"But if I just showed up at your party
Would you have me?
Would you want me?
Would you tell me to go fuck myself
Or lead me to the garden?"
betty - Taylor Swift

oOoOo

The next day, we go to Kaden and Chase's to hang out.

My palms start sweating as Blair, Marc, and I walk up the path to the Theta Alpha house.

I stop on the porch as Blair and Marc open the door and walk inside.

What if Kaden rejects me? That will be so embarrassing. Is this even a good idea?

"You coming?" Blair turns around to ask.

I take a deep breath. "Yeah."

We walk in. I see Grace and Chase in the living room.

"Hey!" Grace gets up to greet us with hugs.

"Hey," I say as I return her hug.

"Come on, let's go into the kitchen. Kaden, Liv, Chad, and Derek are already in there."

We follow her into the kitchen and greet everyone else. My eyes are instantly drawn to where Kaden is standing by the door. He's talking to the redhead who must be Liv. Just seeing him makes my heart ache. He looks so attractive in his grey sweats and Patriots jersey.

Again, the grey sweats. What is it about them that makes guys so attractive? I guess I'll never know.

I stop my staring before I get caught. Turning to the counter, I grab a bag of Doritos and a slice of pizza from one of the open pizza boxes.

"Want anything to drink, babe?" Marc asks. "What about you, prin-, I mean Kate," he quickly corrects.

Kaden's head turns around after hearing my name. We make awkward eye contact and exchange a smile before he turns back to his conversation.

"I'll have whatever you're having," Blair replies.

"Me too."

Marc grabs us beers.

"The game is starting!" Chase hollers from the living room.

Kaden and I make eye contact once more before I follow everyone else into the living room.

I forget my plate and turn back to the kitchen to get it. When I return to the living room, all of the spots on the couch are occupied.

"We can make some space for you," Grace says. She seamlessly moves into Chase's lap.

"I can sit on one of the beanbags," I respond. I don't need to sit next to Grace and Chase and witness their lovefest all night.

I drag one of the beanbags from the corner. I plop it down next to the couch, where Liv is sitting in a red beanbag.

"Hey, I'm Kate," I say to her.

"Kaden's ex, right?" She asks.

"Yeah," I respond, bracing myself for a bitchy comment.

She looks past me at something.

I follow her line of sight and see Kaden looking at us. He quickly turns away and resumes talking to Chase and Grace.

"I can tell he misses you," she whispers. Well, that's a pleasant surprise. I thought she was going to say something rude.

My face heats up. It must be as red as Liv's beanbag right now.

"I guess?" How does one even respond to this?

She smiles. "You guys are cute together. I'm rooting for you."

"Thanks, that means a lot."

"Are you from France? I'm obsessed with your accent."

"No, Amaria."

She looks confused but nods anyway.

"It's a small country between France and Italy," I supply.

Someone turns up the volume on the TV as the players take the field.

"Who are they playing?" Liv whispers.

"I don't know. We don't have football in Amaria, so I'm very confused," I laugh.

"Kansas City Chiefs," Chad answers for me.

"I don't understand sports either," she says.

"Yeah, it makes no sense to me. We went to a Bruins game last weekend, and I was so lost. The guys had to explain everything to me."

"Yeah, I'm just here for the halftime show."

"Same, girl."

We both laugh and get shushed. God forbid someone interrupts a football game.

oOoOo

By the beginning of the second quarter, I am bored out of my mind. It's hard to follow the game when I have no idea what's going on. It just looks like a bunch of guys tackling each other and throwing a ball around to me.

All I know is that the score is 20-14 and the Patriots are winning.

All of the sudden, all of the guys in the room start screaming at the TV.

There's a ref on the screen announcing something I don't comprehend. Based on the screams, I think he made a bad call in favor of the other team. What really confuses me is why the boys are getting so worked up. It's just a game. It's not the end of the world. The screaming is uncalled for, in my opinion.

I look at Liv with my eyebrows raised, asking if she understands what is happening.

She shrugs her shoulders in response.

I see Grace and Blair get up. I follow them into the kitchen, desperate for something to do.

As I walk away, I can feel eyes boring into my back.

"What's up?" Grace asks.

"Nothing. I'm bored out of my mind," I groan.

"Me too. American football makes zero sense," Blair adds.

