With my head resting on Adam’s lap as my body was sprawled on the couch, I started casually throwing one of the pillows as the movie played out.

Just because I made Adam watch a chick flick the last time we had a movie night, he insisted that we watch something more of his liking – something with a lot of zombies and blood.

In the end, I became bored and my mother tried to be a good sport. It was obvious she wasn’t interested in the movie as she munched on her brownies. The two boys on the other hand, had their eyes completely focused on the screen.

Letting out a deep sigh, I rolled my body to see what was happening on the screen. It showed a guy running around with a gun as a zombie tried to chase him.

I don’t know why, but this kind of supernatural action is not my genre.

“Bored?” Adam asked, lightly playing with my hair.

“Kind of,” I mumbled, closing my eyes, “But you go ahead and enjoy.”

He hummed in gratitude, twirling my blonde hair absentmindedly as he continued to watch the action unveiling before his eyes.

You know what they say, it’s oddly relaxing to have your hair played by somebody else.

Hugging the pillow I was once throwing around, I allowed myself to slowly drift into slumber.

That was until my mother suddenly spoke up, “Well, it was a fun night, but it seems that it’s time for me to go.”

I slowly looked at her with tired eyes and she gestured for me not to get up. She patted Adam on the shoulder as he was still immobile, because I was using him as a human pillow.

She turned to Axel and gave him a warm smile, “It was a pleasure meeting you.”

He nodded curtly at my mother, “Thank you for the meal.”

She kneeled down to my level and patted me softly, “I know you’re tired,” she muttered, slowly soothing me, she looked up Adam and pointed at my body, “You take care of her, alright?”

“Always,” he said sincerely.

She stood up and waved at us, finally disappearing.

“You’re not going to take care of me,” I teased lightheartedly, earning a chuckle from him.

“And why not?” he questioned, “I’m your knight in shining armor.”

Grabbing the hand that he was using to play my hair, I clutched it in mine as I closed my eyes once again, “True.”

Axel suddenly coughed awkwardly, causing the both of us to snap our gazes to him.

Slowly standing up, he turned to the both of us, “Well, I’m leaving.”

I pushed myself up into a sitting position, staring right at him, “Want us to walk you to the door?”

He switched his look from me to Adam before he shook his head with a glare, “I’m good.”

Well, I’ve already cooled down, looks like he hasn’t yet.

Standing up, I followed him as he continued to march to the front door. He opened it before stepping out to my porch, ready to head back to his car.

“Hey,” I called out and he turned to look at me, “Thanks for making her smile.”

He lifted a brow right at me, silently asking if it was really me who was thanking him, “You alright, Valentine?”

Rolling my eyes at him, I let out a sigh, “She needs something to cheer her up, so thank you for coming here.”

“What’s with the mood change?”

Seriously, I’m trying to be nice here!

“I’ll see you on set tomorrow,” I muttered, ready to slam the door in front of his face. If he wants to play that game, then I’m willing to do so.

I’ll be rude if he’s rude, simple as that.

He stopped the door with his foot and looked down at me with his brown eyes, “You’re welcome,” he said, “See you on set.”

Turning on his heel, he headed to his car. Slowly shaking my head, the world was right, we have a complicated relationship. We’re enemies, but you can say we’re bordering the line of being acquaintances.

“That’s a good Sophia,” Adam appeared next to me, “Now isn’t it a good feeling that you sent him off without ripping his head?”

Giving him a playful glare, I slapped his shoulder. He laughed as I closed the door, staring at the staircase then to the living room where I can see the light that indicated the movie was still on-going.

“I think I’ll sleep through this film,” I yawned. After a debate if I should spend time with Adam and face the consequence of staying through that whole movie, or if I should just head to my room and dive into the covers, I think we have a pretty good view which won.

He blinked at me before he suddenly hooked his arms beneath me, and he hoisted me up into the air, “Time for bed then, my princess.”

Letting out a small giggle, I rested my head on his shoulder as I nuzzled on the crook of his neck, “Goodnight, my knight.”

The scene next morning wasn’t as pleasant as the one I fell asleep to. The minute I stepped into the dining room, Taylor looked like she was about to burst while Adam tried to calmly offer her some food.

By calmly I meant that he placed down the bowl and slowly pushed it towards her before taking a big step backwards. It was like he was feeding a caged animal.

“Morning?” I greeted hesitantly, smiling at Adam as he handed me my own breakfast.

“As much as I’m grateful to find out that you’re getting along with Axel,” she let out roughly, plopping the same magazine George showed us on the table, “How did you end up in this predicament?”

And that’s when I told her the story. The thing with Kate, the ice cream, the whole fan fiasco, and possibly everything.

Leaving out one thing, Valentine is Valentine.

Probably one and only great thing that Axel ever said to me.

“George was kind enough to let the two of you have a day off today,” she told us, lifting her phone to read the various messages that appeared through my explanation, “You and Axel have a series of interviews to attend to.”

“Yay!” I grumbled sarcastically, watching her rub her temples in frustration, making me clamp my mouth shut.

Well, I should probably bite my tongue for today. Taylor is always there to save my butt whenever it comes to publicity.

So that’s how we ended up here, at the middle of a radio station. I could see Adam, Taylor, and Marcus at the other side of the glass, while Axel and I were poised with the interviewer next to us.

First interview for the day, I hope this one goes well.

“Ready, you lovebirds?” the guy asked, placing on his headphones.

We nodded, not even finding the energy to deny his accusations.

Pressing on a few buttons, he cleared his throat as he placed on an enthusiastic kick in his voice for his lovely listeners, “Good morning, you all. Today, I’m here with Hollywood’s Prince and Princess, having the privilege to talk to them ever since the news of their engagement went out.”

