she thought.
Kristen lets out a sigh. "Sorry for all that drama," says Kristen. "I'm still a mess," Kristen adds. She's begining to feel uncomfortable for making Jack worried earlier.
"It's ok. Take your time and know that it's ok to feel messed up at times," says Jack in the most comforting tone.
Without any words, Kristen pulls Jack into a hug. Jack is surprised by the girl's sudden action, but decides to just comfort her since he knew she needed it at this point. For a moment, hugging Kristen reminds him of Rachel in a way. Jack thought, maybe it's because the two girls have similiar heights, or maybe he's been thinking about Rachel for some times now.
"Jack, would you like to dance with me?" Kristen ask as she still has her arms wrapped around Jack.
Jack hesitates to answer for a second, before Kristen pulls back from the hug and stare into his eyes. He thought for a moment if he should dance with her, knowing that it'll be awkward if Grayson sees them.
"Wouldn't it be awkward if people see us?" Jack ask.
"Why would we need to care about that? Just for tonight. Besides, I want to make Y
Grayson jealous knowing that I'm dancing with one of his friends," says Kristen with a small smile
Well, that's a smart idea. Though I kinda feel awkward dancing with Kristen in front of Grayson. Jack thought.
"What do you say?" Kristen ask as she stares into Jack's eyes with hopes.
Jack lets out a sigh. He isn't the type of person who enjoys getting involve in possible dramas. Yet, looking at Kristen's hopeful eyes made him think twice.
"Ok," says Jack. "Then may I have this dance?" Jack lets out his hand as he is ready to dance the night away with her.
"You may," says Kristen as she takes Jack's hand, and the two walk to the dance floor to share their first dance together as the song changes into a more upbeat song.
New York City...
In the living room, Alex and Rachel are watching a romantic movie just like Alex insisted, in which Rachel agreed since she's also quite fond of romantic movies. Alex had also prepared some snacks on the small table.
Alex notice that Rachel is starting to get lost in the movie. He would glance at her in every chance as he thought about how cute she looks when she's all mesmerized.
"How is the movie?" Alex ask before he takes another glance at her.
"So far, so good," Rachel says as she keeps her vision on the TV screen.
Meanwhile...
Los Angeles...
Kristen and Jack are now pretty drunk and are dancing slower and messier. The two had their arms wrapped around each other's waist the whole night, with Kristen not wanting to let go.
"You ok?" Kristen ask as she notice that Jack looks pretty drunk.
"Yeah, I'm good," says Jack with a drunk tone. "Excuse me for a minute. I'll be right back."
Jack lets go of their embrace and walks in a tipsy manner to a corner which is not too crowded. While being drunk, he pulls out his phone from his pocket and calls Rachel. All he could think about now was how much he want to see her.
Meanwhile, in New York City...
Alex continues to stare at Rachel without her concern as she's too busy getting lost in the movie. Alex took this chance to admire her beauty from the side. He starts to form a small on his face at the sight of the beautiful girl sitting next to him getting lost in a romantic movie. He thought his plan was starting to fall in place, when Rachel's phone suddenly rings, making both of them surprised.
Rachel turns her head to look at her ringing phone on the table. She picks up her phone to see who is video calling her.
Jack. Rachel thought as she smiles and picks up the video call.
"Hi Jack!" Rachel says with a happy tone. She's happy to see her best friend again through video call after a few days of not seeing each other.
"Rachel..what are you doing?" Jack ask in a drunk tone.
"I'm watching a movie with Alex," says Rachel. She starts to notice that Jack's ocean blue eyes looked really drunk.
"Are you drunk?" Rachel ask with a concern tone.
"Yeah," says Jack in a drunk tone. "Rachel....I miss you," Jack adds as he tries to focus on Rachel through the video call.
"I miss you too, Jack," says Rachel as she smiles after hearing Jack's words. Meanwhile, Alex watches Rachel having a video call with Jack without her concern. Somehow, he feels a bit irritated that Jack called while the two are having a movie night together.
"Rachel," says Jack.
"Yes," says Rachel with a smile as she waits for what her friend was about to say next.
Jack is about to tell Rachel that he had been thinking about her, when he suddenly hears a sound of familiar girl walking towards.
"What took you so long?" Kristen ask in a drunk and aggresive tone.
