Love and Conspiracy

“Everybody, I want you to meet my new girlfriend, Kat!” Tre announced as he burst through the front door. A petite girl came from behind him.

“Hey Kat,” everyone said in unison.

After Tre introduced what all of our names were to her, they sat down on the couch across from Mike and I. She still had not said a word since she had walked into the house. I just figured that she must’ve been shy.

“I guess no more trips to see Carrie,” Mike mumbled to me. I slightly giggled, causing her to look up at us. However, it wasn’t an innocent look. There was something odd about her that immediately made me uncomfortable. I quickly dropped my smile as she continued to stare me and Mike down.

“Come on, Kat. I’ll show you our wonderful home!”Tre said in a sing-songy voice, breaking the tension. She still remained silent as she followed him out of the room.

“Well, this isn’t awkward,” Mike said sarcastically.

“I know, did you see her staring at us? I thought she was about to attack or something,” I teased, causing Mike to chuckle.

“She doesn’t really seem like his type honestly,” Jess said quietly, fearing that they would hear.

“What are you guys talking about? She seems alright in my opinion. Plus, Tre needs to get laid already,” Chris joked. Jess playfully hit his arm.

It wasn’t long before they came trailing back into the living room once again.

“I think that we need to have a celebration for this new member to our little family!” Tre said cheerfully as he pulled a bottle of Jack Daniels from behind his back.

“Uh, Tre. I don’t think that’s gonna be enough for all of us, buddy,” Chris said.

“Of course not! Go look in the fridge,” Tre answered with a cheeky grin. Chris did as he was told and walked into the kitchen.

“Now that’s what I call a party!” Chris called from the other room.

~~~

Mike began to kiss my cheek and neck as I snuggled closer into him on the couch. He hadn’t shaved for a couple of days, so the stubble was just enough to tickle the side of my face. I let out small giggles, before I couldn’t handle it anymore. I put my hand on his face and looked into his ocean blue eyes. A smile grew on his face.

“You are so beautiful,” he said, not breaking eye contact. Just that simple sentence made my heart flutter. Knowing that words couldn’t say how I felt, I pulled his face to mine and passionately kissed him. He wrapped his arms around my lower back so he could pull me even closer to him as we continued to make out.

“Whoo! Drinks and a show?!” Tre said drunkenly as he stumbled into the room.

“Nope, just drinks,” Mike said and kissed me one more time before we settled into our regular positions next to each other. We were the only two out of the room that decided not to drink.

“Awww!” Tre pouted, before remembering that his ‘girlfriend’ was right behind him. She surprisingly looked a little bubblier than earlier that day. It didn’t take long before they started making out themselves.

“Where’s Billie?” Jess asked from the other side of the room. Mike shrugged.

“He had to go to work, but he should’ve been here by now. Maybe he just decided to stay late,” he answered. It felt like there was a piece of the puzzle missing without him there, even if we still weren’t close. Mike interlocked our fingers before I could finish the thought. I rested my head on his shoulder before dozing off; a smile on my face.

“Luce!” Jess called, snapping me back into reality, “Come here! I wanna show you my new dress!”

I rubbed my eyes and noticed that I was the only one sitting on the couch; everyone else had left the room besides Jess. Without further hesitation, I followed her into her room where she was already pulling off her clothes to put on the dress. It was black and strapless, barely falling to her mid-thigh.

“Wow, it looks great!” I said, tiredly, “What’s the occasion?”

“Chris’ sister is getting married this weekend, so I wanted to get something nice to wear for the wedding,” she said, admiring herself in the mirror.

“Well, hopefully everybody will be able to keep their eyes on the bride!” I joked. She sweetly smiled at me before changing back into her normal clothes.

“Everybody is outside, in case you were wondering,” she said, plopping down on her bed, “I think I’m gonna crash early tonight. Tell Chris for me?”

“Oh, sure! I’ll tell him right away.”

“Great. Night, Luce.”

“Night!” I said, before closing the door to her room.

I wandered back into the living room and was the only one once again. However, I could see through the back window that Chris and Tre were playing beer pong on the porch. As I walked outside, I realized that Mike and Kat were nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Mike?” I asked the guys.

“He’s taking Casey home. Kaleigh. Kayla. Dammit!” Chris mumbled drunkenly, forgetting her name. Neither of them looked up from their game.

“Kat!” Tre yelled happily for him. I sighed before sitting on the porch swing and continuing to watch the guys getting drunk off their asses.

“So Tre, where did you meet that girl of yours?” I asked.

“At a show,” he said proudly, “She’s great. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah… she seems awesome,” I said unenthusiastically, not that he could tell the difference anyways, though. Not wanting to think about her any longer, I closed my eyes and waited patiently for Mike to get back.

Another ten minutes had passed before I heard the back door open.

“How is she?” Tre asked in an over-concerned voice.

“She’s safe and sound at home, don’t worry,” Mike answered before sitting next to me on the swing.

“So how’d you manage to get that job?” I questioned.

“Considering that I was the only sober one awake at the time, I figured that was the best choice,” he teased. I smiled as the tension quickly went away.

“Duh, I should’ve known that,” I laughed. He smiled back at me and kissed my cheek.

“Well, it’s almost one. You think we should call it a night?” he asked.

“Yeah, I think I’ve had enough ‘partying’ for tonight,” I joked.

“Alright, guys. I think we’re heading out of here,” Mike said, grabbing my hand as he stood up, “Don’t forget that we have band practice tomorrow, Tre.”

“Whaa-?” Tre said, completely focused on his next turn. Mike just chuckled as we went through the side gate.

