Burn

The steam from the tea Drew drank fogged up the frosted windows of her New York flat as she stared out at the gently falling snow. She say in the alcove of the window thinking about that day in May. Everyday she missed the warm California life. She didn't regret leaving. It was time for her to move on. Move on from her business, move on to a new place, and move on from Brian. She knew that if she had gone to the wedding, it would hurt too much. She would never be over him if she had stayed in California. The only thing she regretted was not telling Brian that she was leaving. She hated to think that she hurt him; she knew she did. Drew had no choice. The wedding hard to go on. With Drew there, it wouldn't have.

It had already been a year and a half since she left unexpectedly. Her life in New York was amazing. The job she was offered was everything she had hoped it would be. It was a lot less stressful than her company back in California. The clientele were much more extravagant too. Drew and her team were the wedding planners for New York's biggest entrepreneur, Donald Trump. The wedding for his daughter shot her name to the top of every celebrity in the area's list. It was a dream come true. 30 years old and the biggest success in the most important city in the world.

"Oh my god! It's freezing out there!" Drew's roommate and business partner Cori laughed. Cori was also Drew's best friend. She was outgoing, caring, feisty, funny, and all around a great girl. She reminded Drew of Jimmy, only in female form. "Why does New York have to be so fucking cold?" She laughed as she took off her jacket and gloves. Her hat came off next, releasing her long auburn hair in it's perfect waves. She was gorgeous. Drew always said she should be a model instead of a wedding planner. Cori always said that she loved food too much to model.

"Because we're up north?" Drew laughed as she watched Cori shake the snow off of her.

"Maybe it's because all of the ice bitches live in this city." Coir laughed and walked to sit next to Drew. "Enjoy your day off?" She asked. Drew sipped her tea and nodded. "What did you do as I was slaving away at work?" She asked as she dramatically sprawled out over Drew's lap.

"I kind of just sat her and watched the city below me." She smiled as she looked back out the frosty window. Cori rolled her eyes and sat up.

"That sounds like something that came right out of a fiction love story." Drew laughed lightly and shrugged her shoulders.

"Drew!" A voice called as it entered the apartment. Drew smiled looking towards the door. Cori rolled her eyes.

"Oh joy, lover boy is here." Cori muttered. Drew glared at her. Cori smiled innocently before the man walked around the corner.

"There you are." He smiled, walking over and kissing Drew's lips. Cori fake gagged and looked away from them. He pulled away and looked to Cori. "Sorry, are we bothering you?" Cori rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Not at all, Evan. I'm leaving." She replied as she walked into her room. Drew sighed giving Evan an annoyed look.

"Evan, Why can't you two get along?" She asked. Evan sat down in the spot Coir once occupied and put his hand on her thigh.

"We just have clashing personalities, that's all." He smiled. Drew nodded, not completely accepting his answer. "Want to go get some dinner?" He asked as his hand ran lightly up and down her leg. Drew watched his hand move. His hands were nothing like Brian's. He didn't have calloused fingers or long ones. They were like model hands. They were strong but for his job he had to look well too. She knew he had gotten a few manicures in his lifetime compared to Brian's none. "Drew?" Evan asked snapping her out of her trance of his hands.

"Dinner, right." She replied. "Yeah that sounds good." She smiled lightly looking into his baby blue eyes; the complete opposite of Brian's dark chocolate ones.

"Are you alright baby?" He laughed. Drew shook her head and looked down to his hand again to hide her embarrassment. Why was she suddenly comparing Evan to Brian? She knew he wasn't Brian and would never be anything like him. That's what she liked about him when they met. He was a complete 180 from Brian. Blonde hair, blue eyes, 6 foot; perfect.

"Yeah, this tea had just made me a little tired." She replied sheepishly. "Can we order in?" She asked. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her small figure onto his lap.

"That's fine. Chinese or Pizza?" He smiled.

"Chinese. I'll go ask Cori if she's going to stay or not." Drew smiled as she got off his lap. She walked towards Cori's room and knocked.

"Enter." She bellowed jokingly. Drew laughed and opened the door to see her roommate doing yoga in front of her bed. "Shoes off."

"I'm not wearing shoes." Drew laughed. Cori smiled with her eyes closed whilst doing a yoga pose.

"Then you may enter." Drew rolled her eyes and went over to sit on Cori's bed. "Did Mr. stick up his ass leave?"

"He does not have a stick up his ass." Drew laughed. Cori scoffed as she switched positions.

"Please. How do you think his posture is always so perfect? That stick stands him straight up!" Drew laughed and shook her head.

"He comes from a very prestigious family." She defended. Cori laughed loudly, abandoning her yoga completely.

"So it's a family trait! They're all born with sticks up their asses." Cori smiled. "Damn, their mother must have had a hard time in delivery." She mumbled to herself. Drew laid out on the bed in a fit of hysterics. Cori smiled triumphantly and sat on the bed next to her. As soon as Drew was able to catch her breath, she sat up and hugged Cori. "I know, I'm amazing."

"Yes." Drew agreed. Cori always knew how to make Drew laugh. It was a gift. "Anyway, there was a reason I came in here." She told her. "Evan and I are ordering in Chinese. You want to stay in with us?"

"And watch you two make out on the couch? Ew. No thanks. I'll just go over to Skylar's place." She replied, getting off the bed to change out of her yoga clothes. Skylar and Cori had been dating for about 2 years. He lived down the hall from them. They met down in the laundry room which Drew fondly called that day the 'soap and rope'. From that day on they were practically inseparable.

