SAVANNAH POV
"So, how've you been?" I ask, realizing that I never really properly caught up with him.
The last time we had hung out for this long since the wedding, and I remember how idiotic I must've looked around him. Laughing even if I couldn't hear his joke, and acting completely different from myself. I tried way too hard to get him to like me.
"I'm doing good. Why do you ask?" Brendan says.
I awkwardly look at my lap and stare at my thumbs twiddling together. I've been really concerned about Brendan after his father died, and I never really got to tell him how sorry I am. He truly loved his father even though everyone around him couldn't see it because of the way he was acting. He just had a strange way of coping with the fact that his father was dying, which in return, nearly caused his whole family to turn on him.
Once his father did die, however, there was a huge shift. Brendan really turned everything around and really has turned into a better person ever since. It's one of those unfortunate cases where something traumatic had to happen in order for him to change.
"Well, I never really got the chance to tell you that I'm sorry about your father. I'm a few months late, I know, but still."
Brendan clenches his jaw before blinking rapidly to get the tears out of his eyes. My heart begins to pound, and my cheeks heat up out of embarrassment. Damn it, I hurt his feelings.
Can I do anything without making the situation awkward?
"I—," I pause, trying to find the right words to say to him. "I'm sorry for bringing that up."
"No, no, no, it's fine, I appreciate the concern. You try to act like you don't care about me, but I can tell that you do by that look on your face." Brendan snickers, and I furrow my eyebrows.
"What look?" I ask cluelessly.
"You know, that crestfallen, droopy look like how the actors do it in the movies. That's exactly what you just looked like." Brendan explains, and I scoff.
"I'm not sad or anything, Brendan. I'm just concerned, that's all." I sternly add.
"Well, we're fine." Brendan says, and I can tell that he's not being completely honest.
His eyebrows hang over his eyes in an obscure way, like he's not even sure what he just said is true. I watch him, trying to see if he'll actually tell me what's up, but I know that it won't happen.
Pride, a mans best friend and worst enemy.
A man will do anything before swallowing his pride and actually admitting what's bothering him, and that bugs me.
"Everyone's fine, especially Rian. Being busy with the hospital, a baby, and a wife to satisfy, he hardly even has time to be depressed about our father anymore." Brendan admits.
"What about Vanessa?" I ask.
"Veterinary school is going well, and she's consumed with homework so it's not like she has much time to just sulk all day."
"What about you?"
I didn't even realize how much I softened my voice until he looks over at me. I just spoke to him like he was an abandoned puppy or something, so he's staring at me like I'm an idiot or something.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to get all slushy." I mutter, and he chuckles.
"No, it's totally fine. I like slushy." He states.
Well how else am I supposed to ask you about your deceased father?
Your siblings both have exceptionally busy lives, and here you are, just dangling in the air while they're continuing on like normal, and you're all alone to mope.
"Excuse me?"
"Huh?" I absentmindedly mumble.
"You say that like I don't have a life of my own, Vannah. You couldn't be more wrong."
Shit, I just said that out loud.
"I really need to work on controlling my big mouth, don't I?" I humorously ask, not needing an answer because I know what he's going to say.
"Yes, you do." Brendan laughs, and I smack his arm.
"Hey, I can't help it!" I defensively exclaim, crossing my arms and playfully pouting like a disobedient child.
"I won't be able to help if we get into a wreck because you keep hitting me!" Brendan says boisterously.
After that brief moment, it goes silent for a while as I continue to stare at him. Brendan's completely focused on the road now, and it's almost like he hasn't blinked in forever.
"But I do have my own life, Savannah. It's not like I'm the child who never found anything to do with my future."
"Oh, really? So what does this life of yours consist of?" I ask, slightly teasing him.
"Well, I'm a partner with my mother and your best friend in my father's business. Plus, in between I like to have one night stands with girls who I meet at clubs. Y'know, the usual." He casually says, and my eyebrows shoot up.
What the hell?
Who told you all of that?
My jaw drops as he says that, and I'm surprised that he knows that much about how Logan and I met.
"Woah, who told you all of that?" I ask.
"Not saying." He sneers, and I groan.
"God, are you just gonna keep secrets from me?" I shout, and he tries to suppress his laughter.
"You're cute when you're mad." Brendan adds just to piss me off even more.
It won't be cute when I slap you, will it?
I sigh, desperately trying not to smile, but I can't help it. Brendan just knows how to make me laugh, even when I don't want to.
Brendan's hand continues to rapidly tap on the steering wheel to a beat even though there's no music playing. It's not really awkward, the silence between us, it's actually nice to just stay quiet sometimes.
Once we arrive at the apartment complex, I immediately wake myself up and sit up right in the seat.
"Thanks for dropping me off." I say while unbuckling my seatbelt.
"No problem, blondie." Brendan replies, running his fingers through his hair.
"So, are you never going to tell me what made you so mad, or are you not saying anything because you know that I'm right?" I teasingly ask, and he scoffs.
"Just go inside, don't you have a boyfriend to call?" Brendan sneers, and I chuckle.
Ooh, jealousy is not a nice color on him.
"You're such an asshole sometimes." I exclaim, and he smirks.
"It's just apart of my personality, blondie. You should be used to it by now."
Brendan and I laugh again, and I get out of his car and shut the door. Brendan rolls down the window, sticking his head out of it and continuing to look at me.
"What?" I demand.
"Goodnight, blondie." Brendan smirks, and I smile.
"Goodnight, Brendan."
