"D," I hear moaning coming from the direction of the mattress on my floor as Hailee finally surfaces the next day. "D, I'm dying I swear. I've never felt so ill, ever."

"Oh look who's whining now?" I giggle, glad for a chance to tease her and pay her back for last night.

"Ugh," she groans, pushing herself up off her mattress and collapsing on my bed with me. "I hate you so much."

"You love me."

"You're right, I do," she admits, curling up into a ball under my duvet. "Damn what was in those drinks Chase was pouring us?" To be honest, she looks like crap, her make-up is smudged and her eyes are bloodshot. Her hair is standing up in every direction, a tangled and knotted mess.

"You look like shit," I inform her, stifling a laugh. I had been the only one who wasn't completely smashed last night. A fact I am slightly, although only very slightly, grateful to Mason for.

"Fuck you," she counters. It's always been one of her favourite phrases. "I am too hung-over to even be offended right now."

I giggle and pull the blankets up to her chin, tucking her in gently. "Do you want coffee?"

"I would literally kill someone for a cup." She snuggles in and I have a feeling she is not leaving the bed for the rest of the day. "Don't forget a barrel to drown my sorrows in."

I walk through to the kitchen, and turn on the kettle, getting the cups ready as I wait for it to boil. Once it does, I pour out three mugs and place them on a tray. "Lex," I shout as I walk past her room, kicking her door softly with my foot. "Coffee, come get it!"

I hear muffled signs of life and a loud curse coming from inside. Eventually she steps out, also looking like hell, and follows me silently to my room, where she too, makes herself comfortable on my bed.

I pass them their coffees and join them, sitting on the edge as they have taken up all the rest of the space. "Last night was fun!"

"It was! That place is awesome." Hailee seems to have perked up since taking her first sip.

"Why is everyone so loud today?" Clearly the caffeine hasn't hit Alexa yet. She cradles her mug in both hands, looking extremely sorry for herself. Her ivory skin is covered in angry red marks from the creases in her pillow and her dark hair is gathered into a messy bun on top of her head. At least she cleaned her make-up off, though. "You guys are such inconsiderate assholes."

"So, Mason came last night," Hailee points out the obvious, ignoring Alexa's insult.

"Thanks, I hadn't noticed." I place my mug on my bedside table, waiting for it to cool down a bit before I drink it.

"He hasn't changed much since high school," Hailee continues. "He's still a dildo. I can't believe he just turned up like that."

I'm about to argue, but I don't see the point in starting a fight with her. Besides my thoughts mirror her own and it's definitely something I need to talk to Mason about.

♡

"You can't be serious?" I look at my best friend in shock as she twirls in front of my bedroom mirror.

"You act like I just suggested that we should run naked through town." Hailee raises an eyebrow at me, before going into my cupboard and searching through my clothes. Her hang over is clearly long forgotten after multiple cups of coffee, a forty minute shower and a day spent lounging around, watching movies.

"That would be less absurd than what you're suggesting," I point out, leaning against my dressing table.

"I am actually going to agree with D on this one, Hails." Alexa moans from the comfort of my bed. "I still feel like shit." I've never seen her so withdrawn and subdued. Usually, Alexa radiates confidence; she never lets anything get to her. Clearly, Chase Specials are her limit.

"Well consider this, hair of the dog or whatever," Hailee shrugs dismissively and continues to root through my clothes. "Now hurry up and get changed."

When neither Alexa nor I make a move to do her bidding, Hailee puts her hands on her hips. "Need I remind you that I am only here for one weekend? And that last night our dear little Diana couldn't have fun because her boyfriend pitched up and ruined the party?"

"Need I remind you, that we are adults now and are long past our teenager days where we could party every night?" Alexa counters, still refusing to move from under the duvet.

"Need I remind you-," Hailee starts before I interrupt; not liking the direction the conversation is going.

"Okay you two, let's not start fighting. Hailee, you promise that it's going to be a very chilled, quiet night? Just a couple of drinks?"

"Do you promise that you won't invite your boyfriend to tag along?"

"Yes I promise." I sigh as she looks at me expectantly. "And for the record, I didn't invite him last night, he just showed up."

"Well then don't tell him where we're going tonight." She pulls out a light blue shirt and throws it at me.

"Where are we going?" Alexa asks, finally sitting up and seemingly accepting her fate.

♡

"I'm starting to feel like I live here Hails," I mutter as we step out of the taxi and are faced with the entrance of Tall-oaks. "I've been here like three times already."

"Oh hush." She slings an arm over my shoulder and leads me towards the doors. "The drinks are good, the prices are decent and there's that yummy bartender who has a thing for you. Those are all pluses in my book."

