They rode most of the over six hour drive in silence, with Bentley nervously chewing on his nails the entire time. Carissa didn't really know what to say, for fear of making things worse.

Eventually, the pulled off the freeway and into the parking lot. She let Bentley run off while she went to find a parking spot, which was surprisingly hard for a Saturday evening. Geez, I wonder how many people had to be hospitalized today? Finally, she found a spot, although her SUV barely fit.

When she pulled her phone out, she saw that she had received a text: Don't come in, they're only allowing direct family members in.

Where should I go and wait? She replied.

Hold on, I'll get you the keys to my sister's apartment.

Carissa sat in the car and waited for what seemed like forever before Bentley came up to her driver's side window. He handed her a sheet of paper with the address and a ring with 3 keys and a blue crystal dog keychain. "The silver one is the one that opens the door to the building, the gold one is for the elevator, and the black one is for the door of the apartment. Please don't deface her place, she's in enough debt as it is." He laughed awkwardly, but Carissa could see the tears stained on his face.

"You coming tonight?" Carissa asked, reaching out to stroke his cheek and wipe away a tear.

"I don't think so. Nadia said that the fridge is pretty empty, so you might want to stop by a grocery store on your way," He said. "And her roommate might be home, but she said he's okay and will probably just mind his own business. You can leave tomorrow morning."

Carissa opened the door and stepped out. "I'm not leaving you," She stood on her toes to kiss his forehead.

"You really should, though. Not leave me, just go back home, because, you know, work and all," he hugged her and started sobbing.

"It's going to be okay," Carissa tried to soothe, patting him on the back.

"What if it's not?" Bentley sobbed. "Ma basically raised me because my parents were always working, and she even moved from San Francisco to LA for us. She gave up so much for Nadia and me, and I wish I hadn't left her for so long."

"Hey, hey," Carissa reached up to wipe his tears away. "I'm sure she'll forgive you."

He took a deep breath. "I really hope so," he whispered, then hugged her again before she got in the car and drove away.

*****

Carissa was feeling very lonely as she walked along the aisles of the Palo Alto Safeway by herself. Even the sight of bread didn't really cheer her up (although she did buy three loaves). She just wished Bentley would have let her in a little more; she was more than willing to share in his problems. But at the same time, she kinda understood. Bentley didn't talk about his family much, and they were probably a sensitive topic for him. He hadn't introduced her to any of them, so it would be awkward to introduce her now.

Carissa sighed as she carried her basket containing the bread, two family sized bags of potato chips, a bag of Frito twists, a box of pasta, a can of sauce, some sausages, some meatballs, a pack of pepperoni, a stalk of celery, and a twelve-pack of variety candy bars to the self-checkout.

"Whoa, you planning a barbecue or something?" an elderly woman with fading blonde hair asked her as they were waiting in line.

Carissa shook her head. "I'm just a hungry individual who seems to eat a lot," she laughed.

"Ah, the good old days, when I could eat as much as I want and not have to worry about getting fat!" the woman asked, patting her barely-there muffin top.

Carissa laughed. "You don't look too bad now," she commented.

"But I used to be model status," she gave an exaggerated model pose. "And then my husband divorced me because I wasn't pretty enough as soon as I got my first roll of belly fat," she sighed. "So now I embrace all my belly fat," she laughed.

"Well, he sounds like an egotistical jerk," Carissa smiled.

"What about you, dear? Do you have a love?" The woman wiggled her eyebrows.

"Yes, actually. Umm...he's the reason why we're in Palo Alto...sorta." Carissa shrugged.

"Interesting...oh, it's your turn," the lady nudged Carissa towards the open cash register.

Carissa smiled. "It was nice talking to you."

"You don't have to pretend," the lady waved her off. "I know I am miserable to talk to."

Carissa laughed. "You really aren't, and I promise I'm not lying."

*****

It was almost dark by the time Carissa made it to Bentley's sister's apartment. She hadn't been carrying enough reusable bags in her trunk and, despite her large amounts of money, wasn't really going to pay for grocery bags, so she was forced to carry some of the items, including the potato chips, individually, through the lobby, up the elevator, and down the hall.

Finally, she made it, and dumped the food on the kitchen table before collapsing on the couch and beginning to munch on the bread without even bothering to cut it.

"Nadia? Is that you home?" A male voice that Carissa recognized called. F***, Ethan. WAIT WHAT THE HELL IS ETHAN DOING HERE??? Were her immediate thoughts.

"CARISSA????" He exclaimed when he saw her.

She wanted to crawl in a hole and die (a very rare occurrence) when she saw that the tall man with gelled dirty blond hair and no shirt on (all a tactic to reveal his incredibly refined abs and chest, no doubt) was, in fact, Ethan. And all she noticed was the amount of chest hair he had, something that she had once thought was sexy, but now realized was pretty gross.

