I walk back over to the table. "Sorry," I say, sheepishly. I hope they didn't hear everything. "What are we talking about?" "When you're coming back," Dylan says with his eyes trained on his phone. "For wedding purposes." "Um, whenever I can take off work and whenever Casey absolutely needs me here," I say. "I think she'll put me in charge of talking to the venue people since it's right there for me." Anthony taps his fingers on the table. "How long are you staying?" he asks Dylan. Dylan still doesn't look up from his phone. "I have to leave tomorrow to New York for a week, but I should be able to take a whole month off after that." Hell, it must be nice to take a whole month off of work. My boss would fire me on the spot if I asked for that much time off. "Okay, big shot," Anthony rolls his eyes. "Lace, are you still at Donate Plus?" I nod. "Going on three years now. I think I'm going to pick up another job though. I desperately need a new car." I hadn't told anyone, but I'm not saving a whole lot with just one job. I'll probably start looking for another one once the wedding is almost over with. "Did you get your degree in journalism?" Dylan asks. "Journalism and Mass Communications, but it's all the same," I shrug. "I think my company is looking for a content creator. I can look into that if you want," he suggests. I'd probably never see Dylan, but the thought of working at the same company makes me feel…indifferent. The opportunity sounds amazing, but it's weird because Dylan is a part of it. "Yeah, that'd be great," I tell him. Olivia comes back in and starts to play the guitar, which is so severely off-key that Anthony takes it away from her and tells her it's broken. She cries until he agrees to 'fix' it for her. It's getting closer to two o'clock, so I stand up. "I should probably hit the road." This three hour drive won't be fun, but at least I get to see Ben when I get home. After saying goodbye to Olivia, Anthony walks me to the door with Dylan close behind. Anthony gives me a long hug and thanks me for the gift. I also promise I'll text him when I get home. My heart skips a beat when my eyes meet Dylan's. "I guess I'll be seeing you soon too," I say. "I guess so," he nods. "I'll walk you to your car." His friendly gestures show me he's only changed a little since high school. I agree and we both walk out of the apartment together. We're silent until we reach my car. Dylan speaks first. "This week I'll find out about that job for you." He brings his phone out. "Let me get your number so I can let you know. I had to get a new number after high school." He hands me his phone and I type in my contact information before handing it back to him. "Just text me whenever," I shrug. "If I don't respond right away it's because of work. I'm at the store everyday except Fridays and Saturdays." Wait until I tell Cora and Bee about my weekend, especially Cora since she knows about Dylan now. I wonder if I should ask him about why he followed her on Instagram. What if he's interested in her? "Well, I'll be in New York for the week, so I'm sorry if I text you at a weird time. I always forget time zones," he laughs. I wish I had that problem. "That's fine," I say, feeling a little awkward now, not knowing how I should explain my friend following him on Instagram. "Um, I just want to clear something up." He nods. "Okay." "Me and my friend Cora were talking last week and you came up in conversation. She happened to look you up on Instagram while we were together and while she was showing me a photo I accidentally liked it." Even as I say it I feel myself cringing. Oh god, why did I even bring it up? "I just don't want you to think I've been stalking your profile or something." Jesus, that was rough. Way to be cool about it, Lace. Real smooth. It definitely doesn't sound like I'm stalking his profile. He lets out a laugh and my embarrassment furthers. "I actually went to her profile and saw you in a few pictures. I didn't think you were stalking me though." "It really was just a spur of the moment," I wring my hands together nervously. "Sorry I'm so awkward. I've been trying to be more honest lately." "It's okay, really. I think it's cute you've been talking about me to your other friends," he nudges my arm and smirks. The old Dylan is peeking through and I feel a surge of energy run through me. "It was literally one time, I swear--" He laughs again. "I'm kidding, Lace. Just wanted to see your reaction." Before I can stop myself I punch his shoulder. "After all these years you're still a pain in my ass," I tell him. It feels like old times again, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. The smirk I once fell in love with makes an appearance on his face. "Guess only some things have changed," he says, looking down and shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. "I'll let you get going. Sounds like you have plans later." It's my turn to