"Hurry up Samantha!" Eric exclaims frantically.

"Few more minutes ", I holler back. I adjust the corset and my boob region.
Gosh! Who knew Cara Katz would be so small.

I step out and over real Cara's body. I walked careful until I stand face to face in front of Nicholas and Eric and they both have their jaws touching the ground.

"Remind me again why you hide this beautiful shape behind men's clothes?", Eric says as he offers me his hands. I link my hand in his and flip my hair a little and give a little smile.

Nicholas just stares at the both of us, clenching and unclenching the jaws. He says nothing and leads us out of the booth into a throng of fans cheering pushing things at me to sign.

"Are you sure Stefan is going to be safe?", I whisper into Nicholas' ears and he just gives a stiff nod.

"He's with his grandma what do you expect?", He says in a harsh tone.

I can't deal with this negativity right now.

"Please step aside", Eric hollers as he pushes through the crowd.

A little girl comes at me with a little frame of she and a guy who I assume is her brother. I can't resist her cuteness and hurriedly scribble my signature on it before Nicholas pulls me away and into the car.

"S? Not C? I hear the little girl's voice say as I disappear from their midst.

"You guys didn't do so bad over there", I say panting lightly as I adjust the hem of the satin dress with Swarovski crystals embedded in them.

Gosh, people really do got a lot of money to buy clothes that they struggle to fit into. Taking this off of Cara's body was a nightmare.

"Thanks", Nicholas replies in a clipped tone. I squint my eyebrows at him and wonder why he's acting strange.

"You look beautiful by the way", he comments not even glancing at me. Did I do something wrong?

"Hurry up!", Eric hollers at the driver.

"I am so uncomfortable", I mutter underneath my breath as I try to gasp for air. How are they comfortable in this? I ask myself as I feel every part of my body itch.

"Do you have a hotel booked in Boston?", I ask Nicholas in particular.

"No", he curtly states, eyeing me for a second there before resuming his gaze at the window.

What's going on through his mind?

"I have a little apartment in Boston for my getaways, why?", Eric states admiring himself in the side mirror. He licks his palm and rubs it against his hair.

I thought it only happens in cartoons!

"I need to get out of this suffocating outfit", I say pretending as if I'm dying of suffocation.

"Drama queen", Eric chuckles as the car comes to a halt. Nicholas hurriedly jumps out.

"What's wrong with him?", I ask Eric as he helps me out of the car.

"With who?"

"Nicholas"

"I wonder how you walk do comfortably in heels after wearing speakers basically all your life", Eric says countering my question with another question.

"Let's just say, I used to join the pageant show in sophomore year", I reply sincerely.

"Samantha Montero! Used to be in the pageant show?", Eric says with a huge grin on his face as we hurriedly get on the jet.

Nicholas goes to the cock pit and begins revving up the engines. Seeing his muscles tense up like that reminds me of my earlier asked questions.

"You tryna change the subject?", I ask Eric as he helps me to my seat and fastens my seat belt.

"Let's just say Love stings", Eric answers, leaving me in a shocked state.

"Love stings? What's that supposed to mean?", I ask looking really confused.

He just smiles and pats me by the shoulder before joining Nicholas by the other side.

The plane lifts up in the air slowly and I somewhat wish my fears and worries would lift up too and never come back. I sniff back unshed tears and just play back the memories of the last four years and analyzing my every move.

The one question that kept playing in my head was 'Did Jack actually betray my trust?'. No matter how many times I tried to push away this thought, it somehow kept coming back, making me feel uneasy.

"Woahhhh you guys! I just realized we are technically stealing a private Jet owned by Cara Katz!" Eric exclaims in a primal way as he puts on his googles.

Nicholas just chuckles and I laugh heartily.

Something has to be off with Nicholas. Did something happen to Stefan? And what the hell did Eric mean by 'love stings'?

I puff out a breath of pent up air and just close my eyes taking in the moment and trying to relax my tensed muscles.

I feel my stomach knot in a ball of anxiety and chills running down my spine. What if Jack is the murderer?

This thought brings tears to my eyes. My best friend? I wonder how the headlines would look like.

