The air around me was cold. It was late October and it was already absolutely freezing. My cheeks were a rosy red from the cold. My hands were stuffed my pockets. My hair flew back from my face as walked along the sidewalk. Ahead of me I could see the pier. The gray water shimmered in the distance. The waves lapped at the rocky shore. As I got closer, I could smell the saltwater. I leaned against the railing and looked out at the shimmering water. I closed my eyes and sighed as memories from long ago came back.

•

"Laura, Laura!" Ellington yelled down the hallway. I turned and looked at my best friend. It was junior year and prom was coming up. Everywhere you looked some guy was asking a girl to prom. I felt a little sad that prom was less than a week away and no one had asked me yet.

" What's up?" I asked when he had caught up to me. He held his finger up as he tried to catch his breath. I laughed softly and waited for him to speak.

"I wanna ask you something very important." He said when he finally caught his breath. I raised my eyebrows.

"Oh really? What would that be?" I asked. He smiled at me before getting down on one knee.

"I know this may seem extremely cliché, but hey give me some credit. I'm not very good at romantic stuff. Anyways, I know this is really, really weird. I'm on one knee and I feel like I'm proposing to you. I'm proposing that we should go to prom together. SO, Laura Marie Marano will you do the honors of going to prom with me?" He said and by that time a crowd had formed a circle around us. In the crowd I saw Ross, Riker, Rydel, and Rocky. They all gave me a thumbs up and a smile. I turned back to look at Ellington.

"Well, I thought you would never ask." I said and cheers erupted throughout the hall. Ellington scooped me up in his arms and hugged me tightly.

•

The lights in the gym were off. Strands of white Christmas lights were hung around giving the gym a white glow. Couples were dancing and talking. Everyone looked pretty happy, well except me. I looked over towards the dance floor and frowned.

Rydel and Ellington were dancing.

No, I wasn't jealous because they were dancing. I was mad at how they were dancing. Ellington's hands rested right above her bum, Rydel's hands were wrapped tightly around his neck, and there was no space in between them.

My frown deepened as I turned away. I took a sip of my punch and sighed. The music that was playing abruptly cut off and the DJ's voice filled the gym.

"Its time for a slow song. Grab that special someone and get on the dance floor. Its time to make your move." I looked towards Ell and Rydel. Ell pulled away from Rydel and said something. She smiled and nodded before Ell started walking towards me.

"May I have this dance?" He asked as he reached me. I set my glass of punch down and nodded. He grabbed my hand and led me to the dance floor. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I wrapped mine around his neck. We gently swayed to the music.

"I like you." He said to me in my ear. I smiled lightly and leaned up to whisper in his ear.

"I like you too." I said and pulled away to look at him. He had a wide smile on his face. The smile was soon replaced by a serious one. He leaned in and lightly pressed his lips to mine. I kissed him back and my tummy felt like it had just blasted off into the sky.

•

Ell and I had our hands joined as we walked down the hallway. Since prom everyone knew we were together. Well not really together, but technically together. Ell still hadn't asked me to be his girlfriend. It was fine because I knew he was mine and I was his. But the thought was still nagging me in the back of my head.

"What are you thinking about, babe?" He asked as we reached my locker. I opened my locker and put away my books as I talked.

"Nothing. I just have a lot on my mind." I said. I reached in the back of my locker to get out my books for my next few classes, but Ell's hand stopped me.

"You want need those. We are going somewhere." He said. He closed my locker and pulled me along the hallway. I stumbled behind him as he dragged me our of the school.

He took me to a open field behind the school. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him.

"What's going on?" I asked him. He didn't say anything he just kissed me. I kissed him back before pulling away.

"Ive held this off long enough. I just wanted to make sure you and I both wanted it before I made it official. Now, I'm so sure both of us want it, so here it goes. Laura, will you do me the pleasure of becoming my girlfriend?" He asked. I stood there frozen for a few seconds before nodded my head.

"Yes, yes!" I muttered to him as I pressed my lips against his. He smiled against my lips and lifted me off the ground.

