Silence » a.i

2.4

Everyone was back a couple hours after I'd "talked" with Ashton. We spent the rest of our alone time mostly watching TV until I started dozing off and he said I could go take a nap if I wanted to. I told him I'd feel bad leaving him alone downstairs and ended up falling asleep on the couch. I woke up to the sound of Luke shouting, "Honey, we're home" and found a throw blanket had been placed over me, although Ashton wasn't anywhere around me. I assumed he left.

"How was going out?" I asked, yawning and stretching.

"Great," he smiled, wandering into the living room. The way he got lost in talking about acting like a "normal person" was probably the cutest thing I'd ever seen. "It's like when you've been sitting forever and you finally get to stand and stretch your limbs. That's how it feels; I love it!"

"You look like a child in a candy store." I commented.

He blushed, "Shut up, Cooper. So how was the day with Ashton?"

"Really great, actually," I smiled, sitting up and pulling the blanket around the back of me. "We played Mario Kart and I made him pizza bagels and he wrote the cutest thing and-"

"We can hear you!" Michael's voice shouted from probably the kitchen, "and you should know he's still here!"

"Shit." I grumbled.

"Speaking of Ashton," Luke said, his voice lower. He sat down next to me, putting an arm around my shoulders, "I have an idea that you might think is completely crazy and totally creepy but I only mean this to help you, I swear."

I raised an eyebrow. "What?" I asked slowly.

"We're close, right?" he questioned.

"Duh."

"Well Mali was talking and she said jealousy could help trigger feelings and possibly memories," he began, talking quickly. "And Calum was like 'Well Luke and Bridgette are practically dating anyway' and I was like 'Nuh uh, we're just best friends' and Mali was like 'You should just pretend for her sake' and I was like 'I'm only in if she is' and so yeah."

I just stared at him blankly, waiting for the words to catch up in my head because of the speed at which he was talking. After processing the fact he was asking if I would be in a fake relationship with him in hopes Ashton would get jealous and get his memories back, I nodded slowly.

"But just a fair warning, I'm a terrible kisser." I told him.

"K-k-kissing?" he stammered. "I- wait-"

"Calm down," I laughed at him, standing up from the couch and helping him up, "it was a joke. Well, mostly. Fake dating probably means kissing. But you have nothing to worry about, alright? It's just me."

He nodded. "Right. Just you."

"And it's not like we're doing it now." I reminded him as we walked into the kitchen, me still towing him behind me.

"You didn't even leave any pizza bagels." Calum said once I entered, a pout on his face.

"I fed you already." Mali groaned.

"But I'm still hungry." he complained, bending to rest his head on his sister's shoulder.

I pushed myself up on my usual place on the island and grabbed an apple from the bowl, tossing it at him, "Now quit complaining."

Calum caught it easily, weighing the red fruit in his hands. He tossed it back harder than I threw it to him. I put my hands up in front of my face, only to have Luke grab it out of the air before hitting me.

"I like the green ones." he told me.

"Thanks for almost decapitating me." I grumbled as Luke put a hand on my thigh.

The gesture was one he would usually do just because we were close. But after his latest request, I felt like there was something more behind it; like it was forced. I put my hand over his, rubbing it with my thumb. I just wanted him to know he didn't have to push anything just because of me and Ashton. Besides, by the way Ashton's jaw clenched when he did that, it didn't seem like he'd have to do much. Not to mention the note.

"So where were you?" I asked, taking the apple from Luke's hand and biting into it.

Luke's eyes flashed to Calum's, who looked from Luke to Michael, who looked from Calum to Luke, and then they all looked to Mali. She groaned. "Seriously?"

"I- we- uh..." the boys all stammered.

Mali looked at me with a bored expression. "You'd understand if I told you I can't tell you, right?"

"With my life lately, I'd completely understand." I sighed.

She pulled away from her brother. "Was that so difficult?"

I was still curious as to what they had to do, but I also knew I shouldn't press it. If it was something I had to know, I assumed they'd tell me. Luke just looked up at me with a neutral expression and shrugged. I grabbed his shoulders and moved him so he was standing between my legs, his back to me as I played with his hair. He seemed kind of awkward about it at first, but relax after a few minutes.

My phone went off in my pocket, making Luke jump at the noise. I laughed quietly as I pulled my phone out. I saw it was a text from Jeremy.

From Germy: Can you come over for a bit?

"Hey, I'm going to go for a little," I said, slipping off the counter as Luke stepped forward to make room for me. "I'll be back later."

Luke turned and grabbed my shoulders, looking at me with slightly scared eyes. He dipped his head and softly pressed his lips to mine, temporarily causing my heart beat to speed up. He pulled away, his face probably as red as mine was. I slipped out of the kitchen, stepping around Ashton who was clenching his fists slightly. As I went for the door, I heard Mikey exclaim, "Luke has game? Luke never had game!"\

"Cooper," Luke said my voice softly from behind me. I turned to face him and he was scratching the back of his head. "Listen, no offense but-"

"Too weird?" I guessed.

He nodded, "Way too weird."

"Maybe fake dating isn't for us." I agreed.

He nodded with a relieved smile, "I'm sure we did enough to make Ash jealous. See you later, Cooper."

I left the house and quickly crossed the street, not bothering to use my car for such a simple task. I walked into my old house, seeing only Jeremy's new car in the driveway. I looked in the kitchen and living room but didn't see him.

"In my room!" he called softly from upstairs.

He sounded weird, so I rushed up the stairs and burst into his room. I saw a red-faced, tear-streaked Jeremy curled up on his bed. In a broken voice, he said, "I'm sorry, Bridgette."

I didn't bother asking why. Instead, I rushed to his side and held him while he cried for reasons I didn't know.