Meant To Be

23- "Take a hint, will you?"

Chapter 23

I flick my eyes open as I hear my alarm go off. As soon as I open them, I squint my eyes and try to adjust them against a ray of sunlight entering the living room. I shield my face with my left hand.

Just then I realize I'm sleeping on Tae's lap and his head is lying on the side of the couch, supported by his right hand. His free left hand is on my shoulder and I'd been holding them with my right hand. 

I lazily get up and make sure I don't wake Tae. I rub my eyes and go over to the window and slowly close the curtain. 

Tae shifts slightly but goes to sleep soon enough and props his whole body on the couch and curls himself into a ball, just like how a fetus does in the womb.

I make my way to the bedroom to find nobody. The bed and the sheets are neatly made. I glance at the clock sitting on the nightstand. 9:51 am.

I stroll to the kitchen and there's a post-it on the table. I rip it off and it read

At the cafe down the street. Meet us there.

The note is signed by Ethan. The note is emotionless in every aspect. Why does it sound like he's mad? Well, I guess we're about to find out soon.

I think about changing my clothes and then it hits me. I didn't bring any extras. Hoping that Tae would a few, I wake him up.

"Tae?" I said, shaking him slightly.

He doesn't budge.

"Tae?" I say a little louder, shaking him harder.

He wakes up quickly and says, " I swear I didn't steal your underwear Jimin."

I look at him with my eyes widened in surprise. Honestly, I'm confused and a little terrified. "What the hell was that about?" I ask him, breaking the silence. He continues staring at the ground.

I slowly creep up to his ear and scream " Tae, you okay?!"

"Oh my god, Ava what the fuck?" He yells back, covering his ear.

"Dude you just said you didn't steal Jimin's underwear. What do you expect me to do?" I demand and try not to laugh.

"There's no way in hell I said that!" He argues back.

"Yeah sure. Whatever helps you go to sleep at night." I drawl. He's about to say something but I cut him off before he speaks a word.

"No Tae, whatever it is, I don't care. It's personal stuff between you and Jimin and I don't want to know." I wink and continue, " Anyway, everybody else is at the cafe down the street and we have to meet them there. And I don't have any spare clothes so I was thinking if I could borrow like a shirt and pajamas or something."

"Yeah, I'll check my suitcase hold on." He says as he gets up and disappears into the bedroom.

I smile to myself as I think about the small outburst Tae just had. I take my phone and scroll through my Instagram as Tae re-enters the living room with a gray muscle tee, a flannel bottom, a plain white shirt, and a ripped black jean.

I look at him, look at the clothes, and back at him again. "Okay don't look at me like I'm crazy. I didn't know what's gonna be more comfortable. Take your pick." he says and puts them on the couch.

I look at them for a minute or two and finally decide on wearing the gray muscle tee and the black jean. 

I take them, a towel, and quickly go to the bathroom to shower. "It'll only take 10 minutes!" I tell Tae after he asks me how long it'll take.

I decide on not washing my hair today because then we're gonna be late if we aren't already.

I don't know how long Tae is gonna take. So I quickly shower and change into the clothes. Surprisingly enough, it fitted well.

The pants were slightly loose but oh well, at least the shirt fits. I tie my hair low into a pony. 

Unfortunately, I didn't bring my make up so I had to borrow Tae's. Thankfully he had eyeliner, some mascara, and lip gloss.

Don't bother asking why he had them. And since I don't have my toothbrush with me, I curse out loud and get my purse, hoping to find some mints or gum. Thankfully, I find orbit somewhere at the bottom.

Soon, Tae finishes showering and he gets ready. We leave the room after we grab our phone and wallet as he locks the door.

________

I push the door of the cafe with Tae on my heel and as I do so, the bell rings, catching everybody's attention. And by everybody, I mean the rest of us.

"You guys finally came! We thought you would skip." Leo exclaims as we come in. "No, we were starving and there was no food in the fridge," I reply as I sit between Leo and Ethan, while Tae sits near Jimin.

I steal a glance and silently laugh at Tae, to which he replies with a scowl. And then I notice, Zoe is sitting on Ethan's right and has his arm draped around her shoulder.

Okay, that's fishy.

We give our orders to the waitress and just talk about things. I explain about the auditions to Mia and Zoe and they are excited about the whole thing.

I feel a whoosh of relief because I thought they won't be interested. Jimin, Jungkook, and Leo think it's a great idea and that we should do it. Ethan, however, doesn't say a word.

I take Ethan's hands in mine, intertwine our fingers and give him a small smile. He just looks at me with a blank face and turns away.

Okay, what the fuck was that?

I make a few more attempts to try and talk to him but he doesn't pay attention to me whatsoever.

"Guys give us a minute. We'll be back." I excuse myself. I grab Ethan's hand and leave the cafe.

"Ava, what do you think you're doing?" Ethan asks, clearly annoyed.

I stand with my hands crossed and stare into his enraged eyes.

"Ethan do you not understand? I held your hand inside and you ignored the crap out of me!" I exclaim and wave my hands in the air.

"Jesus Ava, take a hint, will you? I thought you were smarter than that." He replies in a low voice, not even bothering to look at me.

I scoff. Does he know stupid he sounds right now?

"What did I do that made you so mad?" I ask him.

"Oh, I don't know Ava." He says, looking at me. I watch as he takes a step forward and then another.

He's so close, I can feel his breath on my forehead. My cheeks heat up and I feel my pulse rising. I lift my face to look at him, as he continues.

"But you know what? I'll give you a clue. Try not to sleep with any other guy than someone you call your boyfriend." He says in a stern voice.

"Stop making such a huge deal out of it. We just slept. We didn't do anything." I retort, extremely disappointed that he doesn't trust me.

"Oh little Ava." he sighs. "I'm going to tell you something. And it shouldn't come as a surprise. Last night, I kissed Zoe. She is so much better than you."

My jaw drops. I get goosebumps throughout, even though it's 31 degrees out here.

He doesn't wait for me to reply and leaves me alone on the road.

Before he gets inside, he turns and shouts, "Don't make a huge deal out of it, will you?" and smirks.

That bastard.

I let out a huge, shaky breath, as a tear falls from my eye.

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