1 Twice is the charm.

Part one.

Reunion.

The old high-school loomed almost gloomily over Aspen's head as she stalked in, despite the trendy music booming from inside, she didn't even smile as she marched through the more or less sterile hallways of her youth, passing vaguely familiar faces and ignoring calls of her name from people she hadn't talked to in a decade, pausing by the large doors that led to the gym

Tonight was her ten-year high-school reunion and she had just come from having the worst day of her life and wasn't in the mood for agonizing small talk about what she had been up to and how much she had progressed in her life

Her life was over and she just wanted to get drunk and dance to some Madonna

Thank you very much!

She pushed into the gym and blinked at the blaring, coloured lights and corny decorations littered around the wide room. The gym hadn't changed much from what she remembered, it was still the same peeling scoreboard painted a garish blue and silver, the school colors slightly covered by an equally garish, glittery banner that read 'welcome back! Class of 2011!'.

The basketball backboard was new but the light wood bleachers weren't

She could still remember spending hours behind those bleachers, gossiping with her best friend, texting and making out with her boyfriend Caleb Beckett.

The same Caleb Beckett she found knee deep in his assistant's pussy in the apartment they shared, earlier this afternoon.

She was horrified, one : of his overly enthusiastic sexual technique, she had no idea he looked like he had a bad case of constipation when he was about to come, and two; that he was cheating on her with that surgically enhanced barbie rip off.

Naturally she wanted to slam open the door and cave his head in with her Gucci heels and rip the silicone out of that hussy, but she decided to be civil and calm headed.

So she left instead, slipping into her Audi and typing out a short, straight to the point, brutal break up text before speeding out of the lot.

Then her day started going more downhill from there, like an out of control rollercoaster, the stock option choices she made flunked out, her assistant messed up her lunch order and the merger between her company and Ren Corp that was supposed to be her responsibility fell through.

Now she was unemployed, single and thoroughly and royally fucked.

Now she just needed an icy martini and a quiet place to cry in.

Slowly, she stepped past her numerous dancing classmates, making a bee line for the open bar. She sank down on one of the stools and waved the bartender over.

"A martini, the dirtiest one you can make"

The bartender flashed her sultry smile that she barely noticed before flouncing away to make her drink.

Suddenly, Aspen felt a presence by her elbow and she glanced in the direction.

An overly familiar face stood smiling brightly at her. Internally she groaned, as she used to do ten years ago whenever this person approached her. She had the same perky, positive energy that used to make Aspen sick as she did ten years ago, not to mention the same bangs that had gone out of style a long while ago.

Marlene Crawford was in the same cheerleading squad as Aspen, had the same English class and made it her sole priority to become best friends with her even if she already had a best friend.

A best friend she hadn't seen since graduation.

Point was, Marlene was a pain in her ass then and she was a pin in her ass now.

"Aspen Irons! " she shrieked, nearly deafening Aspen, she did not hate her name as much as she hated it now.

"Marlene Crawford!" she replied back with about a quarter of the enthusiasm given but Marlene didn't notice and swept her into a tight hug that had Aspen wheezing for air.

"oh my God! Its been so long! How come you never reply my messages on Facebook?" she asked as she released Aspen who looked slightly red in the face.

Who still uses Facebook? Aspen thought

"I must have not seen them" she lied, waving a hand nonchalantly, trying to distract Marlene from her obvious lie

Her tactic worked because Marlene launched into the brain numbing conversation aimed at 'catching up'

"So what do you do now?" she asked, leaning against the bar

Aspen clutched her martini and took a steeling gulp "Um! I'm an executive at Hopper and Tells" more like was

Marlene's eyes lit up "Oh! That's absolutely incredible, I had no idea you'll go into business"

Aspen's smirk almost dropped as she thought 'yea you and every body else in this dump thought I was a dumb broad didn't you?"

But instead she said "Thanks, I had no idea too, I just got the job five years ago out of sheer, dumb luck, must have been my good fortune"

Silently she observed the brief exasperated look on Marlene's face before she looped back into her annoyingly fake, bright smile "That's great Aspen"

"What about you? What do you do?" she asked out of courtesy, not that she wanted to know.

