Unexpected

Chapter 26

Sam's POV

I pace around my living room, my hands running through my hair. Livvy's house is only a half an hour away, but it seems as if it's taking her hours to arrive.

No one is home right now, so I have no one around to distract me.

I should've realized that I would've been spotted at the mall. Most days I forget how famous my older brother really is, until things like that wretched article get posted. I didn't realize that I might've needed to go to a smaller shop, or even put on some sort of covering.

Every second a new thought pops into my head, reminding me how dumb I was being, and how hard I'm still kicking myself.

I'm sitting on the couch with my head in my hands when I hear a knock on the front door. My head snaps up and I practically bolt to the front door, tripping over my own feet in the process.

I rip the door open without even checking, and instead of Livvy standing on my doorstep, it's April, Tom's girlfriend. I stand up straight and blink.

"April?" I ask, confused.

"Uh, hey Sam," she says, looking up at me and then down at the ground.

"Uh- come in," I say, gesturing into the living room. The messy living room, I realize, as April steps over a couple pillows on the floor.

"So, what's up? Tom's not home now, if you came for him," I say, leaning on the edge of the couch.

"No, actually, I didn't. I, um, I saw that article. Amber and I got pretty close at Harry's wedding, so when I saw it I was really surprised. Who is that girl you're with?" April asks, a curious look in her eyes.

"Oh, uh, it's Amber's older sister Livvy. She was helping me look for an engagement ring for Amber," I answer.

April's eyes go wide. "Oh-oh no. Amber thinks that you cheated on her. I wanted to come over here so I could get the story from you in person. But, sorry, I've got to go, Amber needs to know the truth," April says, rushing towards the door. 

She turns back just before she walks outside and says, "Sam, I know you'll get this figured out. Amber loves you so much, and I know you love her too." She gives me a small smile and walks back outside, shutting the door behind her. 

I sit back down on the couch, tapping my foot on the floor over and over. A couple minutes later, another knock sounds on the door. I peek into the peep hole and it's thankfully Livvy. I wretch open the door and she walks in, and comes over to me and wraps me in a hug.

 "I know how hard this must be on you," she says after she pulls away. I nod, afraid that talking will make me cry. "Look, Sam, as much as you want to wait for the perfect moment, I think it has to be soon. Amber is really upset. She thinks that I am some random girl that you're dating behind her back. Honestly, at this point, she wants nothing to do with you. You have to go to her and explain to her the situation. She's staying at my house for a while, so you'll probably have to call her and let her know you're coming over. As much as just popping in would be good, I would not put it past Amber to slam the door in your face," Livvy says. 

I stare at her for a second when she finishes talking, and I manage to utter, "She-she wants nothing to do with me?" Livvy nods somberly and I slump down on the couch. "I screwed everything up," I mutter, my eyes starting to glaze over with tears. 

"No, Sam, it's not your fault. Amber has no idea what's going on, and if you give her a couple days to cool down, she'll want to hear an explanation from you. I promise," Livvy says, rushing to me and giving me a side hug. 

I nod and Livvy continues to try to calm me down. Around 20 minutes later, she leaves, and I try to come up with an idea of how to fix this problem I caused.

Livvy's POV

"Amber! You need to give Sam another chance!" I yell. "You haven't even let him talk to you over the phone until you tell him to screw off. Maybe he has a valid reason why he was ring shopping with someone." 

"Livvy. You've gotta be kidding me. He was ring shopping with another girl. What the heck else do you think he was doing out there?" Amber says, her voice shaking with anger. 

I scream in frustration and roll my eyes. "Do you even hear yourself?! Sam is your boyfriend and best friend. You really think he would betray you like that? I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Amber, the girl he was with was me, okay?"

 "WHA-" 

"Let me finish. Amber, Sam is so deeply in love with you. He loves you more than anything on this planet. He was ring shopping with me, because he wants to marry you!" 

Amber sits stone still, and stares down at the table. She blinks furiously, and then looks up at me, her eyes a glossy sheen, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. 

"He-he does?" she asks, her voice quiet. 

"Yes! I know you love him too, and the past couple days have been torture for you, I can tell. He's in pain too. He's worried that you don't want him anymore," I say, grabbing both of Amber's hands in mine. 

"You need to make things right with him, okay?" I say, looking into Amber's eyes. She nods and thanks me, running off into her room.

 I sit down on a stool by the kitchen island and then my eyes widen. "Oh, crap. I spilled it," I say, frantically scrambling for my phone.

I click on  Sam's contact and wait for him to pick up. "Come on, come on, come on," I mutter, waiting impatiently for him to answer. 

"Hello?" he asks sleepily. 

"Oh shoot I forgot it was your day off. Sorry for calling at 8 AM. Anyway, um, so Amber was going on about you again and I might've let it slip that you wanted to marry her and it was me at the jewelry store??" I say all in a rush. I wince at the end of my sentence, scared for Sam's reaction. 

"Wait, so she knows??" he says, clearly awake now. 

"Uh, yeah, sorry," I answer.

 "Well, I suppose she's not mad anymore, then?" he asks. 

"No, she's actually on her way over there now," I say, waving at Amber as she rushes out of the door. 

"Oh, um okay. Thanks for letting me know," Sam says, hanging up the call.