Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC's.
Hey everyone, I'm back with the next chapter. Thank you to all my lovely reviewers. I was unsure of whether people would like the storyline but you guys are amazing in letting me know it's interesting and you can't wait to see what happens next :)
Pinayprincesa: Haha! They need to do the deed first! :)
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)
AliceLouiseVA123: Ooh, you're still on Team Macy. You're also the first person to suggest Nicky as being the actual person. Thanks! Xx :)
Sebastianm101: Thanks for the lovely review. She is a strong woman. Oh come on, you wouldn't leave would you? Isn't it more fun to stay and kick ass? Lol. I hope you like this one :)
CHAPTER 38:
"Hey," I say to Angie, walking over to the swing in the garden. After playing tag for a while me and Seth had to get back to being parents, of course Lacey and Lily wanted to try it out too. They're currently helping Seth to change Evan's nappy. It was his idea to involve them so he can handle the headache that comes with it. Plus, I got a very interesting call from Neil and some things need to be sorted out.
"Hi," says Angie, giving me a small smile from the swing she was sat on with her legs up to her chest. "You ok?" she asks me and I nod my head.
"I wish everyone would stop asking me that," I tell her with a sigh which makes her chuckle. "May I?" I ask her and she nods her head as I take a seat next to her. "If you don't mind me asking, why haven't you started dating again?" I then ask her.
"Because I don't think I can trust another man ever again," says Angie with a sigh. "Jason was someone special to me and I'm…I'm scared Iris," she admits, looking over at me. I can see it in her eyes. "I'm scared that if I trust someone again then they'll…" she trails off.
"That he'll do the same thing?" I finish off for her as she nods her head quietly. I thought the same thing about Seth. I never actually emotionally got involved with Rick because I couldn't trust someone again the way I had Seth. It's actually a pretty good thing otherwise I wouldn't be with Seth right now.
"Can I confide in you?" asks Angie and I nod my head, knowing exactly what she is going to tell me. "I…something happened today. Between me and Neil," she admits as I try to look confused. "It goes like this," she starts and then explain to me what happened.
I decided to meet Neil at his house. After yesterday, I just wanted to talk to someone who wanted to try and understand why I did what I did. He's always known me a lot more than anyone I have ever known. He knows me better than myself. I knock on the door and he lets me in. This is going to be difficult, considering my confession.
"Are you mad?" I ask him, I was worried he might be because of the awful things I had done. He even left yesterday without so much as a word to me. He never said anything through the whole thing.
"Of course I am, silly question," says Neil, moving to go as I follow him all the way to the kitchen. He sounds serious. His tone has that maturity to it and when it does, it means he's not happy.
"I know what I did was wrong-" I start but he cuts me off with a loud voice.
"Wrong, it was beyond that," states Neil, being truthful with me as always. "Iris is the nicest girl I have ever met and for all you girls to do that stuff to her? It's horrid. I'm surprised, especially at you," he then says as he points at me, giving me a look of disappointment before turning to go through his fridge. That look has hurt me more than I realised. I'm more hurt with how upset Neil is with me than anyone else.
"I know and you have no idea how badly I feel," I tell him, looking down at the floor. "I tried to stop her and…I guess I should have tried harder," I then admit.
"But," says Neil, still going through his fridge. See? He knows there's something else.
"But I chickened out," I then state. "I was a coward because I didn't want anybody to get mad at me all over again," I say with a sigh and then take a seat on the chair at the counter. "I've been such an idiot Neil, I got jealous of everything Iris had with Seth. We know he cheated on her and I got jealous because…" I pause. I never realised this would be so hard.
"Because you wanted that right?" says Neil and I look up to see him looking at me. Intently too. When he looks at me like that, I have no idea what's going through his mind. Is he still mad at me? Or is he just very serious right now? No clue.
"Yeah," I tell him and then let out a dry laugh. "I've apologized to them both but I still don't get how she can just forgive him like that. I can't," I then say to him.