smirk. "You were totally eavesdropping in on my call." I don't know why that makes me feel giddy. "Eavesdropping is a strong word," he says quickly. "You were talking really loudly." It's amusing that he was actually listening in. I should be mad, but instead I'm interested. "You just wanted to hear me plan a date," I tease him. "Oh, a date?" he asks, faking enthusiasm. "I bet he's so dreamy." "He's cute," I downplay it. The fact that we're talking about my dating life is strange. I have to turn the tables. "What about you? You have some girl all over your Instagram." The smirk doesn't leave his face. "You saw that when you were stalking me, right?" We both laugh and I shove his shoulder. "I was not stalking you." "I guess not," he chuckles. "If you really stalked me you'd know that the girl on my profile is my business partner." I usually can't tell what he's thinking, but now it seems written all over his face. Him and his business partner have definitely hooked up. "Some business partner," I muse. "This is getting too weird." "We agreed not to be weird, right? Talking about other people in our lives isn't weird. It's like old friends catching up," he shrugs. "We're old friends?" I try not to sound hurt. I know high school romances are silly and sometimes unrealistic, but I think we shared a true love. Is he trying to downplay our relationship? "The long answer is a conversation for another day. The short answer is yes because we were good friends before we dated, right? I liked those days." He kicks a rock next to him as he talks. He's right. The days before we dated were great. Dylan became a real friend and that's what I needed in high school. "Me too," I agree. "I, uh, I should take off." "Be careful, Lace. I'll see you soon," he extends an arm and goes for a hug. I lean into the hug and I catch a faint hint of cologne. I quickly let go and get into my car. ~ Ben and I are walking downtown, and even for a Sunday night the town seems alive and thriving with people. We finished dinner at a seafood restaurant and while I'm not a huge fan of seafood, everything was delicious. "We've been talking about me this entire time," Ben says as we pass shops that are starting to close their doors for the night. "What about you? Your trip back home was okay?" I've been avoiding this topic all night, but maybe I should just tell him everything. Something about Ben is very trustworthy, and not at all like other guys. "Um, it was interesting to say the least." He's sporting a fresh haircut and shaven face. He looks good, but I think I like the more rugged look on him. The longer hair and face stubble was cute. "Your best friend is getting married, right?" I nod. "I was really excited for her, but now I feel stressed out because the wedding is in a month." His eyes widen. "I'm no wedding expert, but isn't that really soon?" "It's extremely soon," I say. "And my ex from high school is going to be a groomsman." Might as well tell him about Dylan. I really like the transparency we have going and I don't want to mess it up. "Oh," he says, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Is it going to be weird?" "Honestly, I hope not." Dylan was there for me for a lot, and even though he blames himself for the whole Xavier thing, I don't blame him at all. He was just as much of a victim as the rest of us. "I haven't told you this, but I lost my parents my junior year of high school." The sadness takes over his eyes. "Jesus, I'm sorry, Lacey." "It doesn't hurt as much anymore, but my senior year was brutal. I lost them, I was going through a bad breakup, and this guy came along and he really helped me out," I tell him. I don't want to get into everything because it might turn awkward. "Anyway, I think we're in a good place right now." He takes his hands out of his pockets and takes my hand so he's holding it. The small gesture has my heart fluttering. "I'm sure it'll all work out. And I'm here when you want to rant." I feel a smile spreading on my face. Ben seems too good to be true sometimes. "Thanks." He glances at his phone and puts it back in his pocket. "I think we have just enough time to grab some dessert. How about some ice cream?" "That sounds perfect," I say. He's still holding my hand as we walk and the moment feels incredibly intimate and almost perfect. Almost because as soon as he says ice cream my mind goes to Dylan and our ice cream lunch dates in high school. Something doesn't sit well with me then. It's like part of me wants to believe eating ice cream without Dylan is some kind of blasphemous crime. I've had ice cream probably over a thousand times since we broke up and I never had that thought before. Maybe Dylan being around is going to be harder than I thought. And why? I don't know who he is anymore. He seems like the old Dylan, but not. Ben squeezes my hand as we walk into an ice cream shop and I try to put those thoughts to the back of my mind.