The heavy pounding on my bedroom door startled me into an alert and awake stance. Confused, I glanced around my room, finding Anthony dead asleep beside me. Alarm coursed through me, but I relaxed as soon as I remembered the events from the night before. The alarm changed to embarrassment and I buried my hands in my face, knowing I would have to face Julius sooner or later. Hopefully he wouldn’t remember last night… but at the same time, I hoped he would. I didn’t want to break his heart again. Just thinking about doing it again caused my own heart to clench painfully.

            “Ellie! Ellie, wake up! It’s almost seven!”

            My eyes widened. Julius!

            “Ellie? I’m coming in!”

            “Wait!” I cried, but it was too late.

            Julius popped his head into my room, his eyes bloodshot, giving him the appearance of someone who hadn’t slept for weeks. “Ellie, school— What is Anthony doing in here?”

            “I, um… He…”

            Choosing the worst moment to awaken, Anthony groaned, wrapping one of his arms around my waist and attempting to pull me closer to him. “Ellie, not so loud. Go back to sleep.”

            “Anthony,” I muttered, jabbing him in the side with my elbow.

            He shot up in surprise, staring at me in disbelief. “Ow! What was that for?”

            I shot him a pointed look, before turning my attention back to Julius. “He, uh, fell asleep in here last night.”

            “I thought…” Julius trailed off, the familiar expression of hurt appearing on his face. It tugged on my heartstrings painfully. After a second he forced a laugh. “Oh, I get it. You came in here so none of the girls would rape you, right, Anthony?”

            “No. I just wanted to stay with Ellie after what you did last night,” Anthony responded flatly.

            I gasped. “Anthony!”

            “What?” he responded.

            “I wasn’t… I was waiting…”

            He placed his hand on mine, his eyes serious. “Sorry, Ellie. I know I’m being selfish, but after last night, I don’t want to keep it from him anymore. I want him to know.”

            “Me to know what?” Julius demanded.

            “Ellie and I are dating,” Anthony stated boldly before I could stop him.

            Julius’s face went completely blank.

            “Julius, I…” I paused, unsure of what I wanted to say to him. I’m sorry? If I said that, it would make it seem like I was regretting my choice to date Anthony. Which I wasn’t. At all.

            “Ellie, you’ll be late for school,” Julius notified me in a casual tone.

            I stared at him. “What?”

            He brushed his blonde hair out of his face, nodding to my alarm clock on my desk. “It’s almost seven. School starts in forty-five minutes.”

            “I’m not—”

            “Anthony, you should go check on Mason. Last time I checked he asleep on the stairs. I’m afraid he might’ve rolled down them.”

            Anthony immediately rolled out of my bed. “Are you serious, dude? Why the hell didn’t you wake him up!?” In his hurry to check on my brother, his foot got tangled in my sheets, causing him to face plant into the ground.

            If it had been any other situation besides this one, I would have laughed, or asked if he was okay, but all I could do was stare at him. A part of me was pissed that he’d said we were dating so flatly to Julius, but the other part of me fully why he had. If there was a girl who liked him, I would want him to tell her he was dating me as soon as possible. Keeping it a secret would only hurt us both. So, because of my inconsiderate self, I was hurting both Anthony and Julius.

            “Julius,” I started as soon as Anthony was out the door, and at the same time Julius said, “Ellie.”

            A small smile appeared on his face. “You first?”

            “No, you go,” I insisted, pulling my knees up to my chest.

            Sighing, he trudged over to my bed, opting to set on my desk chair instead of the comfy mattress. “About last night…”

            My heart skipped a beat. Did he remember?

            “I’m sorry, I was really wasted. I can’t exactly remember what happened…”

            I relaxed slightly, but also felt a little disappointment. “Yeah, you were.” That seemed like a safe enough comment, but I couldn’t help feeling as though my voice was too harsh.

