Sleeping With a Friend

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Well, what about this one? It's not too revealing." I asked, staring at the champagne colored dress that I had on. It had a gold sequins Aztec design all over with the neck of the dress covering my chest and the length reaching the middle of my thighs. The sleeves were a quarter of the way down my arm which would mean I'd have to wear a bracelet to look up to Sophie's standards.

I had dragged Michael with me to help pick out a new dress for Sophie and Luke's engagement party. When I had torn apart my closet, I realized I didn't have an appropriate dress to wear for such an occasion. Michael insisted I did, but alas, I am a girl and I do feel like I need a new dress for something this important. He sat unimpressed in on a chair in the front of the dressing rooms, waiting for me to go through the small pile of dresses I had picked.

"It looks fine." He told me, monotone. Michael leaned his elbow on the side of the chair. He couldn't have looked more uninterested.

It actually had only been two weeks since Sophie and Luke had gotten engaged and they seemed to be speeding through it. She had already booked the venue, the wedding and bridesmaid dress appointments, anything she could think of was done within the first week. Her save the dates were already out, set for six months from now; a May wedding, just like she used to tell me she wanted. I laughed at the thought of her being a bridezilla, yet I couldn't say I was surprised.

"I thought you would like to see me wearing all different dresses, maybe get your imagination going wild." I chuckled while approaching him to sit on his lap. He seemed almost unwilling to let me do even so. "What's wrong?" I wondered and Michael sighed, placing a hand on my bare thigh. He was silent before a moment before we began delving into his thoughts.

"I'm just not too keen on going tomorrow night." He was stern, keeping a straight face.

"Are you kidding?" I shot him a puzzled glare, "Luke and Sophie are our best friends! You can't think about not going, you basically don't have a choice."

"Yeah that's my point. We are their best friends, which means that Ashton will be there too. I'm just not thrilled to see him after what happened." There was apprehension in his voice and I could tell it was about both telling me this and about the party. I leaned into him and placed a hand on his chest in a comforting way.

"Michael you shouldn't be worried about him. He won't start anything."

"I'm not worried about that, I just don't want him there, or around you." I couldn't help but blush at his protective side being more adamant. It reminded me of the safe feeling he gave me that made me feel even more comfortable around him.

I grinned, putting a kiss on his temple and he turned his head, his lips in a flat smile looking up at me. "Well, as long as you're there I know he won't go anywhere near me. He'll just have to get over himself." I told him, standing from his lap. Michael grabbed my hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

"By the way, that dress looks perfect on you." I blushed again nodded, walking off into the dressing room to put my clothes back on.

~~~

Sophie and Luke had decided to just have the party at their place; which I didn't even know they were sharing until she sent out the invitations. Those must have cost her a fortune to get them out so fast. That made me wonder why she was rushing to do all of this so quickly. I always thought the newly engaged couple was supposed to take some time to enjoy the new title instead of rushing to plan. This, I felt as if I'd have to pry the truth from her.

When we got to their place, I wasn't all that surprised to see it as crowded as it was. It seemed almost impossible to distinguish the couple hosting from their guests. Michael kept a protective arm around my waist, holding me next to him as we walked through the bunch of people scattered around. Even with my heels, I couldn't see where they were.

"Do you see them?" I asked Michael, leaning up as far as I could to see over a tall man in front of me. I must not have had my footing because I went tumbling forward into that man. "Oops." I giggled, my feet stumbling to stand back up.

"Are you alri-oh Y/N." I don't know why I didn't recognize him and I couldn't fathom that I actually just bumped into Ashton.

"Sorry. I didn't know it was you." Michael gripped my hand, already starting to walk away. Ashton stood there, mouth agape as the one I came with lead me away. There was like a magnetic pull between Ashton and I; I could read his mind, noticing the look on his face as he was about to say something other than stating my name in a surprised manor.

"I don't want him anywhere near you Y/N." Michael warned me just as he did yesterday during our shopping trip. One of my fears was that he would realize that there was still something there between Ashton and I much like I had. I still felt myself need convincing that it was simply plutonic and nothing else.

My heart told me to turn around, go right back up to him and let him say what I wanted him too. My head, was yelling at my heart, screaming at it almost. No Y/N, don't give in. Don't give in to him, that's exactly what he wants and you're not supposed to let him win. The argument between the two had clouded my hearing, forcing me to zone out at what was really going on around me. Michael had been continuing a conversation and I found myself absent mindedly nodding along to whatever it was he was saying.

"Okay?" He finished, catching me off guard.

"Yeah, yeah I get it." I fake-smiled at him, nodding slightly. We both became silent and I could feel a wedge being shoved between us. Although we were standing only an inch apart, it was like the air around us had suddenly thickened, becoming notably tense and uncomfortable.

It was amusing that the mere thought of Ashton could rattle us both to that different, yet same extent.