Thank you so much to @Chocolateophobia for the cover at the top💖

Chapter Forty: "A Wannabe Burger."

"YOU KNOW SOMETHING?" Andrew said from my cell phone as I walked along the sidewalk, one hand in my pocket.

"What?"

"We've all kind of separated."

I almost bumped into a stranger at that statement, not watching where I was going. "We?"

"Not you and me specifically but in general. When was the last time you talked to Stevie?"

"A couple weeks ago." I answered, trying to make sure he wasn't right. Because I didn't think he was at all. I hoped he wasn't.

"Brandon?"

"Same."

"Jacob?"

I hesitated with my answer. Oh. "I think a month or two." Feels like I haven't spoken to that guy for a year. It was weird since him and Natalie broke up.

"Jon Ming or Austin?"

"A few days ago." I pointed out.

"What about Jasmine?" Andrew said her name her smoothly. I could've thought that we were talking about another Jasmine. "When was the last time you spoke to her?"

I licked my lips, opening the door to the building. "It's been a while."

"Mace," Andrew started. "I know that Jasmine and I are over but that doesn't mean that you had to end your friendship with her."

"It's not like we ended our friendship. We're both really busy."

"Busy?" Andrew asked and it was clear he didn't believe me at all. It wasn't like I wasn't trying to talk to Jasmine. It just felt like we didn't have much to talk about anymore. Whenever we used to talk, Andrew's name would pop up twenty-four seven and now I couldn't exactly bring him into a conversation. It just wasn't the same and I had a huge feeling that Jasmine knew it too.

"Yes. We're really busy." I emphasized, walking over to the private elevator.

"I know she did an unthinkable thing but I really think you should give her a chance. You said you wouldn't pick a side."

"I don't have to pick a side." I sighed. "Andrew, you're my best friend."

"So was she."

And then I admitted something that I didn't think I could say out loud but I did. "I don't know about that."

There was a pause in the background. "There comes a day when you realize that you were only friends with some people because you saw them five days a week."

"Why does that sound so familiar?" I asked, entering the elevator.

"Maybe because some idiot decided to put that in our final high school yearbook."

"Don't call Stevie an idiot. She was on that committee."

"Oops?" Andrew said sarcastically and I heard something fall onto a surface, probably the book.

"Why are you so sour suddenly?"

"You know Gianna?"

"Your boxing buddy?" I questioned, not even believing that one bit. Boxing buddy my butt. Maddy and I cyber searched that girl to find out stuff about her and all I could see was that she really liked boxing and that she was a crafty person. She had her own 'do It Yourself' channel on Youtube.

"We did something."

I froze the same time the elevator stopped on the top floor. "Something?"

"Yeah. I'm not going to expand on that and I'll let you figure out what we did."

I blinked several times, wondering if he was serious or not but by the tone of his voice, he sounded serious. When I walked out of the elevator, I asked, "You did something? You had sex? With Gianna?"

"No," And the way he was speaking made me want to ask what they actually did but I had a pretty good suspicion. "Surprisingly, no."

"Then what did you...you know what? Never mind. You said that a little bit too happily for me so I'm going to assume that you got something in your favor."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Drew." I stopped at the door.

"Relax, I'm being careful."

"Sure you are. But what does that have to do with you being sour?"

Andrew groaned in frustration. "Ever since that night, she's been avoiding me."

"Ohhhh."

"Yeahhhh." Andrew mocked.

"Go find her, will you?"

I started opening the door with my key when Andrew said, "Easier said than done considering I just told you that 'she's been avoiding me'."

I opened it, the sound of loud bass dropping music flooded my ear drums. "What the hell is going on your end?" Andrew asked.

I took my shoes off and dropped my bag at the door, locking it behind me when I heard the loud laughter. "Um, Drew, I'll text you later, okay?"

"Okay." I hung up, sliding the phone in my jeans pocket and heading over to the living room.