Jack turn his head to look at Karina who is pretty drunk at this point while still having the video call with Rachel.
"What was that?" Rachel ask with a curious tone.
"I told you to not leave me!" Kristen says as she wraps her arms around Jack's waist again, making Rachel surprise at the sight through the video call.
"Don't leave me," Kristen says in a low tone as she starts to tear up again.
Rachel became shock at the sight of Jack being hugged by a girl she doesn't know. She looks at Jack as she waits for an answer, but he is too drunk to even gather the energy to explain to her the situation.
"You look busy. I shouldn't disturb you," Rachel says with disappointment in her voice.
"I'll talk to you later," Jack says as he starts to caress Kristen's hair to comfort her from crying.
"Yeah, bye," Rachel says before ending the video call. She puts down her phone and goes back to watch the movie with a disappointed feeling.
Alex saw what happened between Rachel and Jack during the video call, and he was also surprised to know that Jack and Kristen are together tonight. By the looks of how Kristen acted made a scene that they could actually have a thing for each other.
Alex notice that Rachel looks sad. He thought it was because she saw Jack with Kristen. By the way she stared at Jack, Alex knew Rachel has feelings for him that are more than friendship. He feels bad for her.
Out of the blue, Alex decides to lighten the now awkward situation. He walks to the kitchen and grabs a bottle of whisky along with 2 glasses. He walks back to the living room and puts down the glasses on the table, before pouring the whisky into the glasses. Alex sits back beside Rachel and hands her a glass.
"Here," Alex says as he hands the glass to Rachel.
Rachel turns her head to look at the glass of clear liquior before accepting it.
She takes a sip of the drink and is surprise by how strong it feels. "So strong."
"Well, it's whisky," says Alex before he takes a sip as well. "Are you bored? We could change the movie or maybe play some games if you want."
"No, I'm good," says Rachel as she takes another sip of her whisky.
The two then starts drinking their drinks in awkward silence. Alex would take a chance to glance at Rachel. They eventually finish their first glass and continue to drink more as they watch the movie.
Rachel's POV...
My mind starts to travel at the thought of Jack and the girl. I knew that the guys are going to a wedding party tonight, but I didn't expect Jack to attend the party with a girl. He never even told me anything about it, whether he has a girlfriend or that he's into someone. Somehow I felt a sharp pain in my heart when I saw them together. Why though? It's not like we're even dating. Besides he's my childhood friend, come to think of it I should be happy if he finds someone he actually likes, right?
But I guess my mind and heart are saying different things. I guess trying to make up for the lost time as friends just opened my heart to a deeper feeling. I start to see Jack as someone I really admire, and I'm not gonna lie that there were times that I wished that our relationship could turn into something more, especially after the morning kiss we shared. I feel like an idiot now that it hurts so bad.
"How long have they been together?" I ask Alex before I finish my glass of whiskey in a one shot. Though it was so strong yet I didn't quite care since I already have a headache (and heartache) after the video call.
"Honestly, I don't really know," says Alex. Alex pours our empty glasses with whisky again.
"Well, I'm glad he's happy," I say as I start to tear up. I must have drank too much whisky that my feelings gets more sensitive.
The more I try to hold back the tears, the harder it feels that my feelings are fighting to let it all out. I eventually didn't care and just cry my eyes out. I didn't have the energy to pretend anymore.
"I'm really an idiot," I say as I continue to cry.
Suddenly I feel Alex's arm wrap around my shoulder and pulling me closer to his embrace. I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around him tightly as continue to cry.
"Rachel, don't say that. You're not an idiot," says Alex as he strokes my back gently. "Please don't say that. You're a good person. You're kind and amazing."
I continue to sob in his embrace as he continues to stroke my back gently. His touch made me feel safe and comfortable, and for now I just want to stay in this moment forever.
After a few minutes, I pull back from the embrace and see that Alex's shirt is now stained with tears. I turn my head up and stare into his eyes. I start to get lost in his mesmerizing eyes.
Alex starts to get closer to me as I could feel the gap closing between us. He suddenly pulls me closer, making our faces only a few inches a part.
"Rachel..." says Alex with his arms now wrapped around my waist. In this tipsy state, both of us look like we are at lost of words.
To be continue...