Sorry this took FOREVER to post but here's chapter 2, finally.
I've had this chapter written for a while and I thought I uploaded it, but I guess not.
ANYWAYS... thank you so much for all the kind words and encouragement, I really appreciate it :)
I'm totally in love with this story and the direction I'm going and I promise I'll try to post more frequently.
As always PLEASE continue to leave lovely reviews; They keep me going 3
I sat there in shock. My best friend had just admitted that she was in love with me, AND she kissed me. I could hardly think, let alone breathe. Ariana stood up and walked over to the sink. She hovered over it and exhaled a few deep breaths. After she calmed herself a bit, she turned to face me. I still hadn't moved from my same spot on the floor.
"Look, Liz" She was fidgeting with her fingers as she spoke. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you like that." She refused to make eye contact. "I realize this puts you in an awkward position and I am so sorry." Her voice began to quiver. I finally was able to stand up and walk over to her. My arms were folded across my chest.
"Was this the 'pickle' you kept talking about on twitter? Was it about me and Jai?" She nodded and I saw a single tear fall from her eye. "I'm not mad at you, Ari." My voice was almost a whisper. Ariana still would not look at me. "Just answer this one question for me," she lifted her head without looking into my eyes "If you had feelings for me, why do you always deny anything that has to do with 'Eliana'? You get so upset when anyone brings it up." She shrugged. "Come on, Ari. I told you I'm not mad at you. I'm just curious, why?" She looked up at me and those chocolate brown eyes made me melt.
"I didn't want to admit it." Her voice was shaky. "I was afraid and I didn't want to make it super obvious, I don't know. I guess I just…" She looked down again "I don't know."
"Can I tell you a secret?" I asked. She said nothing. "Truth is, I've always kind of had a ginormous girl crush on you." She smiled and looked up at me.
"I kinda was getting that vibe from you" she teased and then it was silent. "I really love you, Liz. You're all I can think about and I don't even know what to do with myself anymore." She grabbed my hand and batted her eyelashes. "Well, we both have feelings for each other, so then what's the next step then, Lizzy?" She asked, biting her lip. Oh God, the way she was bites her lip drives me crazy. I shrugged.
"I love you, Ariana, you know that," her face grew worried "but I don't know if I'm ready for this relationship." Silence. "You're an amazing girl, Ari and I'd probably be happiest in a relationship with you, but I think we BOTH know that this relationship would only hurt our careers." She sighed. "You think Nickelodeon would be pleased to hear that the star of their most anticipated show of the year is gay?" She shook her head, sadly. I hate seeing her sad, so I wrapped by arms around her tiny body and pulled her into a tight hug. "I really do love you, Ariana and it breaks my heart this won't work out." I pulled back and kissed her forehead, causing her to beam with joy.
"Do you think there could ever be an 'us'?" Our eyes locked.
"Of course I do." I answered. It took everything in me not to kiss her. "Like I said, right now isn't the right time in our lives to pursue something this drastic. I definitely think there could be an 'us' down the road." Ariana smiled big and wrapped her arms around me tightly before pulling back.
"We should get back to that party." Ariana said, motioning toward the door.
"Oh, yeah!" With everything that had happened within the last ten minutes, I'd completely forgotten the reason I was even at this restaurant. "You better go entertain that boyfriend of yours." I teased, she frowned.
"Liiiiiiiz, what do I do?" she unlocks door and we see Zach.
"There you girls are!" he was drunk off his ass! "You were in there for such a long damn time everyone thinks you were having sex up in here!" We both shot him a dirty look.
"Get lost, Sang." I say as I brush past him.
"Hey, Ari," She looks over at me with wide eyes "well figure something out." She smiled.
I woke up the next morning on the floor of the Grande living room. This didn't really surprise me at all, considering most Grande parties end up with me somehow sleeping over without my knowledge. I sit up to see who else slept over. All I see are Ariana and Alexa; no Jai. I see Joan Grande in the kitchen cooking something that smelled absolutely delightful.
"Well, good morning, Ms. Liz. Did you sleep well?" She said with a smile. I think that was my favorite thing about Ariana's mom, she was always genuinely happy and always had a smile attached to her face.
"Good morning to YOU, Ms. Joan. I slept like a baby, like always." I get up and head over to where she's standing in the kitchen. "Mmm… whatever you're cooking smells great! Do you need any help?"
"You're so sweet, Liz. There's not much more to help with, really. Unless you want to get plates and silverware out?" I gave her a nod and grabbed the proper utensils. As I was setting them up all pretty, I got a text. Ariana.
You're perfect 3
I felt myself blush and looked over at where Ariana was now sitting on the couch. She flashed a quick smile. I quickly finished setting up forks and knives and sat beside Ariana. "Well good morning" I say.
"Good morning!" She smiles showing all her teeth.
"Where's Jai?" I ask. She bit her lip and looked down. "Ari, what happened?" my tone was serious. She walked up and walked to her room, I followed. She closed the door and flung herself onto her bed. She buried her head in a pillow. "Ariana, where is your Jai?" I sat cross legged beside her.
"He's not here." I was still confused. She rolled over and I could finally that beautiful face. "He knew something wasn't right last night. He said he could tell I wasn't in to the kiss." I was now lying beside her. "He started to get upset and asked if there was another guy." Another knot was beginning to form in my stomach. "I told there was DEFINITELY not another guy and that we were just moving too fast. He didn't like that answer at all and he started yelling at me and accusing me of cheating on him. Of course I started to cry and he felt bad." She sighed, "But I'm I don't think you'll like the next part too much, Liz." I felt anxiety rushing through my body. "I told him I was in love with you." My eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.
"You WHAT?!" I sat up, raging with anger.
"I know, I know." She was now sitting up as well. "I'm sorry, but I didn't want to lie to him. You know how guilty I feel when I lie or hurt someone and I just didn't want to do that to him." My anger subsided and I reached for her hand, causing her to smile and then link them. "I want to be with you so bad; more than anything, Liz."
"You know we can't." She squeezed my hand and scooted next to me so she could rest her head on my shoulder.
"You have to be the sweetest person I know." Of course I smiled. I leaned in to kiss her cheek, and she moved so that I was now kissing her lips. I did not pull away. She deepened the kiss, wrapping her arms around my neck. There was so much force, she almost knocked me off the bed.
"OH MY GOD!" Ariana jumped off me and both or faces jerked to the side of her bed. Standing there, was Frankie with a stunned look on his face. "What. The. HELL?!" I was mortified, I could barely breathe. I grabbed a pillow and covered my face. "Start talking, ladies!" OH God, please let me die. Ariana began to speak.
"It was just a kiss."
"Hell no! THAT was not JUST a kiss, Ariana! I'm not stupid." He sat on the bed. His eyes were puzzled. His tone was angry. "What's going on here? Where's Jai? You better start talking." Ariana burst into tears.
"I never had feelings for Jai and I'm in love with Liz."