SYDNEY POV
"He just walked in, there was nothing I could do," he said to me, about to lift himself off of me. He had just updated me on Nick walking in and seeing us laying like that. He looked like he was scared I was going to be absolutely fuming. I couldn't even be that upset, it's not like it was really all that likely that Nick would come in. We had all been drinking and I think we just assumed they'd be so hungover we'd have time in the morning to part ways and pretend it never happened.
"It's not your fault," I said, pulling him back down. "I'm trying not to freak the fuck out right now, but I'm not mad at you."
"Are you sure?" He asked, holding me tighter too.
"I promise," I breathed, scratching his scalp. "We need to figure out what you're going to say though and we need to figure out how to get me back into my room."
"I'd bet you anything he was coming in here to tell me about him and Mina hooking up," he said, turning his head to look up at me. "Maybe I could distract him with that?"
"It'll just remind him of what he saw," I replied, shaking my head a little. "We need to have a reason that I was in here, and then we can just say we fell asleep on the opposite side of the bed and somehow woke up like that."
"I don't think that'll work," he said, sighing lightly. "I might just have to beg him to keep his mouth shut about it. If he tells Mina we're officially done for."
"Oh, if he tells Mina the whole world will know about it within the hour," I laughed. We still hadn't moved from the position I woke up in, and I couldn't bring myself to tear away from him.
"We might be screwed," he groaned. "If he does tell they'll definitely think we went all the way."
"Well, I think we basically agreed last night that we're going there eventually, so does it really even matter?" I breathed, staring up at the ceiling.
"Oh, so you don't care if your girls know you're sleeping with the enemy?" He smirked, pulling himself off of me and hovering so he could look into my eyes.
"They are too!" I joked, sliding out from under him. "And this could still be a non-issue, get me back into my own room and then talk to Nick. Let me know how it goes or if we're going to be forced to fess up." I stood up and stuck my hand out to pull him up. "God damn it, you're heavy, Clay!" I whispered, as he nearly toppled me over.
I stretched my arms over my head after I got him up, and then I saw the bruises dotting long my lower back and my hips in his large mirror propped up in the corner of his room. They were unmistakably in the shape of his fingertips.
"I don't think we can go to the beach today," He murmured, reaching out to lightly trace the marks he had left on my skin. He pulled the waistband of my shorts down a little and lifted my t-shirt to see more of the bruises and a small laugh escaped. "Yeah, we're definitely not going to the beach today."
"We're so fucked," I laughed, trying my hardest to be quiet. "I can pretend I got my period or something and I'm scared of sharks coming to eat me. The boys will be so traumatized they won't even question it. It'll be okay. We have to stream later tonight anyway so the beach would be a lot for one day. I also know Nick said he wanted us all to go out to the clubs tonight or something so we can pretend to be super excited about that and ask if we can go to an early dinner first or something and push the beach back another day or two."
"You're such a genius, Syd," He said, hugging me tightly. He gave me a quick kiss after, which made me feel like I was on fire. "How did I ever hate you?"
"Your turn to be a genius," I said, placing my hands on his chest to push him back lightly. "You need to get me back to my room, and then you need to talk to Nick. If you fuck that part up I will hate you again."
"Yes ma'am!" He mock-saluted, before quietly opening his door. He peered out into the hallway, before stepping out to look around and check the stairs. "Okay, you're good to go."
I tiptoed out of his room and walked into mine, closing the door behind me. I've never been so happy to not see Mina and Catherine waiting for me. I wasn't sure if I should pretend like I was just waking up, or if I should get in bed and pretend like I was sleeping. I opted for the latter, at least so I could warm up my bed in case they really suspected something, and checked to see where I'd been all night. I ended up falling asleep for probably about thirty minutes and was awoken by my phone buzzing.
DREAM POV
Once I saw Sydney go into her room and shut the door, I exhaled the biggest sigh of relief. The fact that I didn't hear the giggling of Mina and Catherine relaxed me even more. I knew the only obstacle left was Nick. I was about to go searching for him, but then I saw him peeking his head around the corner from the top of the stairs.
"Bro," he said, running as quietly as he could to me. "You have some explaining to do."
"Come in here and keep your voice down," I hissed, ushering him into my room. "What would I have to do to get you to forget what you saw?"
"You need to tell me what exactly it was that I saw and what happened last night," he smirked, sitting on the bed. It seemed like the realization struck him that we could have been having sex right where he was sat almost instantly and he jolted back up again. I wanted to laugh, but I knew it would make him think I was confessing.
"Literally nothing happened, Nick." I said, "you were sleepwalking, you didn't see anything."
"Oh, so now you're trying to gaslight me?" He laughed, rolling his eyes. "I know what I saw, Clay. You were acting like Syd's boobs were your only source of oxygen and she was wrapped around you like you're her favorite person in the whole world. Something happened."
"You're just going to go run and tell Mina, Catherine, and George if I tell you," I groaned, flopping onto my bed. I knew we were fucked.
"I'm going to tell them that you had sex if you don't actually explain," Nick threatened. "I'm kidding, I will keep your secret -- if and only if you actually tell me what I saw."
