||Eleven||

"You're cheating on me!" Tom yelled, accusingly.

I shushed him, kicking his shin from underneath the table as I had my share of Jasmine tea.

"I'm not. You know why? Because we're not really together," I spelled out for him, slowly, like I was speaking to a child.

He grinned. "Seriously, though. I bet it was so hot."

"I'm right here," Jess said. He sat beside Tom, who were both facing me as I drank my usual dose of tea.

I don't know how I felt about describing the kiss Jake and I shared the other day with Tom's boyfriend present. It was slightly awkward since he was practically a stranger.

"Sorry," Tom said, quickly placing a kiss on his boyfriend's lips. "You're hot, too."

Jess just rolled his eyes, but smiled non the less.

"Let's re-cap," Tom started. "First, you find out your straight best friend who you had a crush on, is actually not so straight and that he's dating someone else. Then you start fake-dating your friend, who has a boy friend of his own. Don't forget you kiss him, too. Then your crush's boyfriend finds out that it was all fake, and threatens to expose your secret. Yet, he hasn't so far. Which is very shady, by the way. And, finally, your straight friend kisses you multiple times and comes out to you as bisexual. Now you're like friends with benefits. Am I missing anything?"

I thought for a second, then shook my head. "Nope. Except he isn't sure he's bisexual yet. And, we're not exactly friends with benefits since we haven't done anything beyond kissing."

"Yet," added Tom.

I shook my head, but felt a smile tug at my lips.

"Like you two haven't done worst," I said.

The couple in front of me suddenly turned ridged, both their faces turning a deep shade of red.

"Holy crabs," I said, leaning forward. "Tell me everything."

"No way," Jess said.

"Come on! You know almost everything about me so it's only fair that you share this piece of information," I said.

They both shook their heads. "No."

I sighed. "Whatever, but just so you know, this just makes the answer to my question a lot clearer. Meaning, you did go beyond just making out."

I didn't know two people could wear the same expression on their faces at the exact time.

It was unsettling.

"Whatever, I have some homework to complete anyway," I said, sighing as I got up from my seat.

Tom wrinkled his nose. "Is that a code for something, now?"

I laughed. "I wish."

He still looked a little disgruntled as I left the café, although Jess was just laughing after me and making fun of Tom's expression.

Despite whatever was going on between me and Jake, he still didn't go easy with the work I had to get done. Although, I guessed that wasn't all bad.

I walked towards my apartment, but as I got closer to my door I noticed a figure standing beside my door.

As I neared my apartment I realize it was Ian, and a frown made its way to my face.

"Ian?"

He swiveled around so he was facing me, his earring twinkling due to his movement.

"Nate, hi."

I waited expectedly, but when he didn't say anything like I expected him to, I unlocked my door and said. "Would you like to come in?"

"Yeah, sure."

I led him to the couch after closing the door behind us.

"Why are you here?"

He smiled. "Dev's been worrying over you for days, so I came to check up on you."

"Why didn't he come himself?"

He smirked. "He's still in school."

"Right. I forgot," I said, feeling stupid for not realizing it sooner.

"So, what's going on?"

I swallowed."Stuff."

His perfect eyebrow perched up, "Yeah?"

I sighed. "You have no idea."

"Try me," he shrugged, smiling a little.

I stared at him for a long time before giving in.

"There's so much going on this will take some time," I said.

He leaned back comfortably against the couch. "We've got all day."

I took a deep breath before I started.

Of course, in my head, I made sure to tell myself not to give in too much. I wouldn't specify anything, I wouldn't get too personal despite the entire situation being personal, and I would definitely, definitely, not give away any of my feelings towards Devin. Although those feelings did seem far away now.

"Remember when you told me to confess to Dev? I thought about it, I really did. I still do, I truly want him to know that I lied to him and that I regret it because if he found out any other way...he would never forgive me, and even if he did, which I doubt, nothing between us will ever be the same. You know this already, of course, because you know Dev. Anyway, I was feeling really down about the situation, especially after you found out about it. So I talked to Jake, who you know, right?"

