Chapter 25

More than two weeks later, I was slowly getting used to living alone. It was hard at first because I felt like an intruder in Seth's house, but I felt as ease pretty quickly. He had that big collection of video games and that was exactly what I needed to keep my mind occupied. I put on some sports game and tried to beat all his record, so that I could tease him when he'd get back. I was missing him a lot. We had spent a lot of time apart in the past, but this time, I felt it was different. He didn't text much. He couldn't, given where he was. When he had the chance, he would get some Wi-Fi and send me emails, but it always seemed distant. He told me about the girls there, like he would normally do, but for some reason, it was bothering me.

This whole speech my friend gave me about having feeling got to my head. I couldn't stop thinking about it. As much as I hated to admit it, maybe there was something more than the usual fuck buddy relationship between Seth and me, but that wasn't definitely called feelings. I would've known. Felix was still on my back with that date with his friend Ben. I said I was going, but I never said when. Even though things were still a bit weird after that fight we had, I spent a lot of time at my best friend's new house. Every time we'd see each other, he'd tell me about how Ben was excited to go on a date with me. I finally agreed to meet him tonight. I talked to the guy and we agreed he would pick me up at four. He wanted to go out for a walk before we could go eat dinner at a restaurant. He asked me where I wanted to go, but I told him he could choose. Any other guy would have insisted but he didn't and I actually liked that about him.

Surprisingly, I was pretty excited for this date. Since I already knew him, I wasn't nervous at all. After I took a long and hot shower, I toweled myself and put on a white pair of jeans and a black tank top that Felix had bought me especially for tonight. I hated when he was doing that, but this time, I approved his choice. It wasn't the kind of clothes I would usually wear, but it wasn't that bad. I quickly dried my hair with the hair-dryer that I had brought up with me and pull them into a high ponytail. Felix convinced me to put on some make-up. Just a bit though. I didn't want to look like someone else. I actually wanted Ben to like me for me. My phone rang as I was giving my lips a soft touch of gloss. I looked up at the screen and smiled. I hit that green button to answer the call and immediately put it on speaker.

"Hey you."

Of course Felix would call me minutes before my date. He would certainly want to make sure that I was ready, physically and mentally.

"I put on that tank top, put my hair up, put on some mascara and some gloss." I let out before he could ask questions.

"Good girl." he said laughing. "Ben just called me. He's on his way. He looked pretty excited. How are you?"

I thought I was fine until he told me that Ben was coming to get me. It made this whole thing more real but I was still doing well. I reassured my friend, telling him that everything was under control before I asked him what he had planned for the night.

"You're sure you don't want to come with us?"

"Alison, the point of going on a date is to be alone with the guy."

"You could play backup." I suggested.

"It's Ben. Trust me, you'll be just fine."

I knew I was. I told Felix that I was just messing with him.

"Have you talked to Seth lately?"

I sighed, trying my best to hide it from him. Why was he bringing him up now? It pissed me off that he was at the other end of the world and I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to think about what that anger meant.

"We're exchanging emails." I simply said, not wanting to get into details.

"Does he know you're going out?"

I had not told Seth about Ben at all. Even though he was telling me about those Europeans girls, I didn't feel the need to let him know. I was free to do what I wanted right? That was the whole point of our relationship. It was not like I had the intention of sleeping with Ben on the first night. I didn't even know if I would ever want to be with him that way. One step at a time like Felix had said when he convinced me to go out with him.

"I have to go now Fe'. I need to get ready." I said, not bothering answering his stupid question about Seth.

"Don't forget your whore boots." he said laughing.

"If you call them whore boots one more time, I'm canceling the whole thing."

"I'm kidding you honey, you look hot as hell in those."

"Thank you, babe." I said with a smile. "I'll call you later."

After I hung up, I made my way to Seth's living room to see if Ben was waiting for me outside. I still had some more time to get ready. I texted him, asking to text me back when he'll be there, so that he won't have to get out of the car. I didn't want him inside. It was obviously not my house and I didn't want him to think I had someone else in my life. Even if I kind of did. I brushed my teeth quickly and took one last look at the reflection in the mirror. What I had in front of me was a whole lot different than what I was a year ago. It was a lot different of what I looked like when I first met Ben. As I was heading out of the bathroom, I heard the front door close.

"Ali?"

"What the hell?" I let out in a sigh.

I made my way to the living room and stood there in shock. Seth was putting his luggage on the ground and he had that big smile on his face. Before I could say anything, his arms were wrapped around me and he was pulling me in the biggest hug possible.

"What are you doing here?" I said when he finally let go of me.

