[I do not usually write A/Ns at the beginning of the chapter. But this is a special one. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to @Spiritsx for her support. Her votes, comments and feedbacks have been a constant source of motivation for my writing on this book. So this is basically a thank you note for her. Also, check out her book Angel Dog, which is such an engaging story. I am honestly more invested in a dog's life than my own as I read this story. And Gypsy is a one of a kind dog, who is bound to win all of your hearts. 

Now with all that being said, let's move on into the story; I hope you enjoy it. Happy reading!]

Elijah's POV

"Oh, you're here. Let's go then." Jason said as I approached him. "Let me brief you on the plans made so far. So, Kylan and the others are waiting at the parking, where me and you are gonna go, while Autumn goes and finds her friends and meets us there."

"Sounds cool." I shrugged as we walked towards the parking lot. We parted ways with Autumn as we found our group at a distance, while she went to bring hers.

"Come on, then." Jason said swinging his arm over my shoulder as we walked towards Kylan's car. I swallowed hard as I glanced at Jason smiling and waving at the two of our friends. As we met they did some high-fives and fist-bumps with Jason; all the while Jason had his arm around my shoulder making me more and more nervous.

Then we got in the car, with Kylan driving and Cole shotgun. I was in the back as always, but this time I wasn't alone; Jason was sitting with me.

"So like, let's get this clear. We're calling Jason – Jay. Like all of us, collectively." Cole said as Kylan started to drive us a nearby mall where we were supposed to go to the arcade and then find a McDonald's and have some food before getting back home. Following that we had to convince a very unwilling Kylan to drop us all home after. 

~
[An outfit check for Jason. Here's what he's wearing. (Because it comes up in a while). And yes, our boy Jay is fashionable!]

Cole's POV (for the first time in this book I'm writing his POV. I hope you enjoy it.)

I don't really know if Elijah minds me calling him 'Eli'. Now don't get me wrong, I don't wanna do something he doesn't like,  but it's sort of my habit to have nick names for people. I mean when we became friends, I wanted to call Kylan as 'Ky' but it didn't stick. But for some reason, when it comes to Elijah, I kinda wanna have a special name for him... a name only I call him by. Um... I guess I'm missing context here.

Okay, so story time - my Mom and Elijah's Mom are best friends who married 2 best friends, our Dads. So now we all live together. It sounds like a very sappy romcom, I know, but that's what it is. Eli and I were born 8 months apart, but being born into our family situation, we were destined to be best friends; which we are, or at least I hope so. So far it's all good. But the twist in the plot is, I don't wanna be just friends with him, I wanna be more. 

I think it was in 7th grade, when for the first time I felt some sort of attraction towards Eli, but I was quick to brush it off. And all was well in the world... until 10th grade. By then I had dated a few girls, kissed a few, liked it even and never in that whole time did I ever crush on a guy. So, I was convinced it was a one time glitch in my system, and I was, in fact, very much straight. 

But then one fine day in 10th grade, Elijah comes in out of nowhere, and introduces me to his boyfriend, Jamie. Now trust me when I say, that I am a man of much self control; because the strength it took for me to not strangle him then and there was immaculate. Jamie? Him of all people? Why? 

He is a one of a kind jerk, who you would want to strangle the moment you laid your eyes on him. So, it was beyond me how Elijah could date someone like him. But of course, being his best friend, I had to support his relationship and all that. And then when he got his heartbroken, I had to be there for him, instead of saying 'I told you so'. I guess that's the thing about friendships; they never listen to you, but when what you said would happen, happens, you gotta be there for them no matter what.

It was hard. Seeing Eli with someone else, was so freaking hard! All sorts of random thoughts crowded my mind. But most of all, I regretted not asking him out myself. But can you really blame me? How was I supposed to know he was into men? That to, EXCLUSIVELY!

Every single day he was with Jamie, I spent being jealous, regretful, and sad. It was painful! But then they broke up, and even though I wanted to be happy, I couldn't, because I hated seeing Eli all sad and crying. So much so, that back then, I'd rather Jamie was a nice guy who never made him sad. I'd much rather be in pain myself, seeing him happy with someone else, than let Elijah be in pain. Does that make sense?

