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"You're doing it again."

He looked up to see his opponent staring at him blankly over his cards. His opponent had put down a King of Hearts, winning the game for the fourth time in a row yet he didn't care. There were more pressing matters on his mind.

"Doing what again?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He placed his cards onto the table before lifting himself up.

His opponent did the same and walked towards the windows before sighing heavily.

"I know you're thinking about her, Aaron." He said bluntly, a look of nonchalance invoking his expression yet his words were soaked in sadness. He, too, was upset about the ordeal.

Aaron moved towards the fridge, choosing not to make eye contact. He knew his expressions would say too much.

"Her? You need to be more specific, Justin. I know a lot of girls." He said with a chuckle before pulling a bottle of juice out of the fridge and bringing it to his lips. He knew all too well that Justin was gazing at him as he drank, but he ignored it.

After an achingly long period, Justin turned his heated gaze away from Aaron and returned it back to the window.

"Aaron, don't play dumb with me. That's Danny's job." He said jokingly, but there was a warning in his words.

Aaron sighed at this. He and Justin had known each other for more than 10 years. They could decipher each others feelings and thoughts in a heartbeat. He considered himself stupid for even thinking that Justin wouldn't know how he was feeling, but he had the slightest hope that Justin wouldn't bring it up in the fear that it would upset him.

But, when was Justin the type to regard another's feelings?

Aaron sat down again, turning to Justin who was still gazing out of the window.

"Yes, I am still thinking about her. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Aaron spoke in a bitter full tone. He was sick of his thoughts being consumed by her. He just wanted to let her go.

He had to.

Justin shook his head slowly before setting his grey eyes on Aaron.

"I just want to know if you're okay." He enquired, the concern evident in his eyes.

He was worried deeply for Aaron. That, anyone could tell, but he knew that Aaron could only recover from the sadness alone. He'd provide all the support and comfort he could muster, but only Aaron could stop the thoughts about her; only Aaron could make himself happy again.

Aaron nodded half-heartedly.

"Yes, I'm fine." He said in a voice

that sounded anything but. A small smile graced his face, but Justin knew that it was forced; as were his words.

Justin seated himself next to Aaron before stroking his arm.

"You know I'm here for you, right?" He said in a reassuring tone.

Aaron scoffed at this, moving his hand.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are." He muttered sarcastically. Justin raised an eyebrow at this. He could tell that Aaron was angry and the strangest part was the anger was directed to him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" His voice remained levelled as he uttered this question; his face a blank.

He watched as Aaron stood up abruptly- a sudden fire in his eyes.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." He scoffed at Justin's 'supposed' stupidity on the matter and folded his arms.

Justin thought for a minute- thought about all his doings and if any of them could have potentially affected his best friend yet nothing came to mind.

He was, in all sense, as clueless as Danny in this minute of time.

"I actually don't know what you're talking about." He said, voicing his thoughts. Again, his face was expressionless, but deep inside he was anxious to know what upset Aaron so much.

Aaron laughed at this, but it was clearly not in amusement.

"You knew, didn't you? You knew about her illness." He questioned, although already knowing the answer. He waited patiently as Justin took in his words.

Justin stood up slowly before moving towards Aaron.

"Yes, I knew. I wanted her to tell you. I told her to, but she couldn't. She didn't have the courage to tell you." Justin said truthfully. He sighed after he spoke. The word 'lie' had always been a foreign one to him. He hated it's use in the world today. All it did was create rifts and misunderstandings. He knew that sometimes he was too blunt or harsh, but the truth was often like that and he deemed it better to hurt with the truth than praise with a lie.

Aaron moved away from Justin and towards the other side of the kitchen.

"Don't worry, I know exactly why she told you and not me." Aaron said mock-assuredly.

Justin tutted at this. This argument was pointless and they were both venturing off the matter at hand. They needed to be with each other in times of sadness, not fight. He wanted to forget this whole ordeal, but he knew too well that Aaron was too stubborn to drop a fight and, so, he tiredly asked the burning question.

