Can You Keep A Secret?

Chapter Sixty-Six

       

-Mikey's POV-

            "Wait, where did Liv go?" I asked, leaning over to ask Jack. He shrugged.

            "I think I saw her go out with Andy," Brooklyn peeped up. I nodded, swallowing back any sort of jealously that bubbled up inside of me. The feeling was ridiculous, I knew – They were best friends. She loved me. No need to feel insecure.

            I tried to forget it as I grabbed a cup of water from the kitchen, coming back to everyone trying to sort out sleeping arrangements.

            "Okay, so Stacey bunks with Brook, Liv with Mikey, Harvey can sleep on the couch, Jack can get a bed for his own and I'll stay with Andy." Rye said, mapping out the plan.

            "Ah, why do I get the couch and Jack gets the bed?" Harvey whined.

            "I mean, you can sleep with me if you want," Jack offered. Harvey grimaced.

            "Nah. You were supposed to say, 'Hey Harvey, you can take my bunk.'" Jack looked only a little guilty as he climbed into bed, stretching out and yawning, pretending to be asleep, ignoring Harvey's complaints completely. Harv turned his glare to Rye instead, who shrugged.

            "Can we trust you two to behave?" He asked, turning to Brooklyn and Stacey, wiggling his eyebrows. Brooklyn blushed, but Stacey leaned forward, linking pinkies with Rye.

            "I pinky promise." I liked her – She seemed nice enough. The protective part of me wanted to get to know her better before I fully decided my stance on her, though – I wanted to make sure that she would treat Brook right, and that she wouldn't break his heart.

            Even though Jack was younger, I think we all still treated him as the baby of the band. As annoying as he could be when he was hyper, I didn't want to want him to see him hurt or down. I could telling that he was falling for her – He practically glowed beside her, and watched her with this look of pure admiration resting on his face.

            I could tell that the others liked her, too – She fit in with us easily, despite the lack of space with so many in one room. It was nice that she wasn't awkward, even when surrounded by a bunch of boys she'd never met before. With what little I knew, I was rooting for them.

            I stood back and watched as everyone got ready for bed – Stacey changed into her pajamas in the bathroom, and Brooklyn actually kept his shirt on for once. Rye booted up his laptop to get some editing done for a vlog – It had been a while since we'd posted one. Blair had advised that we postpone the tour a bit to give everyone a breather and time to recover, but warned that we had to get more content out there – Vlogs, covers, challenges.

            We had to jump back into the band lifestyle, and I kind of appreciated that – It was a necessary distraction. But now I could feel my irritation rising as I waited for Andy and Liv to return, blatantly unaware of what they were doing. I watched as Harvey stole one of Jack's pillows to prop himself up on the cough – In typical Jack fashion, he'd already fallen asleep, so he didn't fight against it.

            Brooklyn and Stacey whispered to each other, exchanging a few kisses before laying down, facing each other so they could continue talking. I tried to act busy, but the truth was that the only thing I had to do was overanalyze my thoughts until the paranoia truly sank in.

            I was about to give up and go to bed when the door opened and they walked in – The light hit Liv's face just right, and I could see that she'd been crying. I felt the anger flare inside me – If Andy had been the cause of her tears, I wouldn't hold back. I clenched my hands into fists, trying to steady myself.

            I walked over to them, speaking in a hushed tone so as not to wake anyone up.

            "Are you okay?" I asked, shooting Andy a sideways glare.

            "Hey." She reached out and touched my arm. "I'm fine. Just got a little panicked, so Andy took me outside for a breather." I gathered her into my arms, keeping my hands on her back and my head nestled beside my shoulder.

            "You should've told me," I said, trying not to show that I was disappointed in myself for missing the cues that she needed help once again.

            "It's okay, I promise," She said before kissing me.

            "Looks like there's nowhere for me to sleep," Andy broke the moment by speaking loudly.

            "Rye said you could sleep with him," I pointed over to him. Andy did a small nod before taking his shoes off and getting ready for bed.

            I knew that I shouldn't be mad at him – After all, he head helped Liv through what was probably a rough time, but I couldn't hide the fact that I was from myself. I wanted her all to myself, and since she was really determined to go to university, it became even more important that we spend as much time together as possible

            I wanted to be the one who helped calm her down. I wanted to be her hero. She was everything in my eyes, and I feared that she had somebody else in hers. Even as she slipped a silk tank top on and kissed me softly, I worried.

            That was the risk that you took when you put your heart on your line, gave all of your love to somebody – It was entirely up to them what they decided to do with it. Liv held my heart in her hands, and I could only blindly hope that she wouldn't crush it.