Tbh this is one of my favorite chapters I've written. Also, WE HIT 20K!!! Thank you so much and yes I have been pushing out more updates lately because I'm really excited about this story. Also, would you guys like to see a new book from me soon?

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Tyler slid into the seat of the diner, a pretty unusual spot for him to meet his friend, but he wanted to make sure the chances of meeting someone else from the group was as low as possible. So, he had chosen the spot for this 'meeting' by finding a good, local place to get food at.

He ordered himself a drink, just a Sprite, nothing fancy, and had began to check out the menu when Jonathan walked in.

The boy looked around for a few heartbeats before his eyes landed on Tyler, who he immediately bounded over to.

"Hey Tyler, how was school? Did I miss something?" He slid into the opposite side of the booth Tyler picked.

Tyler looked up from the menu, placing it on the table to bring his full attention to his friend. "Nah, it was just the same old shit as usual, you know?"

"So, why did you want to meet me here of all places?" Just then the waitress appeared, and the two placed their orders before continuing to speak.

"Because I don't want everyone else to barge in unexpectedly, I need to talk to you and you alone. So how are things with Evan?"

Jonathan looked down at the table, fidgeting with his phone. "Great, it's going really great, but, no it's stupid, things are great."

"Wait, back up, is something wrong? Please don't tell me something's wrong, Craig is already onto you, dude." Tyler spoke,  changing the position he was sitting in.

Jonathan's head shot up. "What? Why? What did I do?"

"Nothing, he's just got that whole protective best friend going on! Wait, why are you so worried?" Tyler said, inspecting his friend's facial features. "Jonathan, what did you do?"

"Nothing! But, um, to answer your question earlier, nothing really is wrong, it's just, I was sort of shocked by something Evan told me. But, he is sick so it was probably some disease that was in his head, right?"

"What did he say?" Tyler asked, the refills for their drinks appearing.

"It's not true, right Tyler? It can't be true, I want it to be true, but I also don't, Tyler. What do I do?" Jonathan left his phone on the table as he put both of his arms down in panic.

"What did he say?" Tyler demanded.

"He, uh, well, he told me he loved me." Jonathan said, taking a deep breath as he heard the words leave his mouth. "Sorry, that was the first time I've said it out loud."

"Oh my god, dude, when was this?"

"This morning when I went to go check on him, he said it to me right before he fell asleep. You don't think he meant it, right?"

"I don't know, I mean, Evan doesn't seem like the type to just say that sort of thing without meaning to, you know? He's all closed off and basically hates everyone, so for him to say that, that's just a curveball I can't catch. But, why are you so scared? That's why you're dating him, right? Because you like him, and there might be a possibility of a future?"

"I didn't expect it to come so fast, though-"

"You've been dating for over a month! I'm sorry Jonathan, but usually that's how these things work. Relationships are always supposed to feel like they're going too fast. At one point, I thought our friendship was going too fast!"

"But Tyler, I don't know if I love him, and that's bad right? Because if I can't say it back, then that's a really toxic thing to happen, isn't it?"

"Dude, I've seen you two together, you'll come around, maybe not now, but give it a couple weeks. Plus, he hasn't talked to you about, right? I mean, he's probably awake right now, did he text you?"

"Yeah, all he said was 'Thanks for coming over', but that's so vague."

"Stop worrying, Jon, you're good. If it's not broken, don't try to fix it."

"You're right, Ty. Okay, I'll stop worrying about it. But, I'll be right back, I want to wash my hands before the food gets here." Jonathan slid out the seat, leaving his phone screen up on the table as he proceeded to the restrooms on the other side of the diner.

Tyler pulled out his own phone, scrolling through some random social media when Jonathan's phone buzzed in front of him.

He glanced at the screen, noticing he had gotten a text message.

Who's Luke?

Luke: Hey, we still on for tomorrow tonight?

Luke: Also, how's your friend? Is he feeling better?

Tyler knew he shouldn't be looking at the messages, it was invading his friend's privacy, but they were too suspicious not to.

He grabbed the phone, unlocking it with ease since Jonathan had told him ages ago and never changed it.

Scrolling through the messages, he didn't even notice Jonathan had returned until the phone was ripped from his grasp.

"What the hell? Why are you looking through my phone?"

"Who the fuck is Luke? And why haven't you told him that Evan is your boyfriend?" Tyler ignored Jonathan's questions, because privacy was no where near as important as what he had discovered.

"That's none of your business! Luke is a friend, and Evan hasn't come up."

"I saw the messages! You did talk about him and blatantly just called him your friend!" Tyler was trying his hardest to keep from shouting at the top of his lungs.

Jonathan had no words, he couldn't lie, Tyler was right, he did see the messages and saw everything he had told Luke.

"Jonathan, is that why you were so scared about Evan saying he loved you? Because of this thing with Luke?"

"No, no of course not!" He tried to blow it off, that wasn't it, no. Luke had nothing to do with it.

"Jonathan."

Right?

"That's not true, Tyler." Jonathan's voice was now a whisper.

"Are you cheating on Evan? Be honest." Not even Tyler could decipher the tone that was in his voice, it was like nothing he had ever used.

Jonathan looked Tyler in the eye, his face serious as he said. "Not yet."

"Jonathan, you can't, not to Evan. Anyone else, I'd say fuck it, but come on, this is Evan!"

"I know! But Tyler, I can't help it! It's like when my mom was on that diet but she couldn't say no to her favorite cookie!"

"Jonathan, you know that is different than this! I'm sorry, but I have to tell him-"

"No! You can't, Tyler! You can't tell him! He's in love with me!"

"That's why he has to know, Jon. He's my friend, too you know."

"I know, but you were my friend first and I say you can't tell anyone! Not Craig, not Brock, not Brian, no one. This stays between us."

"No, no I can't do that, it's against my morals!"

"Fuck your morals! You're my friend, Ty, you have to do this. Please. For me." Jonathan pleaded, grasping both of Tyler's arms and looking at him with a puppy dog face.

"Jonathan, I'm really sorry, but Evan is a good person, he's our friend, I have to tell him about this, he deserves to kn-"

"I'll get you a date with Craig!" Jonathan blurted out in a desperate attempt to get Tyler on his side.

"What?" Tyler was thrown off guard by his proposal.

"I know you like him, I'll get you a date with him, but you can't tell Evan." Jonathan was grasping for straws at this point.

"I can't tell if that's bribe or blackmail."

"Depends on what you choose."

Tyler sighed, placing his hand on his forehead as their food was placed. "You realize you're playing with fire, right?"

Jonathan smiled at his friend as they began to eat. "That's what makes it fun."

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4 8 H O U R S L A T E R

I pulled away from him, my lips tingling from the kiss we just shared, I didn't realize I was smiling until it was too late to stop it. It was too nice, too good, but so wrong. Because it made me something I never wanted to be.

It made me a cheater.