Chapter Fifteen

The day had finally come, and I could literally feel nerves eating away at me.

I haven’t spoken to Colton since the day of our picnic, and I found that odd. The only time we communicated was when I suggested that we all hang out so he could know Fabian better, and all he did was send a message saying 'that's cool' and that was all.

I saw him at school today, but he barely looked at me. I felt like I hurt his feelings when I walked away from him at the park, and then texted him a few hours later telling him that I'd like him to meet my new love interest or whatever. It must’ve been quite obvious that I left him to go see Fabian on Saturday, and I felt pretty bad about it.

At the moment it felt like my act was justified. He was being childish by trying to chase Fabian away when he took my phone, and I didn’t like that. But he is my best friend and  instead of talking to him about it, I went to the very same guy who he obviously doesn’t like and I even had him in my room!

Not that I regretted it. I'm glad Fabian and I had that talk the other night, especially before the two guys met. I feel like I made a huge step with Fabian on Saturday, so the only thing I regret is the way I left things with Colton.

Now finally, it was the end of the school day and I was in the parking lot with Shanae and Ariana while I stared at Colton a few cars away talking to his friends. His eyes would meet mine ever so often, but then he'd act as if he didn’t see me.

We were scheduled to meet at Lukas' Diner today at five. Was this really the attitude he wanted to proceed with? Won't that make things more awkward?

"Just go talk to him already." Shanae's voice interrupted my thoughts as Nick, her boyfriend, nibbled on her ear.

I almost forgot he was here too. He was always just in Shanae’s shadow. Sometimes it was easy to overlook him.

"I don’t know..." I trailed. "What if he cancels? And then things between him and Fabian will be strained forever?" I huffed, frustrated.

"So this new guy is forever huh?" Ariana asked with a smirk. "Too bad. I thought I had a shot." I rolled my eyes at her remark.

"That was one time! And I wasn’t making a move on you, Ariana. I was hiding from Colton."

"Why am I always caught up in your boy problems?" she asked with an eye roll, but I could see the humour behind it.

"Because you are always at the right place at the right time and-"

"Shut up, look he's leaving." She cut me off and pointed in the direction where Colton was at, and I saw that he was going into his car.

Quickly, I ran towards him, hoping I wouldn't slip on the wet asphalt from the rain. He was already in his car by the time I arrived, and I made a big move and sat in his passenger seat. He wasn’t getting away this time.

"You're avoiding me." I came right out and said it and when he turned to face me, my heart sank. He looked genuinely...sad.

"You left me in the park without hearing me out, Paris," he said, getting right to the point. That's what I like with Colton sometimes, he doesn’t beat around the bush. "And I know you went to see him."

I didn’t like how he said 'him', but I ignored it solely for the sake of our friendship. "What you did was really uncalled for and it angered me."

"I know and I really am sorry about that. But I felt... I don’t know." He sighed. "I just wished you would've talked to me about how you were feeling instead of leaving like that. I spent all night looking for you because I know you didn’t have your car. And when I came to your house, I saw I bike behind the plants. A bike that no one at your house owned."

Guilt rose in me as well as embarrassment. No one caught Fabian and I that night. Not even my nosey sister. But Colton wasn’t stupid. I'm sure he must've pieced it all together.

"I messed up and I overstepped. I was being a jerk and I'm sorry. But I was just hurt that you sought comfort in him rather than speaking to me. And then when you texted me later that night asking if we all could hang out, I didn’t want to tell you no because I see that he has somehow found his way in your heart. So being the friend I am, I'll meet him if that's what you want."

Damn Col. Way to make me feel worse about myself.

I didn’t know what else to say or how I should word my own apology, so I simply pulled him into a hug. Our hugs could speak so much, and I tried to communicate my feelings in that very hug.

My intentions with Fabian are still unchanged, but I'd be damned if I lose my best friend.

"I'm sorry too, Col. I wish things could've gone differently," I mumbled in his neck, and his arms tightened around me.

