Burn

"Brian, I want to leave." Michelle bitched to him as he sat around with his friends. It was Drew's 21st birthday and Brian was throwing her a great party. Brian looked up to his girlfriend through his buzzed daze.

"Then leave. No one is stopping you." Michelle glared at him before grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him up to her. "Hey! What the hell is your problem?"

"We need to talk, now." She growled, a pissed off look raging on her face.

"What if I don't want to?" He challenged. The room suddenly got deathly quiet. They waited for the beat down that Michelle was surely going to give him. Michelle rolled her eyes and leaned into Brian's ear. His eyes popped open at what she told him. Drew had to look away. She knew that look better than anyone. True, she had only known him for a short time of two years at that point, she could read him like a book. Brian grabbed her hand and pulled Michelle into the master bedroom of his small apartment that he and Matt shared.

"Wow, do they have to do that now?" Johnny groaned. He was new to the group so he didn't understand how Brian and Michelle were.

"Just let them go." Drew muttered sipping at her drink. Everyone was having fun hanging out before Michelle showed up with Val.

"Hey, I got an idea." Zacky smiled. "Lets take this party to the beach." Drew smiled and nodded her head. Anything to get away from what was now going on in the apartment. The guys grabbed all the booze while Val took Drew into Matt's room. She kept a few bathing suits at his place in case spontaneous beach trips like this happened.

"You enjoying your birthday?" Val asked as they changed into the suits.

"Yeah. It's been great. Best birthday ever." Drew laughed, tying the strings around her neck. Val smiled and dug into the drawer to pull out a long black box with a red bow in it.

"Here. It's from Matt and me." She smiled, handing it to her.

"Oh, you really didn't need to get me anything." Drew gushed. Val rolled her eyes and pushed the box into her hands.

"If you don't take it, I will have to hurt you." She laughed. "It's your birthday. You deserve a gift." Drew smiled and opened the box. She gasped when she saw the silver charm bracelet with a little turtle charm. "You'll always be our little turtle." Drew felt the happy tears come to her eyes as she hugged Val tightly. Her and Matt always called her a turtle cause it took a while for Drew to warm up and come out of her shell with them.

"Thank you so much. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever given me." She sniffled happily. Val laughed and wiped away her tears.

"you are the best girl that has ever been in our group." Val smiled. "Besides me, of course." Drew laughed and hugged her again.

"I really appreciate it." Val smiled brightly; happy that she loved the gift. "Come on, we don't want to keep the guys waiting." Drew suggested before they made their way out to the living room. Drew instantly ran up to Matt, putting her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. Matt laughed and returned the hug, not need to speak of why she was hugging him.

"Lets go!" Jimmy yelled, taking Drew up into his arms and running out the door. The rest of the crew followed after them. Jimmy held onto Drew tightly as he ran towards the beach. It was only a few blocks away from the apartment so with Jimmy's long legs, they got there in no time.

"Jimmy, I could have walked." Drew told him once he put her down on the sand.

"The birthday girl will not walk on her birthday." Jimmy said in a very regal like voice. Drew held her stomach as she laughed hysterically. "What is so funny?"

"You sound hilarious when you talk like that." She responded. Jimmy smirked and bowed to her.

"Anything to please the birthday princess." Drew rolled her eyes and patted his head.

"Dearest James, how much have you had to drink today?" She asked in a mockingly regal voice.

"Too much." Zacky replied as he and the rest of the gang joined them. Jimmy stood up tall and stuck his tongue out. "You're cut off, buddy."

"No way." Matt laughed. "Everyone is getting wasted tonight. Drew will only turn 21 once in her lifetime. We're going to celebrate it right." He announced. Drew looked to what they had brought to the beach.

"Camping gear?" She asked.

"We're gonna spend the night out here. It's going to be amazing!" Johnny laughed as he began to set up the equipment with Zacky and Jimmy.

"But it's the middle of December. It'll get cold by the time the sun goes down." Drew told them. Val smiled and held up a large duffel bag.

"Got it covered." She laughed. Drew wasn't keen on the idea of camping, but if it were with her best friends, she was good with it.

***

They had been out at the beach for a good few hours and in the time they had all gotten pretty drunk. Val and Drew played in the water while the guys started setting up a bonfire to cook dinner. Drew sat on the shore with the bottom half of her in the water while she watched the sunset.

"Gorgeous isn't it?" Val asked. Drew nodded. There weren't sunsets like that in North Carolina. "What's on your mind?" She asked.

