A/N: I want to apologize for this chapter being posted so late! This has been an incredibly busy week and weekend – after visiting the location that inspired this story for the weekend (Quogue, New York – despite the story being set in La Jolla, California!), I began a very busy week at my teaching job, as well as graduate school. Things are slowing down a bit now, so hopefully writing and updating will have more of a place in my day. Without any further delay, here's the new chapter!
Chapter 16
I woke up early in the afternoon – around 2 p.m. – which was actually pretty good, considering Cory and I only went to bed when the sun was beginning to rise. Cory was still fast asleep next to me when I stirred awake, but since his back was turned to me and his arms were hanging off of the side of the bed, I was able to slip out easily.
Without hesitating, I grabbed a clean pair of underwear, a pair of shorts, and a tank top out of my suitcase and headed straight into the shower. I stripped down and stepped into the shower. And I stood under the showerhead and I let the warm water wash over my body, and I really tried to clear my mind. We had only been here for a few days, and still, my entire world had been switched upside down. Even though the shower door was pulled shut to keep the water in the shower stall, I still kept looking through the frosted glass and towards the door. Right on the other side of that door was my sleeping boyfriend. And I know I went though this the night before – when he was standing in this very shower naked, I was in the bedroom looking at the door, thinking that in this very shower was my very naked boyfriend.
Boyfriend.
Boyfriend.
Boyfriend.
I really had to let that title sink in. Boyfriend. I was so used to referring to him as "best guy friend", "fake boyfriend", "best fake boyfriend ever"… but never did I actually think that coming to this house with all of my friends that were more like family did I ever expect for Cory to become my boyfriend. For me to become his girlfriend.
Girlfriend.
Girlfriend.
Girlfriend.
I was no longer the "best girl friend", "fake girlfriend", or "best fake girlfriend ever." I could actually call my grandma and tell her that my television boyfriend was now my real boyfriend, and I could now be referred to as Cory's girlfriend. I'm pretty sure my grandma still wants to just get her hands on Cory and wrap him in a big grandma hug and leave a big grandma kiss on his cheek. And Cory would love it. He has to – he's my boyfriend, and that's just what boyfriends do.
Oh God, I had to call Jon and tell him all of this! Mr. Groff has heard about Cory and my love for him ever since Cory and I started on this show together. In fact, besides Dianna and Jenna, Jon has been there to listen to my ramblings and gushings and everything there was to ever say about Cory. He even tried to drop some hints to Cory whenever they were around each other – Jon would be thrilled at the thought that Cory actually picked up on them (even if Cory really didn't).
Since I knew that I really had to get to Jon as quickly as I could, I shampooed and conditioned my hair quickly, and shaved my legs and armpits like the razor was on fire. I didn't bother with any body wash, since I had a feeling that in a few hours, I'd smell like chlorine anyway. After I had finished my shower in just mere minutes, I shut off the water and stepped out of the shower before toweling off and changing into my clean clothes.
With my hair tied up in my towel, I emerged from the steamy bathroom and dropped my pajamas on top of the pile of dirty laundry that I knew I would have to wash later. Cory was still asleep in bed, and a small snore could be heard against the firm white pillow. I smirked as I grabbed my iPhone off of the nightstand and headed out of the bedroom. I headed upstairs, and as soon as I made it to the top step, all of the guy's heads turned and looked at me. Kevin smirked and raised his voice first.
"Had a good night last night?" he asked as he twirled around on the dining room chair.
I nodded and smiled. There was no shot that I was spilling the goods, and I knew that Dianna, Jenna, and Chris wouldn't say a thing to the girls, even though I knew the guys knew what was up. "Yep," I replied as I walked towards the kitchen.
"What's for dinner tonight?" Mark asked with a smile.
I cleared my throat and shook my head. "I don't know. We couldn't find a good place. We'll figure it out later."
Darren simply grinned as he fetched a mug for my coffee. He handed it to me, and I took it over to the coffee pot, where just about a half a pot of hot coffee sat. I poured myself a generous cup and fixed it with sugar and soymilk. "Thanks," I smiled at him before I brought my mug of coffee to my lips and took a sip.
Through the kitchen window, I spotted Dianna and Jenna in the pool. I took my phone and my mug of coffee and I headed outside. "Good morning," I greeted my two best friends as I walked over to them. I approached the pool, sat down on the ledge, and placed my feet and legs into the water.
