<3 Thank u for all the lovely dms and comments you write. I hope you're doing good, here's a chapter to (hopefully) brighten up your day... :)
Please remember to vote, it would mean a lot to me <3
Jack's POV
"You know the feeling when you need to pee but you're just too lazy to get up? Because that's what I'm feeling right now."
Emily chuckled from the other end of the sofa, "Well go to the bathroom then."
"But I'm too lazy to get up." I repeated and saw how Emily just smiled shortly. Something was off. But I didn't think I had done anything to upset her?
Yesterday had been fun, we made tortillas together and I was in such a good mood. Mostly because of her. We showed each other our playlists and to be honest her music taste was surprisingly good. I added a couple of her favorite songs to my playlist when she wasn't looking. She was surprised that my playlist wasn't full of rap.
I met up with my friends last night. I wanted Em to come as well but she said she would only feel like intruding my time with my friends. I told her everyone wanted her to be there but Emily insisted that I went alone. I hadn't lied though, my friends, especially Ethan and Nick liked to spend time with her. It was nice seeing how well she got along with my group.
I dropped Nick off to his hookup's house before coming home last night. The girl was pretty hot, I had spent a couple of nights with her last year, she was really experienced. Everyone had seen the excitement on Nick's face last night, he was almost like a kid in a candy store. I don't blame him.
Anyway, today Em had been weird the whole morning. She seemed anxious but I couldn't figure out what was going on in that complicated mind of hers.
"Did you know garden snails can have over 14,000 teeth?" I had read it this morning and I knew how much Emily loved hearing random facts.
"Really?" Emily raised her brows slightly, "That's kinda weird."
Usually she would google more information about the facts that people told her and she would write it on her notes app. Emily had a whole list of random facts on her phone and they were quite interesting actually. She liked learning new things, especially facts about space.
"What's up with you?"
"What? Nothing?" She acted like she didn't know what I was talking about.
"You're acting weird." I tried reading her emotions but I couldn't. Was she getting sick again?
"I'm acting just normal Jack." She sighed and fiddled with the fabric of her t-shirt.
"No you're not."
"How am I acting weird then?"
"You don't talk or laugh half as much as usually." I told Em and caused her to roll her eyes.
"I don't have to be talking all the time do I?"
"You didn't google the snail fact that I just told you."
Emily furrowed her brows, "I can google it if it makes you feel better."
I rolled my eyes, "You seem nervous about something."
She frowned, "I'm not nervous."
I nudged her with my feet and earned a glare, "Are you mad at me?"
"No."
"Are you sure?" I stared at her. I hadn't done anything to annoy her but I just wanted to be sure.
"Yes Jack. I'm not mad at you." Emily chuckled and quickly dropped her gaze to my lips. I licked them without realizing it and she quickly turned her head.
"Good. Do you want to do something?"
"Like what?"
"We can watch stranger things?" I suggested but Emily shook her head.
"I'm not in the mood."
"Okay now I'm convinced that you're acting weird."
At least this time she gave me a smile.
"I have to go to the mall, do you wanna come?" I got up. I already knew the answer, she was going to say no.
"No thanks." Emily sighed and I felt useless because I couldn't do anything to cheer her up.
Emily's POV
I took out my phone and called Alisha and Pauline. I had to FaceTime them because I really needed their advice. I had tried my hardest to put my feelings for Jack aside but it wasn't so easy, especially when I literally saw him everyday. I would go to sleep thinking about scenarios with him, and wake up hoping he would also be awake.
My feelings for him changed all the time but lately I had been thinking that it wouldn't be so horrible if I gave him another chance. Maybe I had been too hard on him? And in my opinion Jack really had been nicer to me.. or maybe I was just trying to convince myself. At the same time I felt like I would be rushing things if I suddenly wanted to be more than friends with him.
"I need help." I said to my friends when they picked up.
"What's up?"
"I might wanna give Jack another chance." I blurted out and waited for a big reaction from my best friends.
"Yeah.. We kind of figured it." Pauline said at the same time as we heard cheering from Alisha's direction.
"Who are you with?" Pauline chuckled and Alisha turned the camera to Daniel.
"Oh my god." I whispered, "Daniel you can't tell Jack."
"Jack is with us." Daniel said and I felt my stomach drop. Didn't Jack go to the mall?
"No he isn't." Alisha rolled her eyes, "He's joking." She glared at Daniel.
I let out a breath, "I don't like you Daniel."
"I'm sorry," He chuckled, "but I won't tell him."
"Thank you."
"So? When are you going to tell him?"
"I don't know. I'm not even sure if I should."
"Of course you should." They all said at the same time.
"Jack likes you, it's obvious." Daniel reassured me, "He just doesn't wanna make the first move anymore. You're the one who keeps talking about being just friends and it hurts his ego."
"I know I know..." I sighed.
"Are you sure you want a relationship with him?" Pauline asked, "After all he has been with every other girl from our school."
