Forever

chapter 22

"That's cute. Your brother already did."

Lyle and Julia both froze in their places

Julia's mind was racing a mile a minute. What am I saying?? Me and Erik haven't even come close to kissing! Shit.

Lyles mind was doing the same... but it had a different heart. That shithead. I'm going to kick his ass! We're brothers!! How could he do this to me?? How could she do this to me?

The initial shock from the situation had worn away but it only got more tense when Erik came speed walking into the room

"What the fuck is taking you guys so long!?" Ew don't tell me you guys were" he gestured towards Lyle and Julia "doing something" Lyle scoffed a little too loud for Julia's liking

"Actually I was just leaving you two love birds" Lyle spat the last words out like they were slurs as he walked back towards the kitchen, shoving Erik in the process.

"Dude!"

"Dont 'dude' me" He said, not caring enough to turn around and face Erik, but continuing to walk into the kitchen

"What was that about?"

At this point Julia's eyes were glossy with tears, but she refused to let what Lyle had said get to her. She had messed up and she knew it, not only her and Lyles friendship, but Lyle and Erik's too. How could she have been so stupid as to say what she said?

"I'm sorry" she let the words fall from her mouth, her voice containing a light quiver

"Julia... what happened?" Erik had gotten weary. He didn't wanna push her but what had happened hadn't exactly seemed civil.

"I said something that I shouldn't have, okay?"

"Well what'd you say?"

"I- Let's just get back to dinner. Hopefully it's almost over" Julia said as she walked away

"Julia!" Erik whisper yelled. No use. Some how he was the biggest problem in their conflict, but he had been iced out. He stood there for a minute, rubbing his forehead trying to figure out what he had done wrong. Why he was the problem. He put a fake smile on his face, and walked back into the kitchen.

"Erik! Just in time for dessert!" Mrs. Menendez cheered

"Actually mom" Lyle interrupted "me and Chloe are gonna head out early and just get some icecream together"

"Chloe and I" Julia corrected under her breath

"Yeah Juls and I were actually going to go out for some icecream too" Erik and Julia locked eyes

"We were..? I mean! Yes. Yes were" She gave him a slight not before following him out the door towards his car

"M'lady" He said sarcastically opening the door for her, but he didn't get an answer. She silently hopped in the car and waited for him to get in the other side. "Tough crowd" Erik said jokingly rolling his eyes and pulling out the driveway

They had been driving for about two minutes before Julia interjected

"What's this about, Eri-"

"Just shut up for a minute" Julia turned towards Erik

"I know you didn't just tell me t-"

"Do you trust me?" he didn't turn to face her

"Of course I trust you Erik"

"Okay well then shhhh" he said putting his finger up to her lips "trust me"

Julia shook her head but followed his orders and stopped talking. Only a few minutes had gone by when Erik pulled into a parking lot right next to the shore line. Julia had never seen a parking lot on the sand and found it rather peculiar, but didn't say anything.

"Follow moi" Erik said, gesturing ahead of him as Julia sent him a small glare. He lead her on the beach to a group of small wave pools and cave.

"Wow Erik" Julia didn't know if if she had ever seen something so beautiful. The way the sun was on the verge of setting and created an amazing color scheme through the sky, the glare that made the wave pools bluer than she thought water could ever be, and the glossy crystals that hung in the cave. "This is- just wow"

"See" Erik let out a small smile "Now let it out"

Julia shot him a confused look

"Oh! I mean yell into the cave. Ya know. Whatever you're feeling just yell. It's a good way to let it out" the look on Julia's face persisted "Come on! Just give it a shot! I'll go first!" He said, grabbing Julia's hand and pulling her into the cave "Why is life so weird right now!!!" He said laughing

Julia looked over at him and he shrugged

"It's all i could think of! Your turn" She rolled her eyes but her stubbornness didn't last long.

"I really fucking hate Lyle right now!!!" Erik sent her a small look but shook his head and put his arm around her shoulders

"Ditto" Julia stopped walking and turned to face Erik

"You do?" she questioned

"Well yeah. He hurt you and I care about you" Erik could feel his face growing a little red "So it wasn't... cool i guess"

"Wait you care about me?

Erik was almost taken aback by her question

"Of course! How could I not. Frankly I don't know how Lyle pulled you or what made him think he could break your heart and just get away with it."

The two were deep in eye contact by now. It felt like the world around them had stopped, and they were the only two that existed. Julia had almost disassociated herself from everything around her and suddenly found herself leaning up towards Erik, him doing the same. Their faces were inches from each other, but they didn't stop. Julia turned her head as their lips almost met.

"Wait" Erik said as he pulled away and the world came back into focus "not like this"

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A/N: hehe i had to lolz sorryyyyyy :)

also this chapter is dedicated thatweirdo_22 bc i probably wouldn't have written at all in the next month if they hadn't reminded me 😭😭