After a long day of shooting, Davina and I were scheduled to clean the entire studio. We've grown accustomed to the task since we filmed about three times a week. Eventually, we realized time would go faster if we spent more time cleaning and less time fighting. Though that didn't stop Davina from poking fun.

Our following as a couple skyrocketed when our date pictures hit the internet. Fans were buzzing tweeting comments like how cute we were as a couple or how Davina looked the happiest she's been in years. Her image was slowly cleaning up as people took notice of how I got the girl who always went clubbing to stay home.

If only they knew it's because Milo had her on chains.

So far, everyone had approved of our relationship.

Well, except Wesley.

We haven't seen each other since the explosion in front of everyone. We shared the same room, but somehow our schedules varied so much. The guilt weighed heavily on my chest whenever I put myself in his shoes. I wanted to talk it out, but the things he said about Davina also bothered me.

She wouldn't fight against so I figured I should.

"I'm so freaking hungry," she groaned, slamming a plastic container packed with pans on the countertop.

Over the last month, I picked up on small little habits Davina had. Whenever she was hungry, she complained constantly and struggled to do a simple task as tying her shoe. A deep crease would be between her eyebrows as she frustratedly gave up on any activity she attempted.

I laughed. "Yeah, I picked up on that. We are almost done." I wiped my wet hands on a towel. "Wanna go out for a bite?"

Davina sighed, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "No... I don't want to eat out today. Why don't you make me something? A famous Ambrose dish?"

I smirked. "Sorry, D, no can do. I only cook for people who are special to me."

She giggled, her eyes bright with amusement. "That's quite rude to hear my boyfriend say I'm not special to him."

I playfully nudged her shoulder. "Seriously though, I don't really have a passion for cooking anymore. These days, I only cook when Lana begs me too."

I caught a glimpse of Davina rolling her eyes before she swung around. "Would you suck Lana's toe if she asked you to?"

My brows bunched together. "N-no."

She smirked. "You hesitated."

As a defensive mechanism, my eyes darted all over the room, trying to ignore her scrutinizing gaze. "I-I didn't. But if it was a sexual thing, I might consider it."

"Oh my god! Bean sprout is a toe licker," she teased, cocking her head to the side.

My eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "Shut up. I'm just saying if Lana wants something, I do everything in my power to do it."

Davina snorted. "You're so obsessed. Are you sure this is healthy? Maybe I should sign you up for L.H.A-- Lana Hart anonymous."

Her remark produced a series of thoughts to parade through my mind. With everything going on, I haven't given my parent's recovery a second thought. Two months had passed, but my feelings about letting my parents back into my life were unclear. If they were going by their normal track record, they would be downing a twelve-pack right now.

This would be their third attempt at managing their addiction. I knew it wasn't an easy thing, and they needed unconditional support, but after getting excited the two times prior, I lost motivation to root for them. It's exhausting to be an adult for my two childish parents.

"Hello?" Davina snapped her fingers to get my attention. "Was my joke powerful enough to take you to heaven and back?"

I shot her a stern expression. "It wasn't funny. The love I have for Lana is pure and I just want the best for her."

She clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Have you ever thought maybe you aren't good for her? I mean, you had years to win her over yet she's married and you're a sob story."

"We dated before..." I revealed.

Her blue-green eyes widened before her face dropped for a second. "Wait, really? I guess that would explain Declan glaring at you when you were so touchy with Lana. What happened?"

I hated talking about this topic. It wasn't my brightest day as her best friend. The alcohol only intensified the fury developing in my gut, causing the destructive outburst. I came to terms with my actions after drinking myself for three days. Those horrible words I shouted at her replayed as a reminder of the time when I lost myself.

I never wanted to become that person again. Or talk about it.

"She broke up with me... then a few days later she was dating Declan. It's that simple. I always wondered if I did something wrong or if I needed to change something," I convincingly lied.

Davina stepped closer until my back was against the counter. Her fingers brushed against my clothed bicep, sending chills down my spine. "Love isn't changing yourself for the other... it's about growing together as individuals." Her fingers trailed up to my neckline, her hot breath landed on my skin. "If she wanted you to change, then there was never connection, to begin with."

Those blue eyes were ocean-strong, swimming with warm, sunlit currents. Her intense black winged liner drew all your attention to her eyes, and the streak of blue liner matched them. My heart jolted in panic and as a coping mechanism, I began counting her freckles.

