Oh. My. God. I'm. A. Mess!

So, this morning I woke up late. Even though—Thank God I'm still like—15 minutes early. And I swear. If someone ask me why I'm not with him this morning—

"Hi Em! Oh—you're not with Dom?"

Oookay.. that one.. still acceptable.

Walking hand in hand, you spot the couple approaching. You greet them with a perfectly fake enthusiasm. "Liam—Eve, hi! No, I'm so late I don't want to bother him—"

"Oh you're not with Ty either?"

Jackpot. Fuck my life.

Suppressing a curse, you force a smile at Liam, trying your best to maintain your composure. However—Eve, being the observant bestfriend that she is, notices your strained expression as she squints her eyes in suspicion. In a desperate attempt to divert attention, you close your eyes tightly and open them wide, resembling the Joker in a moment of madness.

"Right! About that—"

"Ah, nevermind—there he is!"

At Wyatt's nonchalance, you snap your head back—to immediately.. spotting him walking down the park path. Still wearing a white T shirt.. a hand runs through his wet hair—shaking it lightly.. drying it.. His shirt tangling on his shoulders, accentuating his figure as he confidently strides—drawing the attention of girls who watch him in awe as if he's catwalking on a runway.

Fuck. Boys with wet hair would be—

...

Tyler. would be the death of me.

Nevertheless, at a quick moment, he looks straight at you—and his stride falters. He stops abruptly with a hand still on his hair—a look of surprise crossing his face as he awkwardly stands there. Liam quickly approaches him, throwing an arm around his shoulder in a casual gesture.

"Eyyy my man! Thought you weren't together—well, at least you're always together, right? It'll be fucking weird since—" realizing something, Liam shakes Tyler's shoulders enthusiastically before also turning to you. "Rightttt, how was the date bestfriends?!" he blurts out, completely blind to the awkward situation.

Meanwhile, completely the opposite, Eve starts to approach you, her suspicion proven since she observes Tyler's reaction once he sees you. Cringing in discomfort, you put a hand on your forehead—awkwardly, Tyler scratches the back of his head, mumbling, "Y—yeah, uh—"

"Hey—" you immediately interrupted, not wanting to be reminded more of what happened, "sorry I didn't text you I was leaving first.. I woke up late and I panicked—"

"Yeah! No—no worries! I.. I came straight here too. I woke up late—too—heh," Tyler stammers, mirroring your awkwardness. You exchange awkward glances as finally—Liam notices with squinted eyes, he immediately looks at Eve with his forehead creased, silently communicating with her,

'What the fuck is going on?'

'I know right? Did something happen?'

Eve sends her signal to Liam telepathically. However, eager in restoring normalcy to the situation, Eve immediately circles her arms around you, laughing nervously. "Oookay, fellas! Before we actually—get late, let's get going, shall we?" she suggests.

You and Tyler chuckle nervously before walking together—trying to navigate through the crowded entrance. Your arms brush against each other—and in panic, you take little strides to move beside Eve, so you're on the very tip of the group.

Tyler notices the attempt and exhales while Wyatt keeps watching the two of you in suspicion. Tyler struggles to put on his school shirt—until he finally decides to toss his bag to Liam. Rolling his eyes, Liam playfully hits Tyler's back before securing the bag in his arms, surrendering to the task. Tyler gives him a slight smirk before putting on his shirt.

Somewhere along the hallway.. pushed by the crowdedness of the room, you unintentionally walk beside Tyler. As he goes to roll his sleeves, you bump into each other—causing you to almost fall! Quick to react, Tyler catches you!

In his arms, you instinctively put your hands on his chest.. and you both lock eyes. Hearts thumping loudly, you feel the heat start racing all over your body.

"Y—you.. okay..?" he asks hesitantly, still holding onto you, his gaze starting to go lower.. and lower.. You gulp, acknowledging the tension happening between the two of you—that's when you wake up, and jump away from him!

To reveal Wyatt and Reed already looking at the two of you in puzzled looks. Wyatt, though, as for Reed, she's mischievously grinning, muttering, "Uhuh, surely something did happen."

But as you're still gawking at each other, someone from behind hugs you out of nowhere. "Heyyy, baby,"

It's Dominic. Your boyfriend.

With a puzzled look, reluctantly, you awkwardly turn to see him. But before you can even process his presence—he's already kissing you fiercely. Instead of enjoying the moment, you're overwhelmed with.. flashbacks.. to the time when..

