Sooner or Later

Kenzie was currently enjoying her day off, sitting cuddle up on the couch, eating pizza and catching up on episodes of How I Met Your Mother. She groaned as her phone rang next to her. She glanced at the screen before answering it.

“Hello?”

“Hey baby,” she was greeted on the other end. Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment.

“Garrett?” she asked. She’d seen the boy’s name on her phone, but the way he was speaking made her wonder if it was really him.

“Of course it’s me. How’s your day off?”

“It’s fine….” She replied hesitantly. “What are you doing?”

“I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me tonight.”

“No, Garrett, what are you doing?” she asked again, trying to get the boy to explain what his intentions were for acting like this.

“I was thinking that Italian restaurant in town that you like?” he suggested.

“Yeah, sure I guess….Are you going to tell me why though?”

“Because you’re my girlfriend and I’m allowed to spoil you. I’ll pick you up at six. Wear something nice,” Kenzie could almost hear him smirking. He hung up, leaving her just as confused as ever. She tried to think nothing of it, turning her attention back to the television. Her phone buzzed again with a text message.

I told you, just trust me.

It was pretty hard to trust someone when they were manipulating you into doing things and you had no idea what the fuck was going on, but for some reason, she did it anyway.

It bothered her all afternoon until about five o'clock. He'd asked her out on a date, not to hang out. And he said to look pretty, he probably meant 'girly'. This might take a little time. She tried for a half hour to plan out a 'pretty' outfit, but she couldn't. She reluctantly called Shannon for help. She still believed that John had feelings for the girl, so she would have to keep up her act of a supportive friend, despite her sudden epiphany about her own feelings for the boy. As predicted, the girl in question was more than happy to help, dictating what pieces of clothing to match up within ten minutes. A plain back tight fitted long sleeved shirt with a black and white striped skirt. She didn't anything with her hair, leaving it tied up in the ponytail it was already in.

It was six by the time she was ready so she decided to go and wait for Garrett down in the lobby. It was perfect timing too, seeing as he was just pulling up to the curb in his old beat up car.

“So you going to tell me what this is about Nicklesen?” She asked as she pulled open the passenger side door and climbed into the car.

“All in good time my love. Be patient,” he chuckled, turning up the Elvis CD that he had playing. She tried to get it out him for the car ride but he wouldn’t budge.

“Well I hope you know that you specified that this was a date, so I didn’t bring my wallet,” they climbed out of the car and Garrett placed his hand on her lower back, guiding her towards the door of the restaurant. “So thanks for dinner baby.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek as he gave his name to the hostess. It was only by the time that they had placed their orders with the waiter.

“So tonight is all about proving to you that John is in love with you,” Garrett announced.

“Don’t use the L word,” she hissed. “And I call bullshit!” Garrett rolled his eyes. “Besides, how is a date going to prove your point?”

“Well I was at the 8123 offices with the guys today and I want to try a little experiment. When I called you I was standing next to John. I figure, if he likes you, he’s going to have a problem with me being with you. And if I know John, which I do very well thank you very much, he gets what he wants by any means necessary. You of all people should know that right?”

He had a point. Kenzie had witnessed John’s perseverance on many occasions. Being captain of the baseball team, getting Rachel to go to prom with him senior year, making the band successful… Fuck, the release of Pioneer was the prime example. She didn’t grace Garrett with a response though; she simply pursed her lips and glared at him. She didn’t like where this was going.

“Anyway, he wants you, whether he knows it or not yet, and he will do everything in his power to break us up so that he can be with you. So when he walks through those doors tonight, you’ll see that I’m right and you’re wrong.” He smiled smugly, leaning back against his chair as he took a sip of wine.

“I hate you.” He grinned triumphantly.

“I love you too darling,” he winked at her.

“Gary, why are you insisting on doing this? I told you that if he was happy, I’m happy. Who cares if I have a crush on him? Doesn’t every girl get a crush on her best friend at least once? I’m just a late bloomer, always have been! Just give it time, it’ll blow over, stop meddling in his life.”

“Kenzie, you and John are some of my closest friends. His happiness and your happiness are my priority, and believe me, you are not happy that he’s in a relationship with another woman. The two of you are meant to be together and I will make that happen if that’s the last thing I do.”

“It will be the last thing you do,” she muttered as the waiter placed their plates in front of them. “Because I’m going to murder you before you succeed.”

It was a nice dinner, regardless of the death threat. As the night advanced Kenzie got happier as well as more disappointed. So far there was no sight of John, so she had proven Garrett wrong; he didn’t have feelings for her. On the other hand, a little part of her wanted him to have feelings for her.

The waiter brought them their bill and they got up to go pay.

“Baby look who’s here!” an all too familiar voice exclaimed. Garrett grinned like the Cheshire cat, before turning around to greet Shannon and John. Kenzie took a moment to compose herself before turning towards them as well; making sure that her jaw wasn’t clenched anymore. Damn Garrett.

