- No one's POV -
"Eliza, Jeremy is here!"
"I'm coming, hang on!" Sammi chuckled, watching her best friend scurry down the stairs towards her with her phone in hand. Sammi quirked a brow, but turned away and opened the front door of their house where they had been roomies for 5 years. Sammi looked over her shoulder, making sure Eliza locked the door behind them, and hopped into the passenger seat of her boyfriend's car - better known as Jinxx. Eliza waved over at Jinxx, who waved back as she climbed into the back seat. He put the car in drive and started off down the road, taking hold of Sammi's hand in his and kissing her knuckles softly. He chuckled when he heard Eliza groan from behind him, and looked back at her in the rear view mirror. He smirked.
"You gonna be okay back there, Liz?" She shook her head, sticking her tongue out at him as she watched him in the mirror.
"Nope - because you're stealing my best friend from me." Sammi laughed in her seat and turned to face Eliza, smiling.
"Lovebug, NO ONE is stealing me from you. You know him and I better than that." Eliza's lips slowly curved into a small smile, and she sighed - looking out the window to her left.
"I know I know, I just like giving you two shit. Anyways, where are we going again?" Sammi rolled her eyes playfully and turned to face the front again, stating :
"I told you : we gotta go to Andy's for the cookout he's having at his place." Eliza nodded in understanding, keeping her eyes on the sights before her as they drove through Andy's neighborhood. Eliza and Sammi's house wasn't far from Andy's at all; only a few blocks down. As she stared out at the beautiful palm trees and Californian bright blue skies, Eliza was mouthing the words to the song playing on the radio, even at its low volume : Blood by In This Moment. As the song got to the second chorus, Jinxx reached out and turned the volume down a bit - making Eliza's gaze go from the window, to his reflection in the mirror. He sighed, looking at her cautiously, and said aloud :
"How's your eye doin'?" She shrugged, turning her head to the right so he was able to see the fading bruise on her cheekbone - which was just under her eye. Once he got a good glance at it, she turned her gaze back to her window like before and said softly :
"It's almost completely gone, look wise. The swelling and pain was gone within a few days." In the corner of her eye, she watched him nod and then look back to the road as she took a deep breath. Sammi turned slightly in her seat to face her, and Eliza met her eyes. Sammi smiled a small smile and whispered :
"Are you sure you're gonna be alright? All of the guys will be there, along with whoever else -"
"Sammi, I'll be alright. I promise. You know I love being around the guys." Sammi's smile widened, and Eliza found her happiness extremely infectious - she couldn't help but smile back. Just as Sammi turned back around, Jinxx had parked alongside the curb just outside of Andy's house, and the three of them started to get out of the car. Eliza followed behind Jinxx, who locked hands with Sammi as they reached the other side of the car, and they all walked up to the house together.

