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"Are you out of your mind? How? Why? Are you crazy? What's going on? Who's that dude?" I frowned, confused— wait, was I supposed to be happy? I didn't know how to react to this. 

"Isn't it obvious? I'm in love with someone else, I love Ian." Indy admitted.

"Your marriage has been planned, how could you have fallen in love with someone else when you know you'll get married to Tristan?" I stood in akimbo. 

"We were children! We thought it’d be a great idea to get married to each other. I was only 7 and he was 10. How could our parents have taken our words so seriously?"

My forehead rumpled in perplexion. "This makes no sense to me. You love Tristan and he loves you, obviously."

"That was all in the past. Tristan and I were in love with each other but things have changed now. Don't you see how terrible he has become? I agree that I'm his best friend and we care about each other very much but we're simply friends. He suddenly changed from the sweet Tristan to a frigid devil. How am I supposed to deal with it? He's not the same Tristan."

“How can you just end it? You'll break his heart, Tristan clearly loves you, not me."

"I can't break a heart that isn't present." She frowned.

"And why don't you just tell your parents and Tristan?" 

“They clearly know about it, but Grandpa and Dad won’t let me be with the one I truly love simply because he’s poor and an enemy of the Ricardos.” She exhaled deeply, threading her fingers through her dark blonde hair and returned to sit on the bed. "I feel so terrible right now, I don't want to hurt Tristan at all.

“Hazel, as your best friend, I'm fully aware of your feelings towards Tristan and I know you truly love him, I can see it. You'll be perfect to get married to the devil, you might be able to restore his heart.” She raised her head to me with her eyebrows creased in worry.

"I can't just get married to him, it makes no sense. Of course I have feelings for him but this isn’t a joke I can just jump into." How on Earth did she know I had feelings for him?!

"Believe me when I say Tristan is also a very good person despite his cold side, he needs someone like you. Tristan has a lot of business deals linked to him getting married and if he doesn't, it'll lead to a huge loss for him, I also don't want that." She wrinkled her forehead.

I stood in place, sinking deep into my thoughts. Getting married to Tristan was going to be like a dream come true but how on Earth was I just going to jump into something like this? What was this? Some kind of romance novel or movie where things like these magically work out in the end?

I was in a terrible dilemma. My heart wanted this so badly but I needed to use my brain instead.

"You can think about it." She shrugged with a suppressed smile.

***

~ TRISTAN HENDRIX ~

"... Fine, fine, Mom, I'll be there soon." I said to my mother, Imogen Hendrix, who was on the other end of the line. 

"Great! Be here in five minutes else I'll roast your pretty face." She said and chuckled. 

"Okay, I'll try." I sighed, ended the call and rose to my feet. "I have to leave now, Kye." I said to my best friend, Kye Gage.

"Didn't you just arrive about 5 minutes ago?" He asked rhetorically, taking a sip from his wine. 

"Mom just called. Aunt Amanda and Tyler are going to be at their house in a few minutes, as well as Aunt Lila and Uncle Kade. They'd love for me to be there." I sighed. "Gosh, I'm so exhausted."

"Okay, bye. Call me later tonight, I have to discuss an important business with you, it'll be fabulous." He averted his gaze to the television hung up against the wall in front of him. 

"Are you out of your mind? You're coming with me. With all the drama from everyone, I'll be so bored."

"I'm not interested, man. I have to spend time with Charlotte." He settled comfortably on the couch. 

Charlotte Gage, Kye's 23-year-old wife (yeah, so young), strolled out of the kitchen, drying her hands with a napkin. 

"Thank goodness you're here. Please convince this knucklehead here that he has to come with me to a family dinner right now." 

"Don't be so lazy and please go with him, Kye. I'll have a special reward for you when you return." She winked at him.

He stared between us like he was having a mental argument. "Fine!" He groaned, succumbing to her demand.

"Tu marido a veces puede ser tan idiota. (Your husband can be such an idiot sometimes)." I said to her while she burst into laughter. 

"Will you both ever stop making fun of me in Spanish? I'll learn it someday too." He rolled his eyes, getting to his feet. 

***

The black timber doors of the mansion I grew up in were pulled open, revealing my parents. "Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad." I greeted them, a short and genuine smile finally appeared on my lips after such a long time. 

