Song for the chapter to the right :) I love that song.

Growing up.

Chapter Six

 Silence.

Evan was staring at me, waiting for an answer. I just sat there, not knowing what to say. He looked slightly pissed and I knew I had to choose my next words carefully. I swallowed, grasping some courage. I hadn't done anything wrong so everything was going to be fine, right?

"Nothing," I said truthfully. "There's nothing going on between me and Shane."

Evan scowled at me, "Jules, I'm not stupid." his tone was dead serious, "I've seen the way he looks at you. And for the way you acted around him tonight, I know he tried something with you. Now it's the time to tell me."

This is serious.

Evan and I were having many serious conversations lately. I knew I had to be honest with him if I

 didn't want him to think there was actually something up with Shane.

"Alright. When he was drunk the other day... he told me..." I trailed off, not feeling brave enough to say it. 

Evan was growing impatient, "What?" his dark eyes were burning through me. He was watching closely as if reading meticulously every inch of my face. 

I gulped and finally answered, "He said he liked me." Evan did not seem surprised by my words. 

"And?" he pushed, "What did he do after that?"

"Nothing. He said he didn't remember but then tonight..." I found myself at loss of words again. 

However, Evan did not have the same problem, "He told you he did remember. I heard him." he was speaking so casually about this entire subject. "Has he tried something? Do you like him?"

I shook my head, "Not in that way. He's my friend, that's all." Evan nodded but kept his serious expression. I felt like a thief being interrogated by a cop. Why did I feel so nervous if I hadn't done anything wrong? Evan's next question actually replied mine.  

"Why didn't you tell me?" Yeah, why didn't I? He was my boyfriend. I was supposed to trust him about these things. 

I sighed, relaxing my tensed shoulders, "I... I don't know. I thought it was a drunken thing. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

Evan pressed his lips in a tight line for some time before speaking again, "You should have told me."

"I know. I'm sorry." I said honestly. Evan looked away, giving his profile to me. I could see how tense his jaw was. 

"I don't want you around him." he kept his eyes away.

My eyes widened, "What?"

He looked at me seriously, "You heard me."

"He's my friend." I retorted taken aback. 

"He wants you. He obviously doesn't see you as his friend." Evan debated with a straight face.

"He hasn't tried anything." I reasoned. 

"I don't care. I don't want him drooling around my girl when I'm not around. I don't trust him." he explained. 

"You don't have to. He's my friend not yours." I told him getting pissed. 

Evan took a long breath, "Jules... I don't want him around you. Period." he concluded determinedly. 

"You don't get to choose my friends." I argued. 

"I know that but you should put yourself in my position. How would you feel if I hang out all the time with a girl who obviously likes me?" his tone was rising but so was mine. 

"Oh but I know exactly the feeling." I said bitterly, "You live with a girl you haven't even mentioned to me before. I know exactly what it feels."

"That's different." 

"Is it? Why?" I pressed beyond pissed off. 

"She doesn't like me like that."

"I've seen the way she looks at you."

 Evan sighed frustrated, "We are not talking about Jane again. We already sorted that out."

"Alright. Then, we're done talking about Shane."

"Jules..." He was angry, I could see it clearly on his face but that did not decrease my own anger. 

I got on my feet, "You know what? You're being an hypocrite. You have no right to tell me what to do after Jane's incident. You kept her from me. You should have told me about her but you didn't and I have no idea why. However, I let it slide because I trust you. The last thing you can do is trust me with Shane as well." Evan was shocked by my long speech. I gave my back to him and walked to the door. 

He got up the bed, "Jules... wait..." 

"I need some fresh air." I said angrily, opening the door. 

I headed out of room, and walked towards the room I knew Lau and Jordan were staying in. I knocked on the door.

"Come in," I heard Jordan shout. I pushed the door opened and stepped inside. They were cuddling on the bed, watching TV. As soon as Lau spotted me, she sat up.

"Everything okay?" She asked worriedly.

"Can I hang out with you guys for a while?" I ran my fingers through my hair, making it messy. 

