The Detention Slip

Chapter Fourteen

"Two years." I whistled in response. "I know right? You'd think you would eventually get bored, or have a fight and break up or something, but somehow we're still here."

"Two years with Mitch? I feel like applauding you." She laughed and slapped me on the arm.

"He's not that bad. Things are never boring, and I can't stay mad at him because he just makes me laugh all the time. And I mean all the time, even when it definitely isn't appropriate to laugh."

"What are you two talking about?" called over Mitch, who had Dylan in a head-lock.

"Girly talk about you babe!" called back Sally. He flipped her off before Dylan tackled him to the ground.

We both laughed and Sally sat up and turned towards me.

"Alec?"
"Yeah?" I replied and sat up next to her. Matt and Elle had gone to catch up with Kelly and Abby, so it was now just the two of us. She pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head before speaking.

"Not meaning to pry or anything, and you can tell me fuck off if you want, but how are things between you and Dylan?"

I could tell what she meant straight away. For a minute I felt fear. Fear at being found out? Fear of being judged? I don't know, but when Sally gave me a small smile that fear vanished. I looked over at the guys, at Dylan, and contemplated what to tell her. Deny it and ask her what she meant, or talk to her and tell her the truth.

"Didn't believe my 'nope'?"

"Anyone ever told you that you're a bad liar?" she said, smiling.

I laughed, "Guess I still have to work on that then."

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I spoke.

"I don't know. Things are complicated I guess. Did he say something to you?"
"Who, Dylan? No, he's never mentioned a thing. But he didn't need to. I can tell by the way he talks to you and about you, and the way he looks at you. I can tell that he likes you. It wasn't until I saw you doing the same thing that I noticed something was going on."

"Does Mitch know?"

"Mitch probably wouldn't notice if we were struck by an earthquake right now. He's a guy, they don't tend to notice these things."

I laughed at that. Sally scooted closer and put her hand on my arm. "Do you want to talk about it? You can talk to me if you want to, I know it can't be easy not being able to talk to Sam or that."

Sally was right. It wasn't easy not being able to talk to my friends, and having Sally know wasn't a bad thing. Kelly knew, but it wasn't something I could talk to her about.

"I just don't know what to do," I admitted. I filled her in briefly about what had happened at Sam's, what happened with Kelly. I told her about me a Dylan, that we'd been taking things slow. Sally leaned in and gave me a hug.

"Do you like him?" she asked, her voice muffled against my shoulder. I nodded. "Then don't over think things. Dylan's a pretty straightforward guy. He also likes talking about emotions and shit unlike most people, so make the most of that."

I put my arm around her and returned the hug, giving her a smile.

"Hey Brooke! You better not be trying to steal my girl!" called Mitch as he and Dylan made their way over to us. Sally stood up and ran into Mitch's arms in an overly-dramatic way.

"She's not my type," I called back, looking at Dylan who gave me a full mega-watt smile. She was so not my type.

~

We were back at the cabin, sat outside in the garden as we waited for the food to cook on the BBQ. We were going to BBQ down by the lake, but when the sun disappeared it had gotten colder and we needed warmer clothes, so we decided to start a fire pit at the cabin as Sam and Abby bickered while trying to cook the food.

We were all sat round the fire pit, chatting to each other and drinking. I was sat next to Dylan on a blanket, with both our backs resting against a log. I'd opted for jeans and a hoodie, and Dylan had went for the same but with a black knitted sweater. His hair was a mess, still in need of a haircut.

When Sam and Abby had stopped arguing and had eventually managed to cook the food, we all settled down and stuffed our faces. We stayed out until the fire died down and the air got cooler before heading inside. Sam went off to go turn the heating on, as entering the cabin didn't escape the chilly air.

"Bad news guys," said Sam as he entered back into the living room. "The heating is fucked. I'll need to see if I can get a guy to come out and fix it either tomorrow or Tuesday. There should be spare blankets in the cupboard at the end of the hall."

By the time blankets were dispersed and everyone had said goodnight it was after eleven. Dylan and I both got ready and climbed into bed under the extra blankets.

I tried to stop myself from shivering, but it wasn't working.

"Alec, you're shaking the whole bed. Shuffle closer," said Dylan.

I shuffled back until I felt my back press against his front. His arm went over me, and I was surprised at how warm he was.

"That better?"

"You're surprisingly warm," I replied, relaxing against him.

I heard him chuckle softly.

"Goodnight Alec."

"Goodnight."