The Lies We Tell

Just A Friend

"Come on, man. Something's up. You've been off all day."

Noah slammed the door to the studio, inhaling the fresh, or somewhat fresh, air of the city around them. Missed cues. Singing the wrong lyrics. Off key. It had been a fucking day and all he wanted was to call it quits and go home. He was tired. Exhausted, even. Always working. He was always fucking working.

And even when he wasn't working he was battling with Quinn these days, it seemed. Whether he was trying to steal a moment with her to just talk to her, or they were hanging out with everyone, she either had an excuse to stay far away from him or had something fucking smart to say. Her and her smart ass mouth.

"It's nothing, Jolly." He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm just tired."

"We all are. We've had an insane touring schedule lately." Jolly paused, waiting for him to look at him before he continued. "But it's more than that. You're distracted."

Of course he was distracted. His best fucking friend was avoiding him and trying not to be obvious about it. He had tried to talk to her. Honestly tried to talk to her. But she did that infuriating thing she loved to do when she didn't want to actually talk and ignored half of what he was saying. Always ignoring the part she didn't want to talk about.

He pulled his phone out, looking to see if she had responded to his text about dinner. Three hours ago he had text her about the two of them grabbing dinner somewhere, leaving the guys at home. She had opened it. Read it. And ignored it.

"I just need rest, dude."

He clicked the call button next to her name, turning his back to Jolly. It rang twice before going straight to voicemail. The realization of what she was doing hit him in that moment. A taste of his own medicine. That brat.

"Quinn, I swear to fucking God. You are the most infuriating little terror pixie I've ever fucking met. You've made your goddamn point."

He hung up the phone, wishing it was back in the old days where he could actually slam the phone down. This pressing a button on a touchscreen to end the call was so unsatisfying. He needed to damn near break the phone it was slammed down so hard.

"Ah. You and Quinn are fighting again." Jolly chuckled. "Just fuck her and get it over with, man."

"Jolly! Dude! We're friends. It's not like that." Another lie.

"Friends don't look at each other the way that you two do."

"You're so fucking stupid, dude." Noah scoffed, refusing to meet his friend's eyes.

Of course Jolly was right. He had been right every time he had brought it up in the past, too. But he knew how much him and Quinn talked. He had listened to their talks late at night when they thought everyone was asleep. And Jolly had a big fucking mouth sometimes. No way in hell would he admit anything to him.

Good God, this all fucking sucked. He never should have kissed her. Definitely never should have fingered her. Why couldn't there be some happy middle ground that guaranteed he wouldn't lose her? One that guaranteed that he wouldn't keep fucking up and risking everything?

"I'm just sayin'. Maybe get it out of both your systems. Because Jesus Christ. Used to only fight once in a while. Now twice since we've been home? Tension is off the rails."

"Shut the fuck up. You don't know what you're talking about," he snapped.

His best kept secret was crumbling down around him. All because he couldn't just keep his fucking hands to himself. Over a moment of weakness. Two. Two moments of weakness. And in this moment, right now? He hated that he ever lied to her to begin with. Hated that he hadn't just been honest that first meeting. Maybe they hooked up and maybe he struck out? Either way none of this would be happening right now. But young and stupid Noah had seen how upset she was once he got close and decided against it. What a fucking idiot he had been. And definitely still was.