Datalie - if the world was ending

Chapter Eleven

There was only about a hour window between finally getting out of bed and everyone coming over for the lie detector test, so Ilya and David decided they would go to Starbucks and pick it up for everyone instead of going to breakfast.

On the drive to Starbucks things seemed pretty normal between the two. They went through the drive thru, and ordered the long list of drinks they had gathered. On the way back Ilya got a little more serious.

'Listen David. I'm not talking to you as your best friend right now. I'm talking to you as Natalie's best friend.' He began, giving David a stern look.

'That girl is probably the best thing that will ever happen to this earth, and she deserves nothing but the absolute best. I need to know you're ready to give that to her.'

David was a little taken aback from the maturity Ilya was portraying. Not only was he rejected by this same girl 12 hours ago, he still wanted the best for her, even if it wasn't him.

'Ilya, you know how long I've wanted this. I would give up everything I have ever had, will have, and could potentially get if it meant Nat was happy.'

'Good. For your sake, I'm going to try and move on. I can tell she likes you a lot. And if you make her happy I have to accept that. But you need to know, if you somehow fuck this up, it's you that's being left behind. I will kill you and hide the body. That being said, I honestly hope you guys work out. You should have seen the smile on her face when she was talking about you last night. I've never seen her so genuinely happy.'

David smiled listening to Ilya talk. He was so happy that he and Natalie didn't have to hide from him. That was going to be the hardest person for David to lie too. He was even happier that he didn't have to worry about Ilya trying to put the moves on Natalie because he didn't know about their relationship.

The Tesla pulled into David's driveway and he put the car into park. Neither David nor Ilya made a move to get out of the car when David spoke.

'Il, I'm not going to apologize for liking Natalie. And I'm not going to apologize for being with Natalie. I am sorry for any hurt I caused you though. You're my brother and I want you around. It means so much to me that you're okay with all of this.'

They leaned into each other and had a long hug. Natalie was watching through the front door smiling when Carly walked up behind her.

'What's that all about?' She asked. Confused at the long embrace.

'No clue,' Natalie lied. She slipped on a pair of shoes and walked out the door towards the Tesla to help carry in all the Starbucks.

'Hey boys! How was the drive?' She asked.

'Oh good. Had some much needed bro time. Manly things. You know us.' Ilya joked while getting out of the car and grabbing a tray of drinks.

'Oh yes. You guys are exactly what I picture when I think "manly",' Natalie rolled her eyes sarcastically.

'Ouch! Babe! Don't be rude.' David joked back. Looking around and making sure no one else was watching before leaning in and placing a quick kiss on her cheek. He took the tray she was carrying and started walking towards the house.

'Babe?' Natalie asked with a grin.

'Yeah, thought I would try it out. Not sure how I feel about it.' David replied.

'I think it's cute!' Ilya called from where he was walking behind them.

The front door swung open and they were greeted with the hustle and bustle of people preparing for the lie detector test.

Jim was setting up in the living room. Jason was working on different camera angles. Zane, Carly and Erin were excitedly talking about different questions they would ask different people. Jeff and Todd were doing push-ups in the backyard. Heath and Mariah slow dancing to some song only they could hear in the kitchen. Corinna taking selfies by the big window. And Scott scrolling through his phone from the cloud couch.

David smiled. It was the moments everyone was together in one big room that made him realize how lucky he truly was.

Natalie and Ilya walked past him and joined the craziness going on. And he just stood there smiling. These people are his family. And he is so lucky to have them all. He watched Natalie interacting with everyone and his heart swelled at how well she integrated into this group. These were all his people. And we was so happy they're here.

'Okay,' Jim piped up, indicating that he was ready to start whenever the group was.

'Alright!' Jason called out. Getting everyone's attention and drawing them into the living room.

'Since he's just standing there like a creep staring at all of us... why doesn't David go first?' Jason spoke again, the camera zooming in on David as he laughed and made his was to get hooked up to the machine.

'I was just thinking about how I'm so happy you guys are all here... don't make me regret it!' David joked. He sat down on the couch and got ready for the interrogation he was about to receive.

'David being nice?! Something must be wrong! Dave is everything okay? Are you dying?' Zane joked from where he was getting comfortable on the couch, sandwiched between Carly and Heath.

'Ha, ha,' David fake laughed.

'Very funny Zane. I'm fine!' He answered

'Truth.'