Getting Closer

Chapter Thirty One - Charlie

Seth and I just stare in shock. Admittedly, I'm a little less shocked than he is as I've suspected this for a long time now, but nonetheless it's still something to behold.

"Will you fuckers say something?" Max grumbles as we've been here in silence for a while now.

My eyes wander to Jules to find her nervously looking between Seth and I. When she notices my stare, I can just see her anxiety of being welcome with this new change. Just minutes prior, the two of them entered the restaurant hand in hand and just simply announced that they are officially dating now.

 "It's so weird that you guys are dating," Seth says as if he's reading my mind. The couple looks over at us as if this isn't shocking. "I mean - Jules... Have you met the guy?"

She looks over to Max and smiles. "Unfortunately, I have."

"So when did this romance begin?" Seth asks.

"It's been a while," I answer for them.

Seth turns to me quickly. "You knew?!"

"I just guessed something was up," I shrug.

"Nosy bastard," Max grumbles again.

Juliet places a hand on Max's thigh and says, "This has been a thing much longer than you guys might think."

I furrow my brows. "Then how long?"

The two of them look at one another and a small blush crosses Jules' cheeks. Then Max answers that completely knocks my breath out of my chest, "Remember the party we went to on our birthday?"

Seth's eyes grow big. Then he points to Jules. "You're the mystery girl!"

Things now seem to make sense. "Jules was the blond you were looking for?" I add.

Jules smiles a bit uncomfortably. "That would be me."

"You motherfuckers are great actors," Seth gasps as he sits back in the booth. "I had no fucking idea." Jules excuses herself to the bathroom all of a sudden and in her absence, Seth and I lean into Max and grill him. "What the fuck dude?"

His brows crunch up. "I didn't plan this. And what were the fucking chances that the girl you saved was the same girl I'd fuck at Jessica's?"

"Oh my fucking god," I suddenly say. "When I invited her over to my house that first time and she asked you if you two met..."

Max grins. "My heart almost leapt out of my chest." After taking a sip of his drink, he continues, "You guys were just too preoccupied to see how much we were panicking."

"No wonder why you've been so prickly lately," Seth adds. "You're in love."

Max scoffs. "I wouldn't go that far quite yet. But I am very happy."

Now that statement shocks me even more. "Aww," I smile. "You are in love." Though I'm teasing him, it is strange to even think of him in a relationship. He's always been so... Max... and it's hard to picture him to be anything other than a dick.

"Shut up, Evans," he hisses as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"You owe Kate an apology," I say. "She caught onto you guys before I ever did."

Max's brows scrunch up. "You must really not know me."

"Well I guess not!" Seth chimes in. "You kept a whole relationship from us for months!"

"Just two months," Max says. "And we didn't start dating until like a couple days ago." At our complete shock, he tilts his head and asks, "What? Like I said before, I didn't plan for this to happen."

"So you guys just wanted to..."

"You guys can be such prudes sometimes," he sighs. "I wanted to fuck a pretty girl, she wanted to get her mind off of that fucker she was gonna marry and that's it. It was mutual and because she's such a great person, yeah, I kinda fell for her. Is that so hard to understand?"

"In terms like that," Seth says, "no, but in terms for you, yes."

Jules returns but not in the state she left in. She stands by the side of the table, her eyes red as if she was crying in the bathroom. Max immediately shifts into protective mode but she waves him off. "I'm sorry," she says as she holds her stomach. "I'm going to have to leave."

"What's wrong?" Max asks.

She shakes her head. "It's nothing. Can you walk me out?" she asks him. Jules bids us farewell and Seth and I watch the two of them walk out of the restaurant. Still in view outside the windows, Max holds Jules close as she tries to not cry again.

"I bet it has something to do with Michael," Seth says to me as he observes our friends as well.

I nod. Since having her nudes leaked, Jules hasn't really wanted to talk about the incident and I don't blame her. And I guess now that she has Max to confide in, she doesn't really need to dwell on those complicated feelings with all of us. Outside, the couple share a kiss before Jules walks down the block and Max returns to us.

Once he sits down, he doesn't offer us any explanation as to why she abruptly left or to where she's going; instead he looks at us and says, "What are you guys ordering?"

Seth laughs. "So are we just gonna ignore the elephant in the room?"

Max looks around the diner. "I don't see anything."

"Smart ass," Seth mumbles. 

"Is Jules going to be alright?" I ask instead.

Max clenches a fist and his whole demeanor changes. "I hate that I can't go with her."

"Where?"

"She's meeting with that fuckface. And because we're keeping us a secret from our parents for the time being, I can't be by her side."

Seth and I share a glance. "You're not telling your parents?"

He shakes his head. "She doesn't want them to know yet. They're still caught up on fuckface and she doesn't know how they'll respond to me just suddenly showing up out of the blue." He frowns and picks up his phone. "And before you guys ask, I'm not telling my mom either because one, she's not around enough to even notice I've been fucking Jules for the past two months anyways, and two, my mom knows Jules' parents and will blab to them about us."

"And you're okay with that?" I ask carefully.

"The fuck do I care?"

I shrug. "I don't know. Being in a secret relationship seems-"

"Jules and I have been keeping us a secret for two months, Evans," Max snaps. "We wanted to be honest about us to you guys and that's it. If she doesn't want her parents knowing, then I don't give a fuck."

We're all silent for a long time even after we place our orders, until Seth breaks the tension in the air. "In other news, I am Korean and I've been stressing for no reason."

"Half Korean," Max chimes in.

"Okay, no one cares to be technical all the time," Seth pouts. "And I guess my dad's like almost completely Polish with like a little bit of Swiss."

"Sounds like a good sandwich," Max laughs.

Seth and I groan but deep down I'm just so happy that no matter what happens between us all, we can always go back to being normal with one another. They're my best friends for a reason and there's nothing that can change that.