Chapter 31: Chapter 31

Hiro and Brielle were sleeping over in my room on Boxing Day because I had something important to tell them and I knew it would call for a massive celebration that would take the entire night. And no, I decided against telling them about Avyanna, well except Hiro, for obvious reasons.

Brielle was the easiest to bring in. Hiro, on the other hand, was actually avoiding me because of the whole situation and she felt ashamed of herself. I literally had to go to her house and drag her out myself since she was being such a bitch about it.

It involved us having a little talk where she explained herself to me. I’d obviously told her not to worry since her cousin, Avyanna, had already told me everything but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to let it go and decided to tell me the story from her point of view. Just as I’d expected, it was similar to what Avyanna had said and involved a lot of tissues.

Eventually, we got over it and she was happy to come back with me for the news. She even gave me a late Christmas present which was the cutest I’d gotten so far since she bought me a drawing set for kids. I wasn’t a child but I fell in love with it the moment she gave it to me.

“Like I said, I have something to tell you,” I said with a grin that had been on my face since the previous day which was when everything happened.

“Are you pregnant?” Brielle blurted. “It will be nice considering we can get married together and all that.”

I laughed. “I am not pregnant.”

“Oh, okay, what is it then?” Brielle asked with a slightly raised brow.

Hiro facepalmed herself. “That is what she was trying to tell us before you decided to talk thinking you know better.”

Before Brielle could reply and cause an argument, I said, “Emrys asked me out after dinner yesterday.” They gave me weird looks as expected and I corrected myself and added, “Emrys asked me to be his girlfriend.”

It was the weirdest transformation I’d ever seen in my life. I mean, they looked pretty normal at first until they exchanged glances and looked like two kids that were high on sugar, literally bouncing on the bed. I nearly shrieked the moment Brielle pulled me into a massive bear hug and squeezed the life out of me.

“Too. Tight,” I said between wheezes when she hugged me even tighter and she sheepishly let me go.

Hiro’s eyes were wide with excitement as she asked, “What did you say, bitch?”

Brielle chuckled and playfully rolled her eyes. “What do you think she said? Of course, she said yes meaning I won the bet and our girl is getting laid if she hasn’t already the moment he asked.”

“Actually, I didn’t say anything,” I said with a sheepish smile and their eyes widened. “I was so shocked and I expected to faint but I didn’t. I did, however, lose my ability to speak and he told me that whenever I was ready to give him an answer, he was okay with it.”

That was the truth. I didn’t expect him to understand so well and leave me be but he did it and with the cutest smile on his face when he walked away.

“Are you crazy?” Brielle asked, all but shouting. “If I were you, I’d have dragged him back and said ‘I’d love to be your girlfriend’ in the sexiest voice ever, plant my lips on his, and get the night over with.” After she said that, her nose scrunched up. “Just remembered he’s my cousin and the mental image is gross.”

Hiro and I burst into laughter. Hiro placed her hand on Brielle’s shoulder in a reassuring way. “On the bright side, if he wasn’t your cousin, he’s a hottie and would have the hots for you.”

Brielle slapped Hiro’s hands away after she winked. “I’m engaged and we’re talking about Paris’s soon-to-be boyfriend.”

“She got him easy. If you weren’t his cousin, you’d definitely have competition between both of you and make this even better to watch,” Hiro said with her playful smirk and a wink she did slowly.

Brielle laughed. “Yeah, well, Paris fucks up plenty on her own so I’m sure there are plenty ways she can destroy a possible relationship without the competition.”

I crossed my arms and pouted. “I don’t like how both of you are talking about me as if I’m not seated in front of you.

“Sorry, baby,” Brielle cooed. “It’s a sign of our love for you.”

“Exactly,” Hiro said with a wink and I made a mental note to ask her what made her so happy since her face had been shining differently since she came in. “We need to celebrate. We need wine, champagne, beer, alcohol in general!”

“We don’t have any,” Brielle said with a sigh.