            Either way, he was unaffected by it. He clasped his hands over his lap, sitting up straight and proper. “I remember some of it though… like how I made you cry. And… and that other thing,” he finished in a mutter.

            “O-oh,” I responded, my cheeks tingling. “Is that all?”

            “I’m sorry,” he apologized, bowing his head. “I’m sorry. I’m embarrassed about how immature I acted last night. You should’ve just hit me.”

            I shook my head, forgetting he wasn’t watching me. “No! I shouldn’t have. I’m just as responsible as you are.”

            “What? No you’re not.”

            “I am.”

            “No,” he stated, bringing his head back up and narrowing his eyes at me. “You’re not.”

            I challenged his look, setting my jaw. “Yes. I should have just told you I was dating Anthony. I shouldn’t have given you false hope—”

            “You didn’t give me any false hope,” he interjected with a laugh. “I kind of got the point you didn’t like me anymore. You know, hearing you talk about Anthony all the time doesn’t leave any room for imagination. I knew you liked him. I also knew you stopped liking me after I rejected you.”

            “But Julius…”

            He shook his head. “I did mean one thing though.”

            “What?”

            His chocolate eyes pierced into mine, smoldering over with emotion. My heart stopped in my chest as I guessed his next words. “I do love you, Ellie.”

            Tensing, I found it difficult to breathe. I already knew this. So why was I acting like he was telling me for the first time? Was it because he was sober this time? My mind searched for the right words to say, but there were none. Nobody knew what to say when you had to break someone’s heart. Luckily, I didn’t have to say anything.

            “I know you don’t love me anymore,” Julius started, keeping his gaze locked with mine, “but I just needed to tell you.”

            “I still love you,” I told him honestly. “Just not like that…”

            The small flicker of hope that’d appeared in his eyes at the start of my reply vanished as soon as I stopped speaking. “Well, at least it’s something,” he declared, half-smiling at me.

            Once again I felt my throat constricting. “Julius…”

            “Ellie, don’t—”

            “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I feel so bad,” I confessed, my eyes starting to burn. Why was it so hard to reject someone? Was it because it was Julius? It probably was. With any other guy, I wouldn’t feel this bad. No one could break my heart as I was breaking theirs except Julius. I blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears away. “I didn’t want to hurt you, so I kept it a secret from you. I forced Anthony to as well, even though he’s your best friend… even though I was supposed to be one of your best friends too. I’m really sorry, Julius. I wish things were different. If I hadn’t met Anthony, maybe— mmph!”

            Julius gave me a hard look, his hand pressed tightly against my mouth. “Don’t say what you were just about to say, unless you want me to have false hope.”

            I stared at him, my mouth going dry. After a long moment I nodded, and he dropped his hand away. “But Julius…”

            “Ellie, come on. You’re eighteen. You’re almost done with high school. You don’t need to cry over something like this,” he said, rolling his eyes.

            “But—”

            “Grow up a little bit. If you don’t, I may just have to keep Anthony from you,” he joked.

            “But if you’re not going to cry, someone needs to for you,” I responded, wiping my tears away with the back of my hand. “I know you’re trying to act cool, but I also know how you’re actually feeling. You rejected me once too, remember?”

            The pseudo-happy expression on his face dropped. He swallowed nervously. “That’s…”

            “It’s not different,” I cut him off. “It’s the same.”

            “I…”

            Pushing myself out of my bed, I stepped over to Julius, throwing my arms around him. “But big men don’t cry, huh?” I commented lightheartedly.

            “No, they don’t,” he replied with a shaky laugh, tightening his arms around me.

            “How admirable,” I mumbled, biting on my lip to keep my emotions in check. Somehow I’d managed to dry my tears. It was going to stay that way.

            Suddenly Julius pulled away. “Ellie?”

            I took in his sheepish expression and a wave of wariness washed over me. “What?”

            “Um, I have one request… It’s perfectly acceptable for you to say no though. Especially after last night.”

            “What is it?”

