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(Leo's Point Of View)

Every time I folded my clothes and placed them neatly in my luggage, Asha would wait till I turned my back to grab them and toss them over her shoulders, pretending she didn't just do it. That could have worked if we weren't the only people in her room.

"STOP!" I bellowed as she did it a thirteenth time.

"You can't keep leaving me every weekend, Leo!"

"It's the only time I have to visit him!" I grunted through my teeth as she crossed her arms childlike. "You know this!"

"We haven't done anything in four weeks. Do you have to go every weekend? How long is he even going to be there for?"

I shrugged as we did a tug of war with one of my briefs. I was stronger so I won over the almost ripped clothing and packed it into my luggage before she got the chance to take it again. I zipped it up and made sure I had everything I needed, since I didn't want to repeat last time's incident of forgetting my toothbrush and having to use Derek's.

A screaming Tanika entered the room. She launched herself through the air like a cannonball and landed roughly on the side of her bed, where she rolled off and fell to the floor.

"SOME WHITE GIRL WAS CHASING ME!" she screamed, pulling the covers from her bed to cover herself on the floor, going totally and not obviously invisible. "I'M NOT ABOUT TO BE IN NO "GET OUT" SEQUEL!"

"Uh oh," Asha said, staring at the door Tanika left open.

I was about to go off on how it was just a movie when Asha slapped my knee mid eye roll. My eyes went to the door and standing outside in the hall, looking confused, was Nathan. I gulped so loudly that Asha looked at me like she had just discovered what my hidden talent was.

"Time for me to leave," she said, trying not to laugh from the embarrassment in the air. She left her bed and ran out the door with her back hunched like the monster she was for leaving me alone. She was supposed to be my friend and lie for me that I was sick or something even though clearly he could see me and I could see him.

Nathan walked in but left the door open, definitely knowing that I most likely felt uncomfortable and wouldn't be okay locked in a room with him. Even in this moment he was considerate and my best friend.

He wore a dark beige hoodie with the sleeves rolled up, showing his demon tattoos. His blonde hair was unkempt and was starting to grow down his face. He always shaved the sides and kept the top nicely checked, but he literally didn't care about it anymore. I never really told him but I prefered when he didn't bleach his hair. He was naturally blonde, but more on the darker side. I preferred his hair darker, he looked better.

He was also wearing a necklace I had bought for him a couple of years ago. Was he doing it on purpose? It made me angry. I wanted to rip it off and slap him with it.

But I wasn't dramatic. (Lol)

"Hey," he said quietly as he noticed the luggage on the floor.

He looked . . . so sad and miserable and it just killed me. There were a few reasons why I wanted to avoid him and it wasn't going to be forever, just until this moment happened and I couldn't run away anymore.

"Hey," I responded dryly.

"Can we talk?" He eyed the luggage again. "Or are you busy?"

"Sure," I said, crossing my legs on Asha's bed. Nathan walked over to me and sat across from me on Tanika's bed.

"I . . . I wanna have a serious conversation, and if you can, please, no screaming . . . or crying."

"What is with men and their fear of crying?" I said out loud.

"Right?" Tanika said under the blankets.

"I'm sorry about what happened that night," Nathan started.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, what did happen that night, Nathan?" I squinted my eyes at him.

He stared back into my eyes, no sign of emotion, but a hint of puppy dog eyes. Wasn't going to work on me whether he was doing it on purpose or not. If he wanted to apologize to me, it was going to take more than just a sorry. I wanted a three hundred page book apologize and a sequel that no one asked for.

"I can't apologize for my feelings, because those were real, but I can apologize for the stress I caused you. It wasn't the right time to share something like that and I understand now. I really don't know what came over me that night. I listened to my heart but I didn't think twice what that meant for you."

"That's right. I just got dumped and it was a very inappropriate time to confess your undying love for me. But go on, don't let me interrupt you."

He started playing with his hands and rubbing his arms up and down, nervously scratching and squeezing. "You mean a lot to me and I don't want to lose you. I know you don't feel the same way for me and I won't deny there's a little voice in the back of my mind hoping that you could one day, but I know it's just not realistic."

"Nathan, I'm sorry," I said honestly.

"You love Derek, I know."

