Best Friends In Love

Chapter 34

Grace

I stare at the plate in front of me. For once the eggs and bacon don't seem appetizing. I push the plate away. I can't stop thinking about the events that took place this weekend. Plus I'm ashamed of myself and of what I did. I look up and find Ryan staring at me.

"What?" I say somewhat defensively.

"Do you want to go somewhere with me?"

"Where?"

He shrugs. "Anywhere. Besides I haven't gotten around to telling you yet but Pepper and I will be returning home soon."

"You're leaving?" I question.

He chuckles. "Grace, it's time to go back home. I love being here with mom, dad and you. But at some point we have to return home and be on our own."

I nod slowly looking down at my fingers. I curl them and uncurl them. A heavy weight of loneliness falls over me, like a bucket of ice cold water.

"Okay" I say "let's do something." I look back at him. "Just you and me, sister and brother bonding time"

He winks at me. "You got it baby sister"

~|~

I watch the trees and houses fly by as Ryan drives us to our location which I have no idea, because he didn't want to tell me.

"Are we there yet?" I groan impatient.

"Almost" he replies. He switches his signal turning into the right lane. As he turns, I-Hop comes into view.

"No way" I shout bouncing up and down in my seat like a little kid. "I haven't been to I-Hop in forever!"

Ryan rolls his eyes, looking for a parking space. As soon as he parks. I jump out of the car.

"Grace wait for me!"

I laugh, waving my hand at him and heading inside. As soon as I step inside my stomach growls. I pat my stomach. Looks like my appetite returned.

Ryan narrows his eyes. He looks ready to scold me but gets interrupted as the waitress greets us.

She seats us in a booth by the window. Ryan and I order the same thing every time. Chocolate chip pancakes with a side of bacon and scrambled eggs.

Ryan turns to me as soon as the waitress leaves. He taps his fingers on the table. "So I have something to confess."

I straighten in my seat. "What?"

He stops his tapping giving me a look. "Shane called me".

I stare at him. I open and close my mouth. I don't know what to say. It's a little humiliating that my brother knows what happened. Instead of saying anything I settle on slapping my palms to my eyes.

"I'm not judging you Grace." he says quietly

I groan peeling my hands away from my eyes. "You're just saying that cause you're my brother."

"Yes and no" he says "but I also knew that this would eventually happen. I'm not gonna judge you for following your feelings. I will say though, that you guys need to work things out with your significant others."

"Ryan I'm a bad person. I can't face David or Camille." I slump down in my seat. "I don't even wanna see Shane. I just want the ground to swallow me up."

He shakes his head. "Grace, you have to stop running away from things. You need to face them."

He pauses as the waitress brings our food. As soon as she leaves we dig in.

"Talk to Shane because I know in this moment he's talking to Camille."

My eyes widen, and the piece of bacon falls out of my mouth. "What!" I screech.

Ryan looks around the restaurant. He smiles at the people looking at us. He leans closer. "Quiet down"

"How do you expect me to quiet down when you're telling me that Shane is telling Camille that he cheated on her with me! His best fucking friend!"

Ryan frowns. "You guys were never just friends Grace. Everyone new it. Even Camille knew it."

I shake my head. "I can't do it. I can't face anyone. How am I gonna talk to David now when Camille will probably tell him everything."

Ryan reaches for my hand. "You start by facing your fear. Then you tell him the truth."

I squeeze his hand. He squeezes back, and goes back to his food. I slowly chew on mine as a million thoughts run through my mind. Ryan's right butt I'm a chicken. I just get so scared I just want to avoid things and pretend like there's not a problem but there is and it's a big one.

~|~

"Can you drop me off at Sarah's please?"

Ryan's nods. "Does she know you're coming?"

"Yeah" I lie. I fiddle with my seat belt. Sarah's mad at me. More like disappointed I think. Because of what I did so I'm gonna apologize and talk to her. I don't like it when Sarah's mad at me. It's torture. I know she's reflecting on the pain that Dylan caused her on the problem between Shane and I and I don't like hurting her.

Ryan parks the car in front of Sarah's house. "Call me if you need me to pick you up?"

"Thanks for lunch Ryan. I had fun."

He grins. "Anything for you Grace. Anything for you."

I return the smile then walk away. As I reach Sarah's front door, I feel doubt prickling me in the stomach. What if she doesn't want to talk to me? Or see me? I swallow hard then raise my fist to the door. I knock three times.

Silence.

I knock four times and step back. Footsteps get louder and louder as they come closer to the door. Sarah opens the door, a surprised look on her face. "Grace, what are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you."

"Oh" she says "well come in." She frowns. "Why didn't you just walk in like usual?"

I shrug. "Maybe because you're angry with me and-"

She rolls her eyes. "I'm not angry at you Grace. I was never angry. I was just upset but now I'm over it. Besides we were all a little buzzed this weekend my emotions took over. I'm sorry if I was rude."

I hug her. "I'm so glad you're not angry anymore. Listen I know what Shane and I did was wrong, but to be honest I couldn't help myself. I love him Sarah."

"And he loves you Grace. I'm so glad you guys finally told each other because every time we were together I almost spilled the beans to both of you." She sighs "it was exhausting."

I grin but then it disappears. "He told Camille Sarah. What do I do now?"

She looks at me. "It's time to face the truth"