Moving On [SwaggerSouls]

/Chapter Nineteen/ Wake Up, Guys!

I sighed as they all said their goodbyes to Alyssa and went to go to walk her out to my car just as Ryan grabbed my shoulder.

"Sweetheart, would you mind if Eric hung around for a second? I just need to talk to him about something quickly."

She smiled at both of us, "Sure! I'll meet you by your car, Eric."

She shut the door behind her as she made her way down the well-lit driveway.

"What the fuck, man? That's rude!" I turned to Ryan who just looked at me with concern in his eyes, "What, are you suddenly against me bringing her along? It's a little late for that now."

"What? No. But your YouTube channel isn't the only thing Mason brought up, remember?" He whisper-shouted at me.

"Yeah, I know. But clearly, she doesn't remember so there's no way I'm bringing it up again."

"But it will come up one way or another. Either she remembers at some point or she meets Bee herself Wednesday going in completely blind. A situation I really don't recommend putting her in."

I turned to face him with my arms crossed, speaking at normal volume seeing that everyone else had retreated to their rooms at this point, "Oh, yeah? Why's that?"

Ryan just let out a breath and laughed, while I just looked at him in question and jerked my thumb towards the door, "I have somewhere to be-"

"I don't understand how someone so smart can be so stupid sometimes." He looked back up at me, "Bee clearly looked at you something a little more than a friend with benefits. She clearly was interested in a bit more with you. Everyone knows it, which is why we've always teased you about it. That and we all were under the impression that it'd turn into something more too."

"Really?" I was completely shocked by his statement, "I told all of you on so many different occasions that I looked at her as nothing more than a friend. You didn't believe me?"

He looked a bit guilty, "In all honesty, we all thought it was a façade. You've always been super secretive about yourself so we all just assumed you didn't want to let us in on your true feelings towards her, which we respected."

I held my hand up and corrected him, "I've always been a super secretive and private person with the rest of the world. Not you guys. Never you guys. It just really sucks hearing that you guys didn't believe me after I'd explained it to you so many times I guess."

"Sorry, Eric. We just all were pretty certain about our suspicions. Hell, we even made bets..." He trailed off as he realized who he was talking to.

My face dropped and I went to shout at him as he all but shoved me out the door, "Well, see you when you get back bud! Give your girlfriend a goodnight kiss for me!"

"Which one, Alyssa or Bianca?!" I shouted at him as I flew out the door.

"Well, the legitimate one of course." He smiled at me from behind the door, before I charged at him and he slammed it in my face.

I turned around and made my way down the driveway, fists balled and muttering how I'd kill Ryan and the rest of the guys for that matter under my breath the whole way down.

WEDNESDAY...

Wow, I'm Not Crazy by AJR played through my phone as my hand came down on it in my sleepy haze.

"Holy shit, it's Wednesday!" I flew off my bed, picking up my phone and checking the date as the music continued to play.

But of course, it wasn't just any Wednesday: It was fucking PAX Wednesday.

Racing to the bathroom, I began to brush my teeth so I could conclude my packing with the necessities.

Based on my energetic demeanor, this day obviously had a much different vibe than the previous ones I'd spent here in Melbourne. First of all: I'd actually wanted to get out of bed; no amount of convincing was involved with it. I just hopped right out of bed and here I was, surprisingly lively for the first time in a long time. If you exclude the morning I'd woken up in Eric's arms of course. I was giddy to see him there next to me, but he clearly had a different take on the event.

I frowned as I walked back into my room with my toothbrush hanging out of my mouth. Based on what he told me the other evening, he could have felt the same way I did, just didn't want to have to go through the hassle of acknowledging his true feelings just yet or simply just didn't know how to.

At least we were on the same page with one thing though: we made each other feel. Whatever that meant.

I sifted through my clothing one last time before heading back to the bathroom, washing up, and packing my toiletries. Closing the suitcase, I put my hands on my hips in satisfaction.

On the car ride back yesterday, Eric began to tell me that he and his friends stay at the convention the entire time it's going on since they're influencers before I frantically interrupted him with the fact that he told me it was only supposed to be this Wednesday. He told me how he thought I'd be too intimidated by going on a "vacation" with him and his friends for more than one day, so he just kept it in that my ticket lasted for the whole event. Which obviously rubbed me the wrong way a little bit, but all in all I understood where he was coming from. Sadly, I had to use three of my vacation days within the first three weeks at my new job, but I don't regret it because for the first time in a long time I'm actually looking forward to something.

If we're getting back to the topic of Eric and I making each other feel, I think I might just be beginning to understand my end of it just a little bit better: during all of the time I've spent here, I haven't been entirely unhappy, but it's not at all easy to forget the reason behind me being here even while interacting with others who make me happy. They make me forget about my issues for a split-second before I'm right back to think about Josh and Kimmy again, which of course I'm really grateful for. But, it takes a special kind of person to make you forget about your issues entirely after your whole world just fell apart whenever you're with them. And I have to admit: when I was at the Misfits Manor or whatever the hell Toby called it on that weird video I didn't think of Josh and Kimmy AT ALL.

The Entertainment's Here by AJR suddenly stopped playing from my phone as it began to vibrate, snapping me from my thought process. I noticed Eric's face as the caller ID as I picked up, feeling my heart race in response to just a picture of him.

"Morning beautiful. You ready to go? We're outside."

I smiled into the phone as I replied, "Ready. Be out in a minute."

Fuck. If today's gonna be nearly as good as the days I've spent previously with you, I have a feeling Kimmy and Josh won't be on my mind for the rest of the week.

——————END OF CHAPTER NINETEEN—————

Sorry for the short uneventful chapter, this was a bit of a filler. But I have so much stuff going on the next few chapters and didn't want to make them too long, so feel free to hang out (: