"So tell us about THE guy" Michael and Gilroy had been witness to one of the most uncomfortable moments of their holidays. Being cousin they were used to awkward Thanksgiving dinners and some Christmas when all the family would get into arguments about the more insignificance things. When Molly had decided that this year the four cousins; Michael, Gilroy, Molly and Stephanie, would have their celebration away from the rest of the family because they were the "normal" ones they were excited to have a drama free holidays. Sure it had been a nice quiet holiday, Molly had invited a couple of friends from work, and everyone had a great time that was until they joined Cam's group of friends.
It was like having to witness a soap opera live; there was a girl that wouldn't stop talking about herself apparently oblivious to the group that was trying to change the direction of the conversation away from her. There was a couple that seemed nice enough but didn't get involve in what was happening in front of them it was clear that the rant from the other girl wasn't something out of the ordinary. On the other side of the table, however, was this boy that at first seemed extremely annoyed that they were sitting with them. Michael was usually a very outspoken person, but he was also very intuitive, so it was not lost on him that there was something going on between this guy and Cam, especially when they were going to sit down. He was going to go to the chair next to Gilroy, but Cam make a point of sitting there almost pushing him out of the way and into the chair next to the afro dude, so he started to pay more attention to the guy.
After a couple of minutes, although it felt longer due to the girl monolog, the boy suddenly spoke to Cam asking her which one of them was Eric, even though it sounded more like a demand of information. Michael found it hilarious but tried his best not to laugh at the obvious jealousy tone in the guy's voice when he asked the question, also the fact that he had that attitude towards Eric who was the sweetest guy in the world also old enough to be Cam's dad and happily married. Quickly he exchanged looks with his brother who was having the same realization and difficulty not to laugh at the question and before Cam could respond he set the record straight and like a miracle, the entire posture of afro guy change completely. The rest of the time there continue to be awkward but this time because the afro boy was trying without success to have some time with Cam against his girlfriend's wishes, so each conversation he tried was cut short by the girl.
There even was a moment when Cam excused herself to go to the bathroom, and the guy tried to follow her, but his girlfriend caught up to the situation and sat on his lap with the excuse of being cute. When Cam came back from the bathroom announcing that the rest of the group was ready to go back to Molly's and they, basically run out of there leaving the group without giving them time to say anything. And that brought them back to this moment where the three of them were at Cam's house having a much needed hot cocoa.
"What guy?" The way she said that though make it obvious that she knew about who he was talking about and spike their interest more and now it was time for Gilroy to get in and do a little recall of the entire situation for her to "understand" of who they were referring. Sure, in his little back story he included commentaries and descriptions how it was obvious that the guy was into her and how the girlfriend was against the entire situation which was logical. By the end of it, Cam seemed uncomfortable, and the brother's exchange looks wondering if Gilroy had gone too far with his description, he didn't mean to make her feel bad but also he was honest about everything he said.
Cam asked them if they thought Moose was acting weird but she had to wait for the answer due to the explosion of laughter that came from both boys at the mention of his name which made her feel a lot better about the past tense situation they were living. "Honestly guys, can you tell me if you were serious about what you said you guys saw? Before you ask Moose is just his nickname but he prefers to be called like that and no, I don't know why."
"Yes, we are honest but what is going on Cam? It's obvious that he has a girlfriend who he is not really into and sure I don't blame him but still. Why was he jealous about Eric? And why would he think that one of us could be him?" Cam huffed and sat with a defeated attitude on her sofa trying to think back to a time when Moose wasn't a factor in any of her conversations. Tilting her head to the side, she motioned the boys to take a sit closer to her, and she began to tell them the story from the beginning because at this point it didn't matter to her and she needed some opinions.
By the time she finished both boys had looked like cartoon characters with their eyes popping out of their skull. "Wow. I knew there was drama in the situation, but I never imagine the magnitude of it. Honestly, Cam what exactly are you planning to do about this? It is obvious that Moose wants to move on from his current relationship to his old one. Are you going to help him happened?"
Maybe it was the way he asked or that she had been thinking about the entire situation for too long but Cam felt outraged. She had been in the same spot Sophie was now, and she hated to think that there was people having this type of conversations about her behind her back. "I'm not going to do anything about it. Like you say before, he is in a relationship with Sophie just like he was in one with me when he decided that Sophie was a better fit than me. Moose has a problem with recognizing that things just not change because he wished for it, so until he does, I guess we are not having any more lunches."
