All the Ways

xxviii

Vivienne laid on Amber's bed, "Come to lunch with us. Please."

"Who's paying?" Amber said from right next to her.

"Sam will, if you come with us."

"Fine." Amber groaned and got up.

Vivienne and Johnny arranged a lunch date with their significant others, but also included Amber and Sean, just to force them to talk to each other. Paige hated the plan, but everyone else was on board.

So here they were, sitting on the patio of a modern cafe, all together. They pretty much all ate in silence, and talked as couples. Johnny and Paige talked about his niece, who was now beginning to walk. Sam and Vivienne talked about the next movie they were going to see. Sean and Amber sat in awkward silence until Amber broke the silence, "How have you been?"

Sean was thrown off by the loaded question she asked, "I'm good. You?"

"Decent." She stabbed her salad with her fork. "Everyone I work with suddenly turned really bitchy all of a sudden."

"Oh? Why?"

"Because I dumped Connor McDavid."

The table fell silent when Amber said that, and Sean had to play like he didn't know. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, it was stupid." She chuckled. "He's an idiot."

Sean just nodded in agreement with her.

They all finished up, Sam and Viv announcing that they were going to the aquarium, and Johnny announcing that him and Paige would be going to see his mom, who was apparently in town, unbeknownst to Paige. That would leave Amber and Sean alone, and since Sean drove to the restaurant and Amber didn't, Amber would have to get a ride home with him. Honestly, fuck her friends.

Amber and Sean sat in silence for a little bit, until Amber began talking about how much she hated her coworkers. Sean was always the only one who ever heard the brunt of it. She barely ever told Viv or Paige because they were too compassionate. When he dropped her off at her apartment building, she leaned in and kissed him. He was thrown off and so was she. Amber did it out of habit. She turned red, "I'm sorry. Thanks for the ride. Thank you!" She jumped out of his truck and ran to the door, embarrassed.

/////

Paige came home to an angry Amber, "Thanks for setting me up, rat." Amber crossed her arms at Paige.

Paige threw her hands up in defense, "I specifically said I wasn't meddling. It's not me. Plus, I'm mad too. Johnny's mom is in town and he didn't even tell me!"

"We both had tough days." The two sat together on the couch, Amber throwing her legs onto Paige's lap.

Vivienne came shortly after and received the look of death from Amber. "Rat."

Viv just looked at her, "Soooooo?"

Amber threw her head back in defeat, "I kissed Sean today. Like, out of habit. I didn't mean it like that. But a part of me wants to say that I did mean it like that."

Vivienne sat on the floor in front of the two, "Coming from someone who dragged out a breakup, I'm just saying that you shouldn't make stupid excuses for not wanting to get back together. If you want to, then it's worth a shot."

Amber just frowned, "I don't know. I love Sean, I really do, but relationships have never worked well for me."

Paige hopped into the conversation, "Remember that time that Sean literally spent the holidays with you because you hated your family?"

Amber nodded.

"That's 'well.' That's love, Amber. Sean doesn't even like walking down the hall to say hello to me when I'm over, and he spent time with you across the country when he could see you every single day in Calgary."

Amber spent the rest of the day pondering, the faint lull of the TV playing in the background of her thoughts. She was snapped out of her thoughts when a knock came upon the door at 11 PM. This was it. She was going to get murdered, before telling Sean that she still loved him. Amber opened the door carefully.

"Amber?" Sean's voice boomed from the other side.

"Hi." She leaned against the doorway, looking up at him.

"I'm sorry I put you on the spot the other day, and I'm sorry that we kissed earlier, but I've been thinking. I've been thinking a lot, actually. I know you did it out of habit, and it didn't feel out of place. It didn't even feel like we broke up. And I missed that feeling. I felt so content. Every time I see you, my heart just breaks because of how much I miss you. Amber, please. I want you back in my life. Please."

Amber felt herself freeze up. She opened her mouth to say no, because that's what she wanted to say. She wanted to say no because they were broken up, and that was it. Second chances were over for everyone after Connor. Sean blew his only chance. "Yes." All she could say was yes. That's how she truly felt. Amber had this cold facade that she liked to show everyone, but deep down, her heart was huge and full of love.

Sean looked at her blankly, trying to process what she just said, "Yes?"

She smiled, "Yes."

He grinned and pulled her into a hug, "Yes!" Sean hadn't held her in so long, he felt his knees go weak when he wrapped his arms around her.

She invited him inside, where he sat on the couch with her, holding her. Paige walked out of her room, seeing the two. "Excuse me?"

Sean turned around and just grinned at her. Amber did the same. "I hate myself for being a weak bitch. But Seanahan is just too good."

Paige sighed in relief, "Finally! Now I can freely do stuff with Johnny at his place without being worried about Sean crying down the hall."

Sean threw a small pillow at her, "You're disgusting."

She dodged the pillow and pointed at him, "Hey. Just remember who was there for you when you listened to Marvin's Room on repeat for three days straight."

Amber started laughing, "No fucking way."

"Paige, don't embarrass me!" Sean cried out.

"You did it to yourself." Paige retaliated.