Rumored Nights

William sat on the hood of his car overlooking the city.

How many countless times had he sat up here in the dark, thinking about life.

So many memories floating through his mind in such a memory soaked place just made his thoughts more cluttered instead of clearing them like his original intention.

In the darkness William could see the same tree he and Alice had spent her fateful birthday under, merely a black cutout against a star filled sky.

Since that day they had spent countless hours up here overlooking the world, escaping from problems that looked so much smaller from high above.

He remembered sitting on the hood with her next to him, pointing out constellations to distract her from whatever woe brought them there.

And in that sense, he had always returned to this place whenever things were bad and he needed to sort them out.

Staring up at the dark sky, William was kept warm only by the lingering heat from the engine beneath him.

He had fucked up big in the time that had passed between his impulsive act to kiss Alice, the catalyst to this whole mess.

The only wish William had at that moment was to make things right between him and the girl he had known half his life.

A flood of memories broke loose in his mind, images of him and Alice through the years.

Afternoons running through the neighborhood, giving her a piggyback ride in a race against Ryan's skates.

Teaching her to ride a bike with her skinned elbows and knees.

Taking Alice to her first rock concert and laughing at her yelling all replies for the rest of the night.

Escorting her into high school on her first day with Caroline when Ryan couldn't.

William had always been there for her with Ryan as a second brother, or when Ryan couldn't, but it had killed him when he wanted her to see him as something far from blood.

Perhaps that had been his motivation when he had kissed Alice.

The hold she had on him, how almost every thought and action was tinged with Alice.

He wondered if she had ever noticed how half the writings he showed her when he came over in the middle of the night were about her.

The thought of her nodding off, fighting desperately to stay awake for his sake always made him smile in a reminiscent sort of way.

William could never count how many times he had snuck into Alice's room in the middle of the night, some times where he'd have to hide from her mom in the closet while she said goodnight.

Mrs. Hale, for she would always be that to him, was amazingly patient with his friendship with her kids, but even she wouldn't have tolerated late night visits to her youngest daughter's bedroom.

All of this he missed, even the hiding in the closet, and because he had been too stupid to be honest with Alice from the beginning he had lost it all.

The conclusion William reached as he laid under the stars reminiscing was that all of this wasn't just because he missed Alice, but he missed who he was with her.

And if one thing was certain as he left the overlook, he was going to get it back.

.<^>.<^>.<^>.<^>.

Somewhere farther below the stars Alice was surrounded by a different kind of lights in the sky, the much more synthetic street kind.

The windows were rolled down once more, the now icy cold wind whipping through the car and tangling her hair made Alice shiver uncontrollably, but never once affected her constant laughter.

With the music pumping loudly through the stereo Alice borrowed a hoodie from Mike and continued watching the streets go by in the night.

The laughter that continued was caused by the band in the backseat next to her, Gavin, Shane, and Felix, the last sitting in the open air trunk, without the bungee's they had used on Adam, to make room for Alice while Melanie had the front seat.

Communicating only in yells they made their way down the road to the guys favorite after show diner, a dive on the outside with shiny floors and a fifties interior.

Alice got carried in over the shoulder of Gavin, a high school wrestler with not enough patience for her getting out of the car.

The waitress seemed quite familiar with this group, merely smiling and shaking her head at Gavin's antics before leading them to a table in the back before anyone could speak.

"Here's your table. The usual I guess?" She asked the group of six.

Felix nodded with a grin, waiting for her to turn her back so he could throw the packet of grape jelly at Shane's forehead.

While waiting for their food, all six nursed a rainbow of milkshakes.

Alice had never had a chocolate milkshake quite like the one in front of her before, but after being assured the diner was famous for them quickly fell in love on the first sip.

The guys meanwhile had started up a conversation that Alice hadn't been paying attention to until she heard Felix's last reply.

"Shane stop raping me, we're in public!"

The waitress had also come in on that moment, pausing for a moment until she proceeded with business as usual, passing out the food.

Classic burgers with plump sesame buns, full of color vegetables and still sizzling meat paraded along in front of Alice as food was handed down.

Golden glistening fries, stacks of pancakes dripping with fruit and syrup, so bright and shining you wouldn't believe it was real sat on the table, the choreographed event seemingly coming to a close.

Everyone began eating, some with sauce dipped chicken strips, others with whipped pastel slices of cake that looked so delicious Alice felt as if she hadn't eaten in months.

Still, the dance wasn't done with people still collecting bits of food onto their plate, no one dish untouched with just it's original contents.

This was the kind of friendship Alice enjoyed, friends sharing food, insisting each other try a little of this while passing along a little of that.

It was an orgy of food.

Outrageous laughter and continous sound eventually gave way to mumbles and nods, as if the food in front of them caused all to slowly de-evolve.

As the time passed the plates began to empty, glossed colors from before giving way to smears and crumbs like the echoes of an epic battle.

One by one Gavin, Shane Felix, Mike, Melanie, and lastly Alice slumped against the cushioned booth, half lidded opium eyes stared back into hers.

"That is why we come here." Mike said to Alice with a yawn, the only one willing to break the silence, or with enough energy to do so.

Drunk on life, and now drunk on food, the people surrounding Alice began seeming like old friends, family that hadn't seen each other for years.

Melanie was in both worlds, woven deeply in the web of friendship while also looking in from the outside like Alice.

She looked at her with a grin, laughing as Mike's head slumped on her shoulder.

"Now we face the same problem as always," She explained, leaning over Gavin. "Who's driving?"