The sight in front of me was kind of strange. Matteo was on one end of the couch, bobbing his head to the music emitting itself from Sam's speakers that were on the ottoman. Sam was on the other side of the couch, pretending to play the drums on the pillow in his lap.

Matteo and he glanced at each other for a second before they broke into song and started singing very badly. Oh my God. No.

I quickly went over to the speaker and stopped the music. I would've joined in but even though Sam was faking that bad singing ability I knew Matteo wasn't and I didn't want to endure that. And if Peter joined in as well then, my eardrums would have their own gravestone.

The two guys looked at me confused. "What'd you do that for?" Matteo asked.

"I'm sorry," I mockingly apologized. "I just decided to save everyone here from the effect of second hand 'can't sing syndrome'."

Sam laid on his back, his arm tucked under his head when he chuckled. "Be happy you weren't here half an hour ago."

Half an hour ago?

Was I missing something?

Just then, Peter walked into the room with Soccer in his hands. He nodded for me to follow him into the kitchen before looking at Matteo and Sam. "You two. Lower it down."

"Sure dad," Sam muttered.

Peter narrowed his eyes at his cousin before leaving the room. I stared at Sam and Matteo for one second, realizing how weird it was to see them laughing and singing horribly together before following Peter into the kitchen.

"Um...what is going on over there?" I pointed towards the living room, taking a seat on the counter.

Peter handed Soccer over to me who wiggled in my hands before licking my face. I put him down when Peter opened the fridge. "Damn it. Sam, go grocery shopping, would you?" He yelled.

"You go," Sam yelled back.

Peter rolled his eyes, flipping Sam the bird even though he couldn't see it. Peter glanced at me. "You want to go grocery shopping with me after?"

"I would but Maddy and Anmol are dragging me out later today after Anmol's class."

"Can you guys spring an extra one after I do a test? I'm going to be bored when Sam has to study."

I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Peter clapped his hands. "Awesome. Now, we have bread and a few other things...do you want a sandwich? I think that's all we have right now or else I would have made like fried chicken or something."

"A sandwich sounds good, Peter."

"Good," He put the bread on the counter and searched the fridge for essentials. "By the way, those two? Sam and I were walking from the gym and he saw Matteo outside and stopped him."

"Wait. Sam voluntarily stopped Matteo?"

"Yeah, he told me 'one second' and suddenly they were talking for like a good minute before he told me that Matteo is coming over."

"Sam? Samuel Cahill told you this? Samuel Cahill voluntarily invited Matteo over?"

"Yes," Peter said, shoving bologna in his mouth. "Do you want some bologna?"

I shook my head. "I'm trying to stay off that processed stuff."

Peter shrugged. "More for me than." He proceeded to shove another slice in his mouth. "Anyway, it was weird at first. I sat down on the couch and wanted to watch a show. Matteo was just sitting there kind of awkward and I found that hilarious. Imagine, one of the tallest guys I have ever seen just sitting like he didn't belong and so out of place."

"I can imagine." I sarcastically said. Of course Peter would find the weirdest things funny.

"Salami. Do you like salami or roast beef?"

"Roast beef."

"You're Italian. Why don't you like salami?"

"You're British. Why don't you like tea?" I shot back with the fact I knew about Peter. He liked coffee over tea anyway.

Peter paused, chewing slowly before swallowing and nodding. "I see your point."

"Of course you do."

"But then Sam came in and like they started talking about the concert Matteo is apparently going to with that Maddy girl you guys are friends with and before I knew it, they started talking about music, then started listening to music and before you know it I can barely hear."

"Wow."

"I should've seen it coming, to be honest."

"What do you mean?"

"You know those conversations Sam has with Caleb on the phone? The one where he tells him everything that happens and in excruciating detail because Caleb has to ask-"

"Specific things so he can apparently imagine the scene," I rolled my eyes, smiling at the thought of Caleb. "Yeah. I know how they have their conversations."

