Long Distance

Invitation.

"Aria, are you sure you feel that way about him?" Madison asks slowly as if she had read my mind and seen that this entire situation was illogical. "Because to me it seems like you just like how he acted towards you when you needed someone."

I bury my face in my hands and think about what she was implying. Ethan had always saved me. Whether it was from Mason or from my own thoughts, he was there when there was no one to answer my cries for help, and maybe I had fallen for that. The side that he had only shown me, and now probably Amber as well. The good side of him.

"Maybe this is just a phase." She says.

No matter how much I didn't want to admit it, a large part of my felt like she was right.

This could just be a phase- one I needed to get over soon, because I couldn't let Ethan come between Mason and I again.

"You're right." I finally reply deciding that was the most reasonable explanation for what I was feeling and was therefore the correct one. There was still a sliver of me that sided with myself. The side that believed that my feelings for Ethan were real, but maybe I was only fooling myself. I loved Mason, not Ethan, and in less than a month, Mason was the one I'd be vowing to spend the rest of my life with.

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[Ethan]

"WAKE UP BITCH!" My eyes shoot open as my door is busted open and in jumps Rachel. I'm not the only one who was woken by her entrance because Amber shoots up seconds later, a mortified look on her face as she stares between Rachel and I.

I can tell that Rachel is surprised to see Amber too, especially since she wasn't aware we were now together. Rachel hadn't been around lately since she moved in with Evan, which meant that she hadn't kept up with me as much and vise versa.

"Rachel what the fuck!" I groan, pulling the sheets over the two of us. "It's eight in the morning!"

"Oh don't 'what the fuck' me Owens!" She shakes her head throwing a pillow at me. "And also, why the hell did I not know about you two?" The smirk is clear on her face and I wanna just roll my eyes.

"Amber and I are dating, now you know! Now can we please get back to-"

"Woah woah woah, did you say dating?" Rachel emphasizes the word and her eyes show a bit of disappointment. I can already imagine what is going through her head, but this wasn't the time nor the place to discuss everything that's happened since we last saw each other.

"Yes," I give her a look hoping that she'd understand what I was trying to say.

"Well... congrats," she gives us a smile and I know that there are probably so many questions running through her mind. "That's one way to welcome your best friend back home huh, you can tell me all about it later, Eth." She looks to me, and I nod before she steps out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

"You gotta love Rachel," Amber giggles from under the covers and I duck my head under so that our faces are inches apart.

"You really do." I shake my head before pulling her towards me on the bed and letting ourselves gradually fall back asleep.

[Aria]

My nails tapped on the wooden table as my eyes wandered around the quiet and not too busy Starbucks. The only other people here were a few teens and adults and an elderly couple that made me smile at how cute they looked together. They gazed at each other with so much love and admiration for one another, and it made me wish I could look at Mason that way again.

After I talked to Madison last night, Mason and I only stayed at the party for a bit after. We helped clean up the backyard but Madison soon sent us home insisting that the bride and groom should not be cleaning up their own party. Luckily, he didn't ask about the emergency from earlier which meant I didn't have to lie to him.