Twenty-One ~ A Dean Portman Fanfic

Twenty-Four

Sitting in her bed, the covers pulled up to her chin, she lie silently staring at the wall. Pillows were propped behind her back as she tiredly eyed Gloria shuffling around their dorm room. The girl was folding her clothes to make her closet neater and dabbled a little in Evangeline's closet, since she'd worn some of her clothes too. Her thoughts flooded her mind in heaps as she yawned, unable to not think about it and sighed quietly.

Gloria listened to a song from the movie The Breakfast Club, having just finished watching the movie thirty minutes ago as the TV screen remained blue from no activity in the last fifteen minutes. Arms swung around the air as she sang along terribly yet so gleefully, and twirled around with a tee shirt in hand.

Turning over in her bed, Evangeline pulled the blanket over her messy hair in sorrowed thoughts, shivered at the sudden climate change. Her bed covered in sweaters and jackets from Glory sorting clothes, having thrown them on Evie's bed to make piles. 

Glory paced around, grabbing a handful of hangers and dropped them onto the floor. "Hey Evie, you want the jackets on the left or right side?" She asked. "Or sorted by colors?"

"Ugh, whatever you like is fine." She answered. "You don't have to, I can do it."

"It's Saturday morning, I'm bored and you're still in bed." Glory huffed, pulling her teased bangs back as she bent over to pick up a few hangers. Pulling jacket by jacket off the end of her best friend's bed, she hung them all up before beginning to sort them by color. "Why are you in bed still?"

Evangeline used a hand to throw the blanket down from over her head and stared blankly at Gloria. "Just in a thought kind of mood, I guess."

The girl standing in the middle of the room had set the jacket down on the end of  her bed, making her way to the edge of her bed to sit and face Evangeline. "You can tell me about it, if you want?" 

The girls had been friends for a long time and trusted each other with their problems. They'd gone to one another for everything and worried for the other like sisters. Gloria wasn't worried for Evangeline, just curious what had her pondering on a beautiful Saturday morning in bed. It was clear something bugged her enough to keep her in bed still and it wasn't the fact she was cold, because one could definitely layer up on clothing if needed.

Evie rolled to her other side, facing Gloria and placed an arm below her head to prop herself up. "You know how I am with relationships, Glory." She began.

"Yeah, I know." She understood and had a feeling she knew how the conversation was going to go.

Evangeline wasn't feeling down in the dumps, she was feeling a little scared with her thoughts and worried, even if she didn't have to. Having Gloria to talk to would give her reassurance with her small problem that only wanted to prod at her. Evie knew it happened with her to every relationship, but this time it was a different feeling and she couldn't ignore it.

She huffed. "When I fall for a guy, I fall hard," She sighed. "And I'm scared I've fallen for Dean and it hasn't been a month yet."

Gloria nodded, glancing to the ugly carpeted floor that was in every dorm. "You always feel this way, Evie." She shrugged. "Why does it bother you right now?"

Her slightly saddened eyes had to look away as her fingers picked at her blanket, a bit of nervousness flooded her head as well. Evie shrugged. "It feels like this time is different."

"How?"

"It's like I'm-I'm falling harder and quicker this time. I don't even know what it is about Dean, I couldn't tell you why or how I'm falling for him." She sighed, head shaking. 

"Are you scared or something?"

Gloria didn't know what to make of the situation because she thought it was a good thing to fall for the person you liked. She knew well harboring a long over due crush had its perks and problems, but as of then Evangeline was dating Dean Portman and she was nothing but happy for her friend. It was taking her a little longer to accept that the guy was Dean Portman, considering he was an asshole toward Evie at first, and now, he was less of one, she supposed. 

Glory was a little confused, too.

Evangeline nodded.

The girl's eyes narrowed. "Why're you afraid?"

The brunette shrugged. "Its happening faster than the other times and I'm afraid maybe if it goes too quick then it'll be over before I even realize it."

"You can't think that." Gloria said. "You have to let yourself fall in order to be caught. He definitely caught you, Evie. I see the way he acts around you... it's kind of sweet." She admitted.

"You're not a fan of him, I know that."

"Only because you liked him so hard last year and he didn't care, and now he's dating you." She shrugged. "It's just a little awkward for me, but it doesn't mean I don't accept or ship it."

Evangeline smiled briefly, pulling the blanket up below her chin to keep warm. "I think about him at night. I wonder if he thinks about me during the day? I smile just thinking about him. Maybe I'm weird-"

"No." She cut her friend off. "Every girl does that, we all think about the guy that we like and makes us happy even if we don't know it at first."

"He makes feel nervous around his teammates. Like I'm a lost cause just following him." She sighed. "I'm never shy-"

"Dating someone has that affect on some people. You're not changing, it's just the way you feel around him."

Holding the blanket close, she blinked in thought. "I really really like him and I'm just afraid he might leave."

"Always seems that way from a guy like him...but when guys like him truly open up, they see the world differently just from the girl they're with." 

"Yeah..." Evie trailed, a small smile. 

"Look, let yourself fall deeper and indulge yourself with Dean. Do things you'd never do and go ahead, kiss him in the hallway. Let him slap your ass around his friends. Go to his hockey games and cheer him on. Spend the nights on the phone talking, just have fun with it. Let yourself experience love." Gloria said. "God," She laughed to herself. "We watch way too many movies."

"I curse 80s movie and their mostly unreal romantic relationships they let us wish for." Evie huffed, wiping a small tear below her eye. "Thanks, Glory."

"Anytime, I'm always here." She smiled.

Gloria got up and walked over to her best friend's bed, jumping onto the covers and hugged the girl. Evangeline lifted her arms from below and hugged Glory tightly, the embrace warm and much needed. They laughed it off before Evie finally got out of bed with a small smile, deciding to help clean up the closet.

Evangeline felt a lot better about what Gloria had to say and it was nice to be able to express herself in that sense. Realizing that part of liking someone starts out a small and then increases, her crush had increased heavily over the year before she stopped toying with a crush that didn't notice her. Now that she's with Dean, she passed the stage of being mere friends and realize she needed to have fun while she got to know him better and strengthen their bond.

She wished Glory could soon find someone to share an experience like such with, the girl deserved it. After all, Gloria came off as mean sometimes but she meant well and she was nice for a sob, she went to every Eden Hall game, not just for sake of watching Adam Banks play, but to support the school she adored.