"It's okay. Let's just get back to how we were okay? Forget everything I said on Saturday. Forget Saturday. I can't lose you Par. I just can't." Tears threatened to spill right then and there.

When he said 'forget what he said', did  he mean all that stuff about meeting new people and knowing what we truly felt for each other? I sure do hope so.

I couldn’t deem my crush on him extinct, but it was pretty clear that my feelings for Fabian had surely surpassed it. This would've been the wrong time to evoke feelings like this. And besides, he has Anastasia. She would've been crushed.

"Maybe we can redo our picnic sometime," I suggested as I pulled away. I felt relief when I was met with his familiar smile, but his hand lingered on my knee.

"That was a pretty awesome picnic," he added with a light chuckle which was oddly contagious.

And just like that, Paris and Colton were back.

***

It was 4:57 and I was the only one sitting in the diner.

My legs shook in anticipation, as I glanced through the window ever so often for the other two boys. I knew they still had three minutes to spare, but it didn’t help my nerves one bit.

After everything was cleared between Colton and I, I had spent the last two and a half hours with a new thing worrying my mind--the meeting of the two boys.

4:59.

Only one minute and still no sign of them. I grabbed my phone, deciding to make a few calls but then the familiar roar of a bike had me gazing through the glass window.

Fabian.

He looked devilishly sexy in his full black outfit--black jeans, black T-shirt with a black leather jacket and definitely a dark bad-boy aura as he whipped the helmet from his head and did that sexy hair shake thingy.

God help me.

As if feeling my eyes on him, he met my gaze across the parking lot and offered me a small smile and a wave. I watched as he strode towards the entrance, and the bell sang in joy as he pushed the door open. He never dropped my gaze as he made his way towards  me and I couldn’t suppress the butterflies in my stomach as he came closer.

"Hey Skates," he mumbled in a low grumble with his lips beside my ear. "I missed you."

My eyes fluttered closed as he gently brushed his lips across mine. It wasn’t even a kiss, more like a teasing gesture as he slid in beside me.

"Boyfriend not here yet?" he asked and I glared at him.

"He's not my-" My sentence was cut short when the bell at the door rang again, and two very familiar faces entered.

Anastasia.

He brought her.

I was actually relieved that he brought her. I mean, why wouldn’t  he? At least this won't be as awkward as I anticipated. Besides, I haven’t seen her since the night at the roller skating rink, and she's been wanting to hang out again, which is pretty sweet.

"Who's that?" Fabian whispered in my ear as they saw us.

"That's his girlfriend." I whispered back like some gossipy teenager.

I didn’t even know if they stamped a name on their relationship as yet. Last time I saw her, they were only just 'hanging out'.

"Paris!" Anastasia squealed as she ran towards us. I rose from my seat to hug her across the table, and she rocked our bodies a few times before letting me go. “I haven’t seen you in forever! I've been begging Colton to arrange a meet up and he's been so stubborn." She complained as she threw Colton a glare. It was almost cute.

Chuckling, I retook my seat as she slid in the booth along  with Colton.

"Well, be sure to take my  number before we part today. We won't have to wait on him to chat anymore," I said, trying really hard not to focus on the stare-off the two boys were having.

Anastasia noticed it too. It was obvious from the way her eyes would dart between them before coming back to me.

"Hi I'm Anastasia." Anastasia saved us all and poked her hand out to Fabian.

With a smile, he took it and returned greetings. "Fabian. Nice to meet you," he said, and I didn’t miss how Colton glared at his hand as if Fabian was about to 'steal' her too.

"You have beautiful eyes." Fabian continued to stare at Anastasia, and I could see right through what he was doing. Growing very disappointed, I kicked him under the chair and discreetly elbowed him.

"Thank you," she gushed, completely oblivious to his true intent.

"So, Col. Are you okay?" I asked only to pull his attention from Fabian. I didn’t like this so far.

The battle of the egos was too much.