"And why, pray tell, did she choose to tell me, but not you?" Justin droned out in a sleepy tone. He looked at his watch as he spoke.

They had been at this for 7 minutes.

Aaron, however, didn't seem too concerned of the time, but rather on the present topic. He was in a mood for a fight and Justin was his target.

"Don't act so naive. I know there's something going on between the two of you. I'd be pretty fucking blind if I couldn't see that." Aaron said, running a hand through his hair. Justin sighed and put a hand on his friend's arm, but Aaron was in no mood for the gesture and he shoved the hand off abruptly- anger in his eyes. They both stood in silence, looking at each other- Justin awaiting the anger and Aaron stuck in his thoughts. A few seconds later and Aaron sighed, moving away from him.

This didn't relieve Justin's anxiety, but- rather- increased it. Never, in the time that they had known each other- had they been in a physical fight. None of them would have dared to do that to each other.

Justin looked down at the ground before settling his grey eyes on Aaron.

"You think I'd do that to you? Steal your girl?" Justin's voice was quiet yet his face was unreadable, as always.

The evident sadness in his tone didn't make Aaron falter. He was a man on a mission. He scoffed at Justin's words.

"Don't act so humble. I, of all people, know how 'saint-like' you are." Aaron said, putting emphasis on 'saint-like'. He tutted upon seeing the look of shock that crossed Justin's face for a split second, but it was quickly gone.

They both knew what Aaron was talking about. Justin had confided in Aaron about this information a few years back. After telling him, Aaron hadn't said anything besides a small spoken promise of never telling anyone else. They hadn't brought it back up since that day.

Well, that was, until now.

Justin wanted to say something on the matter. He wanted to defend his actions; he wanted to offend Aaron, but he knew he was beyond that. Being more controlled and slightly more mature than Aaron, he knew it would be both futile and wrong to open his mouth without thought.

It was Aaron's anger talking, that was all.

Justin shook his head slowly, dismissing Aaron's previous words before speaking.

"Aaron, I just-"

Yet, before he could finish, a noise emerged through the air- a ringing tone.

Aaron looked down, reaching into his pocket and picked out his phone. Upon seeing it, a look of displeasure passed his face. Before Justin could ask what caused it, Aaron had already thrown the phone towards him. Catching the phone, Justin brought it up to his face.

Lexi calling?

"Answer it. You can talk to your girlfriend." Aaron let out with a harsh scoff. He folded his arm and gestured towards the phone with his hand.

"Go on. Take the call, Justin." He said, a small scowl on his face to which Justin shook his head. He placed the phone on the kitchen counter before turning to Aaron.

"Stop it, Aaron. Stop feeding yourself lies. It's the anger talking and you know it." Justin said in a calm tone, but his patience was wavering. He too had feelings and Aaron was pushing him to the edge.

Aaron laughed loudly, the sound cutting through the tense atmosphere.

"I suppose you've got feelings for her too, huh? How amazing is she? How amazing is my girl?" Aaron's voice had risen several octaves now. His tone was sarcastic and he moved closer to Justin threateningly.

Justin tutted at this, moving closer to Aaron in a similar manner.

"Seriously, Aaron? If you're not going to trust me, you can at least trust her. Do you really think she'd do that to you?" Justin reasoned, an anger in his tone.

In a heartbeat, Aaron spoke.

"Yes." He said bluntly, looking at Justin with a blank face.

Justin rolled his eyes at this. Aaron had always been the 'hot-head' of the three, that Justin knew yet he never knew how hard it was to knock some sense into him. He nodded his head whilst folding his arms.

"Okay, if that's how you feel then yes. I slept with Alexis. Satisfied?" Justin spoke sarcastically yet it was enough to anger Aaron, Justin could tell. Aaron moved towards Justin, but before a ruckus could occur, the door flung open and the two angry teens turned to see who had interrupted.

Danny.

He looked at his friends, confusion on his face and grocery bags in his hands.

