Andie froze, her eyes widening. Of course, there were probably a hundred men called Eric in Olympia. But she had a nasty feeling it was the one she knew. She looked up as "Eric" marched onto the stage. And sure enough, it was Andie's childhood friend. And of course, he looked right at her. Andie's stomach lurched as she heard the first bars of the song he had chosen. It was a love song. And he was still looking at her. She heard the chair scrape the floor next to her as Bane started to stand up. She caught his forearm to stop him.
"Bane, don't," she said. "Just let it go. It's only a song."
Bane and Eric glared at each other. Then, slowly, he sat back down. Andie couldn't decide if she felt angry or so embarrassed she wanted to disappear into a hole. One thing she did know though was that Eric was not going to get away with it so easily. He finished his song, not taking his eyes of Andie the whole time. She looked away, concentrating on the picture of the owners on the wall opposite her, but could sense his gaze. Finally, Eric stepped down. Andie then turned to Bane.
"I'll be right back."
She leaned forwards and kissed him. Then, she got to her feet and jabbed her thumb at the door while looking at Eric. He got the hint and walked towards her. She didn't wait and marched outside, not pausing to hold the door for him the way she would have ordinarily have done. She felt the cold air brush against her face as she went out the door and took a few steps forward.
"Andie, come on..."
She spun around and glared at him.
"What the hell was that, Eric?" she demanded. "Are you really trying to break me and Bane up? Because you're wasting your time, it's not working."
Well, she was trying her best for it not to work, but both boys were making it difficult.
"Look, I don't care how much you hate Bane for being the one I'm with, or whatever reasons you have, but how can you put me in that position?! How am I supposed to convince him there's nothing between you and me?"
"It's just a song..." he said, rolling his eyes.
"It's always "just" something with you!" Andie snapped. "What part in the sentence "I'm with Bane" is too subtle for you to understand?!"
"The part where you forgot one detail."
Andie raised her hands to her hips, exhaling hotly.
"You mean your being a jerk?"
Instead of answering, he marched towards her, pulled her face upwards and crushed his lips to hers. Andie immediately pushed him off.
"What in God's name d'you think you're doing?" she asked.
"You know it's how it should be. He barely knows you! We've known each other all our lives!"
"That doesn't mean we have to be together! And it certainly doesn't mean that I should just dump Bane and run off with you!"
"You know we would be together if you hadn't moved."
"You don't know that!" Andie retorted. "And you can't just force yourself on someone like you own them!"
"It's just because you won't admit it..."
Eric moved in to kiss her again, but this time, Bane shot out and knocked him backwards. When he aimed to hit Eric again, Andie jumped in front of him and said:
"No! Bane, don't! He's not worth it. Let's just go. Come on."
She took his arm and they walked away.
Bane and Andie wandered down the street in silence. Andie had suggested a walk to help Bane calm down. It was dark and quiet, except from the faint sounds coming from the bar a couple of streets away. After a moment of silence, Andie asked:
"Are you okay?"
Bane, his hands thrust into his pockets, nodded without looking at her.
"Yes, I'm all right. I'm sorry about earlier..."
"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I should... I don't know..."
"No, Andie, you did nothing wrong. He came at you. I saw him."
Andie was relieved he saw it that way. She was sure many boys would have assumed she had let Eric kiss her.
"I don't understand why he's so... insistent! I swear, he was nothing like this as a kid."
There was a short pause, then Bane said:
"That's just the thing."
"What?" Andie asked, not following.
"He's not the kid you used to know." Bane told her. "Both of you have come a long way since then. And clearly, you're not the little girl he used to know..."
Andie didn't miss the hint of bitterness in his voice as he spoke the last sentence.
"... I swear I don't lead him on, Bane... I keep asking him to stop behaving the way he is, but he just doesn't want to listen..."
Bane didn't answer at once.
"... Andie, d'you think he already had feelings for you when you were young?"
Andie's first thought was to say "no, of course not," but she couldn't. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't be absolutely certain he hadn't... He'd never told her if he had, of course, but that didn't mean the feelings hadn't been there... After all, Bane had kept his feelings for her secret for months.
"I don't think so... but then, he might have kept it to himself... he wasn't really the confiding type..."
Of course, they'd shared things as close friends did at that age, but thinking back, she realized she'd done most of the confiding. He'd been the listener. She wondered if she shouldn't have given him a chance to speak, too...
"Whatever he felt then or now, that gives him no excuse to behave the way he has," Bane said, as though reading her mind.
"I know..." Andie said. "I just wonder if I should have done something when we moved, said something..."
There was a silence. Bane's answer was probably not one Andie would like, so he was tactfully keeping it to himself. Eventually, they stopped and looked at each other.
"Listen... Andie..."
Bane took her hands, and kept his eyes on them.
"I... I'm not... I have been thinking..."
He sighed, struggling to put his thoughts into words.
"I just want you to know that... whatever you decide, I will go along with."
Andie blinked.
"... What do you mean?" she asked.
"... I mean that I know things are complicated for you right now... between us..."
"Bane-"
"Let me finish," he said, squeezing her hands to silence her. "I... You and Eric have a lot of history, and I know he's having more of an effect on you than you let on."
"It doesn't mean..."
"I know. But the fact remains. And I'm not blaming you. He's... handsome, he can be funny... he's good with Hannah... he's safe, normal... it's not surprising you would be drawn to him. What I'm saying is... if you decide you want to be with him... I'll accept it. If it's what you want, then I won't stand in your way."
Andie was so thunderstruck she was speechless for a few moments. Then she stepped closer to Bane, reducing the space between them until their noses almost touched.
"Bane... I've told you before, and I will again. You're the one I'm with, the one I want to be with. What can I say to make you believe me? I'm not going anywhere. Like I said, I won't let anything get in between us."
Even Eric, she added with a twinge of pain.
"I love you. Okay? Get it into your head," she teased.
Bane relaxed, then slid his arms around Andie''s waist and pulled her against him, pressing his lips to hers.