𝚂𝚄𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝙽 ✩ ɢʀᴜɴɢᴇ

𝚡𝚒𝚒𝚒. 𝚊 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟷

By the time Alex made it back, it had gotten pretty late, and the party was starting to wind down. People were leaving and shouting promises to return on New Year's Eve and the people who planned to stay through the holidays were finding places to finally get some rest.

"Alex, where were you?! I've been looking for you for at least two hours!" Jo rushed up to Alex the second she walked into the house.

"I'm sorry, I went for a quick walk! I didn't mean to take so long, I really am sorry."

"Yeah, you better be. Now go find Stone--he was looking for you too."

Alex nodded and patted Jo's arm, apologizing again and thanking her for noticing her absence before heading off to find Stone. He greeted her in the same manner Jo had.

"I'm an adult, you know," Alex grumbled. "I didn't grow up just for this."

"Yeah, yeah, you're an adult. You're also one of my best friends and I'd hate to see anything happen to you, okay?"

"Fine, I get it." Her tone was still one of mild annoyance, but there was appreciation in her eyes.

"So you're staying, right?"

"Um, yeah. But I gotta go get something from my apartment."

"Oh. Uh, need a ride?"

"Nah, I wanna walk. I just kind of need some time to think. You know...alone."

"Okay, just don't come crying to me when your kidneys get stolen."

"Stone." She lightly hit his shoulder and shook her head. "That's not gonna happen. I'll be back in a bit, okay? I'll be careful and everything."

"Good, 'cause if you're not...well, there's not much I can do about it."

Alex laughed and nodded. "See you soon, Stone. Tell Jo where I went." And she turned and left the house once again.

It was still snowing, but somehow, she wasn't cold. The city looked pretty; every streetlight had Christmas lights running up it and a little bit of mistletoe at the top. Alex looked up at each one, trying to picture a very different scene.

"Hey, Alex, wait a second!"

She stopped under the light of one of the street lamps and turned around. "Stone? What--"

"I wanted to give you something," he said as he caught up to her. "Here." He held out a single quarter.

"What's this?"

"It's a quarter, what's it look like?"

"I know that, smartass. I mean...why?"

"Don't you remember? Just give me a quarter."

Alex's eyes widened. "Oh...my God. How--why--haven't we all just been doing our best to forget high school?"

"Well yeah, but I remember the fun parts..."

✩✩✩