"I missed you." Mom grinned, ruffling my hair. 

"Jeez, Mom, will you ever stop that? I'm a grown man." 

"Not until I die." She burst into laughter.  "Hey, Kye."

"Good evening." He grinned at her. "Good evening, Hames." 

Dad pulled me into a manly hug. "It's good you're both here, Amanda is dying to see you, Tristan. Come on in." Dad also smiled, pulling apart from the hug.

With Dad's hand on the small of Mom's back, we all ambled to Aunt Amanda and Uncle Tyler on one of the black heavy leather sofas situated at the center of the warm and cozy living room. Gosh, this home reminded of my childhood; both wonderfully and terrible memories.

"Wow, Tristan." She rose to her feet to give me a hug. "It's so nice to see you again." 

"It's nice to see you too." I tried to smile but my lips and true emotions were against it, as always. 

"Gosh, he's just like you before you met Imogen, Hames; that standoffish face." She chuckled. 

"Exactly! I knew he was going to look a lot like Hames." Uncle Tyler added. 

"Yes, I said it!" Mom exclaimed, "that's why he's also so irresistible and grumpy, like his father." She gave Dad a kiss. 

"I can't believe he'll be getting married to Indy, how time flies." Uncle Tyler added. 

"Yeah, watching them grow makes me wish we had had children." She pouted, earning a glare from him then they all broke into laughter. 

"Tristan, there's a surprise for you in your old room." Dad smirked. 

"Surprise?" 

"Yeah, go to your old room while we chat with Kye." Mom said. "How is Charlotte?" She asked Kye. 

Reluctantly, I shambled to the stairs and scuttled to my old room, wondering what the hell their surprise was and why I had to go through the stress of walking up the stairs. 

Turning the door knob open, I pushed the door in and my face was graced with a grin (the widest smile I had smiled in months) after my eyes met with those light brown eyes of the most beautiful young woman on Earth sitting on the bed, the only person that could make me laugh all day and night long. 

"You won't just stand there looking gormless now, would you?" Nikita Faith Hendrix, my extremely sassy and crazy younger sister, said. 

I strutted to her, taking a seat beside her. 

"Gosh, I missed you little rascal." I ruffled her dark blonde hair that was always dyed in black so she could elevate her gothic look. 

She immediately slapped my hand away with a dangerous growl. 

Though Mom had insisted on not giving birth to another child, she accidentally got pregnant with Nikita and gave birth to her when I was 12, naming her after two of Mom's very good friends.

It was really weird how this accidental child turned out to be so rude, mean, gothic, crazy, arrogant, disrespectful, and the only person that could make me feel the happiest every time by doing absolutely nothing. 

"When did you return from boarding school?"

"This afternoon," she smiled, kicking her shoes off her feet and reached for a half-empty pack of chips on the nightstand.

"For once, I thought you weren't going to attend my wedding." 

"I'd not miss my big brother's wedding for anything.” She wore a smile she also barely ever wore. “Speaking of wedding," oh no, there was the face; the moment when she drew her eyebrows together with squinted eyes and quirked lips, it explained that she meant absolute seriousness. "What's up with you and Indy?" 

"Indy? She's good."

"You know what I mean." She transported a chip into her mouth. 

"Look, I'm not calling off the wedding, I have a lot of business deals attached to it." I reached for her chips but she slapped my hand away once again. 

"You don't love that woman anymore, what's the point of ruining your lives?" She frowned. 

"She's still my best friend, I love her but…" I trailed off, my smile slipping off. "The sparks in our relationship don't exist anymore. I'm only doing this for our parents and for Indy's sake—" It was my turn to frown. "Yes, for her sake."

"Sparks gone? For her sake?" She scoffed. "You can't lie to your lovely sister. Kye and I both know the truth. You should let everyone else know the real truth before it's too late. Stop ruining everything!"

"There's nothing to be told, okay? Just forget it. What do you know? You're only 16." I scoffed, hoping to brush the topic off once again.

"16 but smarter than a 28-year-old brother." She quickly jumped to her feet, scurrying out of the room. "I'll be downstairs for dinner.” She yelled over her shoulder.