When Liv and I got out of the car, our laughter could not stop. The entire ride here, from the moment Liv and I started singing, the car was filled with laughter. Neither of us could sing, so all you could hear over the music was two dying seals cackling and trying to be in tune.
"Neither of us need to sing again." Liv says as she walks up to the blue door, reaching for the knob and turning it.
"Agreed." I say, still laughing. We walk through the door, our giggles slowly being suppressed. I close the door behind us and notice a confused expression on the boys' faces.
"What happened to you guys?" Cam says, looking up from the TV screen.
"Nothing." Liv says, looking to me and then laughing once more. I smile at her laughter and chuckle before sitting on the couch. Ollie was sat on the left side of the couch, closest to the kitchen. Cam was sat in the chair beside the couch on that side. Parsons sat opposite to Ollie, on the far right end of the couch. Since Liv entered before I did, she sat in the recliner next to Parsons. I sat between Ollie and Parsons, almost uncomfortably.
"What was that about?" Parsons whispers as he leans closer to me, pointing his finger between Liv and I. I notice her on her phone, a slight smile on her face.
"You wouldn't get it." I say, a smirk on my lips. I see the curiosity in his green eyes but turn away before he could ask more questions. I look to Ollie and noticing him stare at the screen, very focused on the documentary before him. Cam holds his hand but is mainly on his phone.
"This is what you guys do for fun? Watch documentaries and not talk? No wonder you're a small group." I joke and notice everyone whip their heads at me. Ollie, being Ollie, very dramatically gasps, as if I just insulted him. The funny thing was that it was louder than he intended it to be.
Silence fills the room as we all look at him, questionable expressions on our faces. And before you know it, one of us laughs and we all follow. I'm not quite sure who started it, but I'm glad they did.
As the laughter dies down, Cam says something. I couldn't quite hear it, as the sound of my laugh filled my ears. But whatever he said caused a conversation to begin. As they speak back and forth, I tune them out and just watch the friend group—my friend group—exchange words.
Liv, wearing a long sleeve tee with black skinny jeans, is still on her phone. I watch as she taps the screen but chimes in the conversation every so often. Her hair lays over her shoulder. Although her hair seems a curled mess, she still maintains her beauty, something I yearn for.
I look to Ollie, who sits to my left. His bubbly self bops up and down as he speaks. His tanned skin, slightly darker than his twin sister's, flies in my direction a few times but misses my face, thankfully. His lips are turned upwards as he talked. He speaks excitedly, the expression between his eyes proving his point. His hair is just as a mess as his sister's but he holds the same beauty as she does.
That's the whole point of twins, Erin; they're supposed to look the same, or at least similar.
Cam, still holding Ollie's hand, watches his boyfriend intently. His hair, not as blonde as when I first met him, is pushed back off of his face, giving a clear view of his caramel eyes. He wears his black earrings, complimenting his black shirt and pants. In comparison to Ollie's outfit, a blue and green sweater with blue jeans, Cam has a more dark approach to his style. However, the two compliment each other and they work.
Jealousy doesn't look good on you, Erin.
I'm not jealous of them.
Not them specifically, but of what they have. You wished you had that with-
Parsons. The last person in the room. I've just noticed I've gravitated towards him as we were in our laughing fit. His fawn hair sits messily upon his head, some on his face but the rest looking a mess on top. His green eyes float around the room, focusing on whoever is talking at the moment. He sits leaned against the grey couch, one arm in his lap and the other against the back of the couch, almost behind me. As someone says something, I watch as his eyes lighten and a smile forms on his face between his laughs, throwing his head back slightly. The deepness of his laugh warmingly fills my ears.
Then he looks at me and begins to speak. I didn't hear him at first, having still zoned out. I allow noise to fill my ears again and look away in embarrassment for a moment, the heat rising onto my face.
"What was that?" I manage to say, my voice in a higher pitch than usual.
He shakes his head, a smirk on his face, knowing he caught me staring. "I said would you be down to play a board game?"
"Oh, sure. Which one?" I look away from him, looking to Liv. She gives me a knowing look, a smirk also on her lips.
