between you & me

PART I: ANDI

She tried not to be jealous that they got to see each other whenever they wanted. She was seventeen, and young, and in love with her brother's best friend. Noah got to spend time with Olivia while Andi sat at home and threw a pity party thinking the blonde would certainly fall in love with some hot-shot classmate of hers.

But then they came home for winter break and the trio was back. They were different, but still the same. Noah gained muscle mass and a six pack, talked about his fraternity brothers like they were family, but always reassured Andi that she was number one.

"Don't worry, Andi," he said one night sitting around the fire pit in the backyard. "No matter what, sisters before misters."

"You're not my sister, or my real brother," Andi said rolling her eyes.

"Shut up, you know what I mean, just because you're adopted doesn't make you any less my sister," he grinned, leaning back in his chair and tilting his head toward the sky. His face flushed from the heat of the fire and the several drinks he'd had. "You'll love college, Andi. There are hot chicks everywhere." Andi's eyes immediately settled on Olivia across the fire, her blonde hair illuminating in the darkness and the flames reflecting in her eyes. Her cheeks tinted red from the heat, an easy smile resting on her lips.

Andi's stomach flipped as their eyes met.

"I bet there is..." she answered softly.

Olivia kissed her the night before she went back to school. Noah had gone to bed, leaving the two of them alone. Olivia told Andi about her classes, her friends, and her roommate. She talked for hours about how great college was. How much she loved every minute of it even though her friends are idiots and the schoolwork was hard. It made Andi's stomach twist and churn in a way she had never experienced before. She bristled with anger; jealousy filling her up the more Olivia talked happily about all these people and experiences that didn't include her.

She couldn't hold it in any longer, an accusation on the tip of her tongue. "Then why did you even bother coming back?" The words came out like fire, though Andi's voice broke midway through. Olivia's eyes widened for a split second before she smiled sadly.

"Because of you, Andi."

"Don't—don't play with me like that, Livvy," she said stepping away from the taller girl. "You know exactly how I feel about you."

"You were, like, ten when you wrote me that love letter," Olivia recalled. Heat rushed up Andi's neck, coloring her face at the mention of the letter that was never supposed to be read by another soul.

"And I still mean every word I wrote." Andi shakes her head, finding the courage to look Olivia in the eyes. "Don't say you come back for me if you don't mean it. I can't—I hate when you and Noah leave for school. I have no one here. You both leave and I'm alone. I love you, Olivia, and I'm okay with it not being reciprocated because at least you'll still be my best friend. I can handle you falling in love with some nice person at school because you were never mine to begin with. But I can't—I can't handle it if I had a chance with you and then I lost you." Andi was as far away from the blonde as she possibly could be in the tiny basement lounge that they had created. Arms crossed over her chest just to hold all those cracking pieces together until Olivia inevitably left.

But she didn't.

She moved swiftly across the room to Andi, gently cupped her face between her hands, and said, "I come back for you. It's been you ever since I can remember; it's always been you, Andi." And then their lips met, and Andi was melting into the embrace. They kept their relationship a secret for a while, not wanting to make Noah upset or uncomfortable. But he knew, the whole time, he knew. And he was happy for Olivia and Andi. They were still the unstoppable trio, inseparable and troublemaking. They were Noah, Andi, and Olivia.