~~~

When we got back to the apartment, Billie Joe was sitting at the top of the steps finishing a cigarette.

“Hey, why didn’t you come over tonight?” Mike asked, unlocking the front door. Billie shrugged.

“Wasn’t really in the mood,” he answered in a low voice.

“Was it busy at the restaurant tonight?”

“Eh, yeah I guess so,” Billie said as we all walked into the living room.

“You missed the privilege of meeting Tre’s girlfriend tonight,” I sarcastically said.

“He has a girlfriend now?” Billie questioned, somewhat shocked.

“Yeah, she’s a strange one, though,” Mike said. Billie was quiet for a moment.

“Damn, now I’m gonna have to hang out with a bunch of couples. What a drag,” he said in a not-so-joking tone. That caused Mike laugh.

“Maybe it’s time for you to look for a new girlfriend then, Bill,” Mike said. I got a strange feeling in my gut when he said that. Almost as if it were a feeling of… Jealously? What the hell do I have to be jealous of? I thought to myself. I quickly pushed the thought away before I could over think it.

“Well, I’m going to bed. I’ll see you guys in the morning,” I said, even though I wasn’t the slightest bit tired.

“I’m right behind you,” Mike answered as he followed me to our room.

“Oh okay. Well, goodnight then, Billie!” I called, but got no response back.

After changing into comfy clothes to sleep in, I laid next to Mike on the bed.

“Well, today was definitely… interesting, to say the least,” I said quietly.

“Yeah, it certainly was,” he answered with a chuckle. I rolled my head to the side so I could look at him. The way the moon shined through the window made him look so dreamy in the dark. I couldn’t help myself, but to gently kiss his lips. His smile widened when I pulled away.

“I love you,” he whispered, causing my heart to skip a beat. He had never said that to me before.

After a long pause of smiling uncontrollably, I shyly whispered back, “I love you, too.”

His smile slowly dropped as he leaned in to kiss me again, more passionately. At the same time, he rested his hand on the side of my hip as he moved closer to me. I gently placed my hands on the sides of his face as I began to explore his mouth with my tongue. As we got more into the kiss, he slowly slid his hand underneath my shirt and up the side of my body. I shivered under his touch.

He moved on to placing gentle kisses all down my jaw line and neck as my hands occupied themselves with his hair. His stubble tickled my skin once again, causing me to let out silent giggles.

It didn’t take long before he met my lips for one last deep kiss. Once he pulled away, he placed kisses on my cheek, each one becoming gentler than the one before. He finally rested his head on top of mine and let out a contented sigh.

“Goodnight, Lucy,” he whispered tiredly.

“Goodnight, Mike,” I said with a smile on my face.