Realizing he would probably be coming back out soon, I became alarmed and tried to sit up quickly. But I heard him get into his bed, and decided to sit back down. I don't know why I wanted to stay here sitting next to his door. Maybe I just wanted to help him, but didn't know how. In a lot of ways, this is what had been going on the whole time.

I've been outside his door, willing to do anything to help, but he won't let me in.

"Do you think we should wake her"

"Maybe. Why is she here anyway?"

"You idiots. Don't wake her. Hold on, I'll get her."

I felt strong arms go under my legs and back, lifting me off the ground. He felt warm, so I snuggled into his chest.

He lay me down on a soft and plushy surface. A bed. He crawled into bed next to me and turned off the lamp.

"Goodnight," he said. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and lay down.

I woke up in the dark wondering where I was and why I wasn't in my room. Then I remembered everything that happened. I looked at the body next to me, his chest rising up and down. It was Julian. He's the one who carried me in here. I remembered the kiss he gave me and put my fingers to my cheek, still able to feel his lips on my skin.

What the hell? I wasn't attracted to Julian.

I felt the urge to pee, and got up. The digital clock said it was 2:16am. I slowly opened the door so I wouldn't awaken anyone. A dark figure was entering the door at the end of the hallway. I recognized the hair and realized that it was Ian. Why was he going in there again? What was he doing every night?

I rushed to the bathroom, did my business, and rushed back to Julian and Ashley' room. I almost tripped over Ashley in the process, who was laying on the floor asleep. She must have given up her side of the bed for me. The thought made me smile.

I got back into bed, accidentally nudging Julian. He mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over, throwing his arms and legs around me. I struggled to escape his hold, but he was too strong. I finally surrendered and decided to try and get some proper sleep. This position was actually quite comfortable. I fell into a deep sleep in no time.

I woke up to a flash. My eyelids fluttered open and I felt constrained. It was because Julian's arms were still around me. His head was resting in the crook of my neck, and his legs were tangled with mine.

Ashley stood beside the bed with a camera.

"Ashley!" I yelled.

Julian groaned and woke up. "W-wha… What's going on?"

"Julian, get off me!" I said.

He lifted his arms and separated his arms from mine. "I don't even remember…" His voice trailed off.

"Ashley! Delete that picture!" I ordered.

"Nope, it's going on Twitter," she said, running out of the room.

I knew there was no point in chasing her, so I stayed put.

"Sorry, Ashley," Julian said sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "It was an accident." And I enjoyed it.

He looked relieved.

"Breakfast is ready!" voices yelled up the stairs.

Julian took my hand and ran, dragging me with him. We got into the kitchen, and everyone looked at us with raised eyebrows. I pulled my hand out of Julian's.

"What?" I asked.

Ashley snickered. "Check your Twitter."

I grabbed my phone out of my bra. The boys' mouths dropped open.

"What?" I asked innocently. "I didn't have any pockets."

I unlocked my phone. I had a text from my dad explaining that he left last night for work. I also had a text from Raya saying goodbye from last night. I went to the Twitter app. I had tons of mentions and new followers. "What the hell…?" I muttered. Then I saw the tweet that everyone was talking about and retweeting. Ashley had tweeted the picture of Julian and I tangled in bed, asleep, and the headline said, "Sleeping well, are we?" She mentioned me in it, explaining my sudden popularity.

"God, Ashley!" I exclaimed, slapping her arm. Hard. I scrolled through the mentions I got, most of them asking about my relationship with Julian.

I quickly tweeted, "Julian and I are not together. Ashley was just being an asshole. Xx"

Ashley looked at her cell and obviously saw the tweet. "That was not very nice," she said.

I stuck out my tongue. "Truth hurts."

She pouted. "Harsh."

I tussled her hair. "Oh, you know I love you."

"I thought you loved me," Julian said. "Everyone on Twitter says so." He gave me a kiss on the cheek, his lips lingering on my skin a little longer than necessary. I found myself looking at his lips, wishing they were on mine. I tried my best to shake off the thought.

