Alex POV-

I blinked my eyes open to the smiling face of my best friend, Mitchie. She was kneeling against the edge of my bed, gently shaking me. I laid there on my stomach for a moment, before lifting myself up into the sitting position.

I rubbed my eyes before yawning, "How long have you been here?"

She shrugged, "Few minutes, your mom let me in."

I nodded, "What time is it?"

Her eyes flickered to the clock on the wall behind me, before stating, "About ten in the morning."

I crawled out of bed, not liking the fact that I was up so early, "Ten am on a Saturday, are you crazy?" I shuffled through my closet, then glanced over my shoulder at her, "Why are you here, anyway?"

She pouted out her bottom lip, "I missed you."

I smiled as I looked back into my closet, "You saw me yesterday… but I missed you, too."

She giggled, "Good… are you hanging out with Mason today?"

I shrugged, grabbing a shirt, then turned around, "Probably, why?"

She walked over to my dresser, before tossing me a pair of my black skinny jeans, "I was just wondering… Have you guys exchanged the L word, yet?"

I slipped into the bathroom to change, but kept it open a crack, so she could still hear me, "No, because that would require me… ya know… being in love with him."

She paused for a moment, "You're not?"

I emerged from the bathroom in my black tank top and black skinny jeans, "No… I'm not… not yet, at least. I guess I'm just not at that part of our relationship, yet."

She scrunched together her eyebrows, "You guys have been together for three years…"

I sighed and walked up to her, "I know, and he's amazing… but I just don't… love him."

She nodded, "Maybe you do and you just haven't realized it yet."

I looked into her eyes, feeling my heartbeat pick up, "No, I'm sure I'm not in love with him."

She tilted her head to the side a bit, like a confused puppy, "How can you be so sure?"

"I just woke up, I was not prepared for this conversation, no more questions."

She laughed a little, "Okay, whatever you want."

I gripped my doorknob, before turning it and pulling the door open. I glanced at Mitchie, her eyes were set on her cellphone as she tapped away at it, replying to a text, from her boyfriend, I assume. I took this chance to glide my eyes up and down her, smiling a bit to myself, before my eyes return to hers, but they were still locked on her phone, but a small smile was creeping it's way onto her face, before her eyes shifted to me.

She raised an eyebrow, "Just gonna stand there and stare or are we going to leave the room?"

I quickly looked away and walked out of my room, trying to hide my blushing face. I can't believe she saw me. I rushed down the hallway and jogged down the stairs before stumbling my way into the kitchen where my mom was, with Mitchie right behind me. I hopped up onto the counter as Mitchie did the same.

My mom smiled at us, "Morning, Alex. Hello, again, Mitchie."

Mitchie nodded and smiled, "Hi."

I tapped my fingers on my knees, "What's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes," my mom looked to Mitchie, "I assume you're staying to eat with us?"

Mitchie laughed, "Of course, don't I always?"

She smiled and faced the fridge as she pulled it open, "Yes, you do, and we all enjoy your company very much."

Mitchie took my hand in between both of hers, "Stop tapping."

I laughed and nodded, "Alright."

I expected her to pull her hands away, but she just placed our hands in her lap before looking back to my mom. I felt my body heat up just by her doing this and it was getting hard to breath normally. If we sat like this much longer, she'd catch on, and I don't want that. I tugged at my hand, but Mitchie only tightened her grip, so I had to yank myself away from her and jump off the counter. Mitchie looked at me with confused, and slightly hurt, eyes.

I scratched the back of my neck, "Um, on second thought, Mason is probably waiting for me or something. I should call him and ask him about our plans for today."

Mitchie slid off the counter, "You're skipping breakfast?"

I nodded, taking a small step away from her, "Yeah, um, just for today."

"Um… okay… have fun with Mason."

I half smiled before running up to my room and dialing Mason's number.

He answered right away, "Hey, Lex."

"Hey, Mason, we hanging out today?"

I heard things shuffle around on his end before he said, "Yeah, of course. Need me to pick you up, babe?"

Mitchie walked into the room, giving me a look that I knew all too well. She wanted to know what was up with me, like she always did when I started to freak out when she got too close to me.

I replied to Mason, "Yeah, be here soon, okay?"

"I'll be there as soon as I can, baby."

"Okay, thanks…"

"Bye, babe."

"Bye," I sighed out as I slid my phone into my pocket, then plopped down onto my bed and tugged on my shoe. I reached for the other one, but Mitchie grabbed it and tossed it out of my reach.

I sighed, "What'd you do that for?"

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?" I bit my lip, because I knew exactly what she meant, but I just didn't want to answer it, because I would answer it with a lie.

