New Girl - The Creatures

Chapter 38

Ah goddammit. Now they're ganging up on me. I had no idea as to what kind of scheme they had, but the back of my mind was happy that they were finally talking again. I leaned against the counter, munching tentatively on my grilled cheese as preparation for whatever it was they were about to unload on me.

"So, I think it's safe to say that the three of us know that we," James gestured to himself and Seamus. "Care about you. A lot. But we don't want to jeopardize any part of our friendship with each other or with you anymore just because Seamus and I are acting like kids. So he and I have talked and are going to stop holding your hand or hugging you or kissing you or anything like that and let you make a decision that won't be influenced by anything either of us says or does from now on," he finished. Seamus' eyebrows lifted slightly at the kiss part, so I'm assuming that James had chosen to leave that factoid out of the conversation they'd had.

I was pleasantly surprised, frustrated, and nervous all at once. I was pleased that they'd seemed to work out their beef between one another, but I couldn't help but feel like they were just throwing their hands into the air and retreating, leaving me to make the hard decision. I was also nervous about any of the repercussions that may come from any decision I made.

I sighed and looked at them both. "Can I ask a few questions?" I tried not to let my annoyance show through. They nodded silently. "What if I don't want to pick either of you? What would you do if I just decided to be by myself and date some barista in Denver?" I asked, folding my arms. The grilled cheese laid beside me on its plate, momentarily forgotten. James shrugged. "Then you don't have to pick either of us. We're big boys," he said, to which Seamus agreed. I raised my eyebrows.

"Okay, so what if I do pick one of you? Is everything going to go back to one of you being pissed and angry all the time?" I heard the harshness in my voice, but I didn't care. I wasn't down to be an emotional punching bag by either of them, though I didn't think James would be the type to do so. "James and I talked about that earlier," Seamus piped up for the first time since the conversation began. "It's something that we would accept. It would be disappointing, yeah, but in the end, you moved here for a safe place to stay and now you're a part of our family. Personal arguments shouldn't infringe on that. If you picked James, I would be okay with it. I know that if you picked me, James would be okay with it. We just want everyone to be friends again," he finished.

I looked at both of them. "Okay. But I'm not going to be deciding anything for a while. I just want to get back to the way things were before PAX, before any of this. I just want to record videos with my friends, not star in the latest episode of Gossip Girl. Is that fine with everyone?" I sighed, sounding a bit like my mother. They both nodded, and almost immediately after, Jordan walked into the kitchen.

"Hot dog it smells good in here! I'm glad you three are here so I don't have to go wrangle you up. We're going to be opening the pool tomorrow since it's finally warm enough and I thought it would be fun to film a little for the channel," Jordan said, seemingly oblivious to the confrontation style that we were all standing in.

I had completely forgotten that the pool existed, and then I realized I didn't even own a swimsuit. Jordan was seemingly reading my mind, as he pressed on, "I don't even think any of us own swimsuits, so we'll be taking a group trip to this little plaza mall thing by Denver today. We can grab some lunch too! It'll be a big fun family outing."

He left the room after letting us know we'd leave in about an hour, leaving us back to our bizarre love triangle. I hated saying that. I felt like some weird sort of Bella Swan, which is easily one of the dorkiest things I've ever said.

I cleaned up my mess from the grilled cheeses and told the guys I was going upstairs to change out of my hospital clothes and take a real shower. They didn't say anything, which I was somewhat grateful for. After snatching my bags off the floor in the foyer, I slipped into my room and locked the door out of habit from having shared my hospital and hotel quarters with James. I dug through my closet and pulled out a cropped button-up, which was blue with a grid of small white squares, and a pair of high waisted, dark navy jeans. I chose to go braless, as a herald of my protest against the patriarchy that wants me to wear an uncomfortable death contraption so no one would be offended by nipples. Fuck that.

I took my clothes into the bathroom after grabbing my toiletries out of my backpack and turned the water scalding hot, just the way I always do. I undressed and was quickly engulfed in a swirl of lavender soap and steam. It felt amazing to have my own shower again, my own water pressure and unlimited access to all of my facial masks, creams, and remedies. I was blasting Witchy Woman by the Eagles, hearing just how awful my rendition of it was.

After hopping out, freezing briefly, and then changing into some fresh clothing, I blow dried my hair and did my makeup. I smoked out the outer corner of my lid with a light brown and then did a sharp as fuck wing in eyeliner, put on a soft pink liquid lip, and ran my fingers through my hair, tossing the curls around. My scars looked cool, and I almost reminded myself of one of my Skyrim characters with some mega cool battle wounds that had a mega lame origin.

I slipped on a pair of Adidas I had bought after PAX, the uber cool white cloadfoam that made it feel like I was walking with pillows on my feet. Wallet and phone in hand, I went back downstairs with 5 minutes to spare before we would be leaving. It was very underrated, having an everyday routine. You don't realize how much you love being a creature of habit until it's taken from you.

Wanting to delve back into my routines, I took my spare time and went to the kitchen to brew myself a to-go cup of my cherished caramel butterscotch coffee, the smell alone making my mouth water. It finished right as Jordan hollered from the stairs for everyone to head on out to the cars, which I happily and silently obliged to, immersed in caramelly goodness. I trekked outside before the others, thoughts of how in the world I was ever supposed to pick between James and Seamus finally swirling in my head for the first time since their confrontation.