More Than Meets the Eye

Chapter Eight

Addison's Point of View

"So, how did you two meet?" I ask the newest member of what seemed to be our circle of friends, Olivia; though she preferred to go by Liv.

"Well, that's kind of an interesting story..." she trailed off, looking a little unsure. "He actually rear ended me"

"What!? Willie!" I gasp, though I'm laughing along with Liv.

"Oh god, she told you eh?" He asks, clearly still very embarrassed about it. I nod, and he sighs. "I just had a rough practice, I wasn't paying attention.. I get out of my car, ready to just lose my mind, when I see her" he looks at Liv affectionately, and I feel my heart melt. Beside me, Auston gets up from his seat, having his phone in his hand. I wave him off and he kisses my cheek before I turn my attention back to the adorable couple.

"Awh, isn't that cute" I trill, which of course causes more embarrassment for Willie. "I'm happy for you guys" I'm all smiles because it's nice to see two young people so smitten with each other. Out of the corner of my eye I see Auston, talking to someone rather aggressively. A quick note around the room and I realize who that somebody is. The way they were around each other confused me as of late. They were always shooting each other looks, mostly of disapproval. What were either of them so upset about? I made a mental note to ask Auston later, after everyone had left.

"Well, you and Auston seem to be doing well!" Liv comments. And like always, I hate myself for having to lie. But it wasn't a hurtful lie, was it?

"I didn't think anyone was going to tame him" Willie laughs, and I laugh along with him, though uncomfortably.

"Yeah, I don't know what to say, it just sort of happened" and that was the honest truth, because it did. We were in the same friends circle, then one day it was determined we'd pretend to date for the sake of his image.

"We're glad it did" Willie confesses, and it makes me feel even worse. What are they going to think of me when they realize this wasn't real? "He's really happy around you" he adds, adding insult to injury.

"I'm gonna grab a drink" I tell them, shaking my empty beer can. They turn to each other, talking about something I couldn't quite catch. I make my way to the kitchen, where both Auston and Freddie seemed to have disappeared. I wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on between them.

I walked to the balcony; the spot I most often found myself when I was here, and was surprised when I saw Freddie sitting there, looking solemnly out into the distance. The chilly, October breeze caused me to shiver slightly, getting Freddie's attention.

"Oh, hey, what are you doing here?" He asks, though he doesn't really look surprised. I guess as he shouldn't; this is where I'm often found when I'm here.

"I could ask you the same thing" I settle on saying. I take a seat next to him, overlooking the beautiful city we lived in. "Everything ok?" I ask him, even though I'm pretty sure I know the answer. He debates for awhile whether or not he's going to tell me the truth, or if he's simply going to tell me he's fine. He must have realized I knew something was up and there was no point in lying.

"Everything is just so complicated" he breathed, putting his head in his hands. "I really just don't know what to do anymore"

"To do anymore about what?" I ask him, beginning to worry. What did he mean things were getting complicated?

"It's about the girl" he's being cryptic. I vaguely wonder if he's doing this on purpose. "I just- I can prove it but I don't know if I want to" he grumbles.

"What? Why wouldn't you?" I ask, wondering what kept changing his mind. One day he was ready to figure out how to prove it; the next he wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with the entire situation. I wondered what kept changing his mind.

"It's hard to explain" he tells me, and I'm getting frustrated. It was hard to help him if he kept changing his mind like this.

"Fred," I start scooting closer to him on the swinging bench. "What's going on with you? There's something up- not only with you, but with you and Auston" I decide fuck waiting to ask Auston, I was going to ask Freddie instead.

"What do you?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know" I dismiss him before he's even able to finish his sentence.  "I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed"

He struggles with what to say. He looks out into the city, before sighing and turning to me.

"I don't want you to hate me" he tells me, and I'm lost.

"Freddie, why on earth would I hate you?" I ask him truthfully. He's been nothing but a great friend to me. I really enjoyed his company.

"And I don't want it to complicate things with Auston" he tells me, and now I'm really getting pissed. Could he just tell me what the hell was going on? He was being cryptic, and it was becoming painfully obvious that he was doing it purposely.

"Just tell me! Please" I soften my tone, not meaning to come off so aggressively. He sighs, taking out his phone and shoving it into my hands. "What is-?" I take a look at the photo and I'm not sure I like what I see.

"Proof." He says, maintaining eye contact. I look at him, the confusion evident in my eyes. I absorb the contents of the picture, unsure of how to feel. Did I feel jealous? Sad? Deceived? There were many emotions that swirled through my mind.

In the photo, was Auston, sucking face with some girl I didn't recognize. I looked at the date stamp on the photo, and realized it was from yesterday. He was fucking someone yesterday?

"Proof..." I trail off, handing him back his phone. I feel angry, though I don't feel I have the right to. I felt used, though I don't feel I have the right to. While I'm going over all of these emotions in my head, I realize something.

He liked a girl. A girl who had a boyfriend. A girl who had a boyfriend who was cheating on her. A girl who had a boyfriend who was cheating on her that he wanted to prove to her.

"Is the girl me?" I ask him. I look at him, and he just speaks the one word I was not expecting.

"Yes."