Epilogue

5 Years Later...

Jazmine's POV:

I walked out of my old suburban house after a brief morning breakfast with my parents. It was completely nostalgic being in my old home, and sleeping in my old room. Now I understood when people told me that my bedroom looked like Barbie threw up on it, very...pink. I certainly had a very specific taste when I was younger, still it felt good to have that nostalgia considering that today was the highschool annual 5 year anniversary. As class valiductorian I had the idea to change the anniversary from 10 years to 5 years. Simply because in 10 years we'd be close to our 30's and who does exciting stuff in their 30's? 5 years we were still young and the memories of each other wasn't completely wiped away. Of course I got some resistance from the second class valiductorian, but ultimately the school sided with me. Now I was on my way to meet up with a few people before it was time to be up at the school.

Is it really any surprise with who they are?

As I got into my car I briefly stopped to glance up at the old Freeman's household. Granddad was still tipping the bucket but never actually kicking it. Of course he needed some assistance around the house due to his age but from what I heard he didn't mind much since the maid was very pretty. I smiled at the thought and got into my car. The drive through Woodcrest only heightened that nostalgic feeling. I hadn't been back since I left for New York 5 years ago. I was now climbing the ranks at an editorial magazine company. As much as I missed Woodcrest, I had to admit, leaving Woodcrest, and the people in it, behind was the best choice I had made for myself. Despite that I couldn't deny how nervous and excited I was to see said people. In fact, as I walked through the café doors and spotted them, I couldn't stop myself from running over to them.

Cindy was the first to notice me. She tapped on Riley's arm who turned around to see me running towards them. A very big, welcoming smile spread across his face and he stood up just in time for me to run into his arms. We held each other in a tight hug that nearly pushed all the air out of me.

"Damn girl, it's good to finally see you and not hear your annoying ass voice on the phone." He teased before slowly breaking out of the hug.

Riley was the one I kept in contact with the most. I talked to him just about everyday and kept up with his life as much as possible being so far away from him. As Riley matured so did his look. He now ditched his childhood signature braids and instead had a small crew cut. He still dressed very thuggish casual but from what I heard, his style was getting alot of attention on social media. Unlike me he never left Woodcrest and was still debating what to really do with his life, for now he worked as a mechanic but he assured me that it was a very temporary thing. Also, unlike me, he kept in touch with all of us. Although I tried not to be too nosy Riley still updated me on all of their lives. He had officially become one of my gossip buddies whether he knew it or not. He backed away and Cindy smiled, offering a much smaller hug than him.

"Hey, good to see you." We both gushed at the same time.

Cindy and I never really bounced back after the whole fight in highschool. Although back then it ended with me still disliking her, but wishing her the best, 5 years later it all seemed so silly. Of course it took a while, but I finally forgave her and she did the same. We chatted every now and then, but on the bright side the calls were getting more frequent. It was almost like when we were younger, however now I kept my love life and who I was dating to a minimum. I forgave but I never forgot. Cindy had changed and matured much like Riley. Although she looked mostly the same (same shimmering blue eyes and sandy blonde hair) she now had a deep tan from being in California for so long, now staying with her dad alot, and instead of bouncing between tomboy and stripper, she had found a happy medium that resulted in her dressing very style savvy.

"Here, you can sit right there." She told me and pointed to a seat across from her at the small round table.

"Thanks." I said and draped my purse along the back of the chair.

It was so strange seeing all of them again, yet I couldn't stop the goofy smile on my face at the sight of them. Still, something was clearly off. I stared at the empty chair next to me.

"So, where's he?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Um-"

"Getting the coffee." A voice piped up from behind me.

It sent a shiver through my whole body and I reluctantly turned around. There he was, Huey Freeman. He had grown, was the first comprehensible thought that came to my mind. The rest was a muddle of springing emotions and internal screaming. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, watching to see how I would react but, like them, I had grown. I smiled and reached for the coffee he was handing me.

"2 shots of cinnamon, 4 shots of vanilla, and 2 Splenda packets." He said.

Of course he still remembered how I liked my coffee. I tried not to, but it made me a little happy that he did. He also handed Riley and Cindy their coffee.

"Oooooh did you fix it the way I like it too?" Riley asked with a snicker and began to raise the coffee cup to his mouth. I looked at him and waited, knowing it was gonna hit him eventually. "Ew, pause." He added before taking a sip.

