◈A D R I A N◈

I heard a small gasp by my side, no doubt the sound was coming from Kelly. Looking down at her, I squeezed her shoulder, silently imploring her not to expose me. The shock seemed to stop her crying.

I dipped my head low, my face turned away from Logan and Kara to whisper in Kelly's ears. "Just play along. I'll explain later."

She blinked her teary eyes at me and I took the opportunity to play the comforting boyfriend. I reached for her face and used my thumb to wipe at her wet cheeks, moving gently to tuck stray strands behind her ears.

Kelly was completely speechless though her flushed complexion spreading to her ears told me she was both embarrassed and maybe a little coy?

Putting on my best sheepish smile, I turned to them and explained, "It was my bad. I totally forgot about our anniversary."

Kara covered her mouth in mock shock. "Oh no you didn't! You need to make it up to her, Adrian. That was an amateur mistake," she admonished.

Kelly cleared her clogged throat and gave a watery smile. She turned to me and said, "I won't forgive you if you forget the next anniversary too."

I breathed out in relief, glad that she was willing to help me out and returned her smile. "I promise. You can kick my ass if I did. As for now, you get to pick what you want to watch later."

Kara perked up at the mention of movie. "Are you guys planning for a movie later? What are the odds?" Her arms wound tighter around Logan's arm and continued, "We're on our way to the cinema right now. Join us if you want to. We can do a double date!"

I stole glances at Logan, trying to gauge his reaction but his expression was unreadable. He'd been very quiet ever since we met, silently observing my interaction with Kelly as if he had seen through the act.

I hated this. Hated the way he acted as if he could read me like an open book. Hated the way he allowed Kara to crawl all over him like a spider demon weaving her web around him.

Kelly was taken aback by the offer. "I don't think we should—"

"Sure. That sounds fun," I agreed immediately. Two can play the game.

Logan chuckled as if I just told the world funniest joke. Kara looked at him curiously then back at me. "What's wrong? Did I miss something funny?"

"Nothing. I was just excited for the double date," Logan replied, his knowing eyes never left mine.

Squaring my jaw, I grabbed Kelly's hand and pulled her to the nearest mall. "Let's go then before the tickets sell out."

✴

I sighed for the third time when the line moved forward an inch in the past fifteen minutes. Kara had dragged Kelly away to the counter to pick the movie, leaving Logan and I in line for popcorn and drinks. Looking at the posters displayed along the hallway, I could only pray that it wouldn't be some sappy, yawn-worthy romcom.

The line was pretty long since there was only one counter manned by a cashier and a staff. Not to mention some blockbuster movie starring Brad Pitt had just started playing in theatres causing people to act like vultures swooping in for fresh meat.

I rocked back and forth on my heels uncomfortably, painfully conscious of Logan standing behind like a stiff mannequin. I glanced over to the other queue and saw Kara and Kelly chatting like old friends. It amazed me how girls were able to bond so quickly.

"Kelly seems like a nice girl," Logan said. Taken by surprise, I glanced over my shoulder to see him leaning against the column casually. One of his hands was in the front pocket of his jeans.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I switched to defense mode automatically. "Yeah, she's great."

Logan nodded his head slowly and a smile slowly tugged at the corner of his lips. He looked like a sly fox waiting for an oblivious rabbit to fall into his trap. "Didn't you say you guys don't do overrated? Movie dates sound pretty overrated to me."

Heat rushed to my cheeks as I found myself landing right into his obvious trap even though I had prepared myself for it.

Schooling my face, I gave an almost bored shrug and said, "I just thought it would be fun once in a while. 'Sides, I've been craving for popcorn for some time now."

Logan didn't say anything else, though his smiling eyes told me he totally bought the story of my popcorn craving.

Without the girls around, I decided that it was the best time to ask about his relationship status with Kara without possible interruption. Folding my arms, I cocked my head at Kara's direction and asked, "What about you? You guys decided to be together again?"

Logan's brows rose by a fraction, seeming to be surprised of my frankness. "We're just—"

"Next customer, please."

I whipped my head back to see the cashier was getting slightly impatient at our inattentive minds. I looked over my shoulder and realized we were holding back the line for quite a while.

Logan placed a hand on my back and urged me forward. "Two large popcorn set and a hotdog."

The cashier tapped on the monitor a couple of times before asking, "Sweet or salty?"

