Chapter 25: Someone I know

Years went by and every single character went their own way. College separated the friends, ripping them apart and spreading them all over the United States. Keeping in contact seemed almost impossible. But yet they did meet up twice. Once for a very sad occasion, an occasion which broke hearts. It broke on heart the most. One heart never recovered. Others healed. Slowly they healed but they would never forget.

The second meeting was a joyfull one. A wedding. A wedding they wished they would be complete. The whole group was history now. But they didn't let their crying hearts turn this wedding into something done. She didn't deserve it. A wedding was an joyfull event. A very joyfull event. The friends decided to keep it that way. It turned out to be a night they would never forget. But soon they had to go their separate ways again. Each one of them went into a different directon. But they decided to meet every year. Each year in the summer one of the friends would make dinner and they all would come together. To celebrate.

Kelly lived in Seattle, working at the city's most famous radio station. She even had her own show Ask Kelly. The former amateur gymnast worked as a journalist at a newspaper before. But her career took off early. Maybe too early for some. But for Kelly work was just going at the right speed. As for her private life... She was happy. Happy with her long time boyfriend Sage.

Holly lived in New York. She worked as a model to get some extra money during college, where she met the love of her life. The love which she married a couple of years after they met. The wedding was beautifull. Nowadays, the blonde oscillated between her house in the Hamptons and her apartment on the Upper East Side. The former model was now working as a laywer. The State's most famous laywer.

Alexwas a stewardess, which means she was on the plane pretty much all the time. It was her dream job. She loved flying and she loved visiting new places. But her home was in Paris. The only city which fascinated her enough to make her wanna live there. It was wonderfull in France.

Miley and Nick were both living in Los Angeles. Together. Forever. Was their motto. A motto they created after this horrible occasion. It bonded them together even tighter. As if something like this was possible. The Hollywood Hills were now their home. The place where both superstars could be normal human beings. Where both superstars could escape from their stressfull days. Working as both singers and actor/actress was sometimes more stressfull than they could have ever imagined, but they were happy with their choice. They loved their lives. Their lives together.

A couple of miles away from Nick and Miley was Gabriella's house. She lived in Malibu. She had the most beautifull house at the beach. Although the former elite gymnast was living at one the most beautifull places in the world, there was no way she rested. She kept on going. Kept on moving. Because otherwise she would break apart. Again. Like she did every time she had a second for herself. There was no day she didn't even spend a thought on it. The horrible occasion.

The beautifull brunette had worked as a model for fun while she was at Stanford. Now the pretty woman was the owner of several recording labels and boutiques. Designing and writing songs were her passion. She was at the top of her career. But she was not lonely on the top. She had someone beside her. Like she always had. He was the one she could count on, no matter what. He had been there for her all these years. He was beside her, making sure she would survive any heart breaking event. He was there for her. Like he always been. They were even neighbours now. Knowing that he was just a doorbell ring away from her comfronted her, made her feel better. Andrew made her wanna go on. He was the best friend. The friend whom Gabriella could tell anything. Their relationship may didn't work out, but their friendship was at it's strongest. The longer they were friends, the stronger their friendship grew. The former professor at Yale was now working at the University of California. He loved it more than Yale, which seemed impossible at the beginning. But with the beach just around the corner, he could go surfing in his free periods which made life a little better.

This year, it was Gabriella's turn to host the party.

Location: East Side, Seattle

"Sage, we need to keep going! Otherwise our flight will leave without us!" Kelly called through her house, hoping he would hear her.

"Coming!" the green eyed man called back, lifting up the luggage. "Why did you pack so much? I thought we would just spend the weekend in Malibu."

"Exactly. A whole weekend! Do you know how many outfit changes that is, honey?" she asked him as she held the front door open.

"It's just a weekend." he reminded her, "It's a get-together at Gabriella's house."

The blonde smiled at her boyfriend, "You haven't seen her house yet..."