He nodded.

I sighed, "So you probably know he's straight. And I could be outing him right now-"

"Outing him?" He frowned.

"He kissed me."

Ian's jaw clenched and his eyebrows drew together by some invisible force. "What?"

"He kissed me," I repeated, frowning at his reaction.

When he didn't say anything, I went on explaining.

"That happened...and I didn't know how to deal with it. I tried talking to Dev, but I wasn't intending to say anything about the kiss. I just wanted to talk like we used to. But it wasn't the same."

"What do you mean?"

"It just felt...different between us. It confused me so much, so I just..." I trailed off, lost for words.

"Disappeared," he said.

I nodded,"Yeah."

"For three days."

"Aha," I muttered, feeling a little flushed.

"I'm guessing I'm supposed to keep this from Devin, then?"

"Just tell him I felt down and needed to shut off for a bit."

"You want me to lie to him? I've already done that multiple times, and it might be the downfall of our relationship. You could be the downfall of our relationship," he said.

I winced. "It's just for now, I promise. Plus, it's not a complete lie. I seriously was feeling a bit nauseous."

He shook his head, "I can't believe I'm doing this."

I wanted to thank him, but when I opened my mouth I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

"I like your apartment," he said, finally.

Amused, I smiled a little."Thanks. Can I ask you a question?"

He nodded.

"Why were you surprised about Jake kissing me? I mean, it is surprising since we all thought he was straight but you looked almost...angry." I said.

He huffed a little. "It just doesn't seem real."

"What do you mean?" I squinted.

"I mean, he's a college student, and being one of them and being surrounded by a lot of them, I know that it's when all of them love experimenting. From experience, I know that never ends well. That is if you guys are taking this serously" he explained.

"We're not," I blurted, so quick that he actually looked surprised. "I mean, so far we're not interested in a relationship. I don't think I like him that much."

"Then what-...Oh," he said.

I felt heat rush towards my face. "Not like that. I mean, maybe one day. Or not. I don't know, damn it!"

Ian chuckled a little."I see."

"Shut up, don't pretend nothing's going on with you and Dev."

"Well, we did try-"

I leaped forward and covered his mouth with both of my hands. "Don't you dare say it."

He knocked my hands off too easily. "Trust me, I know better than to discuss my sex life with my boyfriend's best friend."

"Sex life?" I tried to hide my shock.

"Not saying anything more than that," he smirked.

Did Devin lie to me? Did the two of them actually go beyond kissing?

No, I thought. He wouldn't keep something like that from me.

Ian stood up and I looked at him questionably.

"I don't want to keep you from anything important," he explained.

"You're not," I said.

"Maybe not right now. But I think you should call Jake and make sure you know what's going on between you two. While you're at it, maybe say hi to dev? He misses you," he said, shrugging on his jacket.

I stood up to walk him to the door. "Alright," I agreed.

Then hesitantly, I said, "Thank you."

Ian, probably just as surprised as I was, did a double take before nodding in response.

He bent down and scratched the dog's ear when he was almost at the door. "So this is the unnamed dog, huh?"

I smiled. "Yup."

He stood up, "I guess I should get going."

Suddenly I remembered something and said, "Wait, one more thing."

"What?"

"How did you find out about me and Tom?" I asked.

He sighed. "Remember when we went to watch that movie together?"

I nodded, frowning.

"I accidentally left my jacket behind and when I came back outside I..." He trailed.

I remembered the night and my eyes widened. "You overheard Tom and I talking?"

He nodded.

Smacking my forehead, I muttered, "Stupid."

Ian laughed, "I'll see you later, then."

I rolled my eyes, "Bye."

"Bye, Mr.Lone Boy," he smirked.

I opened my mouth to protest but the door shut in my face before I could come up with anything. I thought of opening the door and running after him, but I was too lazy and the nickname didn't irk me as it had the first time.

Still, I thought, next time I'll get him for it.