I walk away from the car, into my apartment, still smiling at how he's so jealous of Logan, which wasn't all that surprising. Brendan probably only thinks of me as a friend, and he's just being comical with me, so I shove away the thought that he might actually be mad at me.
Ridiculous.
The reality seems to kick me in the stomach because I'm remembering that I have to try and figure out how to restore my friendship with Xiu.
"How am I gonna do this?" I ask myself, pacing in my kitchen.
I begin to think over this after putting some ramen noodles in the microwave, and the advice that Rian and Alex gave me sticks in my head. I really don't need to buy her anything or be extremely sentimental, I just have to swallow my pride and admit why I was wrong.
But that's going to be difficult.
Me being me, I'm slightly stubborn and can't admit when someone else might be right about something, and I just tend to block them out and not listen to what they say.
Xiu is wrong about Logan, because I know that he feels the same way that I feel about him even though it hasn't been that long. I'm just regretting what I said about telling her to get out of my life.
Xiu and I have been friends for so long, splitting apart isn't an option. I consider her like an STD, because I'm going to have her for life. I could try as hard as possible to get rid of her, but she's still going to come back.
Just like Alex, I know that Xiu and I have an irreplaceable friendship.
And I'm going to get that back.
~~~
The next day, I'm anxiously biting at my fingernails and shaking my leg while sitting on the couch. My nerves are trembling as I'm staring down at my phone.
"Just call her!" I exclaim, trying to get myself to stop being a wimp and call her.
I grab my phone from the table, quickly dialing her number and putting the phone to my ear before waiting. It seems like forever and a day before she finally answers, and it's just silent.
This is the type of silence I don't like.
"Hello...?" I trail off.
"Hey Savannah." Xiu says, and her voice still sounds harsh like the last time we spoke.
"Can you come over later?" I ask in an innocent voice, and she scoffs.
"Why? I thought I wasn't your friend anymore." She spits, and I feel my heart drop into my stomach.
Don't you understand why I'm calling you?
If I was still mad, you wouldn't be hearing from me!
As I'm shouting at her inside of my head, I'm growing frustrated that she isn't catching onto the reason why I called her. With her big brain that got her into NYU, I'm thinking that she's automatically know why.
I bite my lip, trying to find more words to say to her before I finally shout, "Just listen to me, damn it!"
"Fine, I'll listen, but don't waste my time."
"I'm inviting you over so that we can talk and so that I can apologize. We need to settle this instead of being petty and ignoring each other."
"Okay, who told you all of that? I know damn well that you didn't come to this conclusion on your own."
I chuckle at that, because she really does know me inside and out.
Xiu knows that whenever I'm struggling with something, I tend to lean on someone else for help and support for how to deal with it. I never really learned how to become an adult and do certain things on my own.
Whenever I went to my parents, most of the advice I received from them actually made things worse than they already were.
"Alex and Rian, they're both so mature now that they had the perfect advice for this situation." I admit.
"Okay, I guess I'll come over." Xiu hesitantly says, and I smile.
"Yay!" I cheer.
We can't stay mad at each other forever, and I'm glad she agreed to come over and talk. It would be awkward to just end our friendship so suddenly.
I'll do anything to have Xiu back.
A few hours later, it's around three o'clock, and I hear my door being knocked on. I excitedly sprint over to the door, and Xiu stands there.
Xiu doesn't really look all that happy, in fact, she still looks pretty upset. My smile immediately goes down, and my breathing becomes noticeably shaky as I'm growing nervous.
"Okay, let's talk." Xiu says, stepping past me and into my house.
I watch her sit on the couch, resting her elbows on her knees, and she rests her chin in the palm of her hand. I slowly approach her, standing a few inches from where she sits.
"Well first, I need to apologize for what I said about us not being friends anymore. There's no way in hell that I'd sacrifice our friendship for Logan." I exclaim, and she nods.
"Did you break up with him?" Xiu asks, and it's almost like she didn't even hear everything I said before that.
"No, I didn't. I still think that you're wrong about him, but my point is that I don't want to lose you."
Xiu looks up at me, and I can see tears forming in her eyes. I'm trying to hold back my own, but I know that it won't work.
Please don't make me cry, please.
"I never intended to say that, Xiu. You're one of the closest people to me, and losing you would just making everything worse." I say, and my voice beings to wobble.
Xiu stands up in front of me, and before I know it, she has her arms wrapped around me in the tightest embrace possible. It feels like I'm slowly losing oxygen, but I don't even care.
"I'm sorry." I whimper, and I feel a tear rolling down my cheek.
"Me too." Xiu says into my ear, and I shake my head.
"You have nothing to be sorry about, Xiu. I'm the one who started all of this mess."
We pull apart, wiping away our tears and sniffling. I didn't think it was going to get this emotional this quickly, but I'm totally wrong. A smile spreads across my face because I have one of my best friends back, and I don't have that large weight on my chest anymore.
"I was being a bit too rough on you about it, and you don't have to stop dating Logan just for me. If he really makes you happy, then you should date him. During our argument, I totally contradicted myself." Xiu explains.
"It's okay, we've forgiven each other, and now we can put it behind us."
We hug again, and it brings a warmth to my body knowing that my best friend has forgiven me, even after this.
"I'm just glad you've forgiven me."
"I'm your best friend, no matter what, I'll always forgive you, Vannah." Xiu smiles, and I sigh happily.
We look at each other, extremely glad that we didn't continue to go on hating each other over something so trivial like a guy. I'm more than grateful for Alex and Rian for giving me advice, because I wouldn't have known what to do without them.
I need to salvage every relationship that I'm in instead of stupidly saying and doing things that might make them disappear.
Starting with Logan.