Remember to check out Something Real!! It was just updated as well!

Guys! We over exceeded the goal!!! I'm so happy! And, as promised, I have news to share! Please read the A/N which has been posted along with this chapter!

Also, I'm 19??? Where did my life go 😱

Highest rank on the hot list over the last two weeks - #389 in Chick Lit

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© 2016 Shay Spencer. All rights reserved.

The Buddies Rule

Chapter 15

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I had always been a fan of late mornings. Waking up with the sun high in the sky, knowing that you've still got the whole day ahead of you. Even the smell of the coffee that Chase would make when I first woke up gave me a sense of security; ignoring the fact that I hated the mere taste of the stuff.

One thing that I wasn't a fan of, was the feeling that this morning was different from the others.

Despite how things had gone down the night before, I had imagined that I would still find my way home. I may have had a bit to drink, but I was certain that Alan, or even Lewis, would have helped me home.

Waking up in a bed that wasn't my own hadn't been on my agenda for this morning. Yet here I was, wrapped up in sheets that belonged to someone else entirely.

My eyes opened slowly to see the sun pouring in from the window at the corner of the room. It was a sharp feeling as the light hit my eyes, enough to make me close them again. But the light wasn't what shocked me the most. I could feel someone else on the opposite side of the bed.

The sound of sheets rustling clouded my mind as the other person flipped over in the bed. From what I could tell, this person was still asleep.

There was something strangely familiar about this room, even if I couldn't recognize it right off the bat. I felt like I had been here before, though I knew I wouldn't be able to remember it in this state. I was positive I'd only had a few hours of sleep.

I pursed my lips into a thin line as I slowly began to turn towards the mystery person on the other side of the bed. Possibilities were running rampant in my head before I managed to get a good look at them. It was then that the worst possible thought entered my mind.

Why was I in Lewis' room? And why was he sleeping next to me without a shirt on?

My face scrunched up in disgust as I forced the thoughts out of my mind. There wasn't enough alcohol in the world to make me sleep with Lewis. He was one of my best friends, and in contrast to Chase and I, Lewis was strictly in the friend zone.

My eye's widened in fear as I felt Lewis reaching out to touch me. Within seconds, his index finger was poking into my right cheek.

This was probably the weirdest moment of my life.

"Please tell me you're awake," Lewis asked quietly. I nodded before slapping his hand away from my face.

"I am, and I'm not happy about it," I sighed. "Why am I in your room?"

Lewis laughed suddenly, a loud laugh that echoed throughout the apartment. "This is great."

I could only feel my confusion growing along with his laughter. He'd wake up the whole building if he kept going. "And what exactly is great about this moment? Because honestly, I feel icky and I'm wearing one of Alan's old football jerseys."

Lewis' laughter was literally all that I could hear, and now, he had tears running down his face. I rolled my eyes and sat up in bed before looking down at myself. My hair was a tangled mess, I wasn't wearing any pants, and Alan's football jersey from two years ago hung on me like a dress.

"I think it's funny how long we've been able to hide our attraction to one another," Lewis' laughter died down a bit with his words. "Now that we've consummated our relationship, we can finally admit that we were meant to be, Bree."

"Shut up," I hissed before I slapped him once again.

"What? You've managed to go after every other guy in this group. Why not me?" I could see an almost evil smile covering his face as I threw my head back.

"It's for the same reason that you haven't hit on me. We're practically brother and sister, and you know that," I shivered in disgust.

"Incest is the best, hey!" Lewis sang before I slapped his upper arm again.

"What really happened?"

"Originally," Lewis paused as he fell back into his pillow. "Chase and I were meant to be midnight lovers."

"Lewis," I groaned.

"Kidding," he laughed. "When you and Alan got back, Chase was conked out on my bed. Alan had to carry him out to the living room. We decided it made more sense if you just slept in here with me." I could feel my face scrunching up for a second time.

"How come I don't remember any of this?"

Lewis shrugged, "maybe Alan spiked your drink at Denny's."

"It definitely wasn't that," I shot back snidely.

"Kidding again," he shook his head. "You were pretty tired when you got back here, and whatever little amount of alcohol you had was doing the trick. But I will assure you, nothing happened with you and anyone of us."

"So Chase has just been out there on the couch all morning?" I asked, knowing my stomach was already knotting up at the thought.

"Unless he and Alan got nasty," Lewis' voice had a suggestive tone to it as he popped his eyebrows up and down.

"Sure," I smiled before hopping up from his bed.

"He's actually been asleep for a while now. It's like one in the afternoon," Lewis added. I could feel my eyes growing wide with his comment.

"We slept that long!"

Loews nodded, "we all didn't go to bed until like five in the morning. Sleeping this long makes sense, Bree."

I quickly made my way out into the living room to check the time for myself; and despite the fact that Chase was out here, I needed to find my phone.

Plus, after last night, I felt like Chase and I needed to talk things out.

I frowned as I noticed no one was on the couch, and weirdly enough, the kitchen was empty, too. Sure there were beer cans and plastic cups littering the place, but no one of our immediate friend group had been out here yet this morning.

This place was a mess.

My heart skipped a beat as the front door creaked open. Someone must have left it unlocked. "Bree?" The voice was quiet, but I knew instantly who it was.

