It was ten minutes later when we arrived at the Fernandez's. The two of us patiently stood at their front door waiting for it to be answered. The house was not my favorite place to be, but coming here somehow served as a motivation for me to hustle hard so that I could own one just like it someday.

With a paper bag in his hand, Andrew had been acting fidgety since we got here as he would occasionally sigh, tap his foot, or started to hum a tune. He looked damn adorable while doing all of those nervous habits of his. Had we not been here, I would have kissed the brown-eyed boy.

At one point, he passed me the bag and it got me wondering if he got scared to even deliver the dress to Elle himself. Their friendship was clearly beginning to dwindle, and the reason for it, which I hated to admit — was me.

The door, like most of the house's walls, was made of glass and for that reason, we could see one of the help hurry over. An old man, to be exact, who welcomed us in, took the bag from my hold without being asked then instructed me and Andrew to follow him.

Andrew and I were escorted to a room where everything was illuminated by some dim red lights and scented candles. A sofa bed positioned in the middle, thick white fur rug covered the floor and black curtains draped over the walls, along with mirrored ceilings. Everything around the room screamed sex.

It was then I realized that the door was being shut behind me, startling Andrew with the suddenness. In the corner of the room sat my girlfriend, Elle, facing a giant erotic painting while holding what seemed to be a glass of alcohol in her left hand. She must have felt our eyes on her, for she looked over her shoulder and got up to greet us with an impish smile.

I was rather taken aback by the daring dress she had on her body than her surprisingly lovely temperament. Elle wore a thigh-high slash dress with a strappy chest design -- it being the only thing keeping her breasts from full exposure.

It was eye-popping and extremely revealing, but, for the sake of not wanting to argue, I kept a straight face and remained silent. Andrew, however, had the most shocked expression on his face and it was priceless. I couldn't blame him for having such a reaction. It was possibly the closest he's ever been to see a pair of boobs in his life.

The silence that had enveloped us disappeared at the sound of Elle's voice. "Yes, I look good, I know."

"Couldn't agree more," I added.

"You've been walking around the house with your titties out?" Andrew asked. I was trying so hard to hold my laugh.

Elle arched her eyebrows, obviously a bit offended by the question. "Who cares? This is one of my outfits for the night."

"Interesting choice," Andrew's comment was laced with sarcasm.

"Andy," I scolded, shooting him a soft glare to stop him from riling her up.

Andrew looked at me questioningly and quirked his head to the side, appearing even cuter. Who told him he could be that cute? How dare he. I hadn't realized I was smiling like an idiot watching him until Elle's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and consequently broke our gaze.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Elle muttered in an undertone, annoyance pronounced in every word.

I turned to her, finding her squinting intently at me and Andrew as if she was attempting to figure something out.

"He just wants you to be sure that you're comfortable wearing the dress, babe, which I believe, you are," I told her.

"Hmm, I call that bullshit, babe," Elle retorted before continuing, "Do my tits bother you, Andy?"

I chuckled at him becoming red as he retreated to my side, yelping out a, "No!"

"Very well then," Elle announced with a cocky grin before downing the rest of her drink in one go.

"I love what you've done with the room," I said to her as an attempt to change the subject.

Smirking, she moved closer to wrap her arms around my neck resulting in Andrew stepping aside. "You know..." Elle trailed off while looking up at me with her doe green eyes. "We should christen it."

I nearly choked at my own spit.

Andrew cleared his throat and by the look on his face, I knew he was badly disturbed but he couldn't do anything so he started walking around the room.

"What is this room for anyway?" he asked out of curiosity. Bless his innocent mind.

Elle threw her head back in laughter. "Do you want to tell him or should I?"

"Tell me what?" Andrew interrupted.

I shook my head at her, feeling my smile grow. "Definitely you."

"I'm not good with explaining this kind of thing," Elle admitted.

I shrugged. "I'm not either."

"What are you guys talking about?" Andrew asked again yet neither of us entertain his question.

Elle's arms fell from my shoulders and they were crossed over her chest. "What if I tell him too much?"

"Don't get into too much details, please," I worriedly told her.

Huffing a frustrated breath, Andrew tossed his hands up in the air. "I'm tired and you guys are being irritating."

"Alright, alright," Elle finally caved. "This room is for my guests to how do I put it... fool around."

I spared a glance back at Andrew wanting to see how he would react to it. Let's just say he sucked at hiding his surprised face.

"Say what?" he exclaimed when he got over the past shock. "You want people to have intercourse at your party?"

Elle chuckled softly. "All right calm down, Dad," she said causing him to roll his eyes.