            “Kiss me.”

            His words made me do a double take. “W-what?”

            “Just once. Just so I know what it’s like.”

            “I…”

            “You can tell Anthony. You can even blame me. But please, Ellie…”

            I hesitated for a moment. He gave me puppy-dog eyes. Inside, I groaned. How could I say no to that? “Just once?”

            He nodded eagerly. “Just once!”

            “If I agree to this, then we’ll put all of this behind us, okay?” I said, moving backward to make enough room for him to stand up. “We’ll start with a clean slate. No romantic feelings.”

            “I’ll wish you and Anthony the best of luck. He’s my best friend after all.”

            “You’re kissing your best friend’s girl,” I pointed out with a wry smile.

            “My best friend stole my girl even though he knew I liked her,” Julius countered slyly. “With this, we’ll be even.”

            I nodded, my pulse quickening. “Okay… Ready?”

            “Whenever you are.”

            I hoisted myself onto my tiptoes so I could reach Julius’s lips. My arms with around his neck, pulling his head down to meet me half-way. I brushed my lips over his softly once. “Is that enough?” I whispered.

            He shook his head. “A real kiss.”

            This time he took the lead, pressing his soft lips firmly against mine. They were unbelievably warm and velvety, not at all what I’d thought they’d be. This kiss was different than the ones from last night. It was nicer… more comfortable.

            After a few more seconds, Julius pulled away, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Huh, no fireworks.”

            I blushed. “Of course not! That doesn’t happen in real life!”

            “Well, at least it was exactly how I dreamed it’d be like,” he continued with a smirk. “I figured you’d be too innocent to use tongue.”

            My jaw nearly hit the floor. “W-what? I am not!”

            “You’re not prude?”

            “No! Where’d you get that idea from? I do all kinds of stuff!”

            Julius raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? Should I be saying something to your mom… or expecting a cute little baby? Anthony would make a great dad.”

            I glowered at him, feeling my cheeks heat up. “You’re so annoying, Julius!”

            He laughed. “You’re cute when you’re angry.”

            “Go clean!”

            “Sure. Since I’m not late for school.”

            I gave him a sarcastic look. “I wasn’t planning to go anyway.”

            “Why not?”

            “I, um, well I was planning to talk to you,” I admitted quietly. “I thought it wouldn’t go over as easy as this.”

            Julius smiled softly. “Did you think I’d hit you?”

            “No!”

            “Well, after last night, I’m surprised.”

            “You were drunk. I already forgave you for that.”

            He beamed. “That’s good to know! Now, I’m going to go tell Anthony how awesome our kiss was. He’ll be so jealous.”

            “Julius!”

            “Adios, Ellie,” he called, quickly escaping from my room. “Maybe we can do that again sometime?”

            I frowned at him. Was he joking? “I thought I said we were staring a clean slate?”

            He raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you were cupid.”

            “What?”

            “I mean, it’s impossible to force someone’s feelings to go away. I’ll keep liking you until every ounce of my love for you is gone,” he informed me. “Who knows? Maybe Anthony will have to move away.”

            “Julius—”           

            “Bye Ellie!” Throwing one last teasing smile in my direction, he slammed my bedroom door shut.

            I gawked at it for a minute, my mind trying to process the last few moments events. When it did, I nearly choked on my spit. Julius was one sneaky guy.

            Sighing, I crawled back into my bed, feeling drained. What was the point of staying home if you didn’t sleep in? I curled up under my comforters, tucking my hands under my pillow. Somehow, I couldn’t help feeling a little bit happy. Julius liking me was a lot better than him hating me. When I woke up again, I’d have a small chat with Anthony.

            A tickle on my face caused me to come to my senses. Thinking it was a bug, I slapped a hand to my face, aiming to kill it. Laughter filled my ears as I felt something chilly and squishy make contact with my face. My eyes shot open and I saw Anthony, Julius, and my brother all doubling over in laughter in front of me. Sitting up, I brought my hand to my face, noticing it was covered in whipped cream. “What the… Anthony!” I cried accusingly.

