𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄; t.alexander-arnold + j.sancho

18.

~

Layla's POV

We were in some room, not sure what or whose it was, but it was spacious enough to accommodate quite a number of people.

I was sitting on the couch, alongside Jadon, who had his arm wrapped protectively around me as his other hand mindlessly played with my fingers.

I was silently listening to all the stories, all the simply outrageous stories, that Jesse was telling - and the occasional childish arguments between him, Marcus and Dele.

Camila and Joe were also cuddled up on the couch opposite the one we were sitting on, with Trent just a distance away from them.

Jadon had went to my and Camila's room earlier to get me, saying he wanted us to hang out with a few of his friends, since they were done with training - but to my quite unpleasant surprise, Trent was there as well. Along with Cami and Joe.

I couldn't just leave either because I had no believable enough excuse to tell Jadon if he asked me why I wanted to go back to my room suddenly.

"Are you sure you're not cold?" Jadon asked quietly, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm good." I smiled at him reassuringly.

His gaze moved from my eyes and down to my arms which had visible goosebumps. The AC in this place is literally a different kind of cold. He gave me a look before removing his arm from me and unzipped his jacket. I tried to protest but he insisted.

"You know all your jackets are gonna end up with me if you keep up with this." I pointed out, putting the jacket on, smiling to myself when I smelled his scent on it.

"I wouldn't mind." He grinned and I playfully rolled my eyes at him.

"The chances of you ever getting them back are very slim." I joked and he laughed softly.

I could've sworn my heart skipped a beat. His laugh was just, wow.

I looked up, coincidentally locking eyes with Camila and my smile instantly dropped. She just stared at me with somewhat of a disappointed look and I frowned because honestly speaking, her looking at me like that was very rare.

I had allowed myself to slip into mine and Jadon's little love bubble that I even forgot that we weren't alone. The other three didn't really pay us any attention really, it was just Cami and her boyfriend who looked unpleased.

It's almost been a week since Trent found out about Jadon, and it wasn't long before half the squad knew. The others honestly didn't really care, except for Joe and Hendo who haven't been warm towards me lately.

And that's another thing at the top of the list of things I don't get. I literally did nothing wrong. All I did was become Jadon's girlfriend, so I don't understand why I'm suddenly the bad guy.

"Layla."

I turned to see Jadon lovingly staring at me and I smiled at him.

"Jadon."

"Would you mind if I kissed you?"

I opened my mouth only to close it right after. I wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Now? Here?"

He nodded. "It's not a problem, is it?"

Uh, yes. Yes it is.

"No, it's just, it's gonna be our first kiss and I just don't want to have it with all your friends here, watching. Wouldn't exactly be as special." I said softly, feeling myself relax when I saw him nod which meant I was convincing enough.

It's not that I was lying or anything, I really did want our first kiss to be special with just us two - but that wasn't entirely the reason why I didn't wanna kiss him right now.

That didn't stop him from planting kisses on my neck though and I looked up, my eyes landing on Trent who was already staring back at me.

I silently prayed that he could read my eyes as I gently pushed Jadon away, telling him that I forgot I needed to call my mom and had to rush back to my room to do so. He nodded understandingly and I stood up to leave the room.

"I'm here."

I turned around to see Trent leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets. We weren't back in my room but we were somewhere I'm sure we wouldn't be easily spotted.

"Hey." I said quietly but I didn't get much of a response. He didn't look like someone interested in chit-chat right now.

"Okay then," I mumbled to myself. "Trent I just, I don't understand what's going on here."

"Well I can't understand it for you." He shrugged.

"No but you can at least try and explain it to me. I'm confused, and honestly kind of hurt. Your friends are giving me the cold shoulder, you've been acting shitty towards me all week, and my best friend doesn't exactly like me right now. I need answers." I spoke, more like pleaded.

"You’re looking at me like.. you’re disgusted. What did I do?" I continued when he remained silent.

"Are you seriously asking me that question Layla?" He walked towards me. "What was that back there?"

"You mean me spending time with my boyfriend?" I raised an eyebrow. "Is that what this is all about? You're jealous?"

"I'm jealous because I..."

"Because you what?" I pressed.

"So you decided to get with my friend while involved with me?" He asked, ignoring my previous question. I wouldn't say he was pissed but he was halfway there.

"What, no!" I exclaimed. "First of all, I didn't even know that you two were that close. I just knew that you were teammates. And secondly, Jadon and I started dating way after what happened between us happened... After we both talked about it and agreed that it was a mistake."

"I never said that, you did. You concluded on your own that it was a mistake."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "I don't know what you told everyone else but this is me clearing this is up. Whatever it is that you and I had, it was just in the heat of the moment. It didn't mean anything."

"Quit lying to yourself, we both know you don't mean that."

"Oh trust me, I do. Now you, along with your friends, should stop giving me a hard time and just let me be happy with who I wanna be happy with."

And with that, I walked past him, leaving him standing there and proceeded to my room. How did we even get here?