Chasing the Stars {Jamie Benn}

Six

{Jamie}

It had been a few weeks since Elle had walked into my life, and her and Tyler were still living at my place. Not that I minded. We ahead a lot of fun whenever Tyler wasn't around, but whenever he was, we could both kind of drop what we were doing and act like our friendship didn't exist.

"Jamieeee," she slipped into the kitchen in a pair of leggings and a Stars t-shirt. God, she was adorable.

"Yes, dear?" I teased, leaning my forearms on the counter. She came up next to me and set her arms down next to mine.

"Tyler's having a maintenance day at the rink," she told me with a shrug. I felt my stomach drop and churn. Maintenance day, my ass. He was probably having sex with the massage therapist as we spoke.

I felt like complete crap, keeping something so big from her, but it wasn't my conversation to have. Even though I thought what he was doing was completely idiotic, he was still one of my best friends. We had had countless arguments over it before she even got here, and he always said the same thing,

"Jamie, stay out of it."

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, really.

"We should do something," I commented, turning my head to look at her. I felt my heart lightly flutter when I saw she was already gazing at me.

"Like what?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at me. She didn't even realize she was doing it, but she was driving me crazy, in the good way.

"I was thinking we could do one of those touristy things," I told her. She grinned and nodded.

"Which one?"

"Well, it depends. Do you want to look at old paintings or pet the stingrays?"

Her eyes lit up when I mentioned the stingrays. She pushed herself off of the counter and grabbed my arm. She was as excited as a little kid, which made my heart flutter even more. Most girls, you offer something like the aquarium, and they think it's totally lame. But Eleanor was standing, well bouncing, there in front of me. I laughed at her giddiness.

"You get to pet the stingrays? For real?" she questioned, putting her hands on my shoulder. I laughed once again.

"Would I lie to you?" I asked with a grin. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I realized that I was lying to her. She left the kitchen to go change, and I was left in the kitchen, battling my own thoughts. I wasn't sure Tyler was ever going to come clean on his own. I didn't even understand why he was even doing this to her. He had to sleep with and to love on. Why in the hell did he several more?

It was getting somewhat chilly outside, so I grabbed my favorite black beanie and pulled it over my hair. I checked it in the living room mirror to make sure it looked alright, and suddenly Eleanor appeared behind me with a smug grin.

"Checking yourself out, eh?" she teased. Even though she was only from Michigan, her accent was showing.

"No," I defended. "My beanie, I had to make sure it was good."

"Mhm, sure, Chubbs," she remarked with a grin. "Come on!"

•••••••••••••••

I had already been to the aquarium plenty of times since I'd first gotten here, but watching Elle get excited over the fish was fun.

"Look," she told me excitedly, her small hand pressed against the glass. There was a shark swimming pretty close to the glass. "This is awesome."

"You're such a tourist," I teased, folding my arms over my chest. She rolled her eyes at me, and she gave me a small shove.

The more time I spent with her, the more sides I saw come out of her. She had a sassy side, and I began to think that that was her favorite. But then, whenever she was with Tyler, I noticed something change. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something about her bubbly-ness went away.

"Whatcha thinking about?" she questioned, peering up at me. Shit. Think, Jamie, think!!, I thought to myself. The answer rolled out of my mouth before I had the chance to process it.

"You."

"What about me?" she asked, not missing a beat.

"Just how I don't know that much about you," I replied as nonchalantly as possible.

"Ask away, Jams, I'll answer anything," she informed me.

"What's your favorite color?" I questioned. She giggled.

"Orange."

"Favorite food?"

"Sushi."

"Favorite music?

"I'll listen to anything, but I like country."

I was running out of small talk questions. I actually wanted to get somewhere with this, so I threw in something more deep.

"Why don't you like the name Eleanor?"

She turned to look at me, and for the first time, her eyes were filled with anger. I thought I had crossed a line until her body relaxed, and her eyes turned soft again.

"You really want to know?" she asked.

"Of course."

She plopped down on one of the benches facing the huge tanks. She paused before she spoke, crossing her legs.

"I had never really loved my name. I had always thought it sounded too British or something," she said told me with a small laugh. "But that's obviously not the main reason. In high school, my mom told me that my name was my dad's idea, and basically, my dad was cheating on my mom at the time with a woman named Ellen. He loved Ellen's name, and mine's obviously not the same, but that's where he got the idea. So, therefore, I can't stand my name because I'm named after the woman who ripped my parents apart and caused me to be constantly afraid of relationships."

I honestly had no idea what to do with that. Her high school years were ruined by cheating, and if she ever found out about Tyler, her life would crumble again.

"So why do I get to call you Eleanor?" I asked. She finally turned her head to look at me. Her state was steady, and I had to admit I was a little nervous.

"I honestly can't answer that," she said quietly. "I don't even let Tyler call me that."

"I feel special," I teased. She cracked a small smile and leaned her shoulder into me.

"You should."

We just sat there in silence, watching the fish swim around the vast tank. It was peaceful, and I couldn't help but think that we probably looked like a couple.

And I began to realize how much I liked the idea of that. I would never, ever, cheat on her. I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea of cheating on her. She had everything, as far as I aware. She was just following Tyler around the country to live his dream, unaware of what he was doing.

"Jamie?" she asked quietly, looking up at me. I squeezed her shoulder lightly.

"What?"

"I'm sleepy," she commented. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"Why not?" I questioned, turning in towards her.

"It kind of goes along with my name thing. I had a dream that Tyler was cheating on me, and I just lost it."

I felt the blood drain out of my face, but I kept my composure anyways.

"It just freaked me out a little," she said with a laugh. "I would devastated if that happened."

I had never wanted to tell her more. I gnawed on the inside of my cheek while we sat there in comfortable silence once again. I was completely and utterly conflicted. After a few minutes, I noticed her breathing slow. I turned my head and noticed her sound asleep. Her head was resting lightly on my arm, which I had draped across the back of the bench.

I didn't have the heart to wake her up, so I just sat there with a gorgeous girl snoring on my arm. And I was happy.