"Because you are difficult milady," says Neil making me chuckle. "Look, I am beyond mad at what you tried. But, you did see sense by the end and got away from all that lunacy," he then says, looking more than grateful for me having chosen to leave the dark side.
"Iris forgave me," I reveal to him as he looks on surprised. "I know; you were right when she first came. She's a great girl," I tell him truthfully. Seth's really lucky. Actually, they both are. To have found each other and gotten through everything the way they have.
"I knew you'd see it in the end," says Neil as I walk over to him and stand on the other side of the counter he is standing at.
"I just want to say thanks," I then tell him. "You've been a great friend considering how horrid I've been to people. Why?" I question him as he starts to look slightly nervous.
"I…" he pauses and looks at me. "I've seen the real you. The nice you. The girl who'd protect anything and anyone she cares about. The girl who loves living life. The girl who egged Lisa's house when she broke up with me," he says which makes me laugh. In my opinion Lisa didn't deserve him in the first place. "That girl is still in there and I'm just waiting for her to resurface," he tells me.
"I think that's sooner than we both think," I tell him, nodding my head. I do want to be myself again. My old self. Before Jason came and trampled all over my heart.
"Once she stops living in the past," says Neil. He says it all the time but he should actually try it for once. It's not as easy as some people make it out to be.
"That's harder than you think," I let him know. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it". What Jason did will stay with me as long as I live.
"You don't have to," says Neil and reaches over, taking my hand in his which makes me smile. "You just have to accept it happened and move on," he says which, again, is easier said than done.
"And let some other guy walk all over me, leaving me thinking I'm not good enough?" I ask him. I refuse to let that happen to me again. If the next relationship fails...I don't know what I'd do.
"No," says Neil, shaking his head. "You are good enough, I see it," he says and moves forward as my heart beats faster. I have no idea why. He's obviously not moving forward to do what I think he's going to do. "And I want to help you see it. I want to show you," he says and before I know it, he's moved in. His lips on mine in a kiss.
"He kissed you?" I question Angie who nods her head, looking worried as I keep on my surprised expression. I am an actress after all. "Well, did you kiss him back?" I then ask her and she gives me a look.
"What…" is the only thing I manage to get out as the kiss comes to an end. I think I kissed him back for a few seconds too. I don't know. My mind's all fuzzy. I mean, my best friend just kissed me!
"I love you," whispers Neil and I know It's not the general one because of the way we're standing right now. I look at him and see he's wearing a smile on his face.
"Well, what did you do?" I ask Angie with an excited smile on my face, need to keep up appearances. Angie gives me an annoyed look and looks ahead. Uh oh.
"What?" I ask confused, moving backwards. I see a disappointed and hurt look on his face as I look on at him confused. I don't know what else to do so I just run out of there. I run like the wind and hightail it home. He kissed me. He kissed me and told me he loved me. I…I liked that he kissed me. And I felt happy when he told me he loved me. Why?
"You ran away?" I ask in disbelief, shaking my head at what she did. The worst thing you can do is run away. It never solves anything. Running away from Seth and the WWE, it was never the best thing to do.
"I didn't know what else to do, alright?" asks Angie, shaking her head. I guess I see her side. Whoa, she is definitely Seth's sister. They both like running away from people that love them. Seth does it every time we have an argument. I think it's more because he's angry and doesn't want to lash out. When he stays, he just comes out with horrible things which he regrets later anyway.
"Well, did you like it when he kissed you?" I ask her, looking at her suspiciously. I can't even judge her emotions because I don't know her that well.
"Yeah which is what confuses me," states Angie. She kind of reminds of Ariana right now. When Dean kissed her, she went all loopy. She actually started to eat watermelon thinking she might suddenly like it when in actual fact she hates it.
"Why?" I then ask her. I can just ask her the questions; she has to come out with everything herself.