"How hard is it to understand? Each team is just trying to get the ball down the field and make a touchdown. They have four tries to advance the ball ten yards. Then they get another set of attempts if they are successful," Grace explains.

"Still doesn't help. All of these sports games are making my head hurt," I say. Blair nods. There's only so much I can handle.

"You guys are hopeless," Grace groans.

"I know. And I'm okay with that." I joke.

"Okay, on a real note, are you still planning on talking to Kaden?" Blair asks.

"Of course I am."

"I won't believe it until I see it. You have a history of chickening out," Grace teases.

"No chickening out today. It doesn't stop me from being nervous, though."

"You'll be fine. Kaden hasn't taken his eyes off you all night. Hell, he's been practically drooling over you."

Suddenly, all of the guys come into the kitchen and grab more food.

"The halftime show is on," one of them informs us.

We grab our drinks and join the girls. Now, this is finally something I understand.

oOoOo

The Patriots end up winning the game. All of the guys start celebrating and jumping around. The pride they have in their team surprises me. I linger as people start to leave, busying myself with cleaning up.

When all of the trash is taken care of, I approach Kaden. He's sitting on the couch, texting someone.

"Hey, can we talk?"

He jumps a little before turning around and putting his phone in his pocket. "Yeah, sure. We can go to my room."

He doesn't seem surprised that I approached him. I wonder if Grace told him. She loves meddling, so I wouldn't put it past her.

We make the familiar walk to his bedroom.

"Sorry about the mess," he says as he opens the door.

I take notice of the dirty clothes on the floor and his unmade bed. It's a lot cleaner than usual.

"It's fine. My room looks considerably worse at the moment." It's true. After being home for over a month, I've gotten used to someone picking up after me.

He quickly shoves his comforter over his rumpled sheets and motions for me to take a seat.

I sit down on the edge of the bed, and he sits on the opposing end.

My heart is pounding. It feels like it might jump out of my chest. I hope he can't hear the erratic thumping.

"How have you been?" I ask, intentionally delaying our conversation. I need to calm my nerves so I don't fuck this up.

"I could be better. I've missed you a lot."

Okay, well, I guess he doesn't want to beat around the bush today.

"Me too," I breathe.

We sit in silence, staring at each other, waiting for the other to speak up.

"I-"

"May-"

We speak at the same time. He motions for me to go first.

"I was thinking that maybe we could give this another shot?" I say meekly.

Please don't tell me to fuck off. I don't think my heart can take it.

"Okay."

"Okay?" I confirm. Did my ears deceive me? I didn't think it would be this easy.

"Okay," he echoes with a radiant smile.

"Great. Good. Well, thanks."

I'm still a little unsure. This can't be it. The other shoe will inevitably drop.

"On one condition, though," he says.

Ah, here is it.

"What is it?" I'd do anything. I'm content with the fact that he's giving me another chance. I know I won't throw it away so carelessly this time.

"Honesty. Tell me everything now. No more secrets. I can handle the ugly truth, but you just gotta tell me," he says.

His emerald eyes search my baby-blue ones.

"Yeah, I promise. I was going to say the same thing. No more lies," I promise.

"Good. It was too hard being just friends. There's just something about you that's magnetic. I feel drawn to you whenever you're near," he says.

"I feel the same way. It's like a moth to a flame."

His eyes move down to my lips. I suddenly have the overwhelming urge to kiss him. We need to finish talking first, though. I'm not going to make that mistake again.

"Juliet and I are working on getting out of the relationship with Xander, by the way. Once that's done, I'll be free. We can be together without any boundaries," I say, snapping him out of his daze.

"Good." He nods. "I never liked Xenos anyway."

Really? I could have sworn they were best friends.

I laugh. "Do you have a whole list of alternate names for him or something?"

"No," he's quick to respond.

Sure you don't...

"I just don't like the guy," he says petulantly.

"Aww, is little Kaden getting jealous of the other guys on the playground?" I tease in a baby voice.

"Fuck off," he says, unable to control his smile.

"C'mere." he scoots over and pats the spot beside him. I shift and lean my head on his shoulder.

I can feel his warm breath as he places a kiss on the crown of my head.

"I missed you so much," I whisper.

"So did I, sweetheart. So did I."

We sit together, wrapped in each other's arms.

Everything is right in the world now. I feel so high; nothing can drag me down.

oOoOo

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