Eliza's POV
Jinxx knocked on the door a few times, Sammi still in hand, and the door swung open to reveal a very happy and shirtless CC. He smiled widely at us, waving us inside. Seeing as I was the last one, CC closed the door behind me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders in a friendly manner. I smiled up at him and he smiled back, whispering :
"How've you been, Liza? How's the eye?" I sighed, noticing that he was leading me into the kitchen, and shrugged.
"I've been okay. And it looks MUCH better, don't you agree?" I let him see the other side of my face, seeing as he was on my right, and he smiled - leaning over and kissing my temple as he pushed the kitchen door open. He pulled away from me and ran to the fridge, opening it quickly and proceeding to ask me what I wanted to drink. I giggled, pushing myself up to sit on the counter.
"Whatcha got in there, Christian?" He started rambling off the name of everything in the fridge, including the condiments along the inside of the refrigerator door, before I finally stopped him by motioning towards a water bottle on the top shelf. He handed it to me, and I smiled in thanks. CC was one of the only people, besides Sammi especially, that I was closest to - he was my guy best friend. I looked over as he pulled himself up onto the counter next to me, fiddling with his fingers in his lap in what seemed to be nervousness. I quirked a brow at him, knowing that he only did that when something was wrong, and I cleared my throat.
"What's wrong?" He sighed, looking over at me with a sad smile.
"I just don't want him to give you problems, anymore.." I reached out and patted his back comfortingly, and whispered :
"Don't worry, he hasn't been giving me problems. Everything is going to be fine." His smile twisted into that of a genuine and happy one, making my mood perk up almost instantly just as the kitchen door opened and we were greeted by a very deep voice that we both knew all too well.
"I didn't know you were here, Liz!" I turned to face him and chuckled, wrapping my arms tightly around him in a friendly hug as he came to stand in front of me. He returned the hug, and we both pulled away.
"I haven't been here too long, Andrew. So you didn't miss much." He laughed, walking over to the fridge and grabbing a beer for himself before looking back at CC and myself.
"Did you bring your suit?" I nodded, lifting up my Otep tank top to reveal my black and white cheetah print bikini top. He smiled, waving over me and CC as he headed towards the door.
"Follow me." CC and I hopped off of the counter and followed him down the hallway to the sliding glass door that led into his back yard. I slipped off my Vans, tank top and black skinnies, setting them on the coffee table along with my phone, and followed him and CC outside - seeing as CC was already in his trunks and was shirtless when we got there. Sammi and Jinxx were laying by the pool in white lawn chairs, watching what looked to be a bad game of dodge ball that was happening in the pool. I chuckled, seeing that it was Jake and a few people I didn't know in the pool, and waved at him once he saw me. He waved back just before CC ran to the pool and screamed :
"CANNONBALL!" Jake's face filled with terror as CC flew through the air and landed less than a foot away from him. I heard Andy laugh behind me, and I turned to see that he had already changed into his batman trunks. I rolled my eyes, pushing a strand of my long, wavy black hair behind my ear and smirked at him.
"Bet I could beat you to it." He quirked a brow at me, gesturing towards the pool questionably and I nodded. His smile twisted into a smirk as he got into a running stance.
"Ready?" I nodded as he started the countdown.
"One.."
"Two.."
"Thr-"
"GO!" I took off towards the pool, closing my eyes and holding my nose as I jumped into the air and felt myself hit the cool water ; I was instantly engulfed by it. I opened my eyes as I was underwater, seeing someone plunge into the pool in front of me, and I was met by the eyes of Andy. He swam over to me with a wild look in his eye, and I gasped in fear - letting little bubbles escape from my mouth as I turned and started to swim away. I felt his hand wrap around my ankle and I looked back at him, now struggling to swim away. He had a death grip on me, and he wasn't budging. I glared at him, reaching over towards him and flicked the tip of his nose - catching him off guard. He let go of my ankle and I swam up to the top, lightly dabbing my face with my fingertips to make sure my makeup was still in tact. Jake chuckled on the other side of the pool.
"You know, you are literally the ONLY girl I know that can have eyeliner, eye shadow and drawn on eyebrows stay put in a pool." I giggled, looking around to see no sign of Andy. I looked over to CC, Jake and their friends quizzically.
"Hey, where's -" I blinked and was pulled back underwater. I turned to scowl at Andy, who was smiling sweetly at me, and we both pushed up to the surface. I coughed for a moment, trying to catch the breath Andy took when he pulled me under, and glared at him.
"I will get you one day, Biersack." He chuckled, moving his fringe out of his face.
"Highly doubt that, Young." I stuck my tongue out at him just as I smelt the glorious smell of cheeseburgers filling the air. I turned away from Andy and swam to the edge of the pool nearest to the grill, eying the "grill master" aka Mr. Ashley Purdy. As much as I LOVED all of the guys, Ashley was an exception. Since we've met, him and I have never completely seen eye to eye on anything. We constantly bickered about little things, he was always flirting with me and doing what he could to get under my skin, purely because he KNEW he could, and he was always being a slut every time I turned around. I hated that part the most, because it made me physically ill to think about - which is weird, because I shouldn't give a fuck. I was shaken from my thoughts when I heard someone chuckle from a few feet in front of me, and I looked up to see Ashley smirking over at me as he closed the grill.
"See something you like?" I rolled my eyes as he posed.
"Not even close." His smirk widened.
"No? Because you WERE starin' awful hard, darlin'." My eyes widened, realizing I had been, and I looked down at my hands that were laid on the edge of the pool - holding me up. He chuckled again, but I kept my eyes on the ground - too embarrassed to look at him.
"Hey Liz, your phone is ringing like CRAZY right now." I looked up and over at Sammi, who was pointing towards the house, and I pulled myself out of the pool. I ignored Ashley's eyes, which trailed me as I walked over to the door, and I then realized that I was soaking wet. Ashley, being the closest person and still having had his eyes on me, I nodded towards the door.
"Could you get that for me? Since I'm soaked right now?" He set down the spatula and walked over to the back door. Just as he pressed his hand against the handle, he turned to me and whispered :
"Why don't you go dry off, since you're so wet?" He winked at me and I huffed, pointing at my phone.
"GO." He smiled, walking in and picking it up - looking at the caller i.d in curiosity. He slid the door shut behind him, but his eyes never left my phone. I quirked a brow.
"Who is it?" He shrugged, showing me the screen to reveal a number I didn't know, and I pressed the 'TALK' button - taking the phone from his hand and putting it up to my ear as he began to walk away.
"Hello -"
"What took you so fucking long to answer, Eliza?" My heart dropped into my stomach and I looked over at CC, who had now raised himself out of the pool and began walking towards me. I gulped, looking down at the ground as I felt fear well up inside me.
"I -"
"I don't want a fucking excuse, Eliza. I wanna know where the fuck you're at." I met CC's eyes again and I could tell that he already knew what was going on. He took the phone from me - putting it up to his ear, and sighed angrily.
"Who the fuck is this?" I couldn't hear what Hance was saying, but CC scoffed in disgust - raising his voice.
"Look motherfucker, who gives a fuck who I am. For all you know, I'm your worst nightmare, that's who." I smiled slightly, noticing in the corner of my eye that everybody had grown silent and had their eyes on CC and I. CC ran a hand through his damp hair in frustration.
"You're so fucking stupid, dude. Grow a pair - be a fucking man and leave her alone. This number will be changed by tomorrow if you call again. And if you do, I'll give you my address and you can come back your shit up." He pulled the phone away from his ear and clicked the 'END' button, opening the door again and shoving the phone under a stack of towels. Once he came back out, he patted my back softly and offered a small smile.
"Don't worry, I'm going to start making sure he can't bother you, anymore." Andy walked up with a towel wrapped around his waist and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Hance?" I nodded while him and CC shared a look. I walked past them and over to Sammi, who was patting the empty space on her chair in between her legs, and I sat down carefully. I leaned back, laying completely flush against her when I heard Ashley whistling.
"OOH girl, I always knew you went both ways." Sammi and I both flipped him off as he went back to flipping burgers.

Notes

gimme some feedback. <3