Catching Chester

Chapter Eleven

Hello!

Yes, it is I typing this boring author's note, suspending the continuation of the story while I blather about things you couldn't possibly care about. Like how I had to attempt this chapter about 6 times before it came out right, or how I'm sorry about the delay in updates, or how even I didn't expect the sudden burst of heat between Chester and Tasha.

Wait, was that a little bit of a spoiler? Better put up a stop light to control the traffic of people going to read and find out.

RED LIGHT.

YELLOW LIGHT. (That's caution folks, you can run it but that's frowned upon and could even kill you.)

RED LIGHT. (Ooops. Are the lights messed up? Darn it. That wasn't supposed to happen. )

*wacks light with big stick of salami*

GREEN LIGHT! Go go go!

I will stop torturing you now. Haha. The simple joys in life.

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We've just broken our hug and have pulled back from each other, when he reaches into his pocket and withdrawals his phone. An annoyed wrinkle forms on his brown. The screen is lit, so logic dictates that someone is trying to call him. I don't hear it ringing, so he must still have it on vibrate. His entire body morphs into the likeness of a concrete statue as he stares blankly at it, sorrow consuming every ounce of the comfort I had just given him. After half a second of brief indecision, he presses the ignore button, slides the phone back into his pocket, and glances up at me with brutal pain crushing the softness of his eyes.

My first guess is that it had been the Grim Reaper calling collect, but then I sigh, knowing it had been the more likely option of Ariel.

"Speak of the She-Devil." He attempts to turn it into a joke, but his words come out far too quiet for there to be any dry humor in it. "I guess she finally remembered that I still exist."

"You're not going to talk to her?" I question intrusively.

"Not right now. Break-ups over the phone are so tacky. When I do it, I'll have the decency to do it in person." He seems to map out the plan as he speaks, nodding at the end of his sentence to affirm his own plans.

"I could always call her and-"

"No. Out of the question. Absolutely not. I will not have my best friend call my fiance and break the news. That would just be horribly distasteful." He pales at the thought, then narrows his eyes at me suspiciously, almost wary. "Why do you have that ridiculous grin plastered on your face?"

"You called me your best friend." My grin turns into a cheesy smile, I can't help it.

"I did? When?" Perplexed and confused, he interrogates me with those three words and a disturbed stare.

"Just now."

"Damned truth serum." He mutters and the tips of his ears turn cherry red. He turns away, embarrassed not because he had let the fact slip, but that he had essentially admitted to having no one else to fill the spot. Giving away vital information about himself and the sad fact that someone he'd only known for a few days took precedent over everyone he'd ever known.

The best friend title is an honor to have, and he'd placed it upon me with words that came straight from the honest part of his heart at a time when he couldn't bend the truth if he wanted to. I decide to tease him a little bit about it, and at the very least maybe I'll succeed in cheering him up.