I playfully rolled my eyes as Cindy chuckled. It was definitely weird being here with all of them again. As we talked and caught up with each other, I kept taking secret glances at Huey. It wasn't in a romantic way, I was just very curious. We talked maybe once a month, mostly just to make sure the other was doing okay. We didn't talk about things beside our classes and what we were currently doing. I hadn't actually seen him in person since graduation. His afro had shrunk, obviously he had cut it recently, and he now had a 5 o'clock shadow that suited his face nicely. Clearly he continued to work out, I noticed the way his muscles hugged against his long sleeve black shirt. He was taller. He was...handsome.

"Jazmine." Someone called, interrupting me from my thoughts.

"Hmm? Yes?" I asked abruptly as if I had been caught.

Cindy laughed and leaned against the table. "I asked how was life in NY. My pops gotta business plan out there and I was thinking of visiting the city with him." She said.

"Well it is VERY busy. I mean even at night. The first month I was there I couldn't sleep at all. There's so much noise!" I told her and rolled my eyes at the memory.

Riley started laughing loudly beside me. "Oh, tell them about the subway incident." He said, tapping my arm.

I rolled my eyes, already disgusted at the thought. Of course he would bring it up, the story made him laugh ever since I told him it. As much as I loved NY, that incident made me hate and regret moving there for a full 3 months. It was the fact that he was laughing so hard and I haven't even told the story yet, that made me want to.

"Okay so I had been pretty set on NEVER using the subway but my boss constantly had me running around when I was an intern and the subway was the fastest route. Anyways, the first few times were perfectly fine. Then, it happened-"

"DUN, DUN, DUN!" Cindy interrupted loudly.

"You're so over dramatic." Huey added.

I wasn't sure who he was referring to, probably both of us since it was kinda true. Cindy smirked at the comment though, then turned to me so that I could continue my story. Riley was practically wiggling in his seat, waiting for the funny part to happen. Or at least the part he considered funny, while I considered it traumatizing.

"I was sitting down when I noticed like, this liquid slowly trailing it's way past my feet. When I followed it up there was a lady PEEING like this was her own personal bathroom!"

"Ew!" Cindy exclaimed.

"I know! I mean she was full on squat peeing!" I said.

Cindy shuddered in disgust. At least SOMEONE understood the horror I had went through. Meanwhile Riley was laughing hysterically, almost to the point of falling out of his chair. He held onto his stomach and leaned towards Cindy, who only whacked his arm disapprovingly.

"So, what did you do?" Huey asked, almost knowingly.

I looked away from them and instead looked down at my coffee cup. I knew Riley was waiting expectantly and if I didn't say it, he would, but I knew it would make all of them laugh at me. I fiddled with the cup and grudgingly mumbled my answer.

"I may have screamed and threw my hand sanitizer at her." I said.

Not so surprisingly when I looked up Riley and Cindy were both now laughing at the thought of me freaking out. Even Huey had a very amused smirk on his face and shot me a Look that made me smile. 5 years may have changed us, but not entirely our friendship. I playfully rolled my eyes and motioned around the table.

"Alright, someone else tell an embarrassing story." I demanded with a small laugh.

Their laughter died down a bit, with a few resonating chuckles here and there. Cindy wiped away her tears.

"Well in Cali, I've seen so many flashers I'm actually used to it now." She offered.

We all shared a mutual look of disgust.

"That ain't funny, that's nasty as fuck." Riley said causing Cindy to roll her eyes. "Now there ain't no way in hell I'm going to California."

Huey raised an eyebrow. "You were thinking about going to California?" He asked.

Clearly this was something he had not discussed with his brother, or me for that matter. Which was strange but I just drank my coffee and waited for him to explain. He took his time, clearly not wanting to go into it too much.

"Well ain't shit for me here." He said.

"Except your house, job, and school." Huey pointed out.

"I told you, that job was temporary anyways." Riley shot back.

"Yeah, but you said that 2 years ago." I added.

Riley rolled his eyes but didn't say anything in response to that. I wasn't trying to pick or gang up on him, like I said before, I really cared about Riley. I just wanted him to be serious about his life and future for once. Huey probably felt the same considering that was his younger brother. Cindy, sensing the tension, grabbed onto Riley's arm and offered him a smile.

"Aye, don't worry Reezy. I'm with you, I ain't got no clue what I wanna do in the future." She said reassuringly, making Riley's smirk return.

