"Isn't she amazing?" York sighed and rested his chin on his hand as he stared up at Carolina. She was standing on the other side of the cafeteria, arguing with the person that served everyone lunch.
You sighed too, then smiled sadly. You poked at your mashed potatoes, not feeling too hungry.
"Yeah, I guess." You mumbled, and listened as York started to tell you a couple of pick-up lines that he wanted to use on her.
For a moment, you shut your eyes and let yourself believe that he was talking to you, using those lines to try and flirt with you.
You remembered when you first found out about York's crush on Carolina. You were about to confess your feelings to him, then he interrupted you and told you how he felt about Carolina.

"Y/n!"
A finger poked your face, and you dropped your fork in surprise.
"Uh, sorry. You were just spacing out." York handed you his fork to replace your own.
You stared down at the utensil, wondering if you should accept it. York was one of your best friends, but sharing a fork might be a little too awkward, considering how you felt about him.
Besides, you still weren't hungry.
You shook your head slightly, then stood and dumped your tray in the garbage disposal bin. You heard it rumbling as the fire ignited, burning the trash as it passed through the machine.
"Hey, I could've eaten that." York whined from behind you. You chuckled a bit, then head up to your room.

A few hours later, after a couple of training sessions, you heard a knock on your door.
You opened it up, and saw Maine standing there with a small party-popper in his hands. He pulled the string on it, releasing a burst of confetti into the air.
"Happy birthday!"
You smiled and saw that your friends were standing behind Maine's large form.
You stepped aside and let them all in.
North gave you a polaroid camera, Wash gave you a pen since he had no idea what you liked, and Florida gave you a big hug. York took out a bracelet from his pocket, one that he found on one of his last missions. He slipped it around your wrist and smiled up at you.
"So, how old are you today?" He teased. "Are you gonna retire soon, grandma?"
You elbowed him lightly. "I'm younger than you, asshole." You reminded him.
York grabbed your new polaroid camera and held it up, taking a selfie of your giggling face and his stupid grin.
He shook the paper when it came out, then handed it to you.
"There! Now we'll always remember your first birthday as a Freelancer." He smiled.
You took the paper and looked down at it. It was a cute picture, and it made your heart feel warm.
You looked up as the door to your room opened. Carolina stood there with a hand on her hip. She looked down at the confetti on the floor, then looked around the room awkwardly.
"Um... happy birthday?" She guessed, then eyed York. "York, I need your help with training." She told him. He shrugged and got up.
"Alright. See ya later, birthday girl." He winked at you in a friendly way, then left with Carolina.

The next day, you stabbed your spoon into the grits that they were serving for breakfast. You thought about it all night, Carolina didn't need York for training. She must like him, and he liked her too.
You looked up as York entered the cafeteria and sat across from you.
"Hey Y/n. Man, you wouldn't believe the time I had with Carolina yesterday. We-"
You set your spoon down, and it made a loud clanging noise.
"York-" Your voice cracked, even though you weren't crying. You stared down at the bracelet that he had given you. You took it off your wrist and put it in his hands, then folded his fingers over it. "York, I can't do this anymore. I'm requesting to be put into a different part of the project. I'm sorry, but I really can't be your friend anymore. Give this to Carolina, I don't deserve it."
He was shocked by the sudden action, so he just watched as you stood and tossed your tray into the garbage disposal bin. The fire started up, and you pulled the picture from yesterday out of your pocket and dropped it in the bin, watching as the fire grew a bit. The picture paper made a crackling noise, then turned to ash.
"Y/n, wait!"
You didn't stop. You marched straight into the Director's office and begged him for a different assignment, anything that didn't deal with freelancers.
Of course everything dealt with freelancers in project freelancer, but he at least got a you a job that kept you away from the elite team.

You hadn't spoken to any of your old friends for months. Now you were just a pilot. You hopped into one of 479-er's pelicans. You were taking her place for today since she was sick.
You heard someone step onto the pelican, and turned to see York, probably preparing to leave for a mission on this pelican.
You sighed and took off your helmet, to show him that it was you.
He snatched his helmet off and reached into his side-bag once he saw your face, as if he had been waiting for the day that he saw you again.
"York." You greeted him in a sad voice.
He yanked out the bracelet from before, and a ripped piece of paper.
"I know that it's crappy, I'm a terrible artist. I drew it from memory." He put the paper in your hand, then clipped the bracelet to your wrist.
You looked down at the paper. It was a drawing of the picture you and York had taken.
You sniffled a bit. "York, I'm a terrible friend." You muttered.
"No, you're not a terrible friend. You're not a great friend, either." He told you.
That kind of hurt a little bit. Did that mean that you weren't his friend at all?
He grabbed both sides of your face, then kissed you passionately.
"You're a great girlfriend."