Stay With Them Tonight

ALLIE P.O.V.

I put the plates in the dishwasher and slowly walked to the living room, reluctantly taking a seat beside Jason. Even though I felt . . . weird about the situation with Ginger, I couldn’t help sitting right next to him, like I had since my babysitting weekend started.

Jason was a silent presence beside me, and even though I was avoiding looking at him (would he know, would he see it if I looked at him?), I noticed every shift he made. He sat staring forward, elbows on knees, before leaning back next to me, sighing.

“My brother and Kelly are planning something.” He said and I grimaced.

“That can’t be good.” I thought of all the horrible things they could do as a team. I’m sure it would be embarrassing for us, or involve some matchmaking, knowing Kelly. She usually knew I liked someone before I myself did, and I wondered if that was the reason she had shoved us together. We sat in silence, contemplating what they could be trying to do.

“Are your parents home yet?” I asked, wanting to dissolve the silence.

“Mhm. Got back earlier, I guess they had a good time. My mom couldn’t stop talking,” He said. Jason may not have realized it, but before he never would have given me such a “long” answer. For Jason, that was long, or it would have been two weeks, even one week ago.

“Why are you smiling?” He asked. I leaned my head back on the couch and closed my eyes. I was never good at keeping secrets, and I felt the words wanting to come out.

I like you, Idiot. I wanted to say it. I took a deep breath, feeling my cheeks heat up.

I couldn’t say it. Not to him, not yet. It was Jason.

“Nothing,” I said instead. I kept the smile on my face slightly, trying to imagine a good situation if I ever told him. Not the best idea, considering he was so close I could feel the heat radiating off his body, but I had always been a daydreamer.

He shifted next to me. I suddenly felt his breath on my face and my eyes flew open a second before his lips pressed against mine. He had his eyes slightly open, and we locked gazes, connected by our lips. I heard my heart pounding in my head, and my mind raced, trying to figure out what he was doing. Was it impulse? Or something else?

I realized he had stayed there for a few seconds; his lips were a soft pressure against mine. It felt like it used every bit of my strength to push him away, and we stared at each other. My hand wanted to press against my burning lips, but I couldn’t do it in front of him, it would look weird. It wasn’t my first (like he didn’t already know that), but it was one of the few that had made me so flustered, in a horribly good way.

I got up silently and walked into the nearby bathroom, pushing the door shut roughly. It made a satisfactory bang and I stared at myself in the mirror, seeing my hand lift and smother my mouth, pressing against the memory of the kiss. My whole face felt hot.

I was alone for five minutes before the door clicked open, and Jason walked in. He shut the door quietly behind him and studied me, looking for a reaction.

I stepped back, too overloaded to glare effectively at him.

“You kissed me!” I accused pointlessly.

“Sorry,” he said quietly. I was about to yell again when I registered what he said. He just apologized? I had hardly ever heard him apologize, and never seriously. He scratched the back of his head, looking at me oddly. His eyes were piercing; the green in them compelling and bright, while the brown surrounded the green like shadows.

“Sorry?” I repeated dumbly.

“It was probably a bad idea,” he admitted.

“I won’t argue with that. Why?” I demanded, struggling to hold onto my anger in the face off his non-Jason-ness. This side of him was disarming. He wasn’t cocky, or joking, or pissed off, or anything else I had seen him before.

“Why kiss you? Or why say sorry about it?” he asked. He still hadn’t moved, and that only disarmed me further. Why did he come in here? I knew if I tried to get past him, he would let me. He wasn’t the type of guy to keep girls against their wills.

To test this thought, I moved towards him, angling at the door. He stepped aside, allowing me access to it. I stopped, glad I was right. I put my hand on the doorknob, just in case. He didn’t even glance at it, showing no intentions of keeping me here if I didn’t want to be.

Because I had moved, we were now closer. We stood just a barely over a foot away from each other, and I had to look up at him to meet his eyes.

“Both,” I answered.

“I don’t know why I kissed you. I’m sorry . . . because I want to do it again.” His eyes searched mine and he slowly brought his face closer.

*****

KELLY P.O.V.

Ryan, Tyler and I made our way to Tyler’s apartment, none of us talking much. The streets were familiar, and I watched absentmindedly as we passed the school and places I had been seeing all my life.

I couldn’t stop grinning- my best friend was in like with Jason. I was surprised I hadn’t noticed it before- when we had barged into her house, she had kept glancing, maybe even staring at Jason.

I grinned evilly when I thought of all of the things I could do to push them together. Unknown to me, Allie felt a shiver down her back while I thought of these things. But, I didn’t know, and continued planning weird situations in which I could get them to admit liking each other.

We got to Tyler’s apartment, and he asked to talk to me. I looked at Ryan, who shrugged, and pecked him on the lips before following Tyler into his room.

I was sure eventually I would stop constantly kissing, hugging, or holding hands with Ryan, but this being the first stage in the relationship, every second felt like an eternity without him. I’m dramatic, but I was a girl with her first really good boyfriend, and I couldn’t get enough of him.