And that's when it hit me! This thing I have for Elijah, may not be just a silly, teenage crush. Am I in love with him? See, what confuses me is, I do love him, I always did. He was my first ever friend, my best friend, and I've literally grown up with him. So I did love him. But when it comes to romantic love, it is somehow... different? I don't know. 

What is love, really? And how is romantic love different from love in any other relationship?

Ugh! That got real deep real soon. But anyways, all that is fine, but what the fuck is happening right now?

So we're in McDonald's right now with Autumn and her friends. Now we're here to set Jason up with Autumn. And all of us seems to understand the assignment, except... Elijah. He somehow insisted on sitting beside Jason, and now even though, Autumn is sitting on the other side of Jason, all his attention is occupied by Elijah.

They are constantly joking around, and laughing. And even though the whole table has formed small groups of their own having a good time, those two seem to be in their own little bubble. 

"Yo, who wants to go with me to pick up our order?" Kylan asked. 

"I can come." Jason chimed in.

"I'll go too." Elijah said with a shrug. Wait, hold on, hold on, hold on... since when is Eli that helpful? Now, don't get me wrong, Eli is a helpful guy, but he also likes the princess treatment. You gotta pick up the food for him, and drive him around. He never drives himself anywhere! Ever since I got my driver's license, I've been driving him everywhere. Similarly, he'd never go get his own food. He always makes me do it. 

I watched as the three of them laughed and joked around like good old friends while bringing back the trays. My eyes zeroed in between Eli and Jason. What the hell are they laughing about again?

"I'll go help you guys out." I said as soon they arrived. "It's gonna take a lot of trips to bring them all, just by yourselves."

"I feel bad it's just you guys bringing in the food." Autumn said. "Hey, someone from our group go help out!" She commanded in a playful tone, getting up herself, to come with us probably.

Ryan put a hand on her shoulder to make her sit back down and muttered a "I'll go, you sit." before joining us. 

As we made another trip to the counter, Elijah suddenly spoke "You sure know how to dress up when it matters, huh? Is it to impress a certain someone?" This was obviously directed towards Jason. That guy maybe a dumbass, but he's fashionable; I will give him that. But he always dresses up like that, today isn't special.

"No!" Jason spoke defensively gesturing with his eyes towards Ryan. 

"He's just a fashionable guy." I said.

"And rich af" Elijah spoke.

"Yeah... I've been meaning to ask, is that real Armani?" Kylan asked.

"Well..." Jason trailed off.

"It is, isn't it?" Kylan spoke like he discovered Buoyancy, and would scream 'Eureka!'.

"It's just that my parents took my sisters to Versace because they were throwing a fit about sharing the same birthday, which they do somehow, even without being twins. So while they shopped, they said they felt bad I'm not getting anything, so I bought this jacket." Jason explained.

"Oh, I can totally imagine Jess and Jasmine fighting over it." Elijah said. 

"How do you know them?" I asked.

"Well, he met them when he came over." Jason shrugged.

"You went over to their house?" Kylan said, voicing my own question. "And here I thought we're closer to each other, Jay-Jay." He said feigning hurt.

"Okay, first of all that's a ridiculous name, you guys need to stop coming up with these; and secondly, yes, I'm closer to Elijah than all of you." Jason said clearly, with no underlying tone of sarcasm or humor; as if just stating a fact. 

"Aw, I feel special." Eli said giving Jason his cute puppy eyes which he only used to act cute in front of his crushes. God! What the hell is going on in here? 

"But you are special." Jason said smiling back at him, as we reached the counter to bring the rest of our plates.

Are they flirting? Right in front of my fries? Ugh! Cole, it's not the time to quote memes. But y'all are seeing this right? Is this acceptable behavior? 

While I was having a mental battle with myself, Ryan, who was quiet all this while, suddenly spoke, "Are you two a thing?" gesturing towards Jason and Elijah.

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Okay everyone! I'm back after a loooong time. I was just having a mild writer's block. But I am back now and I'll be posting more often, so stay tuned. 

Also, I really enjoyed writing Cole's POV. His inner monologues are so fun to write, I swear! What do you think about his POV? And do lemme know if you wanna read more of it.

As always, do not forget to let me know what you think in the comment section (I really like reading the comments, so don't just be a silent reader, lemme know what you think).

Thank you for reading.

~Millie.