Work on Friday had left me in serious need of alcohol and when Emma calls, I take her up on her offer to meet for drinks. I'd passed out last night after Keegan and I had stuffed our faces with pizza and despite attempting to sleep in this morning, the transplantation paper that I had to get started on for Immunology class had me tossing and turning in bed.

I'd spend the first half of the day working on my paper before jumping into the shower. I was doing my makeup on my bed using a large, hand-held mirror when Keegan showed up in the doorway.

"You going out?" he asks holding a bowl of cereal. The bowl looks tiny in his large hand as he scoops a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. I take notice of the fact that his hair is all over the place and I wonder if he'd even run a comb through it this morning. Nevertheless, it suited him.

"Is that kosher or at least stamped with a Laurel Beesly seal of approval?" I tease regarding his cereal.

He raises his middle finger and I cackle before bringing my mirror up to my face again in order to finish lining my eye.

"No one fucks with my Reese's puffs," he replies.

"Maybe you should grow a pair, say that to her face."

"You know I can't. She's too fucking sensitive," he mumbles tilting his head back in order to keep milk from spewing out of his mouth as he speaks.

He walks over and takes a seat in front of me on the bed prompting me to cross my legs. He offers me some of his cereal and spoon-feeds it to me when I lean forward and open my mouth.

"So where are you going?" he asks a second time.

"Downtown. Gonna grab some shots." I smile before biting down on my lower lip and jouncing on the bed with excitement.

"With what money?" he asks smirking.

I lightly shove him by the shoulder. "Fuck you. I'm using my credit card. I haven't used it in months and I don't want to risk having it deactivated."

He nods and watches me apply my makeup. I place my mirror down again, well aware of the fact that I probably look crazy with only one eye done.

"What's wrong, Keegan? You're hovering."

He shakes his head and looks down at his cereal. "I'm tired. Greg rode us pretty hard today because a customer brought his machine in again and accused us of not working on it. He thinks Greg tried to con him."

"Maybe the problem was just more extensive. Fuck Greg. You're almost done with school so you won't have to put up with his ass much longer."

I bring my mirror up to my face again and begin working on my other eye. Keegan remains seated on my bed and eats his cereal in silence before I cap my eyeliner and tell him that I need to get dressed.

"Do you want to come along?" I ask pressing my towel to my chest after rising from the bed.

"Don't tempt me. I promised Laurel I wouldn't drink too much this weekend."

I roll my eyes before walking over to my closet. "Since when do you make such promises? C'mon, I'll buy you a couple of shots. You look like you can use some."

He chews down on his lip and contemplates my offer. "Fuck it. Let me jump in the shower."

He disappears and I begin rummaging through my closet for something to wear. It was warm out despite the night and I slide into a pair of dark, skinny jeans and a fitted, white top with lace overlay. Having allowed my hair to dry naturally, I apply a little bit of product in order to keep my long locks from frizzing.

"Hey are you ready?" I bellow out to Keegan from the hallway as I lean against my doorway in order to step into my flats.

He quickly surfaces freshly showered, shirtless and damp. He looks at me for a couple of seconds before tearing his eyes away and utters that he can't find a specific shirt.

"You're shit out of luck. I saw it in the hamper a couple of days ago and we haven't done laundry in like what, two weeks?"

"Fuck. Fine I'll just throw a t-shirt on."

I smile and shake my head in amusement before he reemerges with a fresh shirt in his hands. He raises his arms above his head and I watch his intercostal muscles shift under his skin as he stretches his abdomen and slips his shirt on.

"Ready?" he asks making his way over to me.

I take his hand and we both step out of our apartment. We ride the lift down to the first floor, clowning around in the process before we climb into his truck. Once inside, he places his hand on my head rest and pulls out of our designated parking space.

"You only invited me along so that you wouldn't have to call a cab, didn't you?"

"Aren't you a bright one?" I joke before clicking my seatbelt in and adjusting the air vents in order to cool off. His truck still smelled like brand new leather and I'd catch traces of the scent on him every time he came home from work.

"Are you meeting anyone?" he asks before pressing down on the turning signal and lowering the radio

"Emma," I reply looking down at my phone in order to text her that I was on my way. "We're both a little brain fried after working on our papers so we figured we'd go and unwind a little. What's Laurel up to tonight?"

He looks at me momentarily before shifting his attention back on the road. "Take a guess."

"At the gym?"

He grins. "She's at some late night yoga class."

"Do you guys ever go out? You know to dinner or something? I mean I know you go out but what do you two even do? You have nothing in common."

He shifts uncomfortably as he drives with one hand at the top the steering wheel. "We just hang out."

"You mean have sex?"

Keegan chortled. "What else is there to do?"

"There's plenty you can do. Only you can't do them with her because she doesn't eat, she doesn't drink and she doesn't like stepping out of that tiny bubble that she keeps herself in."