Why is everyone smirking today? Is it national smirk day and I wasn't aware?
"Ooh we should play-" Ollie begins to speak but everyone cut him off.
"No!" They say in unison as if they know what he was about to say. He huffs before pouting, causing Cam to shake his head in amusement and give him a pat on the shoulder.
"What game?" I ask, curious as to what that was all about.
"Sorry. It never ends well when we play with Ollie. He always thinks I cheat." Liv says, rolling her eyes at the end.
"But Erin has never played it with us." He whines. Before I knew it, he grabbed me by the hands and pulled me toward him. "Please play it with us." He gives puppy dog eyes, making it hard to resist due to the beautiful blue irises. "Pleaseeee." He drags out this pleading word and I sigh, caving in.
"Sure." Everyone sighs. "I mean I'll just have to see for myself if Liv cheats or not." Ollie places the biggest smile on his face and he pulls me in a hug, saying "thank you" multiple times.
I feel the couch lighten and I see Parsons walk past us, going into a small closet and getting out the board game, along with a stack of cards. Liv moves her chair closer to the wooden table in front of me. She places her phone on the glass part of the table, the screen facing down.
"I'm putting it here to ensure no cheating will happen. Okay, O?" She looks her brother in the eye, annoyance obvious in her look.
"I'll be watching you, like a falcon does a gopher." I chuckle at his comparison and shake my head at me him he points his fingers between his eyes and her. This just causes her to roll her eyes.
When Parsons sits back down, he sits closer to me, our arms almost touching. I widen my eyes at this closeness and look to Liv, whose eyes are on us. Another smirk sits on her lips, an unknown look in her eyes. I mouth a "what" at her and she mouths back "nothing," the smirk not disappearing.
"Are we ready?" Parsons says, pulling his hands away from the board and pieces. We all nod and the game begins.
Forty-five minutes later, we're arguing.
"There's no way you won!" I say to Liv, who sits comfortably in her chair.
"There was a way and I did it." She has a smug look on her, causing me to get even more upset.
"You were losing. I had one more piece to put in. You had three. How is that possible? The answer is: it's not!" I finish, leaning back into the couch, crossing my arms and pouting. Parsons looks at me, shaking his head, a smile on his face at my current state.
"See! E agrees with me!" Ollie says, gesturing to me, wearing the same expression I do. I'm still a little shocked at him calling me 'E' but I like hearing it. He started halfway through the game calling me E, since he claims Erin is too long to say. It's only four letters, but I guess that's three letters too long for Ollie.
"Neil, Cam, what do you think?" Liv says, not really being bothered by our claims.
"I was sitting right next to you. You just played the game." Parsons says. I hit him on the shoulder and he turns to me quickly, shocked. "What was that for?"
"Because you obviously lost your sense of seeing so just making sure touch was still working." I smirk, causing him to respond with a fake smile. We maintain eye contact for a moment, the heat beginning to rise on my face.
"Cam?" Liv says, pulling me out of the slight trance I was in.
His eyes are too pretty to look at.
Yeah, but his eyes are too pretty to not look at.
"Ollie, as much as I love you, there's no way she could have cheated." Ollie and I both scoff at Cam's answer.
"You two are just jealous." Liv says, smirking. My eyes quickly dart to her, offended by her accusation.
"Me? Jealous? I don't get jealous."
"You're just a sore loser." Parsons whispers under his breath, a smirk on his lips.
He wanted me to hear that.
"I am not!" I quickly defend, my blue eyes piercing into his golden skin.
He seemed pleased with my reaction, the smirk only growing. He turns to me, those soft eyes on my skin. An unknown feeling washes over me, my stomach twisting and turning. He looks around at my face before he settles on my eyes.
My eyes widen as he leans in, not sure as to what he as about to do. He leans beside me, his mouth to my ear.
"You're blushing." He says with a playful tone. The deepness of his voice resonates through my ears with pleasure.
I pull away from him, sitting closer to Ollie, finally feeling the heat on my skin. "Let's play another game." I say this a little too quickly, causing Liv to arch her eyebrow. I know she was watching the small encounter, curious as to what was said.
