Who's the One?

Chapter 29

*Dylan's POV*

I lie in my bed and let it bring me comfort. It has been a day.

I feel so tired. Completely emotionally drained.

The fair, my time with Tiff, Lily coming by and Tiff still being here, and my parents. It's all too much.

I stare at my ceiling for what feels like hours just thinking about everything. I can't do too much about my parents and their situation, I already gave up my car. I should probably get a job.

Tiffany is pretty much taken care of.

Lily. I need to clear things up with her. She probably hates me and I wouldn't blame her for it.

"Man up", I whisper to myself. "She deserves an explanation. You can't keep letting her think the worst."

I take a deep breath and reach for my phone. I go to my contacts and scroll until I find "Lily".

"You can do it. Just tap the screen", I say aloud.

After a few minutes I finally dial Lily. Instantly, I feel like my heart is going to beat right out of my chest.

"Hello?", she answers. Her sweet voice filling my head and calming me. "Dylan?"

"Hey. I'm sorry. About it all", I say, my words coming out in a rush.

"It's alright. I'm glad you called. I want to apologize about my reaction earlier. I made assumptions and didn't give you a chance to explain. Now that I'm not so blind sided, I can hear you out with an open mind. If you'd like to of course, you don't owe it to me. I just thought-"

"I want to", I say. I had to cut in, se's doing her nervous babbling thing that I personally find really cute. "You had a good reason to assume what I think you assumed. Which is that I had some girl over in order to... cope with what happened today. I didn't think she'd come to the door, and I knew how bad it looked."

"Yeah, and that's what shocked me. I know you, or at least I thought I knew you. I didn't think that you were that type of guy."

"I'm not. That hasn't changed, I promise. She's just a friend from New York. She has family here and there was an emergency. She wanted to get away from it for a while and she knew I lived in the area. She came over and we talked."

"Oh. Well, now I feel even worse. She's got a family emergency and I was upset with her being with you. The way I reacted", she sighs. "I feel ridiculous."

"Don't, it's okay. It was bad planning on my part. She'd been over for a while and the cues I thought I saw indicated that she was about to leave. You called, I figured she'd be gone by the time you got here. Then all of a sudden her shoes are off and she's curled up on the couch. I didn't want to be rude and tell her to leave."

"Oh, you were just being a good friend. That makes sense, because you're a great friend."

My heart skips a beat at her words. "There's more that I should tell you." My palms start to sweat and my heart hammers in my chest.

"Okay, I'm listening"

"I just want to be open and honest."

"Go for it."

"I sat down with her after you called. Tiff started talking about her troubles with her boyfriend. I didn't have much to say, so I just sat and listened. Then I told her she deserves someone who would treat her right. I think she got caught up in the moment." I pause. "She kissed me. I was shocked and confused. It did take me a minute to pull away. That's when you got there. That's why I was acting weird. Once you left, she tried to kiss me again. I didn't let her that time. She left shortly after that." I take a deep breath. I'm relieved that Lily knows, but I'm anxious about how she'll react.