I hear a cough and feel her jerk away from me. I look up to my apartment window and see Liam standing there, not really looking happy about the situation. "Well, good day Karma. Long time no see. Amy?" He sounds really pissed. "Can you come upstairs please and explain something to me?" I look at Karma, she stares on the ground, with a red face. She took off the beanie. "I'm so sorry," I mumble as I start to move towards the entrance, but she stops me by reaching out for my arm. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry. Is it okey, if I come with you?" I look at her confused. "Why would you want that? Liam is gonna rant about how this will ruin my relationship. I really rather have you down here and not up there." She finally looks at me, and I see the concern in her eyes. "That's what I'm worried about. And besides, at one point I have to talk to Liam when we want to be friends again." She takes a deep breathe before she continues. "And it's my fault that this happened. I just saw you standing there, and you look amazing in my old shirt. I just wanted to … you know." She blushes again and looks to the ground. I take her hand and lead her to my apartment. I let go of her hand before we enter. Inside stands an impatient and frowning Liam. "Oh great, you brought her up here." He says eyeing Karma with a disgusted face. "I wanted to come up here to explain, that this is not at all Amy's fault." He looks at her with a stern face and then looks at me. "So, bother to explain what happened, after you guys ran into each other in Austin?" Oh right, I told him. I see Karma looking at me with hope, but she just backs away from me a bit more. "Well, we talked and decided to be friends again, nothing more." She said in a low voice. She looks at her feet and fumbles nervously with the beanie in her hands. "Nothing more?" Liam asks with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. I sigh, I can't lie to him. He's always been there for me. "Well, there might have been a kiss. This kiss might have been completely my action. Yeah." His eyes widen and he bites his lip in anger. "So you pretty much cheated on the best guy that will ever cross your way with this thing over there?" He pointed at Karma who ducks her head whose eyes are filled with guilt and I see a tear rolling down her cheek. "Excuse you? She's my friend, how dare you talk to her like that?" So I still get overprotective when it comes to Karma. I feel her hand on my shoulder. "It's fine Amy, he's right. I'm not good for you in that way. That's why we're friends. I know that Oliver makes you happy and I only want to see you happy. This whole situation is my fault and I will tone it down, trust me. Don't worry Liam, I won't bother the two of you any further." She turns around to go. I shoot Liam a look and he raises his arms in defence still with a frown on his face. "Wait Karma, how about we meet tomorrow?" She turns around with a questioning look. "Well, I have plans with Paula. And I really don't think it's a good idea." I look at Liam again who crosses his arms again, looking at me questioning. "I mean all of us. You, me, Paula, Liam and Oliver." Liam snorts at the suggestion. "Well count me out, cause I have tons of stuff to do tomorrow, but you meeting Oliver might not be such a bad idea." He nods in Karma's direction. I look at her and she frowns a bit, still not happy about the situation. "I don't think it's a good idea. Is Oliver even free tomorrow? And I don't know if Paula is happy about the change of plans either, she really looked forward to see Venice Beach." I start to smile, I love Venice. "Oh don't worry, I happen to know that Oliver doesn't have clients tomorrow, so don't worry. And why shouldn't Paula like it to be shown around Venice by a person who's been there a lot and knows all the right places?" I wink at her. She bites her lip and we look at each other for a moment. "Well I'm going to bed now, you decide what you wanna do, but know that I'm watching you two." He makes this cheesy motion where he points at his eyes and then at us. I roll my eyes at him and shout "Sleep well, Booker!" after him. He only waves and walks to his room. I turn to Karma again who looks at me. "Well I guess I can't say no to you." I smile bright at her. "Great, see you tomorrow then, text me the details. If you want I can drive there." This will be amazing. There's a small hint of a smile on her face as she turns to the door. "Fine, Amy. See you tomorrow." And she's out the door. I pull out my phone to text Oliver.

Hey Olli, great news, Karma's in town and she wants to meet us. So how about Venice tomorrow?

Love you, Amy.

I walk to the bathroom to get ready for another Netlfix marathon. When I head to my room again I hear my phone buzz.

Karma? Okey, well … if you want to I'm in. She's your friend after all. But Venice? Really? You know I hate it.

I frown at his text. Can he just please agree and be happy to get to know my best friend?

Well she has plans with her friend Paula to go to Venice, and you know how much I love Venice! Please!

Okey, fine. I'll stop by your place tomorrow morning. See you then, love you.

I put away my phone smiling. The two most important people in my life will get to know each other. And maybe I get Paula and Karma together. They really would make a cute couple. I smile to myself mischievously and try to think about a way to make Paula and Karma a thing. But when I really think about it, do I even want them to be a thing? I mean … yeah I want her to be happy … but … no but, I lover her only platonically and I want her to be happy, now stop thinking stupid things Amy. I frown at myself. Ah fuck it, I'll get over it while watching Orphan Black. Halfway in the second episode I pass out.

I wake up to the sound of laughter. I groan, turn around and see that my door is open. That means Oliver is here and checked on me. I check the time on my phone, it's 8am. I groan again but decide to get up. I rub my eyes while entering the living room, pouting at the noise that the guys were making. "Have you slept at all?" Liam asks still laughing. "It's fucking early, what are you assholes doing up so early?" Yep, I'm clearly not a morning person. The boys look at each other caughing and starting to laugh again. "What's so funny?" I ask sitting down next to Oliver. He puts his arm around me finally calming down. I rest my head on my arms, still not happy that I'm awake that early. "I love it when you're grumpy in the morning, but some people have to work and Liam asked me if he could talk to me." Oliver smiles at me and pecks me on the cheek. It takes me a few seconds to process what he just said and I shoot up, shocked and eyes wide. "What did you guys talk about?" Oliver looks at me confused but chuckling, I'm suddenly wide awake staring at Liam. Did he tell him about the kiss? Liam smirks at me. "I was just wondering if his chambers need a bit Liam flavoured art." He winked at me. I let out a breathe I didn't realize I was holding in and the tension that had built up in my body fades. My head sinks down on my hands again and I close my eyes for a moment. "Is everything okey, Amy? You look a bit stressed." Of course I'm stressed. I repeated the same mistake I made two weeks ago and I somehow don't feel bad about it. That's not a really good sign. I feel him staring at me and quickly shake my head. "Oh no, everything's fine, it's just that I have to work on my story later today. I hope you don't mind, that I can't have dinner with you." I look at him apologizing. I really have to work without any kind of distraction and since we're gonna meet Karma today, I have to work a night shift. He frowns at me, but his eyes are soft. "I'm not happy about it, but I see you now, don't I? And I'm gonna see you for the rest of my life." He kisses me on the forehead and I can't help but smile. He's right. I plan to spend the rest of my life with him and that fills me with joy. I get up and stroll to the kitchen to make me breakfast, but Oliver already prepared pancakes. What would I do without this guy? I pour myself some coffee that definitely Liam made, because it was so strong, my spoon almost stood in there. I'm quiet while I eat my breakfast and the guys rant about the art that Liam is supposedly making for Oliver's chamber. My thoughts start to wander. This time to Paula. This girl is really confusing for me, I know she loves Karma, and Karma has something going on for her. I don't know if she just doesn't see it, or if I just interpret too much, but they always hang around and when I talk to Karma, she talks about her so often. Why doesn't Paula just go for it? What does she have to lose? She could get the most perfect woman in the whole universe. The best kisser I've ever known, with the softest hands and the most genuine smile. With the dreamiest voice and the soul of an angel. Fuck, I shouldn't think about her. This clearly makes me groggy. I realize that I've finished my meal and I stand up to get ready. I feel my phone buzzing in the pocket of my sweatpants and pull it out, just to see that I got a message. Speaking of the devil …

So, I'm awake. Paula not so much, but I think we'll be ready in two hours. What do you think?

-Karma

I lean over to Oliver and kiss him. He's surprised, but kisses back. I haven't kissed him like that in weeks and I really should do that more often. It's a passionate kiss filled with love. "Get a room you two." Liam scoffs at us. I pull away and wink at Liam heading to my room. I hit reply on my phone.

I'm awake, Oliver is already at my place. Two hours sounds great. Let's meet at the park, Paula knows where. See you then

xo Amy

Well, if you say she does … See you then.

I get ready as fast as I can and go to the living room again where the boys are still talking about art. I roll my eyes, tell Oliver when we'll leave and grab a book from my shelve.