"Fuck you." I rubbed my temples trying to figure out how to tell Nick that it turns out that maybe we didn't really hate each other. "After the game, I tried to forget about the kiss. I didn't want to like it, but I did. I didn't want to like her, but I guess I fucking do --"
"Did you like her before or after the kiss?" Nick cut me off.
"Before, but even more after," I grumbled. "We talked like all day yesterday while you and George were off in your own world with the girls and we just clicked I guess. We talked more after the kiss. Anyway, after she helped the girls get ready for you two bozos I literally snatched her like a serial killer and made her come in here. I asked her if I could kiss her again ---"
"You asked her?" He whisper-yelled, cutting me off again. "Like you straight up said 'can I kiss you?' Fucking weirdo."
"Yes, Nick, I get consent, sue me!" I whisper-yelled back, rolling my eyes. I was thankful he was keeping the noise down, though. "Nick, I fucking kissed her. Next thing I knew we were on the bed and she was on top of me. I wanted her so badly, dude, you can't even imagine. She said no, which was probably for the best anyway, and then we talked for a few hours and went to bed. That was it."
"So no head?" He said, quoting one of our favorite Vines. I almost lost it right there, but I managed to keep it together. "What did you talk about?"
"We didn't do anything more than that what I have already confessed to, I swear, your honor," I said, giving him a little Boy Scout three-finger pledge. "Everything, we talked about some of our mutual friends, a little bit about you guys, our favorite foods, her childhood cat, literally everything."
"You also swore up and down that you didn't want to fuck her," Nick said, raising an eyebrow. "And now, I'd say you definitely did and still do, so I don't know if I'm buying it. You're acting like you want to wife her or something."
"Come on, Nick, do you really think I have enough game to get her into bed with me after the second night and like four hours after our first kiss?" I laughed, and he knew I had a point. "And I don't, it's not that serious right now."
"So wait, what's going on with you two now?" He asked.
"Are you trying to gather some tea for your little girlfriend?" I joked, elbowing him lightly. "I don't know, I don't want to rush it with her because I don't want to fuck it up. But I also feel like she's going to remember why she hates me at any second and tell me to fuck off."
"I don't think she's going to do that," Nick said. "If she let you kiss her again she's probably just as down as you are. Well, you sound pretty desperate right now, so maybe not as down."
"Shut up," I begged.
"You guys looked really cute this morning, I will admit." Nick finally said, after a few moments of silence. "It almost distracted me from what I wanted to tell you this morning."
I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What did you want to tell me?"
"Mina and I did it last night," he said, "I think I'm in love."
"You're not in love, Nick, it's been like two days," I laughed, slapping his head. I felt like a jackass for saying it because I knew I wasn't far from developing very serious for Sydney. It was soon, but I couldn't control myself.
"I think I will be," he said, shifting away from me. "I'm dead serious dude, I've never felt this way about someone. I almost fucking cried after we did it, but thank God I kept it together."
"If you cried after that would have definitely been the last time," I wheezed, but I couldn't help it. It was a little funny, and I'd never heard Nick talk this way about a girl.
"Shut up, I bet you'll cry while you're in the act with Syd," he rolled his eyes, standing to get up. "I'm not going to tell anyone, don't worry. But it's not just for you, it's also for Sydney. I don't want to make her feel weird."
"Thank you for not telling," I said, getting up to hug him. He nodded and left my room, going back to wake Mina, George, and Catherine. I headed down to the kitchen to make coffee, pulling out my phone as I walked to let Sydney know we were all clear.
Dream-
we're safe, nick said he won't tell
i do have some piping hot tea for you, but you might figure it out when you see a certain someone
you can come downstairs, i'm making coffee and everyone is about to wake up
Sydney-
i owe you my life, thank you so much clay
i'm coming now
if i don't figure it out tell me later pls
Almost immediately after that, I heard Sydney walking down the stairs and saw her walking into the kitchen. "I think I got it right this time," I said, showing her the coffee I had made for her.
"It's perfect, thank you!" Sydney smiled and I wanted to kiss her again. I looked around to make sure no one was spying on us from around the corner or on the stairs and I grabbed her face, giving her a kiss on the lips and a softer kiss on her forehead. She blushed the second my fingers met her face, and I felt like I was going to melt into a puddle right then and there on the kitchen tile.
"You're so nice today, Squid," I teased, "what's gotten into you?"
"Well, you certainly didn't get into me," she said, looking up at me and batting her eyes a little. I almost screamed.
"I can," I smirked, "give me a time and a place."
"You'll get it when you deserve it," she replied, slightly raising a brow and sipping on her coffee. "Could be tonight, could be tomorrow, could be never."
"Jesus Christ," I breathed, and she tried not to laugh at me. I wanted to kiss her again but I knew it'd be too risky. I made the right call because just a few seconds later I heard footsteps on the stairs.
The boys came down first, and the second Sydney saw Nick I could see the wheels start turning. She had managed to figure it out almost instantly and shot me a look, which threatened to send me into a wheezing fit. Nick was walking around like he was the king of the world. She opened her mouth to make a joke but stopped herself before she could. She knew that he could blow the lid wide open on our whole little secret rendezvous, so she kept her mouth shut. I pulled my phone out, trying to hide the smirk on my face.