            My boyfriend stopped laughing for a moment to answer me. “Yes?”

            “I know it was you!”

            “It wasn’t me,” he responded innocently.

            I pursed my lips at him. “Oh yeah? Because I definitely didn’t do this with Nutella, right?”

            My brother grinned at me. “Actually, I did this.”

            “Mason!”

            “But Anthony gave me the idea.”

            “Anthony!”

            Anthony started laughing again, dimples appearing in his cheeks. “Just think of it as payback for the Nutella.”

            “You already paid me back for that!”

            “Oh, that’s right…”

            I turned my glare to Julius. “What was your part in this?”

            “I would do nothing to upset you,” he vowed seriously.

            “Oh, don’t be a suck up,” Anthony interjected, elbowing his friend in the side.

            “I wasn’t!”

            While the boys were distracted, I slapped my dirty hand to Anthony’s face. His expression of shock and disgust was enough to send me over the edge. “Ha ha ha! Serves you right!”

            My brother and Julius were sent into another fit while Anthony wiped the whipped cream off his cheek. “You’ll pay for that, Ellie.”

            “How?”

            Without warning, he leaned down and licked my cheek. Pulling away, he smirked at me. “Yum.”

            “Oh, gross!” I complained, wrinkling my nose in disgust.

            “You two are revolting,” my brother commented, sobering up quickly. “Don’t do that kind of stuff in front of me.”

            Anthony shot him an annoyed look. “Should I tell her what you and that chick from Dartmouth did in front of me—”

            “Don’t mention that,” Mason said quickly, pressing his hand to Anthony’s mouth. “Ever again.”

            Julius patted my brother on my shoulder. “I don’t think anyone could be as disgusting as you.”

            Mason brushed his hand off. “It was her not me!”

            I didn’t even want to know what they were talking about.

            “Besides,” Julius continued, dragging a finger across Anthony’s cheek, “whipped cream tastes good.” With that, he popped his pointer finger into his mouth and sucked off the sweet treat.

            “And that’s just plain creepy,” Mason muttered, rubbing his forehead. “Okay. Now that she’s up, I’m going to finish cleaning.”

            “I’ll help you,” Julius volunteered.

            Mason nodded and then turned to me. “If Anthony’s in here, you’re not allowed to close the door.”

            I gaped at him. “But Mason—”

            “No buts.”

            “But…”

            He raised an eyebrow. “What? It’s not my rule. It’s mom’s.”

            “She won’t know if you don’t tell her…”

            Julius smiled brightly at me. “But I will if she doesn’t.”

            “Thanks,” I said dryly.

            He waved me off. “No problema, chica.”

            “Come on, let’s go,” Mason ordered, pushing on the blonde’s shoulders. “We have a lot to do.”

            Julius sighed dramatically. “I’m such a good friend.”

            “Right you are.”

            Anthony grinned after the two men as they left my room, Julius purposefully opening my door wider. “Idiots.”

            “You could say that again,” I sighed, glancing down at my sticky hand. “I need to go wash up.”

            His eyes twinkled. “Sure you don’t want me to lick it off you?”

            “I’m sure!” I responded, feeling my cheeks warm up.

            “Julius told me you kissed him.”

            I grimaced. So he wasn’t kidding. “Anthony, I’m sorry.”

            “Don’t apologize. I’m sort of relieved.”

            “You are…?”

            He nodded. “I know you used to like him, so that means you must’ve wanted to kiss him, right? I’m glad you go the chance. I kind of compare it to kissing a celebrity. It doesn’t really count.”

            “You’re weird,” I responded, smiling slightly. “What if I told you I felt sparks?”

            “Did you?”

            “No, but—”

            “Doesn’t matter then,” he cut me of, grinning handsomely. “That’s what makes me feel relieved. If you had felt something, I bet eventually you would’ve dumped me for him.”

