Since I couldn't sleep properly all night, it was no surprise that I was up at six. I usually couldn't sleep well anywhere but my own bed. That was a habit that stuck with me over the years, so traveling always brought insomnia along.

My heart was aching. Pounding against my chest, it was slowly climbing up my throat, but eventually, it suffocated me. My eyes were dry as if I'd cried liters of tears. My body was no different: every inch of me was aching as if a dozen people had punched me. On top of this massive ache, I was also having a nicotine crisis draining my brain.

Roy was still snoring in his bed, and I assumed the girls would also be asleep, so I decided to climb up to the roof of the hotel to smoke. This way, at least I could calm one of the nerves. Pulling my jeans and t-shirt on, I grabbed a package of cigarettes and the key and tiptoed my way out of the room.

Outside, the weather was colder since the Sun hadn't warmed up the day yet. Lighting a cig, I sat across the dull scenery of the hotel. Though the scenery wasn't fascinating, the Sun itself was, rising behind the buildings. It reminded me that yesterday was over and I should be focusing on today. Now. Whatever had upset me was over now, and I needed to act and find a new strategy. I couldn't wallow for the rest of my life, though it was what I really wanted.

The first step was to get over Abby. Literally. She was my best friend. I needed to fathom this and act accordingly. There was no point in lurking around like a jealous boyfriend all the time.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

However, there was a tiny problem. I couldn't wrap my head around Abby's altering behavior. There were literally two Abbys: one that cared about me and one that was indifferent. Last evening was the proof of her contradiction. After she'd told me that she hated Roy's bossing attitude, she went into his arms.

I ran a hand through my hair. Yes, girls were confusing but I knew Abby all my life and she'd never been this confusing before. She was pulling me whenever she wanted and pushed me back to square one next. I wish I liked Rachel—things would be much simpler then. She was dying to tell me that she liked me and I had no idea how to react when she finally told me.

All I knew was that I had to forget Abby. For the sake of my sanity.

When I was drowning in my thoughts, my cigarette was nearing the end. My patience was burning out like this cigarette, getting smaller gradually. I wanted to get rid of this situation in the least damaging way possible, both for Abby and me. First, I needed to stop hating Roy. He was my friend, and he was dating Abby now. I had to support them, right?

You can do this, George. If you pretend hard enough, it will become the truth.

The rest of the morning went in a blur after I'd returned to our room. We immediately packed our stuff once everyone was awake and left the hotel to set off to Texas. It was Abby's turn to drive, and Roy naturally called shotgun, leaving me in the backseat with Rachel again. Today she was quiet, and I didn't dare question the reason.

There was a silence between Abby and me. When I said good morning to everyone, she didn't even reply. And since she was sitting in the front, I couldn't see her face well enough to examine whether she was angry at me or something else. She was like a puzzle that I was tired of trying to solve but still an addiction I couldn't give up.

We only pulled over once before Texas to visit a museum in Elk City. Well, I stayed in the car when they visited the place. Though they half-assed insisted I join, they didn't push me after a second rejection. I was slightly surprised that Rachel didn't stay with me, though. Maybe she was starting to figure out that I wasn't interested.

Since I usually forgot to call my mother, I decided to do that. It rang a few times before she answered. Her voice was coming off cheerfully this time, which made me feel happy. I was dying here but at least she was feeling good. When I heard her voice, I also realized I missed her. I missed my father. Home. I felt trapped here—with Abby's absence, it was showing off even more.

I told her that we were heading off to Texas. "Are you running out of money?" I didn't understand how she could ask the right questions at the right time.

"No," I replied, "I'm okay."

"I can send money to your account, baby. You've got your debit card with you, right?"

"No need, Mom. Seriously. I'm fine." Mom, I'm dying but I promised to go on this trip with my own collected money.

"Something is off with you," she suddenly said. "I can sense it. Mothers sense this stuff."

Knowing my mother, there was no need in denying it. She was going to make me say it sooner or later, and I was dying to voice it out. "I just..." I sighed. "I don't know. Is it weird that I can't name what I'm exactly feeling right now?"

"Are you in love?"

"Woah there," I whispered as if someone could hear her. "No—no. I'm not."

"Don't lie to me."

I wasn't having this conversation now. "Mom, I need to go. It's my turn to drive."

"Whatever you say, honey." She laughed. Damn, I was caught. "Call me more often, though. I miss talking to you and I worry about you."

"I'm fine," I assured her. "And I will."

After we ended the call, her words lingered in my mind. I'm in love. It wasn't like I couldn't admit it to myself. I did. Countless times. The problem was, I couldn't confess it to Abby. Ever. And now, things were even more complicated. She was taken.

