When I wake up, my entire body aches from sleeping in the chair.
Chloe is still sound asleep and hasn't moved a muscle since late last night. I check the time and see that it's just after 7 o'clock.
I sit for a while, reflecting on all of last night's events.
Kenzie's engagement. Kenzie's baby scare. Telling Chloe about my non-existent relationship history.
There was something else, too, but I can't quite remember what it was.
My stomach growls loudly and I make my way to the kitchen. Thankfully, Kendall isn't here to make breakfast. However that also means the job is now mine.
I begin to make some french toast and bacon. The popping of grease in the pan echoes through the house and it isn't long before Chloe waltzes in, still groggy.
Her hair is thrown carelessly into a messy ponytail and she wears the clothes that she had on last night; leggings and a sweater. She catches my eye as I turn away from the cabinet and smiles tiredly.
I slide a plate in front of her and she drops herself into one of the chairs at our kitchen island.
"Good morning," she says in a deep, raspy voice that is laced with sleep. She takes one bite of the bacon and it wakes her up. "Maddie this bacon is so good! Someone needs to wife you up." She grins and thanks me for the food. We're quiet for a few minutes, just eating, before she cleans up our plates and says, "So, what are you wearing to Koji tonight?"
My head snaps up. That's what I forgot about. The double date with Owen, Jack, and Chloe. I have never not wanted to do something so much in my life.
I tell her that I don't know what I'm wearing and she offers to help me get ready tonight. In the meantime, she says, she's going to give me a crash course on how to be in a relationship.
Because that's what friends do, of course.
We make our way to the couch and she sidles up next to me. Chloe begins the lesson with many questions. "How many people have you slept with?"
"Zero."
"How many people have you kissed?"
"Really kissed?" I ask her. She nods.
I look down, embarrassed. "Um, zero. I literally don't even know how I'd go about kissing someone."
"You mean you don't know how to kiss?" She stares at me and I nod shyly.
A few seconds of dead air pass between us.
" Do-" she starts to say, then pauses, "Do you want me to teach you?"
I'm frozen for a moment. I don't know what to say.
So I say yes.
She clears her throat and begins the lesson.
"You can't just go in and kiss someone. You have to make them comfortable first," she places her right hand on the back of my neck and draws light circles on the skin there. Her left thumb grazes my bottom lip and she leans in. Our foreheads touch and she pauses.
"Relax. Don't be so tense," she grabs my hands and shows me where to put them- my right hand on her upper thigh and the left resting under her jawline.
When my right hand traces small patterns on her thigh, she swallows hard and breathes out shallowly.
My heartbeat drums in my ears so loudly that I almost don't hear the front door open. Chloe and I separate our bodies immediately and in walks Kendall.
Her mouth forms an "O" shape and she backs away slowly. "Sorry! I just need to grab my purse and I'll be out of your way! Maddie, I'm going out of town for the weekend so you two should have the house to yourself. Don't do anything on my bed!" She tells Chloe and I.
Chloe's face turns crimson and she grins playfully at me.
"Kendall! This is Chloe, and she's just a friend." I say to Kendall pointedly.
Kendall nods and purses her lips together sarcastically. "Um, okay then. You two have fun!" She leaves in a whirlwind and Chloe turns the TV on while laughing good-naturedly at Kendall's innuendos.
We stay like that for most of the day; our bodies with less than an inch of space between them but never truly connected.
Neither of us mention the almost-kiss.
When we begin to get ready for our double-date, Chloe offers to do my makeup.
And, of course, I accept.
