"What?" I asked, not sure whether I had heard correctly.

"This is madness. Yesterday, it was announced that Jared was getting engaged to Cecelia. And just ten minutes ago, Cecelia Schoff announced the engagement was off and she dumped him," He said, letting out a laugh of disbelief.

I dropped the plate I was holding. Thank god, it was plastic.

"What?" I repeated stupidly.

"Here look," He took out his phone. He scrolled and clicked on a video.

And sure enough. Breaking news. Media had assembled outside her house while Cecelia calmly replied she had dumped Jared. He wasn't her type.

Oh. My. God.

Something big must have happened between them. But till last night, everything was going normal. What happened so severe as to her dumping Jared?

The bell rang. I walked over to the door and peeped through the eyehole. I almost got a heart attack as I recoiled few steps back like I had been electrocuted.

Jared was standing outside with the biggest grin on his face, looking highly impatient. He knocked again frantically.

"Allison! Alli! Open the door! Everything is okay now. The engagement is off!" He shouted excitedly.

I looked at Wade, "Open," He mouthed.

But anger overtook me, "Go to hell, Jared!"

"Why? Didn't you see the news? We are not getting engaged, Alli! I am not with her. Come on. Open the door, I have to talk to you. Lots of things," He frowned but repeatedly knocked, the grin replacing.

"No. She dumped you. That's why, you came running back to me. If she didn't, you would still be fantasising about her," I snapped.

"No no. You are getting this wrong," He shook his head, "I broke things off and allowed her to put all the blame on me as compensation."

"I am perfectly getting it, you two-faced liar. Now go. I don't wanna see you again you, heartbreaker pig," I snarled.

"Please. I broke off the engagement because I couldn't marry her. I did it for you, for us. I told her she could tell it the other way around," He pleaded.

"Just go back wherever you came from. Don't speak to me. Again," I went back to my room, slamming the door and locking it.

"Alli. Just open the door and listen to him once, will you? He is still standing outside," Wade knocked.

"Tell him to leave. Just because she couldn't tolerate him, he is now running back to me. I am not a switch he can turn off and on with his will. Shameless asshole. Don't let him enter our apartment," I warned.

"Well, he kind of already is. He is standing right outside of your door," Wade's unsure voice spoke.

What?

"Alli," Jared's voice spoke out, "Love, please open the door, Trust me, I broke off the engagement and not the other way round."

Instead of speaking to him, I shouted at Wade, "Wade! Why did you let him enter? I don't want to speak to him!"

"Allison-"

"Don't speak, Jared. I am not speaking to you."

"You technically are," Wade said.

"Shut up, both of you. Leave me alone, will you? Jared, please leave. Wade, I am not making dinner for us tonight. You go make your own food!" I yelled.

"She is one stubborn witch," Wade mumbled outside the door.

"Don't I know that, mate?" Jared's british talks were coming out in waves.

The idiots were still outside, speaking about me.

"She will listen, don't worry. She has office tomorrow. Of course, she will listen," Wade said.

"I know. I am not running away without an explanation this time and I am not letting her run," Their voices faded away.

I got up and pressed my ear against the door.

"Thanks," Jared's voice spoke.

"Anytime," I could feel Wade smiling.

So, they were acting as chummy buddies now? Both of them could go to hell.

"I misjudged you, mate. Thanks for letting me in," Jared said.

"No problem at all. You see, she is stubborn but not evil," Wade laughed.

"Yeah... these are your taken pictures?"

Great, they were admiring Wade's pictures stuck on our walls now. What next? Braiding each others hair and applying nail polish?

"Yup, this one is my favorite."

"Cool, what does this picture represent?"

"The girl I loved once. I don't now but she will always have a special soft corner in my heart," Wade explained.

There was a long silence as I desperately tried to hear any words being uttered. There seemed to be none.

Preposterous. Wade never explained to me the meaning before. It was a symbolic picture taken with two models. I wasn't a picture person. But he already explained to Jared.

"Wait a minute, this is-"

"Um, lower your voice," Wade said.

Immediately, I pressed my ear further against the door, trying to listen what they were saying.

"She is so stupid," Jared was laughing, "My goodness, how stupid can a person be?"

What?! Did he just call me stupid?

"Come on man, we all know how slow she is," Wade laughed.

Great, now they were laughing at me. I wasn't making dinner for the two of us anymore. I huffed and went back to sit down on the bed.