“What’s up?” I asked as I shut the door behind us. I would recruit him to my plan of bringing the two idiots together as soon as he told me what he wanted to. Or, that was what I thought, until he uttered these words:

“I know I’m an ass for even thinking this, two years too late, but I think I like your best friend,” he said in a rush. I stared at him, feeling my stomach drop a little. He liked Allie?

“. . . Katie?” I asked for clarification. He shook his head no. I sighed and sat on the bed next to him.

“Who?” I asked, knowing and dreading the answer.

“Allie,” he said simply. “Do you know if she feels anything still?” he asked quietly. I knew, I just knew, that Allie wasn’t completely over him. She was the type that when she fell, she fell hard. She would probably feel something for him for the rest of her life, even if she married Jason and had ten babies (like I was planning to happen).

“Now, Ty!? Really? You broke my friend’s heart, and now you decide you want to do it all over again!?” I glared at him, yelling but not loud enough that Ryan would hear.

“I’m sorry, Kells, but what was I supposed to do? Go out with a fourteen-year old when I was a senior, ready to leave for college? And mislead her when I didn’t like her then?” he asked, exasperated.

“Maybe, I don’t know! Why now, Tyler? Why!?” I shouldn’t have been mad at him. In fact, maybe five hours before, I would have been ecstatic for him and pushed them together. Before I learned Jason liked Allie, and Allie liked him back. Now I was just upset that my best friend had two guys that seemed to like her, and it was unfair to make her choose when she liked them both back.

“Why now? Because she’s different, Kells. She was always different, but she’s grown up now! Maybe if she had been like this then, I would have liked her! She’s the same Allie I always knew, and I liked her as a good friend then, but she’s more mature.

“She’s a lot like my ex, did you know that? Except realized my ex is a lot like her.” he laid back on his bed, moving his arm over his eyes and lying still.

“Ty . . .”

“She’s so fuc-” he stopped quickly and changed his word while I sighed. My perfect plans were ruined. “-freaking beautiful, Kelly. Yeah, she’s a little younger than me, but I’ve known the girl forever. Something just feels familiar and good when I’m with her. Hell, I was jealous of your boyfriend’s brother, and she didn’t even like him a few weeks ago. I’m just sorry she’s your best friend.” He sighed. He hated cussing around me, I knew that, but he seemed stressed and unsure of himself. He also tended to let it all out at once, which was easier than the thirty minutes it takes for Allie to admit anything.

I lay down next to him, laying my head on his chest to show him I was there for him.

“I don’t care that she’s my best friend. I just don’t want her to hurt her again,” I said carefully.

“Do you know if she likes me? Should I try to ask her out?” He asked. I groaned.

“She never even told me she liked you,” I said, trying not to lie. That I knew she did like Tyler before and then still did, in some way, was irrelevant. It was also irrelevant, the fact that I knew she liked Jason, but she hadn’t said anything. I still tried to give my best advice to my brother.

“Don’t push her. I’m sure she likes you as a friend, at least. Maybe you should just ask her out, without making it obvious that you are. Allie’s usually oblivious anyway” I suggested. I felt guilty, wanting Allie to be with my brother, who was a good guy, but also wanting her to be with Jason. I was torn, and I wouldn’t even have to make the decision.

I felt him let out his breath, thinking things over. “I like her, Kell-bell.” He said, using the nickname he and Allie had invented forever ago.

“Wait to tell her until I know she still likes you. I’ll ask her,” I said. I would also ask her about Jason. I wouldn’t push her either way, instead simply finding out which she liked more and supporting her decision.

“Ry’s probably wondering where we ran off to,” I realized suddenly. I sat up and Ty put his hand on my shoulder, looking up at me.

“Don’t get hurt, either, Kelly.” He said seriously.

“Ryan’s a good guy,” I said smiling.

“I know. I like him, actually. I don’t know if I like his brother, but Ryan does seem good. Just make sure he knows I’ll come knocking if he hurts my baby sister,” he teased. I felt a wave of happiness come over me, making me tear up.

I had always cherished Tyler all the more because we hadn’t been together our whole lives. Tyler and I hadn’t met until he was around ten, because he had been living with his biological dad, who was abusive. My mom found out, and now his dad was in jail. Tyler came into my life, and I’ve loved him ever since.

My whole family was in love with him, including my dad, who treated him like he was his own son. Sometimes I forgot we weren’t 100% related, but I would remember at times like these, when I was thankful that I was lucky enough to have him.

I loved him, but I also loved Allie. And I knew that, whatever the world thought about him, Jason was a pretty decent guy. How was I supposed to let anyone down? I knew I would feel like it was my fault if Allie didn’t choose either one. Either I was letting my boyfriend’s brother down, or my own brother. It was a tough thing to think about, and I knew everyone was right when they said I meddled too much, always feeling responsible for things.

“I love you, Ty.” I told him truthfully. He sat up and enveloped me in a hug.

“Don’t get all sentimental on me, baby sis. But I love you, too.”

“Awww,” I said, laughing at him. “Somebody else is getting sentimental.”

“Yeah, right. Now let’s go out and make sure that boyfriend of yours hasn’t died of old age waiting for us.” He quickly stood up, smiling, and we left the room.

*****