Bestfriend or Best Lover

THIRTEEN

Belle's POV

Almost another week passed by without hearing from Arden. Caleb had promised me a night of pepperoni pizza, chicken strips and expensive wine, and my God, I made sure he followed through.

"Sis, they wanna know if you want garlic mayo or sweet chilli sauce?" Caleb questioned, still on the receiving end of our takeaway order.

"Both."

Duh?

He proceeded to tell whoever was on the other end that we indeed wanted both and in doing so, managed to order himself extra fries before hanging up.

"I don't do it often, but I deserve a treat after all the healthy eating I've done this week," Caleb explain with a smirked, plonking his ass down on the sofa next to me.

His relationship with Lizzie had gone extremely well. He'd taken her out almost every evening; each night at a different restaurant that claimed to be the next big thing with regards to a healthier lifestyle. The pair shared many mutual interests, dietary nutrition being one.

"Arden not joining us?" Caleb asked, casual in his doing so.

"Who knows?"

Lately, he'd been mercurial; saying one thing and doing another. It all started on Wednesday when he stopped by my office to fetch me.

David had been his usual, flirty self and to say Arden didn't care for it would've been an understatement. He looks conflicted, though his behavior only made one thing certain. He was jealous. I didn't like seeing him like that and hated the thought of being the reason behind his unhappy mood. David was clearly not a threat and that's just how he is to everyone else, but Arden doesn't know that.

We both just needed to sit down and discuss what's been bothering him in a mature manner, yet every time I suggested meeting up, he declined my offer, saying he has a lot of work to do.

"He's supposed to be spending the night here, but he may well change his mind." I replied, checking my phone for any missed texts messages. "He's been a little indecisive lately."

Having decided to get an earlier start on our trip up the city for our training, Arden was scheduled to spend the evening at our house.

"Yeah, what's with that?" asked Caleb, grabbing a chips on his right hand.

"He's just stressing about the training this weekend, I supposed, they say they would announced the one's up for promotion as well," I offered, which wasn't a complete lie.

I knew the training was slowly eating away at him; the stress of potentially having to do his best on everything is weighing heavy on his mind. I'd tried telling him he had nothing to worry about, but he was keen to keep a realistic view.

"I bet. He's got a lot on his mind." He agreed, switching hands.

In spite of the fact that things between us had been a little strained, I was rest assured our time apart may have been exactly what we needed right now. Perhaps a talk about the possibilities of being in a real relationship is in order, not that I knew what would happen. I still wasn't completely a hundred percent sure on my thoughts, but one thing I know for certain is that staying just friends was not an option. It wasn't healthy and our unwillingness to address the issue with seriousness was already taking its toll. I have feelings for Arden; of course I did, but I wasn't sure if acting on them was in our best interests. Considering I was still unclear on things, I'd say I was hardly in a position to make any life-altering decisions, but at least if we openly expressed our emotions, we may have been able to come at things from a better angle. I'm no expert but I'd say if Arden's jealous actions were anything to go by, he wanted more than friendship. It was written all over his face. That being said, it was a tricky situation and one that needed careful attention.