Black & White

January 1, 2020

The pair spent the majority of New Years Day tangled in the sheets, enjoying each other’s company and making up for lost time in so many ways.

“I’m hungry,” Halvo groaned when the clock finally struck 2 p.m.

“Maybe we should think about getting up…” Chaney was starting to be hungry as well, she’d barely eaten in the past twenty-four hours. With an exaggerated groan Eric pushed himself into a seated position and then got out of bed. He pulled on his boxers and dress pants from the night before as his former best friend shamelessly perved out on him. He paused, looking around the floor for his shirt before he remembered that the girl he’d left in bed had pinched it when she’d pulled on her underwear to run to the bathroom earlier.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, getting up from the bed and started undoing the buttons. “Here.”

He strode over to her, taking her hands and placing them at her sides so that she would stop what she was doing. “It looks better on you anyway,” he smirked, causing her to blush slightly.

“I’ll just go borrow something of John’s.” His things were currently at his parents’ house, where he was staying for a couple of days. He used his index to tilt the girl’s chin up so that he could press a sweet, linger kiss to her mouth. “I’ll be back.”

Chaney sat down on the bed with a sigh, still in a daze. Her mind was still reeling over the events of last night. She snapped out of it when Eric stepped back into the room, wearing a plain t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. He smirked, noticing that she had yet to put anymore clothes on.

“Here,” he said, tossing a pair of shorts that had fallen out of her bag the night before. “I doubt John and Kelly will enjoy that lacy underwear as much as I do,” he winked. With a blush, she pulled on the shorts and let Eric grab her hand and lead her out of the room and towards the kitchen.

“Good morning,” John smirked, rolling his sleepy eyes at the two. He and Kelly were seated at the table, fulling clothed, eating what seemed to be lunch. Chaney’s cheeks were still burning as she gave them a small wave, tugging on the shirt she was wearing, suddenly wishing she’d taken the time to change. Or at least run a brush through her hair. If her’s was anything like Halvo’s; it screamed ‘I had sex all night.’ Although she didn’t doubt that the couple at the table knew exactly what had gone on between them. “As much as I love having you man, are you planning on spending your stay here with Van Gogh locked away in my guest bedroom?” John asked, confirming Chaney’s suspicions. “And are those my clothes?” his expression suddenly changed from teasing to horrified.

“Oh, um, yeah, sorry,” Eric muttered, ignoring the first question, as he made himself at home, rooting through John’s pantry looking for something to eat. He’d visited his friend a couple of times, so he wasn’t too shy about crossing boundaries.

“It’s fine, keep them,” John shuddered. “But about the bunking situation….? I hadn’t really planned on three houseguests…” He was clearly hinting that he’d very much like to spend some quality time with his fiance before she had to leave, and having Chaney and Halvo down the hall keeping them up all night didn’t really set the mood.

“John it’s fine,” Kelly hissed at him. The boy had told her about wanting to try and get his two friends back together for ages, now that it was happening she didn’t want to ruin it.

“No, don’t worry Kel. I’ll be out of your guys’ hair soon.” He pulled out some cereal and poured two bowls, placing one in front of Chaney who was sitting at the kitchen island. She was currently feeling very embarrassed about the whole situation. They’d crossed a couple of lines last night. Halvo didn’t seem at all bothered by it, so she could be embarrassed enough for the both of them.

After breakfast, Chaney and Halvo found themselves back in their room. Halvo had just pulled on his outfit from the night before, slinging his suit jacket over his shoulder.

“Okay,” he said, kissing Chaney, who was still only in her tiny pair of spandex shorts and a hoodie she’d dug out of her bag when she gave Eric his shirt back. “I’m gonna go shower,” he kissed her again. “And change at my parent’s.” Another kiss. “I’ll be back in a bit.” The final kiss lingered a little too long.

“If you don’t leave I might pull those clothes off of you again,” she groaned into his lips. He chuckled, pulling again but pecking her lips a couple more times.

“Okay, I’ll be back.” He grinned at her, backing his way out of the room, not breaking eye contact until he had to round the corner. When he was finally out of sight, she sighed happily before grabbing some clothes from her bag and her toiletries, heading to the bathroom so that she could shower. She came out twenty minutes later feeling light as a feather and refreshed. She pulled on a pair of patterned leggings and a large, navy knit sweater before tying her damp hair into a messy bun on the top of her head. She sauntered out into the house to wait for Halvo to come back.

Kelly was in the kitchen, typing away on her laptop and she found John in the living room, flicking through channels.

“Hey, you found some clothes,” John teased as she sat down next to him on the couch. She shoved his shoulder gently and brought her legs to her chest so that she could rest her chin on her knees as she kept her eyes glued to the screen.

“So did you work everything out?” he said, breaking the silence.

“What do you mean?” the girl asked.