The boys knew better than to say anything else about that subject and rather start talking about their purchases at the store and telling Cam anecdotes of their childhood with Molly and between them. Cam relaxed, later on, they decided to have a little fun and started watching movies. Time flew by quickly especially when they started making some snacks. However, the second Cam took a look at their phone her mood turned sour apparently Moose had been texting her nonstop and sending her cute pics of his outing with the rest of the pirates, strange enough Sophie didn't appear in any of them although Cam was sure she was there. Was he kidding?
After taking a deep breath, Cam decided that it was time for her to tell him off and so she wrote him a quick text asking him why Sophie was not in the picture. "Honestly Moose is wrong that you don't show her when she is obviously there. Also, I don't understand why you would do something like that, and I don't appreciate you doing something like that."
The text conversation continued with Moose trying to smooth things with her and Cam not having any of it. Finally, she told him everything she had said to the boys and the replies stop making her feel sad and relief at the same time. Hopefully the next time she knew from him his situation would be different, maybe then she could see if they can be different with each other. When she turned around in front of her where the boys acting like they didn't just hear her have a conversation of her own while texting, she also noticed that they had already set the table for them to eat and where
After that conversation Cam didn't hear from Moose for the rest of the year, she went on with her plans to visit Tyler and Norah and had a good time. It was nice to be surrounded by the couple and their friends all the drama she had been living far forgotten. If Cam was honest, she wished to stay there and forgot about the entire year except for her job; she was in love with her job and the people that worked there with her. Still going back to the city was hard for her, every time she visited her brother Cam remember how much she missed having Ty near her for that kind of support that even though Chase gave her Ty´s was the personification of it.
Before leaving she had lengthy conversations with both Nora and Ty about what had happened since they had seen her last and what was in her future. After the talks, the couple had some of their own with each other trying to realize if what they were saying was the best advice they could give her. For both of them though was clear that the story between Cam and Moose wasn't over, actually the fact that she had finally told him to get his life together before talking to her again was a huge step towards they having a true chance. Ty wasn't exactly happy about this, but he wasn't going to meddle in Cam´s love life no matter how much he wanted to do it and Oh boy that he wanted to punch that dude away from his sister.
January came to fast for Cam´s taste, and she found herself at the airport ready to board the plane that was going to take her back to New York City. She was so tired that she slept all the way back home, thankfully Chase was waiting for her at the airport, so the way home was fill with conversation about the different things that had happened while she was out of town. A couple of blocks away from the building, he turned to face her looking really serious making Cam feel a little uneasy about what could make the boy change like this in such a little span of time.
"Moose came looking for you a couple of days after you left. I told him you were out of town and that you were coming back home today. Trust me; when I say that I wasn't happy about giving him that information, but he told me that you two needed to talk about some things, but he wanted to do it in person. I called Luke that day, and he told me some things, things that probably explained why Moose wanted to talk to you in person." Cam nodded understanding that Chase was not going to say more about the situation, it was a possibility that the only reason he was saying this to her right now was that maybe Moose was waiting for her right now.
When they made to the building the only person waiting for them was Andie, Cam was happy to see her friend, but with no Moose, she wondered if maybe she was wrong about the possible reason why he was looking for her in the beginning. A couple of weeks went by with Cam going to her job and spending some time with her friends; she was done with her classes wich made her life a lot easier. Before she even knew it was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr day and she was going to spend it at her house with her new friends and later that day Jacob and Kirsten were going to come to spend some much needed time with her.
The entire day was great full of wonderful moments with her new friends; they even decided to grab some pizza. Even though her new friends and her old ones wanted to walk her home Cam just wanted some time alone, so she walked the few blocks from the pizzeria to her building listening to music. However, her zen state stopped the minute she found herself face to face with Moose who was walking away from her building. Both of them stare at the other like they couldn't believe they were there Moose went as far as to walk to stand closer to Cam, at this point, she wondered if he was going to poke her to check she was real.
"Hey, I was looking for you. I thought we could talk and I didn't want to talk on the phone, now that I think about it. Still, I probably should have text you about when we could meet, but I thought well I didn't think. Cam I wanted the chance to have a conversation with you." He waited for her to respond and it took a while because her heart was trying to escape her chest at the knowledge that he was close to her after so much time without seeing him.
"Moose is late. I'm not saying that we are not going to talk but not right now I need to go to sleep." What she really needed was to get away from there as soon as possible because her body was reacting too much to him. He nodded and let her walked to her door but just before she made it inside the building she called her name one more time.
"I broke up with Sophie before Christmas; it wasn't right what I was doing, and you were completely right about everything you said well text to me. We can talk when you have time, but I just wanted you to know that." Moose waved goodbye to her and went on his way he never noticed how Cam stood frozen on the spot until she couldn't see him anymore.