Sorry to burst your bubble, “Actually, we’re not engaged.”

When the words slipped out of my mouth, the guy quickly removed his headphones, sticking a finger in his ear, “Please wait until we’re accepting calls before you dial our number.”

Looks like people were already curious.

Turning back to us, he didn’t seem the bit faze as if he was used to dealing with denied rumors, “Please elaborate for us.”

“It’s just a misunderstanding,” Axel told him, his voice directed to the foam mic in front of him, “Besides, I think we have to be dating first before any engagement happens.”

“Yes,” I agreed, keeping my voice levelled, “We were just caught up with a big crowd and Axel started to carry me because I had some difficulties with running.”

The guy turned his attention to Axel, quirking a suspicious brow, “So does that mean you like her?”

“How does carrying her from a crowd a sign of a crush?” Axel blurted out all too quickly.

Slow down there, cowboy. We need to speak calmly to avoid any accusations. It’s the rules of interviews, your voice needs to be relaxed, nothing too enthusiastic or blank.

“You’re smart, Axel, I’m aware of that,” he started, “You knew the consequences of this to your image, and that the rumors would sprout, but you still took the move to do it.”

Axel fell silent next to me as he allowed the words to sink in; it was my turn to speak up, if we have too long of a pause, we’re going to be in much bigger trouble, “He was being a gentleman, I was starting to stumble and he carried me.”

He smirked, something that caught all of us off guard. My eyes switched to our managers and they were looking around nervously, clearly unaware of what’s happening.

“If my research is proven correct, you two aren’t that close,” he continued on. He was still masking it, but we knew he just sugar coated the fact that Axel and I hate each other, “Axel here could have easily left you there to be engulfed in the crowd.”

“We respect each other to a professional level,” I defended, “We both know what it’s like to in that situation.”

This man is definitely different. He’s even far ahead to know that Axel and I aren’t really in friendly terms.

He shrugged calmly, buying my excuse, “Earlier that day, you two were spotted enjoying each other’s company in an ice cream parlor, explain that.”

Is he really trying to make us say something that’s not true? Axel and I aren’t dating and we don’t like each other.

“We just talked,” I stated vaguely. Well, it was true.

Turning his attention to Axel who was still staring into blank space, he cleared his throat, “Mr. Brooks, you’ve became quiet all of a sudden.”

I nudged him with my foot from under the table. He jumped up slightly and looked at me, I gave him the silent message to start talking before everything goes downhill.

“So we’re back to the question,” the man said, smirking, “Axel Brooks, do you like Heart Valentine?”

“As a co-worker, yes.”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” he urged.

We stared at each other, and I nodded, giving him the signal to deny everything. Just tell the truth, it’s simple. I won’t be mad, and every little rumor will die down with it.

He doesn’t like me.

“No,” the word slipped out of his mouth and I finally relaxed into my seat.

Just like that, the interview was over. The producer of the radio show gave the signal that we were over the time already, and the man wasn’t given a chance to fire any more questions at the both of us.

Thankfully, the scheduled ones after that was a lot calmer. It was a smooth rejection of the engagement idea, and by the end of the day, people were convinced it was a complete misunderstanding.

Plopping down on my bed, I let out a sigh, covering my eyes with my arm. I felt some weight go down on the mattress next to me and I heard Adam shift in his movements, trying to get into a comfortable position.

“That was,” he paused for a moment, thinking of the right word, “Tiring.”

“Tell me about,” I groaned, peeking through one eye, “They kept asking the same thing over and over again.”

“Except for the first one,” he pointed.

Don’t even remind me of the first one. Even Taylor and Marcus admitted that they were nervous about our answers. We usually breeze through interviews, but that one was different.

He was the first one to acknowledge that we weren’t really friends, but just like the others, he assumed that we liked each other – well, he assumed that Axel likes me.

“Maybe he really likes you,” Adam said, making me sit up to look at him. We stared at each other for a complete moment, registering the words.

I blinked once, then twice, before the both of bursts into a fit of laughter. I fell back into my bed as an amused smile graced my lips.

“Good one,” I giggled.

He wiped a stray tear that fell during our laugh, “I know.”

“I wonder what made the interviewer have the guts to ask us that.”

“He fished out something nobody dared to ask,” Adam muttered, “If you can’t take the risk, you will never know what will happen.”

Another batch of wise words coming out from my best friend’s mouth. It’s true though, if you keep hiding behind your security blanket, you will always be there, unable to see what’s beyond it. You may never know, you’ll get something much better than what you already have.

Looking at the clock on the wall, he stood up and stretched, “I better sleep, see you tomorrow.”

I nodded and I watched as he walked to the door, before he was fully out, he turned to me with seriousness claiming his features, “But I do have a question,” he said, “Do you have a guy you like?”

My mouth dried as I only stared at him. Does he know?

He was still looking at me with the question written all over his face.

He doesn’t know.

So I did the next thing that popped into my head, I covered my face with my blanket – my security blanket. Soon enough, I heard Adam mutter a goodnight.

When my door clicked close, I stared at the direction he disappeared to and I frowned, “Yes,” I mumbled to his question, “You.”

If you can’t take the risk, you will never know what will happen.

At some point, I have to tell Adam.

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Just saying, it's twelve midnight and I'm writing this so sorry if I don't make any sense.

Thank you so much for one million reads, I still remember waking up to it and I was literally so jumpy, which was weird because I was in school. To commemorate this special occasion, I dedicate this chapter to WolfGirl2121 for being the first ever person to comment on this thing.

First week of senior year was meh, same classmates so what else is exciting? But we still have a year ahead, and of course, I'm taking you guys with me.

Question: When and how do you think Sophia will tell Adam?

Comment, vote, and follow. Love you guys, I'm not even in my right mind anymore so I'm heading to bed.