Jordan smiled at me, "Sure, pumpkin. Come here." He touched the spot between them

I felt like a child, who just woken up from a nightmare, and decided to cuddle with his parents.

Getting comfy between Jordan and Lau, I pulled the covers over me. We watched 'Friends' old episodes for a while in silence. It helped me get my head off my recent argument with Evan. When the commercials came, Lau was the one to break the silence. 

"Babe, I'm thirsty. Can you go downstairs and get me some water?" she pleaded to her boyfriend.

And Jordan being the whipped boy he was, pleased his girl going out of the room.

It wasn't long before Lau asked, "What happened?" she moved a little so she could be facing me. 

"We had a fight."

"About?" she pressed curiously. 

"It's complicated."

"Then explain it. Make it simple." she encouraged.

 It wasn't that easy. I hadn't told her about Shane dropping the L bomb.

"It's really complicated." I insisted, giving her a serious look. 

Lau frowned, "You are scaring me, Jules"

"Okay. I'll try to make it as simple as possible. Shane told me something the other day when he came here drunk."

"OK. What does Shane have to do with everything? Unless...." Lau trailed off. "Oh God! Don't tell me he told you what I'm thinking"

"You know? " I asked in bewilderment. 

Lau nodded guiltily, "Jordan told me but I wasn't supposed to tell you about it. I'm sorry. "

"No it's okay. I should have told you in the first place."

"It's cool. I still don't get what your panties have to do with Evan."

I furrowedmy eyebrows. "What? My panties?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, silly. Shane stole some of your panties."

"He did what?!" my eyes menaced to pop out of my skull. Lau seemed confused.

"Why are you looking so surprised? I thought we were talking about-oh," realization dawned on her "that was not what you were talking about, was it?"

"No," I shook my head, "what the hell did he dowith my panties?"

"He burnt them. It was his revenge for making him fail math"

I groaned, "He's never gonna let that go, is he?"

Lau smiled sadly, "Apparently, he is a vindictive man." she rubbed my arm,"but don't worry they weren't your favorites panties."

"And here I was thinking my mother hadn't done laundry and that was why I was short on panties this past week" I said, blowing a hair out of my face. "Stealing panties...." I shook my head "who does that? "

Lau wrapped an arm around my shoulder, "you don't have normal friends, my dear"

"Yeah. " I couldn't agree more. Lau rested her head on my shoulder, chewing gum.

"So, what did he say then if it wasn't his secret revenge?"

"He said he loved me," I made it quick, simple and short.

Lau choked on air and opened her mouth exaggeratedly to shout "What?" Which was a grave mistake. She swallowed the gum she was chewing and started coughing like crazy.

"Lau?" I asked concerned. She jumped out of the bed, trying to breathe. I was starting to panic. She was not breathing, her face was turning red. Oh god! I jumped to her and started hitting her back, "Spit it Lau! Come on! Spit it!" She was struggling hard time.

 Focus, Jules, focus!

What did Momsay about people choking? It was something about a maneuver. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and squeezed her stomach three times. Lau coughed the gum out and breathed in desperately. I fell on my ass, my hands shaking. Lau fell to her knees, breathing heavily.

"Oh god! " her voice wad raspy "Ialmost died! " she said frightened by the idea. I didn't even know gum could be dangerous.

Leave it to Lau to choke on gum.

I glanced at the piece of gum on the floor.

"That's a lot of gum," I commented, noticing the thick ball.

"Honey flavor gum." Lau shrugged "it's my favorite" 

And there we were sitting on the floor, still feeling surreal about what we just been through. We had just learned a life changing lesson.

Gum is not as harmless as it seems.

"Oh god! Shane said he loved you? " Lau came back to reality. Apparently my love life was more relevant to her than the fact she almost died.

Death by choking on gum. How elegant.

"You do realize you were this close" I made a gesture pulling my thumb and index together " to dying"

Lau smiled carefree, "but I didn't. So," she crawled towards me "I want to know every single detail about Shane's confession"

Telling her everything took a while. Especially, with her dramatic reactions. I wasn't the only dramatic girl in the group after all.

