I've seriously been wanting to write this story for months. I actually started it on Instagram, but basically gave up, because to be honest, it's hard to write an actual fanfic on there. There are words limits and blah blah blah and basically I just sucked at updating, so I stopped writing it. Whoops. Anyone, ever since then I've wanted to make my idea an actually fanfiction, and I eventually did, as you can probably tell. I got this idea from a couple fanfics I've read (not necessarily HOA ones) and the book Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler (freaking amazing book!), so it's not necessarily all my own, but the plot is mine.

I'm not really sure what I'm getting myself into, having two fanfics to write at once, but I figured it wouldn't hurt, right? Hopefully not!

THIS IS ALSO MY ENTRY FOR FABINALIVES WRITING CONTEST THINGY! I will be adding to this because I haven't used all the words that are needed. If you haven't entered the contest yet, why not think about it? You definitely should! What's the harm, right? :D

Stuff You Should Know Before You Continue:

-Nina and Fabian have never met, and they both have their own individual group of friends. Fabian has Joy, Mick, Eddie, and Patricia. Nina has Alfie, Amber, Jerome, and Mara.

- They're all in their early twenties, but out of college.

-Couples are Fabina, Amfie, Peddie, Moy, and Jara.

-This story is rated T, just in case of any mature scenes. If I feel the need to change the rating, I will.

- Some things may be confusing, as it's my first time writing a story like this, but if I think anything needs explaining, I'll explain it.

- Im not going to give you guys a real summary, you'll just have to read to find out what happens. I'm afraid that if I write a summary, I'll end up giving away the ending. You'll soon find what it's about.

So, that's about it. Thank you if you read through this long authors note, and if you didn't, well, you'll probably get a bit confused.

Enjoy :)

Disclaimer; I do not own HOA, nor do I own any place mentioned in this story (except ones I've made up) or Sarah Ockler's book "Bittersweet", which gave me the inspiration to write this.

Nina's P.O.V.

"Amber, come on. I go with you practically every time, can't you go alone for once?" I sighed and pulled my phone closer to my ear, "In fact, you won't even have to go alone, you'll have Alfie, Jerome, and Mara."

I could practically see her shoulders slump, her voice getting whinier and whinier by the second. This was torture. Absolute torture.

"But Nina, it won't be the same without you! You always come with us." This is exactly the excuse she uses every single time, and by now, I was getting sick of it. Really sick of it.

"Amber, you'll be fine! Besides, I have work to do." I explained, my hands encased around my mug of coffee and all of it's warm, caffeinated glory. I shifted the phone so it was held in between my shoulder and cheek, bringing the ceramic cup up to my lips as if to take a sip. The warm steam flushed my cheeks a slight pinkish color and I inhaled the delicious mocha scent.

I was sat outside a small cafe in the dead of winter, bundled up in a warm purple peacoat, a scarf, a hat, and gloves. My laptop was set in front of me, opened up to my newest post I was editing. I hadn't really been doing any work, as was evident by the fact that no editing had gotten done during the time I had been there.

"Nina, you don't have to do that right now. Just come and take a break, pleassseeeee?" She begged. I sighed and took a sip of my coffee before answering.

"Fine, but only for a little while." And there I go again; caving. I've tended to do that a lot lately.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She paused, letting out a small squeal of excitement, "I'll meet you at the ice rink in half an hour."

Before I could say anything else, she had hung up abruptly. I sighed and shoved my phone in the pocket of my dark wash jeans. Figuring I should probably get going, I closed my laptop and slipped it into it's slim case.

After dropping my mug off in the wash bin outside the quaint restaurant style cafe, I headed off to where I had parked my car a couple of blocks away. Along the way, I let my mind wander wherever it wanted. It was nice to feel the cold air sting my face and to just forget everything for a little while. The world seemed to disappear in front of my eyes and I let my feet lead me where I needed to go.

