Broken Souls Collide

Chapter 17- Broken Movie Night

REECE

Wesley and I had to quickly set the living room up after I had let Violet and Carter in because we got too carried away with our card games to realize that it had already been going on to six. He didn't say a word as we walked up the stairs, silently offering to help once I told violet and Carter that I was gonna grab some blankets and pillows for us to get comfortable. I kept giving him curious glances as we entered Sammy's room, stealing his blanket and pillows off his bed.

When we entered my room and I handed him a second blanket, he turned to walk back downstairs, still not saying a single word to me. I watched his retreating back in slight worry, it wasn't very usual for Wesley to remain quiet for this long. He always annoyed me to no ends with his constant pestering, but I knew deep down that I really didn't mind it at all. Now that he was finally quiet for more than five minutes, it was clear to me that something was bothering him. I knew he wasn't purposely ignoring me, the unfocused expression he held told me that he was deep in thought.

I wasn't completely dense, I knew his quietness had to do with the last conversation we had before Violet and Carter showed up, I knew he didn't really like hearing me call Carter attractive, and I knew there were very limited reasons as to why he wouldn't like it. I knew all of this, but I refused to delve deeper into the reasons, because the first word to flash in my head in big bold red letters was jealousy. I immediately pushed the thought to the back of my head, I refused to acknowledge the possibility that Wesley's feelings ran a little deeper than friendship.

That our relationship was beginning to run a little deeper than friendship.

I certainly was not ready to acknowledge those possibilities at the time.

I quickly walked out of my room, struggling to hold the four pillows in my hands as they blocked my view. Wesley was about to walk down the stairs but I dropped two of the pillows and tugged on his arm to get his attention. He blinked a few times, breaking through his never ending thoughts and coming back to reality. He slowly turned towards me, his brows scrunched in silent question as to why I suddenly stopped him.

"Hey...are you okay?" I asked in a soft tone, being quiet to make sure Violet and Carter wouldn't hear us from the living room downstairs. Wesley blinked at the question, his facial expression relaxing as he nodded.

"I'm fine," he murmured, sending me a soft smile to convince me further, yet something on his face told me that he was dying to continue where we left off on our last conversation. My eyes flittered across his face for a moment before I sighed and raked a hand through my hair. I decided now would be a good time as any to shut down whatever assumptions and thoughts he was having.

"Look Wesley, What I said about finding Carter attractive...I don't want you to get the wrong idea. Sure, he's a good looking guy, but I've never thought about him as more than a friend," I tried to explain but Wesley only shrugged, an impassive look on his face gave nothing away about what he was feeling.

"It's okay Reece, you don't have to explain yourself, it's none of my business," he spoke nonchalantly, readjusting his grip on the blankets he held. I sighed again at his stubbornness.

"Well you're one of my best friends, so it is a little bit of your business. I don't want anyone getting the wrong impression of mine and Carter's relationship, that dorky irritating piece of shit is honestly like a brother to me. Plus, I tend to attract trouble and you and I have known since Wednesday that Carter cannot protect me from trouble," I tried to joke around at the end of my explanation to lighten the mood and it seemed to work as Wesley let out a small breathy laugh.

"Yeah, he really can't," Wesley agreed with a grin, I returned his grin with a small smile, glad that he was back to how he usually was. After a moment he cleared his throat and spoke again. "So Carter is just like a brother figure to you then?" He asked lowly, making sure nobody but me could hear him.