The next morning I awoke to my phone buzzing loudly by my ear. Bleary eyed, I reached around until I found it, bringing it to myself. My heart fluttered when I read it was Chris. It took everything I had to toss the phone away from me. Why was he trying to contact me? Wasn’t he pissed? I didn’t want to talk to him— no, that wasn’t right. I did want to talk to him, but I couldn’t. We would just fight again.

            Pushing myself out of bed, I staggered toward the bedroom door. A yawn escaped my lips as I left Jeremy’s bedroom and headed toward the living room. In there, I found Jeremy dead asleep on the couch. The couch was way too small for him— he had to curl up into a tight ball in order to fit on it. One of his arms was splayed on the back of the couch, while his other was hanging off the edge. The only thing covering him was a light blanket, which barely reached over his long body. I watched him for a few minutes, a silly grin crossing my face. He had slept on this tiny couch just for me?

            “I love you, Jeremy,” I whispered, squatting down by his head.

            Suddenly his head whipped around, his eyes shining brightly, a playful smile spreading across his face. “More than Chris?”

            My heart sunk a little. “I…”

            The smile dropped of his face. “Oh shit. I didn’t mean to say that— I forgot you are fighting with him right now.”

            “It’s okay,” I muttered, dropping to my knees. “Thanks for not climbing into my bed last night.”

            “I was tempted,” Jeremy confessed. “Especially because I didn’t realize how small my couch really was, but I decided you had a rough enough night as it was. I didn’t want you to wake up to another man.” He laughed a little bit but quickly sobered up. “Damn. Sorry. I’m so used to teasing you—”

            I forced a laugh, shaking my head. “It’s okay, Jeremy. I’m used to it too…”

            He smiled sympathetically. “How are you feeling?”

            “Okay,” I responded honestly. “I texted Chris last night—”

            “You what?”

            I blinked at Jeremy in surprise. “I texted Chris—”

            “Why did you do that Holly?” he snapped.

            “I…”

            “Did you apologize to him?” he demanded.

            I shook my head. “No!”

            His shoulder relaxed a little bit. “Good. What did you say?”

            “I just said night,” I told him, furrowing my eyebrows together. “Why?”

            “What do you mean why? Why aren’t you angry, Holly? Chris left you last night! By yourself. He made a fool out of you.”

            I shuffled my feet, dropping my gaze. “Well I made him angry…”

            “No, Holly. You’re not taking the blame on this one. Chris ditched you last night. He left without you. He left you alone. He didn’t even wait for you in the parking lot! What kind of man would do that?”

            “Chris wouldn’t…”

            “He did, Holly,” Jeremy said flatly, his eyes smoldering into mine. “Yeah, it’s not like him. But he did it Holly. He ditched you last night.”

            I bit my lip. “But…” Jeremy was right. Last night I’d been too angry about Chris not listening to me and then too shocked when he left to actually realize he had ditched me. On our first official date.

“No buts! Are you listening to me at all, Holly?”

            “I am!” I cried, glaring at him. “I am, Jeremy. I understand! Why do you keep repeating it though? I know Chris left last night! He left and it’s my fault!” Tears sprung to my eyes and I scrubbed at them viciously.

            Jeremy’s look softened. “I’m sorry, Holly. You know it’s not your fault. And you can’t forgive Chris so easily for this. Don’t make yourself seem like a pushover.”

            I shook my head. “But I don’t want to fight with him!”

            “All couples fight.”

            “But…”

            “What happened last night? Tell me everything. Here, sit on the couch.” Jeremy moved into a sitting position, patting spot next to him.

            Slowly, I dragged myself off the ground and onto the couch cushion. “You know everything,” I told him, pulling my knees to my chest. “Chris got angry when I told him not to talk to Aaron about what Aaron said to me. Then I mentioned you and that’s when he snapped.”

            “Is that really it?”

