Temptation

-27-

            "30 days of dares," Jack read out, fingering the cover of the book.

"I thought of it when Sophie broke up with Rye," Andy sighed, looking a little uncomfortable as our secret was put into the spotlight. "I hated seeing him so down, so I thought that this would, you know, distract him. Cheer him up."

"And you didn't tell us?" Jack looked disappointed that he'd been let out of the fun.

"They didn't tell us so they could pull them on us," Brooklyn grumbled, still cranky from what had played out earlier.

"Well, it explains a few things," Mikey said, a contemplative look perched upon his face.

"I'm sorry, guys." We'd had to reveal to the boys – and Blair – about the dares in order to fully explain as to why I was caught 'kissing' Chiara in the crowded tram. Sufficient it to say, Blair wasn't too happy about it – He'd ranted that we had to get more serious, stop playing around, that something like this could damage our career, and if we pulled another stunt like this he'd fly back over from America. I easily felt like the cruddiest person on the planet.

"We don't blame you. Either of you."

"I mean-" Brooklyn started, but Mikey cut him off.

"I am sorry for chucking a tampon at your head." He softly planted a kiss on his forehead. "Now get over it."

"They're over now anyways," Andy pointed out. Blair had made it very clear that there would be punishments if we stepped out of line again.

"Let's make a deal!" Jack spoke, face highlighted with excitement. "We can help you finish the dares, and help hide them from Blair. There's only 14 left, right? That's two weeks, or less, if we do more than one in a day. We can finish them before Blair even gets back."

"What do you think?" Andy asked me. In a way, I was ready for the dares to be over. I thought of the masses of people who were convinced that I was hiding a relationship from them. I was – just not with who they assumed. I thought of how angry Blair would be if he found out that was carried them on, regardless of his warnings.

Another, bigger part of me, thought about all of the good times that they had brought. I thought of laughing with Andy as I chased him around with the toilet brush, and of the moment that we shared singing at the restaurant. I remembered sitting with him on the roof of his car, watching airplanes go by. And, when I looked up and saw a room full of excited, expectant faces, I knew that I didn't really have a choice.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's do it." My four best friends burst into pandemonium, but this time, it was the happy sort. I found myself being shoved into a giant group hug. The day had been a rollercoaster, but I knew that things would end up being alright. I was surrounded by the people who I loved, and who loved me, more than anything else in the world, and, for now, that was enough.

Andy took me aside when we parted.

"Are you sure that you're all good?" He looked nervous that I still blamed him for the whole affair.

"Yeah." I gave him a small smile. Sure, it sucked that it happened, but I knew that there was nothing that I could do about it now. "I'm just gonna do a live.ly and try and explain things to the roadies, if that's cool."

"Yeah, of course. You're not gonna tell them about the dares, are you?"

"No." I moved to turn away, but Andy stopped me, grabbing my arm.

"I'm really sorry. I never meant to hurt you or get you into shit."

"Andy. I meant it when I said that it was fine. Don't beat yourself up over it." He bit his lip, like he wasn't going to take the words to heart. "I have so much to thank you for. You have no reason to be sorry." I squeezed his hand. "As long as I have you, I'm good."

And I really, really meant it.