"You were all jumpy down there, did I do something wrong? Was it because I held your hand, did that bother you? If that was it, then I won't-"

I cut her off, "No, that wasn't it. You can hold my hand all you want, I don't care. All that happened was I remembered that I promised Mason I would call him when I woke up."

She smiled brightly, "Okay, good."

I nodded and changed the subject, 'How's that boyfriend of yours?"

Her smile fell a bit, "He's good, he told me he loves me yesterday."

I clenched my jaw for a second as I felt my heart drop into my stomach, "Did you, um, did you say it back?"

"Yeah, I did."

My heart, that was now in my stomach, broke into a million pieces and I could barely take it, "Oh, well, I'm happy for you guys."

"Yeah, me too… he's really special, Lex… I really love him."

My body grew weak, "That's good."

"He's so amazing… I don't think there's anyone else out there for me… I think he's the one-"

I stood, not wanting to hear anymore, "I think Mason's here."

She handed me my shoe, "Well, here… Have fun, make sure you don't leave me out in the cold all day, okay?"

I nodded, "I'll text you."

She stood from the space on the floor she was sitting on, "Alright."

I slid on my shoe and brushed past her, before she gripped my wrist and pulled me into her. She slid her arms around me, locking her eyes on mine, then kissed my nose.

She mumbled, "You can't leave without giving me a hug."

I pulled away from the embrace, "Well, there's your hug, now bye."

"I love you, Lexi."

My heart fluttered for a second, before returning to it's aching state, because she didn't mean it in the way I wanted her to, "Love you, too, Mitch."

I walked out of the house, not in much of hurry at that point, because I knew Mason wasn't here yet. I heard someone call my name from a distance and I shot my head that way, seeing Mitchie's boyfriend, Shane, coming this way. They had been dating for a little over a year now, she's always her happiest when she's with him, and that kills me. I forced a smile and waved at him as he made his way over to me.

He smiled warmly, "Hey, where you off to?"

"Mason's place, what about you?"

He nodded, "Oh, I'm heading into your place for some breakfast and then I'm taking Mitchie out."

Shane was like a son to my mom, because Mitchie was like a daughter to her. Since Mitchie practically lived here, so did Shane.

"What are you two gonna do?"

He shrugged, "Just hang out, I suppose. I might take her to a movie or something, it's all up to her."

I smiled at him as I saw Mason pull up and honk, "Well, I hope you guys have fun, see you later."

He pecked my cheek in a brotherly way, before walking inside and calling out, "You too, Lexi."

I sighed, then jogged off to Mason's car and climbed in.

My head was in Mason's lap as he played with my hair. We just finished watching one of our favorite movies, and now we were just hanging out. We were silent, but it wasn't awkward. We did this pretty often, actually. Just laid here and gazed at each other, not saying a word, and it was honestly my favorite thing that we did. Despite the way I feel for Mitchie, I do have feelings for Mason, I just don't love him, like I love Mitchie.

Mason breathed out, almost inaudible, "I love you."

My body tensed up at those three words as I ran them through my mind. I didn't know how to respond, I didn't want to lie to him, but I didn't want to not say it back, either, because that would crush him. I'll just act as if I didn't understand him… maybe he'll pretend he didn't say it…

I curiously looked up at him, "What'd you say, baby?"

He hesitated, but did repeat himself, "I-I...I said that… I love you, Alex."

I forced a giant smile before I said, "I love you, too."

He smiled wide and crashed his lips onto mine, then pulled away, "Really?"

I nodded, hating myself for lying, "Yes, really."

"You have no idea how happy I am right now."

I giggled before I sat up, "I have a pretty good idea."

I had no idea, because I had never heard 'I love you, too' from someone I truly love. Well, I guess I have heard it from Mitchie, but she didn't mean it in the way I meant it. I glanced at the clock, nearly midnight. Mason seemed to have read my mind, because he slid off the couch and grabbed his keys off the table.

I wandered into my house and up to my room, being as quiet as I could, so I wouldn't wake my parents. I silently closed my door behind me as I walked into my room, where I was greeted by Mitchie and Shane. They were casually sitting on my bed, just kinda staring at me.

I kicked off my shoes and looked at them weirdly, "Uh, what?"

Shane smiled, "Mason texted me."

I plopped down on the bed next to him, "Saying?"

Mitchie spoke up, she sounded kind of distant, "He said that you guys told each other that you loved each other."

I nodded, "Oh, right… well, we did. Now, why are you two still here?"

Shane shrugged, "Mitchie said she was spending the night, so I was chilling here with her until you got home."

"Oh, alright, well you can stay as long as you want, you know?"

He nodded, but crawled off the bed, "I'm gonna leave you girls to your little girl talks," he pecked Mitchie's lips, before pecking my cheek. He pulled open the door and glanced over his shoulder, "Bye, baby, I love you. Bye, Lexi."

