And it's still Alan's POV

I pushed my way through the shell-shocked crowd, grabbing Diana's hand and pulling her after me. We ran out of the school grounds, our belongings long forgotten. We stopped running after roughly a kilometre, our breathing laboured and heavy.

'Explain.' Diana demanded, her chest rising and falling quickly due to the increased amount of oxygen her body needed and the extra lungfuls she needed to fulfill that quota.

'Just wait.' I said gently, leading her into Gloria Jean's. Diana moved to get table as I ordered our drinks. I brought them back to the table, placing her caramel frappe in front of her. I sipped my chai tea, poking my tongue out at the heat of it.

'Cute, but not good enough,' Diana smiled as I sat down, shaking her head as she did so, 'explain.'

I sighed. I was never going to get out of this. 'I met up with Hayley a few days ago. She broke up with me and immediately set me up with Maddie.' I reached out and held Diana's hand, rubbing circles into it. Diana's eyebrows raised in a silent gesture saying continue.

'She followed me around all day, clinging to me and everything. It was so annoying. She adopted nicknames for me - boo and baby - from the moment Hayley said that we were going out on a date. She kissed me,' I saw Diana's eyes flash and she started to pull back, but I kept a firm grip on her hand, 'on the cheek. Let me finish, Diana.' I scolded her.

'Sorry,' she muttered, 'besides, it's not like we're dating.' She added softly, looking down at her drink and taking a sip of it. My eyebrows knitted together and I sighed even softer.

'You only read the first half of my message,' I said, showing her my phone.

To Diana: I'm hers now... But she's not mine

Diana's dark eyes, which had previously been boring into mine, flicked back down to the table. I reached back out and rubbed her hand.

'I guess I see how that would have provoked that sort of reaction from you,' I said, my smile lopsided. I was referring to her quick dash to the bus and her blatant ignorance when I tried calling her.

'I'm so sorry I didn't explain myself properly, and I just wanted to make it up to you.' Diana met my eyes, and said,

'You did, Alan. You ruined your reputation. You didn't have to. But,' Diana paused, looking at me with sad eyes, 'it's so selfish of me, but I'm glad you did.' She takes a sip of her drink.

'I have to go.' She stands abruptly, almost knocking her frappe over. She whisks herself out of Gloria Jeans in a few seconds, throwing a few bills at me to cover for her drink. I sigh and let her go, running my hands through my red, already messy hair.

Diana

I couldn't take it right now. Not with Christian suddenly showing up, and Alan kissing me in front of everyone. My phone buzzed and I opened the text message, walking God knows where. It was from Jessica.

God damn! Stop and tell me where you are. Alan just told me that you left Gloria Jeans.

I rolled my eyes and stopped outside Bunnings. I texted Jessica back and in a few minutes she was running up the street.

'We need to talk. Now.' She said, tugging on my hand, not giving me a chance to voice my opinion.

'Where are we going?' I asked after ten minutes of walking. Jessica ignored me, exactly the same reaction I had received the past four times I had asked. We came to an area I knew well, and I realised exactly where Jessica was leading me.

'Jess,' I started, but she turned around, her eyes blazing. I cowered under her gaze and walked faster, my lips zipped.

We reached our destination, and I saw the red, blue and yellow pieces of plastic standing the exact same way they had been almost nine months ago. The only thing that had changed was the graffiti, and my view on it. It had been somewhere sacred, but now I wasn't sure. The slide was still firetruck red, the swings were still hanging dejectedly, having been abandoned by the kids that had left the park last night after a late night play. One's chains were looped around the bar holding it up off the ground. Jessica led me over to the platform at the start of the long climb to the slide.

'You need to tell me everything, Ana,' Jess said, holding both my hands and adjusting her position so that one leg was hanging over the side and she was sitting on her foot, 'starting with what's happening now. All your problems.'

Notes

Title cred: Too Much - All Time Low

And if you guys want a laugh, my friend read this story and she thought "Ashby" and "Alan" were two different people. (She doesn't like OM&M, but she asked what I was writing, I told her, and she read it)