Listen to Don't Say You Love Me by Fifth Harmony.

"I'm ready to tell you why I said all that in the church."

I turned to look at him but my head was acting funny, I closed my eyes and tried to listen to what he was about to say.

I was not sober and it didn't seem like a good time but I wanted to know why I was here, my head was starting to spin as I took more drink.

"Well, it's about time."
I slurred trying to focus on one image of Tristan.

He reached for the bottle and took a big gulp then leaned back on the seat, I was drifting to sleep slowly and Tristan was already talking but I wasn't hearing anything.

I stopped fighting it, I closed my eyes and welcomed the darkness.

☆
I hated hangovers, my stomach, and my head made me stay in bed. I wasn't sure how I got to my room.
I groaned gripping the sheets, I needed some painkillers or this agonizing pain would make me go crazy.

There was a knock on my door, I groaned before answering,  Morris walked in with a small tray and a smile.

"Good morning Miss Simpson, I hope you slept well? I made you some hangover soup."

"Hangover soup?"
I sat up and collected it. I examined the pale-colored soup and tried not to throw up, I thanked him and braced myself to take a spoon.

"Please get me some painkillers."
He nodded and left.

It was my first time taking a hangover soup and it surprisingly tasted good. After taking the soup and the pills, I went back to sleep.

When I woke up it was past one,  the sun was extremely bright today. I took a long and soothing shower and dressed up in a floral summer dress.

I packed my hair up in a ponytail and left the room. Morris was making lunch and Tristan was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Tristan?"
I asked Morris.

"Why are you looking for me?"
I almost jumped from the sudden question from behind.

Tristan opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, he was wearing swim shorts and a grey towel hung on his left shoulder,  his wet hair was swept back. I watched his Adam apple bob as he drank the water.

I tried not to let my eyes wander around the specs and crevices on his torso, man it was getting hot in here.  My eyes didn't miss the drop that slid down his lower lip till it reached the floor. I was still wondering how something so trivial he did without adding any effort looked so good.

I pretended to check my short nails when he turned to look at me.

"I was taking a swim, I never told you I needed a babysitter."
He said and left the kitchen.

"I just wanted to say thank you for taking me to my room when I was wasted!"
I screamed after him.

I sighed and took a seat at the island, I couldn't remember much from last night. I knew he was there and I was mad at my exam score and Adrian's sudden date night.

"Do you need help with anything?" I asked Morris.

"No, Miss Simpson, and thanks for asking."

"Come on, you look like you have so much to do, let me help, I have nothing to do."

It took him a couple of seconds to agree.

"You can stir the sauce for me."

"Awesome!"
I rushed to the electric cooker.

"How did you know I was having a hangover?" I asked.

"I saw you last night sleeping on the floor in the living room, I tried to wake you but you were too drunk to raise a hand. I picked you and took you to your room."

I stopped stirring the sauce and looked at him.

"You were the one that took me to my room?"

"Yes Miss Simpson, you were all alone on the floor."

"Ohh."
I mumbled a bit embarrassed.

"Thank you, Morris."
He gave me a warm smile, I returned it and went back to stirring the sauce. Was I hallucinating last night, I thought I saw Tristan.

I went to the Garden after having lunch alone in the dining, Tristan had gone MIA again. It was the weekend, I was trying to figure out a way to get him to tell me why I was here and what happened in the church.

I decorated my room with the flowers I got from the Garden and did a few homework before staying with Belvina on the phone for almost three hours talking about random things.

I made Morris eat dinner with me and asked about his family. He had three kids and five grandchildren, his wife was late and it broke my heart to hear about her death. She was killed in a hit-and-run, they were unable to locate the person responsible.

I went upstairs to my room after helping Morris to do the dishes. I went for a shower and dressed up in my short shorts and a white hoodie. I watched videos of different stuff being smashed on YouTube, it was satisfying honestly.

My mind drifted to my family home after I turned off the lights to go to sleep, I miss them. The knock on the door made my heart jump, I wasn't expecting anyone to be up so late.

"Chloe?" I heard Tristan's voice, my shoulders relaxed. Should I pretend to be asleep? Maybe it was urgent.

"Yes?"

"Can I come in?" his voice sounded like he had a cold.

"Okay," I said and left the lights off, I stared at his silhouette at the door. He stayed outside, not coming in.

"Can I sleep here?"

"Why? What happened to your room?" I asked and he said nothing.

"You wanna switch rooms?" I asked.

"No, I don't wanna be alone with the thoughts in my head."

"Is everything okay?" I asked switching on the lights, his eyes looked bloodshot and his hair was a mess.

"Yes, I will just go," he said and turned away.

"Tristan," I called but he closed the door and left. I sighed and thought about what he just said. I stood up and grabbed my phone. I walked to his room and knocked on the door, I opened it without waiting for a reply. The room was pitch black and I could hear movement on the bed.

"Tristan," I called.

"I'm here," he said from the bed, I followed the direction of his voice and climbed the bed. I felt the heat from his body as I laid next to him.

"You can talk to me about it," I whispered and got no reply for almost a minute.

"Thank you," he said. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

"Can I hold you?" he asked after a while, he must be having a hard time falling asleep.

"Okay," I said. I felt him snuggling closer and soon his arms were around me, shit he was shirtless.

"If you're uncomfortable, tell me," he said close to my ear.

"I'm fine," I said.

"You smell nice," he said close to my neck.

"Thank you," I said and closed my eyes to catch some sleep.

###

I woke up very late, I had left Tristan's room immediately I found out he was sleeping. I went to shower and changed into a blue sundress, I packed my hair up in a ponytail and applied my lipgloss. I met Morris in the kitchen cooking as if we had a celebration.

