Ready For Us

She went running past the crowd of inebriated people, trying as best she could to keep the tears in no matter how much her lungs burned. She was a pretty girl, almond-shaped light brown eyes, long reddish brown hair that was somewhere between wavy and curly. She pulled down her dangerously short denim shorts, frayed at the edges.

"Mia, would you- God, would you just wait!" A boy with similar shade of hair and bright, bright blue eyes that could rival the Caribbean beach water. Chasing after her, his eyebrows raised with concern he grabbed her tanned, skinny wrist trying to catch her and understand why she was running.

"Garrett, why don't you go have fun with your precious Olivia," She hissed, her eyes burning with an anger he couldn't comprehend. All he knew was they had been best friends since they were five, it had always just been Garrett and Mia, galavanting off on stupid adventures that didn't sound fun to anyone else. Venturing through backyards, up mountains and old alleyways. Now, this.

"Mia, why are you angry? What did I do?" Garrett begged, she let out a small gasp and immediately knew the time she had left that she could still muffle the tears was running low. She shook her head and as soon as her wrist broke free of his grip she turned, walking backwards towards, her flat-clad feet treading lightly, her car waiting for her in the driveway.

"Garrett, I hate you so, so much, I never want to see you again!" She lied convincingly enough that he couldn't tell, tears finally breaking away. She pulled her car keys out of her pocket and Garrett stood staring in awe at her, wondering what the hell had happened since Wednesday when they were fine. "I just can't make you see," She said turning over her shoulder once more before running to her car. He saw her headlights turn on and disappear as she drove off. After fourteen years of friendship was it really going to end like this?

People had trickled outside from the party to see what the commotion was about and Garrett sighed realizing he would have to face them to get back inside. He brushed past Olivia, the blonde, plain girl that had caused such a stir. Garrett didn't see why on Earth Mia would get so upset about how he had just brought Olivia as a date to Jared's party. Olivia was just a girl, he was just a boy and they were went on a date.

Garrett was desperate for answers, he ran his fingers through hair, leaving it messily strewn in all directions. He looked around for John, who was dancing with a fairly drunk redhead. Garrett grabbed John's arm and yanked him back into the hallway before John could even respond.

"What the hell? You're not Bridget," John said looking disappointed to see Garrett waiting looking frantic. John rubbed his chest absent-mindedly and rubbed his chest, extending his neck to look around. His head was either vacant from some substance or off in la-la land, or a combination of both.

"No shit, dude, you've gotta help me. Mia just ran out of here and told me she hated me, what did I dude?" Garrett asked truly unable to think of a reason why his best friend would hate him suddenly. John was still looking around vacantly, Garrett responded by punching him in the chest, "Dude!"

"Ow, what was that for?" John asked returning his bloodshot eyes down to Garrett, that's when Garrett realized that John was very far from sober, therefore an open book. You could get anything out of John when he was drunk or high and Garrett knew Mia had been clinging to John since Wednesday. He noticed because Garrett wondered why she would turn to John.

"Dude, why does Mia hate me?" Garrett asked with a whole new level of desperation appearing in his voice, hoping that his plan would work. He was slightly resentful that his friendship was resting on John's big mouth. John shook his head dramatically, moving his blondish hair around.

"Nope, she doesn't hate you, she loves you. Like loves loves you, and you have your head up your ass, I would hate you too," John said crossing his arms and adding a little snootiness as he finished. Suddenly everything came together in a raw, crystallizing moment, Garrett's jaw dropped and he ran off leaving John standing confused and less-than-sober in the hallway wondering what happened.

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"I don't know why, I just can't tell him. I left so many signs, I honestly think he just isn't or ever will be attracted to me," Mia sighed, the tears had stopped but left their mark. Her older sister, who looked remarkably similar to her hugged her even tighter, not caring that Mia's mascara was running all over her white v-neck. "God Sam, what's wrong with me?" She asked, burrowing her face into Sam's shoulder desperate for a sign or anything.

"You know... you could try actually telling him?" Sam asked before Mia gave her a stern look, as if to say 'that's not helping'. Sam raised arms innocently, jutting out her bottom lip, "or not." Sam pulled the quilt that was covering both of their legs higher up and returned to consoling her little sister. Mia had made it fairly clear that she would never admit she was in love, at least out loud to him.

"God, if there was a prize for rotten judgement, I'd win it, hands down," Mia sighed, her heart literally feeling as if it was being ripped in two. Being just friends with Garrett was too hard. Sure, her judgement may have been impaired by mass amounts of alcohol, but she knew that she couldn't just stay there by his side as he went out with other girls. She'd rather lose a friend than her sanity.