"You should have some type of idea, you're both out of highschool. Wait too long and you'll regret it." Huey told them.

"Thank you Professor Huey." Cindy teased.

While I agreed with him, I also knew that we were all still young. They still had a little time to figure out what they wanted. I decided not to push the subject anymore.

"Ohhhhh Professor Huey?" I asked teasingly.

I knew that Huey had a thought about going into the teaching career. College level, of course, since he said that people younger than that gave him a migraine. I thought it was the smartest career choice for him. Huey was the smartest person I knew, and he was such an old soul. I think he could definitely teach this other generation a thing or two.

"Teaching! I could do that shit!" Riley exclaimed.

"You'd really want to?" I asked curiously.

He scrunched up his face. "Hell no, but teachers get hit on alot by fine ass females. I'd be eye candy for every girl there." He teased and flashed a very confident smile at us.

Huey scowled. "You're disgusting." He commented but Riley only snickered.

Cindy looked over to him. "But is he lying?" She asked knowingly.

"I'm only an assistant teacher for now."

"Is he?" She pressed.

Huey rolled his eyes. "No." He answered grudgingly.

Riley smirked triumphantly and Cindy laughed. Since Huey and I hadn't talked much, love lives were never brought up between us. I think regardless of whether we talked everyday or not I wouldn't have asked him about his life. Although I was the one that asked and reassured that we were still friends, I couldn't bare hearing about his love life...at least from him. Of course Riley updated me on it, as I'm sure he did the same for Huey.

"I'm not surprised." I quipped.

More than anything, I wanted things to stay casual between us. Although they were trying to hide it, I knew Riley and Cindy were watching us for any sign of old feelings. Well they weren't going to find anything, at least not from my end. It had been 5 years, 5 years without him.

"Like guys don't flirt with you in NY?" Huey asked.

"Yeah, you dating anybody new Jazzy?" Cindy asked.

"Yes." I answered, maybe a bit too quickly. I saw Riley shoot me a Look through the corner of my eye. "His name is Ian." I added, avoiding the gaze from Huey.

I grabbed my coffee, drinking the rest of it in one gulp. Things had definitely turned from casual to a bit awkward. I took that as my cue to leave. I was back for our reunion, not for this. I grabbed my purse from my chair and slung it onto my shoulder.

"I'm gonna get a refill then go help set up for the reunion." I told them and quickly got up before the could stop me.

I knew that probably only made it worse, but I wasn't exactly lying. It was great catching up with them in person but I had agreed to help set up the gym. I was going to be a little early but that's fine. I walked over to the café bar and ordered another coffee. As I waited for my order, Riley walked up beside me and ordered another coffee as well.

"That was weird as hell you know." He told me.

"I know." I replied apologetically.

He waved me off. "So..."

I sighed just as the bartender sat my coffee down in front of me. "So?" I asked.

He gave me a Look. "Jazmine," he said. I knew he was giving me the opportunity to say something but I ignored it. He sighed. "When is yo ass gonna tell him?" He asked.

I slammed my 5 onto the table and grabbed my to-go coffee. "I have no idea what you're talking about." I said, and quickly left before he could say anything else.

Riley's POV:

Shortly after Jazmine left, Huey left too to get ready. Of course Cindy and I didn't go with them since we were 2 years younger than them and didn't graduate with them. I was glad to have some alone time with Cindy, I hadn't seen her much since she moved out to California. Of course we had kept in touch. I think I talked to her as much as I talked to Jazmine. The thought of Jazmine and Huey and their weird fucked up feelings for each other wasn't the thought on my mind though. It was the talk we had before shit got awkward. As annoyed as I was at both of them for pointing it out, I was completely clueless when it came to my future. My "temporary" job turned into 2 years and counting. I had no clue what the fuck I was doing.

"And then she took off my shirt and we started making out."

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed, now noticing the small blonde that had been talking next to me this whole time.

Every time I saw her she looked so different, in a good way. She still came to visit Woodcrest about twice a month to visit her mom, but we barely had time to hang out then. The only reason she was back now was because I told her about the highschool reunion and she decided since Huey and Jazmine were coming back, so should she. Oh and speaking of Huey, if it wasn't obvious, him and Cindy were no longer dating. They officially broke up about 3-2 years ago. Now, from what I heard, Cindy dated around in California but she was always quick to inform me that nothing was serious.