So far there were ten.

"I don't get you. You have something against love yet you give advice as if you have been in love before... Have you loved someone before, D?" I asked softly, the words slipping through my lips before I could stop them.

My words seemed to make her pause, and she stared at me for a handful of seconds, her eyes rocking softly back and forth between mine.

Was there a reason why her shield was always up?

Abruptly, the delicate look in her eyes vanished, and she shook her head as though trying to refocus her mind. "Look, I'm so hungry that I almost flirted with you!" she pouted. "Please make me something!"

I exhaled the breath I hadn't realized I was holding from having her pressed against me. "You have two hands so you cook."

Her eyes tightened in amusement. "Can I be your Lana for the night so you can surrender at my feet and make me something?"

I snorted. "You couldn't be Lana even if you wanted to. She's the nicest human being I ever meant while you are the opposite."

She ran a hand through her hair while letting out a disbelieving scoff. "Wow, that really hurt my feelings. Whatever, I'll just make my own damn food then, but you aren't getting even a crumb."

There, before I got a chance to get another word in, she pivoted in her spot and rushed across the room to the refrigerator. Giving her the cold shoulder, I continued cleaning up the remaining dishes in the main sink and threw out five bags of trash. The sounds of pans clashing kept making my head want to swing in her direction.

The aroma of fishy tang and savory broth wafted in my nose, causing my stomach to react almost instantly. Damn it. Maybe if I helped her, she would consider sharing it with me. She was the ultimate Ice Queen, but I had a magic touch on softening people up.

Slowly, I walked over to see Davina drizzling oil, lemon, and salt over her salmon. "Does the option still stand?"

She rolled her eyes. "Are you just here because you're hungry or because you genuinely want to cook for me?"

"Maybe both?"

Davina scoffed and swung the knife in my direction, almost cutting a piece of my skin with it. "Go work on the salsa verde? Or are you too much of a bean sprout to do that?"

"I can handle it."

I was wrong.

Lately, I hadn't cared about cutting my ingredients in the correct format, but today it bothered me tremendously. The scallions kept coming out uneven no matter how symmetrical I had them before chopping them. My fake girlfriend was still an all-star chef and cooking for her was like a dream to my inner self.

I wanted it to be perfect.

"This looks horrendous!"

Too late.

My cheeks resembled planet Mars. "It was harder than I remembered."

Davina sighed. "Let me help you." Her hand hovered over mine, causing a jittery feeling to explode in my belly. Gently, she lined my hand over the scallions while her other one held it down. With perfect precision, she pushed my grip down and sliced the onions into same-sized cubes. "It's really not hard. I mastered this skill since I was nine, so it comes naturally to me."

She withdrew her hand, and for a moment, I yearned for her soft touch.

"Yeah, I mastered it when I worked at a restaurant, but within time I got lazy and stopped trying," I expressed, calmy. "I probably only done it for a year before giving up altogether."

"It'll be easy to pick right up. Now, can you handle the parsley and olives or do I have to babysit you?" she teased with a hint of a grin appearing.

"I got it handled, honey." I saluted her before she turned away.

My portions were all even. I threw the olives, scallions, and parsley into one bowl, sprinkled it with oil and lemon zest. I mixed around the salsa, hoping to have the ingredients combined in their own chaotic way.

Suddenly, I heard a pan slam against the stovetop and swerved around to see Davina waving her hand around. "Shit!" she cursed, groaning.

Ignoring the salsa, I hurried over to her side and saw the redness coming from her two fingers. Her other hand had the mitt on it and seemed to be intact. Without thinking, I snatched her wrist and dragged her over to the sink. The kitchen must've been a thousand degrees since Davina's cheeks were fifty shades of red.

She looked at me in absolute bafflement for a handful of seconds before she abruptly froze. Her eyes, as massive as they were, grew even wider, and she swiped her head down quickly, having her hair covering her face.

"You should be used to getting burnt since you're the Spawn," I joked, sending her a wink.

"I just hate the feeling of your skin sizzling. I think there's burn cream somewhere in this death prison," she replied.

"Want me to go look for it?" I asked, kindly.

"No... it doesn't hurt as much anymore. I'm just really hungry," she stated, rubbing her stomach.