"Nothing's wrong with it. I want it to be fun and memorable for everybody," she continued before she looked at me for me to back her up.

"It's your call," I said and she flashed me a million-dollar smile.

"I want to see my new dress!" she exclaimed happily later.

Scurrying out of the room, Elle hooked me by the arm while I managed to grab ahold of Andrew's hand, tugging him along with us.

"Oh, by the way, Andy, you want to see how the party preparation's going?" she asked when we stopped in front of her room.

Andrew certainly looked as if he saw a ghost after Elle had caught him untangling his hand from my grasp.

"I mean, uh, sure," he stammered, his eyes briefly meeting mine. Elle only gave him a long, impassive look in return.

***

For obvious reasons, I had been in Elle's bedroom many times. It was somewhat bigger than the one I just entered. The room had a king-size bed positioned right in the center, backed to a wall, a walk-in mirror closet, a rather large flat-screen TV with a private bathroom attached.

The walls were painted an off-white color with posters of her favorite artists and cheerleading medals hung at random. The bed was covered with cream color sheets, and at the foot of the bed was the bag of clothes that Andrew and I had brought for her from the mall.

"Is Andy okay?" was the first thing she said to me once we were alone.

I shut the door behind me and leaned against it. "Why would you ask that?"

"He acts different," she pointed out, taking out the dress before laying it on the bed.

My soon-to-be ex-girlfriend was starting to suspect something and it was not good for me and Andrew.

Elle sensed I couldn't come up with any answers for her so she send a glare my way. "It better not because of your idiot friends or I swear, Ethan."

"No," I assured her. "I think Gilinsky has been putting too much pressure on him about that program he's applying to."

"Hmm, must be it," she agreed.

Elle slipped the gown off her shoulders and pushed it down to the floor, leaving her body totally exposed to me and damn, as usual, not one flaw on her figure. She was the type of girl with everything a guy could ask for — full, inviting breasts, slim waist, curvaceous hips, and shapely legs. It was not surprising she was known for being the prettiest which had most guys in my team envy me for going out with her.

"Are you just gonna stand over there the whole time?" she smiled at my temporary loss of words.

Feeling the blood rushing from my neck up to my face, I walked over. Her smile grew to a smirk watching me and the instant I came to stand before her, she turned away and bent forward to pick up the dress. Elle knew what she was doing giving me that pleasant view, swaying her rear from left to right. The girl was tempting me, that was absolutely clear.

I tried to focus on something other than the raw need that pulsed between my legs. Thankfully, the teasing was short as she started stepping into the new outfit soon enough. Her long blonde hair was brought over to the front indicating she wanted me to zip her dress up. Looking at herself in the mirror, she kept a good check on her appearance from different angles. The black dress, indeed, looked stunning on her as it stuck to her body like second skin.

"You look beautiful," I said but got no reaction out of her.

I took a deep breath before I pried my eyes away, staring furtively at the ticking clock in the room. The silence was neither uncomfortable nor unwelcome, it simply sat there. God, an irrational part of me just wanted to leave the room.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. Looking down I saw a message from Andrew asking if I was boning Elle for taking so long. I mentally chuckled at him using the word 'boning'. As I was replying to his text, I remembered briefly looking up, just in time to have Elle's gaze collide with mine.

"What color suit did you get?" she asked nonchalantly.

Of all the things I thought she might ask, what color suit did I picked never occurred to me. Wait a minute, a suit?

I looked at her, befuddled. "Why would I need a suit?"

"To go with my dress," Elle replied as if she was stating the obvious. "For my party?"

"Ah, shit," I whispered to myself but somehow she heard me.

And from the look on her face clearly, that was the wrong answer. "We had spoken about it, Ethan."

We did, however, I never gave her a definitive answer. I didn't really think she would mention it again considering the topic had come up when we were both pretty intoxicated at the time.

"I think you said it would be nice for me—"

"Yes, and you said nothing after that which means you're agreeing," she rushed out in a hard tone.

"What the f—" I paused, taking a deep breath to calm myself down. "It was just foolish words to me so I ignored it. I didn't know you were being serious."

"So you're saying I'm foolish for suggesting that we should match outfits," she seethed at me, crossing her arms over her chest.

I felt a flare of annoyance in my chest. "I never said that."

Elle glared up at me, only coldness in her green eyes. "Yes, you are and I'm not even shocked because you don't actually care about my party let alone putting effort into getting all dressed up for it."

"That's not true."

Elle scoffed at my answer. "You're a shitty boyfriend for this."

At that, she stormed away into her closet. My mouth went dry as I couldn't find the proper words to respond with. I mean, she wasn't exactly wrong. Looking back, I must say that I was not always acting like the ideal boyfriend that fits her desires. No matter what I did, it's often wrong in her eyes.