Hiro’s eyes widened. “What kind of rich house doesn’t have alcohol? Are you kidding me? We need to buy them now!”

“Emrys doesn’t drink and I found it unnecessary to buy it if no one’s going to take it anyway,” Brielle said with a shrug.

“That has to changed,” Hiro said, standing up. “Let’s go and stock up the wine cabinet. It needs to be done ASAP!”

“Isn’t it a little too late?” I asked with a slightly raised brow.

Hiro rolled her eyes and tried to drag me out of bed. “Live a little, young one. The best adventures happen at night.”

“I think I prefer to stay in at night besides, it could rain and I don’t want to risk that,” I said with a shrug.

Brielle laughed at that. “Rain? In December? What world do you live in?”

I crossed my arms and frowned. “Anything is possible.”

“But…” Brielle started with a little pout and Hiro cut her off.

“Let her be. She just wants to stay alone with Emrys so they can get freaky,” Hiro said to Brielle then winked at me. “I know what you’re trying to do and it’s fine.”

I glared at her. “Emrys isn’t even home.”

“Aha! You would like to get freaky if he is home,” Hiro said with a grin that made it look like she had won the Pulitzer Prize or something better. “Don’t worry I’ll put a call across once we’re out.”

“Don’t you dare!”

“Bye,” Brielle said as she sent me a kiss and made to walk out the door while laughing beside Hiro.

And just before they left, Hiro said, “Oh and, in case you were wondering, I’m happy because Milo and I are together.”

“DUDE, WE ARE SO GOING TO TALK ABOUT THIS WHEN YOU GET BACK!”

She laughed and ran out making sure to shut the door so it would slow me down if I wanted to run after her. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the strength so I feebly pointed at the door and fell back down on the bed with a sigh. Those girls really drained out my energy but it was in a good way.

I began thinking up things to do and decided that it had been long since I spoke to Leon meaning I was a bad best friend. I took my phone from the bedside table and dialed his number, and I wasn’t so surprised when he picked up almost immediately.

“Paris, is everything alright?” he asked and I didn’t know how I knew but his voice sounded really drained.

“I think I should be asking you that. You don’t sound…you.”

“Oh, no, I’m fine. Just a little tired and stressed out but it’s nothing a few hours of rest can’t handle.”

I thought about it and realized that there was something about his voice that was off. “You can talk to me, you know? We’re best friends for a reason.”

He sighed and I’d never realized a sigh could hold so much emotions until I heard his. “It’s just that I’ve been busy trying to find out who keeps sending all these threats. I mean, we’re safe now but whoever it is isn’t dead and I’m not finding anything.”

“There’s no need to worry. We’ll be fine.” “I hope so,” he said with another sigh.

“Is something else bothering you? Something you want to tell me?”

“No, nothing of that sort,” he replied with a tone of dismissal. “So, I’m assuming you didn’t call me to find out what’s wrong with me.”

I grinned, remembering the issue at hand. “Yeah, about that, Emrys asked me to be his girlfriend.”

“Actually, I can’t. He really did?” Leon asked and there was this tone in his voice that I couldn’t decipher.

I frowned. “What? I’m not his type or something?” “No, it’s not that.”

“Then what is it?” “Nothing.”

“Leon, are you sure you’re okay? You sound off today. Should I call you some other time?” “Now that I think about it, something is bothering me. Can I come see you? Are you alone?” “Yeah, but isn’t it late and a far drive from your place?”

“I’m already around. Just give me two minutes.”

I found that suspicious. “Leon, were you already on your way here?” “Maybe.”

“It’s that bad? Wait, where are you exactly?” “At the door.”

“Really? Come on up, then. You should know where my room is,” I said with a smile when he hung up almost immediately. Leon was a weird person but it was part of the things that made him a sweet person to be around. Almost immediately, Leon walked in and I’d never seen him look so sad and empty. I stood up. “Leon, what the hell is wrong with you? And don’t tell me nothing because you look so terrible.”

