Brian POV
"Brian, is that you? Brian Haner?"

As soon as I nodded Hadley tackled me with a hug and scattered kisses all over my face. I felt my stomach do flips every time she placed her lips against my skin.

"I missed you so much! Whatever happened to--"

"Matt? I'm right here, Hads," Matt grinned, holding his arms out. Unfortunately, he got the same reaction from Hadley.

"Jimmy! Zacky!"

Hadley introduced herself to Johnny once we were thoroughly hugged by her. She even gave Johnny a hug.

"Wow, you guys are all grown up," she smiled. "I never thought I'd get to see that."

"Well look at you, Hads. You're a full blown lady," I laughed. It was true, though. She wasn't my little tomboy of a best friend anymore. But I was definitely okay with that, and by the way he was looking at her, so was Matt.

Matt POV

Damn Hadley looked good. I mean, she always looked good, but wow. I couldn't help checking her out, and I caught Brian glaring at me, so I averted my gaze elsewhere. It was no secret to us that Brian always had a thing for Hadley, but what wasn't as well known was that I liked her too. And all is fair in love and war, right? We saw her at the same time when we were younger, so no one had automatic dibs. I guess I should just talk to Brian tonight and we'll decide who should back off. I'm not going to lose a friend, no matter how amazing the girl.

"You guys ready to head to the bar?" Reagan asked once everything was packed away.

We all nodded and piled into our own car before heading over to Johnny's Bar. We frequented that place quite often, and by the looks of it, so did the girls.

"What do you want, Hads? My treat," I smiled. Work your power, dimples.

"Just a Jack Daniels. Oh! And one Dirty Girl Scout," she smiled back. "Got that, Dimples?"

Yes. They worked. "Dimples?" I laughed.

"Yep," Hadley poked both corners of my smile before heading off to the table the rest of the girls and guys were at.

"That's quiet a girl you got there. Beautiful," the bartender said.

I thought of mentioning the fact that Hadley wasn't mine yet, but hey, what the hell. "Thanks," I nodded before ordering our drinks.

Brian POV

"So what happened to you after you moved? We emailed for a while and then you just stopped," I mentioned to Hadley, taking a swig of my beer.

She shrugged. "We moved out of Huntington to Orlando and I just felt lost without you guys. So I kept in touch, but I felt like I was holding you guys back from getting on with your lives, so I stopped. Then I got used to school and met Nikki and we hit it off." She smiled as Matt brought her Jack and shot over to the table. While I was sitting across from her, Matt took the liberty of sitting next to her. I mentally slapped myself for that one. I should have sat next to her.
"Then we started talking and I heard her drum one day over her house. It reminded me so much of Jimmy, and I liked to sing, so I got the crazy idea to form a band...while drunk," she laughed. I loved her laugh. She never did, but it was music to me. "So we thought 'why the hell not'? Nikki already knew Reagan and Sherri, and we both knew Angelica. We were a little reluctant because we thought she was snobby--"

"Hey!" Angelica called from the group of guys she was entertaining.

"Love you, Gelly!" Hadley called before continuing. "But she could play a mean rhythm guitar. So completed our little band. I still remember when we were in places like this doing Nirvana and Metallica covers."

"Ads, come dance!" Sherri yelled from the middle of the dance floor.

"But I'm not drunk yet!" Hadley called back, holding up her half finished Jack.

"Who cares? You don't need to be drunk to dance, my dear," Sherri smiled, before twirling around.

"Oh, alright. Zacky! Come dance with me," Hadley grinned.

Matt and I both looked at each other, each of us slightly disappointed that we weren't chosen.

"Why me?" Zacky whined. I whapped him upside the head.

"The lady asked you to dance," I said, making Hads laugh.

"I saw how you danced in your 'Afterlife' video. Come on!" She grabbed Zacky by the hand, and they both ran to the dance floor.

I am not ashamed to say that Matt and I watched the two like a hawk. We tried to act nonchalant, but Reagan caught on.

"If you two want to protect her so bad, you better get on that dancefloor. It doesn't take long for Ads to acquire more dance partners," she said with a smirk.

We looked from Reagan to the dancefloor. Sure enough, some guy was asking Zacky to cut in. Don't you do it, Vengeance. Don't you say yes. Of course, Zacky let the dude cut in. Matt and I left the booth at the same time. Usain Bolt couldn't have caught up to us. We had a beautiful girl to protect. The world's fastest man had nothing on our speed.

"Sorry, man. Maybe next time," Matt said, muscling up to the guy.

"Hey, you guys decided to join!" Hadley exclaimed happily, not noticing what just happened. The two of us danced with her until she was ready to sit. All we had to do was flex and any prospective dancer boy bolted away from our girl. Well, my girl. My best friend.

"You girls ready to head back?" Sherri asked after a few more hours of dancing and catching up.

"You guys are leaving already? We just found you again, Haddie," Jimmy whined, hugging Hadley close. I felt you, Jimmy. I didn't want her leaving anytime soon either.

"Why don't we all crash at my place?" Zacky offered.

"Yes! Can we, Sher?" Hadley begged. It didn't take long to see that Sherri was the group mother.

"You can. I have to get home. Lord knows what Garrett's up to," Sherri shook her head. Hadley explained that Garrett was Sherri's boyfriend of three years.

"Yeah, I have to head home too. I have to make sure Ang doesn't get any STDs," Reagan said, gesturing to Angelica getting ready to leave with some other boy. Apparently, Reagan and Angelica shared a place.

"I don't got anything to do! Les' do it!" Nikki grinned, jumping on Hadley's back. "Onward!"

Notes

Onward to Zacky's house! Poor Brian's got it bad. Which boy are you rooting for to steal Hadley's heart? Thank you so much for the votes and comments. Your feedback means a lot to me and keeps me writing! Let's see if anything will happen with Nikki and Jimmy. Who will Hadley be up talking to all night? Stay tuned, and happy reading! Thanks again!