"I had some problem with my shoulder." he explained. "Don't worry. It's nothing serious. They gave me a few days off and I was able to come back early."

Seth pulled me closer to his chest and buried his face in my neck.

"You smell so good." he murmured. "I missed you so much."

I wanted to say it back but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. Between Ben coming to pick me up for our date and Seth being back home early and looking that hot, I was so torn.

"Are you going somewhere?" he said as he took a step back to run his eyes up and down on me.

"Yeah, I…" I started.

"Where are we going?"

Any other human being would have thought it was rude of him to just assume he was invited, but I couldn't blame him. Since we started seeing each other as friends, every damn time he was in town, he would go out with Felix and me. He had every right to assume.

"I'm actually going on a date." I let out.

"Oh."

An awkward silence came between us and I suddenly hated myself for agreeing into staying at his place. If I would've been at Felix's, none of this would've happened. Seth had that weird look in his face and for the first time, I couldn't read him at all. I had no idea what he had in mind.

"But I'm here now." he said with a weird voice. "You don't have to go out. We could just stay here and watch a movie. I haven't seen you in weeks."

"I'm sorry Seth, I can't just cancel like that. Ben is on his way."

"Who's Ben anyway?"

Who's acting like a jealous boyfriend now? I thought.

I was tempted to tease him with this but the look on his face told me that I should just shut up.

"One of Felix's friend. He's a great guy."

Yeah, maybe it wasn't the best idea to tell your fuck buddy about how your date is an awesome dude. I wasn't nervous for the date but Seth being there in front of me made me feel a whole lot different about that upcoming night.

"Where's Felix? Is he going as your back up?"

"No. Like I said, it's one of his friends and I already know him. I don't need back up on this one."

My phone buzzed in my back pocket, making me jump slightly. I took a look outside and saw Ben's car in the driveway. Seth watched me in silence as I put my boots on.

"I'll see you later, OK?" I told him.

Seth grabbed my hand as I was going to open the door. I could see in his eyes that he wanted to kiss me but he simply rubbed his thumb on my wrist.

"You're beautiful." he simply said as he looked at the floor.

He turned around, grabbed his luggage and headed to his bedroom without saying anything else. I heavily sighed as I opened the door to join Ben outside.

Ben and I went to take a walk in the park near the restaurant before we went to eat. He talked a lot about him, but I didn't mind. I didn't have much to say anyway and he was a great story teller. He wasn't just talking about himself though. He was asking questions about me too. When I told him I wasn't as half as interesting as he was, he laughed. He looked very handsome with his short blond curly hair and his big blue eyes. He was the complete opposite of Seth, but he was still very attractive. We laughed together, talking about how Felix was more excited than we were for our date. He told me that my friend had been bothering him for a while. He wanted him to ask me out. I told Ben how Felix made me believe that he was the one very interested in me and it made him laugh. He assured me that he was, but probably not as much as my best friend had told me. We were having a great time. He was such a nice guy that I didn't mind at all when he suddenly took my hand when we were walking. It actually felt good. He led me to the restaurant and the girl at the reception gave us a table in a private spot. Everything was just perfect.

"So, how is it working with Felix?" he asked me with a smirk as we sat down.

"It's cool actually." I admitted as I looked at the menu. "He can be very intense sometimes, but at work, he's really professional."

The waitress came to see us and took our order. After she left, we kept on talking about everything and nothing. It was the first time I was going out on a date and that it felt right from the very beginning. We found out that we had a lot of points in common and we had a bunch of things to talk about. After we finished our plates, I asked him to excuse me and I made my way to the bathroom. I was tempted to call Felix to let him know how well it was going but I decided he could wait. He deserved to wait after all he put me through with this date. I even had close my phone to avoid getting texting by him or worst, by Seth. I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. I was still looking just fine.

"I don't know about you, but I want a cheesecake so badly." I said, laughing, as I sat back on my chair.

Ben had this serious look on his face that got me a bit worried. I asked him if everything was alright, but it took him a while before he finally said it was. I started thinking that I might have done something wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it. Was it something that I said?

"I'm sorry Ali, I have to go."

"Seriously Ben, what's wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wrong. I just need to go. The bill has been taken care of."

I didn't know what I did wrong and I needed to know. He stood up and went to leave but I grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm not." he said as he gently pressed my hand. "I just wish you had told me you were already with someone."

With that being said he just left, leaving me confused. Where the hell did he get that from? As I was following him with my eyes, my gaze stopped on a man sitting by the bar. His long dark hair and those brown eyes were very familiar.

"Son of a…" I mumbled as Seth stared back at me.