Twenty-Nine

I didn't think they saw me. I was glad they didn't. The last thing I needed was to interrupt Jeanie and Rick as they were getting ready to have sex with one another. But why were they about to have sex with each other? They never confessed to one another. They didn't know they liked each other. Did someone finally make a move? Did they finally give in to their animalistic desires? I'd been getting tired of watching them constantly merry-go-round their feelings. I wanted them to get together. Just not on my couch.

Quickly closing the door, I stormed down the driveway. I didn't know where I was supposed to go. I could have just waited half an hour outside for their foreplay and penetration to end. Someone once said that it lasted for fifteen minutes, but with how much sexual tension that'd been pent up, they'd probably need more time.

Or less. I wasn't sure how it worked.

Glancing up, I noticed Devon was now parked on the side of the road. I ran up to his car, and he rolled down the window. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just walked in on... Jeanie and Rick making out hard core on the couch. I think they're about to have sex. He didn't have his shirt on."

Devon said nothing. His mouth opened and shut quickly, trying to process what I said. "Do you... want to come over for a little bit then?"

"Mel!" Jeanie called from the front door. "Come inside. It's fine."

"You see her. Is she dressed?"

"Why would you want me to look if she's not?"

"I don't know."

"Mel, please," Jeanie groaned. I glanced over my shoulder, glad she was still dressed. Though her hair was static-y from the couch.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Devon chuckled, leaning out the window to kiss my cheek before driving off. That was certainly new.

"What was that?" she chuckled, her voice clearer. She was right behind me.

"I don't know," I mumbled as I turned around.

She placed her hand on my back and led me inside. Rick had his shirt back on, and he was smiling giddily as he sat up on the couch. When we locked eyes, I glanced away. It would take a long time to get that image out of my head.

I shook Jeanie's hand off me. "So... are you two together now?"

"Yeah," she exhaled, giggling as she sat next to Rick. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and she rest her head on his. "After you told me he liked me,"–Dammit, I did do that, didn't I?–"I confronted him about it." She placed her hand on his knee, and he kissed her temple. "We had a long conversation about our feelings and why we never said anything to each other. And despite what could happen if we were to break up, we wanted to take the risk and give us a try."

"Honestly, I didn't realize how hot and heavy it was getting until you walked in," Rick added.

"Yes, thank you for that," she chuckled.

"Yeah, my pleasure," I muttered. I stuffed my hands into my pocket and stared at the floor. "Actually, Jeanie, I was hoping to talk to you alone?"

"I'll go pick up some dinner," Rick offered. He grabbed his wallet off the coffee table and kissed Jeanie again before leaving, patting my shoulder on the way out.

I closed the door behind him and sat on the coffee table in front of her. "What's up?" she asked.

"I'm sorry about what I said on Saturday."

"Don't you dare apologize," she stated. "You were right, Mel. I'd been focusing on my job more than you."

"Which is completely reasonable. It is your job."

"But we don't have a good relationship anymore." She frowned. "I miss having that with you. You are my sister, and you always will be. You are the most important person in my life." She grabbed my hands and squeezed them. "I'm so happy you agreed to stay and live with me. I think of you as more like my daughter than my sister. Every day, I do what I do for you so I can support you so you can be a drummer. And in order to make sure I could, I ruined my relationship with you.

"I'm making a change. I will not live stream every day anymore. Twice, maybe three times a week. And I'm going to stock pile my gameplays for YouTube so I will have more time to spend with you." She giggled, "And Rick."

"And some new friends you need to make as well," I smirked. "I mean, I'm now in a band. I'm going to be busy."

"Yes, and I don't want to miss your shows all the time. I've already missed one of the most important concerts of your life. And Mel, I am so fucking proud of you for making 7 Years of Blood."

I smiled. "You remembered the name."

"I have to. You are now part of it." She yanked me onto her lap and hugged me. "I'm going to be there for you. All the other gamers have a work-life balance. Why shouldn't I as well? I need to focus on things other than just my games. I need to focus on you before your band winds up taking you away every day."

"I will come home for dinner more often than."

"Good," she hummed. "I have missed your cooking."

I laughed as I hugged her. I missed this, too. I missed being able to spend time with Jeanie and have actual conversations with her. I was happy that she was going to make time to hang out with me, because once I graduate, I planned to move out, to work hard with my band so we can tour and become famous. I had plans and only a short time left with Jeanie. I wanted to take advantage of it.

