Jay’s contagious laughter came echoing down the hall. Brandy knew it was him as she made her way through to the studio to meet up with him and the lads; his voice stood out from the rest. She wasn’t sure what it was about him, but his laugh always made her smile, even when she wasn’t having the best of days.
“Cecilie!” they chorused as they saw her step through the doorway. She smiled, accepting the group hug as she greeted them. Jay, however, kept an arm slung over her shoulders after everyone else had released each other from the embrace.
“What are you doing here?” Jay asked her when after they both took a seat on the somewhat small couch in the room.
“Just thought I’d drop by. I haven’t really seen everyone in a little while, so I thought it might be worth it,” Cecilie replied, smiling at him. Really, she’d just come in to see Jay again; she loved him, and more than just a friend. She really liked him, but she didn’t think Jay reciprocated those feelings, leaving her to keep certain feelings locked away, especially in his presence.
“You saw them just a few days ago though,” he said, commenting on the night out they had on Wednesday. Cecilie mentally kicked herself for not coming up with a better excuse, but how could she when she got lost in those blue eyes of his?
“That feels like weeks ago,” she said, averting her gaze from him; she had to pull herself together if she were to not let something slip, making her regret coming in the first place.
“Feels like hours to me,” he said, chuckling softly at the memory of their last night out together.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. How about we go out again tonight?” Tom chimed in, not that there was much conversation going on.
“Sounds good to me,” Cecilie said; she knew Jay would be going, and that’s all she needed to know.
“Yeah, sure,” Jay said, brightening up at the idea. Cecilie smiled to herself; now all she had to do was get drunk enough with the lads so she could forget half of what she had to keep locked up in her mind.
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Cecilie had already had a fair few drinks, but surprisingly, Jay had only had a couple. Both of them however, weren’t nearly drunk enough to be speaking their sober thoughts, which is partly what Cecilie didn’t mind. She couldn’t tell Jay something she’d been able to keep quiet about for so long now, let alone see his drunken response.
“Cecilie,” Jay said to her, leaning in a bit so she could hear him better over the loud music. “Can we go somewhere a bit quieter?” he asked. She grew curious immediately as to what Jay wanted, but she didn’t question it.
She nodded once and they both made their way to a quiet back room, him taking her hand as they walked past everyone on the dance floor.
“What’s up Jay?” she asked, wondering what could have possibly made Jay want to talk to her now.
“I’ve, uh, wanted to tell you something... uhm... for a while now, I-I-I just didn’t know how or when tho,” he said, starting to feel the nerves settle. He didn’t know how to tell her, or how she would react. He could never tell in the slightest if she felt even remotely the same.
“Oh, what’s that?” she asked, growing more curious by the second. She had a feeling what this could be about, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up too much; it would only lead to disappointment if her instincts were wrong.
“Well, we’ve been friends for years now... and... well... I’ve gotten to like you more than that,” he said, his voice softening as he finished speaking. Cecilie was taken aback; had he basically just told her he wanted to be more than friends? Regardless, she felt slightly overwhelmed, but did her best to make sure not to show it.
“I really like you too, Jay,” she said, not being able to contain her feelings much longer. Being in such close proximity to him, and being in a room of just the two of them, made her heart race faster when she realised what was happening.
“You do?” he said, almost completely shocked and astounded. She’d never shown any sign of that kind of affection towards him, at least none that he’d noticed. Then again, the same could be said for Jay; he only ever seemed to like her as a friend, and that’s what Cecilie thought that they would ever be – friends.
“Yeah, for years now,” she admitted, feeling a mixture of relief and fear. The relief she felt was for finally getting it off her chest, the fear being that it would ruin their friendship, and her friendship with the other lads, if they were to start dating, or worse, break up because it wasn’t working out.
“Me too, I just never thought you felt the same,” he said, recalling all the times they’d hung out, jus the two of them. She’d always keep a comfortable distance from him, yet would never show the smallest signs of liking him.
“I thought the same; you never seemed to show that great of an interest in me,” she said, thinking back to how Jay would only look at her as a friend, or even like a sister. Never had Cecilie thought he was interested in her.
“I do like you though, a lot,” Jay replied, “I just never showed it ‘cause I thought the lads would just tease me about it.”
“Oh, I guess that makes sense, they are-“ Cecilie started saying before Jay shut her up by pressing his lips against hers.
It took her by surprise, but she didn’t pull away, that was the last thing on her mind.
Instead, she took the kiss further, and Jay didn’t seem to mind at all.
“Wow,” was all he could say when they both pulled slowlly away.
“Yeah,” she said, shocked at herself and him in a way. She never thought this was going to happen between them, but now that it had, she couldn’t be any happier.