'Samantha Montero Framed For The Murder Of Asher Hudson By Her Own Best Friend'

I just chuckle at the thought. How ridiculous.
I can't even begin to imagine the amount of media that's going to be involved. Am I overthinking this?

"Once upon a time, when you couldn't keep shut. Now all you do I Zone out and laugh to yourself", Eric states munching away on some pretzels.

"Yeah! Sometimes you just gotta keep quiet and let the silence be your muse", I say with smile as I just stare out the window.

"Took you long enough to realize that", Nicholas says through gritted teeth.

"Excuse me" I say with an annoyed expression on my face.

"Relax guys", Eric says trying to calm us down. Where did he even get the pretzels from by the way?

"No don't tell me to relax. He has been the one acting like a dick all night and now he's out here being all mean to me, for what? What did I ever do to you Nicholas? Did I mention your dead wife by accident?", I seethe and stare at him through glossy eyes.

Insensitive much!

"Ouch!", Eric says gulping down a Sprite. Where is he getting all the snacks from?

"Never in your fucking life, bring up my dead wife", Nicholas says in a very calm and menacing tone which rattles me a little.

"Never in your fucking life go bipolar on me", I say defiantly, folding my arms underneath my boobs.

"Am I the only one feeling the sexual tension between you two?", Eric asks with a raised eyebrow as he pops in a mint into his mouth.

"Dude! Where the hell are you getting those from?", I ask eventually, giving him my hand for him to put some mint in there.

Nicholas is so negative right now and I can't afford to deal with such negativity at this point in my life.

"We'll be landing Boston in about ten minutes", Nicholas announces in a clipped tone.

"Brooooo! Have we spent two fucking hours on air already?", Eric asks placing his hand above his head.

"My thoughts exactly", I mumble as I suddenly start feeling sleepy.

"By the way Eric we have to hurry up to your apartment so I can change out of these clothes and if it's possible dispose of it", I say trying to keep my eyes open.

Why am I feeling so sleepy all of a sudden.

The Jet jolts a little as it lands in an open field.
Where did Nicholas learn to fly a plane? I make a mental note to ask him once his attitude has calmed a little.

"Alright guys, I've called my driver and he's going to meet us at the nearest cafe which by my Google map here is only five miles away from here", Eric states as he looks at his phone.

I daintily alight from the plane so as not to rip the clothes. How am I to get rid of it then?

"Samantha?", Eric calls.

"What!", I snap.

"Relax. Why are you so cranky?" He asks as he places his hands on my back and leads me in the right direction. I hear Nicholas suck in his breath and mutter 'Oh God', behind me but I'm to tired to answer

I ignore the two men with me and just try to focus on the road ahead. In about fifteen minutes, we arrive our destination unnoticed. I sit down for a bit, feeling woozy in my head.

I need to sleep!

I wonder how a cloth as shiny as this...

"Move", Nicholas says slightly nudging me towards Eric and a slightly short man who leads the way.

I groan as I get up again and follow them.

I need sleep!

"Here we are!", Eric says as we enter the car. It seems Eric must have emphasized on how fast we need to get there because this guy is going at a fast and furious speed.

I close my eyes for what seems like two seconds and open them again only for me to open them to Eric's face in mine.

"Get off of me man!", I yell and scooter away from him and he just chuckles.

"It's been only thirty minutes and you've fallen asleep" Eric states and I just wipe off the last bits of dizziness away from my eyes.

"Well sleeping beauty, we're here and we need to hurry up because the meeting is finishing in the next fifteen minutes", he says. Everything sounds like jibber jabber to me for a while and I just simply nod my head.

I come down from the car only to be met by this magnificent pent house.

"Did you call this an apartment? A little apartment for that matter?", I say fawning over the mighty penthouse.

"It's little actually", he says with a smug look and leads the way.

Nicholas just walks by me and I roll my eyes at his attitude.

"Alright hurry up and get changed. This is the guest room and any and every cloth you need is in here", Eric says shooing me into the room.

Rude much! He didn't even offer to show me around.

