Best of Friends

Chapter Twenty Four: Grilled Cheese and Giving Up

I wasn't going to upload for a few more days, but bubblesunicorn3 messaged me and very politely asked me to update. So here you guys go, because asking politely goes a long way. This is a really big chapter despite being so short. This is also me, fully acknowledging that grilled cheese is going to become a motif in this story. 

Chapter Twenty Four: Grilled Cheese and Giving In

Iain:

Can you come over today? We need to talk.

I'd been staring at my phone all day and his text didn't look any less ominous. I'd stared at it all through class and my heart pounded with worry, and I thought once I was home I would be able to sort it out, but I didn't.

I stared at the text on my mindless walk to Iain's. I bit my tongue as I knocked on the front door of his apartment and waited patiently, tucking my phone and my nerves into my pocket.

Iain opened the door, then his browns knit in confusion.

"Why did you knock?" he asked, letting me in, "You know you can just come in."

"I don't know, your text seemed weird I thought maybe something was up between us."

"I knew you would read too much into it," Iain smirked, rolling his eyes smugly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, sort of offended.

"You always read too much into shit. If I leave out so much as a comma, you think something is wrong. Maybe I just wanted to talk to you? Did you ever think of that?"

"Well—," I started, but he cut me off.

"I just knew you would think about it all too much. You know what, just forget it, okay?" he sighed.

"No, we aren't just going to drop it like that," I said, "I may overthink things, but in my experiences, it's when I don't overthink things that they all go wrong, and I swear to God, Iain, if you made me worry about your fucking vague ass text all day—."

"Kitten, just drop it," he said, running a hand through his hair angrily and pinching the bridge of his nose. I could see his jaw widen slightly as he clenched it.

"You're mad at me? You have no right to be mad at me! Iain, what the fuck is up with you? I can't keep following along with all of this—you like me and then you hate me, and it's all beginning to feel like a rollercoaster ride I can't get off—," I started.

"I love you!" he yelled out. His words echoed throughout the room and amplified the sound of my heart pounding in my chest. I met his warm eyes, every bit of me shaking inside.

"I'm in love with you. I've said it before, but I needed you to hear it and understand that I meant it. I'm not just saying it for the sake of Olivia and Ben. I'm saying it for me. You know, I thought because I'd said it to you before that me saying it this time, for real, wouldn't be this fucking terrifying, but here I am, standing in front of you and putting myself on the line and I'm pretty damn scared. I don't want you to say it back until you know you mean it because that's how serious I am about it, Kitten," he confessed, his deep eyes melting visibly, and I didn't know what to say. It was as if every cell in my being had turned to a bowl of red Jell-O in an earthquake.

"Alright, I need you to say something, like literally anything, because the look on your face is really starting to worry me," Iain said.

I started to panic. I mean, what did I say? That I had a crush on him freshman year but then gave up when I realized that I had no chance? That I really enjoyed kissing him and doing whatever the hell it was that we were doing? Did I remind him that I was nearly five years younger than him and that I would be going to college sometime soon and that now wasn't a good time to start a relationship, not when I, and everything else in my life was so fucked up?

"Look what we got!!!" Olivia burst through the front door, holding out a movie case. Shit, talk about saved by the bell. I quickly swallowed my thoughts and smiled at Olivia.

"We also got popcorn!" Ben smiled, following behind her with groceries.

"It's a double-date movie marathon!" Olivia cheered, "You guys in?"

I looked at Iain and nodded at the same time he said, "Sure."

Ben and Olivia had bought the triple pack of John Hughes' 80's movie cult classics, and we hadn't even made it through the first movie before I realized that I hadn't been watching the movie at all. It killed me to sit next to Iain knowing how he felt and how we left things.

We even sat at opposite ends of the couch, my toes tucked under his legs to keep warm. Iain looked as absorbed into the movie as Ben and Olivia. Even though John Hughes movies were my favorite, I just didn't have it in me to pay attention when there was a hot twenty-something guy that had just confessed his love for me sitting less than a couch away.

"I'm going to go make myself a grilled cheese, anyone else want one?" Iain asked, jumping up.

"No thanks," Olivia smiled, and I bit my lip, trying to watch the movie.

"Kitten?" Iain asked.

"Yeah, sure," I said and watched as he walked away to the kitchen. I tried to pay attention to the movie as I heard Iain clanging the pans around in the kitchen, getting his ingredients ready, but I couldn't. He loves me. He loves me. The Scottish Sex God was in love with me, and I left him hanging when he needed me the most. He'd put his feelings on the line and he at least deserved his feelings to be validated. I needed to acknowledge him, because we couldn't keep skating along delicately avoiding it all.

"I'm going to go see if he needs help," I said, standing up and carefully walking to the kitchen. Iain stood facing the stove.

"Yes, Kit, I put tomatoes, bacon, and double cheese in yours, just like you--," he started, but stopped abruptly when I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face into his back. I was surrounded by his amazing spicy scent. He set his spatula down after flipping the sandwich onto a plate and turning off the burner.

His hands gently rubbed up and down my arms before I let go. He turned to me and hugged me tightly—in a bear hug only he could give me. The lowlight of the kitchen cast shadows across the room, and I could hear Iain's heartbeat racing just barely.

He rested his head in the crook of my neck and let out a ragged sigh. I ran my fingers through his hair soothingly, and rubbed his back.

"I'm not going anywhere," I said. "I'm here."