I sat on the blue bench in front of the lodge, placing my phone down on my lap. I had finally chosen. I was kind of proud of myself to be honest. Well... I had somewhat chosen, the truth was-

"Skye," Sean's voice spoke in a warning tone behind me, Ben following behind him with a heavy sigh.

"What!?" I questioned, still smiling brightly. Didn't know how long that smiling would last based on their faces but I was for now.

"You can't choose both of us, Skye." Ben told me, he didn't sound as frustrated as Sean did, but there was still that tired tone buried deep within his voice. I looked between the two boys, my smile slowly fading. Oh..

"Look..." I began, getting up to my feet and looking at both of them. "This has been going on for as long as I've been at The Lodge. You're right that I can't choose both of you to date, so I'm not, I'm choosing both of you as friends. I don't want to lose either of you, and I'm guessing you don't want to lose me. We can all be friends right?" I offered. A soft breeze brushed against me, helping me to stay calm, but Sean pacing around and looking so upset frustrated me. It was all or nothing with him sometimes wasn't it? I don't understand why we can't just be friends.

"Skye.. I get it but- you know how hard it is to be friends with someone you have feelings for? If you think we can all just be friends then maybe you don't actually like either of us..." He said quietly, he made his way over to me. "I have some work to do on the second floor. I'll talk to you guys later.." He said softly as he moved to kiss my cheek, his lips lingering there for a moment, as though he knew that'd be the last time he could do that.

"What he said is right.. But I have work to do as well. Just- think about it a little more, Skye.." Sean said before he made his way back to the lodge without another word.

Ben was right... wasn't he? If I really thought I could just be friends with them, then I never really liked them did I? No wonder they both looked so hurt..

I slowly sat back down on the white bench and took my phone out, time to call Josh. He had left right after the show was over, though I wish he hadn't. I needed him here, just for a few more days. I missed him already.

"Hey!! What's up!? Did I leave too soon? Is there news I should know?" Josh sped through his questions, obviously picking up the very moment I called. He wiggled his eyebrows around on the last question. I smiled at his enthusiasm but shook my head.

I tilted my phone up so it could see the sky and then shrugged at him. "The clouds are what's up I guess." I tried to joke but it came out dully. Josh narrowed his eyes at me through the screen, as though scanning me for any negativity.

"What's wrong, Skye?" He asked in a 'I'm your best friend and you better tell me what's up' kind of tone.

"Nothing, just, I chose, and the guys didn't really like my decision..." I told him quietly, I stood up and moved back towards the Lodge so I could talk to him in my mum's tunnels. Just to make sure nobody else heard what we were talking about. The area around the bench had grown a little crowded with guests taking their evening strolls.

His face scrunched up confusedly. "Well one of them had to be happy right? Unless one of them decided that they randomly didn't like you anymore.. Which leads to the question- whICH ONE DID YOU CHOOSE!???!?!?" My smile returned as he started shouting, he always knew how to hype me back up when I was down. Exactly why we're best friends.

"No, neither of them were happy with the choice, Ben seemed a little bit more accepting of it than Sean, but anyway. I chose both of them. I decided that I didn't want to have to choose between them, or lose either of them. But I suppose I'll lose both of them either way- or at least Sean. He seemed so upset with me..." I mumbled. I held a finger to my lips so Josh wouldn't say anything as I made my way into the Lodge. I didn't want my dad or anyone else to hear any of this, as it was a sensitive subject.

When I finally reached the tunnels I sat down on the floor and motioned for Josh to continue, as he had been freaking out the entire time I was walking through the lodge, doing his silent screaming.

"While I think it's a good idea... I still think you should have chosen one of them. I mean, they make you happy, which is good, and I know they can never replace me, the almighty best friend Joshie." He paused to laugh with me before he shook it off and grew serious again. "But I do think you need both of them. Though... if you really think you can just be friends with both of them, then you didn't really like them right?" He questioned.

I sighed and nodded. "I know, that's what they said. Which is true. I can't stop thinking about that. Do I really even like them? Cause I know it hurts to just be friends with them, but I thought we could make it work?" I shook my head and sighed, leaning my head back against the wall behind me.

"Well.. Maybe we could come up with another logical way to choose between them, like I could put a thing up on my blog! We could have people who don't know anything about them, vote for which one they want based on a few hints from yours truly!" He motioned to himself, making me smile again. "Kind of like the TV show did, but Ben won, we already know that."
I looked at him silently. "I actually didn't... and I didn't really want to..." I mumbled, tugging on my ear a little bit before he pointed it out and I forced myself to stop. "But either way, I don't want another voting thing. I don't want people who don't even know me or the guys to decide, imagine if they chose for us and things ended up going horribly? It just doesn't work... How could they decide who is better for me? They'll just vote based on who /they/ like. And even then it would just be based on their looks, Ben and Sean never deserve to be treated like that." I spoke sternly. Josh just laughed. I rolled my eyes. He loved it when I went on random rants.

"Preach it." He said in between laughs, making me laugh a bit. After a long while of him laughing he nodded at me. "Well then what about a competition where /you/ decide who the winner is? Would be fun to see Ben and Sean go head to head?" He offered. That evil mastermind.

"That's actually a really good idea. We can make it a thing for the whole lodge as well. We'll call it 'The Lodge Olympic Games' and it'll be a competition that all the guests can compete in, along with the staff, obviously. And then I'll have a chance to spend time with the guys more and by the end I /have/ to make a decision." I said, partially speaking to myself, but Josh's excitement was clear on it.

"That's it, I'm on my way back. Driver, can we turn around and go back please? I'll see you in a bit Skye." He said with a smile before he hung up on me. I smiled and put my phone in my pocket. Perfect! Josh was coming back and we were going to get something going for the Lodge!

Being in the excited mood I was in, I stood up to go to the tree and set something up.