Forgiven // l.h. // Book 2 in Bully Series

11. Explanations

True to my word, I invited Georgia over for dinner. She arrived just as the timer on my phone went off, and I ushered her in to the apartment before rushing off to the communal kitchen to pick up the food. It smelled delicious.

"Hope you like chicken!" I sang as I pushed my way into the apartment. Georgia sat up from the floor, where a very content looking October was rolling around. I let out a giggle and set the pan of chicken enchiladas on the tiny counter in the corner of the room. "Be careful with her. One minute she's loving and tender. The next, her teeth are threatening to poke holes in your hands." Georgia laughed at my statement, crossing the room to look at the food.

"Looks delicious." She breathed, inhaling deeply. I chuckled, holding up a spatula and a plate.

"Dig in, then."

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Like Katie, Georgia took my back story fairly well. She didn't even seem surprised that I knew the boys from 5 Seconds of Summer. Though, unlike Katie, this news wasn't super exciting to her. She was more of a fan of classical music. And 5sos definitely didn't do classical.

"He saved me yesterday, and I think we're on pretty good terms now. I went and talked to him earlier today and sort of confessed that I still have feelings for him." I finished, taking a sip of my glass of water. Georgia smirked at me.

"Did you kiss?" She asked. I rolled my eyes at her. What, were we in high school?

"No, we didn't kiss. Shared one hell of a hug, though." I answered. "It was odd because he's taller than last time and I just haven't grown an inch."

"Well, what did you do after you hugged him?" She asked, seeming impatient to get the details. I laughed at her. If I learned anything about my neighbor today, it was that she was one hundred percent a gossip queen.

"He made me go back to his house because he didn't want me to have to take the bus." I started. "We didn't actually talk until we got back to the house and the other boys practically pounced on us."

It was true. The walk back to Luke's house had been more or less silent. The only speaking happened when he accidentally stepped on my shoe and apologized for it. It hadn't been totally awkward silence, but it wasn't one hundred percent comfortable either. I just don't think either one of us really knew what to say.

When we arrived back at Luke's house, the boys were on us the moment we stepped through the door, asking if we were friends again and such. I think it was Michael who made the snarky comment about expecting the best man spot at our wedding, but I couldn't remember.

"He asked me if I wanted to stay and have dinner with them, but I'd already made plans with you, so I said no. Ash drove me home." I finished my explanation with a nonchalant shrug. Georgia's eyes looked about ready to pop put of her head.

"You what?" She exclaimed. I frowned in confusion. What had I done wrong? I didn't have to ask though, because she continued. "The guy you still like asks you to stay for dinner and you say no because your neighbor wanted you to explain something?" Before I knew it, I was being smacked with a magazine.

"Ow, hey!" I protested, lifting my arms up to defend against possible future attacks. When none came, I lowered my defenses--only to be hit once more. Figures.

"You call that boy up and tell him that you want to go out for lunch or something tomorrow." She demanded. I rolled my eyes at her. She and Kendra would love each other. And I was sort of glad that I didn't have to deal with both at the same time. I would have bruises from all the hits I'd take from magazines. An alarm on Georgia's phone went off, and after taking a glance at it, she stood up.

"Now, I have something I need to get done. But when I stop by tomorrow, and I will, I better hear about your dinner plans with this kid. Okay?" She scolded. I huffed and rolled my eyes, but nodded nonetheless.

"Alright, I will." I assured her, standing up as well. Her face softened into a smile as she looked at me.

"But I'm really happy you shared all of that with me and that everything is turning out okay." She said gently. I nodded.

"Me too." We hugged briefly before she left, and I set about cleaning up the dishes and putting leftovers in my little fridge.

I settled down on my couch about an hour later, having changed into a pair of pajama pants and a cami. After the TV was on, October came over and settled into the spot between the backs of my knees and the back of the couch, promptly falling asleep. I smiled at her before pulling out my phone. It rang twice before being picked up.

"Do you even know what time it is here?" I rolled my eyes at Kendra's words.

"It's like 5:45. Calm down, you were up at least an hour ago. You know why I know that? Because if I'd woken you up, I doubt that sentence would have been as PG as it was." I snarked. There was a pause before Kendra spoke.

"Alright, you caught me. I've got to be at work in like an hour or so. What's up?" I exhaled slowly. 

"Have you seen the gossip yet?" I asked. The silence from Kendra's side of the line let me know that she had. "It's not what they're saying. I promise." I assured her, wishing she'd say something so I knew whether or not she was upset at me. 

When I showed up at the airport near our school four years ago, I had been a mess. At that point, Kendra knew a small amount of what had happened, but I'd waited until I saw her and Wyatt in person to fill in the empty spots in the story. To say Kendra had been pissed, not only at Luke, but the entire band, would be putting it very lightly. She was beyond livid. Most of her anger was aimed at the blond boy who had once been my boyfriend, but there was a bit of animosity between her and Ashton as well (which probably has to do with the fact that she called him and flipped shit, but whatever).

"You're mad at me." I sighed. There was a pause before she responded.

"I'm not mad, I'm just--confused. Why are you hanging out with them again? You called only a few weeks ago to say that Luke was a completely self-centered dickface who didn't give a rat's ass about anybody but himself. Your words, not mine." She explained. I let out a low groan, running a hand through my hair.

"I know! And he was. Still is sometimes. But he saved my life yesterday night. Like things could have ended up very bad, and when none of the others I was out with noticed I was gone, he did." I protested. Kendra scoffed.

"Okay, great. He's earned a few points back for that. I'm grateful he was there, really, but he's still an ass and I'm still pissed at him." She expressed. I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see me do so.

"Well you may be mad, but I'm not. I talked to him today." I paused, not sure how I wanted to go about saying the next part.

"Oh my God. You kissed him, didn't you?" Kendra interrupted before I could even speak.

"No!" My shout made October jump, but I ignored the displeased glare she shot my way, continuing to speak. "Why is everyone jumping to that conclusion? First Georgia, now you? I didn't kiss him. We only hugged. But, I did tell him that I still like him." I admitted. Before Kendra could protest (and I knew she'd try), I continued. "I'm not saying that we're going to date and be totally fine right away, though. We still have a lot of issues to work through. But I want to try."

"If he hurts you again, Dae-Bird, I swear to God--" She didn't finish her sentence, but I knew what she meant. I let myself smile, giggling quietly.

"I'll let you kick his ass first, okay? But I get second kick."

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I know Luke isn't in this chapter, sorry! But this all needed to happen! Promise he'll be in the next one!

And I'd just like to say that I absolutely love going through all of your comments. I do try to read as many as I possibly can! You all are great! Funny too. =))

I love you all to bits, and I'll see you next time!