"Good afternoon to you too," Jenna smiled as she swam up to me.
"How did you sleep?" Dianna asked, also as she swam to my side.
I smiled brightly and replied before taking another sip of coffee. "Wonderfully."
"I bet you did," Jenna giggled. "Tell me, how was it?"
"How was what?" I asked as I licked my lips. "Nothing happened. He showered while I came up to speak to you girls and Chris, and then after I got to bed, we just held hands until we both fell asleep."
Dianna furrowed her eyebrows. "That's it? Your first night together as a couple and you just held hands?"
"What did you two expect me to do?" I hissed, trying to keep my voice low. "Jump his bones? Start dry-humping him? We had quite a lengthy make-out session on the beach… That was enough for me on our first night. And besides, you never go too far with a guy at the beginning of a relationship. You need to keep it interesting and spicy as time goes on. That's, like, rule number one of a new relationship. Common knowledge."
Jenna smirked as she treaded water. "I never followed that rule."
"Bad girl!" Dianna giggled as she splashed Jenna with water.
"What?" Jenna asked as she laughed. "Let's just say that the boys loved me in high school."
"Oh my God," I laughed as I buried my head in my hands. "You know, it makes sense. Michael always looks so happy whenever I see you two together."
"I'm such a good girlfriend," Jenna proudly smirked. "I'll give you tips whenever you need them," she offered me.
"Oh, I'll remember that," I laughed as we gave each other a high five. I took a deep breath and looked down at my phone next to me. "I really have to call Jon and fill him in on everything. I really think he's going to shit his pants when I reveal all."
"Do it!" Dianna exclaimed with wide eyes. "And let me talk to him too! I haven't called him in a while."
"I'm pretty sure he'll be unresponsive after I get done with him," I chuckled as I unlocked the phone and quickly found his number. "You girls didn't tell anyone about me and Cory, right?" I asked Dianna and Jenna, and they both shook their heads 'no' quickly.
Before I got a chance to respond to them, Jon picked up the phone. "What's up, babe?" he greeted me, assumingly after he read my name on his caller ID.
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "So good to hear your voice."
"Same," he replied. "I talked to your dad today. He says hello and that he loves you."
"Aww, daddy," I giggled. Jon and my father were good friends – in fact, my father always said he wanted Jon to marry me, despite the fact that he's gay, just because my father loves Jon so much. I can't blame him – Jon is the best friend that I've ever had because we've been through so many up's and down's together, and Jenna and Dianna were my two best girl friends that I'd be lost without. And Cory, well boy, you're now filling the position of best friend and boyfriend, a joint position that trumps my heart. Don't get on me – I know my friend grouping is confusing, but I have so many important and special people in my life that I just can't pick one best friend.
"So, what's going on? How's La Jolla? Any juicy gossip about my California friends?" he asked, and I could practically hear him stop everything that he could have been doing at that moment to sit down and listen to every little detail that I would share.
"What could be the craziest thing that I could tell you about this vacation right now?" I asked him with a small smirk.
"Oh my God, Darren and Chris sealed the deal?"
I cocked my head and furrowed my eyebrows. "Um, no. Guess again."
"Naya and Heather sealed the deal?"
"Keep guessing," I smiled.
"Someone got arrested! No, that would have been on TMZ…" He paused to think before asking a question. "It was a hook-up, right?"
"Yes," I confirmed, and the smile on my face grew wider.
"Lea Michele Sarfati, don't play games with my heart right now…" he started before his voice trailed off.
I laughed because I could practically see his wide brown eyes and small O-shaped mouth. "What?" I asked coyly.
"You and Cory?"
"Me and Cory what?" I asked with a giggle, and as soon as I giggled, I could hear Jon gasp for all of the air that was in the room.
"Oh my God!" he shrieked. It was amazing how I get more reaction from one man over the telephone than I got from my three best friends put together last night. "You guys hooked up?"
"Yes, and better!"
Jon paused. "You two screwed, didn't you?" he asked as calmly as his voice would let him.
"What? No! You know me better than that!"
"Okay, Lea, you've only wanted to hop on that bone for two years now! How am I supposed to know?"
"It was so romantic, Jon, you have no idea," I gushed as I leaned back and lay on the concrete with my legs still in the water.
"Tell me everything that happened so far on this entire trip! Don't you leave one little detail out of the entire story. I'll sit here for as long as I have to."
