A/N: HEYO! Sorry I've been gone so long. Turns out, I actually do have a life. Kinda. Okay, well, my life consists of hanging out with my two best friends, and that's it, but so what? I've done a bit of fun stuff the past two weeks, though. For once, summer is actually turning out to be fun. I've played laser-tag, gone to the movies, eaten out, and gone go-karting. Oh yea, and I WENT TO A BTR CONCERT. It was one of the most amazing experiences ever. I'm completely serious. Not exaggerating or anything. When they sang We Are, I cried. It was just amazing. I know I'm gonna get crap about that from my friends who are reading this, but screw it, I'M FREAKING PROUD. Y'know what, I'm just gonna shut up about this now.

This story reached a thousand views after the last chapter. Well damn. I don't know how the hell that happened, but thank you! That may not be much, but it's a huge accomplishment for me. I don't care if half of those were from people who only read the first chapter, just the fact that it got ever a thousand views is incredible. I really love you guys.

Special thanks to Emy. Elle for reading and reviewing every chapter in two days hahaha. Your reviews were hilarious, and I loved the feedback. Hopefully I'll keep you entertained with this.

I'M SHUTTING UP NOW.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable.

After the discovery was made, the three friends split up, each going back to their respective residences to sort out their personal thoughts. Ryan was first to be dropped off at her apartment, and she left with nothing more than a hushed thank you. Alex and Carlos drove together in silence, a slight tension in the air that didn't seem to disipitate until the two men arrived at Alex's apartment. Before he got out of the car, he turned to meet Carlos's eyes.

"This doesn't change anything. I'm not mad at you, and neither is Ryan," Alex stated. Carlos replied with a hesitant nod. Alex sighed at his friend's unsure demeanor. "I'm serious. You had no way of knowing, so I'm not gonna blame you. It was high school. God knows I wouldn't have lasted long with that priss anyways." Carlos gave a short but genuine laugh before nodding sincerely. Alex got out and shut the door behind him. He had made it a few steps before he heard Carlos calling his name. He turned to see the Latino smirking from inside his car, the passenger-side window rolled down.

"Just for the record, if she cheated on you with me, I had to be better," Carlos said with a wink before quickly rolling the window up and pulling away from the curb. He looked out the window to see Alex flipping him off, and he laughed, speeding away from the apartment building.

Alex entered his apartment and immediately crumpled on the couch. His mind was racing, yet he didn't have a single thought for what seemed like an eternity. So many images flew around his head, but he couldn't seem to focus on any of them. He could almost feel the tornado raging inside his skull, but there was no way for him to stop it. He couldn't process the events of the day which resulted in his condition.

Carlos wasn't Alex's worry at all. He truly wasn't upset with him, or even jealous. The facts that had been brought to the table didn't faze him nearly as much as Piper's simple presence. Even after the heartbreak she put him through, he was still stunned by her. Her aura of beauty and confidence seemed to completely destroy everything else. She didn't even seem affected after seeing Alex sitting in the booth with Carlos and Ryan. She just smiled smugly as if it didn't bother her in the slightest. She was completely comfortable with the situation, but Alex was on an entirely different page. After what he happened between them in high school, he had sworn off any sort of dating out of grief. Piper was his first love, but she had left him out to dry.

As he finally brought his brain into focus, memories and feelings that had been shoved into the depths of his mind were released, and everything just went numb.

When Carlos reached his hotel room, he sighed and fell into the desk-chair. It seemed to have become routine for him to fall into that same chair, staring out the same window, thinking about the same thing. He had done it nearly every night for the past three weeks. He'd come back to his room after a long day and look out over Weston through the tinted glass, lost in his own mind. And every night, he had the same thoughts. His mind reeled back through the day like an old projector, but there was always one frame that the film seemed to pause on every time. Everything else turned hazy, and the focus was locked on that one image

Ryan stepped into her bedroom and fell backwards onto her unmade bed, reflecting on the day. After almost three successful weeks of keeping things on the down-low, Carlos's secret had been revealed. That, along with the situation with Piper, made the day seem torturously endless. All three friends had the stress of the reopening weighing them down, but the day's events only added pressure. The shop was set to have a very small reopening ceremony that Friday, three days later, but there was no doubt that it would be swarmed with reporters and paparazzi, and quite possibly a few local fans.

Ryan wanted to hate Carlos for it. She knew that something would happen. She thought he only brought trouble; however, deep down, she knew that he had also brought a whole new light into her life as well as Alex's. The duo had been very isolated from the rest of the world, but when Carlos arrived, he introduced them to a different world. It was a world of risks and adventures, even if they were on a rather minuscule level. Together, they had ventured into their pasts by revisiting the park for the first time since middle school and facing Piper for the first time since high school. Ryan had taken a huge leap of faith by letting Carlos into her life, yet she didn't even know how it happened. It seemed more like something had pushed her over the ledge instead of her jumping, but it wasn't a fatal plummet towards death. It was a thrilling, albeit scary, skydive out of her sheltered life. She knew that although she was falling hard and fast, she had the choice to pull the string and release the parachute that would gently lower her down, and she'd get to enjoy the view. She knew she had the choice to save herself. Her biggest problem was that even she knew that a parachute would slow her down enough to spare her life, but her time to enjoy the view was limited. She was scared of hitting the ground before she was ready to give up the exhilirating yet cushioned free-fall.

A/N: Yea, short chapter, I know. Sorry to disappoint. It's been a busy two weeks. I promise I'll try and do better next time it was also kind of jumpy and very vague, but obvious at points. Lots of figurative elements hahahaha. Hope you enjoyed it. Review/follow/favorite!

IMPORTANT INFO RIGHT HERE! I kind of wanna get to 10 follows (Only one more!) and 50 reviews (13 more!) by chapter 15 (that's three chapters from now!) I think we can meet those goals. If y'all do that for me, I'll be the happiest person in the world. I'm gonna ask for my 50th reviewer and my 10th follower to send in a request for a one-shot. It can be anything you want, just no smut please. I don't mind something slightly suggestive, but I can't do a full-on erotica:P But yea, so that's it. 50 reviews and 10 follows by chapter 15, and the 50th reviewer and 10th follower get to request one-shots. Lets make it happen, guys! Love y'all so much, and thanks once again for getting me to 1000 views! Y'all are amazing.