By the time I finished, Lau was biting her nails. I realized Jordan was taking way too long looking for a glass of water. Maybe he knew Lau and I needed some privacy.

We were both sitting on the floor, facing each other. It was then I noticed my best friend's precarious outfit. Since Lau was too busy assimilating everything I'd just told her, I took my time to check her clothes out. 

She was wearing a big t-red shirt and shorts that were definitely too big for her. Did she borrow these from Evan? 

"Wow," she finally said, "You are on fire, bestie." she gave me her thumbs up. "You have two hotties on your tail. I'm kind of jealous." 

I rolled my eyes, "Really, Lau? After everything I just told you, that's all you're going to say?" 

She shrugged, "It's the truth." I sighed, "Besides, I think you did the right thing with Evan. he has no moral to scold you about Shane. Not when he's living with that Jane chick." 

"I know. I just... I hate fighting with him. I really do." I admitted, looking down. Lau let out a long breath. 

"It's your first fight. Don't let it get to you." Lau suggested, "There will be more fights and arguments like this. Especially, since you two are just starting your relation-ship." 

I rubbed my face tiredly, "I don't know he looked pretty pissed." 

Lau grinned like a cherish cat, "He was just jealous which I think it's totally hot by the way." I gave her a 'really' look. "What? Oh come on! It's totally hot when a guy gets jealous. It means he cares," she wiggled her eyebrows.

I couldn't help smiling at her, "You are crazy."

"No, I'm just always right." she retorted, keeping the grin on her face. It was in that moment Jordan decided to come back, he stood in the doorframe for a second. Then, he gave us a weird look. 

"What are you girls doing on the floor?" he inquired puzzled.

"Nothing. We were just chatting." I responded, realizing Jordan was not holding the awaited glass of water. 

Lau noticed the same thing, "Where's my water?" 

"Forget the water. You need to see this." he gestured us to follow him. Lau and I exchanged looks and got on our feet. 

We followed Jordan all the way downstairs. He leaded us into the room Shane and Jason were sleeping in. Shane was sprawled on the bed like a stringless puppet. He was sound asleep and drooling over a pillow. The black eye was successfully formed on his face.  I gave him a sympathetic smile. My eyes looked for Jason and to my surprise, my best friend was awake, sitting up. He was holding a pillow as if it was a guitar, sliding his fingers up and down. 

"Oh darling!" he sang out dramatically. His voice was high-pitched. "oh love! I will find you in the stars! I will find you in the moon!" I found myself cringing at his voice. 

Lau chuckled, "What the hell is he singing?" 

"I have no idea." I said honestly. "Why is he awake?"

"I don't know. I came here to check on them and he was already up," Jordan told us, chuckling. "I tried to get him back to sleep but he said he hated me and pushed me away."

Uh-oh

I forced a smile on my lips, "He's drunk. He doesn't meant it." I explained quickly, knowing my best friend probably meant every word.

 "I know." Jordan said coolly. "I'm gonna make a sandwich. I'm starving. Do you want something, babe?"

Lau shook her head, "No, I'm fine. Jules and I will solve this," she pointed Jason. With Jordan out of the room, I walked towards Jason.

"Jason," I called him out. His unfocused eyes finally noticed our presence.

"Jules! You made it!" he grinned,  looking absolutely adorable. He was acting like a child. 

"Yeah, I did." I played along, sitting on the bed. Lau moved to be next to me. 

"Laura," he said dreamily. 

"Hey, buddy." Lau grinned down at him. Jason gestured for her to sit next to him. She obeyed. 

"I am so glad you are here," he said smiling like a fool. He cupped Laura's cheek gently. I froze. 

This is not going to end well. 

"You're really affectionate when you're drunk," Lau said, holding his hand. 

Jason sighed, staring at her longingly,  "You are so beautiful, Lau."

I watched Lau blush at his words. 

"Alright, Casanova." I interrupted their staring moment. "You need to sleep." Jason did not take his eyes off Lau for a second. 

"It's cool. I know he's just drunk." Lau shrugged, shooting me a glance. 

Oh Lau, only if you knew...

