An Idiot's Guide to Not Falling in Love with Your Best Friend's Girlfriend

Lesson 5: When she throws you a curve ball, don't get hit.

I wasn’t sure what I should do. These feelings weren’t ones that I was really familiar with and because they were so close to home. I couldn’t ask any of the guys about it. Generally, when I had a lady problem, Calum was the most helpful out of all of the boys. He went through women like underwear, but he chose to do that. When it came down to it, he knew how best to deal with relationships and all of the mess that came with them.

In this case, I obviously couldn’t go to Calum and discuss how I may or may not feel about his girlfriend that he is absolutely crazy about. I could really only think of one other person that would be able to help me understand what I was feeling and would give me sound advice on how to handle it.

I called my mother.

“Hey honey,” she answered after several rings, her voice sounding groggy, “is everything ok?”

I hadn’t thought about the time difference between England and Australia. It was barely 5AM there. Jackass move, Luke.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I forgot about the time difference. I just wanted to talk to you about something. Get your feedback or advice or whatever. Go back to sleep though, we’ll talk later.”

“Luke, talk to me.” Her voice was calming and I instantly began to feel a little better. “If you’re up this early, it must be important.”

We talked for nearly two hours and everything that had been bubbling inside my head recently was now out on the table, but on the table of someone that I could literally trust with my life. To get it out felt like removing a heavy suit of armor at the end of a war. For this reason, I felt immensely better.

On the other hand, she had confirmed for me what I was pretty sure I knew but was unable to admit to myself: my feelings for Mae definitely existed. She also confirmed for me that it was not OK for me to want to be involved with Calum’s girlfriend, because Calum was my best friend, and our friendship was much more important than whatever I felt about Mae. I already knew that, but it was nice to hear from someone else.

Ultimately, however I chose to approach the situation, but I needed to think carefully before I made a choice. The choice was obvious though. Forget Mae, Calum is my best friend. He has been there for me for years and will continue to be for many more.

Mae was an internal speed bump, and one that I needed to get over and leave behind me.

***

It had been a morning full of revelations. Now it was time for an evening of drunken debauchery. Michael and Calum had chosen to stay home, so  Ash and I headed into the crisp London night by ourselves, hoping only for a good time.

We had been at a bar for about an hour, just drinking and chatting up girls and having a good time, when the last voice I wanted to hear loudly shouted “Lashton” at the back of my head. Sitting on the other side of the table, Ashton saw her first and jumped up to give her a hug. She came to me next,

I tried to act casual, but after the chat with mum, being so close to Mae felt wrong.

“Why ya so uptight, Lukey?!”

She was obviously pretty drunk. Did Calum know? Why wasn’t he here with her? Was she alone? I looked from her face to the half empty glass in her hand.

“Maybe you’re a little loose, Mae-y? How much have you had to drink?”

“Like, half a beer, I swear.” She attempted to step forward but tripped and caught herself on the table instead.

“Oh yeah? One beer, my ass.” Ash laughed at her clumsiness. “Are you alone?”

“Nah, my sister is visiting! She works in America, so I rarely get to see her! She’s on vacation for three weeks so she came home!”