Well, it's Complicated...

Chapter 11 - Amber

Chapter 11 – Amber

A few hours, 27 MarioKart races, and several swear words later, I decided that I’d had enough MarioKart for one day. “Can we do something else?” I asked Dan, setting my controller on the floor next to me.

“Sure, what do you want to do?” he asked.

“Anything, as long as you’re here.”

He shoved my shoulder playfully (but by no means gently). “Stop it, you,” he said before kissing my forehead. “But seriously.”

I glanced at my phone, checking the time. “How about we go out to dinner?”

Dan thought about that for a minute. “How about we call Phil and Emily and see if they want to come over here for dinner?”

“Hmm…okay, yeah, that’ll work. I’ll call Emily.” I picked up my phone and dialed her number.

On the fourth or fifth ring, she picked up. “Hello?”

“Hey Emily, it’s Amber.”

“Hey Amber! What’s up?”

“I’m at Dan and Phil’s and Dan’s invited you and Phil over for dinner tonight. Do you want to come?”

“Hmm…Hang on a sec, let me ask Phil. Phil, Amber and Dan are asking us to have dinner with them at yours and Dan’s place. Do you want to go?”

“What did she say?” Dan asked.

I covered the receiver of my phone. “She’s asking Phil right now.”

In the background I could hear Phil saying, “Please, Emily? Please, please, please, please, please, please?”

“Okay then,” I heard her say to Phil. To me she said, “Alright, we’ll come. What time do you want us there?”

“Hold on a sec, let me ask Dan.” I relayed the question, and he said “As soon as they can get here.”

“Dan says as soon as you can get here.”

“Okay…well we’re about fifteen minutes away, give or take, and about a five minute’s walk from the nearest Tube station,” Emily said, thinking out loud. “We’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

“Alright, see you in twenty.”

“Bye.” Emily hung up.

“Emily said they’ll be here in about twenty minutes or so.” I said to Dan, putting my phone back in my pocket.

“Perfect,” Dan replied. “Let’s start getting dinner ready.”

Almost exactly twenty minutes later, Emily and Phil walked through the door.

“Dan, Emily and Phil are here!” I called when I saw them walk in.

“Okay! Dinner’s almost ready!” Dan called back from the kitchen.

The three of us walked to the dining room table, Emily and Phil holding hands. I tried not to think about the fact that just yesterday I was holding that hand…

“Dinner’s ready!” Dan announced, walking into the dining room. Saved by the dinner bell, I thought.

“Do you need any help?” I asked Dan, who was carrying in two plates of food.

“No thanks, babe. I got this.” He set the plates on the table, walked back into the kitchen, and came back with the other two plates of food; we had already set glasses of water out on the table.

We ate our meal in relative silence. Occasionally one of us would ask a question, like “How was your day?”, and we’d all answer, and then we’d keep eating.

After we’d all finished eating, Dan said, “Anyone want to play a video game?”

“Sure,” Phil answered.

“Alright,” Emily said.

I shrugged. “Anything but MarioKart,” I muttered.

“Fair enough. Let’s go pick a game,” Dan said, already standing up.

“You three go ahead,” I replied. “I’ll clear the table.”

“I’ll help Amber. You two go. We’ll be there in a couple minutes,” Emily said, picking up her dish.

Dan and Phil walked off, and I picked up my dish and glass to take into the kitchen. “Thanks for offering to help, Emily.”

“No problem, Amber,” she replied, putting her dish in the sink.

“So…you were out with Phil today?” I asked tentatively, walking back into the dining room.

She nodded. “Yup. He took me to the London Eye, and he kissed me when we got to the top.” She blushed slightly and picked up two of the remaining glasses and a dish. “And…you were here with Dan all day?”

“Well, not quite all day. I didn’t even wake up until late morning; I think I got here about 11-ish. But yeah, basically all day.”

“And…” She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, like she did when she was nervous. “W-what did you do?”

“MarioKart. Lots and lots of MarioKart. And a few kisses somewhere in there.”

“Yes. MarioKart. Very romantic,” Emily said sarcastically.

By this point, we were done clearing the dishes. “Okay, that’s it. To the lounge?”

“To the lounge.”

We walked down the hall and opened the lounge door. What we saw beyond that door shocked us into silence.

Dan and Phil were sitting on the couch.

Almost on top of each other.

Hands tangled in each other’s hair.

Kissing.

A/N short chapter is short, I know. However, I've written chapter 12 already, and it's pretty long. If you'd like, I could post it in a little bit, after I make a little headway on the next chapter I'm working on. *wink wink*