By the time I made it to my car, my nose stung from the cold and my mind was clear and fresh as day. I climbed in and blasted the heat in an attempt to hopefully warm up the car enough so I didn't freeze on my way there. London traffic wasn't half as bad as it usually was, thankfully, and I had a peaceful drive to North's Ice Arena -also known as ice cold prison.

It didn't look unusually crowded when I arrived, which put me in a hopeful mood. I slipped out and grabbed my purse, shutting the icy door behind me. The cold air rushed past me in a thick breeze as I made my way into the chilly arena, my feet already losing some of their previous heat. I shivered and crept into the noisy rink, my slightly good mood turning bad almost instantly. I was a terrible ice skater and I hated it with a burning passion, but somehow Amber always talked me into going with her and a couple of our other friends.

Sighing, I quickly found their bodies in the sea of cold people and made my way over to them, slipping on some of the icy water that had accumulated on the floor from both the ice and from the blasted outside. They spotted me and greeted me with cheery smiles and peppy waves. I had to hold myself back from all but shooting them a nasty glare. Instead, I plastered on a smile and set my purse down on the bench were they were storing the rest of their stuff.

"Hey Neens, I'm so glad you could make it!" Amber all but yelled, enveloping me in an excited hug. I groaned and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm glad I could make it too..." I trailed off, combing a hand through my wind blown hair. Jerome, Mara's boyfriend, let out a short laugh and I smiled at him. We had a sister/brother bond and always found a way to joke around with each other, no matter the situation. He was a tall man with sandy colored hair and bright blue eyes. Sometimes he could be a bit rude, but he was an overall good person. Mara was the complete opposite. With brownish black hair and brown eyes, she was about a foot shorter than Jerome was. They were adorable together.

Amber and Alfie, though complete opposites in both personality and appearance, seemed to fit together like two pieces to the same puzzle. When it came to my love life though, well, lets just say, I hadn't had a boyfriend in two years.

It wasn't because I had bad experiences with past relationships or anything like that, it was just that I never found anyone that I really had an emotional attachment to. I didn't want to date just anyone, they had to be someone special. Someone who cared and someone I could relate to, not just someone I wanted for looks. Nowadays, it seemed like everyone was going through divorces and breakups, that's why I was desperate to find that someone special. My friends had, so why couldn't I?

I sighed and turned my attention back to my friends. I tended to daydream a lot and they had thankfully gotten used to it, so whenever I happened to blank out, they weren't surprised.

I shuffled over to the skate rentals and got some in my size, slipping them on and shuffling my way slowly back to where Amber, Alfie, Jerome, and Mara were all waiting at the edge of the rink.

"You guys ready?" I asked stupidly, letting out a chuckle.

"More like, are you ready?" Alfie asked, leading Amber carefully onto the ice. I laughed and was pulled onto the ice by Mara, who was being pulled by Jerome. My feet slipped a bit as I tried to gain my balance on the thin skates. As much as I hated skating and as much as I sucked at, I always got a slight rush whenever I got on the ice. It was a thrilling feeling, almost like you were walking on air.

I smiled and let my legs carry me over to the railing at the edge of the oval rink. I grasped the wood and attempted to move steadily, though my ankles wobbled uncontrollably.

Once I got the hang of it, I strayed away from the wall a bit and started to get a feel for the ice and the new skates. The cold air rushing over my skin was an amazing feeling, something I couldn't get over. It felt refreshing and exhilarating all at the same time.

A strangely long amount of time had passed before I slipped into my imaginary state of mind, letting my thoughts wonder into oblivion.

The only thing I could totally see was the mass of people skating along beside me and the bottom of the white rink. My mind went blank for a second, letting a big breath of air escape my lips.

"Hey, watch out!" I heard someone exclaim. A second later I was being slammed into the ice, my head crashing against the frozen water and a body falling on top of me.

A/N; Intrigued? Confused? Want to hit me because of the cliffhanger? Don't worry, I'll update soon.

In the meantime, it'd be lovely if you could leave a quick review, they give me more inspiration to write which in turn gives you more writing. *hint, hint*

Thank you for reading! -Em