"Why haven't you responded to anything? I still love you, even if you've been ghosting me for so long. Wait, did I just say ghosting? What is this, 2017???" He looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

In all honesty, Carissa had forgotten how cute Ethan was. Not just in appearance, but also in personality. He wasn't quite Bentley's level of sweet, but he was always doing things to impress her.

Carissa wasn't able to get any words out of her mouth, again, a very rare occurrence.

"Carissa?" He tried searching her eyes.

"What is going on out here?" A brunette girl wearing a hot pink bra that barely covered anything and what looked to be Ethan's boxers walked into the room.

"Who are you?" Carissa finally blurted out.

"Oh, I'm his friend? With benefits, I guess." She shrugged. "His girlfriend refused to talk to him and his roommate is too moral to sleep with him, so he calls me up. And I'm not going to complain about having a shot with a Stanford med student." She explained.

"What the actual f***, Ethan," Carissa slapped him in the face.

"Wait, are you the girlfriend?" The girl exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Let's have a threesome!"

"Umm, no, let's not." Ethan said. "Go back in the room, please, M."

The girl pouted, but nonetheless walked back into the bedroom.

"Do you know why I left you?" Carissa was almost yelling.

"No, otherwise I wouldn't be declaring my love to you every day!" He replied, raising his voice as well.

"Well, let's just say it was similar to what just happened," she returned her voice closer to a normal level.

"When?"

"Your birthday. Six months ago."

"The day when you were ignoring all my calls and didn't even wish me a happy birthday?"

"Because I was on a plane to come see you!"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"There's this thing. It's called a surprise. Obviously I got the surprise." Carissa rolled her eyes.

"Oh," he sighed. "I'm sorry."

"I don't need your sorry. Everybody says that cheating is a choice, and you know what? I agree with those people." Carissa ran her hands through her hair. "Let's just get this out there, though. I forgave you. I've moved on with my life. I'm happier without you."

He took a deep breath. "You mean you've found another guy."

She nodded. "And before your ego says it, I'm not with him to make you jealous."

"Okay. So what are you doing here anyways?"

' "I could ask the same of you."

"I get rejected from Harvard three times, remember? So I applied to Stanford and they accepted me, which is pretty nice. So now you tell me."

"Nadia's brother, Bentley, is my boyfriend." She said, then realized how strange that would make things for Nadia and Ethan.

"Awkwarddddddddddddddddd.." Ethan whistled.

"I couldn't agree more." Carissa replied.

"I'm not talking about you," he nodded past her.

Carissa turned around to see a man who was no doubt Bentley's father and a woman whom she assumed was his mother, although she looked Chinese as well, despite Bentley saying that his mother was Latina.

"We thought you were a perfectly good guy, Ethan," the man said. "But maybe we should consider finding our daughter a new roommate. We don't want her hanging around man-whores like you."

"Mr. Young, I--" Ethan started.

"Shut it, I don't care," Mr. Young commanded. "And who are you? The girlfriend of a man-whore?"

"If you're calling Bentley a man-whore, then I suppose so," Carissa retorted, garnering a subtle smile from Ethan.

"So this is what my son does with his life. He didn't happen to mention you when we just saw him at the hospital," Mr. Young said, walking around to the kitchen. "But if you're his new mistress, then you must be a pretty good housewife, too." He looked pointedly at the food on the table.

"Oh, umm, sure, I'd be happy to cook you dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Young," Carissa smiled awkwardly and picked up the meat, pasta, sauce, and celery.

"I'm curious as to who Bentley is," the woman whom Carissa assumed was Mrs. Young said as she made herself at home at the kitchen table.

"Aren't you his mother?" Carissa asked.

"Oh, definitely not. His mother is a dirty slut who married this handsome man only for his money," the woman slid herself onto Mr. Young's lap.

"Right, okay," Carissa looked away and stared at the boiling water.

"So, Carissa, right?" Mr. Young started. "What race are you? You're not from around here, are you?"

"I'm Chinese, and I'm from Australia, but I do live in Westwood."

"You're a UCLA graduate?" She could hear some form of admiration in Mr. Young's voice. "It's nearly impossible for any Asians to get in, even though I got into Stanford, which I guess is way better."

"Nope, I didn't go to university in this country," Carissa said. She didn't really like this man and could see why Bentley would want as little to do with him as possible.

Sorry about my parents, I should have given you a warning, came a text from Bentley after she finished putting the pasta in the pot. Also, there's a pool and my sister said you can borrow her stuff if you need.

It's okay, Carissa replied, And I'll think about it.

It probably isn't okay....what are they making you do? And please tell me you didn't tell them that you're my girlfriend.

Too late.

I guess now you have to prove how far you're willing to go to marry me.

Oh, is marriage in the question now?