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© 2017 Shay Spencer. All rights reserved.

The Buddies Rule

Chapter 22

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It's human nature, really; the need run when things get to be too difficult. It's our fight or flight response, and it's drilled into our minds. So when figuring whether or not I was going to stay and fight for Chase and Alan, or flee, leaving them to sort themselves out first, I honestly couldn't come up with an answer.

It was suffocating to even think about losing either one of them. Though when I really thought about it, picking and choosing felt like the more selfish option. It felt wrong to even consider sticking around, playing with their emotions and messing with their heads. But little did they know, they had been messing with my head since the start. I had always felt drawn to either one of them, for different reasons of course, but that attraction couldn't just disappear.

This problem wouldn't go away on it's own, and I was only dreading the confrontation more and more.

I kept my head low as Chase and I made our way down the hallway. I wasn't wanting to get into things now. It had barely been a day since Chase was involved in the fire, and he had just gotten released from the hospital. Now wasn't the right time, not when Chase was going through this kind of pain.

"Welcome home." I announced with a small smile, holding open the door for him as he shuffled into our small apparent. He gave me a smile, watching as I shut the door behind him.

"Thank you for picking me up," Chase laughed hoarsely. "I know what an inconvenience it was."

I shook my head, placing his bag of medication and my purse on the table at my side. "It was nothing, Chase. I was happy to pick you up."

Chase frowned at my short response, obviously not happy with it. He reached out, grabbing onto my hand in an attempt to comfort me. But in reality, he was the one that needed the comfort.

"What's going on?" He started, looking into my eyes. "You've been weird since you got to the hospital today."

"No," I said. "I'm just worried about you. I really think we should get you to bed."

"Bree," Chase groaned. "I'm fine. The burns weren't that bad, and I've got an entire bag full of medication to help if it ever does get that bad. What I'm worried about, is you. I know what kind of hell I must have put you through over the last day, no knowing if I was okay."

I sighed, pulling my hand away from his before crossing my arms over my chest, "I'm fine. I'm just, pretty exhausted. I've got this short story due for English three in a day or two. Then we've got Lewis' play on Friday. There's just way too much going on right now."

"Let me help," Chase suggested with a wide grin. "I love your writing, and I know you'll need someone to bounce ideas around with."

"I know," I nodded. "But I think this is something I have to work on by myself. I might head to the library and let you get some sleep-"

"I don't need sleep, Bree," Chase cut me off shortly. "Will you drop the whole worried act? You've barely asked me how I've been doing, anyways."

"I have too," I countered. "Right when I got into the room yesterday, and when I picked you up today."

"Oh yeah," Chase laughed. "Twice. Thank you for that, Bree."

I rolled my eyes at him, "if you going to act like a little prick about this, then I'm not going to stick around."

"And if you're going to act like there's nothing wrong when there clearly is, then I'm going to try and get to the bottom of things," Chase said. "Is this because of Rebecca?"

I could feel my heart stop with his words. Even Alan and Lewis had kept quiet about our conversation at the hospital yesterday. Why Chase had chosen to bring her up, was beyond me.

"What about Rebecca?"

Chase shook his head, "she came to see me. She said you two had an 'unpleasant' conversation." He said, using air quotes around the word.

"We didn't speak," I held firm. "I didn't even know she showed up yesterday."

"Quit lying," Chase sighed. "She told me you talked. She didn't tell me what either of you said, but she apologized for the way she acted."

"We didn't," I repeated.

"Just tell me what's got you so upset-"

"Her!" I scoffed. "Obviously it's her. Rebecca thinks she can just walk in and fix things; Like there's something wrong between the two of us, or something. I hate that she's in our lives."

Chase frowned, "she's not really in our lives, Bree. And wasn't that the first and only conversation you've had with her?"

"That's not the point," I said. "I heard what she said about me on the roof at Alan and Lewis' party, and our conversation yesterday wasn't great. I just hate that she keeps thinking she can knock me out of the picture to get to you."

"What do you think? She's trying to off you or something?" Chase teased.

I wasn't in the mood.

"No, idiot," I rolled my eyes. "You told her about the freaking buddies rule. Now she thinks she can use it against me."

"Because it says that we can't be together?" Chase asked with a sigh. "Forget the stupid buddies rule. It's not even an issue. If we want to be together, then let's just-"

"It's not that simple, Chase," I hissed.

"What is it not simple? Why does it have to be so complicated!"

"Because it's not just about us! There's more people involved in this and you know it!" I yelled, taking in a short breath. "I know you and Alan don't exactly get along, but you can't be that blind to what's been happening."

