Easy to Fall in Love

"So what's good here?" Nick asked after we sat down.

"Everything." Justin and I said at the same time.

"Seriously. Daisy cooks, runs the business, and waitresses. She's amazing." I flipped through the menu.

"I remember the first time you brought me here. I think I had three bowls of chili and a whole fried chicken."

"Hmm actually I think it was more like 5 bowls and two chickens," I teased him. I put my finger up to my chin like I was thinking.

"Oh do you?" He looked at me and smiled

"Uh huh." I nodded and laughed. I glanced over at Nick and he was looking between the two of us grinning wider than I'd ever seen.

***

After we ordered our food Justin went to the bathroom.

"So what did you two do today?" Nick asked casually.

"We went down to this beautiful river behind his house to take some pictures." I poured some sugar in my iced tea and stirred, listening to the clink of metal and glass. "I'm a photographer," I added.

"Oh, wow. Can I see them sometime?"

"I actually have my camera with me right now." I dug through my bag and pulled out my camera. I went over to the opposite side of the booth, next to Nick. I scrolled through the pictures, showing him my favorites and laughing.

"You're really good." Nick commented.

"You think so?" I cocked my head to the side.

"Definitely. I don't know all the right terms and how to talk about the light, or whatever, but I do know these are damn awesome."

"Thanks." I glowed from his complement. "But I mean, it wasn't all me. I had a great model. Little bit of a diva, but he was worth it." I laughed at my own joke.

"So, tell me about your boyfriend." Nick quickly changed the subject. "Justin never mentioned him."

"Oh. Well that's because he hadn't met him yet. We just got together when he left, so he only found out a few days ago." I continued looking through my photos from earlier.

"Really? That's interesting." I stopped and looked up from my camera screen.

"You think so?" I asked confused. Why was he so interested in Adam? "That seems to be a popular opinion around here. Ever since Justin came back he's been really weird about Adam. And around me, too. He makes all these comments and acts like he's going to...do something. I know he's not, but he's been giving off strange vibes." Nick started laughing. I wrinkled my nose in annoyance. "What?"

"Excuse me if I sound rude, but are you blind?" Nick kept on laughing.

"I don't get it, what is so funny?" I furrowed my eyebrows. What the hell?

"I have no idea how you don't see it." Nicked wiped away tears from him eyes.

"SEE WHAT?" I practically screamed.

"Sorry, sorry." He put a hand on my shoulder. "Justin. He's like completely in love with you." I froze.It sounded like there was water in my ears, because I could still hear everything around me, but it was muffled. The only thing I could hear clearly was my wild heartbeat, coming from within. It was pounding from my chest into my ear, rushing blood around. My palms started to sweat and I blankly stared at the table. Then I snapped out of it.

"Ha ha. Very Funny." I shook my head and laughed.

"I'm serious." Nick looked directly into my eyes, but still I shook my head.

"No. No way." I violently shook my head.

"Did you know when you wouldn't talk to him he shut himself up in a room and wouldn't come out? He wouldn't come out to eat or interact with us. He wrote five songs about it. About you. I mean they talk about damn near every detail of you except your name. Then the day you called him back, you should have seen him. He did a complete 180. It was kind of scary, actually. The amount of control you have over him. He talked all day long about how smart you are and how funny you are. He went on and on about your passion and how fiercely you cared about people. I can't tell you how bad we all wanted to meet you. I can only imagine his first thoughts when you told him about your boyfriend."

I was speechless. I mean, what do I say? What do I do? My mind is in overload. Luckily, I didn't have time to react because Justin came back.

"Hey. Sorry I took forever, but my mom called and once she gets you on the phone, that's it." Justin slid into the booth.

"It's okay man, we were chatting anyway." He nudged me.

"Yeah. Just chatting." I swallowed hard.

"Are you okay?" Justin asked concerned. "Why are you over there? Leaving me for Nick?" He laughed sipped his water.

"Oh. I was just, um, showing Nick the photos from today." I moved back over to the other side. Now I was very aware of Justin's arm around my shoulders. The side of his thigh pressed against mine and how his other hand was gently resting on my knee. And it felt nice.

But I don't think these are things friends do.