"I have an idea! We should do Merome versus Lerome! Fandom versus real life!" Jerome shouted out of nowhere. I laughed.
"Do you really expect us to fight each other?" I asked.
"Not that way! I mean like a picture where you two are pretending to fight over me!" he explained. Louise just rolled her eyes.
"You come up with the weirdest ideas at the random-est of times," she said. "But that's just another thing to add onto the list of things I love about you." I rolled my eyes (inwardly) at the last part.
Jerome had me grab his right arm and Louise grab his left arm. Then we sat his phone onto a tripod and snapped a picture. He posted it on Instagram, hashtags and all.
"Geez, Jerome. Why do you do this to our fans? Now you're going to have to expect fanfiction about this," I joked. We always joked about Merome, even though it'll never become real. The thought slightly dulled my happy expression.
"Don't worry, Benja, no one could ever separate Merome," Jerome joked back, hugging me. The three of us laughed, but on the inside my heart ached.
"I wish that were true," I mumbled.
"What did you say?" Jerome asked.
"Uh… Nothing," I quickly stuttered. He just shrugged, grabbed Louise's hand, and dragged her to the couch. I ran upstairs to the guest bedroom, where I was staying.
To be honest, I was envious of Louise. She got to live with Jerome, spend countless hours with Jerome, make Jerome happy. I repeated those words bitterly in my head, make Jerome happy.
That was something I could never do. I've always screwed up everything; I've always broken everything I touched. And he's straight. I would just scare him if I confessed. To find out that his best friend loves him and doesn't like his girlfriend….
But I do like Louise. I have nothing against her. She has a lot going for her. She's pretty, smart, and polite. She doesn't threaten me even though I can tell that she senses a weird vibe coming off me. She just had everything I dreamed of: Jerome. That's when my eyes sprung a leak.
Telling Jerome would make me feel better about keeping secrets, but our friendship would be ruined and possibly even his and Louise's relationship. Not telling Jerome would leave a very broken Benja and a happy Jerome. That's what I always told myself when I thought about him, what would happen for each choice. And each time I'd choose the latter. But this time I had second thoughts.
Honesty is the best policy. But I'm not lying about anything. Keeping this from him is just as bad. He has the right to know. Since when? Since he became your best friend. But he won't be happy if I tell. And you won't id you don't.
"Hey, Mitch?" Jerome's voice called, snapping me out of my thoughts. I wiped the tears off of my face.
"Uh, yes?" I answered. Jerome slowly opened the door.
"You okay? I heard a very faint sniffling from downstairs," he said, sitting at the foot of my bed.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. "Why don't you go back downstairs and finish your movie with Louise?"
"You're my best friend. I was worried that something had happened," he responded. The he looked straight into my eyes. His eyes widened and he grabbed the sides of my face, inspecting it. "You were crying," he said.
"N-no I wasn't," I stuttered, moving his hands away from my face.
"Don't lie to me, Biggums," he said. His tone was a bit more intense than it normally was.
I sighed. "Fine. I… I'm in love with this… th-this girl," I started. Maybe he'll get a clue and tell that I'm only telling half-truths.
"Ooo, my little Mitchy is growing up!" Jerome interrupted, a grin growing on his face. I just blinked and he seemed to get the message. "Okay, sorry. Continue."
"Anyway, this g-girl I like is madly in love with someone. Someone that isn't me. And it hurts, Jerome, it hurts. It hurts like hell," I said. I pulled my knees up to my chest and the water works started flowing again. He pulled me into a hug.
"That sucks. Love can hurt," he said. He didn't get the message, but it felt like he was comforting me as if he knew what was going on although he really didn't.
"Jerome! This is the best part!" Louise called from downstairs. Jerome gave me a small smile and stood up. I didn't want him to leave, but I didn't say anything.
"I love you, Jerome."
"Love ya too, Biggums."
But never, in a billion years, would he ever mean it in the same way I do.