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Recap:

"I don't think he will be able to. Even so, if he does, we'll cross that bridge when we get there" George assents "For know, try not to worry too much"

"Easier said than done" I sight sitting back on my chair. I hope she doesn't fall for his bullshit.

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"I'm glad you are feeling better" is the first thing Adam says to me when I get into his car, oh boy if only you knew

"So, I have some things packed in the back, we could go to a park and have a picnic there" he adds and I give him a half smile

I'm still debating on how to approach the Clay drama, he doesn't know I'm friends with him, just that we spoke once at that party

"What are you thinking about"

"Oh, just that I really like the park" I mumble, nothing's in my mind, I'm just secretly friends with Clay who seems to not get along with you so i'm investigating what really happened between you two

Silence falls upon us, but it's not like when I'm with , we don't know each other well enough so the silence is not comforting at all

The ride to the park takes way too long and the conversation didn't escalate more than basic small talk, asking about the ex is definitely going to be tough

Once at there I get out of the car and help him carry the stuff for the picnic up a hill.

Now sitting comfortably on the mat I begin to scheme, how the fuck am I going to bring Clay up

"So did you live here your whole life?" I ask putting a chip in my mouth

"Yeah pretty much, you too right?" he looks at me

"Uhh, no actually I'm from New York" I say and Adam nods "But my family is from Uruguay so we usually go down there for the summer"

"Oh so you are a latina" he says wiggling his eyebrows. If he literally does that again I will get up and leave I don't care about my plan anymore

"Yeah I guess so" I say awkwardly laughing

"Do you know spanish?" he asks, pouring himself a glass of water

"Yeah, my mom always talks to me in spanish so it was either learn or not understand a single thing that comes out of her mouth"

"Right I would imagine, I don-" he gets interrupted by his phone pinging "I don't really know any ot-" his phone goes off again "Any other language beside-" and again

"You can answer if you want to, it's ok" I assure him

"Nah, it's ok, my friends are speaking in our groupchat about a party today" he dismisses the issue

"Oh, is your friend Clay in that groupchat?" I bluntly ask

"Yeah... Do you know him?" he asks

Uh crap mayday

"No I mean, isn't he the blond one that was at the party we met?"

"Oh yeah, yes he's there" he says with a tone of disgust

"Uhhh drama, what did he do" I say crossing my legs hoping he spills everything he knows "With that tone he must have done something" Come on tell me

"It's old news, it happened a while ago, nothing too major" fucking hell tell me already you moron

"Oh please I want to know now" I beg, but he shakes his head "Well, he was kind of a dick that day at the party" I push, I sense he really wants to let it all out

"So this happened a long time ago" got him "We had a fight over this girl, a girl I knew first" he enunciates "He knew that and still got with her, shit I think they kind of dated. Even so, she had a thing for me too and we slept together while she was still with him" he snapped

Clearly that still made him angry, however he did say he they were together meaning he either didn't really know or is just full of bullshit. I need to get Clay's point of view, not George telling me things halfway

When he notices I don't answer he begins to talk once again

"But let's not talk about that right now, he isn't important between us" he says motioning with his hands between us

"Yeah right, sorry I asked" I answer

"No it's fine, you would find out eventually" he drifts off "I wanted you to warn you too, I'm guessing he will try and do the same thing as before and get with you" he expands "I'm just glad he doesn't know you yet"

Well... this is... awkard...

"Oh yeah totally" I say

The rest of the date went by smoothly, we talked for the most part about our life and plans for the future, yet I really didn't feel anything. He is nice, not what I would personally go for but still nice.

Not to mention I still feel like he isn't telling me everything about the situation with Clay.

Which clearly isn't completely my problem, but I care for Clay and if Adam did do anything to him I'm crushing him.

However I can't help but feel a little bit distraught, Adam seemed quite emotional while telling me how he lost a girl he claims he cared for.

When I was finally dropped off at the house he invited me to this party his friends were talking about earlier in their groupchat.

At first I was going to decline his offer but I haven't gone to a party in a hot minute, so going isn't hurt anyone, right?

And Clay might be there a small voice says in the back of my head, but I ignore it

"ANGEL" I scream once I entered the house

I quickly go to her room and burst in "Get ready, we are going partying"

Once the word 'party' falls from my lips her face lights up

"But we kind of need to get ready now because the party starts in about 30 minutes" I say looking at my watch

"That sounds like a you problem, I get ready in record time" Angel jokes

"Yeah sure" i say getting out of her room

We decide to go in an uber since none of us felt like driving, and the address they sent was a little far from where we live

I hope Clay will be there, I need to talk to him about this whole mess. I could text him but I'd prefer to do this face to face

We did arrive at the party a little late so it was already in full blast, finding these people is going to be very hard

As Angel and I make our way through the crowds a blond head catches my eye, it's him.