I had asked Wade so many times regarding the meaning of that picture but he always laughed and changed the topic. I had a faint suspicion that it could have been his ex or one of his many girlfriends but it made me angry how he could tell Jared and not me.

For some reason, I was feeling too angry and I didn't know why. But I knew it would take me some time to cool down.

***

I was bored now. It had been two hours now I was still in my room. My phone was continuously ringing and messages were pouring in. Jared was continuously calling from my living room but I wasn't picking up the call.

I was scrolling through Facebook filled with the break up posts of him and Cecelia when Wade messaged.

'Babes, please. It's been two hours now. He is still waiting outside. Just speak once. The poor guy didn't even have his lunch. I offered but he declined.'

I didn't reply. I turned over and closed my eyes. I would rather skip lunch than talk with that pig. The last thing I wanted right now was to see his face after the stunt he pulled last night.
    It was almost dark when I opened my eyes later on. I checked the time and it was 6 o'clock. I called Wade.

"Is he gone?" I asked as soon as he picked up.

"Yes," He sighed, "He left half an hour ago."

"You aren't lying, are you?" I asked suspiciously.

"No, Alli. I am not," He sounded dejected on his behalf.

I walked and opened the door. Wade was giving me the look. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What?" I asked.

"Seriously Alli? You could've let him explain. Hasn't there already been too many misunderstandings between you two? First, he didn't let you explain and now you are doing the same thing. My god, both of you are so stubborn, for gods sake. I feel like pulling your hair," He huffed.

"I don't care. I didn't appreciate how you stood beside him. You support me, not him," I accused, going to take out a carton of milk.

"The chap waited for almost five hours for you outside and you didn't even come out of your room! I don't like you sad and-"

"Well, you shouldn't have let him enter. Guys and their stupid bro codes. One instance and you will ditch your old girl pal for a new stranger guy of five minutes," I rolled my eyes, "You know how he has hurt me but no, just because he is a guy he became your "bro" and you guys started talking about your pictures. You have never even told me about the meaning before and you told him after meeting him for the first time!"

"You know you are the most important person in my life after my parents. Don't say that again. I have never told anyone about the pictures, he looked so downcast and we just got to talking. That doesn't mean there is a bro code or anything between him and me. You wouldn't understand-"

"And you wouldn't understand how it feels to get your heart broken by the person you love fervently. You wouldn't understand how it feels when the person you love gets attached to another person right in front of your eyes," I argued.

He kept quiet and an unrecognizable emotion flickered on his face before he snickered, "No, of course not. I wouldn't understand."

"I really hate you sometimes, Wade."

"But I love you. You wouldn't understand," He chuckled. I rolled my eyes at his cheeky reply. He always said this to end an argument.

"You don't know how I felt last night. You don't know how bad it was to see the entire city know that your loved one was getting hitched with another person. You don't know anything Wade because you have never been in love."

He was watching me intently now. I started squirming under his gaze when it was more than ten seconds and he was still staring at me, giving me a very intense look like I had never seen before. It reminded me of that night where Jared and I had gone out and he had looked at me for a long time. I didn't understand why but I felt the same as my face warmed up.

Wade was acting weird. This wasn't like him.

"What? You are going to speak or not? Why are you staring like that?" I shifted under his gaze.

"I love you, Alli. How can you say that I haven't felt love?" His face turned into a familiar grin as I sighed in relief.

There was the Wade I knew. He was making me feel awkward with that look, like he wanted to shout at me or say something. Wade would never shout at me.

"I didn't mean the friendship love."

"I get it," His face softened, his eyes speaking volumes that I couldn't comprehend all at once, "I don't know anything. However, just stop being stubborn."

He was acting so weird.

"You are still on my team then, right?" I asked, unsure.

He came forward and kept his elbows on my shoulder, loosely interwining his fingers behind my head.

"I am always on your team, Alli. It goes without saying. I cannot imagine otherwise."

"Thanks," I said seriously, concerned over the shift in his easy going attitude.

He suddenly pulled back, flicked my nose and plopped down on the couch, closing his eyes, "That guy loves you and you know that. Nobody will love you as much as him. He respects you too. He is just stupid and needed some growing up to do which you already did in these five years."

"I love him too but I am still hurt," I admitted, sighing.

He blinked slowly but didn't say anything.

"What? No smart or philosophical answers?" I asked.

No response again.

I watched him with a sullen look as he got up and walked into his bedroom, "All I can say is, sort it out fast! All of us are waiting for you guys to get back together since a long long time now."

***

Author's note:-

No, Allison is not dense. If you know, you know.