Okay guys, this is the chapter we've all been waiting for. also, my longest one. also x 2, i started another story and a collection of one shots on my page as well if ya'll wanna check that out, as always.. please review xoxo love u all

Derrick sat on the bench, his dark wash denim jean-clad legs crossed at the ankle. For the fifth time the past two minutes, he smoothed down the sleeves of his charcoal grey calvin klein crew neck sweater and sighed. Beside him on the stone bench, he had a hot venti, half sweet, non-fat, caramel macchiato and a blueberry scone, his own hot blonde roast vanilla latte and a toasted sesame bagel, and a thick fleece blanket.

The boy took a deep sip of his latte, and used his free hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He knew he looked good, he knew he was waiting for his meeting to happen for the past few years, but the unknown was what terrified him. He didn't know how she was going to act, or react. He wasn't sure if she was excited or annoyed he asked her to meet, he couldn't decipher her tone from the four or five text messages they sent back and forth. So, here he was, sitting on a freezing stone bench, waiting for Massie Block.

He was sitting in Croton Point Park, their place. It was a park that overlooked the hudson river, and had sets of some of the oldest wine cellars in the state of new york. There was a good mix between families and young adults who either came here to read books or take a jog, but at 6:12 AM, the park was desolate besides Derrick.

Why so early? Two months into their relationship, Christine and Jonathon Harrington found themselves in a blowout fight right before dawn broke. Derrick and his sister Sammi were out in the living room, arguing, covering their ears, crying, the whole nine yards. Divorce was threatened, custody of the children was yelled out, and expensive fine china plates and vases were smashed over the fireplace. A picture of the four of them fell to the ground, the glass framing the image shattering as well. Derrick got so frustrated that he stormed out, grabbing his jacket and speed-dialing Massie's number. Through his tears, he asked her to meet him. He sat at that same bench, in his plaid flannel pajamas, crying silently about how fucked up his family was, how he was never at home because there was no home to be at.

She met him, standing there in her pinstripe silk pajamas and ugg slippers with sleep in her eyes and her hair in a sloppy ponytail. Massie stood there with a blanket and a box of tissues, waving goodbye to Isaac who was parked in the lot. She had woken him up in the middle of the night to bring her, and he promised her that he'd wait until they were done with whatever and he'd bring them both home. Isaac left the heat running in the car, so by the time the two teenagers were done, they wouldn't be freezing in the leather range rover.

That early morning, they cuddled up on that bench and watched the sun rise into the sky. Massie wasn't known for being a comforting person, but for Derrick that changed that morning. She tried to protect him, comfort him, do anything in her power to help him. Massie was described as being cold hearted, ruthless, and intimidating, but not when it came to him. So, he vowed to do the same for her.

After that early morning of watching the sunrise, it became a normal thing for the two of them.

Was he nervous? No, that's why his leg wouldn't stop bouncing up and down and driving his mind into twelve different directions.

"What if she's late?"

"She won't be."

"What if she doesn't show?"

"She set the time and place, she will come."

"What if she brings Tristan?"

"She isn't that stupid."

"What if I'm overdressed?"

"Derrick, you're in jeans!" Dylan exclaimed through a yawn, rubbing at her eyes before breaking off a piece of her muffin and smoothing down his crewneck.

"I barely wore jeans around her!" The boy panicked, looking at himself in the mirror and tilting his head to the side. "Do these jeans make me look fat?"

"Shut the fuck up, and get out the door already. You have twelve minutes to get there and prepare."

"Okay, Mom. Don't wait up!" The brunette yelled at his best friend, before taking his blanket and heading out the door

"Bean, do I go with the trousers or a pair of leather leggings?" Massie asked her pet pug, who was lying on the floor next to her mannequin.

She studied her outfit one more time, before settling with the trousers. She began to change, when her phone buzzed, again. With a roll of her amber eyes, she grabbed it off of her bedside table and opened her iMessages.

