The saddest, most awkward breakfast in the history of the world took place the next morning. Lea avoided Dylan's eyes at all costs, the entire time. When they did accidentily lock eyes, the coldness in each other's stares was enough to cover the entire room in a slab of ice. The room was silent...dead silent...and Jade was hopelessly confused.
Dylan turned to face his sister and asked, "Pass me the milk?"
"How the actual hell am I supposed to pass you the milk, Dyl?" Jade shot back quickly. "It's all the way across the table next to Lea. I can't even reach it myself."
"Can't you just reach for it?"
"No, I can't...can't you just get over yourself and ask your girlfriend for the damned milk carton?" Jade asked and raised an eyebrow.
"Please, he couldn't do that," Lea spoke up suddenly, anger laced through every word she spoke. "That would require talking to a bitch. I couldn't expect him to make that sacrifice."
Dylan rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll just eat the cereal dry." He filled his spoon with dry frosted flakes, then shoved it into his mouth and chewed grudgingly.
Lea pushed away from the table. "I'd rather eat lead than be at this table right now. I'll be in my room...maybe you can respect my privacy this time?" She rolled her eyes, then retreated down the hallway.
Jade winced as the door slammed shut, and then there was silence.
She turned to her brother then. "Okay, do I have to slap you?"
"Me?!" Dylan wondered, obviously offended. "What the hell did I do wrong!?"
"Obviously something!" Jade exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air for emphasis. "Why else would Lea make all those comments about being a bitch and respecting her privacy!?" When Dylan looked down, Jade let out a disbelieving gasp. "Dyl, you didn't! You didn't call Lea a bitch, did you!?"
"Well...yea, maybe I did." He looked up again, ready to defend himself. "Okay yea, I definitely did. Maybe that was wrong of me, but that was only after she treated me like dirt for an entire day! And I don't even know what I did wrong for her to do that! I was angry, and I snapped! But she was being so frusterating for no good reason!"
"Maybe there is a reason," Jade suggested. "Did you try asking her?"
"I did ask Jade. All I got was kicked out of her room."
"Well then go in there and ask again." Jade grabbed her brother by the arm, then pulled him up and ushered him down the hall toward Lea's bedroom. "and again and again and again until she gives you an answer. But don't call her names again, okay? You're not in the second grade."
"Easier said than does Little Sister," he huffed, but didn't turn back. Jade knew her brother realized that he had to go talk to his girlfriend. She hoped their differences could be resolved.
He took a deep breath and said, "I'm going in," before knocking on the door and then going inside.
...
Lea looked over when she heard the door creak open, then rolled her eyes at the sight of her boyfriend crossing the threshold. "So, I guess you really can't learn to respect my privacy." She turned away from the door.
"Damnit Lea, this is getting old!" Dylan exclaimed in a frusterated tone. "Okay look, I'm sorry for calling you a bitch. Obviously, I don't think you're a bitch. In fact I think you're wonderful, and you know that. I shouldn't have let my angry get the better of me and I'm sorry for that. That being said, I wish you'd just tell me what the hell I did wrong! Why the hell are you treating me like dog shit!?"
Lea didn't answer. She didn't know how to make him understand what she was feeling. So instead, she kept her back turned and kept silent.
"Silence isn't going to get rid of me," Dylan persisted. He then sat down in front of the door and crossed his arms across his chest. "I could sit here all night if I have to. But I'm not leaving until I get an explanation. Please, could you just help me understand what I did?"
Lea sighed. "I don't know," she finally said.
"You don't know what I did? Or you don't know if you're going to tell me?"
Lea smiled and laughed slightly. Dylan's sense of humor usually helped brighten her spirits when she felt bleak. Her smile slowly faded, however, when she remembered the problem at hand. "Why'd you have to propose?" She asked sadly.
"To Sofia?" Dylan asked, as he shifted his weight to look at her.
"Unless there's some other girl you proposed to that I'm not aware of," Lea answered, sarcasm dripping from every word. Suddenly, she got paranoid and shot Dylan a glance to make sure there wasn't another girl. His chuckling confirmed that Sofia was the only one, and she relaxes a fraction. "I wasn't trying to be funny," she told him as he continued to laugh.
"That's what all of this is about?" Dylan asked, raising an eyebrow. "You know, you're so adorable when you're jealous, it almost hurts me," he mused as he crossed room to sit beside her on the bed, and pulled her into his chest.
Lea pulled back quickly, annoyed. "I am NOT jealous," she argued. "It's just...when I read you had proposed to her, I got really angry and I don't know why."
"Lea," Dylan smirked in response. "That feeling of unexplained anger? It's called jealousy."
"I hate you," Lea said and rolled her eyes. Then she smiled and sank into Dylan's chest even more. "Okay, so I got jealous. Can you blame me? You loved her enough to want to be with her for the rest of your life. A part of you still loves her now, even if you're with me. I have every right to be jealous, don't I? A piece of your heart belongs to a dead girl, and it always will."
"Of course I can't blame you," Dylan smirked. "You're dating the sexiest man on the face of the planet. I'd be jealous too if I knew at one point three years ago he thought he loved another woman."
Lea rolled her eyes, stifling a giggle and slapped his arm. "Shut up, Goon! This isn't a joke! You're trivializing my feelings. That's not fair."
Dylan chuckled, "Okay okay...so, all joking aside you have nothing to worry about, Darling."
Lea looked up and locked eyes with her boyfriend. He smiled and kissed her forehead.
"You are the best thing that ever happened to me, and I mean that. Sofia's my past. Yea, it's been hard to let her go, but being with you makes it all so much easier. I want you to understand that you're my present and my future."
Lea smiled, butterflies erupting in her stomach. "Do you actually mean that?"
Dylan wasted no time responding. "Absolutely. Sofia's the girl I loved once upon a time. You're the girl I love here and now."
His comment surprised Lea and a huge smile spread across her face in response. "I'm sorry, did you just say you love me?"
Dylan smirked. "Well, what if I did?"
"Then I'd have to say that I love you back," she leaned in and planted a passionate kiss against his lips. He kissed back fervishly, pushing hair from her face, then began to push her back against her pillow.
She pulled away and looked at him, breathing heavily. "Don't you feel weird doing this on my bed? I mean, considering what Mason and Sofia did here--"
Dylan planted a kiss on Lea's lips to silence her. "Are you really going to let what happened on this bed stop us from having fun?"
"I don't want to," she told him honestly. "But there are so many weird and disturbing thoughts running through my mind right now."
"Don't worry, I'll give you something else to think about," Dylan mused. Then a smirk spread across his face.
Lea smiled and nodded. "I'd like that," she answered, biting down on her lower lip.
Then Dylan leaned down to kiss her again.