"Because I shouldn't feel like this," states Angie, shaking her head and then turning her body to look at me as she places her feet on the floor. "He's Neil, my best friend. I shouldn't have feelings of wanting to kiss him again or feeling like I'm on cloud 9 when he…" she trails off once again.
"Tells you he loves you?" I ask her and she nods her head, leaning back on the swing. "Do you doubt he's telling you the truth?" I then question her. I hope she doesn't think I'm being nosey. It's all to help her figure out how she feels.
"No, Neil would never lie to me. It's the one of the things I love about him," she says casually. I don't even think she realised which word she just used.
"Love?" I then ask her.
"Not like that, in a friend-type-thing way," says Angie, shaking her head at my teasing. She needs to be careful considering the topic we're discussing.
"I think he's being very genuine about it," I state with a nod of my head. "If it was me I would have kissed him right back till both our lips were red and swollen," I then say. Angie laughs and shakes her head at me. "So you have feelings for him," I state. She and Ariana are so difficult; they never know their feelings. I've always known what mine are. Then again, everyone is different.
"Yeah, I think I do," says Angie with a small smile. "I didn't think I'd even like anyone else again, but somehow Neil's managed to ignite that in me once again," she explains to me. she didn't even realise there was more than just friendship there.
"Well then explore it!" I encourage her. Now I know how my friends felt when they were getting sick of me and Seth tip toeing around each other. "I know for a fact he'd want you to," I then let it slip, biting down on my tongue. Damn it Iris! Me and my big mouth. Hopefully, she won't realise.
"You would…" she laughs and then pauses. "Wait a second, you've been talking to him!" she accuses me, pointing a finger in my direction, but I shake my head.
"Nope, that's bizarre," I then say, laughing it off as I wave a hand in the air.
"Iris," says Angie in a warning tone. Damn, she sounds just like Ariana when she says my name like that.
"Alright, he may have called me to tell me what happened," I admit to her, looking at the floor and twiddling my hands.
"He called you?" asks Angie and I nod my head. "What did he say?" she asks, sounding interested more interested in the fact that Neil talked to me.
"He wanted me to find out what was going on with you along with telling me everything that happened," I answer her question and then finally gain the courage to look up at her.
"So you knew what had happened and made me say it anyway?" questions Angie in disbelief but I can tell she's not angry because there's still a slight smile on her face.
"Would it make me a bad person if I said yes?" I answer her question with a question of my own. "I couldn't just tell you he rang me and told me. Plus, I wanted to see the look on your face whilst you told me that story," I then tell her.
"What does that have to do with anything?" questions Angie. Just as clueless as Ariana sometimes.
"A lot," I state as if it's obvious. "If your face looks like It's in a daze as you tell me then if you deny your feelings I'll know they're there," I go on to explain. It's kind of a trick but since I don't know her, I couldn't try anything else. How am I supposed to know if she's lying or not?
"Seth told me you were nice, I didn't realize you were crazy too," comments Angie. No one's called me that in a while. Would you look at that? I'm still the old me.
"A little," I then say, gesturing with my fingers which makes her laugh. "All joking aside, do you love him?" I then ask her the big question.
"As a friend? Yes. As something more? I have no idea," admits Angie. At least she's being honest and is open to the possibility of being in love with Neil rather than just denying it.
"Would you like to find out?" I then ask her, nudging her with my elbow.
"Maybe but," Angie looks at me once again. "What if I can't reciprocate his love? What if I can't love him as much as I loved Jason? What if I lose him as a friend forever just because I want to kiss him again?" she goes on to ask which surprises me. For a girl who acts confident 24 hours a day, she sure does have a lot of self-doubt. But I guess in a way everyone does have some doubt within them.
"What if it goes even better thought?" I then question. I'm going to answer her with questions. "What if you end up loving him more than you ever loved Jason? What if your best friend turns out to be your soul mate?"