"Let's not shame him for it." Daniel groaned, "Obviously Jack has changed his habits. You should've seen him before."
"Oh we've heard the rumors. Every student has heard them." She rolled her eyes, "But.. He does seem happier and less grumpy nowadays, I'll give you that."
"But do you guys think it's a wise decision to give him another chance? Maybe he isn't the one for me?" I spoke. The one thing I was most worried about was the fact that he might hurt me again. And if that would happen, I would feel like the biggest clown ever.
"I get where you're coming from, but what if he is the one for you? You would just regret not telling him how you feel." Alisha said and Pauline agreed.
"I honestly don't think Jack would hurt you again." Daniel reassured me and it calmed me a bit. After all he had been Jack's best friend for many years and he knew Jack better than I did. "Obviously you guys might argue every now and then but so does every couple."
I smiled, "Thanks, I appreciate you guys. I'll tell you how it went." I ended the call. I tried to sound confident but all I felt was nervousness.
So what if he didn't like me? I could just move out... right?
Jack's POV
I finally came home from the mall. I got a new charger and groceries. I expected to see Em in the living room but it was empty when I stepped in. I heard music coming from her room but didn't want to bother her so I just went into my room and hoped she would come talk to me.
"Hey." Emily finally popped her head into my room. I put my phone down and smiled at her.
"Hey."
"Did you find everything you needed?" She asked and I nodded.
"I also got groceries for us."
"You look cozy. Did you miss me?" Em joked and climbed into my bed.
"Nah I didn't have time to miss you." That was such a fucking lie and I regretted saying it the second I saw the look on her face. She wasn't smiling anymore.
"Oh."
Fuck.
"But I do have little bit of a daily lack of you and your jokes though." I said and turned to lay on my side so that I was facing her.
Now she was smiling again. Good.
I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She didn't break the eye contact either. I saw her pupils dilate slowly and all I could think of was how much I wanted to kiss her. But I didn't dare to do the first move again. Everything would be so much easier if I could just read her mind.
Em moved her hand on my face and touched my cheek. I felt my heart starting to race. She felt like a magnet, pulling me towards her. What was she doing to me?
"You have a lint on your cheek." She said quietly, "Here."
I looked at the small, grey lint that she held between her fingers. I hadn't felt so disappointed before.
"Uhm thanks." I whispered. My mouth felt dry and I didn't dare to look at her lips because I knew I would be too tempted to kiss her. I wanted to cup her cheeks and feel Em run her fingers through my hair.
She chuckled and broke the eye contact. I took my phone out and pretended like we didn't just have the perfect moment to kiss. But maybe Emily hadn't seen it like that.
"I have to tell you something." Em said suddenly. She sounded nervous. Maybe she was going to tell me why she had been acting weird.
"Mhm I'm listening."
"Well..." She put her phone down and looked like she was thinking.
"Remember when you said you wouldn't bring me hot chocolate at night anymore since we're just friends?"
I put my phone down as well and gave her a confused look, "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing. Never mind." Em chuckled nervously and started playing with her phone again.
"Do you want hot chocolate?" I was confused.
"No."
"Okay." I frowned. It's not like I would've gone to the kitchen and made her hot chocolate...
We were both quiet for a while before Emily tried to explain herself again, only making it more complicated.
"You also said I couldn't borrow your clothes anymore because we're just friends now, remember?"
"Yes? Emily I don't understand where you're getting with this."
"What if I wanted to wear your clothes again?"
I furrowed my brows. Didn't she just buy a hoodie?
"Am I just stupid or do you not know how to explain things?" I chuckled, "You wanna borrow my clothes?"
"Maybe..."
"That was kind of part of the deal what we're not supposed to do if we're just friends, remember?" I nudged her playfully.
"Yea exactly.."
"What?"
"Never mind." She chuckled and got up, "I'll go do my homework."
- - -
"Can you pass me a cigarette?" I asked Nick but Ethan gave me his cigarette.
"You can smoke the rest."
"Thanks."
"So? Did anything happen last night?" Daniel nudged me.
"Oh yeah!" I remembered, "Guess who sent me a text in the middle of the night! Remember the girl I used to fuck couple months ago? The one who thought we would eventually get together and she could move in and-"
"That's not what I meant." Daniel rolled his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"When Emily told you about.. you know?"
No, I did not know. Did he know why Em had been weird yesterday?
"What?" I cleared my throat and tried to recall last night but nothing came into my mind.
"When Emily told you she wants to give you another chance." He explained slowly.
What the fuck? Did I hear that right?
I glanced at Ethan and Nick who just shrugged. Daniel looked uncomfortable when he realized none of us knew what he was talking about.
"Daniel care to elaborate?"
"Not really." He stretched his neck and took a step back.
"It wasn't really a question." I needed to know what Emily had told him. And why was she even telling him this type of stuff in the first place?
"Well Emily told us she was going to tell you about her feelings last night."
"Who's us?"
"Alisha and Pauline. I just happened to hang out with Alisha and hear this."