He exhales loudly. "Look, Addison I don't comment on your love life so I'd appreciate it if you refrained from criticizing mine."

"That's because there's no one for you to comment on otherwise I'm sure you'd have a lot to say. I'm just trying to understand why – "

"There's nothing for you to understand!" he snaps a little louder than I anticipated.

"Jesus, Keegan." I cross my arms in front of me and turn to look out the window.

"Like I said, we're just hanging out. It's nothing serious." His voice is lower now.

I raise a brow. "Does she know that?"

He simply clamps down on his jaw and continues to drive. He asks where we were headed and I give him directions since he's never been. We are only a couple of minutes away and I toy with my cell phone in order to kill some time while Keegan flips through the radio stations before pausing on a rock station and turning up the volume.

I sigh and click the screen on my phone off before turning to look at him. The headlights of oncoming cars bisect his face as he drives through the city and sporadically create a perfect ribbon of light across his eyes emphasizing the shades of blues and greens in his irises. I mentally trace the outline of his profile, dividing it into separate, quantifiable lines – as I often did – starting with the slant of his forehead before moving down to the bridge of his nose, the dent above his lip and the curve of his strong chin before it met his neck. I'd done this since I was a child; counted the outlines and contours of items and people whenever I fell into thought. Keegan speculates that it's a mild form of obsessive-compulsive behavior, but it doesn't affect my daily life or functioning and so I never give it much thought. It soothes me.

We arrive at the bar and Keegan parks along the curb instead of looking for a parking space, baffling me.

"You go ahead, have fun. "

"What? You're not coming in?" I ask holding on to the door handle in preparation to climb out.

He peers down at his lap as he holds on to the steering wheel and shakes his head.

"Look you're right; you and Laurel – it's none of my business. I'll try to keep my mouth shut about your snobby-ass girlfriend from now on."

I watch as his hand fists over the steering wheel. "Just text me when you're ready. I'll come by and pick you up."

"That's all right. Don't do me any favors. I'll just catch a cab," I reply bitterly.

He moves to place the truck into park. "What the fuck, Addison?"

"What the fuck what, Keegan?"

"Why are you giving me so much shit about Laurel? What the hell is it to you?"

I creased my forehead. "What are you talking about?"

"What am I – ?" he pauses and draws a breath in. "You're always talking crap about her, talking about how you can't stand her and how skinny and ugly you think she is."

"You're my best friend. I thought it was Okay for me to be honest with you about her, about any of the girls that you date and I gotta tell you, Keegan, this one...she's kind of a floozy."

"I care about her all right? I do. So you don't get to talk shit about her anymore. Addison, we're not fucking teenagers anymore. It's not Okay to pick people apart for our own fucking amusement. It was fine at one point when we were younger but now, now it's just juvenile."

"Whatever, Keegan."

Pissed off, I climb off of his truck and slam the door. I watch as he speeds off down the street before making my way into the bar once I flash my ID at the door. I weave my way through the crowd all the while thinking that Keegan must be thinking with the wrong head if he actually believed himself to be in love with Laurel.

Someone falling in love with Laurel seemed incredibly foreign to me. Laurel was vexing, narcissistic, stuck up and downright stupid. Ever since Keegan had introduced us I hadn't been able to look past the high-pitched, throaty sound of her voice or the way she twirled her short, brown hair around her fingers like a little girl and I couldn't wait for Keegan to realize that she was completely wrong for him. More than anything, I found myself growing weary of her insolent comments, her arrogant attitude and the fact that she was always hanging around at our apartment as if she owned the space.

There was a time when Keegan and I frequently made fun of the people that we were seeing. We picked them apart and binged on what we absolutely despised about them before breaking things off with whomever we were seeing for the reason that they didn't seem worthwhile. But apparently those days were over.

I attempt to place Keegan and Laurel in the back of my mind as I search for Emma. I find her sitting at a round table below a neon, Miller High Life sign that could easily serve as a beacon for alcohol and she hops off of her stool and wraps her arms around me. The scent of keratin oil and sugared perfume fills my nostrils and I find that her breath is already laced with tequila.

"I've been waiting forever, what took you so long? I got started without you," she titters.

I hop up on a stool and push my long hair out of my face. "Sorry. I got into it with Keegan on the way here."

"He's here?" she asks excitedly, her golden eyes grow wide with contentment as she smooths out her dark hair.

"Whoa. Try to contain your excitement," I say peering around the bar after propping my elbows up on the table and grasping my arms.

"Crap am I that obvious?"

Of course not," I tease.

"Ugh I can't help it. I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"Live with him. I literally ache whenever I see him."

"Good thing you don't see him often then, eh?" I joke.

"Bitch," she spits out while narrowing her eyes at me. "You must be blind. He's fucking flawless."

