𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐲

f i f t e e n

The next few days were... interesting, to say the least. Amaya did her best to ignore whatever feelings she had for Daniel, trying to focus on Jonah instead. They were still dating, after all. She still loved Jonah, even if she wasn't... in love with him. God, wasn't that weird to think? She thought she could marry this boy one week, and then the next... the next she wasn't even sure if she wanted to date him. That left her head reeling, it really did.

"Hey, whatchu thinking about all somberly over here?" Jack swung himself onto the couch next to Amaya. They were in the boys' house, and she looked up in surprise as he sat beside her.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Just full of empty thoughts, you know?" she chuckled, trying to brush off her worries about Daniel and Jonah and put on a convincing smile.

"Hm... I wish I could do that." Jack grinned at her, and she couldn't help but smile back. A moment later, he got a bit more serious, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you know if you need to talk, I'm here for you. I know you're not my closest friend, but you're still my friend. And you can wake me up at two am if you need to. I'm sure the same goes for Gabbie, too. Well, maybe not for a while. Lav takes a lot out of her."

He was back to his joking self, and Amaya nodded, taking his hand off her shoulder and squeezing it lightly. "Thank you, Jack. I love you."

"I love you too, Mays." He gave her a half smile, looking up the staircase. "Hey, we're playing Mario Kart up there if you want to join. I just came down to get snacks. I'm... surprised Jonah left you alone."

Amaya didn't reply, letting Jack get up and move to the kitchen. Once he was out of earshot, she murmured, "you and me both." She didn't want anyone else to know her internal tug of war. God, especially not Jack. Or Corbyn, or Zach. If any of them knew, they would be forced to pick sides... and Amaya couldn't do that to any of them.

Jack headed up the stairs, and Amaya took a deep breath, following him a moment later. She could push past this. She would. So she put on her best award-winning smile, walking into the game room and perching on the arm of the couch next to Jonah, who was intently playing. Daniel looked over at her, clearly trying to get her attention, but she ignored him, focusing on her boyfriend. Right. Jonah was her boyfriend.

"Oh, Amaya!" Corbyn walked into the room, taking a seat on the chair next to her. She brightened as she saw him, giving a slight wave.

"Hey, Corbs. I feel like I never see you." She gave him a fake pout, mimicking crying. He nodded along with faux somberness before breaking into a smile.

"We're gonna hang soon, bet."

"Just us, some cheesy and heartbreaking Marvel movies?" She wiggled her eyebrows, and he nodded, leaning over to high five her. She highfived back, grinning.

"I'd offer tonight, but Christina's coming in, so we're going out. But tomorrow... I'm all yours. Or Christina is. She's here for a bit for work." Corbyn's grin grew as he talked about his girlfriend, and Amaya felt herself grinning with him. She adored Christina, and she especially adored their relationship. They were so sweet, and she respected their love of privacy. She knew that it was hard for both of them to be in the spotlight. She and Jonah had that problem, and didn't she know it.

"Well, I look forward to hanging out with both of you." She gave him a cheeky grin, and he gave one back before lunging for the controller in Daniel's hand.

"My turn!"

"You suck ass!" Daniel replied, but he let Corbyn have his controller and his seat. He moved to be near Amaya, and she offered the plainest smile she could. She didn't need her confusing feelings to be any more confusing than they already were. And she especially didn't need them to be evident to anyone else.

"Amaya, I have that guitar you wanted to look at," Daniel said softly, and she raised an eyebrow. She didn't ask him about a guitar. She- oh. He just wanted to talk. She probably should talk, then. Make it clear nothing could happen between them.

"Yeah, nice." She stood up, and he stood with her. She pressed a soft kiss to Jonah's cheek, and he squeezed her hand before she left the room. Daniel led her to his room, and she carefully shut the door behind them. "What do you want to talk-"

And then Daniel kissed her, taking the words right out of her mouth. She kissed back before pushing away, shaking her head.

"No, no. Daniel, we said-" she paused, hushing her voice. She didn't need anyone else to hear them, though she doubted they would. They were all too into the game they were playing. "We said we were done. We said it could never happen again."

"It can't. But we..." He sighed, shaking his head. Amaya was right. They couldn't screw Jonah over like that.

"We're done, Daniel." Her voice was soft but not insistent at all; she didn't know her own damn feelings. God, she wanted to scream. Could she not figure this out? She loved Jonah with her whole heart, but Daniel... God. Everything was so confusing.

"Amaya." His hand came to her chin, guiding her face up until they met eyes. "I don't want to hurt him either."

"Then we shouldn't."

"I agree. But we need to figure out whatever this is. If you want to."

"Of course—" she lowered her voice again, trying to stop it from being so sharp. "Of course I want to figure it out. But I don't want to hurt him."

"So break up with him," he said simply.

"It's not that simple and you know that. We've been together for so long, and I just— you're his best friend, Dani. He would be crushed if he found out."

"We won't let it get that far. We won't let him figure it out. For all we know, it could just be a mutual physical attraction that could fizzle out."

Daniel didn't believe his words. He didn't even sound justified as he said them. But he wanted to do anything to show her that he cared about her, about Jonah. He needed to know what their feelings meant, though. He thought they owed each other that much after they slept together.

"Yeah, yeah. I guess. We can just... feel it out. And if it's nothing, then no one needs to know. Jonah especially." Her face softened as she studied him, from the sharpness of his jaw to the way the sunlight reflected in his eyes, making them look more green than blue. Daniel was beautiful.

"Exactly." He smiled, leaning down to connect their lips. Amaya laughed softly, kissing him back as she brought a hand to the back of his neck. Kissing him was so easy. Her feelings were complicated, but when she kissed him, it made sense. His hand knotted in her hair, and she let herself lean into him. So easy, so easy.

And then there were footsteps. Amaya
quickly pulled away, running a hand through her hair. She didn't need anyone to know she was making out with Daniel. God, especially not Jonah.

But the steps kept going, probably to the bathroom down the hall, and she let out a deep breath. Daniel gave her a quizzical look, but he knew. He knew how worried she was. But he had faith. And that was what they needed.

"Let's go back," he said softly, offering a hand. She shook her head at it but moved towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go back. I'll kick your ass at Mario Kart."

"Sounds fake, but okay." He grinned at her as they walked into the hallway, and it was just back to normal. They were just Daniel and Amaya, really good friends.

Really good friends.