"Oh I run a bakery uptown, I'm sure you've heard of it, Its Marla's sweet treats" she swayed from foot to foot as she continued "Not to brag but we've been said to have the best Apple pie in the city"

"Hmm" Aspen hummed as she twirled her olive around her glass "I haven't heard of Marla's sweet treats"

Marlene must be really kind hearted or a saint for not taking that obvious bait and instead launched into another facet of conversation "I and my husband run the bakery, you should come by sometime"

Aspen nodded and took a gulp of her drink, steeling herself for the obvious next facet of the conversation, she knew this bitch was gonna ask

"So Aspen, are you married?"

Knew it!

"No, not yet Marlene" she replied in a snarky sing-song voice

The bitch had the gall to pull a confused face "That's weird, I thought you and Caleb Beckett were a serious thing, he keeps posting you on his Facebook page so I just assumed"

Aspen downed her drink and motioned the bartender over for a refill 'Ugk! That turd still used Facebook? I should have dumped his ass a long time ago'

"Want anything Marlene?" she asked out loud when the bartender arrived with her refill

"No thank you" the blond woman replied, patting her lower belly softly "I can't, I'm pregnant"

Aspen rolled her eyes discreetly and downed her drink in one go, wanting more than anything to be drunk right now.

"Anyway, enough about me" Marlene suddenly piped up again after watching her small talk captive down another martini "Do you know who's here tonight?"

"Who?" the other woman replied, twirling her olive around her glass methodically

"Rhys Argent"

As soon as she heard that name, her back straightened and light came back into her eyes "Rhys is here?" she asked

"Yeah" Marlene pointed at a small gathering of people huddled together by the bleachers "Along with his date"

As soon as she finished talking, Aspen was out of her seat, heading towards the bleachers, purpose in her step. Marlene looked after her with a faint smile which died almost immediately

Underneath her breath, she muttered "Bitch!"

Meanwhile Aspen approached the circle of people, looking out for the familiar face of her former best friend amongst their smiling, chatting faces.

Finally she spotted his familiar chestnut coloured head seated right at the end of the row

Happily she skipped up to him and called out his name "Rhys!!"

His head shot up and their eyes locked.

He smiled widely, temporarily stunning her, she had forgotten how handsome he was.

She watched as he stood up and swept her up in a big bear hug, his familiar Calvin Klein cologne filling her senses, he hadn't changed much.

He was still the same Rhys Argent she knew and loved, the same who had been her friend since they were both in diapers, the same who used to buy a box of tampons to keep in his locker incase she needed it, the same who used to hold her hair back while she puked after a wild night of partying, the same who held her and comforted her when her mom died.

He drew back and grinned down at her, his perfect teeth flashing. Okay not totally the same.

This Rhys Argent was hot!

Aspen's eyes glazed over his familiar yet enhanced features, his homey baby blue eyes, his impossibly straight as hell nose, his high cheekbones and angular jaw riddled with a slight 5 o'clock shadow.

"Aspen baby!" he called out, still grinning "I missed you so much!"

She couldn't control the tears that sprung into her eyes and she hugged him again "I missed you too"

When she saw him, all the bottled up frustration and anxiety she felt for the day, for the past ten years just came oozing out of her. She was finally with her true best friend who she could finally let down her walls and pour out her feelings to him with no judgement, she felt very light and for the first time in a decade, right again.

Rhys patted her head softly as she sniffled into coat "There, there now, babe. Careful or my husband's gonna get jealous

"Husband?" Aspen finally detached herself from him, blinking against the drying tears on her lashes

He smiled "Yeah! I got married" then his brows furrowed in confusion as he noticed the shocked look on her face "Did you not know?"

"I-I didn't" she said, taking the smallest step back "I wasn't even aware you were out of the closet"

Now it was Rhys' turn to look shocked "I came out like a year after high school, I left you a message on Facebook"

Aspen didn't know whether to laugh hysterically or cry like a lunatic. Her best friend in the world was married and she didn't even know, she didn't even know he was out of the freaking closet!.

"Nobody uses Facebook anymore Rhys!" she yelled out in frustration "you have my freaking number, why didn't you just call me?!"

Rhys' expression changed to one of mild anger "Call you?! you don't remember on graduation day when you forbade me from calling because I told you dropping Stanford to go to Broward College in Fort Lauderdale for that giant turd Caleb Beckett was the stupidest thing you could ever do"

And Now Aspen remembered.

