The Stranger I Bumped Into

✦ chapter 23 ✦

||A/N: some what of an important AN at the end.||

My eyes widen and my mouth is slightly open. The thought of it being Jacob's Cassidy never crossed my mind.

How could I have not seen that coming?

"Lauren." Jacob says, surprised to see me.

"Jacob." I say, staring back at him.

"What are you doing here?" He asks, a confused look on his face.

I decide to lighten the mood. "What, you're not happy to see me?" I tease.

Jacob rolls his eyes, a small smile replacing his confused look. "No, I'm not. You are the absolute worst person in the world." He says sarcastically.

I laugh. "We both know that isn't true."

Jacob opens his mouth to respond, but Daniel interrupts. "Am I missing something?" He asks.

Forgot he was there. Whoops.

I turn to Daniel with a sheepish smile. "Jacob and I are friends." I explain and Jacob nods. I then turn to Cassidy. "Cassidy, how are you?" I ask her with a smile.

She returns mine with one of her own. "I am good thanks. You?"

"I'm good as well." I say. I know, lame response.

"Come on, let's sit." Daniel speaks up. I give him a smile. I go to sit down, but Daniel grabs a hold of my chair and pushes it out for me, motioning for me to take a seat. My smile only goes bigger as I sit down. He tucks the chair in and he takes a seat next to me. "Thank." I say to him. "Your welcome." He says.

"Uh, Lauren?" Jacob says, gaining both of our attentions. "Yeah?" I ask. "You guys are together, right?" Jacob asks and I nod in response. "When exactly did this happen?" Jacob asks, motioning between Daniel and I.

I turn to Daniel, alarmed, although I didn't let it show. I silently tell him with my eyes that he should answer. I just hope he gets the message. We did not discuss any of this.

We are so not ready for this date.

Thankfully, he gets the message and clears his throat. "We've been dating for a month." He says, keeping it simple.

Jacob raises his eyebrows and gets a look of hurt and betrayal. "Why didn't you tell me? All of us?" He asks, sounding hurt. I knew who he meant by 'us'. Him, Noah, Ryan and the girls.

I rack my brain for an answer. "I'm sorry, Jacob. I was going to tell you guys." I lie. I instantly felt bad. Lying was just wrong. He looks like he doesn't believe me but doesn't pry for anymore details.

Cassidy clears her throat. "Anyway-"

-----

We've finally finished dinner and we stand up from our table. Dinner was outright terrible. The whole thing was a lie, on my part at least. I tuck my chair in and my eyes meet Jacob's, but I quickly look away, not wanting to see the still present hurt look.

"It was nice meeting you, Jacob." Daniel says.

"You too." Jacob says.

"It was nice seeing you again, Lauren." Cassidy says. I look up at her and smile, although I knew it was fake. I just couldn't muster up a real one. "Likewise." I respond.