THE PAST

Juan had pictured the evening going differently. At least he hadn't expected that his date would be so persistent that she barely let him breathe. Twice now, she had tried to kiss him; both times the message that he didn't want her, didn't seem to land. Actually, if he was being honest he just wanted to push her to the side, but he kept thinking about June's words. He had meant what he had said; that he wasn't like his brother, but now it was making him feel compelled to stay with Anna. But his thoughts weren't with the girl at all. Again and again his eyes were looking for June, searching for her in the crowd. She looked so beautiful tonight, the dress made her look so good. He kept imagining she was the one he was holding, but that daydream burst quickly every time.

Anna and June were nothing alike.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Being disrupted from his thoughts, he looked aside. He felt overwhelmed as he looked at Jordy, who had also put a hand on Anna's shoulder.

"Hey missy, can I borrow this handsome guy from you for a while?"

"No," Anna snapped. "Go find your own date."

Juan suppressed a sigh, wondering why the hell his brother had brought him this date. She was good looking, but that was the only positive thing he could think of.

"Anna..." he said, hesitating. "We don't have to dance together the whole night, right? You could go talk and dance with other people; you're outgoing enough to do that, right?"

She squeezed her eyes in frustration as her brows crinkled. "You really want me to go? Because of this parrot over here?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "We can meet up again later?"

The idea of dancing with Jordy made him a little nervous – he never knew what to think of that girl. But she was June's best friend, so there was a chance that her attention had something to do with her. His eyes fluttered through the room to see where she was. It felt like a stone was descending in his stomach when he saw that she was dancing with Rodey again. He didn't trust the guy at all. For the first half hour he had seen them dancing, the footballer had sent him some provoking looks, all with a smug smile plastered across his lips. As if he knew June had turned him down.

The whole evening Juan had been afraid that the boy would take advantage of June's insecurities. Aside from the fact that he just couldn't take his eyes off her due to how beautiful she looked tonight, Rodey was his biggest concern. He wanted to make sure the guy wasn't crossing any boundaries, especially if June wasn't confident enough to show him when he stepped over a line, like the time Emilio had wrapped his arm around her.

Suddenly Anna let go of him, jarring him from his thoughts. She glared at Jordy, who just smirked and swung her arms around his neck. A sweet scent surrounded him, too sweet for his taste. She was wearing a green dress in a leopard print; it weirdly matched with her hair, since she had shaved part of her hair off and painted leopard spots in its place.

"When are you going to ask my friend to dance?" she asked.

A bit ashamed, Juan dropped his eyes. Despite his intention to ask June, he still lacked the courage. He was too afraid to mess things up again; that he would step on her dress or would cause her to stumble. He wanted to spare her the humiliation of being with him.

"You don't dare, do you?"

He shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

Jordy laughed. "Oh, you're such a cute couple! Both so hopelessly in love!"

Shocked at her words Juan looked at her. Was June really in love with him? Sure – he had noticed she liked him, but he never thought she would like him as much as her friend was suggesting.

"Listen. June has an enormous crush on you, she has for what feels like forever, and like you might have noticed; she isn't the best in taking initiative, so that's where you come in. You should do that. Now, I don't plan to force the two of you to do much of anything; so you can continue to breathe."

Juan felt his cheeks getting hot. Since the moment that Jordy had said June was having this enormous crush on him, he had forgotten how to breathe.

Jordy's arm glided away from his neck and she reached to zip open her purse. A second later she took out an MP3 player. "June's favorite song is the only song on it. Just find a romantic spot where you can both be as clumsy and awkward as you want because there is no one else around. Plug in an earpiece and go gliding with her like you both have wanted to do ever since you entered this party. She's gonna be nervous which means she will probably barely move and stare at the ground half of the time, but don't be discouraged because of that. Just be sweet and patient – like you always are around her. Give her a bit of confidence and if you want to kiss her, be careful so you don't scare her, she's never kissed anyone before. But believe me: she really wants to be kissed by you." Chuckling, Jordy squeezed his cheek. "So, how about it? This is a great plan, huh? I already told June she should go outside and that I will send you after her. That song of hers takes almost ten minutes, so if you repeat it a few times, you two will be good for half an hour." She winked. "I'm sure she'll feel comfortable around you after that."

Juan was so overwhelmed by her stream of words that he was sure he would forget about half of it, but he understood at least the purpose of the MP3 player and shoved it inside his pocket.

"I don't know what to say," he muttered.

"Just thank you. I bet I'll be hearing tomorrow about how good you can kiss." She showed him a wide grin. "If my super good idea indeed leads to a magical moment, I'll come back to you for a favor in return."

Juan rubbed his neck. Since she had mentioned the word kiss his thoughts had paused and it took a while before the sentences after that seeped into his head. "What favor?"

She lifted the corner of her mouth. "I want you to get me a date."

"With who?"

"Emilio."

Juan's eyes went wide. Emilio? Well, in that case he would probably have to blindfold his friend. He however kept that thought to himself and shrugged. Emilio wanted to be a good wing man, so he would use that excuse. "Deal."

She laughed, showing him her straight, white teeth. "Deal!" She looked around. "Is June still here?"

Juan looked at the spot where he had seen her for the last time, but she was no longer there. "I guess not. A few minutes ago she was still dancing with her date."

"Of course that cousin of mine is messin' up my plans. Come, let's find 'em." Hooking her arm around his, she dragged him outside.