That ache crawled its way back to me, wrapping its filthy hands around my throat to remind that it had no intentions of abandoning me anytime soon. Love was hard—but it wasn't what complicated things. Fear and cowardice did.

How would I forget her if she was all I remembered?

I tucked my misguided thoughts back to the depths of my mind when they emerged. Abby was holding Roy's hand, which was the sight I was used to by now, and Rachel was following them closely. They seemed to have a good time inside by the stupid smiles on their faces. I turned my head in the opposite direction when they drew close, pretending not to notice them yet.

The door pulled open soon when Abby hopped inside first. It was a brief moment—just she and me inside—but I heard her let out a low sigh. It sounded desperate. However, when Roy joined us, she flashed him a smile and there was no hint of the previous sigh.

"George, you missed a lot!" Rachel said cheerfully when she sat beside me. "It was so good."

I immediately checked Abby. Her gaze held mine for a fleeting moment but I couldn't observe anything in them before she shifted them back to Roy. "Glad you had fun," I replied at last. "Well, I had better things to do."

Our next stop was Shamrock. We had a lunch break there at a Route 66-themed café. As if our seat positions were set, Rachel sat beside me again and Roy was across from me. I was already feeling so far away from Abby. When our orders arrived, I was fueled by this sudden rage. We were in this situation because of her. If she didn't invite Roy in the first place, this wouldn't happen. She ruined our trip. She ruined us.

I cast a glance at Abby but she didn't meet my gaze. I dared look at her as long as I could and didn't care if it looked creepy or disturbing. She had to look into my eyes. Come on, Abby.

"George." I unwillingly shifted my gaze to Rachel. "Are you okay? You've been tense."

"I'm restless," I lied. "I couldn't sleep."

"Why?" Her voice came out so caring. "Was the bed not comfy? I wish you texted me—we could share mine."

Before I could explain to her my situation about sleeping in places, a loud cough rose from Abby.

"Sorry," she murmured, looking at me. Her gaze was sharp before she turned to Rachel. "He has adaptation problems—he doesn't feel comfortable in sleeping in different places." Of course, she remembered. "One day," she said laughingly, "when we were kids, his parents took us to camp and he complained about sleeping on the ground all night. He didn't let me sleep."

"How sweet! You're really lucky to have a best friend like George."

Abby held my gaze as she answered, "Yeah."

"I'm the lucky one," I intervened. "Abby is amazing."

"Well, I'm the lucky one," Roy concluded. "Because I'm her boyfriend." My attention zeroed in on their hands when he held hers over the table. If I were to witness this longer than a few days, I would either be a saint or a murderer. The latter was a higher possibility.

Since we were going to head to a club at night, we decided to take a rest beforehand. So, we arrived in Amarillo next. While we hit the huge hotel with Rachel to book two rooms, Abby and Roy went to discover a good place to drink and dance. After booking the rooms, I excused myself to have a rest, and though Rachel asked to drink tea together in her room, I said I'd take on her offer next time.

In the room, I got rid of my clothes until I was in my boxers and tucked myself under the blanket to fall asleep. It didn't happen because my anger was haunting me. I couldn't bear seeing them like that and couldn't help but think it was fucking my fault.

I could go to Rachel's room now and let her take my mind off things. She would be willing to do it. I would forget temporarily. But what about later? What about the guilt in the aftermath? Could I be able to put up with that? No. I was probably going to beat myself for it.

Fuck, what was wrong with me?

Someone knocked on the door. Pulling myself up with difficulty, I walked up and swung the door open to find Roy red-faced. He stormed inside without uttering a word, leaving me curious in its wake. I shut the door and sat back on my bed as he threw himself on the bed. Burying his face on his pillow, he let out a groan.

"What's wrong?" I asked curiously. Did he have a fight with Abby?

In lieu of an answer, he turned his back to me and pretended to sleep. Wow, moody. Sighing, I tucked myself back into the bed but I couldn't gather my mind. When he was close, I wasn't able to think of the previous stuff, as if he could read my mind. When we were talking to the receptionist, he mentioned a Texas-shaped pool.

Swimming always helped me to collect my mind and relax. Relying on its calming effect, I peeled off the blanket and headed toward the bathroom to change into my swimming suit. Once I applied sun cream not to turn into a burnt chicken, I walked out of the room. I left Roy in the dark about it since he didn't bother to tell me about his problems anymore.

Since it was afternoon and the hotel was relevantly empty, I assumed the pool would be empty. My assumption was confirmed, once the huge pool appeared. However, it wasn't entirely empty—there was one other person. This was a wish that could only happen with a miracle.

