Loved From Afar (COMPLETED)

Realization

Amelia stared out the window on the way home from the movies. Sheila risked a quick glance and sighed as her grip tightened on the wheel.
"So you planning on telling me what happened or are you just going to mope some more?" Sheila said as she reached a hand across and poked Amelia's shoulder. Amelia groaned and looked over at her friend.
"Eric and I ran into his ex outside the theater again." She began, Sheila huffed and shook her head but said nothing as Amelia continued.
"Then I quite literally ran into Amanda." Sheila gasped loudly.
"Oh no, not miss "I can get a second date" Amanda?" Sheila released the steering wheel to make air quotes and Amelia rolled her eyes.
"Is there another Amanda I dread seeing?" Amelia chuckled, the small bit of laughter died down quickly and she sighed.
"The thing is I kind if told her that me and Eric were dating so that she'd get off my back about it." Amelia finished her sentence quickly and waited for the explosion that was sure to come from her exuberant best friend. Strangely there was silence and Amelia peeked at her.
"Uh are you going to say something...how about I'm reckless or crazy or something?" Amelia was growing more concerned then the tires hit the drive way and Sheila calmly put the car in park.
"You are going to fake date Eric to keep Amanda off your back." Sheila stated in an almost monotone voice. Amelia nodded slowly and warily. Sheila shrieked then making Amelia jump.
"Oh my gosh what?, what is it!" Amelia yelled as she had her hands over her ears. Sheila reached across and grabbed Amelia's shoulders.
"Do you know what this means!, you can make him fall in love with you and get married and have beautiful babies!" Sheila's face split into a grin as she seemed to formulate a plan of her own. Amelia's heart was beating so hard she could hear it in her head. Taking a deep breath she turned Sheila to face her.
"Sheila, please don't go wild with this, it's only temporary and Eric sees me as a friend remember?" Amelia held her friends gaze until she lost the grin. Sheila rolled her eyes.
"Ugh fine you're no fun."
Amelia exhaled and let go of Sheila's face.
"Now, let's get out so I can take a long cold shower to knock some sense back into me."

Eric lay in bed staring at his slow moving ceiling fan. How had he managed to put himself in this situation? He sat up and ran a hand down his face then took a deep breath.
"What am I doing I'm the one who suggested it and started it!" He growled at himself. He jumped when a message dinged on his phone. Checking to see who it was his heart sped up when he saw Amelia's name.
"So we should talk about this." The text read. Eric sent a quick reply.
"I guess, what's the plan?"
Eric waited anxiously as the three dots bounced on her end. He got up to make himself dinner and started rummaging in the kitchen cabinets. Another ding and he pulled out his phone.
"I guess we should start with our backstory, how we met and started "dating" you know?" Amelia's texts seemed uneasy to say the least and Eric felt terrible about having caused it.
"I say stick to the truth for the most part embellish where needed." He replied.
"Sounds good, besides my mom and cousin will eat up a coffee shop romance." Amelia's reply had a smiley emote at the end. Eric exhaled in relief, she seemed a little more at ease now.
"So I'll just tell them I managed to woo you with my rakish good looks and my talent for baking scones." Eric replied adding a winky face for emphasis and maybe a shot at actual flirting. Again Amelia's reply seemed to take a moment and the three dots jumped at the same speed as his heart.
"Rakish?, no I'd say I was drawn by the scones but stayed for the ocean eyes that made my heart melt." Another winky emoji and Eric felt his jaw fall open. Was she really flirting or was she just trying to make things more lighthearted?

Amelia screamed at the three jumping dots and threw her phone onto the couch.
"Oh no I messed up he's going to think I'm really flirting and call off the whole thing." She worried her lip and twisted a brown wavy lock around the fingers on her left hand. Sheila chuckled and grabbed the phone when it dinged again.
"Well you were flirting and I'm sure he'd rather eat his own foot then call this off." Sheila held the phone out to Amelia with a smirk.
"Take a look at Mister Rakish reply darling."
Amelia tentatively accepted the cellular device and peeked at the text with one eye. She gasped and opened both eyes pulling the phone closer to her face.
"I should've known it was the eyes, although I would've said I fell for the smile in my case." The winky emoji seemed to almost taunt her as her cheeks flushed a bright pink.

Eric stared at the phone waiting for a response. The lack of jumping dots made his nerves start to fray. Had he gone too far, was he being too forward? She was going to kill him, worse she'd say he was a pervert and never speak to him again. His phone continued to stay silent and he groaned and banged his head on the kitchen counter.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He barrated himself. The buzz and ding of his phone sent him flying upright and he snatched his phone.
"You know it's not very fair that you're attractive and clever." Eric's cheeks heated and he licked his suddenly dry lips.
"So many complements in so little time am I rubbing off on you?" He didn't have to wait long before her reply lit up his screen.
"Let's say I'm warming up to the idea of having you around more often."
Eric laughed and a smile bloomed on his face. He couldn't seem to control his thumbs as they typed a reply.
"Lucky for you I'll be around as often as you want." He hit send and felt his heart race.

Amelia bit her lip in an attempt to quell the grin that graced her features. Sheila had gone to prepare dinner and Amelia was now stretched across the couch squealing like a schoolgirl with a crush.
"Looking forward to it, goodnight Eric." Amelia signed off begrudgingly. Not a moment later Eric's reply pinged on her phone.
"Goodnight love."
Two simple words that made her cheeks pink and her heart beat rapidly. What had she gotten herself into? Could she really fake this and not strain an already fragile relationship? Only time would tell and that time was approaching quickly.