Chapter 38

The departure of blonde from my hair was already doing some good.

That morning, as I got dressed and wrapped my now auburn hair in a bun, I realized something: I needed to stop being such a freaking girl. Don't worry, I'm not talking about getting rid of my vagina. I'm talking about not allowing my personal qualms run rampant in my head like they did last night. More was happening that demanded my attention.

Like coming up with our backgrounds and having them fit together.

By the time we started brainstorming, it was easy to get lost in mapping out how the four of us would be connected in our new lives. Last night, it was established that we should be family. More specifically, that Carter, Jackson, and Luke would be brothers. It was fairly believable, but just to be safe, Carter was going to dye his hair brown later.

And where do I come in? That was the question we started off with this morning. It was agreed I was too young to pass as a sibling, especially to Jackson and Carter. So how do I fit into the picture with the three brothers?

"You'll be 'Kyle's' girlfriend," Bill interjected, taking a sip of his coffee.

He was standing in front of where the rest of us were seated and conversing in the living room. Each of us had a notepad where we were writing down the details we agreed upon. However, upon hearing Bill's idea, I couldn't write that down yet. Despite my heartbeats spiking, I was stifling a chuckle at the cruel irony. If you couldn't guess, 'Kyle' was Luke.

"There is no other way she could be connected to us?" Jackson asked from where he was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table. Hands propping him up with outstretched legs, he raised an annoyed eyebrow up to Bill.

"It's the most typical and easiest way to connect her to all of you," he shrugged.

It didn't matter that we couldn't come up with a better option. Jackson was not at all a happy trooper about that one. He didn't like Luke and that's all it would take to piss him off. Grudgingly, he sat up, swiped his notepad from the coffee table, and jotted it down.

Glancing over to Luke, he gave me an empty expression. However, I knew his mind was racing like mine. It was just perfect irony that in our new lives, we would be together in a relationship. There was no hiding that this was awkward as fuck.

I shook my head. Of course I would be his girlfriend, of course I would. Why wouldn't I be linked to him in that way? Obviously, the awkwardness that already existed wasn't enough, no sir. "This movie keeps writing itself," I mumbled. I scribbled down this new part of our history and story.

"If you need me, I'm getting to work. You also might want to start working on calling each other by your new names," Bill said, leaving us to continue piecing our new lives together.

He was lucky he escaped to his office when he did. I wanted to slap Bill for that suggestion. If my cheeks weren't flushed enough from a moment ago, they were now for a different reason. I did not need to hear my new name any more than what was necessary.

Bill came up with our names, not us (the bullshit reason being he didn't want us wasting time on coming up with a name when we needed to focus on other things). With the three 'brothers' sharing the same last name, it resulted in Luke's name being Kyle Doyle. Jackson's new identity: Fred Doyle. Carter as Trent Doyle. And what is Albany's new name and identity, you ask?

Peggy Haul. Peggy. I know—I fucking know!

All that name did was end my hate towards 'Morgan.' In fact, if I could have 'Morgan' or any other name, I would worship it, tattoo it on my body, maybe give myself to Satan! Anything to not be Peggy. Any-fucking-thing. Yet, there was nothing I could do. And now, I didn't even have the option to ignore it.

I was trying to forget that Bill chose the ugliest name in the book, but he apparently wanted me reminded! Carter didn't wait a second. He knew how much I hated it thanks to my failed argument that Bill needed to change it. Since our basic records were already finished, that couldn't happen. Seemed about right for my luck. Fuck me.

"So Peggy... how's your day going so far? Want me to get you some coffee, Peggy? Peggy, oh Peggy, I love your red hair. I mean seriously Peggy, it really fits."

"Shut the hell up," I rolled my eyes.

The only thing I could do was get over it – which took some work, but I did. I couldn't even allow Bill's suggestion to start using our names get to me. It actually wasn't too hard; the story we continued to create consumed me.

It became more interesting once we came up with details of the when, whys, and how's of our connecting stories. The most obvious question at first: why and how do these three brothers and I end up in Washington?

