Better than Friends

Chapter 18: I choose you

"A million times over, I will always choose you."

- Unknown

• • •

• { Atria St. James } •

"What are you doing here?" I hiss as I give him a hoodie I grabbed off of the coat hanger. I couldn't return to my room to get one in fear that Cassidy might ask me where I was going.

Dawson, who was staring at me suspiciously long, cleared his throat and accepted the coat gratefully. "I just wanted to check if you were okay . . ."

"You couldn't have texted me?"

"Oh."

Dawson's eyebrows furrowed together as he realized his mistake which made my lips quirk up slightly at how cute he looked.

I rolled my eyes and pulled the coat I had taken for myself tighter around my body. "I'm surprised the guard even let you through, it's the middle of the night and you're clearly intoxicated."

I checked him out head to toe, noticing how ruffled his hair was and the lingering scent of smirnoff flooded my senses.

I looked Dawson in the eye then gave him a confused look as he returned a sheepish one back at me.

With one hand rubbing his nape bashfully, he replied, "Well, see, the thing is . . ."

Oh god.

"My dad will literally kill you!" I look around frantically, half-expecting my dad to jump out the bushes with his shotgun and nail one right between Dawson's eyes. Is he that crazy?

"But your dad loves me."

"Does that actually sound convincing to you?" I deadpanned, grabbing his arm and pulling him deeper into the garden and away from the house. We had to get to a blindspot where the cameras couldn't see us.

Dawson eyed our conjoined hands but didn't comment on it. "I'm just saying, there's research that shows-"

"How drunk are you?"

"I didn't drink a lot, actu-"

"Well neither did I so I don't need to be hearing about someone's research papers at this hour," I grumbled out as I tugged him along. There was an area just between two palm trees past the pool that was not in the scope of the cameras.

I pursed my lips as I remembered how I figured this fact out. I was with my grandmother and we were playing hide and seek with mom who was awfully good at it. Eventually, we figured out she was using the cameras to find our hiding spots and instead of confronting her my grandmother pulled out her wild card. She had brought me in between these two palm trees, decorational ones for the pool, and told me that because of their leaves no one would be able to spot us.

"Why do we need to hide here?" Dawson asked as branches and leaves tickled him.

"Are you not paying attention? My dad could see us."

"Your dad probably just watched his daughter pull his best friend's son into an intimate spot that he can't see."

I pursed my lips. I hadn't thought about that. But we were here now and it gave us more privacy than the patio did so it was an upgrade in my eyes either way. Besides, the surveillance cameras were able to pick up sounds and I didn't want my dad hearing any conversation between me and Dawson, whatever it may be.

"Why are you really here, Daws?" I asked him pointedly but with caution in my tone. It didn't seem like Dawson to be sneaking into another man's home to see his daughter, he wasn't trouble like that.

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Dawson took a deep breath. "Our last conversation...just know that I wouldn't allow it."

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "What? What are you talking about?"

"About Cassidy, you know," He reiterated, shrugging his shoulders as if he couldn't figure it out himself. "I wouldn't let her steal me from you."

Weird. I scoffed at his words. He was deviating from the path we had already set course for, one that was done with intricate planning. The unusual thing was that it was mostly his doing.

"What do you mean?" He couldn't be serious, I thought to myself with a quirked brow. Though it hurt my heart to think that Cassidy could steal him away from me, I had already put up walls.

There was obvious turmoil bubbling on Dawson's face. I hated to see it there.

"Dawson...I understand."

Surprise bloomed on the Ledger boy's face as I rested my palm on his cheek. His skin was soft to the touch and warm, it made me smile.

"You can choose Cassidy if you want . . ." It was hard to say those words, but I could tell that Dawson was hurting inside and he needed assurance that I wouldn't be hurt by all this. The look of disbelief on Dawson's face was all the confirmation I needed to know that I had said the right words.

"I wouldn't be hurt by it," I said to him, trying to mean every word. "Our relationship...it's not real anyways a-and Cassidy has always been your first choi. . .-"

There was something sweet about finding out you were wrong in a situation that you wished so hard to be wrong in.

Before I could finish my sentence, Dawson had pulled me in for a kiss.

His lips met mine, silencing me from sprouting anymore dangerous lies.

It felt surreal to feel him again. . . but sweet nonetheless.

His hands sneaked around my waist, squeezing them and pulling my close to his body. The warmth radiating off of him made me momentarily forget that I was hiding in a bush in my highly surveillanced home making out with the boy my bestfriend was planning to steal from me.

When we finally pulled apart, Dawson uttered the words I thought I'd never hear.

"I choose you, Atria."

~*~

It's been a long time my friends, but I've finally decided to publish the chapter that has been unfinished for months now. I hope you all can forgive me for this but unfortunately the next few chapters will be the end of "Better Than Friends."

I couldn't bear the thought of leaving this project unfinished and have decided that I might as well see it to the end. I hole you stick around for the epilogue and see where this story is headed. To all my readers who stuck around, get ready for the 2nd Act!

Lots of love
- T