"Okay!" Ollie says, turning away from his boyfriend with a big smile. "I'll go get another game." He gets up and goes to the closet where the games are stored. I take this as an opportunity to go to the kitchen.
I opened the pantry and grabbed a muffin quickly, not wanting a repeat of as time. I set my gorgeous muffin on the counter and open the fridge, searching for a Mountain Dew. With no luck of finding the soda, I grab a bottle of water.
"What was that about?" Liv's voice causes me to jump slightly. I had just closed the refrigerator door and find my eyes looking into a pair of icy blue ones. Her arms were crossed as she leaned against the counter.
"What?" I say, not sure what she was referring to. I peel back the thin wrapper around the muffin and take a bite, a smile immediately appearing on my face.
"You were blushing after Neil whispered something in your ear." She lifts her eyebrow slightly, saying "explain" without saying it. I feel my face getting slightly warmer. I turn my head away in an attempt to hide the blush from her, but I know she noticed it.
"It was nothing." I mutter, taking another bit of the delicious pastry in my hands.
"Oh, bullshit." She says. I'm stunned by her choice of words. There's a reason I don't curse and it's been so long since I heard someone say a curse word.
I watch as her lips part repeatedly, but I don't hear what she says. All I hear is Dad's voice.
"That's bullshit Erin and you know it."
"Anna that's bullshit. Just tell me the truth."
"Bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit. Stop lying to me!"
I pull away from the thoughts in my head when I feel Liv's hand on my shoulder. Her eyes hold worry in them, her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"Huh?" I say, snapping back to reality. His voice slowly fades away and I can finally focus on Liv's.
"You okay? I asked you what Neil said and you just kind of zoned out. You looked scared." The heat rises back to my face by her last statement, knowing she caught me off guard.
"I don't even know." I say blatantly, my mind swirling with thoughts. She thins her eyebrows, not convinced.
"Fine." She huffs. She quickly turns on feet and walks back to the living room. I shake my head and slightly laugh at her actions and follow behind her.
"Finally!" Ollie says. "You guys took forever!" He gestures with his hands, acting as is we were gone for more than five minutes.
"Oh hush." Liv says, rolling her eyes and sitting back down. I sit next Parsons, not making eye contact with him, scared the unknown feeling will show up again.
"Monopoly?" I say, looking at the board and pieces on the table.
"You've played it, right?" Parsons says in a teasing tone. I look to him, that gorgeous smirk on his face yet again. I roll my eyes and look back to the board.
"I have played it, yes. Just not in a long time." I admit, sitting back onto the couch. I pull my feet onto the couch, crossing them butterfly style. Only until I'm situated do I realize Parson's arm is behind me. I noticed the hand to the left of me and look to him, who has his eyes on me. We lock eyes and the weird feeling rises in me again. I don't know what it is, but I like it. His eyes roam my face and I can't help but feel slightly uncomfortable under his look. But I don't want him to take his eyes off me.
Why do I feel this way?
What is this feeling?
Am I catching feelings?
Pfft. No. Definitely not. Not for Parsons.
You sure about that? You're still staring at him.
Only because he was staring first!
You could've looked away. But you don't want to.
Yeah but his eyes are just too pretty and-
"Hey, lovebirds. You ready to play the game or are you gonna keep staring into each others' eyes?" I snap out of my thoughts and the trance Parsons put me in when Cam's voice emerges. I look around, noticing everyone was looking at us. They all have smirks on their faces, an underlying statement under the way their lips are formed. I'm just not quite sure what those statements are.
"We weren't— It's not what it looks like. I can explain. I—" When I notice my rambling, I stop talking. The smirks on my friends faces only grow wider. I cross my arms and sigh in defeat. "Let's just play the game." I mutter, knowing there's no way out of that. Silence reveals itself in the room for a couple of seconds before Ollie starts laughing, causing everyone to join in. Then everything goes back to normal, except for the feeling that still sits in my stomach. I just hope it's not what I think it is.