“I mean, did you guys talk before jumping into bed together?” A blush rose to the girl’s face and John turned to face her on the couch.

“Chaney!” he exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, it just happened!” she defended herself.

“You were supposed to talk; catch up; make amends! Do you even know where you guys stand with this whole arrangement?”

“We love each other John, what more is there to know?” the boy sighed running his fingers through his hair.

“Just promise me you guys will talk this out when he comes back later, please?”

The girl huffed, before they sat in silence, watching TV as they waited for The Boy to come back. It took longer than expected. John and Kelly had just started preparing dinner when he knocked on the door and strode into the house, opening it himself.

“Did you get lost man?” John called from the kitchen, teasing his friend about the tiny amount of time he spent in Tempe anymore.

“Come on,” he said, holding a hand out to Chaney, pulling her from the couch.

“What took you so long?” she asked, getting up. “I thought you bailed…”

“Nah, I just needed to talk to my parents for a bit, then I planned our evening. I sent you a text earlier.” She blushed, she should have checked her phone… “Go on, go grab a scarf or something, I know how you are with the cold.”

Chaney popped back into her room, twisting and infinity scarf around her neck and grabbing a beanie as well. They called out a goodbye to the couple in the kitchen before Halvo led her to his father’s car.

“Put on whatever you like,” he said, handing her his phone so that she could plug it into the stereo. She chose the soothing sounds of Ryan Adams, leaving it turned on low.

“I think we should talk,” she said, leaning her head against the headrest and turning to peer over at the boy. He reached his hand over to clasp hers, lacing their fingers together.

“We will,” he assured her, giving her fingers a squeeze. “Just be patient.”

“Where are we going?” she asked instead.

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise,” he teased. She huffed, but instead asked him how his parents were, making her realize that she should maybe see hers or Alex while she was here.

The drive was quiet and fairly short, although Halvo was growing nervous, looking for the turn, wondering why it wasn’t where it should be.

“Where are we?” Chaney asked, glancing around the darkening road. Halvo grinned as the dirt path finally came into view. He ignored the girl’s question, and instead put the car in park. It suddenly dawned on her where they were.

“If you think you can convince me to go skinny dipping in this weather, you’re insane,” she teased as they got out of the car, recalling that he’d brought her here five years ago so that they could watch the sunrise. “Isn’t this private property? Are we allowed to be here?”

“Since when do you care about rules Indy?” he teased, grabbing a bag from the trunk and snatching up her hand again. They walked up to the top of the cliff, over looking the water just as the sun started to dip under the horizon.

“Okay, Indy, sit and cover your eyes with this,” Eric instructed once he’s pulled a blanket from his bag. He handed her a bandana that he wanted her to tie over her eyes as a blindfold. It took a little convincing, but she finally did as she was told, impatiently waiting.

“Halv, you’re being very quiet...If you leave me out here, I’ll hunt you down and murder you,” she heard him chuckle, which made her jump seeing as he was right by her. He tugged on the knot of the blindfold and it fell from her face. She gasped as she took in her surroundings.

He’d set up a picnic of finger foods and wine, not to mention all the candles in jars, scattered around them, lighting up their blanket.

“Oh Halv,” she breathed out.

“Come on,” he said, pushing a plate into her hand. “Eat, then we’ll talk.”

*

“This was perfect Eric,” she was cuddled into his side as she finished off the last of the wine. “Who knew you could be so romantic,” she teased, leaning up to kiss the corner of his jaw.

“Please,” he scoffed. “This is nothing, I threw this together in an afternoon. You should see what I can come up with if I have time to plan.” She rolled her eyes at his cockyness, knowing very well that he’d probably had the help of his mom or his sister for this.

“So,” she said, playing with the zipper on his hoodie, not quite sure how to start this conversation. “What happens now?”

“Well, you’re my best friend Indy, five years didn’t change that for me. Or change the way I feel about you. I love you. And I do need you to know, how sorry I still am about everything that happened.” He took her hand away from his sweatshirt and held onto it tightly. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know,” she replied, looking up into his brown eyes. The past five years had permitted her to slowly come to terms with what had happened and eventually forgive him. “So, shall we try again?” she asked, fiddling with his fingers. “You know, being friends, dating..?”

“I don’t think I could ever go back to being just friends with you Indy. I’m hopelessly and utterly in love with you.”

She glanced up at him, biting softly on her lower lip. “So, dating?”

“Ind, we’re thirty one and both single,” he paused. “You are single right?” She laughed as worry etched his face.

“There’s been no one since you Eric,” she assured him, with as much of an even voice as she could muster. There was no way she was bringing John’s name into this.

He was surprised, but a wide grin stretched across his face.

“Me either.”

“Really? No flings? No hook ups?” she pressed, slightly shocked. She’d always figured he’d at least tried to move on. She wished sometimes that he had due to her own secret.