"We all are 'currently' living in Indiana, but what about our parents?" Luke spoke up from where he was sitting on the edge of the couch next to me. Elbows resting on his legs, he mindlessly tapped his notepad against his shin. "There isn't much that would tempt a whole family to move across the country. But if our mother is living in Washington and is ill with limited time to live, that's a believable cause. We would want to be with her before she passes. She could be too weak to come back to Indiana, so instead we go to her."

"Okay. Why does she live in Washington? Is she alone? Where is our father? What is she ill with?" Jackson threw back, knowing Luke's proposal would only be solid if we had details. It trigged the wheels in my head to start turning.

Looking between them as my mind worked to fit everything together, I excitedly jumped in. "Here's the gist of what happened. Your mom and dad got divorced when you all were young. By the time you guys out of the house, she met a man, fell in love, got married. Then, her new husband got a job offer in Washington. And since she was a nature enthusiast, wanted change (or some bullshit like that), she was on board and they moved to Washington. A couple years back, her husband died, which left her living there alone. We always tried getting her to come home, but she wouldn't for whatever reason. Now she has cancer, was given maybe a year or two to live, and you three agreed to move to Washington to be closer to her and take care of her."

They didn't say anything after I finished my spiel – and that was because it was awesome and credible. I earned a nod from Carter who sat on the floor across from me, the coffee table separating us. "Not bad."

"It works," Luke added. "We just need to iron out the fine details."

And we did. We came up with backgrounds for their parents, their ages when it was happening, how it happened. After all, each of the men needed correlating information since they were to be brothers. Then when it came to me, we talked about how and when I came into the picture as 'Kyle's' girlfriend. We agreed the main reason I go with them to Washington is because I've been with Kyle for a couple years and was already living with him.

As for the complicated subject of property? This was an essential part of connecting our stories. One I was apprehensive about. I knew it would take time and cause conflict because there were many different parts to this. Luckily, our first decisions had to do with the structure of our living arrangements and not actually buying property.

"Since we need to stay close to each other, but don't want to cause suspicion, we will be bunking up, right? I vote to stick it out with red head Peg," Carter said. He smirked up towards me, causing my lips to curve back in disgust.

Luke jumped in, never fond of Carter's displays of creepiness towards me. "She's going to end up living with me, remember? My brother will need to remember his role," he sternly said.

"Unfortunately, I think we need to cover our bases with dear brother Trent," Jackson mumbled, glaring towards Carter too.

'Trent' threw his hands defensively in the air. "What the hell? I was just showing kindness to my brother's girlfriend Peggy. We're close," he smirked.

I lifted my legs up to the couch, crossing them as I stared down to Jackson. "What do you mean cover our bases with him? Should he be the mentally unstable brother? If he screws up, says anything, nobody will believe him. Trust me, I know how that goes."

"Not exactly that extreme." Jackson sighed and pursed his lips. "Carter and I should probably live under the same roof. It will be safe and eliminate suspicions. We would have a good excuse why I need to be living with my brother too."

"Why?" Carter pushed with a grin towards Jackson. "Still think I'm dangerous? Don't want me having my own place?"

"Yes. That's a part of it. And it will coincide with your background."

Carter's eyebrows shot up, framing his eyes that held a more challenging and aggravated glint. "You have in mind what my past should look like?"

"Maybe I do." Jackson said, narrowing his eyes on him.

For once, Carter didn't look at ease and as if he was just going along for the ride. "No, I don't think so. I have yet to come up with my history and who I am. The control issues you always had will not dictate what is more for me than it is to you."

We were caught off guard by Carter. Throughout our time with him, he numbed himself to most things, finding humor in everything. Why was he suddenly resisting this? What did that last part mean?

"Calm down," Jackson groaned. "It's just a small part that would explain us living together."

"Please explain this part of my past that you came up with."

Jackson tried calming his growing temper, eyes digging into him. "The reason we are living together is because you are a drunk who can't support himself with a job. You need my help, always did even back home in Indiana." He rolled his eyes in disgust. "That's all. It fits your drunk ass perfectly anyway."

Carter looked down. It was almost a relief to see the two men break eye contact. "See that's fine. That is fitting. My 'brother' just needs to learn to not be a misleading asshole."

Thankfully, things deescalated since Jackson elaborated. That didn't mean the two outsiders on the couch were content. I wanted to know what that was all about and why Carter suddenly cared.