"Yeah, so a couple days ago, Sam was talking to Caleb about the Matteo guy and-holy shit."

"What?"

"I just realized that's the Matteo guy that Sam was jealous of. The one he thought was into you." Peter's eyes had lit up like he just found the cure to all diseases.

"Yes. That is the same Matteo." I said to Peter slowly.

"Yeah, and I overheard the conversation-"

"You mean you eavesdropped."

"Yeah, I eavesdropped. I shouldn't have to sugarcoat it but it seemed like he completely moved on from the idea that Matteo could've been interested in you. Not just because you told him that there was nothing ever going to go on but it's weird."

"How?"

"I heard him telling Caleb about the Jordan guy that Matteo was with and that he died," I looked down on the ground as Peter continued to talk and he stopped his movements of making the second sandwich, walking over to me. "And if you heard that way his voice changed when he went to that topic... you know what?"

"What?"

"He can relate to Matteo. When he heard that story, he was able to see Matteo in a different perspective, you know? Like he could see that Matteo was someone who had lost someone he loved and Sam-although it was a different kind of love- almost went through the same thing. Sometimes, situations happen to bring people together, to help people understand each other."

"Yeah." I agreed.

"People are able to bond over common things. It just so happened to be that a possible friendship formed over what happened in the past."

There was a moment of silence between the both of us and I could hear Sam and Matteo laugh loudly over the music once again. Peter went back to the sandwich and I watched Soccer trail over to him and try to get his attention.

Peter glanced down at Soccer, rolling his eyes as he stuffed another silence of bologna in his mouth. "Most annoying thing alive."

"He's not just a thing."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. He's a part of the family." Peter made a face and a whiny voice while saying that and I took a slice of bread and threw it at his head.

"He is. And so are you."

"I never asked to be." He said while getting plates.

"You were adopted in."

"What? So, I'm you and Sam's kid?"

"Sure." I rolled my eyes, taking a seat.

"Fine-wait-no. I'm not going to have a dog be my brother."

"Peter, shut up."

"And...Voila!" He gestured to the sandwiches he made, a huge smile on his face.

I took one look and cringed, lifting the bread of one and looking at the contents in it. "Is that mustard?"

"It's for Sam. What did you think I did? Only made sandwiches for both of us because believe it or not, I'm generous."

I inspected the other one. "Is that ketchup?"

"That's Matteo's. I have no idea what he likes on his sandwiches but he gets food. He should be grateful." I blinked, leaning back in the chair as Peter looked at the ingredients he had used to make these 'sandwiches'. "I just realized something. We have so much food. We don't need to go grocery shopping."

"Ya think?" I said sarcastically before looking at the one that was supposedly mine with the relish inside. "This doesn't look like a sandwich. This looks like a wannabe burger."

"A wannabe burger? It's a sandwich. You put things in a sandwich. I put things in a sandwich." He said defensively.

I put my hands up in surrender before I took the plates, walking towards the living room. "I'm sorry your wannabe burger looks-"

"Tasty?" Peter suggested.

"I was going to say gross but whatever you want to think." I walked into the living room where Matteo was showing Sam something on his phone and I took a seat in between them to interrupt their conversation.

Sam looked at the sandwiches. "What is that?"

"Peter's one of a kind wannabe burgers."

"Stop calling them that," Peter said, walking into the room with Soccer in his hands.

He put Soccer on the ground before squeezing between Sam and me on the couch that clearly wasn't made to hold four people. He handed them out to everyone and smiled. "Okay, everyone take a bite in three, two, one."

I hesitated before taking a bite of my own, looking down into it. "Is that a marshmallow? What the heck?" I asked, throwing the sandwich back on the plate. Whatever sauce that was on it mixed with everything inside made me not want to look at how disgusting it was.

I glanced at Sam and he cringed instantly, throwing his own on the plate. "Peter, what the fuck is in this?"

Matteo smacked his lips together. "This actually doesn't taste that bad."