"You can be very annoying some times," Angie then tells me. Funny, I can say the same thing about her. "How do I know he won't do the same thing Jason did? I know he's my best friend and everything but what if he wants to be with someone else and…strays," she says, looking down at the floor.
"You've wanted to know how on earth I ever forgave Seth right?" I then ask her and she looks up at me and nods her head. It's the one thing I noticed when she was speaking about what happened between her and Neil. "I don't think I could have ever forgiven him," I state. "But Seth did what Jason didn't," I then tell her.
"What's that?" asks Angie. It's not big secret that she's looking at me like it is.
"He stuck around," I simply reply, shrugging my shoulders. "Seth stuck around for me as a friend. He was there when I needed him and maybe sometimes pushed boundaries but he'd be the first to apologize as well," I explain to her. "Jason didn't do that with you," I state. "But in your case, you have Neil and he's there for you. He's stuck around and helped you pick yourself back up. I knew Seth loved me because he'd proven it by sticking around. Neil's done the same thing with you except you've not been able to see it," I explain to her. It's been as clear as black and white.
"That makes sense, I guess," says Angie as I look on at her with a hopeful smile. "What do I say to him though?" she then asks me. I never thought I'd see the day where she's asking me for advice on boys.
"Just say what comes to mind when you see him," I advise her. It's the best thing to do. "But I do suggest you ask him out on a date at least," I then tell her and she nods her head.
"That makes sense," says Angie, nodding her head. "Holy shit, am I really going to do this?" she then asks aloud, her hands visibly shaking.
"Yeah," I say, placing my hand on hers. "You're going to do this and it's going to be perfect," I tell her with the biggest grin I can muster. Angie places her other hand on top of mine.
"Thank you," says Angie and what shocks me is she pulls me in for a hug. "You have no idea what you've done for me," she whispers. I sit there speechless so just nod my head. "Ok, wish me luck," she says, pulling back away and standing up.
"Luck," I say, putting my thumbs up which makes her laugh as she walks off. Hmm, I've done good I think. My phone buzzes and I take it out of my pocket. Have you talked to her? What has she said? I read the text message Neil has sent me. I don't think I'll give Neil a warning, he can be pleasantly surprised. Ooh, I'm getting cunning the more I get involved. I feel hands on my shoulders and lean my head back, looking up to see Seth smiling down at me. "Where are the girls?" I then ask him.
"They are playing in the living room with Evan watching both of them," states Seth. I'm always thankful for Seth sticking around. He didn't have to. But he did because it was the right thing to do. And then he somehow managed to fall in love with me. I've never been more grateful for anything in my life. Well, except for my son of course.
"Hmm," I say as he leans down and kisses my lip. "I love it when you kiss me," I tell him. I could never get over Seth or move on because as corny as it sounds, he is the one. I could never love another man the way I love Seth or as much as I love Seth.
"I love it too," says Seth, making me giggle. I get up and head inside with him, spending as much time with the girls and Evan as possible. When you feel down, its kids that you can always count on to bring you back up. I hope everything works out with Angie and Neil. Who knows how patient he's been.
ANGIE POV
Ok, I can do this. It's easy right? Just tell him I like him as more than a friend. Although the closer I get to his house the more nervous I feel and the more my heart starts to beat uncontrollably fast. I stand in his driveway looking at his house. I have known Neil since we were in diapers. I remember at one point I used to refer to him as the brother I never had, only to annoy Seth and Nicky but that statement just seems beyond wrong now. Gathering much needed courage I walk up to his front door and take a deep breath before knocking.
"What are you doing here at this time?" he asks me. It's getting dark outside but I just couldn't not come here. I couldn't wait till tomorrow. I just stand there staring at him. How could I have not have seen how amazing he was being? How could I have not seen we share something more than just friendship? How could I not see that he's in love with me? "Hello, earth to Angie," says Neil, waving a hand in front of my face.
"Oh, sorry," I say, snapping out of it. My thoughts carrying me away once again. Why couldn't he tell me sooner though?
