Mr. Lone Boy /BoyxBoy/

||Eighteen||

"It's been a week. I should be leaving tomorrow or the day after," Devin said.

I nodded. "Will you come to Jesse's gig?"

"Sure, I'm intrigued by this rock star boyfriend. Surprisingly, Tom and I hit it oft quite well, too bad you two weren't really dating."

I rolled my eyes. "You can still be friends with him."

"I am. We sat together at lunch the other day, I like him."

I raised my eyebrows, "Okay, but don't start thinking about replacing me so soon."

He grinned. "Aw, are you jealous?"

I let my face go blank. "No."

He laughed. "Don't worry, nothing can ruin our years and years of friendship."

My heart squeezed as I tried not to appear as stricken as I felt.

We were at the Chinese restaurant. The same one we were in when we had our first 'double date'. I had my usual plate of stir fried noodles and a small cup of herbal tea, also a bowl of dumplings which I shared with Devin, who was devouring his food in between conversations.

Usually, I'd be just as excited to finish my mouth watering dish but after what Devin said I felt my appetite drop from a hundred precent to negative one.

Devin stuffed a piece of diced chicken in his mouth and pointed at the few remaining pieces of dumpling. "Are you gonna eat that?"

I shook my head. "You can have it. I feel a bit full."

He shrugged before grabbing the bowl. "I'm so hungry."

"I can see that."

He grinned.

I picked up my cup of tea and took a few small sips, it seemed to be the only thing that appealed to me.

I sighed as the warm liquid traveled down my throat, spreading warmth throughout my body. "It's freezing."

"The heater's right there," Devin said, pointing at the heater that was just out of arm's reach.

I frowned. It's just my nerves, I reasoned.

"What time should I be at the café?" Devin asked.

"Around six or seven, I'm not sure but I'll be there a few minutes earlier just because."

He chuckled."Typical."

"I have a couple hours of lessons with Jake after this."

"Ah," he said.

I sighed. "What now?"

He held his arms up in defense. "I didn't say anything."

"You want to."

He released a slow agonizing breath. "I just think breaking up with him-"

"We didn't break up," I argued, "We were never together in the first place."

"Whatever, you know what I mean. I just think it was stupid. Do you know how rare it is to find someone who really cares about you?"

"I was leading him on."

"But you didn't even try," he stressed. "It's almost like...you don't care."

I frowned. "I do. I care about him a lot."

"Then I don't understand why you can't just be with him!"

"Because I don't like him like that!"