            “Yeah,” I murmured. “I’m so stupid. Why did I bring up Aaron? I didn’t know it would cause this to happen! I just wanted to be honest with him!”

            Jeremy rubbed my back soothingly. “This isn’t your fault, Holly. At all. It’s completely Chris’s… and mine.”

            I gave him a sarcastic look. “Oh, yes, Jeremy. You told me to bring up Aaron and you.”

            He chuckled. “No, but I did kiss you earlier. Can you imagine how Chris must have felt? Seeing his best friend kissing the person he loves? He must have been pissed.”

            “He didn’t seem angry,” I responded, frowning again. How did Chris feel? If I saw Casey kissing Chris, I’d be crushed. Even if she had to… I didn’t even want to imagine it.

            “That’s probably because he didn’t want you to feel guilty. And don’t try to say you wouldn’t,” he added quickly. “We both know you, Holly. Chris probably just kept it to himself and then when you mentioned me, it boiled over because he could stop it. The whole Aaron thing was probably another majoring factor. You just happened to say the wrong things at the wrong time.”

            I chewed on my bottom lip, letting my eyes drift back to the floor as I took in Jeremy’s words. Chris did seem a little angrier than usual. The Aaron thing was understandable, after all Shawn had tried to kill us multiple times, but usually he’d take a calmer approach. “I still feel like it’s my fault,” I admitted.

            Jeremy sighed. “I had a feeling you’d say that. You’re too nice, Holly.”

            “That should be a good thing, Jeremy.”

            “Depending on the situation.”

            “This is a good situation.”

            He lightly slapped the back of my head. “No, it’s not. What Chris did last night is not acceptable— and I forbid you to apologize to him in any way, shape, or form. He’s going to apologize to you for leaving you.”

            “He probably already feels horrible about it,” I protested, turning to pout at him. “I don’t want to make him suffer.”

            Jeremy shook his head. “You’re suffering too. He deserves this. You’re always the one apologizing. You should be angry Holly. Even if you don’t feel angry, at least act angry. Okay?”

            “Why?”

            “Because you need to show Chris you stand up to him,” Jeremy pressed. “You tried last night, right? But he wouldn’t listen to you.”

            I twiddled with my fingers. “You’re not just saying this because you want us to break up so you can swoop in and steal me away, right?”

            Jeremy’s face went blank. His mouth opened the tiniest bit, adding to his stupefied affect.

            I laughed— a refreshing, relieving laugh. “I’m kidding, Jeremy. I understand what you’re trying to say. I need to make Chris know he has to listen to me. Maybe I’m too blinded by love to realize he never listens to me.”

            “Geez, Holly, you really know how to give someone a heart attack,” Jeremy sighed, slumping back into the couch. “I’m too old for this. I’m glad you understand what I’m trying to say though.”

            “I don’t know how I’m going to do it though,” I said quietly. “It hurts just to reject his phone call…”

            “It’s best just to ignore him.”

            I rolled my eyes. “Because that’s so easy.”

            Jeremy nudged me in the side with his elbow. “It might be hard, but you have to do it.”

            “There’s school tomorrow,” I pointed out.

            “You know what you have to do?”

            I shook my head.

            “Act like a student, and Chris is your teacher,” Jeremy stated simply. “Like normal students who aren’t having a secret relationship with their teacher.”

            I cracked a smile. “Good advice, Jeremy.”

            He winked. “Any time. Now, to get your mind of things, how about we clean up this place a little bit?”

            “Are you using me for free labor?”

            “Yup.”

            A short laugh left my lips. “I did say we’d clean this place yesterday, so I guess I’ll help.”

            “I’ll treat you out to ice cream after,” he said teasingly.

            “Thanks Jeremy,” I responded seriously.

            He scratched the back of his head, shrugging. “A frown doesn’t suit your face.”

            “I hope things work out with you and Casey.”

            “Huh?”

            “You’d make a great boyfriend,” I told him, smiling. “Casey really likes you, Jeremy.”