•

"Are you mad at me?" I asked Ell as I walked into his room. He looked up at me and glared. I take that as a yes, I thought to myself. I went and sat on his bed next to him. He only continued to glare at me.

"Do you know?" He asked me. I raised my eyebrows and shrugged my shoulders.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked and he groaned.

"Riker!" He said and threw his hands in the air.

" What do you mean Riker?" I asked.

"DID YOU KNOW HE LIKES YOU OR NOT?!" He yelled and I flinched. His face softened and he reached out for me, but I pulled away.

"No, I didn't." I said and wiped away the tear that came out from one of my eyes. He had never yelled at me before. This was the first time. I had also never seen him so angry.

"Babe, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." He whispered to me. When he reached for me, I let him take me into his arms. He stroked my hair and held me close to his chest.

"Its fine. I'm overacting." I whispered but he shushed me.

"No, I overacted. You're my best friend and more and I shouldn't be yelling at you like that." He said.

"Okay."

"I'm always gonna be here. Always." He said.

"Always?" I whispered and he nodded.

"Always..."

•

"Oh god, oh god, I'm so sorry!" Ellington's voice cane through the fog in my head. I don't remember what the hell happened or where I was at that. I could faintly feel his hand in mine. I squeezed it softly and opened my eyes.

Ell looked at me and his face broke out in a smile. He gathered me in a bone crushing hug and whispered sweet things in my ear. Even when he let go he still gripped my hand tightly.

"What happened?" I asked. His face changed so quickly it wasn't even funny. It went from I'm glad you're okay to I'm going to kill someone.

"Ross and Rocky were being idiots and playing baseball in the house. Rocky threw the ball and Ross swung the ball to far back and he hit you really hard in the head. Before they realized what they had done, you were out cold on the ground." He said and I frowned. Next time I saw them I was going to kill both of them. It also looked like I wasn't the only one who was going to.

"Well, at least I'm okay." I said and Ell nodded. He leaned in and kissed me softly on the mouth before leaning his forehead against mine.

"I love you. I hate seeing you like this." He whispered to me and a smile filled up my face.

"I love you too." I said. He smiled at me widely and after that we kissed again.

•

"Okay! What did you drag me here for?" I asked as Ell pulled me into his room. He like looked like he had just won the lottery.

"R5 was just offered a west coast tour, babe!" He exclaimed. I smiled at him and wrapped my arms around his waist. We stood there for a couple moments before I pulled away.

"How long is it and when do you leave?" I asked and he smiled faded a little bit.

"We leave a week from today for one month." He said. I smiled weakly. How was I going to survive a month without my boyfriend? Most importantly though my best friend. He saw my face and lifted my chin.

"Hey, no need to be sad. I'll be back soon. I'll call you everyday and we can Skype." He said and I put a smile on my face for his stake. I smiled back at him and we hugged.

•

"How's tour, babe?" I asked. It was a week into tour and I missed him like hell, but this is what you get when you date guy in a band. He leaned back against the leather seats of the bus and sighed.

"Its great but I really miss you. I want you to come see one of our shows sometime. Why dont you come to the one this weekend?" He asked. I shook my head and leaned back against my headboard.

"I have finals this week. I gotta study and I promised Ryland I would help him with something in Chemistry." I said. He face fell for a second but he quickly covered it up by smiling.

"Oh. Its okay. Maybe next time. I gotta go. Rydel is calling me." He said and cut off the video chat.

"Rydel wasn't even calling you." I whispered and buried my face into my pillow. What just happened?

•

I sighed as I got off the plane. It was nice not to be stuck in the plane anymore. I couldn't take one more second of being cramped in the middle sit with two little kids. Normally I would of been fine with it, but these two kids made me hate it so much now. They kicked, pulled, screamed, and yelled. It was annoying and I was glad to be off.

I walked down to baggage claim and got my bags. It was the last week of tour and Ross had arranged for me to come and see Ell. Of course, Ell had no idea that he had arranged this. I don't think anyone but him and I knew. My bag cane around and I grabbed it. I started walking towards the door when a mop of blonde hair came and scooped me into a bear hug.