"You guys going to do some laundry?" Drew smirked. Cori let out a sarcastic laugh.

"That's after dinner when we'll actually have things to wash." Cori replied with a mischievous smirk. Drew groaned getting off the bed and headed to the door. "If you can't take it, don't dish it out sweetheart!" Cori laughed as Drew walked into the living room. Evan sat on the couch, flipping through the TV channels.

"Find anything good?" She asked sitting down next to him. He shook his head and turned on some music channel.

"Is Cori staying?" He asked. Drew shook her head as she watched the music video on the screen.

"No, she's going over to Skylar's place. Apparently she doesn't want to watch us make out." She laughed. Evan's smile widened at the mention of making out. His arm slithered around her before her pulled her closer to him. Drew laughed and hit his chest lightly. "I didn't mean we were going to make out now."

"But we will." He smirked. Drew rolled her eyes and pushed him away. He kept his grip on her tight. She playfully tried to free herself from him but when he crashed his lips down onto her, the will to fight flew out of the window.

"Oh my god!" Cori groaned when she walked in on them making out. Drew quickly pulled away from Evan. "You could have at least waited until I was gone. My virgin eyes." She groaned.

"If your eyes are virgins, I'd hate to see what the rest of you is considered." Evan smirked. Cori scoffed a taunting laugh and flipped him off.

"Lets not call the kettle black, got it pot?" Cori spat. Evan rolled his eyes and looked back to the TV.

"Go see Skylar. I'm sure he's ready and waiting with his quarters." Drew smirked, making a joke.

"Oooh, a roll of quarters? That's all he's got to work with? Sorry about your luck." Evan laughed lightly. Cori rolled her eyes putting her purse over her shoulder.

"At least with him I don't get nickel and dimed. Sorry about your luck, Drew." She smirked. Drew sighed, holding her hands up.

"Ding, ding! This match is over and you both lose." She said, fed up with the fighting. "Cori, go." She ordered. Cori rolled her eyes once again.

"Yes, mother. Don't worry. I won't be home too late. It is a school night after all." She replied mockingly as she walked out of the apartment. Drew sighed and glared at Evan.

"What?" He asked as if he didn't know why she was mad.

"That was beyond clashing personalities." She told him. "That was plain rude."

"Hey, she dished it right back." He defended. Drew rolled her eyes and moved away from him on the couch. "Drew, come on. I'm sorry. I'll try and be nicer to her. She had to be nicer to me too."

"That I can't promise. I don't control her." Drew muttered, glaring at the TV.

"If she was truly your friend, she would make an effort to be nice to the man you love." He told her. Love? Did Drew love him? To a point she did. She had never told him that she loved him. After what her heart went through with Brian, she didn't want to get hurt again. She took a chance with Evan, mainly to test if she could feel anything for someone other than Brian. Sure, she felt something for Evan. She deeply cared about him but she wasn't too sure if those feeling would classify as love though. "Damn, you're really spacey today." Evan uttered as he moved his hand in front of her face. Drew groaned and swatted it away. "Fine then. I'm going to change into some different clothes. Alright?" Drew nodded, her attention not leaving the TV even though she wasn't really watching what was playing. Evan sighed and kissed her cheek before getting up to change.

Drew often thought of Brian and what would have happened if she had gone to Mexico with everyone else. Would she have been able to keep her feelings to herself? Would she be able to handle watching Brian marry her worst enemy? No. That she knew the answer to. There was no way she could have watched that. Her heart broke just watching him walk away from her at the airport. Watching him commit his life to her, that would surely kill her.

The doorbell rang, saying that the food was there. "Babe, could you get that? I'm going to take a shower real quick." Drew got off the couch and went to answer the door. She greeted the delivery man, signed the credit card receipt, and got the food. She walked back to the living room and put out all the containers on the coffee table. Drew then walked to the kitchen to get her and Evan some drinks. When she walked back into the living room the TV was playing a countdown called 'sexiest rock stars'. Drew rolled her eyes and took the container of orange chicken and the chopsticks, taking out a piece and putting it into her mouth. She at the chicken as she watched the countdown. She didn't really want to watch it but she couldn't be bothered to actually change the channel. She heard the shower turn off, knowing that Evan would be out with her soon. The countdown got to number 1 and the music video of the winners began playing. From the first note that played, Drew gasped, getting a piece of chicken lodged into her throat. She choked as she watched the music video of her old best friends play right before her eyes. Drew gasped and coughed, trying to breathe; then his face came on the screen. Drew's eyes watered from lack of oxygen and the sight of him. She had been good at avoiding all contact with him. She hadn't even looked at a picture in the year and a half since she had left. He was even more beautiful now than he had been a year and a half ago. "Drew!" Evan yelled when he saw her choking. He quickly ran over and performed the Heimlich maneuver, freeing her from her chicken induced death. Drew gasped loudly, feeling the air rush back into her lungs. She collapsed back into Evan, her eyes never leaving the screen that held her past life and the reason she left. "Jesus Christ, Drew. Are you alright, babe?" Evan asked as he held her close. Drew nodded lightly, continuing to watch. Brian smirked and her heart soared. She knew that smirk well. She had forgotten how much she loved that movement. "You gotta take smaller bites, honey." Evan laughed, kissing her cheek. Drew looked between Drew and the TV quickly. Her old life and her new life. It was tearing her apart. In that moment, she knew her answer. There was no way that Drew could ever love Evan like she loved Brian. Even after all this time, Brian had her heart. Damn him.