"At least you'd would've won something," Sam chuckled slightly sarcastic, reminding Mia that she was indeed a sibling. Mia raised an eyebrow to see her sister with a playful gleam in her eyes, causing Mia to laugh a little.

"You're an asshole," Mia laughed a little, Sam shrugged when suddenly the door bell rang, both girls immediately looked down the hallway seeing nothing but a silhouette through the glass window in the middle of the door. The girls were home alone, their parents being away for a second or third cousin's wedding in Albuquerque. Mia looked back to see Sam's finger on her nose and her tongue sticking out in victory. Mia sighed, wondering why her sister would make her answer the door late at night in the middle of a breakdown.

Mia pulled her sweater sleeves to cover her hands, her denim shorts still obnoxiously short. She felt like an idiot, as if a new pair of shorts would make him notice her in that way. She unlocked the door and opened the golden doorknob to show a boy looking extremely pensive. He looked up and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get anything else she slammed the door in his face and walked into the kitchen, ignoring Sam, curious to know what was going on.

Mia bit her lip looking at her reflection in the window, her eyes red and makeup smeared. She blew her nose and threw away the tissue before she saw a boy standing right behind her. She jumped back her heart almost flying out of her chest. Her hand clutched her chest, her eyes grew wide. "Jesus, Garrett! What's wrong with you! You nearly scared me to death!" She scolded him before remembering she wasn't talking to him anymore.

"What's wrong with me?! What's wrong with you! At least I don't end fourteen year friendships just because I'm an idiot," he paused thinking before she could come up with a comeback he started again. "I mean I'm the idiot not you, but I just wanted to ask you for some advice, then you'll never see me again." His eyes pouring out his honest intent. She was going to miss that, having someone she could read just by their eyes.

"Fine," Mia agreed, biting her lip completely apprehensive. The more he stayed the more she regretted what she had said. The more she wanted to take Sam's advice and just tell him, but there was something about admitting it out loud, the vulnerability she wasn't ready to risk.

"So there's this girl I know," Garrett began and Mia's heart dropped further than it had been. She took a deep breath and sucked up the pain to be the best friend she was to Garrett, one last time. "She's beautiful and funny and I feel like I'm myself around her. The thing is, she says she doesn't want me in her life anymore," Garrett continued, Mia perked up, a hope giving her a second wind due to her desperation. "It's all my fault because I was too dumb to realize what was right in front of me, what should I do?" Garrett asked, a small, sly smile creeping across his face.

"This girl, does she know about the time you set the neighbor's cat on fire?" She asked with a coy smile growing across her face. Garrett's face lit up in a flaming blush as he laughed lightly nodding his head. Most definitely Garrett's most embarrassing story that left her horrified, but she told him she would be his friend no matter what stupid-ass thing he did. Mia, now armed with confidence, leaned forward, the distance between them getting dangerously close. "I think if she can still love you after that she can forgive you for this," Mia said, her eyes growing big as she looked up him, both of them moving closer to each other as if there was some magnetic force pulling them together.

"Well good, because I'm 99.99% certain I'm in love with her," Garrett said bringing his voice to a whisper, both of their hearts beating at a million miles per hour, their fingers tingling with anticipation. "And now, I'm gonna kiss her," he continued looking deep into her eyes, she seemed entranced by him moving closer even when there was no more distance between their bodies.

"'Bout friggin' time," Mia smiled as Garret began to tilt his head, his hand gently bringing her chin up to him.

"Shut up," He chuckled, before their lips touched gently, the anticipation breaking down and a flood of pure ecstasy rushing through both their bodies. Granted it was a plain old peck, but the chemistry between them made it so much more. Her skin was crawling and demanding more him. He hungrily kissed her lips pulling her into his arms closely, his tongue tracing the bottom of her lip and she allowed its entrance.

"Ugh, gross!" Sam called out as she walked into the kitchen, her nose scrunched up and her tongue stuck out conveying her disgust. Garrett and Mia pulled away, blushing only because they were caught, there was no regret for what they had just done. It felt too right to regret. Garrett played with her small hands, looking at the ring he had given her in sixth grade for her birthday. Mia noticed the pensive, intense stare at her hands so she lifted her right hand to lift his chin to look at her.

"What?" She asked, so happy her smile was impossible to hide. He lifted his hand to her face, cupping it lightly and bringing their foreheads together. He managed to shake his head despite the fact they were pressed on each other. Both of their breaths grew short in desperation to be closer.

"I just can't believe you were here all along," He smiled, before he kissed her again. Both of them grateful for the day their parents insisted they have play-dates together and maybe the fact they had avoided a more-than-platonic relationship until now was a good thing, because now they both knew how bad they wanted each other. More importantly, how much they needed each other.