Glancing over to Luke, his cautious and curious gaze studied Carter. "What did you mean?" he asked, drawing those blue eyes up to his green ones.

"By what?"

"'More for me than it is to you?' What did you mean?"

Running a hand up through his stringy blond hair, he sighed. "Play time is over for me. This is my stop whereas for you, this is a stepping stone. You can all go back to living your precious lives if our adventurous trial ends on a high note. If you remember who I am, I won't be able to. This new identity will be permanent, it will be the rest of my life, not temporary like yours. I'm going to take it seriously. This is my second chance."

Carter was nothing like us – and that's how we treated him. No matter how much he acted like it, he was not an innocent jolly pervert. He was a dangerous killer and an asset we made a deal with. That's why I never considered what he said, his position, or what he wanted. Because it didn't matter and I didn't care. But regardless, I understood completely where he was coming from; it was an obvious move for him to never leave this new identity.

"Okay, since that's settled, let's move on," Jackson said, rubbing the back of his tense neck. "We need to find property. If we can do that without someone getting shot, we might accomplish something."

***

Nobody got shot, but we all came close.

The entire issue of finding and buying property consumed our entire day. It was a complicated process to begin with, so disputing over how to get it done sucked up even more time. It turned into a day of constant arguing and hassle. So even though we couldn't finish everything regarding housing, we happily called it quits for the night after dinner.

Since it lasted the whole day, none of us had a chance to come up with our individual backgrounds yet. The fact that we were sick of each other gave us the chance to finally do that.

The excitement over freely creating my own life returned. It revived my hope about how my background could help me get over my real past. Because unlike with my stupid name, I could make up anything. I could be anyone I wanted! The possibilities were limitless. Sure, I might not be able to do anything, but having a past I want... it was powerful. Just thinking about it now put a dumb smile on my face.

What made it better was that I had my own room while we were staying here. I could be alone as the magic unfolded. With a full can of beer sitting on the bedside table, I was laying on the small tan quilted bed. On my stomach with my elbows propping me up, I stared down at the paper of my notepad. It was entirely blank, the most beautiful sight.

The only thing I needed to keep in mind were the details we agreed on earlier. That I met 'Kyle' when I was 18 and have been with him since. That left basically everything wide open. Who would be my family? Friends? Any drama? What were my past jobs? School experiences and grades? Childhood memories? Specific memories. What shit happened to me six years ago during a Christmas party? What embarrassing moments did I have? Maybe getting drunk and kissing some stranger? No, too lame.

I didn't know any of these answers, but that was the beauty of it. The answers could be anything. My life could be anything I want.

For the next few hours, I got lost in the pen I was holding and the paper it was obsessively in contact with. The few times I caught sight of the clock when I took a sip of beer, time seemed to be passing too quickly. Before I knew it, it was 2:30 in the morning – and my hand was still going strong. (Do I even need to say those enchanted four words, you pervs?)

I was zoned in on what must have been page 20 or so when I heard a soft knock. Looking up from my cramped hand to the wooden door, I was too surprised to move at first. Who was even still up? Another soft knock compelled me to see.

When I opened the door, the gentle light from the bedside lamp flooded over Luke. He was clad in his usual form of pajamas: cotton shorts and a tee-shirt. His eyes contradicted his wear. They were wide awake in their bright green glory, staring down in mine.

"You need to see this," he whispered, unable to hide a bright white smile from breaking across his lips.

That grin... it was gorgeous, relaxed, and therefore surprising. Was I dreaming? Or had he been drinking? The man was looking at me as if there was no reason for there to be any tension between us. Hey, I won't complain; anything to get a break from that awkwardness between us.

"See what?" I asked.

"I can't even say, you will have to see." A blush moved to his cheeks before his whisper continued. "I didn't want to bother you – or maybe even acknowledge what I found – but you wouldn't forgive me if I didn't show you immediately."

Oh it had to be fucking good. Whatever this was, the dude wasn't even willing to wait until morning to show me!

"Put on your shoes," he said, nodding past me towards my beat-up black flats I've worn since we arrived at this house. Confused but committed, I did.

