Chapter 35

Imade had settled in a seat, wearing the angriest look in her eyes. Victor was still on the floor in pain and no one gave a shit about him at that moment. We were all on the edge, afraid of her reaction. Her silence was much worse.

I said quietly. "Imade, I—"

Her words were cold. "How long have you known?"

"Before Easter."

She pointed to Tife and I. "Both of you knew since then."

"He wanted to tell you. I stopped him. It's not his fault. It's mine. I'm the one that started this."

"Oh, thanks for the correction." She said sarcastically.

Tife snapped. "Don't be rude. She's trying to apologize."

"I shouldn't be rude? I'm surrounded by liars. My idiot now ex-boyfriend, my brother and my best friend. I must be the unluckiest girl in the world."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I know I screwed up, but I didn't want to hurt you."

"That's not your decision." Imade's sigh held frustration in it.

"That's the one thing I learnt today." I looked at Tife, who gave me the tiniest smile. That HAD to be sign that we were okay. It needed to be. My eyes trailed back to hers. "I should have given you the benefit of the doubt. I was just scared that you'll —"

Imade said dryly. "Cut myself and possibly bleed out to death?"

"It did cross my mind."

Imade admitted. "Me too. But you know what I do, when I think about it. I shake off the feeling."

"But you still cut."

"Not since I met that liar."

I confessed. "That was my biggest fear. How you'll handle the aftermath."

Imade frowned. "I know I'm a mess, but I also know how to hold the pieces of me together."

Tife rolled his eyes. "Okay. Stop. I'm sorry about everything, but she was doing this for you. After the way you cut yourself to scare a guy, why wouldn't she do this?"

Imade's eyes widened. "You told him?"

"Imade, I—"

She shook her head. "I'm going back home. I can't do this anymore."

Tife sighed. "I'm sorry I sounded insensitive. I just worry so much, it's tearing me apart."

"I don't need to hear anything. I'll come back for my stuff." She paused to look at Victor. "When you're done rolling on the floor, I want you out of here and out of my life. If you don't get out now, I'll gladly let my brother drag you out. It would bring me so much joy to see that."

Jumping up almost immediately, Victor ran around, probably packing his stuff.

I looked at my best friend. "I really didn't want to hurt you with the truth."

"I know and that's what hurts the most." And she stepped out and drove away in her car.

......

I muttered. "She's so mad at me."

"I'm mad at you too. What happened to the whole "we're in this together"?  Did you really need to hide parts of the truth from me? Of all people." Tife huffed.

"I was doing you a favor. You have enough on your plate. I didn't want to worry you."

"Yeah. That's what you said before. I know my loss hurts, but I want you to know that you can depend on me." Tife responded quietly.

I sighed, sitting next to him. "I do depend on you a lot. That's the problem and it's not fair on you."

"Let me decide that for myself."

He said his words earnestly and I found myself staring. I leaned closer and meshed my lips against his. Our mouths tangled slowly, tantalizing my heart, until the words came spilling out. "I have feelings for you."

He paused, mid kiss, reeling back in awe. "What?"

I pursed my lips, wishing I kept my damn mouth shut. "I shouldn't have said that, but I need to stop lying to myself. I'm not sixteen anymore. Neither am I concerned about how you'll react . I know you want things to be platonic, and i'm sorry. It just needs to be said."

His lips curled up widely. His smile reaching his eyes. He was smiling way too happily and I watched him warily. "What?"

Curving his arms around my waist, he snuck a quick peck on my lips. "I have feelings for you too. You have no idea how happy it makes me."

Breaking into a bubble of chuckles, I replied. "Are you serious?"

"I've loved you for half my life. I didn't want to push things because you're my sister's best friend, but it looks like Imade doesn't mind. I've been too busy nursing the loss of my son to deal with my feelings for you."

My heart skipped. Imade was right after all. "You have no idea how much I've wanted to hear that."

I relaxed in his arms and felt relief, feeling the laughter bubbling in his chest. "So we're going to make things work? "

He peered at me. "We've gone this far, damn straight we would. We'll be crazy not to."

"We need to find Imade. She needs us."

"I'll go check on her today. I can't leave her completely. I'll give her a little alone time for a while. She needs it. We all do." He paused, linking our hands together. "Besides, she's more pissed at you, so she'll probably be trying to avoid you. She's less mad at me, so I'll see her first. I'll give you the feedback."

. I pecked his lips. "Thank you."

"Now, let's finish what we started, huh?" He wagged his eyebrows and I couldn't resist laughing.