I decided to mess with his head. I grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him to me. I leaned in so my lips were only an inch away from his. He closed his eyes. But instead of kissing him,

I pushed past him, and he stood there, stunned. I heard the others snicker.

I eyed the waffles and pink lemonade on the table. "Thanks guys. But you're the guests. You didn't have to make me breakfast."

"It's a thank you from us to you," Troian said.

"Oooo, yummy," I said, grabbing a paper late. "You are very welcome." I put a few waffles on my plate and grabbed a fork. I began to eat. I felt very uncomfortable with them watching me while I ate, so I announced, "I think we should go shopping today. Go get ready."

They cheered (except for Ian), and they all headed upstairs. Only Ashley stayed behind.

"So what's up with you and Julian?" she asked.

I let out a forced laugh. "Nothing is going on."

"I'm speaking out of concern for you, Ashley," she said. She leaned against the table next to me and said quietly, "Julian flirts with a lot of hot girls, okay? Don't fall for it unless you really like him."

I smiled. "You think I'm hot?"

She rolled her eyes. "Is that all you got out of it?"

"I know, I heard you," I said. "Don't worry. I know Julian."

"Yeah, plus you like Ian," she said, nudging me with her elbow and letting out a wolf-whistle.

I lightly punched her arm. "Shut up. He's in the house and could hear you. Besides, he won't even talk to me."

"True, true."

I debated whether or not to ask her what I had been wanting to. I decided that I had nothing to lose. "Hey, Ashley? Can I asked you something?" I bit my lip.

"Of course. You can ask me anything."

"Um… what does Ian do at night?"

She looked confused. "He goes to bed?"

I nodded nonchalantly. Even Ashley didn't know.

"Ashley. I hate to say this but… The best thing you could do for yourself is give up on him. If you haven't noticed by now, he won't open up to anybody. We've all tried."

Obviously not hard enough, I thought. I gave her a fake smile.

"He's barely even talked after what happened to him—" Ashley stopped herself.

I raised my eyebrows and dropped my fork. "Wait. What happened to him?"

She shook her head. "It's not for me to tell. But if you do happen to get him to become his old self again, it'd really be amazing. Just don't get your hopes up too high, or else you will be more disappointed if you fail." She hugged me. "I've got to go get ready." She started to leave.

"Ashley?" I said.

She stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"

I got up and gave her a hug. "Thank you. For being here to talk to. You're an awesome friend."

I felt her smile. "Of course. I'm always here for you."

I let her go and slapped her on the butt, making her jump. "Now get up there and get ready. We have a fun day ahead of us," I said.

She laughed and ran upstairs.

All I could do was sit back down, wondering what had happened to Ian.

"I'm ready, Ashley!" Keegan exclaimed, coming into the kitchen.

"Good, 'cause I'm not," I said, still in my PJ's. "Oh, by the way, Keegan… I've been meaning to ask you about something."

His cheeks turned pink. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think otherwise!" I said in a sing-song voice. "How did Twister go with Raya last night?"

He bashfully looked at the ground.

"Tell me!" I demanded, shaking him by the shoulders.

"Well… She, uh, fell on me a couple of times…"

I squealed.

"Don't tell anyone," he begged. "I mean, I know I felt something. But she probably didn't, and I… Oh, I don't know!"

"Don't worry," I said. "I'll get you two together."

His eyed widened. "No, Ashley. Please don't—"

"I'M BACK!" Raya's voice rang out from the living room.

I left the kitchen to greet Raya. "Hey!"

"Hey, Ashley!" she said. She looked around. "Where are the others?"

"They're getting ready," I said. "How about you go to the kitchen while I get ready? The boys made some pink lemonade." And Keegan's in there.

She gave me a confused glance, but headed to the kitchen.

"Hey, Raya," I heard Keegan say nervously.

I smiled. They were so cute. I ran to my room to get ready. I waved my hair and put on red skinny jeans, a striped shirt, and I borrowed suspenders from my Dad's closet. Yes, I was purposefully making fun of Ashley because we had the same name.

The others were dressed and ready in the living room when I came out. "Ready?" I asked.