The smile that Colton gave me immediately made me regret asking that question.

"Of course. How can I not after the talk we had today," he said, exaggerating 'talk' as if to make it seem like it had a second meaning. I felt Fabian tense beside me, and even Anastasia looked uncomfortable.

Didn’t he remember that she was sitting right there?

Still, nobody said anything for a whole three minutes until Lukas came over to take our orders.

"What are you getting, Skates?" Fabain asked in a low tone with his eyes trained on my menu. I shrugged causally.

"My usual."

"Why does he call you Skates?" Colton's voice commanded the air as he asked, and both Fabian and I looked up to meet his gaze.

I shrugged again. "It's kinda a thing from the first time we met at the rink. It's dumb but it works for us." I chuckled as Fabian playfully nudged me.

"Awe, that is the cutest thing!" Anastasia gushed with her hand over her heart, but Colton didn't seem to like it very much that Fabian and I had 'a thing'.

"I'll have our usual too, Lukas. Thanks." Colton said, not acknowledging what I told him about the nickname, but it was clear that he was only trying to show Fabian that we had a special 'thing' too.

I sighed. I was starting to regret suggesting this hang out. It was getting nowhere.

Another moment of silence sat between us after everyone ordered, and even Lukas sensed the tension.

I didn't even know why both guys felt like this around each other. I mean, wasn't this Fabian's idea? Why is he being like this?

And Colton isn't being any better either. Wasn't he the one to say 'he seems like he's important to you so I'll meet him for your sake' only a few hours ago? What is it with these boys and dominance?

"So, Paris. I've been dying to find a store where I can do some real shopping, and since you have such a great sense of style, I was wondering if we could hang out sometime this week. I need to shop for a dress for my sister's wedding and I’ve been having a hard time," Anastasia broke the silence beautifully and even though I was not a 'shopper', I agreed out of mere gratitude.

"I'd love to. There's this wonderful store in the heart of London that has the most beautiful dresses. I always window shop there," I said, causing us both to erupt in a series of chuckles. Even Fabian chuckled a bit and Colton's lips turned in a smile.

Anastasia and I shared a glance, and we continued like that in small conversation until eventually Colton got in on the mix, and Fabian would input some snarky but hilarious comment every now and then. He wasn’t a talker, and they got that.

Luckily, by the end of the evening, the tense air had lifted and the boys weren’t glaring at each other anymore. They spoke at least twice about some boyish stuff and it was obvious that they grew at least a hint of respect for each other. They didn’t necessarily have to like each other, but the respect was really important.

The sun sat in the west beautifully and our evening was deemed over. I had to say, it started rocky but ended pretty well. I don’t know what I would've done if Anastasia wasn’t there.

We gathered on the outside as Anastasia and I walked to my car. Fabian was buying something for his brother in the diner, and Colton went to start his car.

"Thank you for saving  my ass back there." I chuckled as I unlocked my car but didn’t go in.

She lightly patted my shoulders before hugging her arms around her body again.

"That's okay. I've noticed how Colton has been acting weird for the past few days and especially today when he picked me up. When I saw how they were looking at each other, I figured that he didn’t like your friend that much."

How could she be so understanding? I don’t know, but if I had a boyfriend who acted that way about his female-friend’s love interest, I'd be concerned.

"Well all I know is, I couldn’t have done it without you. I'll hold you to that shopping day."

"Oh that?" She laughed. "I just made that up. I don’t even have a sister. Colton didn’t even notice!" She laughed even harder and I joined in. It was easy talking to her, and a month ago I didn’t realize it because I was too busy hating on her and trying to make her feel bad.

I feel like a bitch now.

"Well I hope we can hang out either way," I told her truthfully as I quickly typed my number in her phone. She gave me a small hug before turning to leave. But we both froze when we saw what was happening.

Fabian had just emerged from the diner, and Colton was walking towards him looking like a man on a mission.

Oh Colton. Please don’t disappoint me.