Location: Upper East Side, New York

The ringing phone interrupted the blonde from packing. She looked at the display. Work. She sighed but didn't pick up. She deserved the weekend. The weekend away from this stressfull job. Away from this. A weekend with Adam, her husband.

The brunette guy stormed into their master bedroom, "Honey are you he stopped as he saw the open suitcase lieing on the floor, clearing she wasn't ready yet.

"Don't give me that look, Adam." she said, stuffing in clothes. "I know, I am late. But my freaking phone keeps ringing and I can't bare that sound anymore. They know I took the weekend off. Why can't they just leave me alone?" she said, with tears dropping onto the clean clothes in her suitcase.

Adam sighed before he walked over to his wife. He sat next to her on the floor, rubbing her back. "Shhhh, everything is going to be fine." he tried to comfort his wife.

"It's not going to be fine!" she said in one breath. "I am not done with packing and our freaking plan leaves in an hour, which means we already should be at the freaking airport!"

"We take the next plane. I'm sure Gabriella will understand."

"It's not about Gabriella!" she screamed before she took a deep breath. "It's just..."

"Your hormones are freaking you out, I know..." he said as he hugged her.

"Oh you know nothing!" she said to him. "I am a bitch and it's all your fault." she blamed him.

"I will quote that at our second ultra sound." he said getting up before he offered her a hand, "Come on, I'm gonna make you a cup of tea. You will feel better afterwards."

"You and your British teas." Holly said rolling her eyes, getting up.

"They help." he said as he placed his hands on her shoulders, leading her into the kitchen.

Location: Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles

The Paparazzi were already out there. It was a countless amount of them. Fifty, maybe sixty even. Even kids were their. At the age of thirteen they were already working. Desparate to get the perfect picture. The one picture which would give them a ridiculous amount of money. They couldn't even give them a life. Not even a couple of hours to theirselves. It was horrible.

"What you're doing?" she heard Nick's voice over her shoulder.

"Nothing." Miley said as she closed the curtain.

"Paparazzi again, huh?" he asked her as they walked into their master bedroom.

"They never get tired taking pictures of us. Like we are some sensation, Nick. Brangelina, they are a sensation. But not us. We're normal human beings, trying to work as good as we can. We can't help it if we're so successfull."

"We've chosen this lifestyle, Mils. This is our dream. I asked you more than once if you wanted to be a part of this world."

"I don't regret my decision. I love singing and acting, but sometimes I wished it would be a little... I just need some time apart from this craziness." she said as they reached their bedroom. The suitcases were already packed and ready for their transfer to the car. "Wow, that was fast. I didn't know you were so good at packing."

"I know what you like and what you hate. We've been living here for three years now. We've been together for four. I think I should know you by now." he said before he kissed her softly. "Come on, let's go. We don't wanna be late."

The blonde's eyes stopped at an awfully familiar picture. It was the last complete group picture of the friends. A picture taken only a week before he left. The day he announced that he'd be going to Afghanistan as a Marine. It felt like yesterday.

Miley snapped out of her day dream, walking behind her long-time boyfriend Nick, who was carring their suitcases. "How do you think she's dealing with everything?"

Nick placed the suitcases behind the closed front door before he shrugged, "I don't know. I've never lost someone so close to me. I didn't even know how you got over it."

"I recovered. I have you."

"And she has Andrew."

"We all know that he won't be able to heal her."

"But he's helping her to take it day by day." he said as he put on the sunglasses. "Ready for another round of crazy Paparazzi?"

Miley nodded before she put on her sunglasses as well. She was never going to get used to this. To those crazy men and women who were following her every single day. But this was her life. She chose this life.

Location: Up in the air, between Paris and Los Angeles

The brunette was reading a book she had already read two times. It was like getting thrown back in time. By reading every single page, she felt like she was in High School Again. She felt like she was straight back at Waverly. This book had something fascinating and scary at the same time. It told their story. No, not their story but his. His and Her's. How was that possible? By re-reading the whole book a second and third time it became even more scary. It was scary to know that the whole world could read what happened to them years ago. But who was writing it?

