IM5 Preferences

38. You're Dating Him But Another Member Likes You

COLE

You shriek at the shock of the cold water. “COLE! STOP!” You scream, even through your laughter, as he points the hose directly at you. The two of you run around his backyard in Texas, the rest of the boys, sitting off to the side, sipping lemonades, and watching your antics. “COLE!” You continue squealing as he continues laughing. Gabe sighs heavily, earning questioning looks from the other three boys. “Yes, Gabe?” Will asks, “Do you have another comment?” His tone is sharp, uncharacteristic of him. Gabe just shrugs, knowing better than to say anything back. “Will? Guys?” You and Cole have stopped running around and, until now, the boys didn’t notice the two of you standing right in front of them. Gabe sinks down, his sunglasses hiding his expression, “Nothing,” he mumbles. “No,” Cole says, “I wanna know. Tell me. Say it,” he challenges. You look back and forth from Cole to Gabe, from Gabe to Cole, completely lost. “Say it,” Cole seethes, “Say it to my face.” And for the first time, Gabe looks genuinely fearful as he stammers back, “I—I c—can’t…” Cole snorts, “Of course you can’t, all bark, no bite,” and with that, he puts an arm around your shoulders and begins walking you towards the house.

DALTON

While Gabe is out, You, Dalton, Will, and Dana are getting ready to go to City Walk. “Why don’t you come with us, Cole?” You ask good naturedly, not wanting him to be left out of the group. He hesitates, then shrugs and stands, shoving his hands in his pockets, “Sure,” he mumbles, avoiding eye contact. As the five of you stroll through City Walk, you notice that Cole seems so much more distant than usual, always walking a few steps ahead or a few steps behind and avoiding conversation with you. You and Dalton exchange a worried look before he walks up to him and says something you can’t hear. You decide to stay out of it for now, and just let Dalton talk to his friend. Dalton places a consoling hand on Cole’s shoulder, but Cole shakes him off and steps back, jaw clenched, eyes smoldering. “Cole!” You run up to them, but Dalton pushes you behind him, both boys glaring at each other. “What is going on?!” You ask, looking from Cole and Dalton to Will and Dana, hoping for some sort of explanation, but nothing. “It’s nothing,” Cole sneers, never taking his eyes off Dalton.

DANA

You and the rest of the boys are at Dana’s house, having a lazy Saturday. “Yes! I win!” Dana throws his arms up in triumph, having successfully beaten you at Monopoly. “But, Dana, you cheated!” You pout and cross your arms over your chest, but Dana just pretends he didn’t hear. “You cheated!” You yell. “I did not!” He yells back, laughing. “Fine,” you huff, standing up, “I’m gonna go get something to drink, you want anything?” He shakes his head. You get to the kitchen and see Will leaning against the counter, looking out of place. “Hi, Will,” you try to sound friendly, but something’s off. “So, um, where are the boys?” you ask, trying to make light conversation. He looks around, “I think they went out,” he replies softly. “Oh, ok,” you turn towards the cabinets, but Will interrupts your thoughts, “Remember that time we sat on the roof all night?” It’s true, you knew him long before you knew Dana, he’s the reason you met Dana, but why is he bringing it up?  “Yeah…Why do you ask?” He shrugs and whispers, “I don’t know,” but as you walk out of the kitchen, he murmurs, “Because I was going to tell you I liked you that night.” And you pretend you don’t hear.

GABE

 “I’m gonna post this one on Instagram, okay?” You ask, showing Gabe a picture of the two of you trying on ridiculous sunglasses. He looks over and smiles, “Sure.” You quickly post the picture with the caption, Had a fun day goofing off with my Batman @gabeim5 :), and smile to yourself. The two of you went out for brunch and some shopping today, and ended up goofing off in a retail store and taking plenty of pictures. Not even two minutes after posting the picture, you see a new comment from Dana that says yeah, looks like fun :(, and frown to yourself. It’s just so out of character for him. Was that a typo and he meant to put a smiley face? Gabe, noticing your distress, looks at your phone screen and scowls. “Don’t look at that,” he says, gently prying your phone from your hands and setting it facedown on the table. “Is there something I should know, Gabe?” He huffs, crosses his arms over his chest, “I told him he’s too young for you,” he mumbles. “You told him what?” Not sure you heard that right. “I told him that he’s too young for you!” “You mean he…?”

WILL

“WILL!” You shriek as he pins you down, tickling you. The both of you laughing as he tickles your sides and you squirm under his touch. “Stop it!” Tears prick the corners of your eyes from laughing so hard, but he only laughs and continues, searching for that one reallyticklish spot. Once he does, you reach up and push on his chest, trying to get him off, “Will!” Eventually, he stops, and you wipe away the tears that formed from laughing so hard. You hear a faint, not so natural sounding cough come from the doorway and look up to see Dalton leaning against the door frame, arms folded over his chest, cross expression on his face. “Will? Can I have a minute?” He asks, his tone bitter and cold. You and Will exchange a confused expression before he replies, “Um, sure,” and follows Dalton into the kitchen while you sit cross-legged on the floor. As soon as their tones grow heated, you suddenly become very interested in the carpet. “I still can’t believe you even asked her out in the first place when we all knew that I liked her and we made a pact not to steal each others’ girls!” Will glances over his shoulder trying to gauge your reaction, but you’ve already left.