We were all hyped up on adrenaline after coming up with that plan earlier this morning. That was all any of us talked about until it was finally time for us to get back to our houses. That was Ryan's place for me.

I was in the kitchen helping Evan wash the dishes while everyone else was gathering their things to leave. We were working in perfect synchrony. I was washing the dishes while Evan was drying them and placing them in their place. Dead silence hung between the two of us, as we were both lost in our own separate worlds.

My mind drifted back to the moment when Evan had acted weirdly at the mention of Portland. Why had he acted that way? Was there something in Portland that made him react as he did? Did it have something to do with my parents? Did he know my parents?

Lost in these thoughts, I didn't even realize when I finished washing all the dishes. Sighing, I drained the water from the sink and wiped my hands on the kitchen towel. "Thanks, Evie. " Evan smiled at me gratefully. I looked up at him, my eyes boring into his warm brown ones. He was definitely hiding something! But what?

"Evan, can I ask you something? " I looked down at my hand, fidgeting with the ring at my finger. Evan's eyes followed my movement and fixated upon my ring. I heard him gasp a little. I snapped my head up to see that he was staring at the ring weirdly.

"Evan? Are you okay? " I asked carefully. His strange actions were scaring me. "Where did you get that ring from? " He asked in a small voice. It sounded as if he was moments away from crying. "Evan, what's wrong? " I asked, worried about the sudden change in his demeanor.

He snapped his eyes up to mine. There was a weird fire behind his brown eyes that felt oddly familiar. I had seen that same fire a million times in the mirror. Holding my gaze firmly he asked, " Who's ring is that, Evelyn? " Him using my full name had a strange sense of power in it and I found myself answering him without even thinking twice.

"It belonged to my mother. I found it in her room after....after my parents died in a.....in a car crash. It's the last thing I have of hers. " Tears stung at the back of my eyes at the thought of my mother and also at the lie I just told him. He didn't need to know about my doubts, why should he?

Evan gasped and his eyes filled up with tears. My eyes roamed over his face and the only thought dancing in my mind was - Why does he look so familiar?

A small tear fell down his cheek and before I even knew what I was doing, I reached up to wipe it gently. My hand lingered over his face for a little longer than it should've. "My mother had the same ring. " He whispered in a sad voice and this time it was me who gasped.

This was insane. The ring was vintage. It belonged to my grandma which she had then given to my mother on her wedding day as a blessing. That was one of the rarest things that I remembered my mom telling me. The point is, this ring was a family heirloom. Could there be any chance that Evan's mom had the same ring?

We were still staring into each other's eyes as if trying to seek the answers we wanted in there. The longer I stared, the more I felt a strange connection to him. It was weird. So I was grateful and relieved when Ryan walked into the kitchen, snapping us both out of whatever trance we had been trapped in.

"Eve, you ready to go? " Ryan asked. I cleared my throat awkwardly and averted my eyes from Evan to look at Ryan. "Yeah, we're done here. " I smiled at him. He looked at me weirdly but then shrugged his shoulders.

" Evan, we'll be coming back first thing in the morning, tomorrow. We need to practice for the show on Wednesday." " Roger that, " Evan saluted the air as he slumped his arm over my shoulder. " I'm sorry, Evie. This never happened. " He whispered lightly in my ear. I sighed a breath of relief. Smiling and waving over at him, I followed Ryan out of there.

That night all I could think about was my weird conversation with Evan. That is if you could even call it a conversation. There was just something about his eyes that made me think that I should know him somehow. With these thoughts still running through my mind, I drifted off to very restless sleep.

The next morning we were back at Evan's apartment. The band was busy setting up their instruments, Mia was indulged in reading a fashion magazine, Jenny and Sophia were gossiping over some girl at work, while I was sitting at the far corner of the room fidgeting with my guitar.

Today my thoughts weren't filled with Evan or our weird encounter yesterday but were instead trained on a certain somebody and the almost kiss we shared this morning in the kitchen. Ughh!! What was this man doing to me?

