[PAUL]

"I swear to God if you pour water on my hair, I'll cut your hand," Casey said, shielding her Afro as she ran away from her girlfriend. Cassandra chased after her playfully before tripping and landing in the pool. I couldn't believe that so many of Travis' friends had flown in just to see him. I keep on forgetting that despite how clueless he could be sometimes he was like their group head back in high school, and he was one of the only likeable ones then too.

"Don't run around the pool," Alex said in a bored tone making everyone roll their eyes as some hisses escaped some people's lips. If there's something most people at the party shared it was a general feeling of irritation towards Alex. I mean, I could understand why.

"Really, you're saying that after someone has already tripped?" Sam asked.

"Mhm," Alex said with a shrug, not looking up from the newspaper puzzle he was doing under the shade of the pool table. Sam cursed under her breath before swimming over to check on Cassandra who was now drenched from head to toe. At least she was in a swimsuit.

Chris and Sky were sitting on the side of the table with Alex, and they seemed oblivious to the tension between Sam and Alex. I was sitting across from them, the empty plastic seat beside me being for Travis. He had gone inside to get some drinks for everyone. The pool he booked was large enough for us, and people were having a good time if you excluded the looming possibility that Samantha and Alexander would have a fight.

"It's like she's waiting for you to do something," I said, not being able to take the tension anymore. Alex looked up from the newspaper he was scribbling on. He was doing a crossword puzzle and only seemed annoyed by me interrupting him.

"Why should I care?" he asked, raising a brow at me. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so I closed it, looking away to avoid the intense look Alex was giving me. He was acting like he didn't care but he seemed annoyed at the attitude everyone was giving him. And I could tell that he cared and needed comforting from the way Chris would reach out to hold his hand from time to time. That's how he got him to calm down.

Things went back to normal with Travis' friends talking and Alex and Sam ignoring each other. Travis came with everyone drinks, and he shared it with a red basket, handing bottles over to people sitting around the pool first. I think Sam said a snide remark under her breath because before I knew it Alex was standing up on his feet, surprising me and Chris.

"If you have something to say to me, just say it," he said, looking over at Sam who just stared bullets at him. The area was silent for a while, but then Tony, one of Travis' friends tried to instigate the fight by giggling and 'ohing.' Huh, seems like Tony hadn't outgrown being the dick sucker of the leader of the pack type person.

"Really, I think you already know what I have to say," San said, getting up and folding her hands across her chest. she was in a plaid blue bikini and her hair was in a ponytail (as usual.)

"I have no idea what you're going on about—"

"Look, don't do this here," Chris said, cutting Alex off.

"Oh, shut up. We have a score to settle," Sam said, making Chris raise his hands in mock surrender before sighing.

"I don't think you want to bring up what happened between us here," Alex said, folding his hands over his chest. Sam didn't back, she just kept staring at him.

"Why don't you change?" she simply asked, cocking her head to the side. "You're still as insufferable as ever. Still an emotionless bitch, huh?" her voice was shaking now, and it seemed Jasper noticed because he got up and went over to his girlfriend. He hugged her, and she started subbing making everyone look over at her in concern.

"Alex, apologize," Sky said, surprising everyone who was sitting at our table. Alex frowned at her. He seemed insulted.

"Why would I do that? I don't do any of that anymore. For God's sake it's been over five years now," he groaned, making Chris sigh beside him as he drummed the tip of his fingers on the plastic table.

"Sorry's just a word, I'm not saying it," he mumbled, making Sky groan as she ran a hand through her hair.

"She already apologized to you," I cut in.

"So? I didn't ask her to," Alex said in a voice that told me he wanted me to shut up. I sunk into my chair as Travis came around to ask if I was okay.

"Yeah. Yeah, I get your thought process, but nobody's here you Alex. Words mean a lot to other people," Sky said, waving her hand as she looked form him to Chris and then to him again. It seemed like Alex understood what she was implying because he sighed, getting up from his seat before making his way over to Sam and her boyfriend.

