Learning To Love

Chapter 8: "it wasn't what he thought."

Chapter 8
It wasn't what he thought

"So, how many people are gonna be here?" I ask Jayden from the passenger seat of his Mercedes. He glances at me as he replies.

"Just a few close friends, maybe ten people or so." He says. That's a lot of people. This feels like a 'meet the friends' scenario where if I mess up in anyway, they'll all hate me and I'll never be able to hang out with Jayden again.

I look out the window as he drives, the buildings and lights flying past in a blur, wondering if I was dressed right for the occasion too. I was wearing a pair of light wash skinny jeans with a long white knee length shirt over it and some gold sandals. My gold bangles jingled lightly as I played with my fingers.

"You okay?" He asks me as he drives with one hand, the other on his lap. My hands itch to hold his, but I restrain myself.

"Yeah, just worried about Jace." I say, which isn't a total lie, but not the complete truth. I was worried about his friends hating me, even though they have no reason to hate me and I'm not even dating Jayden, so it shouldn't really affect me if they hate me or not.

His hand reaches over to squeeze mine, making it tingle wherever he touches. "I'm sure he'll be fine." He tells me, not taking his gaze off of the road, and not taking his hand anyway from mine either.

We soon reach his Reece's place, a pristine white building which holds his apartment. I get out of the car and follow Jayden in, my hands slightly clammy. I rub them against my trousers and hope that no one wants to shake my hand tonight.

We head up to his apartment on the top floor where Jayden knocks on the door. A beautiful woman opens it, her auburn hair bouncing and her grey eyes twinkling as she looks at us.

"Jayden! So glad you could make it." She says as she leans forward to give him a hug. My heart clenches slightly as he hugs her back before pulling away and gesturing to me.

"Hey, this is Thalia. Thalia, this is Mabel, Reece's girlfriend." He says, making me release a breath. She looks at me while grinning.

"It's great to finally meet you! I've been dying to meet the girl who's been stealing all of Jayden's time away from us." She says. I smile lightly at her.

"It's nice to meet you too." I manage to get out. Yes! 6 words without making a fool of myself!

She opens the door and lets us in, and I instantly feel at home due to the warm aura of the apartment. She leads us down the short hallway to the living room where the rest of their friends are, and I spot Caleb amongst them.

"Hey guys, this is Thalia. Make her feel at home." Mabel says to everyone as she walks over and sits in someone's lap, presumably Reece. As I sit down on the couch, Caleb jumps up and sits next to me while throwing his arm around me.

"My love! How are you wifey?" He asks while placing a quick kiss on my cheek. I look up at that moment to see Jayden clenching his jaw, looking away.

"You two are married?" A girl with strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes asks. Before I can reply, Caleb jumps in.

"Yes! She is my world, my universe, no one can ever compare to her!" He says over dramatically. I roll my eyes and push him away from me as I say,