She remembered the terrible choice she made that led to the greatest argument she had ever had with Rhys. She remembered the terrible names she called him because he won't support her stupid decision to follow her dumbass boyfriend to a B-rated college, she remembered kicking him out of her house and forbidding him from ever contacting her again, she remembered burning all of their shared memories.

She was a terrible person.

"Oh my God! She breathed, immense regret and guilt washing down on her and pinning her to the ground she stood on.

Her eyes watered with a new wave of tears. She couldn't even bring herself to look her former best friend in the eyes.

Because of her stupidity, she lost a seventeen year old friendship, her chance to study in one of the best universities in America, ten years of her love life and so many chances that could have been hers if she just took Rhys' advice and dumped Caleb.

She sucked in a breath and steeled herself for the look of disappointment her ex- best friend would be for sure wearing when a new man joined their group, latching their himself onto Rhys' arm

She looked up and met familiar, condescending light brown eyes staring down at her

She knew this man but couldn't place him, that was until Rhys begrudgingly introduced them

"Aspen, this is my husband, Hames Vaughn"

Her eyes widened, now she remembered.

Hames Vaughn was in the same year as them but he wasn't part of the popular crowd like Aspen and Rhys , instead he was part of the delinquent crew led by none other than Soren Ishida

A decade ago, if you would have told her that tattooed Hames Vaughn, the polar opposite of sweet and nice Rhys, she would have called you demented

So she just stared open mouthed, at the very unlikely couple standing infront of her, one with an arm full of black, almost tribal swirling tattoos, paired with bright ash blond hair and scary caramel like eyes, and the other who looked like he just stepped off the cover of GQ magazine with the many designer tags he was wearing

"Honey, who's this?" she heard Hames ask and it snapped her back to reality. The world really has gone nuts.

Back then, she didn't even realize that Hames was gay!

"You remember Aspen Irons don't you?" Rhys' replied, motioning softly to her.

Hames' eyes narrowed "Yeah! The chick you used to hang out with back in high school" he paused and looked at Rhys "Isn't she the one you said followed her dead beat boyfriend to a dead beat college?"

Suddenly it dawned on Aspen, almost all her friends saw her this way, they all viewed her as the dumbo who gave up on her dream for a stupid high school romance.

She couldn't stay here another minute under their condescending gazes and silent judgemental thoughts.

She had to get out of here.

So she did, speeding out of the gym blindly, pushing and shoving the people around her, ignoring their outraged calls, she didn't know where she was going, she just wanted out.

By the time, her senses came back, she was on the roof of the building, the cold air blowing back her strawberry blonde hair, slowly almost lethargically she blinked up at the inky sky dotted by the tiny stars and finally felt the tears she had being holding back flow out of her.

She let out a loud sob, crouching down and wrapping her arms around herself.

Her cries vibrated through her and into the night air

She was so stupid, so so stupid.

She was so caught up in her own sorrow that she didn't even notice she wasn't alone until the intruder stood over her, a few inches separating their frames.

Aspen's sobs had died down to pathetic little whimpers when she finally noticed the pair of shiny expensive boots that stood infront of her.

Slowly, she followed the boots, up a pair of toned, impossibly long legs encased in pitch Sweetown cargo pants, then an athletic looking torso with bulging biceps fitted snugly into a plain black t-shirt, her eyes continued up his strong neck adorned with a simple black leather choker and then a heavenly face, framed by soft looking, wavy shoulder length black hair.

Aspen's stupified gaze glazed over the perfect features staring down at her, at the dark , slightly slanted eyes boring into hers, a perfectly pert nose and those almost criminal pale pink lips.

She felt her breath hitch when he tilted his head to the left, studying her intently as she studied him. Aspen didn't need to be reminded who this was. She already knew who he was from the moment she noticed his heavy and dark aura

"Soren Ishida" she whispered under her breath but he heard.

His dark eyes lit up as he broke into a wide, charming smile that sent Aspen's heart racing.

"You remember me" he said lightly, his deep voice sending tremors through her body. She watched in open fascination as he crouched down infront of her until they were face to face, his smile still intact "I thought you would have forgotten me, Aspen Irons"