Chase fell silent with my words, taking a step away from me as he did. He leaned back against the wall near the door, pushing his hands into his pockets. When he did it, I could see the small wince on his face as the denim rubbed against the burns on his hands.

"So Rebecca's using your feelings for Alan and I against you? That's what this is all about?" Chase said, his words cutting into the silence like a knife.

I hadn't known that he knew that much.

"How did you-"

"Like you said," Chase muttered. "I'm not blind. I see the way you look at him. It's not the same way you look at me, but it's sure as hell not the same way you look at Lewis."

"I'm sorry, Chase," I whispered, biting into my lip nervously. "But I'm not the only one. You've already made-out with Rebecca-"

"That's beside the point-"

"It's really not," I shook my head. "This entire friendship is so messed up right now, and that doesn't just include you and I. Alan and Lewis are involved, too."

"Then let's fix it," Chase tried, reaching out for my hand once again. I pulled away, making my way past him as I opened up the door.

"Not right now," I whispered, stepping out into the hall. "You need rest, and I need a break from all this."

# # #

I somehow managed to hold back the tears as I walked to the college campus. I wasn't exactly sure why I had come, or where I was going, at first, but soon enough, Alan and Lewis' building came into sight. I knew then just how much I needed my best friend.

Lewis had filled that spot perfectly.

I walked up the stairs quickly, not wanting to waste anymore time. That English Three paper was weighing on my mind, even after everything that had happened the last two days. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was using all of this to procrastinate actually writing it. But when I really thought about it, I didn't know what a true love story was. I wasn't even sure how to go about writing it, even if I wanted to.

I shook my head at myself, quietly walking down the hallway towards Alan and Lewis' door. The hallway was entirely empty, and eerily quiet for this time of day. Usually there were people walking up and down the hallways. Even weirder, Alan and Lewis had left their door open a crack.

I stopped in front of the door, peering in to try and find the two. I hadn't seen them since leaving the hospital with them the day before.

"This is too cliche, Alan!" Lewis shouted suddenly. I could feel my heart racing as I quickly cowered back against the wall. "Two best friends aren't supposed to fall for the same girl!"

"Well that's just it!" Alan yelled back, the man slamming his hand down against the counter. "Chase and I, aren't really best friends. I hate the guy, and I know for a fact he feels the same way about me."

"Shut up," Lewis groaned in exhaustion. "Not everything is about your stupid little fight. You're both hurting Bree, and you know it."

"It's not my fault that Chase has to act like a little bitch about everything," Alan hissed back at Lewis. "He's the one that won't really fess up about how he feels about her. He barely told her."

"Yeah? And you barely told her. Bree wouldn't have ever known how you felt in the first place if it wasn't for me-"

"What?" Alan interrupted sharply. I could feel the tension thickening in the air, even from out here. "You, told Bree?"

"She just..." Lewis trailed off. "She wanted to know why you had been acting so weird. We practically avoided Bree and Chase all summer just because you were too scared to face her."

"And that's my problem," Alan corrected with a huff. "Or at least it was, before you went and opened your big ass mouth."

"Hey!" Lewis yelled. "If it wasn't for me, we'd all be in a much bigger mess. I was tying to cover for you with the damned buddies rule, anyways! I didn't want you to slip up and ruin our friendships! I had to go and convince her that it was her idea in the first place!"

"Lewis, that wasn't your decision to make," Alan said. "This is my mess, and you putting yourself in the middle has only made it worse."

"You know what's hilarious about this whole thing?" Lewis scoffed. "We're all fighting, to the point where you can barely call us friends, all because you and Chase can't decide who ends up with her."

"It's her decision to make, not ours." Alan finished before I could hear his footsteps edging closer to the door. "Don't follow me, I won't be coming home tonight."

I inwardly screamed before racing in the opposite direction. I had just made it around the corner before Alan stomped out, slamming the door behind him. My chest was heaving and my body was shaking as I warily peeked around the corner, watching as he stalked towards the stairwell.

I could feel the tears sliding down my face as Alan disappeared down the stairs, leaving Lewis alone in their apartment, and me alone in the hallway. I pressed my forehead against the wall, squeezing my eyes shut as I did.

Lewis was right, the four of us were no where near friends at this point, and I honestly had no clue as to how we were going to pull off Lewis' play on Friday.

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Who thought that was dramatic?? And how did everyone like it? I'd been weirdly planning on this chapter since the beginning - I hope you all enjoyed!

The next update will be on...
March 5th!

Also, fun news!
I had entered an epilogue contest for the book, Currents by Tessa-x, and I actually won today! It was amazing news, and I thought that I would share with everyone 😊

Anyways -

Remember to vote / Check out I Liked You Better On YouTube! Chapter 4 was posted this last Monday!

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