Then, he stepped back and allowed me to follow him out. I moved quietly down the hall with him, away from the rest of the bedrooms. We didn't need to wake Jackson, who was in the guest room next to mine, or Bill and Melinda. I had a feeling whatever Luke wanted to show me, it needed to stay between us.

This whole scenario, mainly his open behavior, was too interesting. Just as we reached the end of the hall, I grabbed his arm and turned him towards me. Holding back a laugh, I couldn't help but ask. "Have you been drinking?"

He scoffed. "What does that have to do with anything? You would kill me if I didn't show you this, it's too good."

"That's a yes," I mumbled, hiding a smirk as I continued to follow. I honestly didn't mind; he needed a break. Plus, the results clearly involved something good.

I could see he was guiding me towards the sliding backdoor. He opened it slowly, eyeing Carter who was sleeping on the couch in the living room. Then, we stepped outside to the chorus of crickets. After he slid the door shut, the moon lit up an interesting sight.

Standing on the cement slap that served as a patio, I took in the chair and table beside me. It was recently occupied; there were beer cans on the table. As well as something else: our flashlight. Luke moved around me and snagged it off the table.

"Why do you have the flashlight? What are we doing?"

"You'll see. This is all for your enjoyment," he said, walking out into the grassy yard. Catching up to him, I noticed we were nearing the end of their property where their shed existed.

Pausing in front of the shed with him, I noticed something right away about the chipped white-painted wooden structure. Though the shed doors were closed, they were freely hanging without a lock. A small breeze verified it, swinging the right door open a few inches before letting it fall back in place with a soft bang.

I glanced up to Luke, waiting and wondering. He was already staring down at me, as if the best part of what he was about to show would be my reaction. It made me nervous, but I think that was also his intention.

"Ready?" he asked.

"I don't know what to be ready for."

Turning on the flashlight, he pulled open one of the doors. Shining the light inside and down to the wooden floor, it led my eyes straight to it. To a huge cardboard box that was wide open.

A box full of sex toys.

"Oh my god, what the fuck?" My hands flew up and covered my mouth in shock, muffling the rest of my words. "Dude, what the shit? What is half that stuff? Oh god, what is that thing? Luke!" I started laughing extremely hard, looking between the box and him.

It was quite the find, that was for fucking sure! This wasn't on the same level as just wandering across a vibrator, no big deal. There was freaky variety in that box, let me tell you. Some crazy contraptions I didn't even want my imagination to work out. And there was just so much! I couldn't stress enough how massive this box was and how much it contained.

I'm sure this made him uncomfortable, but it was clearly worth it to show me. He was bursting with laughter too, more from my reaction. You can't blame me though, how else was I going to react? Reach in, grab a dildo, and go to town?

"Holy shit," I said, shaking my head as I came to face him. My laughter settled into what I felt was a wide grin. "What happened that made you find this? Hunting for some ass action?"

"No," he laughed. "I was just sitting out here and the wind blew the shed doors open. I grabbed the flashlight from the car, thinking I could find a lock or some way to keep it shut. Then when I got here... I found—that's what... yeah," he said, chuckling awkwardly. I couldn't blame him; it was a little uncomfortable to say the least. He made the right choice in deciding to show me though. This was a hilarious discovery that told us more about Bill and Melinda.

"I get everyone is into different things, maybe having toys. Nothing wrong with that. And I'm not judging them, but a box like this... with some demented looking stuff...." I shook my head. "Did you take them as the extreme kinky type?"

Luke raised an eyebrow to me. "Sorry, that's not something I pondered over when I met them."

"No, I just never figured they would be the type. I mean was that a fucking ball gag?" I laughed, recalling the first few things I saw in the box. Snagging the flashlight from Luke, I shined the light and checked. Yep. Ball gag. Right on top. Along with some plugs, a whip, a few different sized dildos, cuffs, chains, and weird instruments.

Luke shook his head. "In all honesty, I did not need to find this. I really did not need this."

Glancing over to a disgusted Luke, I could only start laughing again. "Pshhh well I did! This is awesome! Disturbing? Yeah," I nodded quickly. "Yeah, this is pretty intense disturbing stuff. But man, it's so fucking funny – and insane. I'm not judging them; they are great people. I just did not expect this."

