The Lucky One

Chapter Thirteen

"Finally! Aw, man! A couch!" Louis threw himself onto the couch and let his face sink into the highly detailed pillow. The other boys, followed by Jade, went upstairs to their rooms, nearly falling over from need of sleep. I read the clock. The clocks they had were digital. Probably because of their lazy brains, they don't bother using them to read hands. It was nearly past one.

"Are you heading to bed, Eryn?"

I looked over my shoulder as Harry leaned against the staircase. His eyes were crooked and squinty from tiredness. 

"Yeah. I'll be up there in a few." I said. He just ruffled his hair, pushing it back from his face, and walked up the steps. Expecting a good night, I just made my way to the kitchen only to find Austin there. I was worried about him, but felt like it was already too late to ask. I pretended not to care.

There was a lump in my throat. It wouldn't go away no matter how many times I tried to swallow it down. It felt wrong to feel bad, but I kept thinking about how wrong my decisions felt.

Austin was pouring a large glass of water. Before I knew it, he finished the whole glass without inhaling any air. He lightly set the cup down and sighed. "Wanna glass?" he asked, handing over the cup. I kindly declined. "No, I'm good. Thank you." He left the cup and headed towards the door. "Oh," he said, turning around, "Goodnight, Ér." he weakly smiled, his eyes filled with no expression. Before he could leave, I stopped him.

"Austin," I called. He turned around. He looked at me with wide eyes. "Can I talk to you? In the dining room?" I asked. He looked around. "Sure." he simply said.

I took a seat at the farthest chair and he sat in the one in front of it. After we settled down, he sighed. "So, what's up?" I felt afraid for some reason. I decided to ask him straight up.

Austin's P.O.V.:

I hope she doesn't bring up that whole scene back at Josh's house, I thought.

"Do you hate me?" she blurted out as if she had something holding her back. I gave her a confused look. "Of course not. You're my best friend. I don't hate you." I said. In fact, it was the total opposite of that. I loved her. It looked as if she didn't care about my answer, but then she asked me another.

"Do you hate Harry?" I wasn't surprised at this question. "No," I answered quickly, "I just don't like the fact that he doesn't respect his girlfriend's best friend."

"Oh," she looked down. "So you heard all that." Her voice was shaky and she was nervous. I still don't understand why. I should have been the one to be nervous. I didn't keep that particular conversation going because I didn't want to remember my embarrassment.

"How long?"

"Not long. I was looking for the bathroom." I said boldly.

"You didn't hear a lot, did you?"

"No."

I didn't like this conversation. It felt like she was giving me questions that she already knew the answer to. Then again, I felt as if she didn't trust me anymore. With all these questions, I can only ask myself the main reason why she brought me here. All the small questions were making me impatient. But... what part of the conversation did she not want me to hear?

She wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans and folded her fingers together, setting it on the table. "I've been meaning to ask you something.." she quietly mumbled. Finally. I knew she was hiding something in her.

"What?" I tried to sound uninterested.

"Um.. I was wondering if you-"

That Louis guy barged in. His hair was sticking up in different place and in different directions. He yawned and leaned against the table. "I want some water.." he said. For a moment, I asked myself what he was waiting for. The kitchen was next door.