Meant For You

twenty.

Miles Dempsey

I wait until Nola's car is completely out of sight before walking angrily back inside my house. Allie walks behind me hot on my heels. "Miles," her monochromatic voice says behind me. It's always the same thing with her. I saw it in Nola's face. She damn near scared the girl. When the door closes, I turn around to face her. "What did you say to her?" I start by asking.

Allie crosses her arms over her chest. "Really? Why do you care about what I said to her?" Usually, my patience lasts a lot longer but not with this girl. Not anymore at least. "Because you don't know her! You can't just go up and be an asshole to her!" I raise my voice slightly. "Oh, and you know her? You do, don't you?" she shoots back. My jaw clenches slightly.

"Don't say it like that, Allie, it's not like that. Yes, I know the girl but what I'm trying to tell you is that you don't have to be an asshole to her because she's done nothing to you," I retort, hating her attitude right now. She rolls her eyes, dropping her hands back down to her side. "She's obviously in love with you, Miles. You're clueless," Allie says, making my eyes almost bug out of my head.

It's obvious she knows nothing about our relationship. The last thing Nola Scott is, is in love with me. Sometimes I still think she only barely likes me. "You're not serious, right? Don't project, Allie," I say. Allie lets out a laugh at that. "Please, I am not in love with you. But that girl is, which is why you lied to me and said you didn't know her. You didn't want me to know about her. She's why you ended things with me, isn't it? Didn't work out with the young girl, so you came running back?" Allie questions.

She could've slapped me in the face just now and it would've had the same impact as her words. "Listen to yourself. Unfortunately, I actually respect you enough that I wouldn't run back to you just because something didn't work out with another woman. Can I not know any other girl besides you?" I know that arguing with her isn't what I should be doing because it's not what I invited her over for but with that scene she just pulled, I can't help it.

"Bullshit and you know what I mean, Miles. Why her? What is it about her? Hm?" She probes, getting closer to me. I take multiple steps back. "Look since you want to act like this, the reason I told you to come over was to end this again. I made a mistake, Allie. We should have never started this up again and I apologize for that, but I'm done. For real this time, this shit needs to end. Especially after all the shit you've been pulling lately." My voice comes out a lot lower now.

"What have I been pulling?" She crosses her arms over her chest again, looking at me like she doesn't know what I'm talking about. "Telling people we're a thing. That's not true and you know it so I don't know why you're telling people that. I won't overreact about it but that needs to stop and we're ending this right now," I tell her.

Allie glares at me for a long moment. She can't deny it because she knows what I'm saying is true. "It's not going to work out with her. She doesn't want what you want. Did you forget she's JT's age?" she repeats a fact that I already know. I shrug my shoulders, slapping my hands against my thighs. "That's fine with me. The girl and I are nothing but friends like I've been saying but your thick ass skull can't seem to grasp that piece of information," I retort.

She laughs. "Okay, keep telling yourself whatever makes you feel better. Enjoy chasing after an eighteen-year-old." Allie turns around and walks quickly toward the door. I don't even bother saying anything back to her. She has no idea what she's talking about and she's taking out her anger on me. As long as she's one less of my problems, I'm fine with that.

***

"So it's over with her?" Kaitlyn asks later that day as I make myself comfortable on her and Tate's couch. I give her a clipped nod, not really wanting to share much more. I'm still fucking pissed about all the little assumptions Allie was making earlier when it came to Nola and I's relationship.

She kept bringing up the fact that she was younger than me and how she was in love with me. Only one of those things was true but both of them pissed me off. There is no relationship between the girl and me as Allie claims. And if there's one thing I hate, it's being accused of doing something I'm not.

Sadly, Allie knows how to get under my skin and I think she knew exactly what she was doing today.

Tate sits down in front of me next to his girlfriend, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "It sure is," he verbally replies for me. "And it's staying like that. For real this time." Kaitlyn leans into him, placing a hand on his lap. "So who's that girl she was babbling about, then? Nola? Is she a friend of yours?" Kait asks. Tate takes a drink from his glass of sparkling water, staring at me curiously over the rim.

I keep forgetting that the only person who knows about Nola is JT. It's not like I'm hiding her from anyone but it never came up after we mended our strange relationship and actually became friends. "Yeah. We held the skating class for my aunt and uncle together and Allie met her there, got jealous then, and once again yesterday when she saw her dropping JT off at the house," I explain. "Wait, she knows JT too?" Tate asks.

"JT knows Nola's roommate too," I say, excluding the fact that JT has a slight crush on Ember. They don't need to know the kid's business. Tate gives me a teasing look, smirking behind his glass as he pulls it to his lips. "A little young for your taste, buddy. You usually go for women older than you," he drawls. Because it's my best friend saying this, I don't get too mad. "Fuck off."

He laughs, making Kait giggle as well. The three of us talk for a while longer. Kaitlyn finally decides to talk about all the times Allie pissed her off personally as Tate and I just listen. It makes me mad at how many times she treated Kait like shit and I didn't realize it. She was also an asshole to Tate on countless occasions and I always ignored them so I finally apologized to both my best friend and his girlfriend.

My phone rings mid-conversation and when I look down, it's an Instagram notification. I furrow my brows, bringing the phone up to my face.

[nolaaveryscott] Instagram audio...

"Give me a second," I say as I stand from the couch and walk toward the kitchen. Pressing the answer button, I pull the phone up to my ear. "Hello?" I answer, confused as to why she's calling. I was sure she was never going to talk to me again after the shit Allie pulled. "Miles!" Nola says clearly but I hear other faint voices in the background. "How far are you from your place?"

She sounds panicked and immediately I'm on edge. "Not far, why?" I ask, hearing the voices that are not hers more clearly when she's quiet. It sounds like people are arguing and that's not making my nerves any better. "Uhm-" she mutters. "Nola, is everything okay?" When she takes a couple of more seconds to reply, I'm making my way back to the living room to grab my keys. Tate and Kait look at me worried and I hold up a finger.

"I don't think bringing my roommate over to talk to yours was a good idea," she finally says. I close my eyes, letting out a breath of relief. For a second, I thought she was in a dangerous spot. "Why's that?" I reply a lot calmer now. "Can't you hear them?! Do you think you can come stop this? I've tried trust me," Nola pleads. Deciding it's getting late anyway, I agree, telling her to text me if anything changes.

"What's wrong?" Tate says when I hang up. "Nothing. I'm gonna go get the kid from somewhere. I'll see you tomorrow?" I say to Tate. He nods, "Kid okay?" I just finished hearing a five-foot-tall girl yelling at him but other than that, I think he's swell. "All good," I assure him. "Get rest, I'll see you tomorrow." The three of us exchange goodbyes and I'm out of there quickly.