"I shouldn't have given you so much affection," I said sadly, feeling ashamed. "Maybe it's normal, maybe it was weird, but I think we went overboard. If I hadn't been certain ways with you, maybe you wouldn't have fallen for me."

He shook his head. "Don't say that, Leo. Don't think of us like that. I've . . . I've never had this kind of friendship with any guy and I wouldn't want it any other way. It's special, it's different, it's liberating to just be yourself and not be afraid to be human. I was the one that couldn't contain my feelings, it's my fault, but don't regret our friendship."

"I still feel like half of it was my fault," I admitted. "The affection I wasn't giving Derek because of our mess I gave to you, it was misleading, it was evil of me, and I'm sorry for doing that to you."

"If girls can be close without ridicule, hug, kiss, tell eachother everything, rely on each other when things are rough, then so can guys, and that's what I see us as."

"As girls?"

He frowned and didn't even appreciate my dumbness. "Yes, we're girls. I'm trying to tell you what our friendship means to me. And to apologize for catching feelings and dumping it on you. I'm sorry about everything that happened, but I don't want to lose you."

I sighed. "You're not gonna lose me, Nathan. It was just a lot."

"Do you forgive me?"

"I do. But what about the part of you being in love with me?"

He shrugged, finally smiling. "I'll be okay. Besides, I'd rather be your best friend than be nothing at all."

It was somewhat relieving to have this moment, but at the same time I couldn't deny that I was hurting him. He was in love with me. I wasn't in love with him. How easy could someone accept that? Heartache was real and nobody wanted it. You could pretend, but to what extend would that help? Nathan loved me.

"H-How long have you known?" I asked, regretting immediately that I asked.

"Uh, a while, I guess." He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "It's always been there but I never paid attention to it until I started telling myself that with the way your relationship was going, one day you and I could be something, but I was just being stupid and selfish."

"Why?" I said almost offended. "I mean . . . I'm like . . . not even great."

He rolled his eyes, stealing my thing. "It's hard to explain it without embarrassing myself."

"Go on then, I want to know."

Nathan shifted his attention to the floor and the bump under the blankets. "Um, you're just really special. I always knew even before I started feeling things for you. When we met you were just . . . so different from everybody else. And you still are, all of these things are still true today. You are so supportive of everyone and even put others before you that you sometimes forget to take care of yourself. You light up an entire room with your presence. You make everyone laugh and smile. Just you existing makes me happy. And mash that up with the fact that I have never dated a guy, been interested in one or loved one, and you have a very confused Nathan wondering things he shouldn't be wondering."

"You're gonna make me cry," I said, pouting my lips.

"No!"

"You've just meant so much to me over the years." I was basically whining at this point, holding back the urge to choke. "I don't want to hurt you. I've never meant to hurt you."

He chuckled. "Leo, it's okay. I'll be okay, I promise. As long as we stay friends, I'll be okay."

"Best friends," I corrected.

"Right."

"TANIKA! I KNOW YOUR BLACK ASS IS IN HERE!"

Again, a screaming Tanika emerged, only this time instead of storming through the door, she jumped up from the floor. Her mouth was all the way open as she unleashed the loudest shrieks heard since Godzilla.

Turned out the white girl that was chasing her was not in fact a white girl, but a Korean girl.

Tanika ran past me and Nathan, leaving behind the blanket she had been hiding in. The Korean girl looked shocked as Tanika's strong lungs kept the screaming going even as she shot out of the room and disappeared down the hall.

"CALL ME CHING CHONG ONE MORE TIME!" the Korean girl shouted after her.

"So," Nathan started, clearing his throat, "are you going somewhere?"

I looked down as he kicked my luggage. "Oh, yeah. It's a long story, but Derek is in the hospital. I've been staying at his place the past four weekends so I could visit him."

"Is he okay?"

"Do you even care?" I scoffed.

"Maybe Derek might not like me, but it doesn't mean I don't like him back. He's important to you, so he's important to me. And I wouldn't trust anyone to be with you other than Derek, so yes, I care."

"He's in a mental hospital getting help. It was his idea. I'll tell you about it later."

"Does this mean you'll come back to our dorm and stop avoiding me?"

I undoubtedly blushed hard. "Um, yeah, sorry about that."

