"Ander, your friend is here to see you!"

At the sound of his mother's voice and the soft knocks on his bedroom door, Ander paused his Instagram browsing and rolled off from his bed.

When he flung open the door, he saw his mother's grinning face and he grew curious. "Friend? Who?"

"Come on down and find out yourself," she replied cheerfully.

Ander followed her down the stairs and they parted ways at the bottom, where his mother strode into the kitchen and he made his way to the front door.

He didn't know what he was expecting to see at the doorway, but it was certainly not someone with that familiar pair of large, expressive eyes.

"Reina?" he muttered with a frown. "Why are you here?"

Those dark eyes were two calm pools today, and when Reina spoke, her voice was uncharacteristically timid. "Hi, Ander."

Ander leaned against the doorway, waiting for her to continue.

"Umm, this is for you. And your family," Reina said as she lifted her hands to show the large white pastry box she was holding. "Cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery."

Ander eyed the pastry box suspiciously. "This is kind of random..."

Reina nodded earnestly. "I know. I just – I wanted to apologize. And this is my peace offering."

"Cupcakes are your peace offering," Ander stated, still dubious.

Reina bit her lower lip. "Are cupcakes not good enough? I'm not.. I'm not very good at this apologizing thing. All I know is that an apology usually comes with a gift of some sort, right?"

Ander couldn't help chuckling. "Guess that's how the rich and elite people do it," he remarked dryly.

Reina exhaled loudly. "Ander, please. Just accept the cupcakes. Please?" she softened her tone at the end, probably because she remembered that she was the guilty party here.

"I don't know. I'm kind of on a diet," Ander teased.

"Ander, aren't you going to invite Reina in already?" His mother appeared next to him. "I'm sorry, Reina. My son is usually not this rude to guests."

Reina smiled awkwardly, still clutching at the box of cupcakes.

"Here, I'll take the cupcakes. Come on in," Ander said as he seized the box and stepped aside for Reina to walk in.

"Thanks," Reina responded with unmistakable relief.

"Can I get you something to drink, Reina?" His mother offered.

"Water is great. Thank you," Reina answered as she daintily sat down on the three-seater sofa in the living room.

Ander claimed the single armchair adjacent to the sofa. "You don't have to stay, you know," he told Reina. "My mom is just an over-enthusiastic host."

"I'll be gone in five minutes," Reina assured him. "As long as you accept my apology."

"Well, I don't recall witnessing your actual apology..." Ander pointed out, trying not to smile. He was secretly enjoying the sight of Reina squirming.

"Seriously?" Reina ran a hand through her wavy curls. "Okay, fine. I –"

"Here you go, Reina," Ander's mother reappeared with tray that held Reina's glass of water and a pot of tea. "I made tea for all of us too. Now, shall we try some of the cupcakes that Reina brought? They look delicious."

Ander didn't particularly want to sit and have a tea party with his mother and the girl whom he wasn't sure he was forgiving just yet.

"Actually, I think I need to get going," Reina announced, taking a sip of her water before setting the glass back down and standing up. "I'm so sorry that I can't stay longer, but I hope you enjoy the cupcakes."

Evidently, Reina felt the same way he did.

"Oh, are you sure?" His mother blinked at Reina.

"Yes," Reina replied without hesitation. "Thank you for inviting me in, Azucena."

"You're most welcome, Reina. Come over again soon."

Ander got up to see Reina out.

"You weren't kidding when you said 'over-enthusiastic host'," Reina murmured when they'd both stepped out to the porch.

Closing the door behind him, Ander said, "Yeah, if you hadn't mentioned leaving, you'd probably end up being asked to join for dinner too."

Reina chuckled. "Your mother is really nice. It must be great to have loving parents that you get along with."

Ander shrugged. "I'm close to my mom, but not so much with my dad."

"Why is that?"

"He has a fixed idea on how his son's life should be, but I don't agree with it," Ander muttered.

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Reina laughed but there was no humor behind it.

"I don't know what the deal is with your family, but the way I see it, nobody's forcing us to suffer. Not if we don't want to. We might not be able to fix all the family problems we have, but we can still control how we react. And how much we care."

"My reaction is always to lose control, it seems," Reina observed wryly.

"You've perfected it to an art form," Ander agreed.