To: Mass💍

Thursday, 1:00 pm

Tristan: I'm so sorry massie

Tristan: I'm really sorry

Tristan: I can't believe that even happened

Tristan: I've never been like that before

Tristan: I can't even imagine how you must feel right now

Tristan: I'm sure you hate me

Tristan: I hate me too

Tristan: I feel terrible

Tristan: I assume you need your space, and don't wanna talk to me, so when u do I'll be here

Thursday, 7:00 pm

Tristan: Hey baby can we talk?

Tristan: I rly hope you don't keep ignoring me

Tristan: We need to talk about this

Tristan: We can't just pretend it didn't happen

Tristan: Unless you want to

Tristan: I'm sorry I just get frustrated you know how I get

Tristan: You know I'd never hurt you

Tristan: I just want to protect you

Friday, 1:00 am

Tristan: babe

Tristan: r u up

Tristan: i'm not fucking around now

Tristan: i'm outside your house where r u

Tristan: i don't see ur car

Tristan: did u rly have inez kick me out

Mass: no, she did that herself.

Tristan: u r such a bitch massie

Tristan: idk why we cant talk about this

Tristan: im marrying u and ur gonna just ignore me?

Mass: i'm marrying you, and you're just going to hit me?

Tristan is typing…...

Massie speed-dialed Alicia as she tugged her cropped tee shirt over her head, then began taking her hair out of it's ponytail and brushing it out. Her long locks were a tangled mess, probably from her tossing and turning all night after having spoken to Derrington. God, was she ready for this? Was she ready for this kind of closure? Her biggest fear was that after this, there'd be nothing else between them.

"Hullo?" Alicia's voice came in through Massie's speaker. I mean, Massie knew it was early, but Alicia knew this was happening today. Massie left the sleepover less than two hour ago so she had time to go home, get ready, mentally prepare, and go. She should've been awake!

"Am I making a mistake?"

"I feel like that is a very loaded question, Mass."

"He literally didn't even answer my last text message, and here I am, going to meet with my ex boyfriend."

"But that isn't why you're doing this. You're doing this because you're still in love with him, Massie. You're conflicted, and now Tristan is showing his true colors so you're even more conflicted."

"Who did I call, Aristotle? Or maybe the Dalai Lama?"

"Oh shut it, Massie. I wouldn't of even answered the phone this god damn early if it wasn't you!"

"Okay, okay." Massie began to pace around her spacious bedroom, her feet leaving marks in her carpet from the pressure she's applying, but she didn't care.

"Should I show up late?"

"No!"

"Three minutes?"

"Three is doable. Any more and you're just asking for it."

The brunette sighed, pulling her hair up and into a sloppy messy bun. "Do you think Tristan is going to kill him, or me, for this?

"Is it worth dying for?"

"He is."

It was already five minutes past their meeting time, and a sure fire sign that she wasn't coming. Massie Block was many things, but punctional was at the very top of the list.

"Is this seat taken?" A soft voice took him out of his thoughts. Staring up at the source, he straightened his body up and shook his head no, grabbing the blanket and tossing it in his lap before picking up his drink and hers.

Massie gave him a small smile, and lowered her body beside his. She was dressed in a cozy cute outfit, which threw Derrick off. He wasn't used to seeing her without heels, but he missed this side of her. She wore a long striped mara hoffman cardigan, a pair of french connection ivy trousers, a tracy reese cropped white long sleeve tee shirt that flashed her toned stomach, and a pair of dolce vita brannon black loafers. The brunette's hair was thrown into an intentionally sloppy messy bun, and she had on a faint trace of mascara. He wanted her, so badly.

She was so...different. She looked cold inside, which he knew wasn't true, but it was like any trace of happiness was gone. The fire he loved in her eyes was dim, barely a spark. Massie was thin, thinner than usual, with dark circles underneath her eyes she didn't bother trying to cover. She looked tired, weak even, and that is not a word that goes along with Massie Block.