Jason pulled her closer to him, "I wish I..." he trailed off, resting his forehead against hers. He caressed her cheek mildly. I watched the scene, hoping Jordan wouldn't walk inside. 

What should I do? Should I stop him? 

Lau pulled away from him, smiling sweetly at him. "You're drunk,Jay-Jay." she teased but I could feel the intensively of Jason's gaze on her. 

Jason shook his head, chuckling, "Jay-Jay," he repeated the words as if remembering something nice. 

"You really need to sleep, Jason." I said seriously. 

He stared at Lau silently. I watched her swallow. "Do you love him?" he asked her all of the sudden. 

Lau was taken aback by his question, "I..." she glanced at me. 

Jason grinned at her, "You don't. That's good."

"Wait-"

Jasonput his index on her mouth silencing her, "Too late. Lau, I really need to tell you this. I li-" he couldn't finish, he gagged. And then, he bent over the bed to vomit.

"Ew! Ew!" Lau jumped to her feet and away from him. 

I gave him a disapproving look, scrunching my nose. "That is so romantic, Jason."

"Romeo would be ashamed of you." Lau said, grimacing in disgust. 

Puking seemed to be everything Jason needed to fall back asleep because next thing we knew, he was snoring in a awkward angle. Lau held the brick of her nose. 

"I'm not cleaning this." she notified me. 

"Me neither." there was no way I was getting close to that pool of vomit. I didn't have a strong stomach. 

Cowardly, we made our way out of the room. I left Lau in the kitchen with Jordan and went upstairs. I found myself standing in front of Evan's door. 

I simply stood there, hesitating.After Jason's little performance, I just felt the need to make everything okay with Evan, I had no idea why. Maybe my best friend's little romantic attempt made me wish for my own romanticism.

There was no light slipping underneath the door. Was he asleep? I didn't think he would be able to sleep after our heated argument. I leaned forwards the door, resting my forehead against it. I closed my eyes. 

"I know that but you should put yourself in my position. How would you feel if I hang out all the time with a girl who obviously likes me?"

His words kept prowling around my mind. 

"What are you doing?" Jane's voice made me snap my eyes opened. I turned around to face her, she was in a towel, a very short one by the way. Her hair looked wet and dark. Her eyebrows shot up, waiting for a reply. 

"Nothing. I was just... about to knock the door."

She looked at me with incredulity, "It didn't look like you plan on knocking any time soon." I didn't feel like explaining myself to her so I simply shrugged. "Is there something wrong?" 

"No, I'm fine." I waved her off. However, Jane took this as an encouragement to come closer. 

"Alright. What's your problem?" she asked, facing me. "Come on, let it out."

"I said I'm fine." I repeated deliberately slow. 

Jane rolled her eyes, "You obviously have a problem with me. You've been glaring at me since you walked into this house. So, come on, don't be a chicken and tell me." 

"You really don't wanna go there."

 "I do." she insisted with a straight face. 

"Alright." I made an exasperate gesture with my hands. "I just don't feel okay with you living here, with my boyfriend. Especially when you're walking around the house like this. You're living with a man for God sakes! Have some decorum." I really never thought I'd be using the word decorum in my life. It sounded so antique. 

Jane laughed before saying, "You're so immature." she shook her head, "Don't you trust your boyfriend? We are both adults in this house. I can walk around wearing whatever I want. It's not like Evan is some savage who cannot control himself if he sees a half naked woman. Have a little faith in him. You need to trust him."

"Oh I trust him. I just don't trust you." I spat bitterly. 

Jane gave a weird look, "We are not in high school anymore, Jules. No, wait..." she pretended to remember, "you actually are. I really hoped you were more mature than this. I'm quite disappointed."

I chose my words carefully, "Listen, just put yourself in my shoes. How would you feel if this was the other way around? I didn't even know you existed until today." 

Jane sighed, "Fair point. But that is not my fault, it's his. He should have told you about me. If he didn't, then that's on him, not me. It's not fair you're already hating me without getting to know me for something he did." I hated to admit it but she was actually right. Evan was the one to blame for all this weird situation, "Look, I get you're jealous but you have no reason to be, I swear." she explained, "Evan is just my best friend, my only friend actually. I would never see him in that way and I know he wouldn't either." 