She smirked at me. "What? Was yo ass not listening?" She asked.

She clearly already knew the answer, and since she did I played along. I matched her smirk. "Of course I was, I just thought the shit was interesting. Now I wanna hear it again." I lied easily.

She laughed and shoved me playfully. "You so full of shit. I made up that last part anyways." She said.

"Duh girl, I knew that." I said.

We were still at the café but we had now moved to the table in the far back. She laughed but looked at me intently, clearly noting how, even now, I still wasn't completely invested in our conversation. Not that the thought of Cindy making out with some girl didn't interest me, I just couldn't get over what they had said. She grabbed onto my hand and gave me a reassuring squeeze.

"Hey, talk to me." She said.

"About?" I asked.

She gave me a Look. "Nigga please. Whatchu thinking about?" She pressed.

I sighed. I knew her ass wouldn't stop until I actually told her, even if I didn't it was clear she knew what was up. Damn, I forgot how much we actually knew each other.

"I don't know what the fuck I wanna do." I admitted.

She nodded. She had mentioned how she was in the same boat as me but, unlike me, she didn't seem to be stressing out about it as much. The thing was, she was trying all angles to see what she would like to do in the future, I didn't have that type of luxury. I either had to figure it the fuck out or, like Huey said, I'd be regretting it soon.

"Nobody our age does, including me." She said.

"Yeah but Huey said-"

"You stressing because of Huey?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes. True, Huey and I still argued every now and then because, let's face it, we irritated the hell out of each other but I still took his advice seriously. He wasn't completely wrong, in 2 more years it would be our 5 year anniversary and I didn't want to be the one nigga there not doing shit with my life.

"He ain't wrong." I pointed out.

She shrugged. "True, true. So, have you thought about it?" She asked.

"Nah, mostly stressed about it." I admitted.

She scrunched up her nose. "Since when did you start stressing about shit? You was always went with the flow." She said.

I smirked. "Gotta grow up a little, girl." I told her.

She smiled. "Aight, you got my ass again." She said chuckling. "Still," she continued. "Stressing ain't gonna help you solve shit. You need to take a step back and relax for a minute."

To be honest, she had a point. It wasn't like in these years since highschool I hadn't been doing shit. I was constantly looking to find something that interested me enough to actually go to school for it. At the moment I was just at school for the basics but I had no destination. It was stressful as fuck and maybe she had a point.

"Aight, you got a point. So, what should I do to relax?" I asked.

She leaned over the small circular table and closer to me. A very playful smile danced across her tan skin and her blue eyes shimmered mischievously as they stared deeply into mine. "Come to California with me." She said.

"What?"

Her smile grew, clearly expecting this response. "Come to California with me." She repeated.

At first I just stared at her, trying to see if she was serious. Although the amused and mischievous look never left her face, underneath I could still clearly see how serious she was. This girl was actually offering to bring me to California. I chuckled and shook my head.

"Girl, yo white ass drunk or nah?" I asked.

"I'm serious, like you said, there ain't shit for you here." She pointed out.

"Expect my house, job, and school." I said, mimicking Huey more than I wanted to admit.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "You can live with me, finally make that 'temporary' job temporary, and you can finish up your classes online." She said, as if it were that simple.

Was it that simple? I couldn't ignore the excitement I got, just the thought of actually just saying fuck it and doing something spontaneous. It would be fun as hell, and better yet, I would be doing it with Cindy.

"You and me living together, just us?" I asked.

She blushed and it made me smirk. "Is that gonna be a problem?" She asked.

I leaned against the table, our noses barely touching with us inches apart. My smirk grew and so did her blush.

"I don't know, you tell me." I teased.

Her eyes briefly flickered to my lips. For a minute I thought she might kiss me, but then she backed away, clearly deciding not to. Her cheeks were still flushed but she smiled slightly.

"Maybe." She said honestly. Next thing I knew, my damn cheeks were turning pink. She held out her hand to me. "So, is that a yes?" She asked.

I looked down at her hand, then up at her expecting face. We were both confused and lost when it came to our future, but when we were together it made it easier to figure it out. She wiggled her fingers, getting inpatient with my stalling. Living with Cindy in California? It should be obvious as fuck. I grabbed her hand, our fingers lacing together and fitting together perfectly in a way I had never noticed when I was younger.