"Why are you cooking all these foods?" I asked stealing one spiced buffalo wings.

"We are having guests."

"Guests?" I grinned and licked my finger to get the sauce from the buffalo wings off.

"Mr. Sanchester informed me this morning," Morris told me.

I thought of who might be coming, do I have to play the girlfriend role? Please no, it was so exhausting the last time.

It didn't take long for us to finish in the kitchen. I helped to set the food at the table in the garden where Tristan wanted it. It looked fancy as I stared at it from the porch.

"Well done Morris."
I told him when he was done arranging the seats.

"You too, Miss Simpson."

"Oh, it was nothing."
I waved it off,  the doorbell caught our attention.

"I will get it."
I said quickly when he turned to leave.

"It's my job Miss Simpson, please allow me."
I hated when he spoke like that, I rolled my eyes in defeat.

Tristan walked down the stairs in black chino shorts and blue t-shirt, his blonde hair that looked cropped at the sides had a few strands falling across his right temple.

I was too busy staring at him to notice our guests,  that familiar cologne filled my nose. I turned around and saw Adrian in a jogger cargo shorts and a white button-up shirt. He left three buttons undone to show off his gold chains and toned chest. My smile fell when I saw the lady in his arm.

Her envious ebony hair was almost reaching her waist, she wore a green dress that showed off her perfect curves and spotless legs.

Tristan and Adrian did their signature handshake while I stood four feet away staring.

"Chloe?"
Adrian's voice moved my gaze away from the lady.

"Hi, Adrian."
I tried my best not to show the pain in my voice, the fake smile on my face was starting to hurt my cheeks.

"Chloe, meet Karen, my girlfriend."

Girlfriend? I thought it was just one date.

"Hi, Karen."
I forced a smile.

"Don't be like that, come here."
Her voice was sweet too, but it was hard to trust someone named Karen.

She withdrew from his arm and came to hug me, her perfume was too much that it made my head to ache.

"Adrian told me a lot about you, your eyes are so pretty." She said looking at my face closely.

"Thanks." I laughed.

"The food is probably getting cold, shall we?"
Tristan said and led the way, I walked behind Karen and Adrian who had his arm around her waist.

Jealousy was eating me up, my eyes drilled holes at where he touched her.
I watched as he pulled a seat for her, she smiled at him and sat down.

I took the seat in front of them, Tristan sat beside me. Morris started dishing out the food while my eyes were on Karen. She was beautiful and older than me, he'd definitely go for his type, not me.

Adrian and Tristan talked about work while Karen tried to make conversation with me, she would laugh at her own jokes while I just stare at her with a fake smile, I wasn't good at faking my laugh.

She whispered his name and he turned to look at her, she fed him a shrimp, he smiled and fed her some lamb with his fork. Tristan was too busy with his phone and food to care about anything.

I sipped my wine trying to drown the growing anger in my body but it wasn't working. I poured myself more wine and drank the whole content.

"Are you okay?"
Karen asked, staring at my empty wine glass.

"Yeah." I smiled.

"Wow, your alcohol tolerance must be good."

"You have no idea."
Tristan mumbled still on his phone.

"I forgot something in the kitchen, I will be right back."
I stood up and left the garden, I went to the yard and took a seat at the pool.

I took a deep breath and laid back on the long seat, the cool breeze calmed me and I almost forgot about the lunch at the garden.

"Is this what you forgot in the kitchen?"
I jolted from the voice, Adrian was looking down at my face with his brows creased up in confusion.

I sat up feeling angry again, he sipped the drink in his hand and took the other seat next to me.

"This is so comfy."
He leaned back on the sun lounge, propping one knee up while the other laid flat on the seat.

"Why are you here?"
He asked, taking a glance at me.

"Just felt like staring at the pool."
I stood up to leave.

"Chloe."
He called, stopping me.

"Yeah?"
I turned to look at him, he finished his drink and put the glass gently on the floor. He sat upright on the seat with his scrutinizing stare pointed at me.

"Come here."
He pointed to the spot next to him, I gave him a questioning look not moving.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me to sit next to him, he kept staring at my face as I sat there. I waited for him to say something and when he did I wished he never did.

"Your ears are cute, I have never seen you with your hair up."
I didn't say anything.

"Why aren't you saying anything or looking at me?"
He sounded annoyed.

"I don't know Adrian, what do you want me to say? Congrats?"
I asked staring at him.

Control yourself, girl, save your dignity.

"You look damn cute when you're angry."
He said with low laughter, I got more upset and stood up.

"What's up with you?"

Are boys always this clueless? Come on, I was giving him all the hints here.

"You didn't have to follow me here Adrian!" I snapped.

"I was worried, okay. You were acting weird."

Weird? Thank you.

"Stop worrying about me, Goddamnit don't call me cute!"

"What are you talking about?"
He stood up and I stepped back.

"Nothing, you should go back to Karen. We both know Tristan sucks at making conversations."

"Is it Karen?" He asked but I didn't say anything.

"It doesn't change anything between us, Chloe. She is my girlfriend and you are...you are a great friend."

"Well, I'm sorry it does, it changes a lot of things for me."
I gave him one last look and stormed off with one question bouncing in my head.

What the hell did I just do?

"Chloe wait."
I heard him say behind me but I didn't stop.

Oh my God, I wanna lock myself in coffin right now.

Tristan stood at the door, staring at me as I walked toward him. I wondered how long he's been standing there.

He stepped aside for me to pass, I ran into Karen on my way to the staircase.

"Have you seen Adrian?"

I pointed to the pool and made my way to the stairs.

"Is she okay?"
I heard her ask.

"She is drunk," Tristan told her.

I walked to my room and slumped on my bed.

"What did you just do Chloe?"

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