"That's not an answer."

"Yes, I'll come back. If you stop masturbating next to me, 'cause now I'm not so sure if you're thinking about me or . . ."

"Oh, what the heck, Leo!" he exclaimed. "I have more respect than that for you and myself."

I eyed him up and down. "Dunno . . ."

He sighed in relief. "Oh, good, you're joking."

"Am I? Am I really joking, Nathan?" I said, squinting my eyes.

"Can anyone tell me why my door is open and Tanika is running around campus screaming at the top of her lungs while Cho chases her?" Asha appeared, entering the room and looking at the both of us.

"She called Cho something racist," I answered.

Asha let out a long annoyed breath and massaged her temples as she walked back out.

"Why is Tanika being weird?" Nathan asked.

"Cho is dating her ex."

"Ching Chong though? Really?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised by that, since last week she called her Chocha. It's Spanish for something you don't want to know."

"I didn't know you knew any Spanish."

"Yeah. It's like a Leo from another universe was born Spanish or something," I said, looking directly at the camera and smiling creepily before winking.

~ ~ Squishy is back with a friend to guide you happily to the next scene

"SASHA!" I screamed to the point I almost shattered my vocal cords.

I slammed every cabinet after having looked through all of them. I turned around in time to catch him jogging across the living room to hide in Derek's bedroom. Every single cabinet was filled with family sized Cheeto bags. I had only been in Derek's apartment for a mere minute and already I wanted to burn it to the ground.

"Wasn't me! Wasn't me!" he kept repeating.

"I gave you three hundred dollars for groceries!" I yelled as I stomped loudly towards Derek's room. "Please tell me you did not spend all of it on Cheetos!"

Those commercials with old people clutching their chests, falling slowly to the ground as they had a heart attack, was me in this very moment as I entered Derek's room and saw his pillows were replaced with bags of Cheetos.

"You said buy necessities," he argued, cowering in fear in a corner.

"Yes! FOOD! My friends are coming over and we have nothing to serve but Cheetos! How does a store even have these many?!"

"Oh, it wasn't easy. I had to go to five different stores. FIVE!" he said amused, like it was something to be proud of. But then that excitement wore off in a snap. "Wait . . . you're having a party? I don't like loud sounds, please don't have a party."

"It's not a party," I said sternly, feeling like I was a mother and about to whoop my child's ass. I went to change the pillows again, when I bumped into the mattress and heard it make crackling noises. Defeated, I left the room with my hands up.

"Wait!" Sasha called out, following me to the living room. He stood by the hall, not completely out, just kind of hovering there, watching me. "Are you mad at me?"

"Yes," I said from the couch. "That was Derek's money. He wanted me to give it to you so there was food in the house. He's trying to help you and give you a place to stay. You've only been here a week but you need to treat it like an actual home and not a frat house."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, his voice breaking. "Are you going to kick me out?"

"No, just listen to me when I tell you to do something."

The first knock came, which forced out a loud breath out of my nose like an angry bull. I should have checked the groceries as soon as I came instead of leaving it for last. I'd just have to order pizza and waste more money that I didn't have.

Sasha went into Derek's room, closing and locking the door to hide. He was extremely shy with strangers and it took him a long time to work up the confidence to be able to talk to anyone. He said it was easier with Derek because they both had great butts. It was harder at first with me because according to him, I looked like a bitch.

"Leeeo!" Priscella said happily upon seeing me.

Priscella was gorgeous as ever, with long black hair, clear skin that I was painfully jealous of and a cute outfit that fit her just right.

"Hey, Pris," I greeted, accepting her hug and leaving a kiss on her rosy cheeks. "Is Jesse not with you?"

"He's downstairs taking a call, but he'll be up in a minute." I moved aside to let her in and closed the door, but leaving it unlocked so Jesse could walk in. "Did you see Derek last week?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't for very long. He seemed really tired and I had a lot of school work that weekend so I didn't get to see him again after that."

"Must be hard."

I smiled sadly at that. "It's harder on him."

"But is he doing okay?"

We sat on the couch and I put the television on mute.

"I'm not exactly sure. I think he's doing better, but he's refusing to talk about it. Says he talks too much about everything with the therapist and hates it when he has to do it all over again with me."