I shoot her a dirty glare and she simply shakes her head in disbelief before taking a drink from her beer. I let her know that I am going to get one of my own and I make my way over to the bar and patiently wait for the bartender to serve me. I request a red ale once he spots me and quickly make my way back to Emma attempting not to spill my beer.

"So what was the fight about?" Emma asks blinking rapidly after I climb into my seat again. Her lids are coated with a bright, glittery eye shadow, which oddly enough, looks great against her caramel skin.

"Laurel."

"Laurel? If I didn't know any better I'd say you were jealous. How many times have you told him how much you hate her?"

"What? I'm not jealous and I don't hate her. I just don't like her. Yesterday she told me I had crow's feet and the day before that she criticized the size of my hips. I'm just fed up of her pretentious attitude."

"There must be something good about her if Keegan is into her."

I take a sip of my beer and lick my lips. "Why because it's Keegan? Please...he thinks with his dick, just like every other guy and Laurel seems like the type of girl who will do anything, including dipping her tongue into someone's ass to get them to stick around."

Emma throws her head back and cackles. "I don't know, knowing her she's probably done her research and realized there's too many carcinogens involved."

I chortle, well aware of the fact that I am acting incredibly cynical but Keegan had made my blood to boil and this was the best way I knew to blow off steam. It was disgusting, but it did the trick.

Downing down a couple of more beers, Emma and I talk about our research papers and her experience with a guy she'd recently slept with. A couple of men make their over throughout the night and offer to buy us drinks but we turn them all away. I had too much going on in my life to think about getting involved with anyone and I wasn't prepared to let someone buy me a drink and entertain their hopes of getting laid since that's what most of them had seemed to be aiming for.

By the time 2 a.m. rolls around I am buzzing heavily and my peripheral vision has gone to shit. Emma and I stumble out of the bar and to my surprise, I find Keegan's truck waiting for me outside.

"Is that Keegan? Oh my god I should go say hi!" Emma shrieks.

I'm heavily intoxicated, but I make out the serious look on Keegan's face through his windshield and I tell Emma that it's best if she doesn't.

I make sure that she has a safe way to get home and I watch her climb into a cab before making my way over to Keegan and hopping into his truck.

"Fuck you smell like a distillery," he grumbles before driving away once I'd fastened my seatbelt.

"I know. I know it's not cute but I've been having a really hard time."

It surprises me when he reaches over and takes my hand in his. He tightens his grip but I remove my hand and wrap my arms around his bicep before leaning my head on his arm leaving him to drive with one hand.

"I'm sorry, Keegan."

"It's fine, Addie. We've been talking shit about the people that we date for years so I had no business getting angry about it."

I lift my head off of his arm. "No. You had every right to get mad but in my defense, I didn't know she meant that much to you. You've only been dating her for five months."

He doesn't reply and remains silent for the duration of the drive home and practically carries me up to my bedroom when we arrive. He assists me in slipping out of my clothes after I finish brushing my teeth and I sluggishly climb into bed in just a plain, white, racer back top and a pair of boyshorts.

"Stay with me? I ask after he turns the lights off.

My eyes had fallen shut but I could hear him stepping out of his clothes before climbing beneath the sheets with me. He places his arm around me and buries his face into my hair before taking in my scent – his warm breath brushing against the skin on the back of my neck. I feel his hand slide down to my hip before he places a small kiss on the ball of my shoulder.

"Why haven't we ever had sex before?" he asks.

I open my eyes, remove myself from his embrace and shift to face him. "What?"

"How come we've never slept together?" he repeats.

"Is that a serious question? You're like my brother."

"Did Andrew ever hold you like this?"

I sit up and move to turn the lamplight on. "Don't talk about Andrew that way."

His teal eyes seem to glisten as he lowers his gaze and apologizes.

"I swear, Keegan...we got into it earlier because I was talking crap about your girlfriend and now you're asking me why we've never slept together? Did you fall on your head or something?"

"It's a valid question. Everyone thinks we've fucked and they can't fathom as to why we haven't."

"Let them believe whatever they want. Who gives a shit?"

He climbs out of my bed and gathers his clothes from the floor. "Forget I said anything. I can tell that mere thought of it makes you throw up in your mouth."

Harshly slamming the door behind him, he exits my bedroom. I bring my knees up to my chest and cup my forehead unable to understand what had just happened. I feel the urge to chase after him but I'm too drunk and exhausted and so I turn the light off, roll over and quickly fall asleep.

☓

Hi Everyone!

If you want to continue reading Amidst Silver and Rust, the remainder of the book is now available exclusively on Radish. Radish is a storytelling app available for Android or iOS devices. In addition to the rest of the book, new chapters that tell the story of Addie BEYOND that are published a few times a week.

Once you get Radish, you can find the story by searching "Amidst Silver and Rust" or my author name, "ariakryln918" If you've read the first 3 chapters here on Wattpad, start with Chapter 04: TIME – that's where the new material starts.

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