Mitchie smiled, "I love you, too."

I waved to him, "Bye."

I slid off the bed, grabbed some pajamas, then slipped off into the bathroom to change. As I came back out, Mitchie was standing right there, causing me to jump back a bit.

She mumbled, "Sorry… Hey, um, why'd you tell Mason you love him?"

I raised my eyebrow, then began my next lie of the day, "I guess because I realized that you were right, I really do love him."

"But just this morning-"

"I'm tired, Mitchie."

She glared, "Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

She groaned, obviously annoyed now, "Whenever we start talking about love or our relationships, you close up and change the subject."

"I'm sorry… I um… I don't mean to."

"Yes, you do, I just want to know why you do that. Do you not trust me with it anymore, is that it? Have we drifted or something?"

I shook my head, "No, we're as close as we've always been."

She sighed, "Then what is it? Please, just tell me, I'm worried."

"I don't have a reason, I guess. I just don't like talking about it."

She looked down, "Alright… I can understand that… Everyone has their secrets, I guess."

I nodded, "So… bed now?"

She chuckled a bit, "Yeah, bed now."

A few months had passed, and things only became worse from there. I started pushing Mitchie away, and she was definitely noticing it. I could see the pain in her eyes every time we were together, which had become rare now. The only time we were together, was when Shane and Mason wanted to double date. The further I pushed Mitchie away, the more I clung to Mason, and the more she drifted from Shane. It was a weird and painful thing to watch.

Tonight marks exactly four months since I had an actual conversation with Mitchie, and yes, I have been keeping track. I was sitting in my bed, texting Mason, when someone knocked on my open door. I glanced up and saw a very broken looking Shane. I waved him in as a gesture for him to sit next to me on the bed, which he did. He ran his fingers through his hair, before looking at me.

He voice was low, and sounded like it was going to fill with tears at any moment, "M-Mitchie… broke up with me…"

"What, why?"

His eyes were fixed on the carpet, "I-I don't know… I don't know what I did, but she's just been so distant lately… I saw this coming and I tried so hard to avoid it… but… it was pointless. She came over and she just looked so broken… and I asked her to come in, so I could comfort her, but she said no, then just… broke up with me and left, saying nothing else…"

I felt bad for him, I really did, because I knew how much he loved her. She owned and still does own his heart, and I thought he owned hers, so why would she do this? I slid my phone into my hand before dialing Mitchie's number.

Shane glanced at me, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to help…"

Mitchie answered, "L-Lexi?"

The way she sounded only caused my already aching heart to hurt more, "Yeah… can I come over?"

"Y-Yeah… please, do…"

"On my way…"

I hung up before glancing at Shane, "I'll talk to her, find out why she did what she did, okay?"

He nodded, then pulled me into a hug, "Thanks for being such a great friend…"

I pulled away and forced a smile, "Anytime."

I put on my shoes, grabbed my keys, then drove off to Mitchie's.

It was about a twenty minute drive to her house, and once I got there, my body felt numb. I took a deep breath, shut my car off, and walked up to her front door. I gently knocked, which was soon followed by Mitchie's mother opening the door. She smiled at me, then stepped aside, letting me in. I thought it was kind of odd that she hadn't said anything, especially since she hadn't seen me in a while, but I also felt kind of relieved. I jogged up to Mitchie's room and walked in, closing the door behind me. I faced Mitchie, who was sitting on her bed, tears streaming down her face.

I began to speak, but she cut me off, "What did I do? Four months… you just dropped me… for four months… no explanation… no anything… you just… left me…"

"I'm sorry…"

"That's all you have to say? You're sorry? Do you have any idea what I've been through the past four months? I've been through fucking Hell… I've never been so depressed before in my life… and being without you for all this time… made me realize something."

I swallowed roughly, "W-was it that… y-you don't need me anymore?"

She shook her head, "No… it wasn't that… I-I… I realized… how um… how much I love you…"

"I-In a sisterly way?"

She climbed off her bed, then walked up to me, "No… in a 'I'm in love with you' way."

My eyes met hers, "W-what?"

She licked her lips, "That's why I broke up with Shane… because I don't love him… I love you… and I'm sorry if this all freaks you out… Is that why you pushed me away? Could you tell I loved you and it scared you?"

"No, of course not… I pushed you away… because… I couldn't stand seeing you in love with someone… who wasn't me…"

She fought back a smile, "So… you're saying… you love me, too?"

I dropped my eyes to the floor, "I've always loved you… and I always will…"

She cupped my face in her hands as her lips fell onto mine, kissing me hard and slow, causing my heart to do flips in my chest.

She pulled back a bit, "I love you."

I smiled, "I love you, too."