"Fuck yeah, let's go girl." I said.

She smiled brightly and stood up. I grabbed her purse for her and we made our way out the door. It was completely crazy, what we were about to do but we were C-Murph and Reezy, we damn near defined the word crazy. Besides, the thought of living alone with Cindy wasn't weird at all. It was natural, like something I knew would eventually happen. I mean, I did actually imagine us dating when that shit happened but...

I looked down at her. Her hand tightened around mine and she smiled back up at me. I pulled her closer against me and she snuggled into me.

I was sure that was about to happen soon enough.

Huey's POV:

I had arrived at the school 30 minutes early and had offered to help around. Well, I didn't really offer because I didn't really care, but every time I approached Jazmine she sent me off on some other task. Although she had definitely changed and matured, it was clear that she still hated to face awkward situations head on. I would have been annoyed, had it not been so cute. I had finished the small tasks she had sent me on and once the reunion started I had spent most of my time at the open bar, avoiding people as much as possible. It wasn't that difficult, considering I wasn't really friends with any of these people when I did attend Wunclear High. Still, as I drank my bourbon and scanned the room, my eyes kept going back to her; Jazmine Dubois, the life of the party.

She floated her way across the room, socializing with everyone even people that I knew she didn't really know. I think without her there would be more people like me at the bar, avoiding conversation until the night ended. I didn't study her in a romantic way, I was simply very curious. I hadn't seen her since we left this damn school. She had definitely grown into her body. She was tall and slim, but clearly her curves had gotten a bit bigger. It seemed she now wore her hair in unkempt waves that suited her nicely. She was a woman now. She was...beautiful.

"Well, you're definitely eyeing her carefully." Someone said from behind me.

Of course I recognized that slow and expressionless tone of voice anywhere. As I turned to face her, I wasn't surprised to see Ming Long-Dou staring back at me. My once kickball enemy from when I was younger and currently my ex girlfriend. Cindy and I had been on and off for many years before deciding that it was best to end our relationship completely. It was a mutual agreement and honestly, didn't change our friendship much. We now understood each other in a way I suppose only people who dated could. She was an amazing friend and I kept in touch with her frequently. Anyways, a few months after we broke up I ran into Ming who had moved from China to Woodcrest. Of course our reunion was bitter, to say the least, but after a while it was hard to deny growing interest and attraction to Ming. We dated for a year but ultimately broke up as well.

Now here she was, obviously she had snuck in considering she had never attended Wunclear High School. She hadn't changed much since I had last seen her. Her black hair was still long and stringy, which she now wore hanging effortless down her back. Her coal almond eyes stared deeply into mine, as if daring me to deny it.

Instead, I drank from my bourbon again. "The same way you seem to be eyeing me." I said.

She looked me up and down, clearly noticing how I neither confirmed or denied her accusation. It was abundantly obvious to me that she had snuck in here to see me. Most likely to cause some trouble again, that was her specialty after all, but my attention still wasn't completely devoted to her. I continued to scan the room, although my eyes did keep instinctively drifting to Jazmine.

"Huh." She mumbled next to me.

I glanced over to her. "Yes?" I asked. I knew that if I didn't find out what she wanted to say she would never leave me the hell alone.

"Well, I was coming to talk to you. Believe it or not, I did somewhat miss dating you but," she paused and waited until I was looking at her. "It's clear that I'm late." She said.

I scowled, already tired of her speaking in riddles. "What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.

She smirked. "It means you can buy me a drink since I did swallow my pride and come all this way." It was strange how, although her facial expression could change, her voice remained monotone.

I rolled my eyes but pulled out my wallet nonetheless. It had been my decision to end things with Ming. She had seemed very aloof about it but clearly, unlike me, she missed our relationship. Just as I was taking out my money I noticed Jazmine making her way to the bar. She sat at the other end and ordered something I couldn't hear the name of. I handed the money to Ming and stood up.

"I need to go." I told her, already making my way to Jazmine.

She nodded, knowingly. "Of course." She said.

I knew I had to be quick, the girl had been avoiding me all night but I was determined to talk to her now. There were some things that needed to be said.

