More Than Meets the Eye

Chapter Two

After the party, and staying way later than I had agreed to, Aubrey and I parted ways. Auston got hella drunk and needed a drive home. Being sober, and of course his girlfriend, who was I to say no? Auston and Freddie lived together just a short ten minute drive away from Morgan's, where the party had taken place. I was grateful for the short drive, though driving Freddie meant I was more than likely going to be spending the night; not exactly how I had pictured my evening.

"Where are we going?" Auston asked, though he was mumbling. His eyes were opening and closing; it seemed he was going to pass out at any given moment.

"We're going home" I told him, a smile playing on my lips. I looked over at him and he looked cute, curled up, head against the window. Freddie remained silent in the back, looking out the window at the passing cars. He was so lost in thought, I don't think anything was going to get his attention. He was completely sober, just as I was. This was of benefit for me; I didn't think I could get Auston up to the condo myself.

"But I don't wanna" he pouted.

"Too bad, so sad" I grinned. "It's way later than I should have even been there. Lucky I'm off tomorrow" I added the last part in a near whisper. Not that it mattered; I was pretty certain Auston was fast asleep on the seat next to me.

The rest of the drive was in radio silence. This usually would have bothered me, but tonight I felt different. It was crazy the amount of changes my life had gone through in the past six months. The moment I walked into the office with Auston, everything I knew had changed. I know I'm probably getting a lot of judgement, but lay off, yeah? I'm not hurting anyone by doing this; what's the harm? I frown. This is a question I often have trouble when I think about it. What was the harm? Was there any?

"Will you need help getting him up there?" Before I can let my mind run down an unnecessary rabbit hole, Freddie's voice pops from left field.

"Yes, thank god you're here" I mumble as we both get out of my car. One of the perks, I guess if you want to call it that, of dating Auston was the ability to drive a very nice car. I didn't own it; god, I would never let him do that. I preferred, and could walk to any place I needed to go; that was the convenience of downtown living! But in circumstances like these, I got the rare opportunity to drive like the ol rich guys; and it was nice.

"Aus, come on" I try to shake him so at least he's somewhat coherent. I sigh when it doesn't seem like he'll budge, and Freddie takes over.

"Dude, at least stand the hell up" he snaps at his teammate, who immediately pops up as if he wasn't just drooling in the passenger's seat.

"Hmm?" he asks, getting up from the car and shutting the door way harder than was necessary. He puts an arm around Freddie to steady his balance, and the three of us make the walk up to their condo. Unfortunately for me, they lived on the third floor. On a more positive note, it was a beautiful condo. The view from the balcony was breathtaking; I found myself sitting, just looking up at the stars, or watching the sun rise and set any time I was given the opportunity to do so. Fun fact, I'm an insomniac. At first, I was deeply bothered by this; who doesn't love sleep? But the longer I went, the less it began to bug me. If I didn't sleep, I always found things to preoccupy my mind.

"Thanks for helping me drag his ass up here" I told Freddie as we loaded onto the elevator. He looked at me, smiling for the first time in awhile that night.

"Anytime. I don't want to think about how hard it would have been without my help" he spoke quietly, as to not disturb Auston. As I looked at him, I thought back to our earlier conversation, about the girl he liked. I felt saddened that she had a boyfriend, though if she was happy I wasn't one to wish ill on another's relationship. But most of all, I felt bad that Freddie had the burden of thinking she was being cheated on. The thought did not come up from nothing; something must have tipped him off into thinking that's what was happening. But from living so far away, how did he know? Because of the pandemic travel was increasingly less, though as the world returned to its new state of normal, travelling between countries was possible, providing you gave them a negative test.

Did he spend enough time with her and her boyfriend to know this? Did he know her boyfriend? I was kind of annoyed Auston showed up back into the conversation when he did; there were clearly some details he was leaving out, and I wondered if Auston had anything to do with this. But why would he? That question kept nagging at me. What would Auston have to do with any of it?

"You're probably right on that one" I chuckled. This wasn't the first time, and I was sure it wouldn't be the last, that I would have to look after a drunk Auston. The biggest pain of dating a hockey player would of course be their size; I mean who can move a huge 200 pound man? Certainly not me, but I digress. "Can I ask you something?" I turn to him when we finally get into the condo. Auston slumps right into the bed easily, and I could tell it was a bit of a workout to hold him up for Freddie, who looks a little out of breath.

"You just did" Freddie smirks, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. We leave the bedroom, closing the door gently on our way out as to not disturb him, and make our way to the kitchen where I make myself at home, fetching us both a glass of water. Though we were both sober, I always made a habit of drinking water after a long night.

"Alright, can I ask you two more things?" I ask, not falling for it a second time. He simply nods, so I continue. "Are you going to try and prove it?" I don't even have to elaborate on the question; he knows what I'm referring to. He looks like he's deep into thought, because he doesn't answer right away. It was one of the admirable things about Freddie; he always seemed to take his time before he spoke. He thought things through; something I could use work on. I'm not one to completely speak my mind, but i also don't stay silent, either. I consider myself to be a slightly more emotional person than what is necessary, and a lot of the time it comes to bite me.

"Yes" he finally answers, and it's with confidence. "I'm going to prove it. Not because I want to be with her, but because I want her to be happy" he makes sure I know.

"I'll help you, if you want" I offer, and he shakes his head.

"I wouldn't want to burden you with that" he tells me, and I can see a certain fire burning in his eyes. There was a lot more to this man than met the eye; it was easy to see I still had a lot to learn about both him and Auston. I didn't know how much time I had left; I didn't know how long they wanted this charade to go on for. But I definitely knew one thing for sure. Regardless of how it ends, it wasn't going to be pretty. Friendships were going to be broken, relationships destroyed; but it was truly too late to turn back. As much as I thought, who was it going to harm? I knew the answer, but couldn't accept it.

"It's not a burden if I want to help" I eventually tell him, and he simply nods. We don't say another word on the subject; we don't have to. We simply sit in silence, each absorbed in our own thoughts.