I cringed as he made slow steps into the apartment, but I didn't turn around. There was no way I could face him after what happened last night. "What are you doing here?"

Zac placed his hand on my shoulder and gently spun me around. "I just need to talk to you, that's all."

"Well that's not going to happen," Alan interjected suddenly. I whipped around at the sound of his voice, only to find him standing shirtless in the kitchen holding a coffee mug. "Get out," Alan ordered.

"I just need to talk to her, man. I wanted to apologize to her, and you."

"Apology not accepted. Bye, bye," Alan waved before aggressively pointing to the door.

Zac huffed in annoyance before sending me a knowing look and walking off towards the door. I rolled my eyes at Alan and followed Zac out into the hallway. Shutting the door behind us, I turned to look up at Zac who was currently frowning at me.

"What?"

Zac shook his head," that jersey. It says Green on the back." Zac's confusion only got worse as he paused. "And Alan wasn't wearing a shirt."

"I didn't sleep with him, Zac. I was with Lewis all night," I rolled my eyes once more. "What did you want? Unless you just planned on accusing me of sleeping with one of my best friends."

"It wouldn't be that far fetched, would it?" Zac asked incredulously. "I have eyes, Bree, and I see the way you look at those guys."

"Which ones?" I asked. If it was obvious to Zac, and it was apparently obvious to Rebecca too, then I sucked at this more than I realized. I thought I had been great at hiding my feelings.

"Chase, for starters. There's just something between you two. Otherwise, Chase wouldn't have tried to knock me out last night," Zac sighed as he leaned back against the wall. "But Alan..." He left off as he looked out down the hallway.

"What about Alan?" I could feel Zac tensing up at the mere mention of his name.

"Alan looks at you the way you look at Chase. He's falling head over heels for you, and I don't know if you're going to be able to get him to back off," Zac relayed.

"Maybe I don't want him too," I muttered, receiving an utterly disgusted look from Zac. "I don't know how I feel about Alan."

"But you do know how you feel about Chase," Zac assumed. "You both love each other more than either of you realize, Bree. It seems like Alan, and weirdly enough Lewis, are just complicating things."

"They couldn't stay out of the situation if they tried," I shook my head as I leaned back next to Zac.

The air grew quiet as Zac and I thought things over. But I couldn't keep my mind in one place, especially when considering that my feet were sticking to the floor.

The hallway looked even worse than the apartment did. The floors were stained with beer, and the place reeked of body odor. Beer bottles and red solo cups were everywhere, and weirdly enough, the trail stopped the second you hit the stairs. Though I had no idea what kind of mess the lower levels of the building would hold.

"We shouldn't be dating, should we?" Zac sighed sadly. "Not when you've got so much to figure out, anyways. It's not the right time."

I could feel my heart lurch with his words. For the majority of my life, I'd wanted Zac Ramirez to ask me out. I'd always wanted to be able to hold his hand, to kiss him, and to call him mine. But Zac was right. We just weren't meant to be.

"If there was ever a time for us, I think it was in the past," I spoke honestly.

"You've moved on, I get it," Zac nodded.

"No, I haven't. That's the problem," I whispered. "I've been in love with Chase since the seventh grade."

Zac half looked like he was about to cry with my little confession. "I heard a rumor that you two made out in ninth grade. I guess I just didn't want to believe it."

"We didn't make out, Zac," I paused as he looked into my eyes. "We did kiss, but it was both of our first kisses. We just wanted it to be with someone special. Someone we trusted."

"When you say things like that, it makes me kind of regret asking you out."

I shook my head, reaching out to grab onto his hand. "Don't regret it," I said. "I've always wanted to get to know you better. I'm kind of happy that I did."

"Me too," Zac confessed. With one swift movement, Zac had pushed off the wall. He turned to look down at me as he clasped onto my hand. Before I knew it, he had pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek. "Be careful, okay?" He whispered against my ear. "Neither of those guys are ready for you. And I don't think you're ready for them."

With that, Zac walked down the hallway and didn't look back. He took slow steps down the stairs, but after he made it to the first floor, I had lost the sound of his footsteps. Zac was gone, and in one of the most ominous ways possible.

I shook my head, deciding to leave his words in the past. I knew that if anything ever did happen between with Chase or Adam, it would be the right moment. Zac didn't have to worry about us messing up the timing.

I made my way back into the apartment, my eyes landing instantly on my finally clothed best friends. Alan gave me a weak grin, while Lewis looked practically ecstatic. He had a weird look in his eye, though. One that I almost didn't trust.

"You want some pizza?" He asked, the look not going away. But against my better judgement, I was hungry.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm starving. Just let me go change."

I'd just wished I would have remembered how manipulative Lewis could be at times like this.

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Sorry for the late update guys! My thanksgiving/birthday festivities ran a lot longer than expected... Also I was very sleep deprived up until yesterday-ish.

But who saw it coming - Bree and Zac breaking up?

Little poll: Team Chase or Team Alan for Bree? Now that Zac's out of the running.

Thank you to anyone voting and commenting!

The next update should be on...
December 8th! Back on schedule.

There will be a sneak peek at the next chapter up on the site as soon as possible!

But do make sure to check the site anyways! There's something special up there right now...

Vote when you can!

Thanks guys!

And remember to READ RHE AUTHORS NOTE NEXT! IT'S WEIRD/AMAZING!