Luke gave me an embarrassed smile. It was a much better sight than the box. "Yes, it's... it's different. I knew you would get a kick out of it."

"No wonder they live all the way out here. They must get too loud to have neighbors," I realized. "Or maybe they are swingers, ended up fucking their last neighbors to death.... Oh god, what if that's how Jackson knows them?"

It was Luke's turn to crack up into fits of laughter again, bringing his palm to rest against his forehead. It took him a moment to fight off his body shaking from laughter so he could speak. "Seeing what's in that box, I wouldn't be surprised if one of those theories are true. Damn, hopefully not that last one you said," he said. "What I want to know though... is why it's in the shed. I wasn't snooping; the box was sitting right there."

"Maybe they hid their stuff in here so we wouldn't see it?" I shrugged. It was a good possibility. Stashing a box like that anywhere in the house out of view would be hard (yes, the box was that big). It could also explain why the doors blew open; whoever put it in here forgot to lock it back up. Plus, come on, who the hell keeps their dirty box of fun in the shed? They clearly put this in here temporarily. You keep your toys close in case of emergencies.

He snorted. "Maybe you should ask them in the morning."

"Trust me, I would love to see the look on their faces." It would be awesome to get some sort of reaction. After all, that's partially why Luke dragged me out here.

That's when an idea hit me.

***

"That was the worst idea you've ever had. We are dead," Luke said, sitting on my bed with crossed legs and elbows resting against them.

A foot in front of him on the bed, I mirrored his position. "Then why did you go along with it and are you smiling? That was the best idea I've ever had," I grinned, smug. It was a great idea and one worth being proud of. Luke knew it too no matter how nervous it made him.

"I went along with it because I never liked him," he said, lifting his arm and resting his chin against his supporting palm. Though the man's eyes glowed with humor in mine, worry caressed his face too. "I can guarantee when he wakes up, he will tear everyone a new asshole. Maybe even with the present we left him."

"I bet he won't say a damn word. Jackson will be pissed, but he'd be too embarrassed to bring it up."

"Hopefully. I don't want to die tomorrow," he said, shaking his head before chuckling.

"Even if he happens to bring it up, he won't be gunning for you. The only person he would expect would be me," I reassured. It was cute to see Luke slightly worried about the outcome of our prank. Of course, I honestly did not know what Jackson's reaction would be. I couldn't bring myself to care.

What we did was too much of a fun and crazy moment to pass up. Luke and I didn't have that tension between us at this moment in time either. Plus, it's exactly what I think we both needed. We craved a break and were tired of the drama. As human beings, that was needed. It was perfect... no matter how immature or outrageous it was.

After Luke showed me the magical box, I came up with the idea to put one of the dildos in Jackson's bed with him. It took several minutes to coax Luke into getting on board, but when he did, he was stifling his laughter as much as me throughout the whole thing. That was the hardest part, not laughing as we were doing it. You try carrying a fucking dildo into Jackson's room and planting it under the covers with the sleeping man and not laugh.

"Just so gross," Luke laughed. "We don't know where that thing has been."

"We found a piece of sandpaper to carry the thing, it wasn't that bad."

"Jackson won't have any sandpaper. You put it under the covers with him," he said, cracking up again.

After another few minutes of reveling in our awesome joke, he noticed my notebook I set on the dresser. I probably shouldn't have been surprised when he asked me to retrieve it and share with him what I wrote considering we were seeing a very casual version of Luke tonight. Whether he was still under his drinking spell or he just didn't care and was having too much fun, I couldn't care. I didn't give a damn what was keeping us in this dream that allowed us to act normal around each other again. It made me nearly rush to grab my notebook.

Of course, if he wanted to see mine, I told him that he needed to show me what he had for his background. Considering the fact that he was outside drinking before this, I didn't think he had anything finished. He surprised me when he left and retrieved his notebook.

My excitement was through the roof before we even started. Resting my back against the headboard, legs stretched out before me, my eyes anxiously shot to my right where he was sitting beside me. Propping against the headboard next to me, I eyed the notebook in his lap.

"Okay, you need to go first," I said, too anxious to wait. What did he come up with? Hobbies and memories? More intriguing would be wondering why he came up with these specific things.

"I believe I was the one that suggested this and wanted to know what you wrote," he teased, staring down at the full pages he wrote. Unlike earlier, I had the sense he was overly conscious of me sitting beside him. I'd be lying if I said he was alone.

"Well I'm suggesting you be the one to spill first," I pushed.

Finally turning his head and resting his excited eyes in mine, he raised his brows with a small smile. "Alright then, miss pushy. Keep in mind a lot was already determined with my 'brothers.' What I did come up with was that I was a spelling bee champion throughout my school career. Not sure why, but I liked that idea," he chuckled, lifting the page and looking it over. "Um... after high school, I planned to go to college for accounting but gave up after a semester. I found a job that paid well enough in teaching self-defense. I was always interested in it and went to classes for many years of my life. So I got lucky and taught self-defense. Until now since we are moving to Washington."

When he paused in explaining his badass background, I took the chance to jump in. "I don't know... accounting might have been your thing. If you didn't have the skill to actually back up knowing self-defense." That was quite clever on his part and something to keep in mind. It would be smart to back up some things in your background either through skill or knowledge.

He nodded. "Exactly. It fits perfectly with what I know."

"Do you have the skill to back up being a spelling bee champ?"

"Well it's been several years since I was involved in a spelling bee..." he shrugged innocently.

"Well I would like to hear more, Mr. Spelling Bee," I said, nodding towards the paper.

Looking down to his notes, he mindlessly began curling and playing with the edges of the paper as he went on. "Well, I figured there should be a reason why I was passionate about self-defense. So when I was eight, I..." he trailed off for a moment, pausing before he continued. "A man tried luring me into his car. After refusing, he got out and attempted to talk me into it. He lost his patience and tried grabbing me. I started struggling and screaming, someone heard, chased the guy off. From then, I was determined to learn how to protect myself."

There was no consciousness of us. No actual moment we were sharing or anything that had to do with us. He didn't need to explain why he came up with that. The ending of that scenario was a sad dream Luke wished would have come true for his sister all those years ago.

Resting my hand over his for a moment, his eyes found mine. We shared a knowing gaze before he happily moved on, not wanting to linger in sadness. "Anyway, before teaching self-defense, I worked doing pizza deliveries for Papa Johns. One of my coworkers, Felix, turned into a good friend."

"Felix... I would take that over Peggy. How were you guy's friends?" I asked.

He snorted, catching my eyes again with his alive gorgeous ones. "You're going to think it's extremely dorky. Besides hanging out on the weekends, playing some video games, we would go to this book club together."

I nodded slowly, taking that in as best as I could without laughing. "Book club? Dude, warn me with more than just 'dorky.' That's fucking sad," I said.

His eyes widened as well as his smile. "That's what makes it believable. You know I like reading. So does Felix," he defended. "And for your information, you like Felix."

"Why? What are you taking about?"

"When you came into the picture, we went on double dates with him and his girlfriend."

Hopefully my stupid smile didn't give away how much I liked hearing that he was including girlfriend Peggy in his past. Of course, it was kind of a given; I wrote a bit about 'Kyle' too.

"What else did you write down concerning me?" I raised an eyebrow.

Turning his shy smile and flushed cheeks down towards the paper, he answered. "A few things."

"Oh god," I shook my head, biting my smiling lip. "What did you put?"

It took him a long minute to tilt his head back up and look to me. His searching green globes were alive, but he couldn't hide how he was hesitant. "Just stuff," he teased.

"Come on," I goaded. "I'm your 'girlfriend' so I should probably know anyway."

He looked away, his smile shifting into pursing lips. "It's just details about what... we have shared since I met you online. What I've done with my girlfriend, just... memories or stories, that's all," he said. "Since we will be living together, I figured it would be smart to have some detail into our relationship. All that was really settled was that I met you on a dating site."

We agreed that Kyle and Peggy met on a dating site and things took off from there. Obviously, we needed more than that. It's why I wrote down some things that we could probably incorporate into our little 'love' story. So why was he so reluctant to share?

"Exactly, that's all that was settled. So fess up, what ideas did you put down? I actually came up with our first date. You took me out to dinner and ended up tripping over a chair, knocking over a waiter and tray of food...."