Looking up from the text, Alex closed the book slightly reading the book's spine. The author's name was Christopher Thomson. She never heard of him. The name was definitely not familiar. There had been no Thomson at Waverly. At least not the time she and her friends had been there. But how did he knew about their lifes then? How should he know about the drama Troy and Gabriella went through? And how could he write it all down, so detailed that it felt like it happened all over and over again?

It had been a suggesting by a friend. Kaylie gave her the book as she finished it. She told her it was the most amazing book ever. One of the most successfull one's as well. Your love ripped me apart was the title. A title just as powerfull as the book was. It had amazing content. It capitulated you right into the happening. Right four years ago when it all did happen. Just like in the book. Only the book had other characters. The main characters were Amber and Chace, who clearly were Gabriella and Troy in real life. Jennifer would be Miley, Henry would be Nick. Alexsander was Jason, no doubt. And Emily... Well Emily was the best friend, making Emily Alex in real life. It was awfully familiar.

"Would you like to have some more coffee, Mrs. Russo?" the stewardess asked her.

Alex shook her head, "No thanks."

"Oh are you reading 'Your love ripped me apart'? That's such an amazing book! I've already read it five times and I can't get enough of this love story. It's so sad that there is no happy ending."

Alex nodded, "Yes, it is." she agreed.

Then the stewardess leaned closer to Alex, "Just between you and me, but the author is sitting two seats away from you!" she squeezed happily.

"Really?" she asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"This is so exciting! But don't ask him for his signature. I tried that. Didn't really work out."

"Which seat number?"

"3A." the stewardess said smiling before she walked away.

Alex took a deep breath before she got up. The walk over to seat number 3A felt like eternity. But she needed to find out who wrote about her and her friends. Who was Christopher Thomson?

"Excuse me, are you Christopher Thomson?" she asked him carefully.

The man turned around, looking at the petite brunette, "Yes?"

Alex couldn't believe her eyes. He looked just like him. He looked just like he would look at this age. He freaking looked like her former best friend!

"I'm not signing my book, if you wanted to ask for my signature." he explained in a rush, closing the screen of his MacBook. He had the same icy blue eyes. The same figure... The same voice.

"I'm sorry, it's just... You look like someone I know."

"Perhaps I have one of those faces..." he explained in a relaxed voice.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead." he said, offering her the seat next to me. "I have a feeling this conversation is going to take a while..."

Location: Malibu, Los Angeles

"I'm so excited to see them again." Gabriella said smiling as she put the cake into the oven.

"Who's going to arrive at first?" Andy asked her, getting every cleaned up.

The brunette shrugged, "I don't know. Depends on whose plan will land first."

"Perhaps Mils and Nick will be the first." he said with a tiny bit of hope in his voice.

Gabi laughed, "No, they are always the last. Always. Gosh, I've missed them so much."

"You see Nick and Mils all the time."

"I mean the others. Alex, Holly and Sage... Kelly. All of them. Is Rose coming?" she asked her best friend.

He shook her head, "Not likely. I broke up with her a couple of days ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked him before she gave him a hug.

He shrugged, "It didn't seem important."

"Four years of intense friendship and you call that not important?" she asked him.

"It's just... She wasn't the one."

"But she was close."

"Too perfect if you ask me. She didn't even have any flaws!"

"Everybody has flaws. Even the most perfect person in the world has some." she said, letting her mind wander to somewhere it shouldn't. Her heart ached. A pain she had felt for a very long time now. Pain became the new normality for her.

"I think you should try to move on, Gabs."

"You say that like it's easy. Which it isn't by the way. Just to make that clear."

"I'm not saying it is easy. I'm saying you should give someone else a try. Perhaps he will win your heart over."

"Even you couldn't win my heart over. And you were pretty damned close a couple of years back."

"When he was still here."

A new chapter everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading.

Please review.

Xoxo Nic