He was making me act weirder than I normally did. I had taken an extra fifteen minutes today while getting ready. Why, you ask? Well, that's because I was fussing over what outfit would make Ryan notice me more. I fucking never did that before! He was turning me into a stupid teenage girl!!! Ughh!!

I looked over at him, his defined back facing me, and I felt the same little flutter in my heart I always did when I looked at him these days. I huffed out in annoyance.

Looking down at my guitar, I adjusted it in my lap and started strumming lightly so as not to draw the attention of others. Lyrics started flowing out of me as the frustration of Ryan's situation clouded my thoughts.

"
You should take it as a compliment
That I got drunk the first day at that bar,
You should think about the consequence
Of your magnetic field being a little too strong

And I had a boyfriend, he was older than us
I saw him at the club, doing I don't what
But you're so cool, it makes me hate you so much

Whisky on ice, Sunset and Vine
You've ruined my life, by not being mine

You're so gorgeous
I can't say anything to your face
'Cause look at your face
And I'm so furious
At you for making me feel this way
But, what can I say?
You're gorgeous

I sighed a little as I thought over my situation and how he was making me go crazy a little more every day. He was a fucking mystery and I just found myself getting more lost into it with each day I spent with him. Frustrating!

I strummed the strings as the next verse filled my thoughts. My eyes were closed, completely engrossed in the lyrics.

You should take it as a compliment
That I'm talking to everyone here but you

And you should think about the consequence
Of you touching my hand in the darkened room

If you've got a girlfriend, I'm jealous of her
But if you're single that's honestly worse
'Cause you're so gorgeous it actually hurts

Ocean blue eyes looking in mine
I feel like I might sink and drown and die

You're so gorgeous
I can't say anything to your face
'Cause look at your face
And I'm so furious
At you for making me feel this way
But what can I say?
You're gorgeous

You make me so happy, it turns back to sad, yeah
There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have
You are so gorgeous it makes me so mad

You make me so happy, it turns back to sad, yeah
There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have
Guess I'll just stumble on home in my car

Alone, unless you wanna come along, oh

You're so gorgeous
I can't say anything to your face
'Cause look at your face
And I'm so furious
At you for making me feel this way
But what can I say?
You're gorgeous

You make me so happy, it turns back to sad, yeah
There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have
You are so gorgeous it makes me so mad
You're gorgeous

You make me so happy, it turns back to sad, yeah
There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have
You are so gorgeous it makes me so mad
You're gorgeous

"

I strummed some more as I finally felt a little better after getting all those things out of my system. It was honestly frustrating to act so out of my element just because of one boy! Pfft!

I smiled contently, but the smile soon turned into flushed cheeks when I looked up to see the same blue eyes that were the cause of my turmoil, looking back at me, this time accompanied with a smirk.

Ryan leaned down to stare into my eyes and a devilish smile made its way across his lips. "That was awesome, Miss Sandford. And since you asked so nicely, I would give you the answer. No, I don't have a girlfriend. And it hurts to think that you hate me. " He winked at my flustered state.

I scoffed at his bluntness and stood up dusting off imaginary dust from my blue leather skirt. "Who said it was about you? " I asked, my cheeks still flushed red. He chuckled lightly, "Sure Sunflower, whatever sails your boat. Now if you could just put your guitar down and use your musically genius brain to help us prepare for the show, I would really appreciate that " He said, humor lacing his tone.

I pouted at him and put down my guitar. Holding my hand in his and after giving me a sweet kiss on the cheek, he pulled me over to where the band was and I followed with a stupid grin on my face.

Ughh! Why was I feeling this way?

• Author's note •

What do you think about Evan and Evelyn's little conversation in the kitchen? What're your theories? Lemme know in the comments ;)

The song used above is Gorgeous by Taylor Swift and I changed up some of the lyrics to make it fit in with the plot. I hope you noticed ;)

Much love

M :)