"Sounds like he just wants to be happy when he's around you."

"Yeah, but I don't want him to feel like he can't talk to me about these things."

"I'm sure he knows he can talk to you," she said, reaching over from the armchair to pat my hand delicately. "You've been very supportive through all of this. I wish you were my boyfriend."

"Are you excited to see him?" I asked, changing the subject.

She made a face. "I haven't seen him in a month, of course I'm excited to see him, are you crazy?"

I leaned in suspiciously so that someone, who was known for spying on people, couldn't hear what was about to leave my lips.

"I've been meaning to ask one of you this question, since I don't know anybody else who could know, but please do not feel offended by it."

"You want to know who sold him the drugs," she guessed.

I looked stupidly astonished. "Y-Yes."

"I don't know. Neither does Jesse. We don't take what Derek takes, we just do a little green here and there but that's about it. Why?"

"I just . . . don't want him to fall back on it. I can't be here everyday after he gets out. I can't supervise him like a parent. I want to trust him and believe that he won't use again, but I'm not so sure about that."

"If it makes you feel better, he doesn't have an addiction. For some reason it doesn't affect him as badly as it does to some people. He just hates being in his own head sometimes."

The door opened and I looked up to see it was not Jesse, but Nicole. I wasn't expecting her for another hour. And judging by how red her eyes were, something was wrong.

"Nicole?" I said, immediately going up. "What's wrong?"

"I broke up with Jack," she said, her lips quivering.

"Stop standing by the door, come inside," I told her.

She didn't listen, I had to drag her inside like a mannequin.

"I'm sorry, Nicole," Priscella said. "How long ago did you break up with him?"

"Like an hour ago," she whimpered, dropping her head on my shoulder. "I'm sorry I showed up unannounced."

"Nicole, it's okay. You're always welcome here, you even have a key," I assured her, massaging her back and giving her a big warm hug.

"Who's that!" Nicole exclaimed, pointing behind me and breaking free from my embrace, rudely.

I looked back and saw Sasha peeking through the open door.

"Oh, that's . . . Sasha, Derek's roommate."

"Wait! I recognize you from the hospital! Hi!" She sounded too excited all of the sudden, like questionably excited. She hopped towards him, rocking side to side like a penguin, or a kawaii girl. "You didn't notice me, but I saw you in the hall with your ear pressed up against the wall. I'm Nicole."

"No, thank you," Sasha said and slowly closed the door.

"Hey, Leo!" I looked back and it was Jesse calling me.

"Hey, Jesse," I said, sending him a smile.

"There's someone out here looking for Derek."

I wiped the smile off my face. I bet it was his dealer. I met him once, only I didn't know it was his dealer at the time. I know if I see him again, I'll remember him, and I will destroy his face and make sure he never talks to Derek ever again, or so help me I will find out who his mother was and tell on him.

As I walked out of the apartment, I did not find myself face to face with the criminal. It was some guy I'd never seen before. He was blonde, good looking, on the short side, but not someone I recognized.

"Can I help you?" I said.

"Does Derek live here?" he asked, seeming confused. He had an accent.

"Yeah, can I help you?" I said again.

"Is he home?"

"No, he's not. Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm just a friend. I've just been worried because he hasn't answered my text messages for a month." He slapped his phone on his hand, as if he was still waiting to get a reply from Derek.

I heard Nicole gasp loudly behind me. "Are you Dakota?" she asked, only her head popping out.

Dakota? Why did that sound familiar?

"Yeah, I'm Dakota. How do you know me?" he asked, leaning to the side to look at Nicole, who was just hiding behind my body and still refusing to walk outside to greet this person, who she must know somehow.

"Derek told me about you. I also made him take a picture of you and Snapchat it to me while you weren't looking. He said that was okay because you took one of him and posted it on your story. Payback or something."

I was now full on glaring. Conversations were coming back to me. Dakota . . .

"Oh, wow." He was blushing. Why was he blushing? Why was I getting heated? I mean, it was California, but my own body felt like it had a private sun all of the sudden.

"Would you like to see him? We're going to visit him at the hospital in an hour. We're just catching up with each other before visiting hours start."