Davina finished washing her hands before working on the ending plate. Plating was the top three things judges looked forward to. It usually has to go with a theme and be decorated to compliment the taste.

My eyes widened with joy when our salmon came out of the oven.

Catching a view of my phone on the countertop, I couldn't stop myself from grabbing it and flicked my way over to Lana's contact. My finger hovered over the call button, but not wanting to seem as desperate as I very much was, I clicked messaged instead. Biting the corner of my lip, I quickly drafted up a message before pressing send.

Me: *A picture of our salmon meal* Getting ready to eat, but I miss having dinner with you. Salmons don't taste as good without you.

Though my message was aimed as a joke, I was half-serious. Just as I was starting to grow a little more paranoid that she ignored me, a message pinged up.

The Light of my Universe: Looks yummy! And how dare you say those things when you have the amazing Davina support you?

My lips brushed into a loose smile upon receiving her message, and relief washed through my chest. I could practically hear that excited, loving tone of hers through my screen. Not wasting any time, I immediately started to text back a response.

"What are you doing?" Davina asked, causing my phone to slip from my grasp.

She laughed hysterically. "Light of my Universe? You have to be fucking joking. Do you ever go a day without texting her?"

I shook my head. "No... I tried, but it's nearly impossible. Sometimes when I see a corgi, since it's her favorite animal. I send Lana a picture of it. It's like reflex at that point."

"Just stop sending pictures to Lana and take photos of us together," Davina stated, handing over my phone after she clicked on the camera icon.

Since I had longer arms, I held the phone out so Davina could swoop in closer to appear in the picture. Compared to Lana, our heights weren't as drastic; Davina's forehead ended right around my eye sockets. While I thought Lana's petite height made her cuter, I couldn't deny how attractive it was to have a tall girl next to me.

"What's something cute that couples do?" Davina asked, a small crease forming between her eyebrows.

"Lana always posts pictures of Declan giving her piggy-back rides. It's quite cute when you pretend Declan isn't in the picture."

An irritated chuckle escaped her lips, followed by an eye roll. "I'm not in the mood for that much contact. Why don't we just do a simple cheek kiss?"

My eyebrows bunched together. "Isn't that more contact?"

"Just do it."

With a deep sigh, I handed Davina the phone and once she was situated; I pressed my lips against her delicate cheek. Something swirled in my stomach but I ignored it, assuming it was probably my breakfast inches away from making its way up.

"Okay, I got it!" Davina announced, pulling her cheek away. "Oh, god, I'm about to puke! You seriously have Lana as your wallpaper? This won't do..."

Panic flashed between my eyes as I tried taking the phone from her grip. "What are you doing! That's my favorite picture of us."

Her eyes gleamed with wickedness, and she dropped my cell phone into her bra. "Do you realize what people will think if you have another girl as your wallpaper?"

"That my world doesn't solely revolve around you?" I countered with a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly! You have to seem like you're obsessed with me," she stated, calmy.

"I would if I didn't find you nauseating to look at," I responded.

"Oh," she hummed, tucking her chocolate strands behind her ear. "Then keep Lana. I'm excited to eat some salmon."

Her mouth was basically salivating, her spoon dug into the salmon, cutting a tender piece. A moan of stratification left her lips, and her eyes rolled back. "I have to hand it to you bean sprout; the salsa verde is pretty good."

Pride swelled up within me. "T-thanks. I appreciate your input."

She stuck her finger in my face. "I wasn't finished. The sauce is a little tangy could have a more citrus flavor. Your cuts still need a lot of work like I almost choked on this olive..." her nagging only made a headache form. "However, don't give up on cooking. I'm not sure what exactly was the reason your passion slipped away, but in life, we only have the things we can do. People leave, others change, but these types of things stayed with us forever."

Her motivational speech was saved in my brain like a robot learning coding. The words hit home; My aspirations slipped away when Lana dumped me. I felt like I had nothing left to do. But cooking used to be my therapy. Maybe all I've been doing was avoiding the therapy and unresolved feelings I'd for Lana.

Should I jump the gate again into Lana's heart or should I find comfort just staying her friend?

"Was that the reason why you continued cooking?" I asked, sincerely.

She nodded. "Yes."

Hey guys!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! I liked writing Davina and Ambrose slowly growing into a nice friendship. ;) they are definitely not there yet lol

Love you guys!! And can't wait to read all your comments !!!!