**

I decided to take Ian's advice and called Jake after he left.

"Hey, what's up?"

His voice was clear in my ears and I felt my eyes shut close slowly as I swallowed nervously.

"Uh..."I cleared my throat.

"Nate?"

My heart thudded against my chest as I nibbled at my lower lip.

Was he really playing with me? Using me?

I shook my head.

He's my friend.

"Do you want to hang out tomorrow?" I blurted.

He chuckled. "Are you asking me out?"

My face felt warm suddenly. "No."

He didn't say anything, and I felt my heart dwindle pathetically in response.

"I mean, unless you want me to," I rushed, trying to fix the bond.

He hummed like he was considering it. "I don't have to get you flowers, do I?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not a girl."

"I know," he said, "I did my research."

I smirked. "Oh? What'd you learn?"

"A lot. And I'm willing to try out some of the things I found..." He said, his voice sounding huskier than usual.

I felt my heart skip, and I shifted uncomfortably on my couch. "Oh."

"I'd kill to see you right now," he whispered.

I shivered. Not from the cold. "You can if you want to."

"Yeah?"

"Mhhm..."

"I'm kind of busy, but I'll drop by tomorrow and we can decide what to do then."

The moment vanished just like that.

"Okay," I said, a bit disappointed.

"See you then."

"Bye."

I sunk back against the couch with a long sigh and a tiny smile on my lips.

Later on, I sat my desk and tried to get some work done.

Ever since Devin came back I couldn't find any time to work, almost none at all.

I turned on my laptop which sat permanently on my desk, a gift I received in the mail a few days after my previous birthday. It came with a blue laptop case, which I didn't care for much but it had to do for now.

Logging in, I saw the number of emails I'd received, a huge number in a red bubble. I cringed, not looking forward to reading all the messages, and clicked on the mail icon.

Most of it was work-related. Companies in need of graphics for their website, blah blah blah. The usual ordeal.

I skimmed through them, quickly deleting ones I knew I was too late to work on. By the time I was done, I had less than half the emails I had originally, which left me feeling a little less stressed.

I opened up the first email and read through the message.

Hello,

BabyDiappers would like to take up on your graphics offer. Details are linked in attachment, along with payment and other information.

For further inquires please contact any of the following:

Below that was a list numbers and emails. I ignored them, and instead decided to click on the attachments linked with the 'details'.

The company didn't have many specifications when it came down to how they wanted their graphics to look like, just a bunch of ideas put together.

Which wasn't so bad, as it left me a lot of room to be creative, which I liked the most about my job.

I was done with most of the requests a few minutes before midnight, my eyes drooping, almost threateningly. I felt my self yawn, again, and decided to call it a day.

I just made some money, I thought to myself, a small tired smile forcing its way on my lips.

Satisfied, I hurriedly got ready for bed and tucked myself in between the covers.

I thought of the following day, as I lay in bed in my pajamas.

Suddenly, I thought of Jake, and instantly felt the need to be around him.

It was a feeling that I was sort of familiar with, especially after I realized my feelings for Devin.

But now, although I really want to just be in Jake's presence, I also wanted to kiss him. I really felt like being wrapped in his strong arms, my slim body curled against his broad one, with our lips conjoined together just as they had before.

I longed for the taste of his lips. The way his fingers brushed against the bare skin on my face and how he could make me shudder with pleasure by just being next to me.

Excited, I lost the desire of falling asleep as if I wasn't just about to.

Finding my phone, I quickly found his contact number and sent him a text.

"Still on for tomorrow?"

I waited and waited until I realized Jake was probably already asleep.

Surprisingly, I wasn't too disappointed due to the fact that I knew his answer would be yes, and I realized I had only used that as an excuse to talk to him again.

I sighed, still smiling softly as I pictured Jake's face in my head.

I fell asleep that night with the memory of his voice laced in my dreams.

Meh.

I've written and re-written this chapter a million times, yet I just can't seem to get it right. Oh well, I hope you enjoy reading it anyway :P