Okay, I felt like a jerk for hating on her so soon. She did seem like a nice a girl. 

Placing my pride aside, I whispered, "I'm sorry, Jane."

She smiled at me, "Apology accepted. Actually, I'm sorry, too."

"What for?"

"I was a little bitchy to you when you arrived. Sorry about that. I can be overprotective sometimes. He's been hurt too many times. I just don't want him to suffer but you look like a good girl and I'm glad he found you."

"Thanks," I said honestly. Jane offered me her hand. 

"No hard feelings?" 

"No hard feelings." I said, shaking her hand. She gave me one last smile before walking away. 

"And Jules?" she called out in front of her door.

"Yeah?"

"Stop being a chicken and get inside that room." she winked at me and disappeared in her room.  

Easier said that done.

Grasping some courage, I didn't bother on knocking. I just opened the door and went inside. Evan was on the bed, laying on his back. He had his hands behind his head, his eyes were closed. He was shirtless, the small lamp was barely illuminating his pale skin. I gulped. He looked so sexy. Was he asleep? I circled the bed to take a better look at him. His dark hair was messily framing his handsome face. He looked peaceful, so different from the way he looked when we were arguing an hour ago. Unhurriedly, he opened his eyes. He practically jumped out of bed, towards me. I took a step back. 

"Evan, I-"

"Shh, don't say anything." he grasped a fist of my hair and pulled me to him. His lips clashed against mine hungrily. I gasped at the sudden feeling but eagerly kissed him back. Our lips moved against each other ardently, making me forget the world around me. He pressed against the wall, leaving no room for me to escape. Not that I wanted to escape anyway. Evan's tender skin felt amazing against my hands. We were devouring each other breathlessly. His hand left my hair to hold my face with passion. I wrapped my arms around him lovingly.

I didn't want this moment to end. Evan tasted sweet and tangy. In the moment his tongue dove into my mouth, I felt my knees go weak. He was exploring me, making me feel light-headed. 

God, it should be illegal to be such a good kisser.

We pulled away breathless. His heavy breathing was caressing my moist lips. His dark eyes looked into mine with so much need, I felt my heart falter. His tongue darted out to lick my lower lip softly, sending waves of tingles through my entire body. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him to me again. My lips covered his once more and I felt him groan against my mouth. He lifted me up by my thighs and instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his hips. I was holding his hair desperately, feeling every inchof his body against mine. Evan rocked his hips against me and I felt how aroused he was. I couldn't help the moan leaving my mouth. 

He pulled away, only to mutter, "You feel so good!" his mouth slid down to my neck, sucking gently. My eyes rolled back to the back of my head at the sensation of his lips on my skin. My dress had rolled up to my upper thighs. I knew we had to stop this but it just felt so good. Evan's mouth claimed mine once again, sending my senses into overdrive. 

I love him.

I want him.

Reluctantly, Evan pulled away, "We should stop," he whispered, sucking my lower lip.

"I know." I said breathing heavily. Evan groaned, letting my legs fall to the ground, putting some distance between us. 

"This is torture." he commented, holding my face sweetly. 

"It is." I couldn't agree more. 

He licked his lips, "I'm sorry for being a jerk. I just..."

I looked into his eyes, "It's okay. You were jealous, I get it." 

"I just..." he pressed his forehead against mine, "You're the only good thing I have. The mere thought of someone taking you away-"

"Hey," I cut him off, "No one is going to take me away from you. I won't allow it." 

"You have no idea what you mean to me, Jules. You're that light I was silently waiting for all these years. You give me hope. And I thought I would never be able to hope again. I need you." his words were so sincere, they melt my heart. "I would do everything in my power to keep you with me."

"I'm not going anywhere, silly." I assured him. 

"You promise?"

I smiled at him sincerely, "I promise." 

 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N:

Phew! Another long chapter to make it up for the wait. I personally loved the ending. I don't know about you guys.

Shoot me with your funny comments, they make my day.

Hugs and sleepless nights.

Ariana.