He knew she was hurting. He also knew why, and who was hurting her, and what he was doing. But, for now, he couldn't do anything about that but be there for her in the off-chance she'd actually confide in him about it. That was slim to none, though, which he was well aware of. So, if he could provide for her some warm smiles and company, until she was ready to come clean, he would.

Derrick extended her drink to her, which she took with reservation.

That was when he noticed her sparkling 4.35 carat pear shaped engagement ring was not on her finger.

"Is this.."

"Hot venti half sweet, non fat caramel macchiato." The two said at the same time, which caused Massie to raise an eyebrow at him, but let her face relax.

"You remember."

"Why would I forget?"

The slender girl took a small sip of her coffee, practically moaning at how good it tasted. She had been on a caffeine cleanse for the past three weeks, and this macchiato was necessary. Truth be told, as she melted into the arm he wrapped round her thin shoulders, she could've moaned at how good it felt to be normal again. He was her normal, however much she wanted to deny it.

Derrick took the blanket out of his lap, shaking it out before wrapping it around the two. He then handed her the scone with a ghost of a smirk on his plump pink lips, before taking a bite out of his sesame bagel.

She was finally able to relax, to be at ease. It was just Derrington after all, the man she used to giggle with all her friends about, the boy who used to tease her and kiss her and cuddle or comfort her when she was upset. The only male who could stand up to her sharp banter and react with his own sharp tongue. The brunette looked straight ahead as she leaned her body into his, nodding in front of them towards the sun rising over the open water of the hudson river.

The two did not speak, the colors rising brightly in the sky was enough to take anyone's breath away. They might have seen the same sun rise in the same setting hundreds of times, but every time felt like a new one, a special one. It was the same thing as when she was with him, it felt like the first time. It felt new and exciting and dangerous and calming, all in one.

"You never could eat them without getting it all over yourself," she said as she swallowed a piece of her scone, reaching up and brushing some sesame seeds off of his chest.

He felt his heart begin to beat uncontrollably as her delicate hand touched his body.

He had missed this, all of it.

"Yeah," he murmured in response, watching her movements as she pulled her hand back and rested it on his thigh.

"I'm sorry I never called." Massie breathed out, like it had taken years of courage for her to admit that one little sentence. Her burgundy-shellacked nails tapped against his thigh repeatedly. "To be fair, I didn't call anyone in college. Leesh and I barely spoke, Dylan and I didn't talk until junior year, Claire was MIA and I wanted it that way, and Kris and I would only communicate via Snapchat. I was just distracted in college. I know you tried to reach out and I didn't reciprocate, and I'm sorry about that. I needed a friend so badly, but never thought of calling you to help me. I wasn't sure where we stood, and I didn't want to feel pathetic for asking you when everyone told me I should've been over you by then."

The alpha knew that wasn't what he wanted to talk about, but she didn't know how to initiatie real conversation. She also knew this was so so wrong, and that Tristan would probably kill her for doing it, but she just couldn't help it. All Massie wanted to do was cuddle up with Derrick, of all people. Sometimes your body responds to things without you even thinking about it, like muscle memory.

"Why didn't you?" He asked her quietly, turning his head to look down at her, but keeping his body positioning the same. He felt warm against her as the breeze picked up, so she snuggled a bit closer into his grips.

"I was hurt. Still, yes, I am a child and have emotional problems and cannot talk about my feelings, clearly."

"You really didn't get much love as a child."

"No, I didn't, but that isn't what we're here to talk about, is it?" There, she made the initiation. She made the ask. She actually wanted to talk. Derrick did not plan on hearing an apology from here, so he was a little bit blindsided at this point.

"Uh, no, no it's not." He said under his breath, running a hand through his coiffed hair as his mind continued to race.

Massie prayed he didn't ask what she was thinking he was going to ask her. If he asked if she loved Tristan, she knew she had to lie.

