Best Friends With Benefits

Chapter Twenty Five

We drove for a while, Gale and I sharing our events of the day.

"How did you think lunch went?" Gale kept his eyes on the road but I saw them flicker to me for a moment. My mind vividly replayed him throwing me into the air and I actually forgot the original purpose for it.

"Good" Was all I could say, I was smiling with embarrassment, I didn't want Gale to know that I enjoyed his touch, I not only didn't want him to know it but I didn't want myself to accept it. All of this was to get back Aiden because that's what I wanted, wasn't it? I hadn't spoken to Aiden for a long while now, at school and even at home all I would think about is when I would see Gale next. I tried to understand my feelings for Gale, did I like him in that way or was he just my new best friend? I wasn't sure which one I would prefer. We pulled up alongside the beach lot and hadn't realised the length of time we had been driving. Gale hopped out of his side of the car and headed over to me where he clicked open the door and held out a hand for me.

His touch sent shivers up my arm and we walked side by side parallel to the water. The majority of the walk was taken up by buzzing conversation, I learnt that Gale had a younger sister and had a relatively poor relationship with his parents, who, like mine, were always out. He had family in Seattle who they visited often and he always had a dream to visit England. He spoke about his previous school and how everyone here was so different. He spoke about his friends at school and I learnt that some of the students where different to what they seem. Angie, who appears to be a quiet, small girl is actually a huge flirt and gold digger. Peter, a large built boy with strong, football-suited legs is actually a performer in a carnival and Jasmine, a slender girl and cheerleader fanatic is in reality, depressed and sometimes thinks suicidal. I never knew any of these people, I only had my interpretations of them, it made me think what do they think of me?

"Do they ever mention me?" I thought I might as well ask, I used to be cautious of what people, especially the popular people thought of me but lately I couldn't of cared less.

"No, not that I know of" He sounded genuine, not that I thought he would lie to me.

"Would you tell me if anyone did say something about me?" We stopped and was now looking down onto the beach below where children were running around and elderly were strolling. The kids made my stomach turn, they reminded me of when Aiden and I were in Florida and he asked me 'when do you want kids?'. At that moment in my life I couldn't imagine being anywhere else or with anyone else, yet here I was with someone else and possibly having feelings for them, someone that wasn't Aiden. It was a struggle and I didn't know whether I was to let Aiden go or not, I decided I wasn't ready to give up on him, besides, why would Gale go for a girl like me when he has girls like Annie and Kristen, the models if the school. I thought the same of Aiden though and look how that turned out.

"Of course" He rested his arm over my shoulders pulling me in. I had also decided that day that Gale was defiantly a mate to keep, even if this plan didn't work out. I was not going to try and lose him. We walked for about another mile when we agreed to turn around. The conversation had slowly been dying out, I was trying not to think of Aiden too much and I think Gale was trying not to mention him too much. "This is weird" The question cut the silence .

"What?"

"I never usually connect with girls like this, I like it" I could have sworn I saw a blush in Gale's cheeks but it soon vanished when he cooled himself over and flashed me a dazzling grin.

"You've never had a girlfriend?" Once the words had escaped I realised what I had said and wish I could take them back. Gale looked down at me holding the grin. "I mean a friend that's a girl" I looked to the ground, I didn't know what I meant. I was supposed to be his fake girlfriend but I was his real friend that's a girl. This was confusing to say the least. Gale just chuckled.

"I've had a few relationships, but nothing serious and I guess I have never had a friend that's a girl, I never really thought it would work out but here we are." Now I was blushing, but then it sunk in, he just confirmed me as a friend. I was friend-zoned. I didn't know whether to be glad or disappointed, as much as I fought the felling away there was an element of disappointment floating around and I tried my best to conceal it.  "What about you?"

"Aiden was my guy friend, then my boyfriend, then my guy friend and now he's just a guy" I watched our feet as they walked in sync and let the silence take over, I was waiting for Gale to change the subject to get away from the awkwardness but instead he wanted me to elaborate.

"Why is that?"

"Like I said before, he never considered me as his girlfriend I suppose. He is a confusing guy, I know that at times he thought we were in a relationship but then at other times he wanted to keep his options open. That's fair enough I guess, he is a teenager after all, it's good to live your live you don't want to tie yourself down to one person." I felt like some sort of motivational speaker and awkwardness swept over me.

"Don't feel like you have to make excuses for him" The comfort was unexpected but I welcomed it and took the moment to wrap my arms around Gale's waist as we reached the car. His scent was masculine and when he let me go to open the car door I missed it almost immediately. The drive back to my house was quick and the silence that was there wasn't awkward but soothing, it felt good to know that Gale didn't feel like he had to say anything and he could understand moments I needed to think. He pulled up outside my house where I thanked him and lent over to hug him, his arms held me for a moment and when I leant back to face him our eyes met. Our noses were almost touching and I felt the heat of his hands on my back, his lips looked soft and my eyes fixed on them. When I realised what I was doing I looked back up at his eyes and there they were, the brilliant shine reflecting back into mine and drawing me in. It took all the force and will I had to pull myself away, I turned towards the door handle and just as my fingertips touched the solid surface, a grip was around my arm. I spun and Gale was leaning over, anticipation in his eyes and without another second to lose I closed the distance.

Our lips carefully met and without movement we stayed for a moment just feeling the electric flow between us. My eyes were closed and I could see the fireworks exploding inside of my eyelids. His lips parted and I copied, him leading the kiss. My head turned to fit into his and my hands desperately grabbed onto his hair which was fluffy and smooth, his hands moved from my arm to my face, clasping my cheeks between them he guided my brain into paradise. Ten minutes must have passed by the time we were done, my lips felt numb and my body was tingling when we finally parted. His hair messy but sexy. I gave him one last lingering kiss goodbye before I disappeared into my house.

When I heard his car drive off I leant against the door and sighed unable to hide the large smile on my face. I ran to my room and flung myself onto my bed wrestling with my bag to retrieve my phone. The instant I grabbed it I dialled Alex's number, I had to speak to her as soon as possible. It had been a while since I spoke to her and updated her on everything, I was willing to look past the incident with my brother which she still hadn't explained frankly because I didn't let her. She picked up on the second ring.

"Peyton!" She squealed, she had clearly missed our friendship too.

"Alex, guess where I've just been!" I could not contain my excitement.

"With Gale! I saw you two drive off together! Tell me everything" I spent half an hour explaining to her the events of the day and to say she was ecstatic would be an understatement, she often squealed and commented on how amazing this all was. "So, do you like him?" The question I had been avoiding all day had raised its ugly head.

"I don't know, he doesn't like me, we're just friends" I managed to spurt out, I realised I hadn't really answered the question but it was all I could muster.  There was a knock on the door, still speaking to Alex I headed down the stairs and too the front door not thinking about who could be on the other side. I opened the door and there, in front of me was the person I least expected to be here. Aiden, his hair was left natural and his sunglasses were fixed on top of his head neatly, he wore comfortable tracksuit bottoms which revealed his hips and a tight green t-shirt. He lifted his head and gave me a small smirk of the lips. "Alex, I've got to go." With that I put the phone down and stared at the gorgeous figure in front of me.