            He grinned at me. “I take it you approve?”

            Nodding, I pushed myself off the couch. “I’ve approved all along. They always say it’s bad to let your two best friends date, but I don’t think so.”

            “They say that when they’re talking about two best friends who are best friends with each other,” Jeremy pointed out. “I’m not Casey’s best friend.”

             “Whatever,” I replied, putting my hands on my hips. “Let’s get this place cleaned. Where do you want to start?”

            He thought about it for a minute. “How about the kitchen? I don’t know how long some of those dishes in the sink have been there for.”

            “That’s… gross, Jeremy.”

            “I’m a dude, what can I say?”

            “Chris keeps his dishes clean,” I told him.

            He wagged his finger at me. “No thinking about Chris.”

            I frowned. No thinking about Chris? Was that even possible? I almost laughed at my thoughts. Of course it was possible… Right? “Okay. No thinking about Chris.”

            “Great. Now scoot the boot,” he ordered, putting his hands on my shoulders, and steering me toward the kitchen. “You wash, I’ll dry.”

            “I’m not going to get any diseases, am I?”

            “I can’t make any promises,” he responded solemnly.

            I opened my mouth to protest, but the ringing of a phone cut me off. Jeremy frowned, digging his hand into his pocket, and pulling out his cell. “Who is it?” I inquired.

            “That no thinking about Chris thing is taking a break for about a minute,” he notified me. Before I could ask anything, he flipped open his phone. “Aloha, Topher!”

            “Topher?” I repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

            “I’ll call you what I want, Christopher,” Jeremy said into the phone, sending an amused glance my way. “You sound angry. You mad, bro? Yep. Yes, I am. Yes, I still have her phone, and no, I’m not giving it back.”

            I held my breath, trying to hear what Chris was saying on the other side of the phone. Unfortunately, all I could hear was Chris’s muffled, incoherent voice. Moving my head closer to Jeremy’s, I listened harder. Jeremy immediately pulled away, sending me a scolding look. I scowled at him.

            “She doesn’t want to talk to you,” he stated, his eyes boring into mine.

            I knew he meant I wasn’t allowed to talk to him.

            “Nope, she’s busy cleaning my house to keep her mind of your heartless soul.” A grin spread across his face and I could tell he was trying not to laugh. “I hardly think that’s legal, Chris. Mm, that’s almost as bad as leaving a poor girl all alone while on a date. Especially since a few months ago our gang was after her.”

            I grimaced. That was a low blow. Why did Jeremy have to put him down so hard? I was half tempted to steal the phone away from Jeremy to stop him, but I knew better. First of all, he’d probably slap me across the head, and second, I really did want Chris to learn to listen to me. If he didn’t, we wouldn’t make it as a couple. My chest tightened even at the thought of that.

            Jeremy pulled the phone away from his ear with a frown. “He hung up on me.”

            “I wonder why,” I drawled. “Why do you keep telling him you have my phone?”

            “Uh, well, you know.”

            I crossed my arms. “No, I don’t know.”

            “It’s just so he doesn’t get mad that you’re ignoring his phone calls. He probably won’t, but I’m the one who’s saying for you to do it, so I might as well take the blame…”

            “Have I mentioned I love you, Jeremy?”

            He grinned, ruffling the hair on my head. “That’s what friends are for, Holly. Besides, I won’t miss out a chance to pick on Chris.”

            “Was he mean to you when you were younger?” I teased.

            “Hey, I said no thinking about Chris.”

            “You put it on a break. And technically, we’re talking about him.”

            With another roll of his eyes, he sighed. “Okay, I’ll tell you a story but then you’re cleaning, got it?”

            My heart stuttered in anticipation. “Okay!”

            “It was when I first joined the gang,” he started, moving back to the couch. “I knew Chris a little bit since he was the hot shot. Well, everyone knew him a little bit. But he’s kind of the one who made me want to join the gang.”

