I have less than forty minutes to take a very much needed steaming hot bath and set my apartment to rights before Aria and Raleigh show up.

My lips feel swollen and kiss-bruised, and I know that both Aria and Raleigh are going to clock it and give me shit from here until the end of the week, but honestly, I deserve it.

Jesse didn’t kiss me in the parking lot but made me wait for it until he was idling outside of my building, my nerves shot, my impatience getting the best of me so that I was the one that basically attacked him, and he laughed like he won the war and held me tight to him while I went about showing him how much I didn’t appreciate having to wait like that.

My lips are still tingling from the feel of his mouth against mine, and I got a bunch of smirking and heart-eye emojis even before I unlocked my front door that had my cheeks burning with embarrassment. I don’t answer right away, letting my phone plop onto my couch while I run around my apartment, berating myself that I lack a routine cleaning schedule, and how come I’ve got little strands of hair everywhere in this place?

I wash down the tiny shower and toilet with cleaning agents, and then Febreze the absolute shit out of my place to chase away the staleness of the air, cranking open a couple of windows to make everything smell a little nicer.

I glance around when I’m done, foregoing the recuperative bath but getting my foam roller routine on, pressing them into muscles that were overused today.

Before I know it, the bell’s being rung, and I’m buzzing in whoever the visitor is—honestly, one of two people—my heart hammering in my chest as I stand by my front door, unlocking it, holding onto the doorknob, and waiting for the inevitable knock, my heart doing the kind of bicycle kicks that I can almost accomplish in real life without breaking my neck.

The knock comes, and I’ve already yanked the door open, grinning like an idiot when I see Aria there, standing in her jeans and long-sleeved top because England hasn’t gotten the memo and is still sitting around the low twenties, more overcast than not, but fuck it—Aria’s here, and I’m lunging at her, yanking her into a hug.

“Maddie!” she yells, right in my ear, but that’s okay. I’m so happy to see her, crushing her to my chest because I’m the tallest one in the trio and Aria is small. “Holy shit! I’m here, and you’re here! What the hell?”

I laugh against her head, squeezing her tight enough to make her squeak in surprise. When I let her go it’s to find that I have to blink away tears, have to blink hard enough so the blurry version of Aria gets crisper around the edges.

“I can’t believe you’re here, either. I’m so happy to see you. Holy fuck, I’m so happy to see you.”

Aria sniffs, too, pushing her hair back out of her face, a soft smile on her mouth. “Guess we were able to meet up after leaving each other last year, huh?”

“Yeah, right? I thought we were just saying that.”

“Maddie, come on, you know I keep my promises. Always.”

“I know, I know,” I sniffle, trying to usher her inside, trying to close the door when an arm sneaks right through the crack in the closing door and the frame and my heart stutters and stops.

“Hey! What about me!” Raleigh yells from the other side of the door, and I’m yanking it back again, and all three of us are finally in the same room together, after all this time. “Holy shit, guys, you look amazing. Don’t come too close, I’ve been in the air for hours and hours, and I feel gross.”

“Shut up, would you?” Aria says, grabbing Raleigh by the waist and I’ve got her by the shoulders, and shit, it’s fucking nice to be united again.

Really nice.

The best.