acquaintances; best mates sequel

nine

*BRADLEY'S POV*

I quickly jumped up from my seat and headed towards the back door of the house. I held my head down and my feet just took me, not looking up once. All I knew is that I needed to get out of this situation and fast.

I heard Connor shout my name as I sprinted indoors, rushing through all of the people, where I finally found the stairs. By this point, tears were streaming down my face and I was running wherever to get away from Tristan.

I stood at the top of the stairs, gasping for air as I cried. A young couple opened the bathroom door beside me and their faces dropped.

"Are you alright man?" He asked as I pushed past him to get into the bathroom. The adrenaline built up inside of me as I slammed the bathroom door and left the guy without a response.

I felt my legs give in as I dropped to the hard tiled floor. It was like all the memories from the past couple years came back at once. I buried my head into my knees and curled up at the side of the bath, sobbing uncontrollably. I didn't want to feel this way about him, but I couldn't help it. I felt childish, like I was still in 9th grade crying over a boy who didn't love me back.

My phone irritate my leg as it buzzed, and I hopelessly took it out to see Connor calling me. I shook my head and slid it away, as I continued my crying session.

The thing is, I wasn't ready to see Tristan. Not after hearing all the bad things about him from Connor and James. I needed time. A year was no where near enough to get over a boy like Tristan. He was one of a kind, the most caring boyfriend in the world. Imagine hearing that he'd changed dramatically - not in a good way either.

I brought myself to get up, holding onto the sink for stability. I closed my eyes to take a long deep breath before staring into the mirror before me. I sighed at my reflection, my eyes a puffy red and my cheeks wet.

"Stop this Brad." I whispered to myself as I wiped my eyes.

I almost fell to the floor once I heard an abrupt knocking on the bathroom door.

"Brad please tell me that's you in there." Adam shouted.

"Yeah just give me a second." I said in the happiest voice I could put on. I gave myself another glance in the mirror and wiped my face before unlocking the door. I slowly creaked it open just enough for him to see and fake smiled.

"Oh thank god." Adam sighed as he slipped his body through the small gap and shut the door behind him. "What happened?" He asked before pulling me into a warm hug.

"Nothing, it's stupid." I laughed, pulling away from him.

"It's not stupid. I know you've been crying." He put his hand on my shoulder and rubbed it slowly. And now I didn't even feel an ounce of lust towards Adam anymore, not that Tristan was back. I felt even worse about that, like I was using Adam or something.

"EI'm fine. Just boy problems, you wouldn't understand." I faced him, giving him the best fake smile I could.

"Well, I don't understand. But I've been through it with girls, it's awful I know." He said as he sat down on the side of the bath.

"Yeah." I rolled my eyes and sat with him.

"Do you want to go home?" Adam asked.

"No." I said before staying silent for a moment. Adam put his arm around my waist and pulled me into his chest, like we were a couple or something. And then it hit me.

"Brad, is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Actually, Adam there is something you can do."

-

Myself and Adam strolled down the stairs, hand in hand, exchanging smirks every now and again. I'd repeated the plan to him over and over as we wandered through the swarm of people partying.

"So remember, when you see him-"

"Lean in slowly and kiss you. I know." Adam chuckled. I was made up that Adam was actually okay with kissing me, considering he was straight and all. He was a good friend to me.

After glancing into the garden and realising Tristan wasn't there, I pulled Adam by his hand into the kitchen.

"Alcohol." Adam cheered, running over to the bottles on the counter.

"You're gonna need it. And so am I." I laughed, grabbing a bottle each for us both.

"Do you have the opener?" He asked, looking around through all of the mess.

"Nah I'll just open it with my teeth don't worry." I said before jumping onto the only part of the counter that was clean, and patting the side of me so Adam could join. Once he did, I placed his bottle cap between my teeth and began pulling at it like a hungry dog. Truth was, I didn't actually know how to open a bottle with my teeth, but I was willing to try in order to look badass.

"Do you want me to do it?" Adam offered, holding out his hand as he watched me struggle.

"Nope. I've got it." And with one last tug, and a definite sore jaw, the bottle cap bursted off, drenching myself and Adam in beer.

"Oh fuck." Adam snorted, as he looked down at his wet crotch. I couldn't help but burst into laughter, too, seeing what I'd done to us both.

"Oops."

Around an hour had passed by, and it was safe to say that Adam and I were completely pissed out of our minds. We'd drank too many bottles waiting for Tris, well I say waiting - we didn't move from the counter, except to get another bottle of beer.

"One more, one more." I whined like a little girl.

"B-Brad," Adam stuttered, trying his best to get his sentence out. "You've had too many." He grasped the bottle from my hands and pulled it with all the energy he had left, which didn't end well as the bottle slipped from Adam's hand and smashed onto the floor. I gasped dramatically and covered my mouth as Adam face planted and stayed silent.

"God you're so dumb, Adam." I laughed, my hand finding it's way onto his thigh. Adam looked up, his eyes gazing into mine as I moved my hand further up, unknowing of what I was even doing.

"Brad-" He smiled, his hand gripping the side of my waist as he shuffled further up to me.
I shushed him, placing a finger onto his lips as he watched silently. I leaned in, my mouth getting closer and closer to his as he breathed heavily. He dug his nails into my waist as I slowly pecked his lips.

All I could see in him was Tristan, as awful as it sounds, drunk and in love weren't the best mix. I almost said Tris' name, as his blue eyes fluttered at the sight of my lips, he leaned in to me this time. I found myself leaning in too, my hand in his hair as we began making out.

I pulled away for a moment, out of breath, I grabbed my beer from beside me. I took the last sip and threw it on the ground, causing it to smash. I was just about to continue with Adam as my attention shifted to the doorway.

When I realised: the one and only, Tristan Evans stood alone - watching. How long had he been there?

Oh fuck.