"What's up, guys? "He asked, moving towards the counter. He looked at both boys yet, before any of them could come up with a pathetic excuse as a cover up, a noise emerged through the room- a ringing tone.

Danny turned his attention to the phone on the counter and picked it up. He looked at the phone before confusion crossed his face. Despite the tension, Justin tutted before moving towards Danny. He took the phone out of Danny's hand before turning it upright and placed it back into Danny's hand. Danny nodded his head in thanks towards Justin before turning his attention back onto the phone. He smiled widely at the name that appeared on the screen.

"It's Alexis! Come on, pick up!" Danny's voice boomed in excitement. He moved towards Aaron and jutted the phone out to him.

Aaron sighed heavily, massaging his head with his hands.

"I'll talk to her later, Danny. I'm not in the mood right now." Aaron said and anyone could have noticed the anger in his tone.

Well, anyone but Danny.

Danny smiled widely, shaking his head from right to left.

"No worries, my brother. I'll answer it." Danny concluded, pulling the phone back to himself. Aaron opened his mouth to protest, but shut it upon seeing the glare he received from Justin.

Fortunately for him, the phone stopped ringing before Danny could answer it and he quickly took it out of his hands.

"Oh well, Danny boy. Better luck next time." He said in a relieved tone. Danny didn't seem to notice this. He shrugged his shoulders before turning to Justin.

"What was I saying before that call interrupted me?" He asked, a look of thought on his face.

In Danny's case, thought being pain.

Justin opened his mouth to speak, but Aaron held his hand up to stop him.

"What do you think you were saying?" Aaron challenged, looking curiously at Danny. Justin realised quickly what Aaron was trying to do and he too turned to look at Danny.

At this, Danny's face contorted into thought again. It remained like this for a few minutes until he grinned widely, clapping loudly.

"Oh yes! We were talking about...Football!" Danny said finally and both Justin and Aaron let out a baited sigh.

Just then, Aaron's phone rang again and he tutted loudly. Pulling it out of his pocket, he was just about to disconnect, but- upon seeing the look on Justin's face- he considered picking up.

Justin moved towards him, putting a hand on his arm and- this time- Aaron didn't move his hand.

"Tell her how you feel, at least. If you're not going to talk to her again, just be honest with her for one last time." Justin said soothingly; thoughts of the argument that had occurred between them long forgotten. Aaron turned his head away from Justin, but he knew that he was telling the truth.

He accepted the call and put it to his ear.

"What do you want?" He said coldly.

Justin moved towards Danny before pulling his arm. He knew that this was a matter between the couple and it wasn't good to pry. They needed their privacy. Despite Danny's protest, Justin managed to pull him out of the room and Aaron smiled at him in thanks.

Justin knew the smile was fake. He just hoped that all would be sorted once they talked.

That's all he hoped.

************

8 minutes- 8 minutes had passed since they had left the room and Justin couldn't take it anymore. He moved back to the kitchen, Danny trailing slowly behind him.

Upon reaching the kitchen, he halted, surprised to see Aaron on his knees. He moved quickly towards him whilst Danny watched from the door in confusion.

"Aaron, what's wrong? Was the phone call fine?" Justin questioned, concern evident in his tone. He looked to Aaron, but he didn't speak.

They sat in silence for a while before Aaron nodded his head.

"Yes, it was fine. I said goodbye. It's over now." Aaron said quietly and Justin could tell how upset he was.

Justin stroked his arm.

"So, are you going to meet her for a last time?" He asked, looking to Danny who had sat down next to the two.

Aaron shook his head at this.

"No. This phone call was the end of it. I think I should leave it at that." Aaron finalised, turning to Justin.

Justin nodded at his words

"Okay. If that's what you feel is right then we won't meet her again." Justin said, reassuring Aaron by stroking his arm.

Danny looked at both boys, a look of shock on his face.

"We won't meet her again? " He repeated, but in a much higher voice than that of his smarter companion.

Aaron nodded.

"Yes, Danny. This is the end."

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