"Why didn't you call? Honestly, though. No bullshit, no faking it, just why? I won't be offended." The brunette sighed, blinking up at him with those amber eyes of hers that always made him melt. Those same eyes are what hooked him in in the first place, they spoke volumes even when her voice was quiet.

Massie bit her lip. "Once I started college, I went rogue. Freshman year meant a lot of drinking, a lot of thinking. This thinking lead me to develop my eating disorder." She felt normal telling him these things, like they speak every day of every week of every month and not just totally avoided this whole sit down conversation thing since freshman year of high school.

Derrick made a grunt like noise, signaling he was listening, but he knew better to speak when she wasn't finished.

"And, during my recovery, I met Tristan through my dad. He sort of became my rock through the rest of it, because it was the one like...solid, normal thing I had at that time."

"So...are you blaming the whole not contacting me thing on Tristan or on your eating disorder or…"

"I'm blaming myself, Harrington. Which, you know better than anyone else, I do not do."

"That's fair. You also never apologize and that was, like, the first thing out of your mouth, so…"

"Also correct. I just….I don't know, being here, being here with you, spending time with all my-our old friends..it feels like I've finally found my place to land. It makes me sentimental, it comforts me. I never knew how much I missed all of this," Massie gestured first to the sun rising, then the park, then them sitting side by side, cuddled up underneath his heavy fleece blanket with his soccer team's crest printed on the front.

"I know. It's like a flash from the past, but one I actually wanted, not one that's covered in calculus homework and overdue history papers."

"Why didn't you end up going to school?" She questioned quietly, watching intently. The two of them were just watching each other, committing every detail to memory because neither knew when they'd be doing this next, if they even did.

"What?" He asked, not really having been listening to the words coming out of her mouth, just watching the way her lips parted when she'd speak.

"I said, why didn't you end up going to school? You're one of the smartest people I know." That was the genuine truth. Derrick might not have liked school as a kid, but nobody else knows how plenty of her assignments were done with his help because some topics came easier to him than they did to Massie.

To that, he shrugged. "If William handed you the company at graduation, would you have taken it, or put it on hold to go back to school?"

"I would've taken it."

"Exactly. So, my soccer contract was signed the day after graduation."

"How is that going, by the way?"

"It's really good. I had a bit of a messy game last season, though, that everyone was a little freaked about. I took a headshot, which for a goalie is whatever, but the angle made me blackout for a bit on the field." Massie was jealous at the level of calm he exuded as he explained it to her. She was also jealous of all the hot little blonde nurses who probably took care of him at the hospital, but that was another topic for another day.

"That's terrifying!"

"That's soccer, Mass. You never did like that part," he said with a small chuckle as his chest shook with his laughter.

"I just feel that it's super aggressive, like, is that necessary? No."

Derek smirked. "Some things never change, do they, Block?"

Massie rolled her eyes in agreement.

"Hey, you did a really good job closing up the Kapsis deal. I read about it in Business Digest, you're definitely a Block." That was one thing that Derrick applauded her for, even after what Dylan told her about William's choices with the company, Massie still worked her ass off for it.

"Thanks," she sniffed before taking another gulp of her coffee that was growing closer to room temperature the longer they were outside in the chilled air of a friday morning fall day. "The creep first was like 'no monetary payment' and I was like absolutely fucking not. Sorry, but I do not sleep to close business deals. Do I look like Kemp or something?!" Massie joked, even though they all knew what Kemp did for his family.

"There's that sense of humor I was waiting for." He tightened his grip around her shoulders, and let his eyes fall shut for a moment. He was trying to savor what he could, and if that was wrong, kill him, then. He'd been waiting for this for years, actual years, and he didn't really plan on it going this smoothly. He didn't plan on her actually missing him too.

"Good thing I still have it, then." Derrick had the right idea, so Massie followed suit. She let her lashes flutter closed, her head against his shoulder.

"Why did you do it?" The brunette spoke into the dirty blonde's ear, causing chills to go up his spine, neck, and biceps. She wouldn't see them, but he felt them and knew she did too. She sat up, keeping his arm around her shoulders but removing her head from his shoulder.