            I flopped back down on the couch where Jeremy was now sitting. “I’m not sure whether that’s a good or bad thing.”

            “Neither am I,” he responded, causing me to grin. “You know how good of a fighter Chris is. When another fighter sees that, we’re obviously impressed. We want to get to know that fighter— we want to fight that person. So my first day of being a part of the gang, I naturally challenged Chris.”

            “Wasn’t he the gang leader though?”

            Jeremy made an annoyed face. “Yeah, but he didn’t tell me that.”

            “You spoke to him before?”

            “Didn’t I just say I saw him fight?”

            I pursed my lips. “Well you didn’t say you talked to him.”

            “I talked to him,” Jeremy informed me. “Just the usual praising his technique, blah, blah, blah. You know, usual gang talk.”

            “I don’t know.”

            “Just shut up and listen, Holly,” Jeremy said with a sigh. “Honestly, how does Chris put up wit you?”

            I smiled innocently at him. “I don’t try to annoy Chris. I still interrupt him though…”

            “Anyway,” Jeremy continued, “I guess Chris thought it would be funny if I took on the gang leader. I don’t know why though. He knew I had no chance against him. Fortunately he didn’t use his one hit KO move on me. For some reason, he let me hold my own against him for at least five minutes.”

            “Ooh, five minutes,” I gasped sarcastically before I could stop myself.

            An elbow went into my gut, this time rougher. “Do you want to hear my story?”

            “Yes,” I wheezed, cringing at the pain in my gut.

            “Well he finally knocked me down, but his little stunt allowed me to have some feign in the group. For a fourteen year old, I was pretty bad ass.”

            I couldn’t fathom why a fourteen year old would want to be in a gang. Neither could I fathom how Chris could be leader at sixteen. There were some mysteries in the world that were better off unknown though.

            “With that fame, came Chris’s blackmail.”

            “I should have seen that coming,” I muttered, remembering the times he blackmailed me. I was glad I wasn’t the only one a victim of it.

            Jeremy nodded. “It was only small things. Do my laundry, bring me lunch, bandage my cut… However, as small as those things are, it gets really tiring when you do it for a year.”

            “You let him push you around for a year?”

            “Look, Chris is intimidating,” Jeremy defended. “He might have never threatened you, but I’m sure you’ve seen him do it.”

            Another memory I didn’t want to remember. “Oh, yeah…”

            “When I refused to do any more work for him, he spread a rumor that I was gay.”

            “He did?”

            Jeremy grinned. “Yep. So I told everyone that he was my boyfriend.”

            “You did? Oh my God! Is that why he’s so touchy when I tease you guys about being gay together?”

            “You got it,” Jeremy replied, leaning back on the couch with his hands behind his head. “It was pretty smart thinking on my part. That rumor went away pretty quickly. After that, Chris and I became friends.”

“Wait, how did that make you two become friends?”

            “Because he realized I wasn’t a force to be reckoned with.”

            “Because of that rumor?” I asked, confused.

            Jeremy waved his hand. “That and I faired pretty well in fights. I’ve never beaten him though. Which kind of sucks.”

            “Well now he’s old,” I joked. “You have the advantage.”

            “I think he’s gotten stronger within the years, actually,” he admitted. “I think you’re his only weakness.”

            “That’s cheesy.”

            “You know what else is cheesy?”

            I shook my head.

            “Some of the plates in my sink.”

            “That was punny,” I responded, rubbing my forehead. “I guess this means the no-thinking-about-Chris rule is back on?”

            He nodded. “And the dishwasher Holly is hired. Now, hop to it! After we wash the dishes, we’ll sweep the floor, and then clean out the fridge. After that we can pick up in here and vacuum and dust and all that.”

            I sighed. I was definitely ordering the most expensive ice cream from wherever we were going.

__________________________________________

Yaay! An update! Today is my one year anniversary with Wattpad! It's pretty exciting. 

Facebook in external link~

Today's song is A Little Faster by There For Tomorrow