85 [Faking It]
Description: You end up telling your cousin that you and Lewis are dating, so you ask him to pretend to be your boyfriend for a family dinner. However, he doesn't realise how invested he's going to get when he agrees to do it.
• • •
"Wait, you did what?" Lewis asked, looking at me in shock.
"I told my cousin that we're dating," you said, flopping yourself onto his bed.
"Why did you do that?" Lewis asked, mimicking your actions and laying beside you.
"Ugh, you know how much I hate her and how angry she makes me. She always has to be better at everything than me, including boys and it just kind of slipped out. Can you pretend for just one family barbecue?" You begged, giving him puppy dog eyes that you knew he couldn't say no to.
"When is it?" He sighed.
"It's sort of tonight," you said, hopeful.
"Tonight? I was supposed to take Liz out tonight, you know my actual girlfriend," Lewis replied.
Your heart sunk and you came to the realisation that you would have to tell your cousin that you didn't have a boyfriend and that you lied. Great. "Oh, that's fine. I'll just tell her I was lying. Thanks anyways," you said, getting up to leave.
You heard Lewis sigh from behind you. "Wait," Lewis called, causing you to stop in the doorway.
"I'll do it," he sighed.
"Really?" You asked, turning towards him.
"Yeah, I mean that's what best friends do, right?" He said, seeming unsure of himself.
"It means a lot, thank you," you smiled, hugging him. "I'll see you later."
You pulled on your shoes and made your way out of the door and towards your car. Your phone began going off with texts from Lewis as you unlocked your car.
Lewis: How do we even fake date? I've never done anything like this before.
Lewis: Do we have to kiss because that's technically cheating and I don't want to cheat on Liz?
Lewis: What do I do with my hands?
1m ago
As you got into your Range Rover, you laughed at his questions before quickly typing a reply.
It's just like real dating. We don't have to kiss so you can just hold my hand. I'm sure holding my hand will be enough to convince my cousin that we're dating.
just now
You started your car and began driving back home to get ready for the family barbecue, nervous about how the plan was going to go in just a few short hours.
• • •
It was a few hours later and you were now at your parents' house, getting ready for the annual barbecue your parents held. You were wearing a plain white, spaghetti strap crop top with a powder pink button-up skirt. Everyone started to arrive, including your very annoying cousin.
The second she locked eyes with you, she sauntered up to you. "Hi, where's your boyfriend?"
"He'll be here," you told her, feeling a little intimidated.
"Yeah, okay. We'll see about that," your cousin rolled her eyes and walked off, talking to your mum about how she graduated university early.
You'd never had a serious boyfriend before so she didn't exactly believe that you had one now. You quickly sent Lewis a text, wondering where he is.
Where are you? My cousin is already getting on my nerves!
1m ago
Not even a minute later, you had received a reply.
Lewis: I'm almost there. I just had to make a quick pit stop to make this more believable. I'm going to be the best fake boyfriend you've ever had 😌
just now
You sighed, hoping that this works. You bit your nails nervously as you made your way out into the front. You sat on the garden swing that was by your porch, scrolling through your phone. Not even minutes after, Lewis pulled into an empty parking space on your road. As he stepped out of the car, you noticed what he was wearing: a smart shirt, some black jeans and his nicest shoes.
You bit your lip as you looked at him. You couldn't deny that he looked super hot. Even if it made you cringe thinking that your best friend was hot.
"Can we please make this convincing? If my cousin finds out that this is fake, she's never gonna live it down," you told Lewis as he walked up to you after getting out of his car.
"Convincing is my middle name, babe," Lewis said smirking. You rolled your eyes jokingly as he laced his fingers with yours.
The two of you walked through the back gate and to where all your family was gathered. Music was playing in the background and you could hear the chatter of your family members. Lewis said hello to a couple of your family members. They seemed surprised to see him here as you two had been friends for years and he was very close with your family.
"Ah, so he is real," a voice said from behind you.
You turned around, giving her a sweet smile. But before you could say anything, Lewis spoke up. "I'm Lewis. It's nice to finally meet you," he smiled, shaking her hand.
"Right. So how long have you guys been dating?" She asked, eyeing him.
"A year," you both said.
"So how comes he wasn't at last year's annual barbecue?" Your cousin questioned. What's with all the questions? You thought.
"It's a year today," you replied. "I didn't want Lewis to meet the rest of the family straight away."
She was about to speak before Lewis interrupted her. "Oh, that reminds me, beautiful. I have a surprise for you in my car for our one year," Lewis said, dragging you towards his car.
You could hear the clicking of heels and the strong scent of your cousin's perfume which meant she was following you. When we reached Lewis' car, he let go of my hand and pulled out a bouquet of roses from the front seat. How did he know roses were your favourite? You instantly felt a blush rise to your cheeks as he handed them to you.
"You didn't have to get me anything," you said to Lewis, eyeing him.
"I couldn't not, Y/N/N," he smiled, kissing your cheek that was almost as red as the roses you were holding.
"No one has ever done anything this nice for me before," you told him, smelling the roses.
"Well I am your boyfriend, remember?" Lewis said, giving you a look.