"Sam," he started as Jasper let go of his girlfriend who was now rubbing at her eyes. "I'm sorry," his voice was a little quiet, but everyone in the area could hear it. There was a moment of silence as Sam continued to rub at her eyes. "I'm also sorry if I've ever offended or hurt anyone here," he said, raising his voice as he looked around. It seemed like it was not just Sam and Travis he had played with at some point because some of the Travis' friends refused to meet his gaze like they had something to hide.

"I was a dick head back in high school, but I've changed—" he paused what he was saying before frowning, probably realizing that wasn't exactly true. "Okay, mostly changed," he clarified, making Sky and Chris chuckle a bit.

I don't blame them, it's best to just forget about it, no need to know how many walking disasters in the name of games Alex had under his belt.

"Sincerely, I'm not like that anymore — well, I am I'm just not playing games anymore and I'm watching my mouth unless someone really angers me," Alex announced, making me wince as I remembered the words he and Mia had exchanged when she was still staying at the apartment with us.

"He's telling the truth," Chris said from his seat, bringing attention to himself. He was smiling at Alex. He seemed proud was doing the one thing in the world that no one expected him to do.

"You mean it, yeah? I'm sorry too," Sam said as she finally stopped rubbing her eyes. She sniffed, as Jasper came up again to hug her to himself from the side. I couldn't believe she had accepted Alex's apology so readily. Maybe words held as much weight as Sky had told Alex they did.

"Yeah, Paul already told me," Alex said and Sam chuckled a bit, and just like that the general mood picked up and everyone went back to having fun. Sam and Alex exchanged a few words before Sam walked away with her boyfriend and Alex walked back to the table, sinking into his seat with the most exhausted look on his face.

"Don't say anything, I think I'm going to be sick," Alex said before Sky could say anything. Chris laughed, and Alex pushed his shoulder as he rolled his eyes. I looked on at the scene until Travis tugged at the material of my shirt.

"What the fuck happened when I went to get drinks?" he asked in a whisper as Chris, Alex and Sky started talking to each other.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," I chuckled, leaning forward to peck his nose. "Just Alex being petty."

Travis laughed, leaning away from me, but then he turned to me again with wide eyes. "You're still trying to get into the dormitory right?" Travis asked, and I nodded, wondering what was on his mind.

"I'm planning to move out of the dormitory, do you want to move in with me when I get a place to rent?" he asked as his face became red. His blonde hair was a mess, and his blue eyes pierced my brown ones as he waited for me to give him an answer. My face warmed up as I thought about it.

Living with Travis, gosh... I thought, biting down on my bottom lip as I tightened my grip on the bottle of bear Travis had shared earlier. I know that we practically already lived together. Travis hung around Chris and Alex's house a lot just to see me. If I could share a room with him when he slept over, I'm sure I could share a tiny apartment with him.

"I'd like to," I said, and Travis grinned from ear to ear before looking away. The party went on for the next few hours. The sun was slowly retreating into the clouds as the evening wind engulfed the area. Most people had moved away from the pool and were now playing a game of beer pong on a stray plastic table. I wasn't as anxious around Travis' friends like I thought I would be, and sometimes I would even walk up to someone and have a conversation.

"Do you want to dance?" Travis asked, making me blink before looking over my shoulder. I was standing by the corner as everyone made a full of themselves dancing along to the pop song coming from the radio Johan had brought with him. I smiled, nodding before flinging myself on him. He caught me, spinning me around for a bit as I laughed before we started dancing.

While we danced, I looked over Travis' shoulder observing how lovey-dovey Chris and Alex were being, and how relaxed everyone seemed around each other. Many of them didn't look very different, but they lost some of their high school flair — in a good way that is. I couldn't help feeling that a tenseness from the last few weeks had finally been relaxed. I liked it and hoped it stayed that way.

"Cheers!" Sky screamed from the other end, making everyone yell cheers too and they lifted their plastic cups. Travis chuckled, rolling his eyes at his loud friend before looking back down at me. His smile widened and before I knew what was happening, he bent forward to connect our lips to give me a kiss. A quick one. He pulled away, but I wasn't having it. I pulled him back, deepening the kiss as people around started yelling at us to get a room as they whistled.

Yeah, I liked that the tension was gone. I wish it'll stay that way.