I glanced at Peter who's made reminded me of Andrew's little sister whenever she was forced to eat broccoli. She hated broccoli almost as much as Andrew. He made a sound at the back of his throat that sounded like gagging before throwing his sandwich on the plate and grabbing the entire plate from my hand.

"I'm never making a sandwich again in my life."

When he got up, Matteo hummed, still eating his own. "This is actually a good wannabe burger."

Peter groaned loudly, retreating into the kitchen. "It's a sandwich!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I want to post that one, send it to me," Anmol said, the breeze blowing her hair backward. We continued walking down the street as I flicked through the multiple pictures we had taken in the past hour.

"Got it," I told her. "I'll it to you tonight."

"You guys are going to the banquet next week, right?" Maddy asked.

"Definitely," Anmol confirmed. "I made Derek come dress shopping with me."

I laughed, holding my camera in my hands. "Yeah, I might go."

"Might? No, you're coming." Maddy told me. "Why did we decide to walk all the way to Peter? He could've just met us at the Uni."

"We could have taken the bus or something to meet him," I suggested.

Anmol stared at me. "Do you actually think I want to pay bus fare? No."

"Anmol." I laughed at her tone and she made a face.

"I'm not lying. I'd rather walk than waste my money and take the bus. I'll walk fast to get my daily steps in if I have to."

"What?" I laughed even harder because she looked so serious saying it. Looking through my camera photo, I showed her another picture I had taken, all three of us stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. "What about this one?"

She looked at my camera and her face lit up. "I love this one. Macy, why the hell aren't you my personal photographer?"

"Actually, I was thinking about that the other day photography in general and..."

"And what?"

"I think I might change my field of study."

"Seriously?" Maddy's eyebrows rose in shock.

I nodded, shifting on my feet, my eyes on the screen of my camera. "Yeah. I love Chemistry and doing this will definitely mean that this entire year was a complete waste but I think I would be happier as a photographer in the future if that's another career goal, you know what I mean?"

Anmol nodded and suddenly Maddy spoke up again. "Holy shit."

"What?" I asked, confused.

I looked up from my camera to see Anmol making the same face Maddy was making, instantly getting her phone out as if to take a picture. But a picture of what?

Maddy turned me around and pointed. "Over there. The billboard."

I followed where her hand was pointing and my lips parted at the sight of Sam and me on the billboard, perched on the top of the building. Sure, there was the large font of the brand blocking our bottom halves but it was clear to tell that it was a moment where we were caught off guard. His hand was on my cheek and mine on his wrist, smiles on our faces.

"That picture is so cute," Maddy said.

"Wow." There it was. It for everyone to see. Just wow.

I took a picture with my camera and another with my phone. I sent the picture to Sam.

Me:

Look who's famous.

Jerk❤:

Me or you?

Me:

That's your face up there.

Jerk❤:

That's your face too. What a power couple.

(2) We'd be the 'it' couple if Keeping up With The Cahills happened.

I laughed and Maddy looked over at my screen. "Keeping up With The Cahills? Like a reality show for the Cahills?"

"Yeah."

"Wouldn't it make sense if it was Catching Up With The Cahills?" I glanced at Anmol and she nodded in agreement.

Me:

Maddy said Catching Up With The Cahills would be a better suited title.

Jerk❤:

I like it. Power couple of Catching Up With The Cahills.

(2)I told Caleb and Jon Ming and when Caleb said it out loud I cringed. Forget the words 'power couple'.

Me:

But we're keeping the 'Catching Up With The Cahills'?

Jerk❤:

Of course ; )

I put my phone in my pocket and Maddy and Anmol posed in front of me, at a proper angle where the billboard was in view. "Let's take a picture."

"We're going to take a picture and I'm not going to be in the picture?" I teased, narrowing my eyes at them.

"Yes, you are. You and Sam both are." Maddy pointed up at the billboard and I rolled my eyes, smiling.

Anmol gestured for me to hurry up. "Now use those photography skills."