Meant For You

thirty-one.

Miles Dempsey

I was in deep, deep trouble.

Allie left shortly after the kid got home that night. I thought since he was 'drunk' he would go upstairs and pass out, but nope. As soon as the front door closed, he was making his way downstairs. "Why, why, why, and why?!" he said frantically. I don't even bother to ask him what he's talking about.

I sigh loudly. It's not possible to defend myself because I know I'm an idiot. "Mind your business, please," I say then, switching off the tv. "Uhm, no? Not when you said you were done with her. God, I'm starting to think you're in love with her and just too scared to admit it," JT says.

My brows furrow and I almost laugh at how ridiculous he sounds. "Tate's going to kill you," he adds. I know. "Tate's not finding out." I glare at him in warning. He looks up and then back at me. "I already made him aware of the situation," he slurs. Goddamnit.

Deciding it would be better if I'm not looking at his face, I switch off the lights and angrily walk up the stairs. That kid is going to be the death of me. I'm going to die from annoyance.

***

The next morning came fast and I was woken up before my alarm. Only I was being slapped on the arm and it wasn't by anyone I expected it to be. "Wake up! Now!" Her voice came out angrily. I groaned as my eyes slowly fluttered open. Why the hell didn't I lock my door last night? "Miles!"

I force my eyes open and an angry tiny blonde stands over me. She glares at me and I look past her to see if my best friend is here. Just like I figured, he stands in my doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, watching his girlfriend smack me. "Can you please get her?" I ask, my voice still groggy. "No, thanks," he replies.

Kaitlyn smiles before trying to tug the blanket off my body. I grab it before she's able to pull it even lower. "Don't do that. Unless you want to see my di-"

"Finish that sentence, I dare you," Tate warns. Kaitlyn pulls her hand away disgustedly and walks toward my best friend. "Put some clothes on and come downstairs. We brought muffins from Simone's." The smile she shoots me is fake and she and Tate exit my room, closing the door behind them.

I already know this treatment they're giving me has to do with Allie. The kid couldn't keep his mouth shut. But I don't blame them for their reactions. I know I fucked up. Again.

After putting on some sweats and a t-shirt and brushing my teeth, I make my way downstairs. The kid is absent so I assume he's still asleep. When I look over at the clock, I notice it's barely eight in the morning. Couldn't they have waited until noon or something?

Tate tosses me a muffin as he grabs my milk from the fridge. "Before you guys say anything, I know I'm an idiot. But-" Kait is the first one to cut me off. "You said you were done with her, Miles. What does she have against you, huh? Sex tape? Embarrassing pictures?  What, tell us!" Tate smiles while looking at his girlfriend, setting down three cups and the milk.

"No. She doesn't have anything against me. I don't know why I did it alright?" I say, not even believing myself. Kaitlyn sighs, taking a bite of her muffin. "What about Nola?" she asks, mouth full. Hearing her name makes my body feel like it's been stung. She knows I'm with Allie again. She saw us together on my couch last night.

My heart starts pumping a bit faster at the thought of her. The way she looked at me last night. She looked confused and...upset. God, I don't know. I don't know how she feels about anything. We talked about our almost kiss and decided it would be best to drop it. Nola told me herself that we're friends.

Which we are.

It's what I want us to be.

But for some reason, I told myself that getting back with Allie would push away those feelings for Nola. What feelings? We're just friends. There shouldn't be any feelings.

I could've canceled them out without having to use Allie though.

God, I am a prick.

"What about her?" I question eerily. "There's no... feelings there? For her?" I scoff so hard. "No. She's just my friend, Kaitlyn. I told you that already." I don't know who I'm trying to convince, her or myself. My friends look at each other, talking without actually speaking. I hate when they do that shit. "Are you sure? Miles, we're not going to judge you for liking a girl six years younger than you," Kait speaks.

I physically cringe at her words. Another reason I need to cancel out any thoughts of the girl. She just turned nineteen. She's too young for me. I've never been with a girl who's a year younger than me, let alone six. We're at different times in our life. It would never even work.

I'm content with just being friends with Nola. We don't need to change the label of our relationship just because we almost kissed. It happens, we were both having a moment. That doesn't change the fact that it wouldn't work out between us. We have no business being anything other than friends.

"We also like her a lot. Right, babe?" Kait turns to Tate, who nods. "Sure do," he says like he's just agreeing with her so she won't get mad at him. Please. Why is no one on my side? "Well, I'm glad you like her 'cause I'm keeping her around but as a friend. I don't have time for a relationship nor do I want one," I tell them. My mind isn't changing. I've been on my own for years. It's better not to get anyone involved in my life.

Tate tilts his head to the side. "C'mon, man. What you have with Allie is basically a relationship at the rate it's going." My eyes widen at his words. Absolutely not. "We have a sexual mutual agreement, not a relationship. You know what I mean, man. Allie is not to me what Kait is to you. Not even close," I scoff. If what Allie and I have is close to a 'relationship' then I rather stay far away from an actual one.

"It's just..." Kait pauses. She plays with the crumbs of her half-eaten muffin, making eye contact with that instead of us. "Allie's not a nice girl. I've tried to be civil with her on so many occasions but it's like she's not looking to be friends with me or any of the other girls. She was also so insensitive about my-" Kaitlyn turns her body into Tate's, tucking her head away in his arm. Her body starts to shake and I know by her previous tone that she's not laughing.

Fuck.

Tate worriedly rubs her back, looking at me like he wants me to do something. "Hey, babe. It's okay." He coos. I drop my muffin and come across the island. "Kait, tell me. What did she say?" I ask as softly as possible. She sniffles, hiding her face. When she doesn't make an attempt to move, I look over at Tate and ask 'may I' with my eyes. He nods. Slowly, I grab Kait's chair and turn her while making sure she doesn't fall.

Her eyes and nose are red as tears continue to slip down her face. Fuck, I feel terrible. Why does seeing girls I care about cry suck? If this was Nola, I'd be crushed. Kait shakes her head and wipes her tears as she avoids eye contact with me. I look over at Tate for help. He places a hand on her thigh, rubbing his thumb gently over her skin. "Tell him, babe. He'll do something about it."

I look over at my best friend. He knows what she was going to say? Kait nods slowly and wipes her nose with her oversized sweater. "She...was super insensitive about my fertility problems once. She told me to just have 'Tate come inside of me when I was ovulating' and when I told her it wasn't that easy, she said 'Who wants kids anyway?'"

My whole body gets hot from her confession. I almost take out my anger on both of them for not telling me Allie ever did that. Tate knew and he kept his mouth shut. If I had known that had happened, I would have dropped her so fast her head would spin. The thought of her being insensitive about a topic like that shocks me a little bit. Even though Allie may not get along with many people, I didn't think she would say something so harsh.

"I'll handle it. Thank you for telling me." That's all I say and they both nod. This may not be the first time I'm ending things with Allie but it's going to be the last.