"Are you feeling alright?" asks Neil and I nod my head. "You sure?" he asks me again and once again I nod my head. He looks at me as if I've grown a third head. I have no idea what to say so I just move forward and wrap my arms around his neck, crashing my lips to his. He wastes no time in responding to my kiss which makes me smile. He keeps his arms securely around me as we stand there embraced in each other's arms, kissing till we have to pull apart to breathe.
"I don't know if I love you, I don't know if I ever will or not but I want to find out," I say breathlessly after we've pulled apart. Our arms stay where they are as we look into each other's eyes.
"Thank god, I thought you came here to tell me off," says Neil in relief which makes me chuckle. He comes out with the silliest things ever.
"Neil," I start with a smile. But I forget what I was going to say because I get lost in his eyes. I can believe my feelings have changed so much after him kissing me. I think they were there all along though, he just came and unlocked them.
"Can I take you out tomorrow night?" asks Neil and I shake my head as his smile falls. At least I'll know when he's unhappy about something. He makes it so damn obvious.
"We'll be doing something important tomorrow but you can take me out once that's over and done with," I tell him and he looks on at me confused. There's an issue that needs to be sorted out.
"Ok," says Neil and then places a peck on my lips. "If this ends up being a dream then I swear I will burn my alarm clock," he comments which makes me laugh.
"It's not a dream," I tell him. "Why didn't you tell me before?" I then ask him the question that's been bugging me for so long now. I honestly can't believe he kept it hidden for so long. Hang on, how long has he kept it hidden? He's in love with me so it has to be a long time.
"I was afraid at what you'd say," says Neil, shrugging his shoulders. "I didn't want to risk not having you in my life," he then tells me.
"Somehow I don't think I could get rid of you if I tried," I tell him which makes him laugh. "I'm sorry for being so stupid and not seeing this before," I say and then stroke the side of his cheek. "I always told you any girl would be lucky to have you but never considered that myself". I always kept bugging him about being single but he always just told me I was single and then we'd argue.
"You're the only girl I have eyes for," says Neil, leaning his forehead against mine and gently bumping it.
"Even after all the horrible things I did and said?" I question him in disbelief.
"Even after," Neil tells me as I try to keep myself together. I'm not going to cry. I'm not a crier. "I love you for everything about you. Even when you're shouting at someone even though you're completely wrong. Even when you apologize with your tail tucked in between your legs," he says and I playfully slap his chest. "Because, you have a good heart at the end of the day," he finishes.
"Such a smooth talker," I comment with a chuckle. Someone like Neil would be perfect for me. he always understands me and how I feel. If someone else was my best friend, then they would have told me to fuck off already and left.
"Now, because of whom can I not take you out tomorrow night?" Neil then asks me. He's right in thinking it's because of a person.
"Macy," I state and his smile instantly drops. He looks on at me confused but I just suggest this, "How about you fix us with some coffee and then we sit and chat in the living room?" I'll need to tell him what's been going on in my head for him to understand this.
"Fine by me," says Neil and after kissing me one more time he takes a hold of my hand and takes me to the kitchen with him. I have a good feeling about this. About us. I'll have to wait and see about the other thing.
ARIANA POV
"Ari, come on," says Dean but I continue walking around and grabbing my stuff. He may not take this seriously but I do. I don't care about Seth or him or the circumstances. My best friend was in trouble and they both hid it from me. I get why Iris didn't tell me, she didn't want me to worry. But Dean should have told me as soon as he found out.
"Nope," I say, grabbing my purse and leaving the bedroom. I'm not being unreasonable. If the roles were reversed, I would have told him Seth or Roman were in trouble. Or that something was going on and it was being handled. He didn't need to tell me details, just that there's a problem but he's sorting it with Seth and doesn't want to worry me. "You promised to tell me everything," I say, turning around all of a sudden and catching him off guard.