This was the question that he was dreading. "I dunno, Mass. It didn't work, it was stupid. We both just thought that since we got on so well, maybe it would've worked. I thought you were over it, don't you and Dylan hang out often now?" He asked, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth to chew on out of nerves.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I ever got over it. You were my first real ex, she was one of my best friends."

"And you were trying to fuck Landon Crane at that time, weren't you?"

"That was after, Derrick. Like, way after."

The boy sighed. "Well, Dyl and I didn't work, so doesn't that equal out?"

He was met with a blank, dark stare that the sun rise lit up. She looked terrifying, alluring, tempting, and intimidating all in one.

"I'm sorry for dating her. It was more of an attempt to get over you, if I'm being honest. You always need that next person just to show yourself you can date again, you know?"

And she did know, she knew all too well considering that was what Tristan started out as to her. An escape, an attempt to seal the Derrington vault and never look back. And look where she is now.

"Apology accepted," Massie responded in an even tone, before laying her head back down on his shoulder.

"You know half sweet isn't a thing, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Half sweet doesn't exist, Mass. You can have half the amount of sweetener they put in, but half sweet isn't a real thing."

"Why not?"

"What are they gonna do? Put half the coffee in it? It doesn't make sense. There's no sweetener with half the calories, only the fake ones with no calories you won't ingest because you used to claim they'd make your hair brittle and teeth fall out."

"...Derrick, you've been getting me my lattes like that since eighth grade."

"Yes, because I never wanted to correct you."

"DERRICK!" She yelled, swatting at his chest from her position perched against his shoulder.

The boy just gave her a cheeky grin in response. "So, are we matching for this party?"

"You wanna be my date?" The female alpha asked in amusement, her eyes glittering and lighting back up in the way he always missed. There was so much mischief in them, and he was addicted to it.

"That depends, do I have to wear white?"

"Yes."

"Ehh, most of my whites have grass stains which I feel like you wouldn't approve of."

"Absolutely not, you're one hundred percent correct."

Derrick let out an over-dramatic sigh. "Look like I'll have to go solo on this one, then."

She missed their banter. She missed their snark. No other pairing of people were as witty as the two of them combined, which is why all of their high school feared when they were together and cheered when they were apart. Well, besides the fact that all the boys wanted Massie on their arms and all the girls would die to kiss Derrick.

Things weren't as easy with Tristan. Most of the time, he was quiet, or gave her two words here and there. It was like pulling teeth trying to conversate, and when he did want to talk, it was about business or the company. He wasn't ever like this before, but the past few months have been a struggle on their relationship.

Massie wondered if it was her, if the thought of marriage was freaking him out. Then again, maybe he was only in it for the thought of marriage? It was hard to tell, and not something she could just ask.

She didn't understand where she went wrong. Yesterday was a world wind around her, and when she thought about how things played out, it made her stomach twist. What was she going to do, anyway? She refused to be in a loveless, abusive marriage, and if this was how he was now, who knows what'll happen later. This is the third time it's happened, which she lied to Dylan about and said it was the first, because this was Massie and she needed to control everything that happened and everything people thought about her.

William would be devastated to hear his pride and joy who he carefully sculpted into his image was acting like this. Kendra wouldn't let her leave her room for a month. Massie would be a wreck if this got out, and if she suddenly cancelled the wedding, it would be even worse. For all image purposes, right now, she had to go on pretending like everything was fine. That doesn't mean she would speak to him until the party began, however.

He didn't deserve it. With the rate those text messages were going, it sounded like he was more and more ready to have a second go at her because she didn't answer him.

"I need a dress, still. I was going to go to the galleria with Dylan around noon, because she still needs one. You can come, if you'd like, so we can make sure you have a Massie-approved outfit for the ball."

"Wait, is this a party or a ball?"

"In the Block's language, is there a difference?"