He raised his eyebrows and nodded. "That's really good. Fits too. Kyle is a klutz," he said, nodding down to his notepad.

"Yeah, see? Now what did you have?"

He sighed and gave me a defeated smile. "I guess I really wasn't thinking about what I was writing down – or the fact that I'd be telling you," he mumbled. "Um... I talked about how it felt the first time I saw your hair down and it felt to comb it out. And... I mentioned baking a disastrous cake with you."

His hesitation to tell me this was well understood now. Those weren't made up memories, rather real ones that made my head swirl. Memories with Albany, not Peggy. Then again, they were good memories.

Watching me carefully, waiting for a response, I could only scoff. I didn't have the heart or the will to get upset over what he said. Not when tonight, we subconsciously swore off drama. "Well... your experiences with Peggy sure seem familiar."

"Maybe a little," he said, nodding with a soft smile. "You can't blame me."

"I don't," I said, biting my lip. They were great memories with Albany – ones we clearly both cherished. "I doubt we will be able to fill up Kyle and Peggy's history with actual memories we had. It might get too...." Too real were the words. It's not like Albany and Luke were together.

"I understand," he said, offering a smile I didn't expect.

"You do?"

He nodded. Setting his notebook on the bed, he turned his body towards me, his eyes not leaving mine. All I could think was that this was a flipping dream when he lifted his hand and cupped my cheek. "Albany," he said humorously. "I figured you would have figured out what I've been trying to show you all night."

Well, I didn't think it would happen, but I guess we were welcoming the elephant into the room. Unlike me, Luke wanted to tackle what I've been happily confused about all night. "If we're getting into it... then my suspicion of you being overly drunk into sophistication is wrong."

He took a deep breath and dropped his hand. "Well, I won't lie. If I wasn't drinking before, I probably wouldn't have pushed aside my bitterness or awkwardness. I still would have showed you that box, no matter what," he laughed. "And I still would have wanted some time with you like this."

For some reason, I felt exposed. Probably because we were returning to territory that involved thinking over the drama we've been through. Apparently it had nothing to do with beer. "Then... what am I supposed to figure out? That you've wanted to show me some fun?"

"Well I had fun and that was part of it. More importantly, I was trying to show you that I am willing to put everything behind us. Screw any drama, any awkwardness we might feel."

Whoa. I wasn't expecting that – but I couldn't complain. The sensation of relief started pulsing through me. It almost seemed too good to be true. "Really? Like... no awkwardness?" Was that even possible?

"None at all. Because if we keep letting it bother us, it will be unbearable. We are going to be acting as if we are in a relationship. You and I are going to be living together and we can't let that suffocate us. We need to be comfortable with each other again if we are going to pull that off. And more than anything, I just need my best friend back," he said, looking down. "I'm sorry for my part in causing this drama, I just want to move on. Not to mention, with all the shit that's been happening, I think being there for each other could help."

It was the best thing I could see happening. Regardless of our drama between each other, Luke was my best friend and someone I loved talking to. We were always there for each other. With all the outside drama happening, having him to talk to without awkwardness would be amazing.

It's something we both wanted and needed at this point. We had stressors and life changing things coming at us from every direction. It was too much for us to handle anymore. Especially when we would be living together as a 'couple.' If he didn't approach me with a white flag like he did tonight, the awkwardness would probably kill us. More importantly, we would have each other for support no matter what we go through. That was the biggest form of relief I could ask for.

I smiled and searched his eyes for a long moment. "Well in that case... you need to know something about Peggy."

"What's that?" he asked, suppressing a smile. It would have been a beautiful grin because that's what his eyes reflected, knowing I was on board with his proposal.

"She requires constant pampering, compliments, ten grand worth in expensive gifts every single day, and she likes to be the boss. Kyle will probably be more like her servant. And I know she always needs good food on hand."

"Is that so? You can't change that?"

I shrugged. "Unfortunately. Some people are incapable of change, I'm sorry. I wish I could help, but you're on your own."

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I've been putting in so much more work with chapters now - which is why they take longer to post. I really tried with this one so please tell me what you think. I wrote it different - and obviously it was a unique chapter haha. Please let me know though. Your opinion can make my day :)