I take a deep breathe. We're almost at the meeting point. I feel Paula putting my hand in hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "It's going to be fine Karma, I'm by your side." I smile at her, but I have this weird knot in my stomach. "So I'm going to meet Oliver for the first time. I mean I saw him in school and everything, but I never talked to him." I looked at her. She smiled at my anxiety to meet the fiancé of the girl of my dreams. "Look, if it's no fun, we're out of there. Trust me I can come up with the perfect excuse. In fact, we don't even need one, because you, my darling, still need a lawyer to check that contract." She nudges my shoulder playfully. "And we don't have all the time in the world to do so." I let out a small laugh and look at the ground. Paula's breathe hitches what makes me look up. They are standing there facing each other, talking. I feel the urge to turn around and run away. I'm so not ready for that. But Paula tightens the grip on my hand as if she can hear my thoughts. We both sigh and walk straight towards them. When Amy notices us, she smiles and waves enthusiastically, but the smile fades when she looks at our hands. I look down to our hands, oh right, we're holding them. Why does she frown at that? Oliver turns around and gives us a small smile and an even smaller wave as a hello. When we're finally there, Amy goes in for the hug with Paula who is a bit surprised by Amy's action. After that Amy hugs me really tight and says "Hey guys, I'm so happy that we're doing this. And as a formal introduction" She grabs Oliver's arm and pulls him closer to her, and an anger fumes up inside me. "This is Oliver, Oliver Karma, Karma Oliver. Oliver Paula, Paula Oliver." She gestures at the person as she says the name and Oliver shakes hands with the both of us. You can clearly see the discomfort as he takes my hand, but I try my best at ignoring it. So I'm not the only one who thinks this is bonkers. "So lets go then, the car is over there." She points in a direction and starts walking there with lots of energy. She grabs Oliver by the hand and drags him with her, waving us to follow them. This is so not normal-Amy behaviour, what is happening? I look at Paula who looks at Amy as bewildered as me, before looking at me mouthing what the fuck?! We head to the car, still holding hands. I really don't think I could handle it if she wasn't with me right now. Oliver is driving, and Amy is in the passenger seat. It's an Audi A8 and I'm seriously wondering which 26-year-old can afford such a car. Paula gets in the car with wide eyes and open mouth. We both really don't have any money, so we're not used to fancy cars and stuff. As I get in I can't hold back a comment. "Nice car, did you win in the lottery?" Oliver looks at me through the rear-view mirror and chuckles a bit. "No, actually I bought this with financial help from my parents. I'm paying it off on a monthly basis. I own it for a few months now." I nod understanding and we drive off to Venice Beach. I'm quite excited to see Venice Beach, but on the other side, I'm really scared how the day goes with those two. I frown a bit. The drive there is filled with a conversation from Amy and Oliver about how Amy needs to take more time for herself and, of course, for him. I roll my eyes annoyed, they really shouldn't be talking about this with others in the car. Paula leans over to me and whispers in my ear. "This is so awkward, are they really talking about their relationship right now?" I suppress a laugh, because I was thinking the same thing and whisper back "Yeah I know, right? But this situation is awkward nonetheless. Thank you so much for being here with me." I kiss her quickly on the cheek. "So, what are you guys doing in LA, you haven't told me yet." Amy looked at us through the rear-view mirror with a red face and an angry glare. She was clenching her fists and her words came out rather aggressive that even Oliver looked at her for a second. "Well, I'm pretty much here for work. And Paula decided to join me." The look on Amy's face sends shivers down my spine and the look on Paula's face tells me that she feels the same way right now. Amy raises an eyebrow. "Working? How does working in a pub get you to LA?" Is it just me or was this comment really rude? I look over to Paula who's mouth is now open and she's about to say something and because I know this won't end nice if she talks now, I talk fast. "Well I had an appointment with a record label yesterday." Amy's expression softens and she turns around with a surprised expression. "A record label? You mean, you have a record deal? Why didn't you tell me?" I looked over to Oliver who was concentrated on the road. "Well that was kind of a part of surprising you, but I didn't get to tell you." I say still looking at Oliver. As he shows no reaction, he doesn't know what happened yesterday. Other than Paula who starts to smirk in the corner of my eye and I push my elbow in her rib that she stops. "Ouch, you whore." She says rubbing her ribs, but she gets the hint and looks out of the window. "Oh okey, well you have to tell me about it." I told her the whole story how Evan got the hold of me and finally we arrive at Venice Beach. We get out of the car and start to walk to the beach. Paula and I with wide eyes and open mouths. We're stumbling over our own feet and almost fall simultaneously. I hear Oliver laugh and when I look behind me I see Amy nudging his ribs. "Hey, be polite. That's their first time on the beach." Paula laughs out loud, but I shoot her a look to be quiet. "Have you been to the beach before?" Oliver asks Paula nonchalant. She looks at me and winks "Of course I have, with that cutie next to me." Amy looks at me, hurt. We promised that my first time on a beach would be us two together. My parents don't have the money to travel, so I only got to see the world, or in my case Texas, with Paula in college. "Oh really? Where did you go?" I look at the ground, but I feel