"The Summer Was Full of Mistakes We Wouldn't Learn From"

Sorry this chapter took so long to post! I've had a bit of writer's block, but I think I'll be fine now… thanks again for reading and reviewing and adding to your favorites list! I really appreciate it! Hope you like this next part… :)

Chapter 5

The group had finally made their way back to Marissa's apartment for Danny's going away party. It wasn't until a bottle of vodka and many bottles of beer, but they finally made their way. It was the first time Alex had ever taken the subway to this part of Brooklyn – the commute wasn't bad at all, and she had really taken a liking to the neighborhood from just the short walk.

When they rounded the corner of Marissa's street, the girl took a sharp turn and jumped into the corner store, or "Bodega" as she called it, to grab more beer.

"Hey guys!" She screamed at the men behind the counter.

"Marissa, hello!" the middle-aged, middle-Eastern man said, then continued, "Where's Josie?"

After grabbing a few more beers and setting them on the counter, she finally replied, "Home, heading there now! I was just in Manhattan with these kids, but finally convinced them that Brooklyn is the place to be." She winked, handing the man money for the beer, then leading the group out the door.

"Dude, I can't believe he still works there." Seth said, as they walked out the door.

"He owns it, idiot. All the younger dudes are his sons and nephews." Marissa laughed, opening a beer to drink while walking from the bodega to her apartment.

"Really?" Alex asked the girl, raising a brow at the beer in her hand.

"Yeah, Isn't that illegal?" Naomi asked, scrunching her nose up. "I mean, I know it's illegal, but, does no one care around here?"

"I live three doors down from where we're standing right now. Not a big deal, girls." Marissa replied, handing the beer to Alex to hold, and searching her purse for her keys. "Goddamn, I think I lost my keys again." She continued, then proceeded to ring the buzzer profusely and knock on the door like she was about to be mugged or something.

"What took you guys so long? I'm wasted already. Everyone's out back." Danny said, leading everyone to the backyard.

Alex walked through the apartment, observing things a little better than her previous visit there. She noticed the lot of photos hanging, most with Marissa, Summer, Paige, and Danny in them – they weren't just roommates, they were all clearly best friends.

The blond lagged behind the group a little, but caught up with everyone in the backyard. The amount of people that attended this party definitely surpassed the last one they were at. Alex scanned the crowd for familiar faces – she saw Naomi chatting it up with some girl, the body language between the two showed that the unidentified girl was a lesbian, or at least a girl that was into Naomi. Luke and Anna were both chatting with Paige, who did a lot of work in the fashion industry, someone both Alex's friends found extremely interesting. Alex grabbed a beer from the cooler near the bonfire and took a seat to just observe everyone around her.

She turned her head and saw Marissa hugging Danny, and looking extremely pleased doing so. The brunette continued to jump up and down and scream and shout and everything else that would make it apparent she was happy about something. Alex just shook her head, smiled, and took another sip.

Then, Danny got in front of the bonfire and screamed that he had an announcement to make, "Everyone, listen up!" was enough for him to catch everyone's attention. He continued, "As you all know, this party is being thrown in my honor, on the note that I am leaving for Europe in two weeks. Well, plans have changed. I got a big boy job and now I'll be staying, so this party is now in honor of my hiring at Teach for America!"

Everyone, completely drunk, started hooting and hollering at the boy – Danny had applied a long time ago, went through the grueling hiring process, then never heard back. He figured he wasn't going to get the job, so he booked his trip accordingly. Well, just the day before, he caught news that he would, in fact, be staying in Brooklyn.

"They hire alcoholics?" someone screamed from the crowd.

"No, just closeted alcoholics." Danny shouted back, smiling, as he made his way towards his roommates.

"What about the dude moving in?" Paige asked, feeling sorry for whoever was supposed to take Danny's place in the apartment.

"Well, Tony from upstairs needed a sublet for a few months, so Ryan's going to be moving to the third floor. It all worked out pretty well, huh?" Danny said with a huge smile on his face – this was something he had been hoping for, and though Europe is amazing, he knew it would always be there for him to visit.

"Thank God. I thought I was going to be down two best friends this summer." Marissa said, hugging the boy again. "Roof?" she then asked.

"Yes! Roof!" Seth said, butting into the conversation. "Alex, you have to come up here, the view is ridiculous. You'll fall in love with Brooklyn, I promise."

Alex looked in Marissa's direction, "Well, I guess it's time for the roof."

Marissa smiled at the blonde and stepped forward, leading the way.

"Uh, is this safe?" Alex asked as the bunch shimmied around some pipes.

"Not really. We're technically not allowed on the roof, but we come up here all the time anyway." Danny said, jumping from the pipe to a shaky looking ladder.

"Great." Alex said, watching everyone shimmy their way up three flights of rusted ladders.

She was the last to make her way to the top – not only was she the last one to climb up, she also happened to climb the slowest. By the time she got up there, everyone was sitting down, cozily, staring at the view before them.

"Wow. Holy shit." Was all the blonde could get out.

"Yeah, I told you so." Seth said, turning around and smiling at his friend.

Alex started walking over to Seth, when she saw an empty space to sit right by Marissa. She opted for the attractive brunette, rather than her best friend.

"Liking Brooklyn?" Marissa asked, as Alex took the seat next to her.

"Loving it, actually. This view just sold me." Alex smiled back.

"Yeah, it's pretty great. After living here, I don't think I could ever go back to living in Manhattan. It's like two completely different worlds." Marissa said, taking a sip of her drink. "Hey, by any chance, are you a nurse?"

Alex's smile soon turned to a flabbergasted look, "What?"

"Are you a nurse?" Marissa asked again.

"No." Alex replied, still very confused. "Why?"

"Because you're really nursing that beer. Drink up, blondie. You've been working on that bottle since you got here." Marissa said, walking away.

Alex shouted out after her, suddenly feeling a burst of confidence, "Oh, so you've been watching me this whole time?"

"Don't be cocky, blondie. I'm good at making observations. You're not the only person I've noticed things about tonight, don't get it twisted." Marissa smiled, then climbed down from the roof.

"Oh, burn." Seth laughed.