cheater; tradley

sixteen

Cheater ((16))

A knock on the door startles Tristan awake. The flat is lit up by the sunlight pouring through the windows, and the door to his bedroom is wide open, letting in even more light. The knocking grows louder and he groans, rolling out of bed and kicking the bedsheets behind.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he shouts as the loud pounding continues.

Quickly, he slides out of his pyjamas and into jeans and a casual t-shirt, running a hand through his hair. He speeds through the flat to the door and flings it open, offering a small, polite smile to whoever was on the other side.

Jules. Teary-eyed, red-faced, sniffling Jules.

His smile drops and he stays silent.

"Tristy," she croaks, voice raw from obvious excessive crying. "Tristy, I'm so sorry."

Tristan rolls his eyes, leaning against the doorframe. "Why are you here?"

"Look, I just...I wanted to tell you that you were right. I was being ridiculous. Crazy, even. I was just jealous you were hanging out with Bradley so much. But you know what, I know now. I know that you obviously don't like him like that, because you're not gay. You're straight, and you love me. At least, I hope you still do. Please, Tristy, please forgive me. I'll do anything. I just...I need you to love me again. Because I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Jules...I can't keep doing this. This...back and forth thing. It's too much."

"I know. And I'm sorry. But please," she pauses. "Give me two hours. We'll walk around, talk, and if you still don't want to be with me by then, well...lets just hope you do."

Tristan is hesitant.

"Lunch will be on me. Please."

He shakes his head with a sigh and holds up a finger, indicating that he'll be back, before stepping back into the flat and closing the door.

"Brad?" he shouts through the area, and a muffled 'yeah' comes from the bathroom. "'m going out with Jules for a bit. I'll be back soon, alright?"

There's a pause. "Yeah," Tristan's friend repeats, and a door opens, revealing a freshly-showered Bradley. He's in clean clothes and a towel is in his hand, which he uses to dry his hair as he walks into the kitchen. "Hey, do you mind if I have a friend over? I mean, if not, I can just-"

"No worries," Tristan nods. "My home is your home this week. See you later."

"Bye," the boy in the kitchen calls. "Thank you, by the way."

Tristan doesn't say more, just flashes a quick smile at Bradley and reopens the door.

Jules' eyes light up when she sees the blonde again, as if she didn't expect him to agree to lunch. "You're here."

Tristan shrugs. "Lunch is on you."

"Thank you, Tris. You won't regret this."

Funny thing is, he knows he will regret it.

"Okay, so first I would like to apologize."

"You already did," Tristan points out, jamming his hands into his pockets.

"Well, yeah, but that's not enough. I need to explain myself," she pauses, as if waiting for him to disagree, but he doesn't speak. "Alright. So, um, since you got into that choir-"

"Band."

"Sorry, band. Since you got into that band, I've been feeling really left out. I mean, I know I shouldn't, because you're obviously allowed to have other friends and stuff, but, like, I barely see you. And I see all these pictures you post of you and the boys and it makes me sad because I'm never with you anymore, and they are almost every day. I guess I'm just jealous that they get to see your beautiful face more often than I do."