her eyes on me. "We travelled along the coast of Texas." Paula answers looking at the beach. "Must've been a great trip." The anger and disappointment drips from her voice and I feel my cheeks warm up. I must be red like a tomato. "Oh it was" Paula continued not realizing the tension in the situation. "we travelled the whole summer. We worked at pubs along the coast to afford the trip and hitch-hiked the whole way. We got to know a lot's of great people." I dare to look at Amy, who shoots me a hurt look, but I only shrug at her. What am I supposed to do? We didn't talk! I thought she hated me! "Especially Karma met some cute guys and girls. She even had a summer fling." Oh no she didn't. I facepalm and shut my eyes really tight at her naivety. How could she say something like that in front of Amy? "A summer fling? What's so great about a summer fling?" Oliver asks, not feeling the tension either I suppose. Amy walks now next to me, still glaring at me angrily. Is she angry at me that I had a fling? She can't be serious, can she? "That's something amazing, isn't it, Karma?" She looks at me smiling and I try to smile back, but it comes out weak. "Of course it is, it was a fun time." Amy takes a deep breathe next to me. Paula starts rambling about how we met this surfer chick in Freeport and how she was our travel companion for the whole summer. And of course how I started dating her during that time. It was the only girl I ever dated, well besides Amy, obviously. She had blonde curls, was really sporty and loved the rock chic look. She wore black a lot, but it suited her. I start to smile foolishly, it really was a great summer. What a bummer that it had to end. Amy's coughing snaps me out of my thoughts. "So, what do you think about Venice so far?" I look around for the first time really. It was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. The promenade with all those people and of course the beach. I'm almost drooling when I hear "fucking perfect" next to me. I look at Paula who's definitely drooling and giggle. She looks at me and pushes me lightly. "I'm happy that you like it, it's one of my favourite places in LA, it gives me inspiration for my writing." Paula looks at Amy with puppy eyes. "I can't even imagine working here, it must be amazing." Again I hear a laugh from Oliver's direction. "Trust me, LA isn't that great, really. Especially not if you're working with people." I don't even know what he works, and as if she could read my mind, Paula already talks. "What exactly do you do for a living, Oliver?" He looks at Amy, like he's disappointed that she never mentioned it. "I'm a lawyer, my chambers are here right around the corner." "A lawyer?" Paula asks with wide eyes. My face drops. "You're a lawyer? Really?" Both of them look at us confused. "Yeah, never seen one in real life?" He asks with a raised eyebrow. "Oliver, don't be sarcastic, that's really not nice." Amy snaps at him. They make a good old-married couple. "Oh we've met lawyers, trust me." Paula winks at Oliver. We both look at each other and she nods at me. "Well, can I ask you for a favour? I kinda might need you help with something." he looks at me amused. "Do you have legal issues?" He says suppressing a laugh. Amy shoots him a look and he stops immediately. "No, but you know that I've met with this record label? Well I have time till tomorrow, then I must've made my decision. I have the contract with me, but I wanted to check with a lawyer if it's an accurate deal, or not." He looks at Amy and she gave him a permitting look. "Oh amazing! I love contracts!" He pauses for a second as he sees my and Paula's questioning looks. "I'm not kidding, I'm serious. I love looking over contracts, because it's the detail that matters. We can go to my office right now if you want to." He's really excited about that. What a nerd, I chuckle. "Fine by me, I mean that really helps me." Amy looks a bit annoyed, but she agrees, and Paula agrees, too. We head to his office which is really close to the beach. That's to be envied. We sit down at the desk of his office and he starts reading the contract. After 10 minutes Amy gets up "I'm gonna go get some lunch. Does anyone want to come with me?" She looks at me expectant and I get up and say "Sure, it's gonna be complicated to get all the take-out here by yourself." I smile at her and she turns for the door. I look at Paula who just winks at me. As soon as the door is closed Amy looks at me. "Are you and Paula really just friends? You seem more than that, you guys have been through a lot together." I look at her, kinda surprised about the question. "We've been through a lot, too Amy. Paula and I are just friends." She frowns a bit "You seem pretty close, though." Is she jealous? "We are close, we spent almost every day with each other since college. You grow close in that time." She looks on the street and is silent for a few seconds. When she speaks again there's some sort of envy in her voice. "Why haven't you told me about this surfer chic?" Okey, she is jealous. "Why should I tell you about her? It was nothing serious." She sighs, but still doesn't look at me. "So you decided not to tell me, when you had a relationship. I don't know how to deal with that." My mouth drops open, I stop walking and stare at her. She can't be serious right now. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" I shout at her. She stops and looks at me. "You didn't tell me you're engaged and I should've told you about some unimportant summer fling, with someone who reminded me of you?!" She looked to the ground for a moment and then back up to meet my eyes. "Touché." With that she turns around again and starts walking. I catch up with her. We walk the rest of the way in silence and when we arrive at the Chinese restaurant she wants to get food, she let go of my hand. Wait what? When did she take my hand? We were holding hands? What did I miss here? It took me a moment to recollect myself and enter the restaurant behind her.