His blonde, her brunette, one beautiful mess

[22] Peace offering(s)

He was gone in the morning, only the faintest smell of his cologne lingering and proving that it hadn't all just been a dream. I felt like shit, but what do you expect after drinking and not doubling up with water and then going to sleep in your clothes, having not washed your face. 

Geez, I had to brush my teeth. 

I took a shower and changed into sweatpants and a hoodie, not really thinking about what I grabbed from my wardrobe. 

The shower had woken me up, but I became sure that I was still sleeping when I came downstairs.

"Good morning."

What the fuck is he doing here?

I stared at Zach who was sitting at our kitchen island as you would stare at an animal you know should be extinct. 

"Sam let me in," Zach said and I nodded slightly to show I wasn't completely stupid. So that meant Sam had snuck in at some point during the morning hours. 

"What time is it?" I asked and walked past him to grab a glass, which I proceeded to fill with water. 

"Thirteen in the afternoon?"

"And you said Sam let you in?" My brain seemed to be running on a low-speed mode today. 

"Yeah."

I nodded again and took a sip of the water. My troath still felt as dry as sandpaper. 

"So..." I said and turned around to face him. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize, I was acting like a dickhead yesterday —"

"Yes you were," I agreed and leaned against the counter. 

"— and I feel really bad about it. I just wanted to say it to you're face, instead of texting or something... I'm really sorry Ella."

I really hadn't been expecting this when I woke up. I felt bad, because indeed my bed smelled of another boy. Not that I'd cheated on him, but I still felt bad. 

"I appreciate your apology Zach but... You said some really hurtful things. And that's after I thought we'd moved passed all that jealousy bullshit."

"I know... and I'm sorry." He did sound sincere. "I know you might not forgive me El, but I want you to know why I flipped that way."

"Okay," I said and raised my glass a bit. "Go on."

"A little before Christmas your brother told me about what Anderson had said and..."

"Anderson who?" I was really not on top of my game.

"One of the twins?" Lucas. 

"Right, at the game before the fight."

"Yeah, he was a pretty sore looser so you're brother blamed it on that... But when Sam told me what Anderson had said I really started doubting everything. I know I should have just taken it as rumours, but the fact that you're brother felt the need to tell everything to me..."

"What did he say?" I suddenly felt rigid. I would finally get to know what neither Sam nor Lucas wanted to tell me. 

"He said you had been spending a lot of time on their side of town. Said you two had spent the night in the same bed. Then he said you two had made a bet... at their homecoming game of all places... a bet of who could fool someone into falling for them first. He said he was clearly already lagging behind because he'd seen you kiss me."

I only stood there feeling nothing. 

"And Sam believed him?" I managed to get out. I wasn't allergic to anything, but this is what it must feel like when you eat the wrong thing and your throat starts closing up.