I stood at the stove, prepping some chicken in a pan. "Not a lover's quarrel, Jaden. Just a little joke between two friends who have kissed a couple of times."
"Sure, a couple of times," Jaden replied. "I'm surprised that you didn't cover up that hickey before the video."
My hand shot up to my neck. "Shit. I forgot about it."
"Ah!" Jaden exclaimed. "What happened to pretending that it wasn't a hickey?"
"It was worth a shot, but we all know that none of you actually believed me."
Josh was leaning against the counter, observing the interaction between the two of us. "How come no one has said anything to me? We all know that I'm the one who gave it to her."
I sighed, setting down the pan that was in my hand. "Can you stop talking, please? You are not helping my case." Josh and Jaden looked at each other and chuckled. "What is so damn funny?"
"It's not that serious, Bails. We all knew that it was bound to happen when Nessa gave you that letter. Josh used to talk about you for hours after he visited Maryland with Bryce. He only got back together with Nessa because she was here and you were across the country," Jaden said, sitting down at the table. "What are you making?"
"Just cooking chicken right now. I'm probably going to make some chicken salad. Don't skip past that like you didn't just say all of that. He talked about me?"
Josh's face flushed a deep red as Jaden nodded. "He did. He always tried to make it sound like you guys were just friends, but we all knew better. Even Bryce."
As I put the chicken into the oven, I crossed the kitchen and wrapped my arms around Josh. "Can I tell you a secret?" I asked softly. He nodded. "I talked about you all the time, too." I stared at him, getting lost in his blue eyes before kissing him softly.
Jaden sat in the kitchen for a few more moments before groaning. "I hate couples."
Josh pulled away, turning to look at him. "Don't pretend that this isn't you and Mads every chance you get."
Jaden's face flushed a scarlet red this time. "I'm gonna go. It was nice to hang out with you guys."
Josh sat down at the kitchen table as Jaden left the room. I felt his eyes follow me around the kitchen as I cooked. "Can I help you?" I asked, turning to face him and putting a hand on my hip.
"No, don't mind me. Just watching. You're just so beautiful."
I blushed. "Oh, stop. You're too much."
He shook his head. "No, I'm not. You really are. You're especially lucky that you don't look like Bryce."
"That's mean," I laughed.
Josh shrugged. "It's true though. You definitely got the brains and the beauty out of the two of you."
We talked about random things as I cooked. "Want to make a TikTok?" he asked. "I haven't posted yet today."
I nodded. "Why not? Don't choose anything too crazy though. I'm enjoying not being on tiktokroom right now."
We quickly made a few TikToks, and I finished up our lunch.
Bryce walked into the kitchen as we sat and ate. "Hey, what are you guys doing in here?"
"You know, just eating lunch," Josh replied, taking another bite.
"Rumor has it that you guys were kind of cozy earlier," Bryce mentioned skeptically, sitting down.
"Damn it, Jaden," I mumbled.
Bryce heard me. "What was that, Bailey?"
I shook my head. "Nothing."
Jaden walked back into the kitchen, and I jumped up, chasing him out of the kitchen quickly.
"What is your deal?" he asked, panting when I finally caught him on the patio.
"What made you change your mind about not saying anything to anyone?"
Jaden shrugged. "Josh said it didn't matter as long as it wasn't in the media. Bryce isn't the media, so I figured it was okay."
I threw my hands up in frustration. "He's my older brother, Jay! He's gonna pretend that everything is fine because it's his best friend, but he is the most overprotective person that I've ever met!"
Jaden looked at me like I was crazy. "Bailey, he literally does not care. Trust me, I asked him about it. He said that he only cares if Josh hurts you. As long as he doesn't hurt you, everything will be fine."
I sighed. "Fine, but you owe me." We walked back into the kitchen to find Bryce lecturing Josh on the conduct that he expected him to follow when we were alone. "That's enough," I said, sitting back down.
"I just want to make sure that your new fling is a gentleman," Bryce said, popping a chip into his mouth.
"Whoa, he's not just a fling, Bryce."
Bryce shrugged. "We'll see."
I stood up from the table quickly, angered that he was even implying that Josh and I were simply a fling. "I thought you approved. Why are you being like this?"
"I approved of Tayler, too, and we all know how that worked out."
"Oh my, God! You are such an asshole!" I screamed, storming up the stairs.
I slammed the door behind me, calling my mom. "You have got to talk to your son," I said as soon as she said hello.
"Hey, Bailey. I miss you, too. Now, what the hell are you talking about?"
"Josh and I are taking things slow again, and Bryce keeps talking like it's going to be a fling. He compared it to Tayler, Mom, and we both know that it's not the same. I feel like the one person that I knew was in my corner is turning against me."