Logan nudged at me to respond.  "Err...sweet," I said.

The cashier nodded and went to prepare the food. A while later, she came back with our orders. Logan took out a couple of dollar bills and handed them to her.

I hugged two buckets of popcorn against my chest and tried to grab the drinks too but Logan got to them before I did.

"Look what we've got." Kara said in a singsong voice with Kelly trailing behind. She flapped the tickets in front of Logan and giggled. I caught the title and groaned.

What's up with girls liking movies about sick couple with terminal diseases, I grumbled in my head.

Kara helped Logan with the drinks and reached for one of the buckets in my arm. "Today is our lucky day. We got the last tickets before it sold out."

Kelly approached me and smiled shyly, her hand outstretched to take the other bucket from me. I returned her smile and let her take the popcorn.

Looking at how Kara hooked her arms around Logan again like she belonged there, I forced myself to hold Kelly's hand like a normal couple. Kelly flinched a little in surprise but slowly curled her fingers around mine.

We followed Kara to the escalator and waited for the theatre staff to tear off the ticket stub before proceeding to Hall 3. The lights were already dimmed out when we entered the hall. Kara, being our helpful guide, turned on the torch on her phone and led the way to our seats.

She took the first seat, followed closely by Logan. I took the one beside Logan nonchalantly and relaxed against the plush seat.

The movie started soon after we had settled down comfortably. Logan rested his hand on the armrest that our seats shared. I looked over at his other armrest to find it empty. Logan's other arm was slung over his torso, making him to tilt slightly over to my side as if he was subconsciously avoiding Kara. The unintentional gesture sparked a little flicker of victory in my heart.

With enough imagination, I could easily tune out Kelly and Kara. It wouldn't be a double date anymore. It would only be our date.

The sound of sniffles and sobbing accompanied the sad melody of the song. Kelly was reaching for another piece of tissue to blow her nose while Logan...Logan was sound asleep. His soft snores were the only thing keeping me awake.

Having nothing else to do, I decided to take the opportunity to study Logan's sharp features illuminated by the flickering screen. My eyes trailed down the bridge of his nose and lingered on his thin lips, slowly mapping out every crevices and protrusions.

I want to kiss him.

I want to know what it will feel like.

I want to—

A warm hand enveloped mine, pulling me out of my reverie. I turned to Kelly and saw her hand on top of mine and squeezing it. Tears were flowing unchecked down her cheeks so I looked at the screen to find out the reason. The male lead was dying in the arms of his lover before the camera zoomed out and the end credits started to roll in, signalling the end of the movie.

Kelly pulled her hand away quickly when she realized she was holding my hand. "Sorry," she blushed.

"It's fine," I said and started to get up from the seat, stretching the kink off my limbs.

We walked down the steps to the exit and stopped at the washroom when Kara wanted to touch up her make up. Naturally, she pulled Kelly along to the washroom while Logan and I waited near the escalator.

Logan stretched his arms over his head and groaned, "That was the shittiest movie ever."

I smirked at his comment, wondering how did he know it was shitty when he passed out within the first ten minutes of the movie. Feeling bored, my hands dipped into the bucket and popped a few popcorn into my mouth.

"And you're a shitty liar," Logan spoke in a calm voice after a few quiet moments.

I stopped munching and swallowed the bits, the popcorn felt like they had mushroomed in my throat. I knew exactly what he meant without hearing the actual words.

"Yeah, I lied." I smiled wryly and walked over to the trashcan, dumping the half empty bucket into it. "I hate popcorn to be honest."

"You know I'm not talking about popcorns," Logan persisted.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Kelly is not your girlfriend."

"And what makes you say that?" I snapped.

Logan cocked his head, "You know the reason."

"No, I don't because you're delusional and I—" The sound of footsteps interrupted me and I turned to see the girls approaching us.

Maybe it was the need to prove him wrong or something crazy had possessed my body because the next second, my fingers were already in Kelly's hair and my lips firmly pressed against hers.

I squeezed my eyes shut while my brain went off in alarm telling me how wrong that felt. Kelly's lips were soft and the kiss tasted slightly of sweet raspberry.

But that wasn't what I craved for.

I wanted the kiss to taste of bitter smoke.

✈

Author's note

Welp.

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{Song: Fake Love by Cemetery Sun}