enemies (with benefits) » l.r.h || completed

twenty three

Jess

"Clifford," I stormed into Game Stop and up to the counter. Michael looked up at me with scared eyes.

"Am I in trouble?"

"In fact, you are," I crossed my arms. "you need to stay away from Vanessa."

"I am . . . ?"

"No, I mean do not text her, do not call her, and definitely don't deliver pizzas to her."

"Wait, who are you again?"

"Oh, you're shitting me," I rolled my eyes. "I'm Jessie, Vanessa's best friend and unfortunately her caretaker because she can't do anything on her own." He nodded, giving me a weird look.

"She is 18, she doesn't need to be babied."

"She is not use to this kind of stuff. She has a boyfriend. She has been chasing him since she was in seventh grade. She worked too damn hard to give him up. I suggest you stop talking to her until she gets her head on straight. Understand?"

"What makes you think I'm trying to get with her? I'm just a guy she use to be friends with."

"Yeah, well, that's how her and Luke got together."

"She slept with him before they even thought about a relationship. She and I aren't thinking about a relationship," I furrowed my eyebrows, replaying his very tricky sentence over in my head.

"Now, when you say that, y-"

"Listen, I have to work. Please, yell at me some other time, Mom."

"Yes, because there are so many losers here," I gestured at the empty store.

"Hey, don't be rude," he snapped.

"Sorry, I'm just annoyed some punk wannabe is trying to get up in my best friend. Metaphorically and literally."

"I'm not trying to do anything but be a good friend when she needs one, because apparently she can't talk to you about what she's going through."

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow. "She comes to me for everything."

"Apparently not," he folded his arms. "She was at my house just the other day because she didn't have anyone else."

"She doesn't need to be anywhere near you when she has a boyfriend to talk to."

"Her boyfriend was part of the problem!"

"A nonexistent problem that she created!"

"He gave her shit for still talking to Ashton, he gave her shit for talking to me, he gave her shit for talking to some guy named Brian! It's like she can't have any friends except for you and him!" His voice raised, his chest heaved slightly, and his face was red. I took a step back and fidgeted with my fingers. I normally don't turn into a submissive human being, but he was genuinely angry.

"I didn't know he did that," I muttered, looking down at the hideously patterned carpet. A horrific thought flashed through my head, making my stomach turn. "d-did she say if he did anything else to her?"

"What do you mean?" His voice was still harsh, but I could tell he was trying to calm down.

"Like, if Luke might have, h-h-"

"Hit her? No, if he did, you can bet that fine ass of yours that I would have beaten the shit out of him," I ignored his "flattering" comment, nodding slowly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I even checked for any possible bruises. The only ones I saw had teeth marks near her neck and chest. So, no, she wouldn't lie about not being hit."

"Okay," I rubbed the back of my neck. "did she tell you anything else?"

"No," he leaned against the counter. "she was just upset that Luke was being so jealous and possessive of her. She said she knew he was jealous, but she didn't know he was as bad as he is."

"When they weren't dating, and they were just fooling around, he made damn sure that no other guy was ever around her. He gave her so much shit when they were in seventh grade, but when she got hot, and guys were throwing themselves at her, he got jealous. He wanted no one else to have her," Michael nodded, then shook his head.

"That dick," he spat.

"He's secretly liked her this whole time. He didn't know what to do. He just decided to be a dick."

"How do you know so much if you only met Luke about a year ago?" He looked back at me, an eyebrow raised.

"Luke told me everything himself. Vanessa told me a bunch of stuff. But mostly Luke. He needed someone to talk to, ask why Vanessa had been avoiding him. He thought I'd know because she's always with me if she isn't with him."

"She was too busy hanging out with me," he smirked, but it vanished when he caught me looking. My eyes narrowed and my blood boiled again.

"What does that mean?"

"She was hanging out with me," he repeated, more sternly.

"Yeah? And what was going on during this hangout?"

"Video games. Pizza. Movies. Making fun of actors in the movies. Normal, 'loser' stuff," he scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, you two 'losers' aren't hanging out anymore. That's final. Her and Luke are getting along again and I don't need you ass getting in the middle of it."

"Who the fuck do you think you are, telling me what I can and can't do?! You're her friend, not her mom!" He whirled around, and I was greatful for the counter separating us, or I would've been in trouble. "Why isn't she allowed to have friends other than you and her douche bag of a boyfriend!" His chest rose and fell at a scary slow pace, his eyes almost black. They flickered behind me and his face softened, his cheeks turned bright red, and I became confused. I looked behind me and saw Vanessa in the doorway of the store. Her bottom lip trembled, her face was white, and her eyes were shining.

"V," my voice softened but she shook her head.

"Vanessa, I'm sorry," Michael's voice was soft, and quiet, like how a kitten would sound.

"What for?" She sniffed, looking only at Michael. "You were defending me." She put an arm over her stomach and looked at the floor. "I need to go."

"Vanessa," he jumped over the counter and went towards her, but she ran out of the store and we both watched after her down the mall aisle to the bathrooms.

"I need to check on her," I made a move to follow her, but he stopped me.

"You've done enough."