"Hi Ross." I said and hugged him tightly. He set me back on the ground and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Everyone's missed you. Now, let's get you to your boyfriend." He said and we walked out of the airport. We drove to the hotel and got out. Ross showed me to Ellington's room and gave me key.

" Thanks. Now, go away." I said. He held his hands up in surrender and walked away. I shook my head and turned back to the door. I unlocked the door and walked in.

"For the thousandth time, I'm fine Rocky. Go the hell away!" Ellingtons voice said from under the pillow. I set my things down and walked over to him.

"Okay. I guess I'll just go back to California..." I said. He head immediately whipped up and a smile lit up his face.

"Laura! I missed you so much!" He said. He climbed out of his bed and lifted me off the ground. He twirled me around and kissed me before setting me on the ground.

"I missed you too!" I said to him and we hugged for a long, long time.

•

I have to tell you something." Ell said as we were cuddled on the hotel bed and watching a movie. I grabbed the remote and muted to TV before looking at him.

"What's up?" I asked. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Since we are doing so good on tour and shows are getting sold out, management decided to extend the tour." He said.

"That's great! Where are you going?" I asked and his jaw visibly clenched.

"Thats what you're not gonna like... We are going to Europe." He said and I close my eyes.

"I'm happy for you. Congrats." I said, forcing a smile. He smiled suddenly before kissing me. Why did I always have to pretend to be happy in this relationship?

•

I was visting him in London while he was on tour. We were walking down the streets side by side. But it was as if we were two strangers who had decided to walk next to each other not people who had been best friends forever. The pier shined in the early morning light and people walked on the sidewalks.

We reached the pier and decided to lean against the railing. There was a tense silence between the two of us. It had been this way for almost two months now. We had been slowly falling apart. His calls became less frequent. Our texts went whole paragraphs to one word replies or no reply at all. Everything that we had was slowly vanishing.

"What happened?" I asked. He looked at me with sad eyes.

"I don't know. I guess with us being in two different places it messed everything up. We are both meeting new people and our lives are changing. We aren't kids anymore..." He said. I nodded sadly and looked up at him. I wrapped my arms around him and he wrapped his around my waist.

"So, what's gonna happen now?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders and pressed me closer to his chest. I stayed in his arms for a little while longer.

"Do you think maybe we should..." He asked. I sadly nodded.

"Its been a great year but what we had is over..." I said.

"Its been a good run." He said. I smiled and opened my arms. He pulled me into his instead and hugged me. He pulled away and looked down at me. I leaned up and pressed my lips to his one last time.

"Bye Ell." I said and walked away.

•

I smiled softly to myself. To think that all happened just 2 years ago right in this very spot. Sometimes I was wish I could of gone back in time and fixed the problems we had. Then I realized that music, touring, and being with his best friends was the things he loved to do most. I wasn't gonna be the person to take that away from he.

My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. I looked away from the pier to look down at my phone screen. A new text. I unlocked my phone and saw it was from my director talking me that they needed me. I replied back and slipped my phone back in my pocket. I took one last look at the pier before walking away.

As I walked down the streets I kept my eyes on my feet. I didn't want anyone to recognize me. I kept a steady pace as I walked to the studio that was only down the street. In my haste to get there, I bumped into something well more like someone.

"I'm so sorry!" I said and looked up at then person who towered above me.

"Hey Laura. Long time no see." Ellington said as he laid eyes on my. He had changed since I had last seen him two years ago. He had grow a small beard, he had grown at least four inches, and his facial features became more defined.

"Ell, what are you doing here?" I asked. He smiled down at me.

"I'm here for a press conference. What about you?" He asked.

"I'm shooting a movie, and I really have to go. I'm sorry." I said. He nodded at me and moved past me. I walked on down the street and I was a couple blocks down before I heard footsteps running behind me. I turned and saw Ellington running to catch up behind me.

"Before you go, I was wondering if you wanted to go get coffee sometime while you in London." He said after he caught his breath.

"I would like that."