My jaw nearly hits the ground immediately I sight the huge wardrobe.

"Woah!", I whisper breezily.

There are different kinds of clothes on here. After pondering for a while I settle for a regular, baby blue, pencil jean and a big, beige colored, sweatshirt. I wear a pair of sunshades and add a little matte, brown lipstick.

I put on a pair of black, suede boots and style my hair in side waves.

Why does he have a lipstick here anyway?

I smack my lips together and admire myself in the mirror.

"I don't look so bad", I mumble to myself with a smile and step out of the room finally.

"And she's back!"Eric exclaims doing a sarcastic clap. I just smile and give him an eye roll.

"Alright guys let's hurry up", Nicholas says with a yawn.

"Yeah okay so I have a plan. As at now we just have five minutes to get there and get rid if the driver that's going to be taking Jack back to the hotel. Once we do, we're going to be the ones to pick Jack up", Eric says as we exit the building and he leads us into the car.

"Are we supposed to understand you just like that?", I ask completely feeling lost.

"Here", he says throwing the keys at Nicholas who catches it smoothly.

"You have nothing to worry about, Samantha. Everything's under control" Eric says with a smug wink as he closes the car door. Nicholas starts the engine and begins driving.

We reach the building in less than five minutes and without another word, Eric gets down and is seen showing the driver his identity. Eric gives him so cash and the driver that was supposed to pick up Jack drives off.

Nicholas drives to the spot, where the other car was and Eric enters inside.

Soon afterwards, Jack who I putting on an army green blazers and a sunshade is seeing coming out if the building. Without responding to the greetings of the staff, he hastily enters the car and almost jumps out of his skin on seeing us.

"Hey Jack!", I say calmly, with a smile.

"Samantha? Macaulay? Eric? How did you... When did you guys get here? Where's...?", He asks stammering off the last bit and we just stare at him.

Nicholas drives off the a deserted field where we all get off.

No this is not the old fashioned movie where the main character is with the two main guys who are madly in love with her and trying to ruffle out the antagonist.

"Move", Eric says harshly and Jack just looks forlornly at me before switching his gaze towards his shoes with his hands buried deep in his pockets.

"Hey don't be so harsh on him", Nicholas says bringing out a stick of cigarette and lights it.

Nicholas smokes?

"Dude! Are you seriously doing this again?", Eric asks rushing towards him and taking out the cigarette away from his mouth.

"The weather is a little snippy don't you think?", Nicholas asks pulling another one out.

Okay maybe this is a little like in the movies and maybe I am the main character but then again, isn't everyone the main characters in their story?

I just inhale a sharp breath and try to study Jack who still has his eyes fixated on his shoes.
Jack's like an open book. I've always been able to read him and I can tell that he's planning to run off right not but that is not possible because of the ankle monitor, Eric placed on him earlier.

I've always been able to tell what Jack thinks before he even says it. I've always been able to finish his sentence. I've done things for Jack and heck I don't mind doing them over and over again.

What I don't understand is, why can't I read him now? Has he suddenly changed?
No it can't be. People don't change.

Yes it's true people don't change, they pretend. So had Jack been pretend for twenty five years?

All I want to know is what's up and I don't want him lying to my face.

I heave a sigh of despair and my gaze flickers from him to Eric and Nicholas and I watch as Eric dusts something off of Nicholas's hair.

"Thanks", Nicholas acknowledges harmlessly and Eric just blushes.

Oh My God! Does Eric like like Nicholas? If Eric likes Nicholas then that means he's gay right? Or bi? Or maybe pan?

Woah!

Well I can't be too sure unless I ask him and be certain about it.

I shake out the rest of the thoughts in my head and finally clear my throat.

"Guys, please let's just get this over with", I say walking towards Jack.

"Hi Jack".

A/N:
Author: Is it just me or there's something about this chapter?

Samantha: Is Eric gay?

Eric: No I'm not!

Nicholas: Trust me if he was I'd have been the first to know. We've been friends for like ages.

Eric: yeah! Just friends.

Author: well, are you satisfied? No? Go on over to the next chapter to find out more exciting revelations (wink)😉