Did Nicole just invite this total stranger to come see Derek with his closest best friends and boyfriend? What was going on? And why couldn't I stop glaring?

"Huh . . ." I said, but mostly to myself.

"He's in the hospital? Is he okay?"

"He's peachy! Killed himself, came back to life, has daddy issues, depression isn't his best friend, and I'm pretty darn sure he's a zombie. Who the hell comes back to life? I mean . . . Pft."

"NICOLE!" I shouted.

"WHAT, LEO?!"

"Leo?" Dakota said in surprise.

I lazily looked back at him, blinking hard once. "Yes?"

"You're Derek's ex boyfriend?"

"Ex?" I scoffed.

"I . . . Hold on . . ." Dakota looked like he saw a ghost. "Please tell me you guys were broken up but got back together."

"Y-Yes? How do you know this? Who are you?" I was starting to get furious. I knew all of Derek's friends, but this complete stranger knew a lot.

He's transgender.

OH MY GOD.

"I just remembered!" I squealed, feeling ecstatic that I figured it out. But then it hit me. This was the guy who had sex with my Derek. My Derek's penis was inside him. It was inside someone . . . who wasn't me. This made me . . . feel things.

"Remembered what?" he said, eyeing me up and down, but not in a threatening way, more like he was scared of me.

"Derek told me about you," I said knowingly.

"Like . . . told you told you?" he wondered.

"Yes, I know everything," I replied, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring some more.

"I'm not trying to cause trouble with you or anything. I was just worried, that's all."

Avoiding picturing Derek on top of Dakota, panting, thrusting, was a hard thing to do. Was I becoming jealous? Was this how Derek felt every time I was surrounded by boys? But it was different here because they had sex, and they're friends. I did it with one random guy and then the incident with my best friend didn't even count, or so I tell myself.

Dakota being good looking didn't exactly help. Why did Derek have only attractive friends? I wish my friends and I were attractive but no, we were just ugly things someone dumped on the side of the road.

"It's fine, I'm not mad at you."

"That's good. I'm happy to hear that. It's very nice to meet you, Leo." He extended his hand and I shook it.

"At least we have something in common," I said, fake smiling.

"What's that?"

"We've both been fucked by Derek," I said, shrugging like the bitch Sasha thought I was.

"Oh, um." Dakota blushed again.

My phone started ringing. I fetched it out of my pocket and read the name before answering. There was no name, but it had to be Derek calling from the hospital. I didn't know their number, it was always different, but I was sure it was him. The timing was impeccable.

"Hey, you know we're coming to see you in an hour, right?"

"Hey," Derek said back. He sounded tired again. My spirit just completely crumbled. He was going to cancel on us, I bet. "Don't come."

Okay. I was right, but I wasn't expecting him to be so blunt about it.

"Are you okay?" I covered my other ear to block out the sound of traffic and the irritating existence of people.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I was released." His voice was so monotone. I didn't want to feel sad or like he wasn't getting better, but he sounded so bad and I didn't know what I was supposed to do.

"Wait, really? I'm confused. When?"

"Couple minutes ago."

"I'll come get you."

"No, it's fine. I'll talk to you soon."

My heart started beating faster. What was happening? Why was he acting like this and why didn't he want me to pick him up? Where else was he going to go? This anxiety that just rushed through me was what he felt with us. Now I was feeling everything he was feeling, almost like he was doing it back to me on purpose.

There was no way that that was the case. Derek wouldn't do that. We already talked about everything. He practically begged me to take him back.

"D-Derek? Is everything okay?" I said with shaky breaths.

"Yeah, everything is fine. I love you."

He hung up before I could get another word in.

_________________________

[Author's Message]: Let me start off by saying . . . REEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeee. I really enjoyed this chapter, kind of. It was fun to write. And things are about to get SO spicy you guys. OMG. You're gonna go back one day and be like "omg, she was right" CAUSE DAMN ROAD TRIP IS ABOUT TO GO THE F OFF. Oh, you thought everything that happened before was drama? Hahaha. HAHAHA. HA. Bich. Just wait. This is going to be the most entertaining next chapters until the finale. (lol finale like it's a show). PLEASE comment, show your support, vote, love the story, LOVE IT. The real road trip starts now.