"You know, you also mentioned how you weren't talking to Buddy since he confessed to you." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Care to explain what happened?"

We sat down at the kitchen table, and I told her about how I told Buddy, about how I knew he liked me. I explained how he got jealous after my birthday about me spending time with Devon, and how he distanced himself from me so we could go back to being good friends.

"I miss him a lot," I sighed. "He really is my best friend. He means the world to me. The fact that I can't call him when I have a problem or hang out with him after school sucks. You don't think I've led him on, do you?"

"Men always complain that we're leading them on, when all we're actually doing is just being friendly. You're just a friendly person, Mel. You're nice and respectful to everyone, and some people may read it as flirting, but you're not. They're just misreading you."

"So, Buddy was just misreading me?"

"Yeah, but you have to admit that you two did act like a couple."

"I know," I whined. Dropping my face onto the table, I reached to cover my head. "I didn't realize it until I realized he liked me. We were just comfortable with one another. I didn't think he could ever have feelings for me."

"It never crossed your mind?"

"No. Men and women can be friends without having any feelings for the other person. I never had any feelings for him. It didn't cross my mind that he could see me any other way."

"Trust me, Mel, you didn't lead him on. We're all human. Most of us will eventually fall for someone. It's if you knew he liked you and still enabled him that would make it leading him on. You two are friends. You were acting how you always act. He'll get over you, eventually. Maybe you can use this time to get to know Devon better." She smirked, and I rolled my eyes. "How long have you liked him for?"

"I wasn't really paying attention. I kind of just realized it one day."

"An unconscious epiphany, huh?"

"I guess?"

"Do you think he likes you, too?"

"I'm honestly not sure anymore. After we kissed, we agreed not to let it ruin what we had, so I assume he doesn't like me."

"True."

"But then his cousin Francine kept making comments about how he looks at me. And we do hug a lot and hold hands, too."

"And he kissed you on the cheek before he left."

"Yes," I exhaled. "He's never done that before. I think he might like me, but I don't want to say anything unless I know he does."

"And what if he does?" she asked. "What are you going to do then?"

"It's not like I really can do anything. I won't have time for a relationship."

"You know, you've been saying that ever since you got into high school. I doubt that's the real issue here."

"But it's true. I'm going to be busy with my band."

"Yeah, well now it's a valid excuse, but it wasn't before. You didn't know when you were going to join a band, so you used it as an excuse to avoid dating people."

"No, people avoid dating me."

"Still," she sang. "If you like Devon, you will make time for him. I know it's scary to enter a relationship with someone, but it's a beautiful thing. I'm so happy that I'm now dating Rick. Really, really happy. I'm going to work to make time for him. You could do the same thing."

She was wrong about me being afraid to enter a relationship with Devon because I was scared. I wanted to kiss him again. I wanted to date him. But I was afraid that I would not make enough time for him, which would then cause us to break up. I didn't want things to end badly due to time restrictions.

Then again, she was right about me being able to make some time for him. The problem was more with me not knowing just how much time I would have once rehearsals began. And if it was going to stay consistent as well. I needed to figure out how much time I was going to have so I could make time for him. But that would only also happen if we confessed our feelings, and I didn't plan to be the first one to do it.

"It's better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all."

"Shut up, Shakespeare."

"You know I'm right," she sang. "What his cousin said was true about looks," she added. "I saw the way he looked at you when he pulled away. That was a look of pure adoration for you. That's the way Rick looks at me."

"So you're saying he's in love with me?"

"I'm saying he has feelings for you. If he does, he may want to be with you. Or he might be like you and not want to date you despite liking you."

"It must be that one. He said he said he didn't want our kiss to affect our friendship."

"With him looking at you like that, he must have said it because of what you say about not wanting to date someone while looking for a band. And now since you're in one-"

"I don't want to think about him liking me. I don't want to think about being a sucky girlfriend, because I wasn't able to spend enough time with him. All that'll do is give him urges, and then he'll cheat on me. I'd rather set him free so he can chase his desires than hold on to him and make him an asshole."

"I think you're making a mistake," she stated. "If you think you can make time for him in whatever way you can, give it a chance. It's not like I'm telling you to marry him. I'm just saying you can still be happy with him while being in a band. All you have to do is try."