She sighed. "He's probably just being weird because that's his best friend. I know it feels like he's against you right now, but he's probably just trying to come to terms with the fact that the two people he loves are interested in each other. That can be a hard thing for someone to deal with, especially when it's someone that he's so protective over."
"Mama, he tried to call me out in front of Josh. What if Josh thinks that it really is just a fling and ends it with me?"
She sighed again. "I saw the way that he looked at you when you guys were up here. Don't write it off. Bryce is probably just anxious. I will talk to him for you. Stay calm, and maybe take a nap or something."
"Thank you, Mama. I love you."
I curled up in my bed. Moving to LA was supposed to make my life easier, so why was it making everything so damn difficult? There was a soft knock on my door. "Come in."
Addison walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. "I heard what happened with Bryce. He's sorry, you know? He's just worried about you. He's got a funny way of showing it, I know, but he does care. He called me and told me all about it. He asked me to talk to you because he doesn't know what to say to you."
I shrugged. "He needs to start saying these things to me himself. He can't have you running around doing his dirty work for the rest of our lives. He's a grown man, damn it, and he needs to start acting like it."
"I know that you're upset, but please, try to calm down. Getting upset isn't going to change anything, and you and I both know that," she said, rubbing my back gently.
"You can tell him that if there's something he would like to say to me, he knows where my room is. Until then, I really don't care what he has to say."
Addison looked at me knowingly. "Older brothers can be tough, babe, but you can't shut him out completely. He doesn't know how to deal with the emotions that he's feeling."
"Well, he should probably figure that out, shouldn't he? Now, if you'll excuse me, I've probably pouted for long enough, and I should probably go see how Josh felt about Bryce's little outburst."
I walked down the hallway and knocked on Josh's door. "It's open!" he called out.
"Hey, can we talk for a second?"
Josh turned in his chair to look at me. "Sure, mamas. What's up?"
I sat down on his bed. "I want to talk about what Bryce said."
"What about it?" he asked, a confused look on his face.
"You, uh," I stammered, "you don't think that this is just a fling for me, right?"
"You know, I'm not really sure what I think. You've kind of been all over the place since you got here, and it's only been a few days."
I bit my lip, taking a deep breath to try and remain calm. "I made decisions irrationally due to my emotions. I don't think that that is me being all over the place."
He shook his head. "You kissed me one day. The next day, you hooked up with Tayler. The day after that, you left a date with Tayler early. The day after that, you come in here, and we decide to take things slow. I don't know what you want me to think."
I sighed. "I was drunk when I hooked up with Tayler, and I was only drinking to distract myself from the fact that you hurt me more than I ever thought that you could. If you think that this is just going to be a fling to me, maybe we shouldn't be anything at all.
It was Josh's turn to sigh. "I don't want that. I just don't know what you really want. If you can tell me what you want, then we'll be okay, but until then, I don't know if I can swing this without knowing if you're one hundred percent in."
"I've been one hundred percent in. If you want to do this, so do I."
Josh hugged me tightly. "I'm all in, baby."
I went downstairs, looking for Bryce. "Bryce!" I called out. "We need to talk!"
"I'm in the kitchen!" I heard him yell back. I walked into the kitchen to find him and Addison sitting there.
"I understand that I'm your little sister and that you're going to want to do anything that you can to protect me, but right now, I really need you to take a step back. I have to figure out my own life here in LA, and that's really hard to do when you spend more time harassing me about my choices than you do helping me in the aftermath of them."
"Bailey, I'm sorry that you think that I'm harassing you, but I'm just looking out for you."
"I'm an adult, damn it! You have to let me make my own choices and mistakes, or I will never, ever learn from them. I need you to be there for me, and help me deal with the consequences of my actions. I love Josh, and he isn't going to be a fling for me. I need your support in this decision. I look up to you, Bryce."
Bryce sighed, putting his head in his hands. "I don't know if I can support this. I don't want to have to choose between the two of you when something inevitably goes wrong."
"Bryce," Addison said, warning him.
"That! That is exactly what I'm talking about! You don't have to choose! If we don't work out, you can objectively support us both in our pain. It's not fair to deny either one of us something that has the potential to make us both happy, just because there's a chance that it could break our hearts."
"Fine," he said, looking up at me. "I will support this, but I want you to make good decisions and really take it slow with him. Try to avoid the media as much as possible while you guys get things started. The quickest way to end a relationship is to release it to the media before it's even started."
I hugged him tightly. "Thank you, bubs. I love you."
"Just remember that I'll kick both of your asses if you hurt each other."
"Bryce! Stop!" Addison said, smacking him playfully.