"But I knew it'd make you upset," justifies Dean, that being the biggest bunch of bullshit I have ever heard from him in my life.
"Ok, what if I said that to you?" I ask him with an amused look on my face. "Would that make you any less angry? Like when I told you about the whole Randy thing? That wasn't even really relevant because we weren't an item back then and you didn't ask about him. But Iris is my best friend you jerk!" I nearly yell and walk out to the living space where Roman is happily sitting, messaging away on his phone.
"What happened now? Is it the Randy thing? Because then I am totally on her side," says Roman and I feel kind of sorry for him. Every two seconds it's something or the other with us two. I give Dean a look but he just rolls his eyes.
"You wanna know?" I ask Roman, keeping my purse in my hands. I tell him everything and I can tell he doesn't look too pleased either.
"How could you hide that from us?" asks Roman, getting up from his seat. We're all supposed to look out for each other, no matter what. Even if we're far away. How can that happen if we don't know what the hell is going on?
"Don't even think about getting in between this Roman because you're already keeping secrets about the whole Kane thing which would make you a hypocrite," comments Dean. Damn it, he's right. If only we had another person in our group, they would agree with me for sure.
"And apparently you're one too because you've been keeping secrets as well," I comment, taking a few steps back. "I don't know why you boys feel the need to hide whatever it is you hide. Because then I just end up looking like the idiot for telling you everything," I say in an unimpressed manner. "But you know what? Whatever. I'm off to stay with the girls tonight, if you have any more secrets then email me," I say, turning around to walk out of there.
"Ariana, you know I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry," says Dean in a soft voice. Nope, be strong Ariana. The boy cannot always hide things from you, especially since you're going to marry him.
"I understand it, doesn't mean I have to like it or respect it. And it doesn't mean it was the right thing to do either," I say before finally getting out of there. People always say girls bring drama. Well they were wrong because these boys are the biggest drama queens I have ever seen in my life. I head over to Natalya's room, having messaged her before. She then messaged some of the others and it's going to be me, her, Paige and the Bella's. Maybe AJ if she can make it. We're going to spend the day together and then have a sleepover too. That's more than enough of what I need while the boys take a good hard look at themselves because I am sick of them and their secrets.
ROMAN POV
"You think she's going to come back?" Dean asks me, staring at the door after Ariana had left. She was pretty mad. I can't even say I blame her because she is kind of right. We're all keeping secrets and she's always the last to know about everything. It probably makes her feel like crap.
"Probably," I comment and Dean gives me a panicked look. "Don't worry man, she's going to let off some steam with the girls. I think we've given her enough of a headache," I then say and Dean nods his head, letting out a sigh.
"I don't know why she has to act so stubborn," says Dean and if it wasn't for the situation, I probably would have burst out laughing.
"Really?" I say to Dean, crossing my arms over my chest. "You're both one and the same. She just needs time to get over it. I don't understand why you even hid that from her man," I go on to say.
"Because she would have blabbed to Iris and I could handle it," answers Dean, shrugging his shoulders. I can't even go full angry on him because then he'll just pull that stuff with me about Kane. Dean looks at me and I can tell he knows what I'm thinking. "Still a hypocrite Roman," he comments.
"Not really, this secret involved Seth too," I say, even though my argument is weak. "Seth could have used us both to help him with this but as usual you thought you were enough to help someone out," I go on to say as he lets out a scoff.
"Because I'm so incapable of helping someone out right?" asks Dean, sounding kind of mad. "I don't understand why no one can ever trust me with anything. I'm not a fuck up, I do what needs to be done and I get it done. If no one likes the way I do it then fuck em," he says, leaving and going into his bedroom. Slamming the door as he goes in as well.
"Well done Roman (!)" I say to myself. I know what Dean's like. I know he wouldn't keep something unless it was necessary. And he has handled it well I guess. He found out it was Macy who printed those pictures. Maybe we should have been easier on him. Me and Ariana both.
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