“I told you that outfit would look good on you Kenzie! Doesn’t she look great Garrett?” Shannon exclaimed.

“She looks amazing,” the boy agreed. “I’m more interested in the clothes she’s hiding under these ones though, if you know what I mean,” he chuckled grinning at John who laughed along, although it seemed a little forced.

“Shut up,” Kenzie muttered, hitting him in the chest.

“I take that you’re feeling better?” John asked his best friend. “You never called…”

“Sorry, I was on the couch all day. This one’s orders,” she gestured to Garrett. What was she doing? Why was she going along with this? It wasn’t a complete lie though; she had been on the couch all day.

“In that case we should reschedule another double date!” Shannon exclaimed happily.

“Mr. O’Callaghan, your table is ready,” the hostess interrupted.

“Well, we’ll let you get back to your evening,” Garrett said, lacing his fingers through Kenzie’s and tugging her slightly towards the door.

“As will we, you two have fun,” Shannon winked, pulling her boyfriend away from the couple so that they could follow the woman that was escorting them to their table.

“I told you so,” a certain bearded fellow whispered into Kenzie’s ear. She whirled around to face the boy.

“I hate you so much right now Garrett, why are you making me do this?” she asked.

“I’m not making you do anything,” the boy pointed out. “You’re doing this all on your own, because you know I’m right and you know you want this.”

Could he possibly be right? Could she want John to dump Shannon for her?

“Gare, why would I want two people I helped be together to break up?” she asked as he took a step towards her, wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her to his chest.

“Because you’re in love with one of those two people,” he whispered. “Now, John’s glaring this way so you have to decide ; are you in or not? Cause if you are, we have to sell it.”

She pondered everything for a moment; she honestly didn’t know what she wanted. She was still very confused about all of this. Garrett started to lean in and she panicked, turning her head. He recovered nicely, placing his lips on her neck as she glanced across the crowded restaurant. She could see John and Shannon. Garrett was right. Rather than listening to his girlfriend who was chatting up a storm, he was looking at her and his band mate, gripping at his menu so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

That tiny voice that had shown itself earlier showed up in her head again. The selfish little voice was telling her to do this, Gare was right, it was now or never. And if she acted now, and decided against it in a couple of days, or weeks, they could always just back out.

“I’m in,” she said turning her head back towards Garrett and pulling him into a kiss.

It wasn’t the worst kiss she ever had, but it was definitely the weirdest. As Garrett pulled away and grinned at her, she resisted the urge to gag. It had been like kissing her brother, if she had one that is. She smiled back at him and they joined hands before leaving the restaurant without looking back.

“Was that as weird for you as it was for me?” Kenzie asked when they were both in the safety of Garrett’s car.

“Oh thank god I wasn’t the only one who felt that,” he sighed with relief. “For a minute there I was afraid you were going to fall for me too.” Kenzie didn’t laugh; instead she punched him in the arm making him groan in pain.

“Damn it Kenzie, are you even a woman?” he exclaimed.

“Don’t make me punch you again!” she warned. She leaned back in the seat and gazed out the window. This had certainly been a weird and confusing night. Not only had she come to terms with having a crush on her best friend recently, but she had also come to the realisation that it was probably more than just a crush. It had to be if she wanted to break him and his girlfriend up. She felt that she was going to be sick all over again.

“Garrett does this make me a bad person?” she asked. He turned down the volume of the radio so that they could speak.

“It may not be the most morally correct thing to do, but we’re not forcing them to break up…We’re just going to try to influence John to do that. I mean, that doesn’t sound that much better, but think of it this way; when has someone ever told you not to pursue the person you liked?”

He did make a valid point. “And if it turns out that he doesn’t like me, we could always just abort the plan, right?”

“That won’t happen, but yes if it comes to that we will, I promise. “ He pulled over to the curb in front of her apartment and put his car into park.

“I suppose that makes me feel a little better… Just promise me we won’t take this too far okay?” she extended her pinky to him. She had this thing for pinky promises, all the guys made fun of her for liking such a childish gesture.

“I do,” the boy replied, smirking slightly as he wrapped his own pinky around hers.

“Thank you Gary, you really are the best guy for this; the best fake boyfriend a girl could ask for.”

“Eh, don’t mention it. Just doing my job,” he smiled. There was a pause before Garrett leaned in and pressed his lips to hers again. He pulled away almost immediately however.

“Oh god, nope, no. I’m sorry, so very sorry. That was a mistake, a very big mistake!” he exclaimed, a horrified look painted across his face. “I don’t know what came over me.”

Kenzie laughed, patting him on the arm where she had punched him earlier. He winced a little under her touch. That was going to leave a bruise in the morning.

“That’s okay Garrett. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek and climbed out of his car. If they had learned something tonight is that she and Garrett had absolutely no feelings for each other whatsoever.