Enemies to Lovers

Regret

I hear what Max says after I shut the door and feel my heart race as I lean against the door, slowly sliding down it. "Fuck. Did I just ruin things between us? Or did I make them better?" I ask myself as I begin texting Tank. Thankfully, the night was still young. I just hoped he wasn't drinking the night away. "Hey Tank. Do you think you could stop by my dorm? I need some advice." I send him the text and get up from the floor, walking over to the cabinet and grabbing my handle of whiskey and cola. I look at them before deciding to put them back. "Not tonight. I think I drank enough last night." I exchange them for a cold bottle of water instead, grabbing one of my new books to read. I hadn't had the time to read any of them yet since I had been hanging out with Max mostly. He was actually tolerable to be around. After tonight, I wondered if he felt the same as me. But with Roxanne being all he has talked about lately, I'm uncertain. I decided to text him a quick message. "Hey Freshman. I had fun tonight. Maybe we can hang out again soon?" I delete the text and begin typing a new one. Every single one I end up deleting and groaning. "Why am I so bad at this?!" I threw my phone across the room in anger, thankful that it landed on my bed and didn't break. "Goddamnit." I say before realizing what I had done, running over to my bed. "Please be okay." I say as I look at it. I had a new text from Tank. "Whew. It's safe."

I look at the text from Tank and chuckle. "It's about the Goof boy, isn't it?" He sent and I texted back, "Yes, now can you please come over?" I text back. I place my phone off to the side and think of everything that had occurred today and last night. I put the book down and take a deep breath before grabbing my phone again. I open my messages to Max and begin typing. "Hey Max. Today was a lot of fun. Thank you for everything lately. I hope we can hang out again soon. -Brad <3" I smile to myself as I hit send. I feel my stomach begin hurting as I look down. "Oh no. I haven't felt like this since I first met Tank. Am I actually falling for Max?" I mutter softly as I hear a knock on the door.

I get up from my bed and walk over to the door, opening it to see Tank. "Tank, I'm glad you're here. I need help." I say as he stands outside my dorm. "I can tell. Sounds like you and the Goof boy need help." He chuckles a bit before coming into my dorm. "What are you talking about?" I ask as he sits on the couch. "He texted Bobby right when you texted me. I'm not sure what it was about, though." He says as I shrug my shoulders. "I'm sure it was nothing about me. Max is probably straight and doesn't like guys, anyway." I say with a sigh. "What's wrong, Bradley? You've been so distant ever since the X Games. Talk to me." He says as I sigh. "You know my father cut me off and I'm practically a laughingstock. What else is there to say?" I say as he sighs. "How about the scars on your arms? The scars on your torso?" My face turns pale as I look at him, my eyes wide. "How do you know?" "Max told Bobby he was worried about you and he mentioned the scars, along with what you said." I sigh. "Did your father do that to you before cutting you off?" I give a small nod. "Yeah. He did. Along with giving me a black eye and throwing me to the ground." I begin shaking and he gives me a hug to try and calm me down. "Hey, calm down. He's not here right now. You're okay. If I ever see him, I'll..." "Tank, please. He will throw you in jail so fast, your head will spin. He has power unlike anything you've ever seen." I say softly. "He can't use that power if he's dead, now, can he? Besides, going to jail killing someone who deserves it would be worth it." I chuckle a bit. Why did I find the idea of my father dying or being killed comforting? I should be sad, but instead, I was imagining him dead and me being free of his expectations.

"You don't need to go to jail for someone who left you for dead." I say softly as he looks at me with a small, comforting smile. "True, but you don't deserve that, Bradley." I pull out of the hug. "I don't? I've successfully pushed away everyone that could ever love me by fucking it up somehow, I almost killed you, and I lost the X Games, despite cheating. How does something like that even happen?! What if I deserved what I got from my father? What if I am a disappointment? What if I turn into my father? No one will ever love me if I remain this way!" I say as I begin having an anxiety attack. Tank quickly gets up and runs to the bathroom to grab my anxiety meds. I stay sat on the bed, clutching my knees to my stomach with tears streaming down my face as he grabs me a water bottle as well to take my meds with. "Take your meds." He says as I nod and take them with water, trying to calm down a bit.

"What else did Max tell Bobby?" I ask as I look at him. "I'm not sure. Bobby left the Gamma house right after that. Mentioned something about a date with some girl named Roxanne." My eyes widen as I look at him. "A date?! Ugh. I knew it. I should've known the minute her name was mentioned that a date would be involved." I say as Tank looks at me. "Calm down. You guys aren't dating, so what's the worry?" "I... think I like him." Tank chuckles a bit. "No, ya think?" He begins laughing as my cheeks turn red. "What is so funny?" I ask softly as he wipes away some tears. "How do I say this nicely? I knew. We all knew, actually. The only ones who didn't were apparently you and Max." He says as I look at him confused. "What are you talking about?" "I mean, I've noticed since he first got here. You wouldn't shut up about him after he came. Even going as far as to take women's attention away from him, and you're gay. You're not even into women. You just wanted him to get jealous, and it worked." He says as I sigh. "It was that obvious?" I ask as he nods. "Even Bobby and Pj could tell." He says as I nod. "So, what do I do? Especially if he has this date with her soon?" "You could always get to know him more and eventually, when you're comfortable enough, confess your feelings to him." He says as I nod. "But what about his date with Roxanne? The only thing I can think of is if he cancels or if someone..." My eyes widen with an idea in mind. "Bradley, don't tell me you're thinking of sabotaging their date. Please." He says as I chuckle a bit. "What? No, why would I do that?" I say as he sighs. "It will cause more issues if you do that. Especially when you JUST got this job." He says as I sigh. "You're right. I'm sure I'll figure something out." I say as I sigh. In the back of my mind, I knew what I had to do; I had to stop that date from being successful. Even if it meant ruining it somehow.