The Beating of Our Hearts

*Jared’s P.O.V.*
I couldn’t take my eyes off them for the rest of the night; Riley looked like she was having a great time. Shannon noticed nothing, not Riley sat ten feet from us and not my extreme lack of concentration on our conversation. Every time she smiled or laughed with him it pulled at my heart, it should be me she was on a date with, me who was making her laugh.

But I guess I gave up that opportunity when I told her that nothing could happen between us for her own good. Why the hell did I say that? That moment was probably the most idiotic of my life; I let the woman of my dreams slip through my fingers.

As they stood up to leave I almost got up and followed them. I had to grip onto the chair to stop myself. They were leaving together, what did that mean? Were they going home together, were they going to spend the night together? Just the thought of his fingers on her skin made my blood boil, it couldn’t happen. I wouldn’t allow it to happen. I gave it a few minutes so I knew they were out of the building before I excused myself to ‘go to the bathroom’.

As soon as I was out of Shannon’s view, I grabbed my phone and dialled Riley’s number. She didn’t pick up. I tried again, still no answer. By the third attempt I was almost going crazy, she usually picks up her phone, what could she be doing to have her so distracted from picking it up?

*Regular P.O.V.*
By the time I got home I had three missed calls from Jared. I can’t believe I had managed to stay strong and not answer, I needed time to think, and something that Jacob had said really struck a chord in me.
When I got home I took a quick shower and put on my pyjamas before settling in front of the TV with a mug of hot chocolate. I needed to seriously confront my feelings for Jared. Because yes, I had feelings for him; strong, deep, powerful feelings. I was openly admitting that to myself now, it needed to be done. My phone buzzed on the table, it was a text from Shannon.

Plan worked perfectly, Jared is going nuts with jealousy right now. Told you so : ) He wanted to get out of the restaurant asap, I think he might head over to yours.
So if I finally believed Shannon in what he had been telling me for all these months, then I had to accept that Jared had feelings for me too. That we both wanted each other.

The way I felt about Jared was something I don’t think I’d ever felt before; I felt like he would protect me from everything, and I wanted to do the same for him. I wanted to be there for him, comfort him and support him; yet at the same time I wanted to rip his clothes off and have my way with him.
I think Jacob might have been right. I think I was in love with Jared, and I had been all along. Now I just had to prepare myself for what comes next.

*Jared’s P.O.V.*
I love her. I love her. He can’t have her because I love her. I need to tell her that I love her, no more fucking around this time.
My mind was repeating those same sentences over and over in my head as I frantically made my way over to Riley’s apartment. Since we had taken Shannon’s car to the restaurant, I had to go all the way back to our house to get my own car. I don’t know whether it was just the situation but Shannon’s driving seemed a lot slower than normal; the one time I need him to be Speed Racer he decides to go granny driver on me. We had barely pulled into the driveway bore I had my door open and I was sprinting to the house to retrieve my car keys.

“What’s up Jared?” Shannon called as he trailed behind me.
“I’ve got somewhere to be. I’ll see you later.” I yelled as I dashed back out of the house in record time and made my way over to my car.

I swear I could see Shannon smirking as I pulled out onto the road. But I didn’t think about it, all I could think was that I loved Riley and I couldn’t sit by and let her fall for someone else.

*Regular P.O.V.*
He’s on his way over, drove out of here like a bat out of hell. Have fun, be safe ;)
I re-read the text Shannon sent me, its words once again causing an eruption of butterflies in my stomach. I was going to face up to what I had been feeling, I was going to tell Jared how I felt and I wasn’t going to chicken out.

I pulled the belt of my dressing gown a little tighter and went back to sitting on the sofa, taking deep breaths in order to calm myself.

I had been sitting there quietly for ten minutes before I heard a frantic knocking on the door. I knew immediately that it was Jared, who must have forgotten he had his own key to my apartment. Standing up, my heart went into overdrive, as if trying to warn me against making it so vulnerable to another human being.

I stood up and made my way over to the door, checking through the peephole that it was indeed Jared before opening the door.
He tumbled into the hallway, looking around wild-eyed at the surroundings, as if searching for something.
“Where is he?” He asked quickly.
“Who?” My voice sounded calm, even though I was sure the hammering of my heart could be easily heard it was so loud.
“The guy from the restaurant, Jacob. Where is he?” Jared spun around the room, still searching for him.
“He probably went home to call his girlfriend.”

“What?” Now Jared had turned to face me, his eyes boring into mine.
“But you were having dinner with him. You were on a date with him.” He sputtered, trying to make sense of everything.
“We were just two friends catching up, he was telling me about how he met a girl.” I responded.
“Oh.” Jared suddenly calmed down.
“Was that all?” I asked, now almost on the verge of enjoying watching Jared become confused, even through my anxiety.

“Wha-? Oh. No! No, it wasn’t. There was something else, something important that I need to tell you.”
His words brought back every ounce of anxiety, I just hoped against hope that Shannon’s intuitions were correct.
“Well then let’s go sit down, because there’s something important I need to tell you too.”