Emancipation

forty two

"There you two are!" I hear Hale's voice and he looks a little pale as he approaches us.

"Are you alright?" I ask as he gives me a quick hug and nods. My eyes travel to James who seems a little distracted, his eyes wandering off in a distance which makes me scowl. "James?"

He focuses his gaze on me and gives me a small smile which itself looks forced, "Yeah?"

"What's wrong?" I notice the way he pulls me a little closer to himself and his eyes move to Hale who seems to be staring at him as well. They seem to be having a discussion through their eyes which makes me scowl.

"Nothing, love. I just have something to take care of. Hale, will you keep her company?" He looks at his best friend who seems a little hesitant but nods nonetheless. His arm around me comes up around my shoulders as he kisses my hair. "Just stick by his side, please."

Before I even have a chance of questioning him, he disappears and I look at the man by my side, my gaze a little intense because something awfully wrong.

"Hale." I push, my nerves picking up and he gives me his charming smile before wrapping his arm around my shoulder and directing me towards a bunch of people. "What's going on?"

"He has to strike a deal with some douche. Carrack's been on his case for a while now, so he's just taking care of that." He explains and my nerves calm a little, nodding.

That makes sense, yet something seems off about this entire situation and mostly both of their behaviours. Hale introduces me to very new faces, his eyes travelling in the crowd as mine follow his gaze.

"Listen, there's something I wanted to talk to you about, need a little advice." He starts as he hands me a glass of white wine.

"Go on?"

I sip on the wine, not in the mood for alcohol tonight but it will probably help me calm my nerves. Hale looks around one last time before fixing his eyes on me.

"It might be tiny bit possible that I really like-like Alex." He begins, his words amusing me because of how awkward he looks. "Don't laugh!"

I bite on my inner cheek to stop myself as I stare at him, "What makes you think so?"

"Mm, the fact that I haven't dated anyone seriously in years now, I mean, it kind of went downhill after that bitch cheated on me." He breathes, sipping onto the wine before meeting my eyes. "Yeah, with Alex it started as a hookup, you know?"

I nod, trying to understand his trail of thoughts. "So, what makes her different?"

"She puts up with me, Lil. And she's funny, savage and have you looked at her?" He sounds so dreamy, I almost awe at him.

"Yeah, she's gorgeous. Why isn't she your date tonight?"

I mean, if he likes her that much, what's holding him back? It could be his past looming over, but he has to know that not every person is same, hell, I've never dated anyone before but it isn't like I didn't even give it a chance. No one ever felt right, but for some fucked-up destiny reason, James does. He feels right.

"She gave me a fucking ultimatum!" He sounds exasperated and I gesture for him to continue. "I operate like shit on ultimatums, man! I get so panicked to make a decision but she asked me to either commit or let it go completely."

Wow. What a brilliant move!

"Well, I think it can work fine for you, to make a decision like this, you know? Also, Hale, be honest, what's really stopping you from committing? She's a good person, super fun and so beautiful."