Priceless

The Nickelsens’ household looked peaceful on the outside, but as soon as Jess and I stepped inside, I realized it was just a facade. It was a ruckus inside—Rachael and Tasha were running around the house, seemingly looking for something; Josh, John Go, and Brian were yelling and laughing at each other as they played a video game; Garrett and Trey were opening some of the alcohol, trying to prevent Stephen from stealing one, and Pat was video-taping the whole scene. I had no idea regarding Jared’s and Kennedy’s whereabouts, but I supposed they were just in the kitchen. Erin, meanwhile, was probably with John.

“Jess, will you go get me some barbeque? I’m really hungry,” Brian called, not looking up from the TV screen.

Jess turned to glare at him as she put her car keys inside her bag. “Hello to you, too, jerk. Nice seeing you,” she snapped at him.

“You’re such a ray of sunshine today, Jess,” Pat commented, focusing the lens on her and she flipped him off silently. “Thanks for that!”

Pat then moved the camera to me, and I quickly turned away as I started walking to the boys who were engrossed on their game. I plopped down beside Josh, and listened to his simultaneous curses and cheers directed to each of his playmates. I was so focused on trying to understand the purpose of the game they were so engrossed in, I didn’t notice someone had sat beside me already until something touched my arm. I looked to my right, only to be greeted by a hand carrying a red cup. I moved my gaze up to the eyes of the boy I’d chosen and the moment he sent me a smile, I melted inside.

“Have a drink,” he offered, motioning to the cup he was holding. “They won’t give me Jack yet, so I got Coca-Cola.”

I smiled back at him and took the cup, “Thanks.”

I looked back to the TV screen and brought the cup up to my lips, aware that he was just staring at me and smiling. Knowing that just made my heart beat faster than usual, because as I’d stated more than once, he had that effect on me.

“So Bails, how was New York?” Josh asked, pausing the game and setting his controller down as he turned to me. The others got up so I assumed that the game was over.

“It was okay,” I answered, trying not to think of the fact that Stephen had flown there to see me, which made the whole trip amazing, excluding the detail that Mom had seen us at the roof and had seen him again on the plane.

Josh raised his eyebrows at me and smirked, “Just okay? It wasn't [i[exciting? Or anything close to that?”

“Josh, fuck off,” Stephen snapped from beside me and this made me glance quickly at him, but turned my attention back to Josh quickly enough to see that he had playfully winked at that Stephen before addressing me again.

“I’m sure you’re gonna have another ‘okay’ time tonight, Bailey,” he said, using air quotes, and then walked away, leaving me there sort of confused. I turned to Stephen for an explanation, and he started it with a sigh.

“He knows that I flew there,” he said, his voice only intended for me to hear. “I tell him a lot.”

A small “oh” left my mouth, because I didn’t know what else to say. But really I was wondering what else Stephen had told him. If Josh knew about all the moments we’ve had, what did he think of me, knowing I was in a relationship with someone else?

Soon, Tasha called us both and we just went to the kitchen, not saying anything anymore. The night then started with the boys blasting On the Other Side loudly and it echoed through the whole house, as we started drinking and singing along to the song. Well, as they did, because I for one just watched them sing with a drink on hand, smiling at these friends of mine who meant the world to me.

The countdown to 12 AM had finally started, and each of us said our wishes to Erin after taking shots, and of course it was John who was the last. I tried to focus on what he was saying, but quite frankly I couldn’t because I was distracted by the view of Stephen and Josh who were whispering and smiling to each other. I was dying to know what they were talking about, to be honest, and I didn’t know why—but maybe it had something to do with the fact that Josh knew about...well, us? I didn’t know if it was proper to term it that way, but I couldn’t think of anything else.

After that everyone just began to dance, while I went to get another drink. I was busy pouring Jack onto my cup when all of a sudden, someone hugged me slowly from behind. The mere fact that my heart had started racing already made me realize who that person was even before I could look at him.

“Bailey...” he started. He didn’t look drunk, and I could tell he wasn’t. But he wasn’t fully sober either. Still, I knew that alcohol wasn’t the reason for him suddenly hugging me like this.

I fully faced him, fighting the urge to smile when I saw his pleading eyes stare into mine. “Yes, Stephen?”

“I want alone time.” He pouted. “I know it’s Erin’s birthday and all, but she’s kinda busy with John, she won’t notice us if we go somewhere else.”

I raised my eyebrows at him, “You want us to go somewhere else?” I questioned. “Stephen, we can’t. They’ll see us. And then this will become an issue. And—”

“Josh will cover for us,” he said with a small laugh. “Listen, I just—I just wanna get away from this noise for a while. I really wanna spend time with you, alone. I promise I won’t do or say anything crazy—let’s just leave as pure friends.”

Pure friends? I doubt I could act like that towards him, because quite frankly I already had this mindset that he wasn’t one of my friends, because yes, he was more than that.

“Look,” he started again when I didn’t answer, taking his arms away from my waist, “I promise, I’ll behave.”

His eyes were really begging me to agree, but still I had doubts—because he could keep his words and stay true to his promise, but what if I lost control? What if I got lost in his eyes and disregard the pure friends hangout he’d proposed?

But I honestly wanted alone time with him, too. It was probably risky, and if Tasha finds out I knew she was going to lecture me, but despite it all I found myself sighing and agreeing to what he wanted.

“Alright, let’s go,” I said.