"Angel I found Clay I need to talk to him" I scream into her ear, the music is way too loud

"Go, I'll look for someone to entertain myself with" she answers screaming as well.

And we part ways

"Clay" I tug his arm

He turns around looking annoyed but when he sees my his frown dissolves and a smile takes over

"Char, I wanted to talk to you"

"Me too, I talked to Adam today about everything"

"You what?" he screams

"I talked to Adam today" I repeat myself

He motions between his ears indicating the music is too loud and he can't hear a word I'm saying

I nod and grab his arm once again, going to the kitchen where it seems to be a little bit more quiet

"So I wanted to talk to you" we both say in unision

"You first" we say together once again, but Clay nods indicating I should start

"Right" I let out a nervous laugh "So I talked with Adam about the cheating situation" I decide it's best to just say it and not beat around the bush

Clay's reaction is just as I expected, he stepped back from me and crossed his arms. He's getting defensive

"He basically said that he knew this girl first and you knew that. He said you went out of your way to hook up with her and that he wasn't sure you guys were a couple" I recalled "And well, that he slept with her"

"Oh please that is just pure bullshit" Clay lets out a humorless laugh "You don't believe that" he looks at me with his green eyes "Do you?"

I want to say I don't, I want to side with Clay but "I don't know, he seemed pretty upset by everything"

"And I don't?" he gets even further away from me "Charlotte I couldn't leave my room for months, Sapnap and George can very much verify it. Nick had to threaten me to take a shower" he stops for a second looking down "It was one of the toughest periods in my life"

I was thinking about Adam's feelings when I didn't see how much he really hurt from it. I feel really bad now

"Shit Clay I'm so sorry, I didn't know, George told me you stopped trusting people but I didn't think it was this bad, I-"

"No Char, don't apologize" his voice is now calmer "It's not your fault, Adam can be very manipulative and Savannah, my ex, fell for it too" he says getting closer to me, way closer than before

"It's his fault, he does this with everyone he meets"

His face is now inches away from mine and my breathing stops. His green eyes burn into my own and I get lost in them once again.

We never break eye contact until my lips part open and his gaze turns towards them, and then back up to my eyes.

In this situation I would usually feel intimidated, and immediately back away. But with Clay it's different, it feels safe

"Clay? What the fuck" I hear Adam shout from across the kitchen

I jump to the side putting some distance between me and him

Adam's face flashes with anger and he makes his way towards Clay

If I don't do something this is going to be bad

"What the fuck were you doing with her" Adam shouts, but Clay doesn't answer, he just stands there

"No Adam it's not what it seems like" I say, getting his attention on me.

"I- I- I just" my mind is blank I can't come up with a lie

I'm about to pull one hell of an act.

"What happened Charlotte?" Adam pushes

Well, good thing I put on waterproof mascara

I look at Adam and start bawling my eyes out, I curl down into a ball and just cry

Adam quickly makes his way towards me and pats my back, is this dude really trying to comfort me by doing that?

"Charlotte, what happened" I look up from my arms to see a very panicked looking Adam and a very confused Clay

"There was this dude that tried to grab me and I pushed him and he kept on going so I screamed and Clay found me so he brought me here to calm me down" I breathe out

"Why were you alone in the first place?" he asks

"I was looking for you, I need to tell you something, can we please go talk outside"

And with a simple nod he gets me up and walks outside with me

I turn back to look at Clay and he signals he will text me later, good

Now that I spoke directly with Clay, I know the truth, and I don't like liars

"What did you want to tell me" Adam inquires once we step outside

"So i know it's kind of early and we only went on a single date" I begin, and his eyes light up

"And I know one date isn't enough to tell" I am about to crush him, oops "But I just don't want to lead you on" with that, his face drops down "I'm trying to focus on school and my friends, I just don't have time for a relationship right now" he lets out a defeated sight

"I feel it's a super cliche thing to say, but it's literally not you, it's me" I add

It's defined him though, I just don't want him going after Clay

"I won't wait for you, you know that right?" he says

Huh? Mother fucker acting as we were engaged

"And I don't expect you to" I say sounding a little bit too bitchy "I'm so sorry, I'm sure you will find a girl that has time for you" and it's now me who pats his shoulder

"Bye Adam" I finally say walking away.

Now off to find Angel so we can get out of here

I didn't expect to come here and break things off with him, but I feel like this is probably the best thing given how much of a manipulative asshole he really is

I should probably call Angel so that she knows it's time to leave.

When I take out my phone I surprisingly have a message from her

Angie

hey c im w clay in his car

he offered to take us back home

come outside when u finish with aron im not in the mood for a party

Today couldn't have gone any smoother.

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a/n

heyyy i know that the timeline of this chapter is kinda confusing I realized that mid way through the chapter but oh well 🥴

anywaaaays

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