He stared at me for a while, an emotion I didn’t understand coming into his grey eyes that were void of the brightness they always held. I raised a brow when I realized that he wasn’t going to talk and he sighed. The sigh was so deep and heavy, I could nearly feel whatever it was that was really bothering him.

And he leaned in, so carefully. Breathing and not breathing and hearts beating between us and he was so close. He was so close that I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. I wanted to run away but I couldn’t get my legs to move for some reason. I couldn’t feel my fingers or the cold or the emptiness of the room because all I could feel was the heat of the tension between us.

“Please,” he whispered, his voice so husky it dulled my senses, “please don’t shoot me for this.”

And he kissed me.

His lips were softer than anything I’d ever known, soft like a first snowfall, like biting into cotton candy, like melting and floating and being weightless in water. It was sweet. It was

effortlessly sweet. But it was also wrong because I’d only be leading him on. My heart was with Emrys and not with him.

So, gathering all the energy the sensible part of me had left, I pushed him away and slapped him. Hard. He staggered backwards a little and his hand raised to clutch his cheek. I felt bad for slapping him right after I did but I didn’t regret it. I was angry, not just at him, but at myself.

“You had no right to kiss me. That’s not what friends do, okay?”

“I love you, Paris. I have for a very long time now. Longer than you can possibly imagine,” he said with a sigh, his hand still on his cheek.

“What?”

“Emotions are never black or white, they are more like symptoms. You lose your breath every time they enter a room, your heart beats faster when they walk by, your skin tingles when you stand close enough to feel their breath. That’s when you know you’re taken away by that person. I felt that with you. For you.”

“You can’t just come out of the blues and tell me these things, Leon. What the hell do you want me to do now?”

“Love me back?”

“It doesn’t work that way! You of all people should know that.”

He raked his hands through his hair and stepped closer. “Just give me a chance. There are so much we can do together.”

I placed my hand in between us. “Save it. Just get out of my room. Out of this house. Out of my fucking life.”

“You can’t mean that.”

“I do. I can’t believe you. We’ve friends for what? 20 years? Most of which I thought you were gay and you just come up here to confess your ‘feelings’ for me? You don’t just do that.”

“I was scared of how you’d react,” he said weakly.

“How I’d react? Leon, you just told me you’re in love with me! How am I even sure that you like me? What if this is all some game to you to stop me from getting together with Emrys?”

He looked so hurt when he said, “You know me too well, Paris, even more than I know myself. How can you think I will do such a thing?”

“I don’t know. Anything is possible with quiet people like you. I’ve been finding out a lot of things about you these days that I never thought I knew and, Leon, I’m beginning to wonder if you’re the same person I knew all those years.”

“Good. Judge me. Take apart every word I’ve ever said, strip me of every action I’ve ever taken. Then know, for certain, that I mean it when I tell you I love you.” I looked away from

his eyes when I couldn’t afford to handle such emotion. “I just want to know if there’s any way you can give me a chance. If you feel the same way I do.”

“Well, here you go. I don’t like you. I don’t love you. I only see you as a friend and nothing more. If you want anything other than that, then I can’t give it to you.”

“Please, don’t do this to me. I need you. Please.” His voice was so contorted with pain that it broke my heart to hear him that way, to even see him cry, and I wanted to say the words that would make him feel better. I just didn’t know how to.

“Just go home. You’ve already overstayed and I’m getting quite uncomfortable.”

“I love you!” It was so desperate that I could feel my heart breaking and I shook my head and shut the door in his face.

I leaned on the door and fell to the floor. All I could hope for was that it wouldn’t change things between both of us. Who was I kidding? Everything would have to change. Every single thing. I raked my hands through my hair and sighed. It was going to be a long night.