"Of course, thank you, Lew," you told him, giving him a hug.
You walked back into the garden and went through the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase and some water. "Wow that's sweet, none of my exes have done anything that nice for me," your cousin said, huffing. You stifled down a laugh. Your cousin was jealous of you. Makes a change from you being jealous of her.
"Only the best for my girl," Lewis said and your tummy erupted with a ton of butterflies.
"Let's get food. I'm starving," Lewis grinned, eyeing the barbecue that your dad was on, cooking burgers and hot dogs. Lewis grabbed your hand once you had finished with the roses and pushed past your cousin and out into the back garden.
Lewis continued to be really sweet throughout the day. He told you that you looked beautiful more than once, held your hand and kissed it every so often. He made you laugh and in return, he laughed at all of your jokes (even if they were terrible). But no matter how happy you seemed on the outside, you were sad. Sad that none of this was real, that it was all just pretend.
"I'll be right back," Lewis told you, placing a kiss on your forehead and heading towards the bathroom. The second he left, his seat was filled by none other than your cousin.
"You know for being so in love, I haven't seen you guys kiss yet?" She said, looking at her perfectly manicured nails.
"We don't want to kiss in front of family," you replied.
"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" She spat.
"Excuse me?" You scoffed, looking at her.
"Let's be real for a second here, Y/N. A guy like Lewis with a girl like you? You've never had a boyfriend a suddenly you have one that you've apparently been dating for a year? I'm sorry but I don't believe it for a second. He's way too good for you," she said, degrading you.
You could feel your face heat up. "You're wrong about her you know," Lewis said, looking at you. He had heard the whole conversation. You and your cousin both looked at him confused. "If anything, she's too good for me. She's smart, funny, and so beautiful, but that isn't even the half of it. I adore how selfless she is, always putting others first and not expecting anything in return. She can turn any situation into something positive just by being there. I love the feeling I get around her, it's something I can't describe. You're totally wrong about her and wrong about us."
You stood there, with your mouth hung open. Did Lewis really mean those things?
"Kiss her then," your cousin scoffed.
Lewis didn't hesitate for a second. He walked over to you, wrapping his arms around your waist. He pulled you into him, pressing his lips onto yours. As your lips moved in sync with each other, you felt a feeling in your stomach that you've never felt before. You heard the click of your cousin's heels as she walked away in annoyance. You broke the kiss with Lewis, feeling empty as soon as your lips left yours.
"Wow, you should've seen her face," you said, laughing.
"It was priceless," he laughed along with you.
You and Lewis left after that. You joked about how jealous your cousin was the whole ride home, but your laughter died down and there was an awkward silence as he pulled into your driveway. The drive to your apartment wasn't far from your parents, so you had decided to walk there earlier.
"Uh, thanks for everything you did today," you said nervously, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.
"Are you kidding me? It was the most fun I've had in a while," Lewis smiled.
You were about to get out when you suddenly had a jolt of confidence to ask him something that had been running through your mind. "Lewis, um, did you really mean what you said back there about me?"
"About you being smart, bubbly, beautiful, selfless, and overall amazing? Of course. I mean every word," Lewis said.
You could feel your breath getting heavier as Lewis and you looked into each other's eyes. His eyes travelled from yours to your lips and he slowly leant in, you copying his actions. You could almost feel his lips touching yours when a loud ringtone went off. You and Lewis quickly pulled apart; you looked into your lap with red cheeks while Lewis pulled his phone from his pocket.
"It's Liz, I er... better go," Lewis said.
You smiled sadly, before getting out of the car. "Thanks again," you said, clearing your throat.
"You're welcome," he said before you closed the passenger door. He drove off and you sighed as you made your way to your flat.
• • •
What was happening? Were you and Lewis about to kiss for real this time? Was it real the first time? You couldn't sleep as a million thoughts raced through your head. You had never thought of Lewis as anything other than your best friend, but here you were, keeping yourself up at night with the thoughts of him. You looked at the clock on your nightstand which read 2:15 AM.
You turned over, trying to get some sleep but as you did so, your phone lit up with a text.
Lewis: Let me in
just now
You sighed, padding across your flat to let Lewis in. He stood there, looking almost as tired as you. "Lewis, it's two in the morning. What are you doing here?" You asked, stepping aside so he could get in.
"I couldn't sleep, and by the looks of it, you couldn't either," Lewis laughed, his voice raspy. You looked in the mirror beside your front door and gasped as you saw hair sticking up in different places.
"But, why are you here?" You groaned, trying to fix your appearance.
"I didn't know how invested I was going to get when I said yes," he replied.
"Wait, what are you talking about?" You asked, confusion written all over your face.
"I'm talking about this," Lewis said before crashing his lips onto yours.
You immediately kissed him back, craving the feeling that you had earlier, but then you remember his girlfriend and quickly pushed him off. "Lewis, we can't. What about Liz?"
"I broke up with her."
"Why?"
"Do you remember what I said before, that I love the feeling I get when I'm around you, that it's something I could never quite describe? Well, I can describe it now. I knew when I kissed you," he replied quietly.
"Knew what?" You said, your face dangerously close to his.
"That I was never faking it," he said, kissing you once again.