Jazmine's POV:

I'll admit, I had been avoiding him all night. After Riley informed me on how awkward I made things I thought if I opened my mouth I would only worsen things. Besides, I wasn't sure if Riley had spoken to him about things since I had left. If he did, I certainly didn't want to talk to him. I knew he was staring at me all night and although I knew it shouldn't have, it gave me some confidence. It wasn't the fact that he was looking at me, it was the way he was. I knew it was wrong, but I loved that look. I had just decided to stop avoiding the inevitable and talk to him when I noticed him talking to Ming.

Riley had mentioned Ming of course when he told me about Huey. Apparently they had dated but broke up shortly after. I had no idea how the hell she had gotten into here, but it was clear who she was here for. For all I know he could have invited her. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wasn't my place to wonder about it or feel any way about it. Still, I couldn't deny the fact that I was.

"Are you okay Jazmine?" One of my former classmates asked.

"I need a drink." I mumbled.

I walked over to the bar and sat as far away from them as possible. If they were getting back together I didn't want to ruin it. Ming and I didn't have the best friendship. Never mind our connection through Huey, we still never liked each other since the kick ball incident. I found her very sneaky and honestly compared to Cindy, she was a downgrade on Huey's part.

"You look like you need a drink." Someone said.

"You have noooo idea." I replied and turned to face them.

I was surprised, pleasantly surprised, to see Huey standing there. He had changed from this afternoon into a simple black and white tux. I rolled my eyes, unable to ignore how nice he looked in it. He sat down next to me and ordered me a drink and another bourbon for himself.

"Bourbon, classy." I commented.

He shrugged. "You don't have much of a variety." He said.

"Maybe this is because this is a reunion, and not a place to get blacked out drunk." I teased.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding right? Our class was known for getting drunk every night." He said.

I giggled, because he was right. Our graduating class had back to back parties, resulting in so many people passed out from drinking the school eventually gave up and accepted it. We were definitely a handful, but just talking to these people I noticed how much we had changed. We had grown out of our wild party ways. One drink between Huey and I had turned into 3. I was tipsy at best, but we decided to stop after drink number 3. Mostly we sat around the bar and talked. I told him about Ceaser. Last I had heard, he had moved to Washington and he and Sophie were working on their relationship. That was all Sophie told me but that was honestly all I wanted or needed to hear. As long as, like all of us, he had grown then I hoped the best for him.

"You look beautiful tonight Jazmine." Huey said.

It surprised the hell out of me. Before I knew it, I could feel the warmth resonating from my cheeks and I knew I was blushing very hard. I shook it off as nothing. Who doesn't blush from a nice compliment from a friend?

"Thank you." I squeaked. I cleared my throat. "You look handsome." I told him.

He slightly smiled and raised his glass for a drink. He drank it slowly, eyeing me as he did. I knew that look, and I knew what that look meant. As he lowered his glass, I readied myself for the question he was going to ask me.

"So where is Ian?" He asked quizzically.

I looked down at my glass and shrugged. "This was my highschool reunion, not his." I said.

I could feel him staring at me. I knew he was annoyed that, although I was the one that brought him up earlier, I offered nothing much about him since. I couldn't tell if he was being over protective or something more, but either way it wasn't his place. Suddenly I realized that I didn't have the right to scold him for it. Was I not checking him out earlier? Constantly keeping up with his life? Feeling happy over looks he gave me? 5 years and he still had this affect on me.

"Um, I should probably get going." I said as I stood up. "Besides, I'm sure Ming is wondering where you are."

I offered a small smile as I slid out of the bar chair. I just needed to get away from him before I did something we'd both regret. I had just started to walk away when he grabbed onto my wrist. I'm not completely sure what happened next. I blinked and next thing I knew, we were kissing. An intense kiss, that made my knees shuddered and made me fall deeper into the kiss before I could stop myself. My arms found their way around his neck and linked onto each other, while he arms wrapped around my waist, not allowing me to break away from the kiss. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to. The longer we kissed the more I was consumed by it, falling deeper and deeper.

When my brain finally caught onto what was happening I pushed him away, his arms giving me room to back away but not walk away. He was panting and staring at me with those deep maroon eyes like he wanted to...my knees shuddered again.

"What the hell are you doing? " I exclaimed.

I covered my mouth with my hand as if it would help resist the urge to kiss him again. Of course it didn't and I could still feel his lips perfectly pressed against mine. He remained silent, catching his breath.

"Why did you kiss me?!" I demanded.

He scowled, clearly not liking my tone. "I didn't." He said.