As the first rays of dawn caressed your face, you awake to the soft embrace of sunlight—gentle and warm, like a whispered promise of serenity. Lying there, basking in the tranquility of the moment, you realize you're not in your room. Your gaze wandered to the figure beside you..

To find your bestfriend, sleeping soundly beside you.

It's not a weird sight though. You've done this a zillion times. Yet, it feels.. different. You've seen the way his face shapes through the years.. you knew he'd break a lot of hearts since he liked to tease girls in elementary..

But you didn't know he'd be the one to break yours too.

Lazily running your fingers through his hair, you savored the softness of each strand. Marveling at how the waviness curves through your fingers has always been your favorite part since then. After tucking the strands of his hair behind his ear, you traced his eyebrows, gently following the bones carving his beautiful face.

As discreet as you were, he stirred from his slumber, his eyes fluttered open to meet yours.. and you smiled between the delicate dance of morning light. He gazes at you as your fingers traced the delicate lines of his features.. each curve a testament to the passage of time and shared memories. With a soft smile, he leaned in.. and his lips met yours in a tender kiss.

I never really understood why kissing was such a big deal.

But then she kissed me.

And I never want to stop.

This feeling.. is surreal. How could she tastes so fucking good? Kissing her was one of the most addictive things I've ever done. I could do this for days.. and days on end—

"We should never do this again."

Despite everything, you backed away from him, the weight of your words heavy in the air. Making him immediately open his eyes. Confusion etching lines on his forehead as he searched your face for answers. "Why?" he pressed with eyes wide.

Avoiding his gaze, you struggled to find the right words—suppressing the sadness from breaking down the wall. "Because it's—"

"Tell me you don't want this,"

"I—that's not what I was saying!" you protested, frustration bubbling beneath the surface as you tried to articulate your thoughts. "Ok listen—this is—"

"What? Confusing?"

His patience wore thin. Pursing your lips, you sat, thinking of a way to explain. "Ok. You know—there's a line between a friendship—" you began, gesturing with your hand to illustrate the imaginary boundary in front of him, "ok. Look." Grabbing his hand, you played them, making them become feet that walked right on the line, and said, "We shouldn't cross this line."

Scoffing in amusement, in his lap, Tyler covered his eyes with his other hand—before raking them through his hair. "Newsflash," he retorts, peering at the line drawn by your hand—before seizing control of your fingers instead—to push it, causing them to leap over the imaginary boundary and smirked,

"We just crossed the line, Winters,"

Consumed with guilt, you muster the courage to ask, "Bestfriends?" catching him off guard, his expression hardened with each stare. You waited for his response, but it never came. Instead, he remained silent, shifting in his position, running a hand through his hair.

"What—you don't even want to say them, now?!"

"I"m not in the mood, Em."

You took a sharp, ragged inhale, startled by his behavior. When a sense of finality rolled over your tongue as you spoke, "Please pretend this never happened then, Ty,"

But now you want this to end.

In disbelief, Tyler scoffed and immediately sat down. His face betrayed a hint of hurt—although overshadowed by his anger. "Tell me how the hell can I pretend this never happened?!"

"I have a boyfriend, Tyler! And he's your bestfriend too!"

Now his eyes are ablaze, his temper flaring—triggered. His jaw clenches, fists balling at his sides as he confronts you with his pent-up frustration as he snapped, "Remind me again who told you not to date him—"

"We're bestfriends Ty! You. are my bestfriend!"

You shouted in desperation, your voice slightly trembled in exhaustion. Exhausted from this. Though.. when you think about it.. it felt more like you were reassuring yourself than convincing him—you walked away from the bed, your hands clutching at your hair.

At your outburst, conflicting emotions flashed across his face in a whirlwind. For a brief moment, you saw a glimmer of vulnerability in his eyes. However, in a split second, his expression changed, his features hardening into a mask of cold indifference.

"Ok. I'll do whatever you want to do," he declared. The warmth that once filled his gaze is replaced by a steely resolve, as if he made a decision to shut down his emotions and retreated into himself.

"Let's act like this never happened at all."

And now you've got me wishing that we'd never kissed.

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Cecylia Costania @rcpcswrites

You can elevate your experience by also listening to songs I added to this story's playlist! Full Playlist on bio💖

The song that matches this Chapter's vibe:

"Ah, nevermind—there he is!"

https://youtu.be/-_jvLoXqXe8