Usually, he would have wondered what people thought about him, walking around with Jordy, but at this moment there was only a knot in his stomach urging him to find June.

Would Jordy's plan work? Or would he manage to fuck up something as simple as this?

Outside, his eyes wandered through the dark looking for any sign of her. There were plenty of people smoking or making out, but June was nowhere to be seen. Was she still inside? He had a bad feeling creeping up his spine, especially when he remembered Rodey's smirk from earlier.

"Hmm, this is strange," Jordy admitted. "It's not like June to wait somewhere in the dark, unless she panicked and went back in. I'll call her. Can you keep searching for her that way?" She motioned forward.

Juan nodded, walking alongside the building. After a few seconds he heard a phone going off. There was no one hanging around on this side of the building and a heavy feeling descended to his stomach. He started to run. Before he rounded the corner, he heard someone sob.

Oh god.

A vibration went through his chest.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Let go of her!"

Rodey had pushed June against the wall, one hand clamped around her mouth. The other was underneath her dress, groping her breast while his lips slithered down her neck. June was squirming, but she was no match for the tall footballer.

Startled, Rodey turned his head to the side. Juan clenched his fist immediately, slamming it into Rodey's face. Pain shot through his knuckles while the boy stumbled backwards. Juan wanted to throw himself on the guy to hit him wherever he could, but June's sobs soaked up his attention.

Before he could say or do something, Jordy showed up next to him. "What the fuck, Ro?!" she snapped.

"What?" the boy scoffed, rubbing his thickening cheek. "This was your plan, right? Helping poor little Juan because he doesn't have the balls to hit on a girl himself? I had to make him jealous, remember?"

Juan froze, his face turning red of shame. What the hell was he talking about?

"I didn't tell you to assault her! Are you out of your mind?!" Jordy grabbed his chin, looking him in the eyes. "Did you take something?"

Rodey shrugged his shoulders. "How else was I supposed to have a good night? So what, I popped a couple pills; it made the evening better, you stuck me with such boring company."

Jordy slapped his cheek. Then she turned to Juan and signaled with her eyes to the side. Juan hesitated. He thought it would be better if Jordy would comfort her, since June had just been assaulted by a man. But he trusted her friend to know her best and turned towards June. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest and was staring at the ground with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"June..." he whispered. Seeing her tears, made his voice shaky. Despite Jordy's encouragement, he didn't feel comfortable touching her. "June, you're safe now," he said. He stepped a little closer so he stood in front of her, but not so close that he would suffocate her. "Do you – do you want me to hold you?"

Although she was staring at the ground, he thought to see her nod. Still the nerves were swirling through his body, afraid he had misinterpreted her. He stepped closer, carefully laying his hands on her shoulders and pulling her into his arms. Her arms glided around him as she held him close. Hesitating, Juan caressed her hair, not knowing what else he could do. He couldn't even remember the last time he had comforted someone. As she buried her face against his shoulder, he pressed a kiss in her hair.

In the background he could hear the two cousins yelling at each other, but in the end Rodey walked away from them. Juan gritted his teeth as he caught a glimpse of the boy. He wasn't done with him yet. But right now he just wanted to be there for June.

"Sorry June," Jordy said quietly. She walked towards them. "He owed me a favor and I asked him to flirt a little with you, hoping Juan would make a move, but he went way too far and I am really, really sorry."

June didn't answer. He felt how her fingers were squeezing his vest and he assumed she was fighting new tears.

With a desperate glance in her eyes, Jordy raked a hand through her hair. "I... I don't know what else I can say, June. I am really sorry. I'm always interfering with everything... but I would never try to hurt you June, I thought I was helping you, and I thought he would just play with your hair or something. I never expected that he..." She breathed in sharply. "He's my cousin. I never thought he would do something like this."

Juan believed she was rather naive; Rodey had quite a reputation when it was about girls, but he kept silent about it. Instead, he gently stroked June's back.

"Can you head back to the party and send my brother outside?" Juan asked. "I'm going to bring her home." He didn't want to leave June alone, nor did he want to pull her through the crowd.

He felt how June tensed. She looked up to him, tears shining in her eyes. "He... He won't be coming with us, right?"

Juan shook his head. Very carefully he wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "No, I'm just borrowing his car. You're okay with that? Or do you want to stay?"

"No," she muttered. "But your date..."

"She can go enjoy herself with Rodey or some other guy," he said with a grim face. "I bet he wouldn't mind kissing her." His worried eyes found hers. "Don't worry about her, okay? She'll be fine and I will take you home. Okay?"

With a pale face, she nodded. Juan turned back to Jordy, who understood the hint and left them.

Now they were alone, Juan felt awkward again. "I – I don't know what you... what would make you feel comfortable now, after, you know... But if you want... if you want you can hold my hand, or I can put my arm around you, or... or we could just stay like this, but I think it's better if we leave this place." Skittishly, he looked at the wall against which Rodey had pushed her.

Rubbing her eyes, she nodded. Juan let go of her and side by side they made their way out from the back of the building. As soon as they turned around the corner, he felt a caress across his fingers. Her hand slipped in his and their fingers laced.

Immediately, Juan felt much lighter. He turned his face to the side and saw how she blushed while nervously looking at him.

He squeezed her fingers in response, then he lifted her hand a pressed a soft kiss along her knuckles.