"You're always with her nowadays." Nick pointed out but I didn't have time to discuss their boring relationship.
"Why the fuck didn't you tell me earlier?" I couldn't believe this. We had been smoking here for almost thirty minutes and he decided to tell me this now?
So that's what she was trying to tell me last night. Clearly she wasn't really good at confessing her feelings. Emily could've just told me she liked me.
"I thought she was going to tell you!" He defended himself and I rolled my eyes.
"Right." I mumbled.
"Do you think it's wise to start anything serious with her?" Nick said out of nowhere.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You've been in a relationship once." He pointed out, "And we all remember how that ended, you screwed it up once you-"
"You don't need to remind us, I know it was wrong but-"
"Nick is right though." Ethan interrupted me.
"Okay so what are you saying? When Em tells me she likes me I should just lie and say I don't feel the same way?"
"Well no but.." Ethan stopped to think what he could say.
"I don't get why Jack can't try things out with Emily?" Daniel backed me up.
"Exactly. Thank you Daniel."
"I don't think Emily is the type of girl you "try things out with". She'll just feel like you're playing her."
"But I'm not!"
"Jack let's be real here. You're not a relationship kind of guy." Ethan said, "What if you think you like her but actually you just like the fact that you might be her first... And it's intriguing for you that she's not really like the other girls you have been with."
I stood there with my mouth open. How did he even think of these things?
"Wha- how- what?" I tried to get my words out, "No, that's not it."
"But what if it is? You haven't liked anyone in ages." Ethan continued and Nick nodded before opening his stupid mouth again.
"I'm sorry but I don't think you can be in a serious relationship. At least not at the moment."
"I don't think I asked for your opinion."
"Do you realize you can't make out with girls at parties? Or that you can't write your phone number down and give it to waitresses?" Daniel spoke and I glared at him. Why was he switching teams all of the sudden? I could say a lot of things about his relationship but I had been quiet about it.
"And most importantly you can't fuck a different girl every week." Ethan added and I was getting pissed off.
"I haven't done that in weeks."
Nick bursted out laughing, "Yes you have."
Why the fuck were they all coming at me?
"Why are you all saying this shit now? Why didn't you mention this earlier?" I huffed and kicked a small rock.
"I didn't think she would actually want something serious with you."
I raised my brows, did Nick want me to punch him?
"I didn't mean it like that." Nick tried to calm me down, "But come on, everyone knows how you live your life. That's why I thought she wouldn't consider anything with you."
He had a point but I still wanted to give him a small punch.
"I think you should go for it. But only if you are sure about your feelings." Daniel gave me a pat on my back.
"Yeah of course go for it if you actually feel like it." Ethan gave me a smile, "Just don't fuck her up. She doesn't deserve that. No one does."
"Plus I like her and her friends." Nick pointed out, "They have a different vibe than other girls."
"Yeah because they don't wanna sleep with you. That's why they seem chill." Ethan chuckled but let out a groan when Nick punched his arm.
"Whatever. I need to go." I didn't wanna hear more stupid reasons why I shouldn't try things out with the girl that actually liked me after everything I had said to her.
"Good luck!" Daniel shouted after me and I flipped him off. They were bunch of idiots. Usually I didn't give a fuck about anyone's opinions, but the fact that all three of them thought the same way made me think if I was actually ready to have the talk with Em.
- - -
"Hey." I plopped down on the sofa. Conveniently for me it looked like Em wasn't busy since she was laying on the sofa, watching a disney movie or some shit.
My mood was bad, I was still pissed off but didn't want to let it out on her, because she hadn't done anything.
"Hi." She smiled at me before continuing staring at the screen.
"Sooo.."
"So?"
"What's up?"
"Nothing, I'm just watching a movie... As you can probably see."
"Right." I nodded, trying to figure out how to hint that I knew about her feelings. The things my friends had said to me hadn't left my mind. Who were they to tell me I wasn't a relationship kind of guy? So what if I wasn't used to seeing just one girl at a time, how hard could that be? And if Daniel could do it, why couldn't I?
"You know what I saw on insta today," I started, "Most of the time when girls shoot their shot they get the guy. Because it's so rare when girls do it. And guys think it's attractive."
"That's crazy right?" I continued and she furrowed her eyebrows.
"Yeah, that's crazy." She nodded slowly and continued watching her movie.
I sighed quietly and got up. I guess I just had to wait for her to bring it up.
"Jack, I need to tell you something"
Luckily I had my back facing her so she couldn't see the wide smile that was planted on my face.
"Sure, what's up?" I sat down on the sofa again and tried to play innocent, like I didn't know what she was going to say next.
There was suddenly a tension between us. We both were quiet, even the movie was on pause.
"You know, yesterday I was really..." She paused to think, "I was really craving some pizza, and I wanted to ask if that could be our dinner today? I know I promised to make pesto pasta but I'm way too lazy to do that right now."
For fuck's sake.
Please remember to vote, it would mean a lot to me <3