"Are we going inside or not?" Alexa groans. "I need to sit down." That hangover must have hit her really hard if she's still feeling it.

I make a mental note to ask Chase what's in those damn cocktails. I only had two thanks to Mason, but I'd lost count of how many Alexa and Hailee had managed to down. Although, Hailee seems to have recovered from them pretty well. Then again, from the stories she tells us about chef school, she definitely has more experience in drinking than we do.

We go inside and look around at the now familiar bar. It's actually very quiet, hardly anyone in there, a huge contrast from the crowd last night. Chase looks up in surprise as we walk in, before a big smile crosses his face.

"Ladies, can't seem to get rid of you, can we?" he jokes. "What will it be tonight? Chase specials?"

"No!" Alexa responds a little too quickly. "Literally anything else, please."

"I will have a gin and tonic," Hailee orders. "A scotch for Alexa and Diana likes white wine."

"Chardonnay, I remember."

I smile at him gratefully as he turns to pour our drinks. He places them down in front of us and pulls a beer out of the fridge. "Do you guys mind if I join you? It's been a pretty dull night."

Before I can even open my mouth Hailee answers, "Yes of course!"

Why do I feel an interrogation coming on? Oh yes, because I know my best friend well.

"So Chase how old are you?" she starts with, barely giving him a chance to take a sip of his drink.

He looks a little taken aback, his eyebrows raised. He glances at me before he responds. "I'm twenty-seven."

"And how long have you worked here?"

Again, he looks like he doesn't know how to answer her question. "I, uh, I don't work here. I own it."

Well that explains all the free drinks.

It's Hailee's turn to look surprised and that seems to have put a stop to her inquisition. I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that she was bound to get too personal at some point. Chase takes the opportunity to start asking some questions of his own.

"Diana, what do you do?"

"She's a guidance councillor, at Statton High," Alexa answers for me before I can. "But she's studying to try and become a psychologist."

"Wow, that's really cool," he says, looking genuinely impressed. "What made you decide to do that?"

Again, I don't have the chance to respond before Hailee does, "it started with this whole thing in high school with Ma-,"

"I just wanted to help people," I talk over her before she can finish her sentence. I don't like what she was about to imply and for some reason, I don't want Chase to know too much about my past. I'm scared he will think less of me.

"And what exactly do you see in that Christian Grey wanna-be?" The way his face scrunches up as he asks makes it clear how he feels about Mason.

"Oh, hell yes." Hailee leans over the bar to give him a high five. "Dude, that is so right! He is just like that guy!"

I think I must be blushing all the way to the tips of my ears. I don't even bother trying to defend Mason now that Hailee and Chase seem to have made a tag team. I look across at Alexa, hoping for support, but she's still laughing at Chase's description of Mason. Okay, I guess it's three against one now.

"He doesn't treat you right, Diana."

"Amen sister!" Hailee throws her hands in the air at Chase's words. "I have been telling her that forever, but she won't listen."

"Can we talk about something else?" I plead, desperate to escape this conversation. "Anything else? I'm starting to feel a little ganged up on."

They all immediately stop smiling. "Sorry D," Hailee places her hand over mine. "It's only because I love you."

I nod stiffly and take a big sip of my wine. "Don't worry about it," I offer her a small smile, shrugging my shoulders. I can see that she only wants the best for me, but I don't really feel like it's the right place to discuss it. "Now who's next on the chopping block? Alexa?"

"No, not me!" she protests. "You can't pick on a fragile person!"

We have a really nice and chilled evening, just as Hailee had promised, joking around and talking to Chase. It's not long after eleven o'clock that we decide to leave, the four of us arguing about who is going to pay for all the drinks, Alexa finally winning.

"Diana," Chase calls me back to the bar counter as us girls start walking towards the door. "I'm sorry about earlier." He whispers as Alexa and Hailee look at us curiously. "But I do think that you deserve better. So much better."

"You don't really know him, Chase," I defend.

"I know enough. And I know what someone like you deserves, and it's more than him." His words catch me off guard slightly and cause yet another blush to make its way up my cheeks.

"Look, will you meet me for coffee tomorrow? Before you say no," he continues as I open my mouth to answer, "not as a date. This would just be two friends hanging out. I get the feeling you could use someone to talk to."

I'm not sure what to say. On the one hand, I really want to go. I do like Chase; he's warm, friendly and easy to talk to. On the other, I can only imagine the fuss that Mason would kick up if he ever found out about it.

"Think about it," Chase scribbles something on a piece of paper and hands it to me. "Let me know tomorrow."

I look down at the nine digits he has scrawled under his name. "I will."