***

“You’re trying to tell me that we were gone for only fifteen minutes and all that happened?” Hiro asked, passing the tissue over to me when it looked like I wouldn’t be able to stop crying and I nodded to answer her question. “Wow, Paris, you sure know how to mess things up.”

“I feel like shouting at you but I don’t think this is the right time,” Brielle said with a sigh. “What were you thinking? Leon literally opened himself to you. He showed you who he really is and how he feels for you, and you just shut him out like that. Honestly, you’re my friend and all, but if you had done that to me, I would never forgive you.”

I began to wail all over again and threw myself on the floor. I was a mess and I couldn’t believe I’d let my best friend go like that. I literally let him slip through my fingers. I let him go and he was right in front of me.

“You’re going to have to stop that,” Brielle said while shaking her head at me not exactly feeling the sympathy I was expecting from her and Hiro agreed.

I sniffed as I asked, “Stop what?”

This time Hiro answered. “Pining. If you’re not going to fix it then at least, let him go.” I looked at her and let the tears flow endlessly. “What do I do to make it better?”

Hiro crossed her arms. “Call him before it’s too late and let him know that you weren’t thinking right. There are better ways to tell someone you’re not in love with them than what you did.”

“Okay, I’m going to call him now,” I said with a sniff as I took my phone from where I tossed it and dialed his number: the one number I knew by heart. Unfortunately, he didn’t pick. I called like seven times and he still didn’t pick. “He’s not answering my calls.”

“Damn, he must be really mad at you,” Brielle said sending me an apologetic look.

Hiro glared at her. “Or he could be trying to calm himself down so he doesn’t say anything that would hurt you the way you hurt him.”

I would have told her what I thought but my phone started ringing and I believed she was right, that it was Leon calling me now that he was calm, but it wasn’t. It was actually Teagan and like I said, she only called me when it was urgent.

“What is it?” I snapped then realized how rude I must have sounded and cleared my throat. “I am sorry about that. I’m just sad right now and I don’t know what to do.”

“Does it have anything to do with Leon?” I sighed. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

She was quiet for a while and just when I was about to bark at her to speak, she said, “Well, you see, I tried to talk him out of it, but Leon quit. He literally sent a resignation letter to the company email and when I called him, he said it wasn’t a mistake and he wanted nothing from you.”

I gasped. “Are you serious?”

“I was also surprised. Whatever must have happened between both of you must have been really bad. I’ve never heard him so…” she paused looking for the right word to describe it then settled with, “…distanced. It’s almost like he wants nothing to do with anybody. I called Camila to talk to him and when she called back, she said it’s not something she can fix.”

“He really wants nothing to do with me, huh?”

“It seems like it.” I nodded even though she couldn’t see me and looked up at the ceiling. “If you don’t mind me asking, since we’re not friends and all, what happened between you and Leon.”

I bit my lower lip thinking of what to say then I asked, “What do you think Leon sees me as?”

She chuckled. “It’s pretty simple. Leon is in love with you. I mean, I’ve known for years but I just thought maybe one day, he’d want me.”

“What about me?”

“Well, you might be in love with him. It sure looks like it. There’s just this chemistry both of you have that is undeniable,” she said and I could tell she was being sincere. “Why are you asking me that, though? Are you pregnant for him?”

And since, Leon had left the house, that was the first time I’d even cracked a smile. “No, no I’m not. Thank you though. You’ve been so helpful. I don’t know what I’ll do without you.”

She laughed. “No problem. It’s kind of nice playing boss.” I nodded. “I’m going to hang up now but I feel you should find a way to settle with Leon. He’s not the kind of person you’d let go that easy.”

“Trust me, I know,” I said with a soft smile and she grumbled before hanging up. I stared at my friends who were waiting for a reply. “Well, Leon hates me. He resigned and is no longer going to be working with my company which is weird since he was more or less the boss.”

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry,” Brielle said as she came to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

“I really messed up. I’ve lost my best friend.”

“Shush! It’s going to be alright. When you sleep and wake up, it’s going to be fine.”