"Okay, so… first night, we get here, Cory and I find out that there's only one bed left in the house, and we have to share it. I didn't have a problem with it, obviously, and neither did he. So, we've technically been sleeping together, if you want to put it that way."
"Totally counts. Go on," he probed.
"On that first night, we all play a big game of Truth or Dare."
"Oh shit," Jon muttered.
"Pretty much. So, we were all playing, people were making out, taking shots, Darren and Chris had to skinny dip… and then I had to give a lap dance."
Jon chuckled. "No you didn't!"
"I did!" I laughed. "So Mark dared me to do it, and the dare was that I had to give him one. So, I put on my PCD…"
"'Don't Cha?'" Jon interrupted.
"You know it. And I gave him a small little lap dance. But afterwards, I was all thrown off and feeling bad, so I went inside. Dianna gave me a good pep talk, and then Cory and I talked it over before we went to bed…"
This conversation with Jon went on for nearly a half hour. It was filled with giggles, gasps, outbursts of questions, interjections of snarky comments, and many cooing aww's. And I told him everything – everything that happened, everything that I was feeling, everything that Cory could have been feeling, what everyone else was doing… I really spilled everything. I'm fairly sure Jon could have given me a day-by-day recap that was perfectly accurate. Jenna and Dianna, though, stayed in the water for the entire retelling, and I gave them some major credit. If I was one of them listening to someone else gush about a relationship, I probably would have dry heaved my way out of that bitch. But the way that they stayed and continued to react to the retelling of events really proved how good of friends they really were to me. By the time I was done with the story, I could hear Jon breathing heavily, and I wasn't sure if it was from tears, or general excitement, or if he also felt like he had just run a marathon. Hey, this was all very exciting.
"Do you have any idea how incredible this whole thing is?" Jon asked me, and I admit, I was curious to hear where he was going with it. "People want something like this to happen to them. They would pay good, honest-earned money to have something even similar to what you and Cory are sharing right now. Not to get all Disney on you, but it's pretty fairytale-like. I mean, sure, you're no Snow White and he's no Dwarf, but it's just so amazing. So, so amazing. Are there any pictures to document any of this vacation?"
"No," I smiled. "None of us have taken any pictures, as far as I know, anyway. It's one of those escape vacations. No one brought their computers, no one is really watching television besides, like, the sports recaps in the morning, and this is the first time that I've made a call since we've arrived."
Jon smiled – I could hear it through the phone. "Go, do your thing. Call me when you get back to the apartment in Los Angeles."
"You sure?" I asked him.
"I just took a half our out of your time there with your friends. Just give me a call next week. I'm stopping by your parents' house for dinner this weekend. Should I share the good news?"
"No!" I quickly replied and I sat up with a bolt. "None of this leaves this house until we do. I'll tell my parents the next time I visit. Say hi to them for me."
"Will do. Love you, baby girl."
"Love you too. Be good!" I warned him with a smile.
"Always am," he toyed. "Bye."
"Bye." I ended the call and subsequently shut off my phone. I placed it at my side and looked at my girls in the pool. "What's on the agenda for today?" I asked with my lips curled up into a smile.
Jenna let out a sigh as she dipped her head backwards into the water to wet her long black hair. "I suppose we're still doing dinner as a group, but we don't know where yet."
"Thanks for nothing," Dianna smirked as she splashed water onto my legs. "I wasn't looking forward to eating the dinner with my best friends at a fancy restaurant or anything."
"I'm sorry!" I laughed as I kicked my left leg, which splashed water right back at her. "We'll just have to call around and see what we can do."
Dianna, Jenna, and I spoke for a little bit about what kind of food we were craving; Jenna wanted a great array of sushi, Dianna wanted to delve into a large leafy salad, and I would be up for a great pasta loaded with veggies. We then tried to figure out what meal option would be easiest to get everyone else on board with. Sushi had won, and so the next plan was to now find a sushi place that could accommodate our large group.
During all of this conversation, I peered into the house and through the window, I spotted Cory moving about in the kitchen. My lips instantly curled into a smile, and I struggled to stay at the pool and resist the urge to run into the house and plant a big kiss on his lips. To keep the word mum, I knew I would have to wait a few hours before I really got to lay a good one on him. Good things come to those who wait, correct? Well, it was going to work out in my favor – with the amount of time I'd have to wait, something great was going to come.