It wasn't long until Elle came back bringing two sets of earrings with her -- a gold stud with a pearl drop design and a silver hoop with purple beads around it. I watched as the blonde held them to each side of her face in the mirror indecisively.

"If you mean shitty because I paid no attention to your drunken words, then maybe I am," I spoke up, earning another scathing scowl from her.

I've had enough of people consistently deciding stuff and pressuring me to do things their way. They treated me as if I had no full control of how I should act, think and feel.

So when Elle had the audacity to expect me to already have a suit, it was the last straw. She had no concerns with the fact that I was financially challenged, and didn't bother to ask if I would be able to get it in the first place. Not a single worry for anything except her own happiness and needs. Do I look like I shit money out of my ass?

"Sorry If I'm not rich enough to even consider buying matching suits to go with all of your dresses," I continued through gritted teeth getting Elle to whirl around and face me.

"I only asked for one!" Elle exclaimed angrily. "I'm not cruel. If you can't afford to buy it then just rent it like every fucking normal person would do."

"It might be that easy for a silver spoon-fed like you, but it's not always that easy for me!" I fought back, the last part jabbing my own finger into my chest.

Elle didn't look a bit remorseful at what I had said. Instead, she stood with her cold demeanor waiting for me to stop fussing.

"I assume your amazing dad will figure it out. You did tell me he always provides the best for his dearest son, right?" she replied.

"Don't talk about my dad."

Despite my warning, Elle stepped closer. "Or what, Ethan? Are you gonna tell your daddy that a girl has hurt his poor little boy's feelings?"

I let out a heavy sigh and rubbed my temples. "I can't fucking stand you right now. I'm surprised I lasted this long with you."

Elle creased her brows at my words. "Excuse me?"

After realizing what had happened I backed away from her. I only meant to say the first part out loud whereas the rest of it was supposed to be in my head.

"You better choose your next words carefully," she stressed while her face went beet red.

If anything, that was the perfect time for me to say the thing that has been lingered in my mind and there would be no turning back.

"I'm seeing someone else."

Unsure where the courage came from but those long-awaited words finally spewed out of my mouth. Keeping that secret for a while had been such a burden so the moment that the weight was lifted off my shoulders, I felt nothing but relief.

To my surprise, Elle let out a humorless laugh and gave me a head shake. "No, you don't."

Elle went back to check herself in front of the mirror and what confused me, even more, was her sudden change of mood.

"Elle," I called out in a soft voice.

Looking at me through the mirror, she smiled. "What?"

"This is not working out for us anymore," I confessed causing her right eye to slightly twitch but her smile remained steady.

"Can we deal with your feelings later?" she asked calmly. "I have more serious things to handle now."

"What's more important than this?"

Elle let out another laugh. "For starters, I need to decide which earrings would go with my dress, or I will have a bitch fit. You don't want that, do you?"

I eyed her suspiciously, not able to tell if she was being honest or just fucking with me. "You're joking, right?"

A stern look was directed my way. "Do I look like I walk around with a red nose wearing polka dot clothes making people laugh? I think not."

And before I could get another word out, she jumped in. "Why don't you go see Andy? He's by himself on the terrace roof. Keep him company."

I was beyond puzzled and didn't know what to make out of this situation. The fact that I just dropped a bombshell of a truth only for Elle to dismiss my words, was a messed up move. She really thought that little of me that instead of addressing our issues, she pretended the problem wasn't worth her attention.

Fueled by hurt and rage bubbling beneath my skin, I turned and exited the room making sure to slam the door on my way out. I didn't care if my action upset her or came across as childish. What she just put me through was so unfair.

My heartbeat accelerated and my hands started trembling. I shut my eyes to concentrate on my breathing as I leaned against the door frame. Not sure how long I stood there, frozen in the hallway but once I was able to regain my composure, I opened my eyes again.

Then, I thought of Andy on the terrace and I was about to leave to meet him when the faintest sound of sniffles and muffled weeping coming from within the room kept me grounded. An immense wave of guilt washed over me knowing that I had caused her sadness but faking to be happy with her was getting increasingly difficult so it needed to happen sooner or later.

I made a mental note to come prepared next time in case Elle pulled the same trick again. Perhaps she was being delusional or doing it to hurt me on purpose, but hindering the inevitable would bring nothing good for either of us. Why did she have to make it so difficult when I was trying to move on to better things?

I felt like I was falling apart, in an agonizingly slow way but I had to keep myself together; for Andrew.

***

A/n: To anyone who is still here, thank you for reading and waiting ❤️

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