"Thanks." Reina rolled her eyes.

"But you do seem a bit.. different today."

"You could tell?"

"What happened?"

"It was brought to my attention that I'm terrible at being a human being."

Ander couldn't help laughing.

"Oh, you like that, don't you?" Reina huffed.

"I tried telling you but you wouldn't listen. So I'm glad someone else got through to you."

"Kate." Reina blew out her breath. "She just made me aware of things that I didn't notice before."

"She's a true friend then," Ander observed.

"I suppose so." Reina crossed her arms. "Well, I'd better get going."

"Yeah."

"I'll see you when I see you..." Reina looked deep in thought for a moment. "That would be the football game at San Patricio, right? Where you're making your cheerleading debut?"

Ander scowled. "Don't remind me. I have you to thank for that really creative punishment."

"I'm a bit too clever for my own good sometimes," Reina said with a nod. Studying Ander's face, she cleared her throat. "Actually... I don't know if you know, but I'm the head cheerleader at San Patricio. So if you want, I can give you a quick cheerleading lesson..."

"Is this some other sneaky way of sabotaging me?" Ander asked, sighing.

"I swear, it isn't."

"Then why are you offering your help all of a sudden? We're on different sides of this drawn-out stupid rivalry game, remember?"

"I remember. But hey, maybe this whole thing is stupid like you said. Perhaps it's a good time to move on from the rivalry. And I – I hope one day we can be friends. For real. This seems like a good starting point," Reina said. "Let me see if I can try making the whole thing a little less embarrassing for you. Please?"

Ander gazed at Reina for a moment then finally shrugged. "Let's go to the backyard."

Reina trotted behind him as he led the way to the soft grassy area behind the house. Before they began, she tied her long hair into a ponytail and kicked off her white sneakers.

"Will your buddies be joining you for this cheer, or are you going solo?" she wanted to know.

"Uhh, I'm not sure I want to drag anyone else into this..."

"The cheer routine I'm envisioning will work really well if there are three of you. But we can go over your part first for today."

Ander found it amusing that Reina was taking this on with such enthusiasm. She must be a good captain for her team.

"Whatever you say, captain," he uttered.

"Do you have the song mix they sent you? Play it from your phone and watch my moves, okay? They're simple but look really good when executed well."

For the next hour or so, Ander dove into the unfamiliar and bewildering world of cheerleading moves.

When his arms and legs became completely jelly-like, he signaled at Reina for a time-out and collapsed onto the grass. "I think I've had enough for today," he said in between inhaling deep breaths.

"Sure?"

The song was still playing and Reina performed several jumps to the infectious beats.

"How do you make it look so damn easy?" Ander said.

"Anyone can do it, really," Reina quipped as she finished with a flourish. She took a seat next to Ander, cross-legged and panting slightly. "As long as they're willing to put in the hard work and discipline."

"You have a natural talent for it," Ander observed.

Reina grinned. "You're not half bad either, for a total beginner. You just need to remember to keep your movements crisp and put lots of energy into every motion."

"If you say so, captain." Ander frowned as he thought of something. "So.. Will I have to wear a skirt?"

Reina burst into laughter. "Do you want to?"

"What do you think?"

"All right, all right. I actually have a great idea about your outfit as well..." Reina winked.

"Wow. So this is what it feels like to have you on the same side. Looks like you've got it all figured out for me," Ander told her, unable to resist a smile on his lips.

Reina looked down into her clasped hands thoughtfully before lifting her eyes back to meet Ander's.

"Ander," she said solemnly, "I really am sorry. For the way I acted previously. For hurting you."

"Apology accepted."

"Good."

"I wasn't planning to forgive you, but the cupcakes were really the game-changer."

"Stop making fun of the cupcakes."

Ander chuckled. "Listen, I need to head out soon. But thanks for the coaching. It was great."

"No problem." Reina studied Ander with a raised eyebrow. "Got a hot date?"

"Maybe."

Ander's mind wandered back to the wine gala night. The clandestine meetup after his argument with Reina. Freezing air. Warm breaths. Hungry kisses. Throbbing desire in the pants. Omar's smile.

Reina smirked as she got up and dusted off bits of grass from the back of her shorts. "Okay, have fun."

Ander nodded, feeling a lot lighter than he had before. "I will."