𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 | 𝐁𝐗𝐁

ＴＨＩＲＴＹ ＴＷＯ

"Ben, this is a really bad idea!" Luke's voice on the phone was harsh enough to convince me that I had done something bad. "I'm telling you, man, does Kate know that Matt cornered you in the library?"

"Don't keep saying that!" With only a thin wall between me and my girlfriend, who was getting dressed in the bedroom, I hissed into the phone, "Look, I'm going to confront him, man, okay? I need to know why he's dating Sam."

"For one reason or another!" Luke frantically rasped, "After all, the guy told you he was gay, and if I understand correctly, he was very close to sticking his tongue down your throat on those dusty shelves if you let him."

"I'm hanging up," I said as I heard Kate's footsteps coming out of the bedroom and approaching the living room, "I'll call you later."

"Hey, remember, no making out with the in-laws!" Luke let out one last scream into the phone.

I winced at Luke's terrible words and saw Kate leaning against our kitchen counter, watching me. I stood up, walked over to her, and gently rubbed her shoulders, seeing a confused expression on her face. It seemed like Kate decided to make a move to get what she had in mind. 

"Are you sure?" She asked.

I understood what she meant. It was embarrassing for me. This is part of my shameful past. The bad thing is; Kate and I were just friends before I moved here, and I made the mistake of telling her about Matt when I was supposed to have sex with her. Now she knows Matt is dating my sister, and asking Kate to come over to their house tonight puts me in an awkward position. But I couldn't help but have to warn him about my sister, even though the thought of seeing Matt again disgusted me. Yeah, I planned this conversation too. If he tries to upset her, I swear...

"Look," I said, continuing to gently rub her shoulders, "You should never doubt that my mind and heart are overflowing with you."

Kate turned around and gave me a rather strange look, "Why would you say that? I thought you and Matt were still in an awkward situation..."

"We're not!" I suddenly yelled out loud, "I swear we're not, Kate. The only reason I'm doing this shit is to keep him from hurting my sister. Sam said she wanted to meet you, and she's cooking for the first time in her life. It's not going to put my sister and her boyfriend in an awkward situation tonight, I swear."

"Good for me," she said, shaking her shoulders and jokingly punching me in the stomach, "This man is mine now."

"It always was." I hugged her and rested my chin on the crown of her head and sighed deeply.

***

Kate didn't listen to Sam and said we should buy them champagne as a housewarming gift. Later that night I would realize that this was not a good idea at all. 

My sister answered the door, she was wearing a cute kitchen apron over her clothes and had some sauce on her face. I hugged her before taking a quick look around the apartment where I used to live. I'm not normally the type to enjoy these displays of affection, so I guess running into her boyfriend at the library yesterday made me feel a little guilty. Even though I'm not actually guilty of anything.

"Wow," Sam said, pulling herself off my embrace, "She's really beautiful." 

She said that when she looked at Kate, I could see a hint of jealousy in her gaze. They were not the eyes of a possessive sister, but the eyes of a woman who saw someone more beautiful than herself.

Signals that this night will end in disaster anyway? Can't be.

But the woman I was with was mature enough. Kate handed the champagne to my sister and surprisingly gave her a brief hug. "Your house is beautiful," she said, sticking her head in the door.

"It shouldn't be nicer than yours," Sam said simply, "Otherwise Ben wouldn't be moving out and joining you."

After taking one look at her, I entered. Soft music was coming from Matt's living room. The changes in the house immediately caught my attention. The walls had changed color, I was almost sure it was Sam's work because it was red. Damn red. Who paints the living room red?

"Come in," Sam said quickly, "Matt will be in soon, he was getting dressed. I'll be in the kitchen."

"No way!" Kate quickly shot back, "I have to help you. So Ben can hang out with Matt."

I quickly turned my head to Kate, "I didn't know the boy and girl grouping was a part of tonight."

With a menacing but playful shoulder shake, Kate joined my sister in carrying the champagne to the kitchen, and the two quickly disappeared. I had no choice but to hope they would get along, because any failure tonight would be my fault. I wanted to come here. It was just to keep a close eye on these two's lives, mostly to scare Matt so he wouldn't upset my sister. Or maybe I was reassuring myself that way, or maybe it was to find out the real reason he was with Sam.

I walked over to the edge of the couch we used to have, there was a coffee table there. It now had a silver frame on it and a photo inside. Matt and my sister were smiling at me. I laughed at the funny patterns around the frame, obviously Sam had painted it herself. Hearts, clouds and rainbows. Rainbow, yes. The last one didn't resonate well. I took the frame in my hand and looked at the photo closely.

"This photo was taken at a concert." I put the frame down as if my hand was burned because of the muffled voice I heard behind me, turned around and tried not to look at the tall man leaning against the door for more than a second. "Chase Atlantic," Matt said as he came toward me, "Sam's favorite. It was taken when I took her to Chicago for a concert."

I didn't say anything. Frankly, his game plan tonight would be based on how well he knew Sam, how much he cared about her enough to take her to another city, and the memories she made with him. I agree with him, no problem. But I chose to remain silent for a certain period of time. 

Matt's hair was very damp. It was obvious he had just gotten out of the shower. He was wearing a simple white shirt and jeans. He was effortlessly chic and smiled briefly at me as we walked towards the minibar in the lounge, he had a habit of reading my mind. "I've been running," he said, pouring a drink for himself and me, "I run every night. Exercising helps me clear my head."

"How lucky you are."

My little voice sounded a little sarcastic and he lifted his eyes towards me as he tossed the bottle into the glasses. I didn't mean to be hostile, but I'm not here to listen to the details of his miserable life. He took the drinks and walked towards me, towards the window. I noticed he kept his eyes on my face as he handed me one, but I didn't look back at him. I took the drink from him very quickly because we were at that weird point where any contact could be lethal. I didn't want to cross the line.

"What I wanted to say in the library..."

"Don't mention that tonight!" I urgently swallowed the drink down my stomach as I hissed very quickly, "Don't, not with Sam or Kate."

Matt's thick eyebrows arched across his forehead, squinting as he lifted the glass to his mouth as I had just done, moving them across my face, making me uncomfortable. "So does this mean we can talk later?"

"Yes," I said, shaking with anger, "We will definitely talk."

This would not be the kind of conversation he was thinking of, and if I knew him, what I had to say would not please him in any way. But who cares? It's been a long time since I left Matt behind and I'm no longer his emotional slave. Moving out of this house and dating Kate allowed me to have my own independence, and Matt was now just my sister's boyfriend to me.

It had to stay like this forever.