Abby was standing on the furthest edge of the pool with her back facing me. When I got into the water, she didn't notice my presence at all. After adjusting to the temperature, I slowly swam my way to her, trying to make delicate sounds not to scare her. She was propping her body by her arms and she looked so focused on her thoughts. Did Roy do something to her?

"Abby."

She turned around in a hurry as if she'd been busted. "George. What are you doing here?"

Resting my arms on the edge, I laughed at her shock. "This is a public swimming pool, right?"

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Your boyfriend was too grumpy so I decided to take a breath." I actually said it so that she might tell me what happened.

"What did he say?"

"What was he supposed to say?"

"George," she sighed, meeting my gaze. Her eyes carried the warm look that I fell in love with. She looked at me like the Abby. "I don't want to talk about it, okay? Please." Then, she shifted and looked away.

When she said please, it was an open-sesame-open for me. How could she do this? No matter what I felt toward her, let it be anger or disappointment, she could always melt my heart into a puddle. I was useless around her. "Okay," I breathed, not trusting my voice to form a longer sentence.

When we could talk about other things, we preferred to remain silent for a while. If this was the last moment we were going to spend alone, I would die to seize this moment as long as possible. I missed my Abby. I missed her blonde curls, bright eyes, and captivating laugh. It'd been two days but they had already stolen everything I loved about her.

"Do you remember?" She suddenly asked. I knitted my eyebrows in confusion as if I'd missed the beginning of the conversation? "My father taught us how to swim when we were six."

"How could I forget?" I chuckled in remembrance. I missed those times—when we were too young to care about anything but to play. "He had to convince me to get into the water."

"You were always too cautious," she said laughingly. "But you learned fast." I really did. Though Abby started earlier, I could swim as well in a short time. However, this didn't change the fact that her father spent so much time with me to get me into the water. "Do you want to test?" She suddenly asked.

"Test what?"

"Who swims faster?" I quirked my eyebrow. "I'll beat you, Shaw."

"Deal."

"But you have to start three seconds later, okay? Your arms are longer. This will minimize your advantage."

"Five seconds later," I raised the bet.

"Okay," she said, turning around, and pressing her back against the wall. "Count to three."

"One, two, three."

When she started swimming with a head start, I counted to five before following her. She was right about my arm's length—it really helped me to catch up with her faster than intended. However, she was still fast so I had to make swifter moves.

They just had their first fight as a couple. I couldn't even feel sad about it. Fuck. I hated feeling like this. I had to get her off my mind as soon as possible and get back to that best friend zone. When did we cross the line that I couldn't turn back? Was it because I already got a taste of her lips?

Once I reached the edge, I collided with her. I was too deep in my thoughts that I didn't realize I slipped into her line. It happened so suddenly that we were flush against each other with Abby trapped between me and the wall. We were both breathless at first, trying to catch our breaths. Our chests converged whenever they rose together, but it was easy to ignore while underwater. When she tilted her gaze at me, she offered me a faltering smile. "I won."

"It was a tie," I corrected her, still trying to catch my breath.

She licked her lips, catching my attention there. I watched her lips as she replied, "You bet, Shaw." One single gesture and I was back to that night. My eyes trailed their way down, following the small drop streaming down her neck. I wanted to relive what we had—this time, no doubt to interrupt us.

When I raised my gaze back to her eyes, it wasn't tough to guess that the same thoughts were crossing her mind, too. Her cheeks were colored in my favorite shade. Though my mind was working to come up with a solid reason why we shouldn't have kissed right there, my guts were betting against me. My self-control was really lacking when I needed it the most. Did water pull exist like a magnet pull kind of thing? Because we were really pulled against each other like two magnets.

As if she sensed the change in my mood, Abby inhaled a sharp breath and shut her eyes. If she didn't retreat now, I could kiss her; though I knew it would be the worst move ever. I was a mere moon rotating around her, and I had no resistance.

"I should go," were the magical words that separated us. When I drifted back to give her space, she hastily lifted herself up and out of the pool. I watched her as she grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her torso. "Bye, George."

I held onto that tiny moment shared between us—and I made a decision.

***

Hello everyone!

This chapter has been one of those I've been dying to write and I hope I did it justice. I enjoy writing this book so much and I'm so attached to the characters. It makes me so grateful to see that there are people who share mutual feeling.

So, my question last time has been misunderstood. 😂 Yes, Gabby is a ship but they aren't exactly on the same board right now. I meant to ask that actually. Today's question:

❤️

Sev xx