“I couldn’t, you’re my one and only...But, we’re getting off track. We’re both thirty-one and single, it’s a little silly for us to start dating. Besides, we’ve known each other our whole lives Chane, no one knows me like you do.”

“So then what?” she asked, her brows pulling together. They were running out of options. He dropped her hand and slipped his hand into the pocket of his jeans. He pulled his fist back out, looking at it for a moment, before meeting Chaney’s gaze again.

“So, I want you to marry me,” he told her, holding up the ring in between his thumb and his index. It was a simply, solitaire, platinum band with a round cut diamond. The setting was antique and the sliver aged. It was simple, yet stunning.

Her free hand flew up to her mouth and tears started welling up in her eyes.

“We’ve dated already, and if you ignore the rocky ending, it was perfect. I think this is the next step; I love you, Chaney Masters, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t want to have to wait and I don’t want to risk losing you again, because I won’t be able to handle it. I’m in love with you and I can’t live another day without you.” He waited, impatiently, his heart pounding against his chest as he waited for the girl to give him an answer.

“This is where you went this afternoon? You went to buy a ring?” she asked, her hand lowering from her mouth, the shock slowly diminishing. “Eric, how much did this cost you?”

He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. Leave it to Chaney to worry about something so trivial in a moment like this.

“No, Chane I went to my parents’ this afternoon, I told you. And it didn’t cost me a dime. This was my mom’s and my grandmother’s ring. I told her I saw you last night and that I wasn’t going to rest until you were mine again, and she gave it to me. Honestly, I don’t think she would have if it wasn’t you who I was proposing to...But anyway, Chaney,” he said, cutting himself off and shaking his hand lightly. “Do you..no.” He quickly got to his feet, pulling the girl up with him before he sunk back down onto one knee. He had to do this properly. “Chaney Jo Masters, Indy, will you marry me and do me the honors becoming my wife?” he held up the ring, as he asked again. The nervousness was suddenly setting in. What if she said no? Usually girls in movies say yes the second they see the ring, she’d been worried about the cost.

His heart stopped. She’d been worried about the cost. She was worried he’d wasted all of his money…

“Halvo?” he snapped out of it, looking up at the girl. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? Yes, Eric. I’ll marry you.” He broke out into a huge grin, reaching out for her left hand and slipping the ring onto it. It was big on her, but his mom had told him if that was the case, they’d just need to have it resized. Easy fix.

He stood up, pressing his lips to hers excitedly as he snaked his arms around her waist and spun around a little. She giggled, clutching his shoulders until he placed her back on her feet. She placed her hands on his chest gingerly and stared at the pretty big rock on her finger. The boy smiled as he caught her admiring it. He snatched up her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles and the diamond.

“I love you,” she told him, reaching up to caress his cheek with her free hand.

“I love you more,” he replied, kissing her again.

They packed up their little set up before hightailing it back over to John’s. They’d decided that since he was the reason that they were able to rekindle their love, that he, other than Halvo’s parents, should be the first to know.

“John?” Halvo called as they walked back into the house.

“Yeah?” he walked into view, Kelly poking her head out of his room.

“We have news,” Eric grinned, wrapping an arm around Chaney’s waist.

“We’re engaged,” the girl announced, holding out her left hand so that he could see the ring. Kelly emerged from the bedroom to come congratulate the two. John however, stood there in shock.

“Can I talk to you for a second Chaney?” he asked. The girl agreed, slightly confused, shooting a glance over at Halvo before she followed John into the guest bedroom.

“What happened to talking about this Chaney?” he asked her. “You guys were supposed to talk things through, not fucking get engaged!”

“What the hell John? you’ve been pushing for this to happen for ages. Why aren’t you happy for us?

“Because the two of you are rushing into things! You barely said hello last night before you jumped each others bones! Now you’re trying to get married before even getting to know each other again!”

“We know each other John, we’re best friends” she argued.

“You used to be best friends, it’s been five years Chane. You both changed.”

“Some things have changed John, but not us. Not how we feel.”

The boy sighed, frustrated.

“Alright, well you guys could have at least thought this through a little better. I mean, you guys live in two different cities in California. Where are you guys going to move? You are going to live together right? But you both have jobs and leases and roommates. What’s going to happen to them?”

“John!” she exclaimed, completely flabbergasted by his reaction. “That’s not something that’s at the top of the priority list right now, take a breath. We’re going to take this one step at a time, okay? We’re not rushing things. Fuck, would it kill you to be happy for us?” she snapped, his attitude putting a damper on her bubbly mood. She grabbed her bag from the floor and stormed past him.

“Come on Halvo,” she muttered, grabbing his hand. They left without so much as a goodbye, Chaney instructing him to drive them to her old apartment, where Alex was currently still living.