They all looked at me with amused expressions. Ashley' was the most hilarious. She was wearing almost the same outfit as me, but the stripes on her shirt were thinner.

"Ashley, you like my outfit?" I teased.

She rolled her eyes. "Are we going shopping or not?"

"Out to the car we go!" I announced.

The whole group followed me out to the car. Great. We'd all have to squeeze in five seats. Never say never, right?

I looked back at an expressionless Ian. Right, I thought. Never say never.

We finally got inside the house. I angrily threw my shopping bags on the floor.

"I cannot believe you got us kicked out," Shay huffed, plopping down onto the couch and crossing his arms.

"It wasn't my fault they wouldn't give me more than one sample," Keegan muttered. "I love orange chicken."

"But you seriously thought that changing into a disguise would trick them?" Julian asked.

Keegan pouted his lip, looking adorable. I couldn't help but fall for it and pulled him into a hug. "It's alright," I said. "You can't help it if you love food."

"Exactly," Keegan said.

Troian rolled her eyes. "Don't fall for it, Ashley. He got us kicked out of the blasted mall!"

"You didn't have to argue with the police," I pointed out.

He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it.

After a few quiet seconds passed, we all fell to the floor laughing.

"Best shopping trip EVER!" I exclaimed.

"How long are we banned for?" Julian asked, wiping away tears.

"A week," I replied.

We all laughed again.

"Whelp. I'm wasted," Ashley announced. "I'm going to bed."

"We too," Keegan and Troian said.

Ian quietly followed both of them up the stairs.

"Sorry about today, Ashley," Shay said maturely.

I smiled. "It's fine. I actually quite enjoyed it. Goodnight, Shay."

"Goodnight." She headed up the stairs like the others.

I turned to Julian. "Are you going to bed too?"

"Nope, I think I'll stay down here," Julian said. "Where's the remote?"

I picked it up and threw it to him.

"Thank you." He plopped down on the couch, laying out and resting his head on the arm of the couch.

I shook my head in silent laughter and headed to my room. I locked myself in the bathroom and got into the shower. I let the warm water sooth me and sorted through my thoughts. I actually did have fun today. Keegan's just lucky that Raya's Mom had picked her up before he pulled his little stunt. I chuckled as I thought about it. Everyone had been laughing (except Ian). Speaking of Ian, what would it take to get him to return to being normal? Also, what did he do at night? Maybe I should follow Ian tonight and see for myself. I wouldn't feel closure if I didn't. It's decided then, I thought. Tonight I'm following Ian.

I got out, tied a towel around me, and quickly blow dried my hair. I put on random PJs and opened the bathroom door.

I passed through my room and into the living room. Fortunately, Julian was asleep on the couch, so I continued to go up the stairs. I hid inside the bathroom until I heard the door at the end of the hall open and shut. A few minutes later, I decided to get up and leave the bathroom. I walked to the end of the hallway and slowly turned the knob of the door. I slowly pushed it open and shut it behind me. I walked up the narrow winding stairs until I came to the mini-balcony. This was the side of the house, so the roof sloped on the front and back, not here. I looked down and saw straight to the ground. I stepped out onto the first stair of the fire escape and kept going up until I came to the corner of the house. Why was there a fire escape? This house used to be an old, small apartment building. Of course, now it was remodeled, but they kept the fire escape. I poked my head around it. Sure enough, there was Ian. He was dangerously sitting on the edge, his feet dangling. He held a guitar and next to him was an open notebook, he had a pencil behind his ear. He started to strum on the guitar.

I pulled my head back around the corner and sat down, hugging my knees to my chest. I wondered what he was doing out here with a guitar. But against all odds…

Ian started to sing.

He was quiet at first, but he progressively got louder. I closed my eyes to let his velvet voice sink in.

After a little, he stopped. I poked my head back around the corner, and he was writing something in the notebook. Except, his hand didn't look like it was writing. It looked more like he was scribbling, or coloring. Confusion flooded my thoughts.

I sat back down and leaned against the house. He started singing again a few minutes later, and I sat down in pure bliss.