            I shook my head vehemently. “I wouldn’t!”

            “I’m happy to hear that,” he said, leaning toward me, bringing his face uncomfortably close.

            Expecting a kiss, I closed my eyes and puckered my lips. Instead of the feel of his lips, I felt his slimy tongue run over my cheek again. “Anthony! Stop that!”

            Laughing, he jerked back, escaping my flailing hand. “You’re so cute! I can’t help it!”

            “I didn’t even take a shower yet!” I told him, my face flaming.

            “I don’t care.”

            “You’re gross!”

            He batted his eyelashes playfully. “Why thank you.”

            “You—”

            Pressing his lips against my swiftly, he efficiently cut me off. Giving up my argument, I closed my eyes, responding to his kiss. Nothing against Julius, but I preferred kissing Anthony over him. While Anthony’s lips were soft, they were also firm. He easily dominated the kiss.

            After a few moments his lips left mine, but he didn’t move away. Instead, he pressed his forehead against my forehead, his green eyes piercing into mine. “Can I confess something?”

            “Yes,” I breathed quietly.

            “The whole time in Walmart, and even up to this moment, I was afraid you’d choose Julius over me.”

            My eyes widened. “What?”

            “You’ve known him for so long. And you always talk about him in such high praise, I just assumed. So when you guys were staying at my house, I kind of wanted to test you. Sorry if I acted like a tool.”

            “I didn’t think you we’re acting like a tool,” I told him honestly. “You’re just different around your friends. Everyone is different around their friends.”

            He shook his head, his bangs tickling my exposed skin. “No, I was kind of a snob. I’ve already apologized to Julius.”

            “You don’t need to apologize.”

            “I am anyway. Do you accept it?”

            My face broke out into a smile. “Of course I do.”

            Relief washed across his face and he pulled his head away from mine. “Okay, good. Now, shall we go wash off our faces?”

            “Yes,” I agreed quickly, throwing the blankets off me. “I hate feeling sticky.”

            “Hmm, you’d hate it in Florida then.”

            I frowned. “Why?”

            “It’s muggy,” he informed me. “Really humid.”

            “I still want to go though.”

            “You’re still welcome to come. I just need to tell my parents… Are you positive you’re interested in coming? Julius and Mason are.”

            I nodded eagerly. “I really want to go! It’d be cool to meet your parents and some of your old friends!”

            He laughed at my excitement. “Okay, I’ll call my mom today. I’m sure she’ll say yes. But speaking of friends, I still have to meet yours.”

            “Ah,” I responded, grimacing. I was hoping he wouldn’t say that. “I guess you can…”

            “You don’t want me to?”

            “No! That’s not it. It’s just… they’ll tease me endlessly when they find out I’m dating you,” I confessed reluctantly.

            He chuckled, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Poor Ellie.”

            “I know.”

            “I still want to meet them.”

            “Fine.”

            Squeezing my shoulders, he leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “I’ve already showered, so once you shower, let’s go out for lunch.”

            “Like a date?” I asked.

            “Yeah!”

            Excited, I bobbed my head up and down. “Okay!”

            “One where you pay!”

            “Huh?”

            He grinned at me sheepishly. “I forgot my wallet at home.”

            Now I laughed. “Okay, I’ll pay.”

            “You’re the best,” he told me.

            I winked at him. “I know.”                        

________________________________________ 

I know. This took forever for me to get up. I'm so sorry. I didn't realize how long it'd been Dx But here it is! And Happy Thanksgiving! 

So, this story is going to be coming to an end in a few chapters. It was really meant to be a short, SHORT story... but it kinda grew on me so I made it longer. But I can't make it too long because I didn't think about any long-time plot ideas. So hmm, maybe like three or four more chapters? And then I'm either thinking about making a two part epilogue of them at house in Florida? Does that sound good? Let me know! 

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