I looked down, noticing how far away I had been when I walked away. My eyes widened as I realized I was the one that initiated the kiss. Still, he went along with it! He didn't make it any better.

"So you just let me kiss you?" I asked accussingly.

"Yes!" He shot back.

"Why would you do that?!" I demanded. His scowl deepened, but I spoke again before he was able to say anything. "I know about Ming!" I hissed.

"I'm sure you do. The same way you know when Cindy and I officially broke up and where I went out to eat last week." He snapped.

"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked, matching his scowl.

He stepped closer to me. "Do you honestly think Riley didn't tell me that you still checked up on me?" He asked.

"That two-faced-"

"The same way he told me stuff about you." He interrupted. My mouth snapped shut and my attention was fully on him. So he had been asking about me? "There was a reason I didn't ask much when we talked." He added.

I was still somewhat stuck on the fact that he had asked about me. One of the main reasons I never wanted Riley to tell him was because I thought it sounded pathetic. I still thought and worried about him while it seemed like he continued to move on with his life. I was upset about that, hell I had encouraged and definitely had taken my own advice, I just wished that he felt the same way I did. Romantic or not the fact that he still checked up on me, made me realize that he did care about me.

"And," he stepped closer. "To address what you said; Yes, Ming and I dated but we broke up. She came here tonight to talk but we are STILL broken up." He explained.

My eyes darted to down the bar. Ming had her hands full with the guys flocking around her and didn't seem to care one bit about Huey or me. I looked back at him, then down at the black dress I was wearing. I smoothed it down from where it had been riled up.

"Well I'm not." I reminded him.

"Bullshit." He said, forcing my head to snap back up. He was staring at me knowingly. "You and I both know there is no Ian."

"Oh? Because of Riley?" I asked. I wouldn't be surprised if the answer was yes.

Huey rolled his eyes. "No, because I know when you lie you can never look me in the eyes." He pointed out.

I scoffed. "You don't know me Freeman." I told him.

This time he scoffed. He was now standing in front of me, so close it seemed as if we would kiss again, but we didn't. He grabbed my face with both hands, forcing me to stare at him and only him. Those intense maroon eyes enveloped me and I stared back at him just intensely.

"Yes, you've changed and you've grown but I will ALWAYS know you Jazmine." He said.

My eyes flickered back and forth in his.

"And why is that?" I asked.

So maybe I knew the answer, but I needed to hear it. The thing was there WAS an Ian, and a Liam and a Tristan and a Caleb. All amazing guys, but none of them lasted. The sad part was it really was me and not them. None of them could beat Huey. None of them completely lived up to my expectation. They were all nice distractions but it was clear to me from the day that I walked away from him on that hill that eventually I would always find my way back to Huey.

"Because," he said. "I am in love with you Jazmine Dubois. I've been in love with you for a long time and nobody could change that."

I felt like the air had been knocked out of me, but I'd be damned if it wasn't the best feeling in the world. His hands dropped from my face to back around my waist. He leaned his forehead down on mine and never broke eye contact. I knew we were in a room full of people, but it felt like just me and him.

"Now I listened to you 5 years ago and gave you your space, but I'll be damned if I let you go again. I love you Jazmine, and I'm over this 'just friends' thing." He continued.

My heart was thumping loudly in my chest and threatening to jump out any minute. Even though I knew he was waiting for a response from me, I was speechless. All I knew was that I wanted his lips on mine again more than ever. I wanted to leave this party and spend the rest of the night and my life with him. I was so in love with Huey Freeman it was hard to think rationally.

"Jazmine..."

"It took you long enough." I teased once my brain could actually function again.

His eyes narrowed and I giggled. Then he was pulling me into another kiss. I felt it all, the love between us that I thought would eventually fade away. It never did, but that wasn't a bad thing and that time apart wasn't either. We learned who we are as people, and I was certain that's what made us realized that nobody could take the place we had for one another. I pulled back briefly, just to whisper lovingly into his ear.

"I love you too Huey."

Author's Note: Annnnd this story is officially complete, WOO! I'm actually very exhausted but I can't wait to see the reviews for this. We've all come a long way but I'm beyond happy about it. I'll add a real Authors Note in a bit, explaining what's to come next from me and to answer some requests and questions I've gotten. For now, I hope you enjoyed this and thank you so much for continuing to stay with me through this crazy ass story lol.

Reviews are Love :3