"Home." She replied.

"Miss your parents?" Drew laughed and shook her head.

"Not at all. They hate that I'm out here. I was just thinking about how different the sunsets are." Val looked to the setting sun and smiled.

"I grew up with the sunset, I'll die with it." Drew smiled and nodded. Suddenly the guys were making more noise than usual. They turned to see that Brian was making his way towards the guys. Drew rolled her eyes and turned back towards the sun to see that it had completely set over the water. Drew groaned, folding her arms over her chest. "What's wrong?" Val chuckled.

"He made me miss my favorite part." Drew groaned. Val smiled and stood up.

"Come on. It's getting cold. Lets go warm up by the fire." She said as she helped Drew out of the water. The girls quickly made their way over to the campsite. Drew avoided Brian as much as possible. She got her clothes and changed quickly. She came out of the tent and saw that the boys were cooking dinner. She pulled on her hoodie and went to sit next to Jimmy. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and kissed her temple.

"You having fun, birthday girl?" He asked. Drew smiled and nodded as she snuggled into his side.

"Brian made me miss my favorite part of the sunset though." She complained. Jimmy laughed as he looked over to Brian. He was laying back on a blanket, looking up to the sky.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to." Jimmy told her. "You should go talk to him." Drew scoffed and pulled out of his arms.

"Why should I? He left my party to go fuck his whore of a girlfriend." Jimmy shook his head.

"He left the party to break up with his whore of a girlfriend." Drew's mouth dropped to the sand. He actually had left her. Drew never thought that would ever happen. "Go talk to him." Drew sighed and walked over to where he laid.

"Hi," She said sheepishly. Brian looked over to her for a moment, flashed her a quick smile and then turned his attention back to the night sky. Drew looked up to the stars and smiled. "Anything interesting up there tonight?" She asked lightly.

"Same old boring stars." He muttered. Drew shook her head and laid down next to him.

"That's not true." She told him. She looked up to see the comet that the news had been raving about for the past few days. "See the comet? It's like a giant shooting star. If you wish on it, it's almost a guarantee that your wish will come true." Brian scoffed lightly. "Oh come on!"

"I'm 21, Drew. I don't wish on shooting stars." He muttered. Drew smiled and held onto his hand.

"You're never too old to wish on stars." She whispered before closing her eyes and making her wish. Brian looked over to her, smiling at how perfect she looked in the dusk light. He couldn't help himself. Brian leaned over and pressed his lip to Drew's. Drew's eyes instantly popped open. She wanted to push him off of her but she was too distracted by the fireworks blowing her mind away. Every cell in her body tingled. She had never felt these kinds of emotions before; she loved it. Brian pulled away when they heard the guys calling them to eat. Drew stayed frozen on the ground. Brian looked back to her and smirked.

"Did you get your wish, birthday girl?" He laughed. Drew instantly snapped out of her dream world and sobered up. She stood up and rushed over to the camp. She dug into the cooler, picking up the first drink that touched her fingers. She opened it up and chugged it quickly. Anything to drown out the thoughts and emotions that were pulsing through her. She looked over to Brian, for the first time scared of him. How did he make her feel like that? How in one kiss did Brian make Drew fall in love with him?

Drew awoke with a gasp, sitting straight up in the bed. She looked around her bedroom realizing that she was dreaming up a memory. Drew sighed putting her head in her hands. The memories of her life in California had been coming back like that for the past few days. It had to mean something but Drew couldn't figure it out.

"You alright, babe?" Evan asked, placing his hand on her thigh. Drew screamed and jumped out of the bed. "Whoa, what's wrong?" Evan asked, sitting up. Drew breathed heavily as her heart began to slow down from the fright. She had been so caught up in her dream that she completely forgot that Evan had stayed the night.

"I'm sorry, Evan. I just had a nightmare and you scared me." She sighed, sitting back in the bed with him. He laughed lightly and kissed her lips. He then looked to the clock behind her and smirked.

"You just couldn't wait for your birthday, huh baby?" Drew looked to the clock to see that it was 12:05 in the morning. Drew smiled lightly and laid back down. Evan wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his muscular chest. "Go back to sleep birthday girl. You got a big party tonight you gotta be rested for." Drew nodded. "I love you." Drew sighed, her heart panging with guilt.

"You too, Evan." She replied as she kissed his cheek. She turned around in his arms to watch the snow once again falling. She needed to figure out what was going on with her mind as heart before it was too late.