Dream-
good girl
i know it's tempting but don't say anything
No one had seen me on my phone, which was good because Sydney was not very sneaky about pulling hers out. Her cheeks flushed a little as she read my message, but the second she started typing out her reply, her face shifted to something a little bit more evil. I almost had the sense to ignore the message, but I just couldn't help myself.
Sydney-
i love it when you tell me what to do
daddy
I almost dropped my phone into my mug of coffee but tried my hardest to play it cool. Thankfully, Sydney started speaking to the boys, which distracted from me almost seizing after reading her message.
"Boys, we can't go to the beach today," she announced, and the two boys turned their heads to look at her so quickly I thought they were going to get whiplash.
"Why?" they whined, slouching in their seats like toddlers.
"I'm on my period. The sharks can smell the blood from the water even if I don't go in and it'll attract them. This is my heaviest day too, lots of blood coming out -- just an endless stream," she said it so seriously I almost believed her. I was thankful that George and Nick were kind of gullible, but she was selling this lie regardless. They looked like they had never even a girl talk about her period before either, it was pure comedy. "It's a public safety issue, really. They'll be all up where people are swimming and it's just not safe."
They looked pale. "Okay, okay, just please stop talking about periods," George said, with Nick nodding.
Mina and Catherine walked into the kitchen soon after, and I was glad that they weren't there to hear her lie about sharks smelling the blood because they would've called her out in a millisecond. They seemed to have forgotten about the beach plans anyway.
"What are we doing today?" Catherine asked, grabbing some coffee then perching on George's lap.
"Well I want to go clubbing tonight," Nick said, making Mina's coffee for her. She was looking up at him like he had just made her a five-course meal and proposed. It made me less nervous for Nick, who I knew was already in deep, both physically and emotionally. Having that thought almost made me laugh, but I managed to stop it before it escaped.
"Why don't we all go to a late lunch or early dinner, then come back and get ready, then stream while we all look super hot and sexy, and then go out?" Mina suggested as she and Nick sat at the table.
"I'm cool with that," Sydney and I said at the same time. I cringed for a second, worried that we were already giving our little secret away already.
"You two are pretty in sync for people who 'hate' each other," George said, putting air quotes around hate. Nick smirked but thankfully kept his mouth shut.
"Yeah, we're so in sync that he even got his period too," Sydney quipped. I was amazed by how fast she could come up with a witty response, and it was hot when she wasn't using that talent against me. Everyone burst into laughter, which distracted from George's original remark.
We all split up again after coffee, and Sydney and I stayed downstairs to clean a little after leaving the kitchen dirty from our drunken night. We talked about the most random topics, grateful that the noise of cleaning would help to drown out our voices a little.
"If you were ever recognized by your voice what would you do?" I asked as we started doing dishes.
"I have been," she said, looking up at me as she dried them off. "One time at a Starbucks drive-through and a few times while out with Mina and Cat. I try to change my voice so people can't tell, but it's fairly obvious that it's me and usually people hear me talking normally before I have a chance to change it. I just beg them not to take any pictures or anything and everyone has agreed, which is super cool."
"Really?" I was a little surprised. "That many people know what you look like and no one's ever leaked anything?"
"Nope," she shrugged a little. "If I ever got my face leaked I'd admit it was me but I probably wouldn't show my face voluntarily all that often in videos or streams."
"I've been promising a face reveal," I said, trying to hurry up the dishes. She was drying much faster than I was washing because I was so distracted. "I kind of want to do the same thing. Maybe just drop a few pictures but then return to business as usual probably."
"If you don't want to do a face reveal you shouldn't," she said, looking at me again. "Even if you promised it, people don't have a right to know what you look like. You're allowed to change your mind."
"Thanks, Squid," I smiled a little. "You're very insightful."
We finished cleaning the kitchen and snuck in a few little kisses whenever we were absolutely sure no one would see. We decided we should go up and talk to everyone about the stream, so we headed up the stairs and we all gathered in Nick and Mina's room to discuss.
"Should we all tweet about the stream or will it give the surprise away early?" Sydney asked, looking at all of us.
"We could all tweet something kind of misleading with the link," I suggested. "Or the girls could tweet one thing and us guys could tweet another so it seems like it's two separate streams?"
"That's perfect," Catherine said, "that'll throw them off enough I think."
"Girls, it's raining in New Orleans, we could say something about that so everyone thinks we're there? We always give our time in EST too, so it won't stand out." Mina said, looking to Syd and Cat.
"We can give a hint about George being here?" Nick suggested, "make them think they figured it out only for you three to pop up."
We all laughed evilly and pulled out our phones, typing away.
Catherine // @catherinegames76
come join us for a little rainstorm stream at 7PM EST -- we might even sing you guys some lullabies <3
— Syd // @sydthesquid12
let us all join hands in prayer so our power doesn't go out
— Mina // @meenuh_YT
see you there germs
Dream // @dreamwastaken
read this tweet in a gogy accent please: we're going live at 7PM EST
— SapNap // @SapNap
this will be a fun one
— George // @georgenotfound
be there or be square