The Moment

Chapter Sixteen

Tayler's eyes didn't move. They kept their contact with Chase's as Bryce kept his with Thomas. I knew Bryce had his issues with Thomas but throwing Chase into the mix was definitely a surprise.

"Back up." I demanded, taking Tayler's chin in my hand, forcing him to look at me. Tayler and I never really fought with each other and we never had any tension but this whole situation was taking me by surprise and I was getting more and more aggravated the longer it went on. Tayler placed his hand on Bryce's shoulder, taking a step back, causing my hand to fall to my side.

"Who knew his little girlfriend would be the one doing all the talking." Thomas said with a smirk, receiving a laugh from Chase.

"Get out." I said, turning to face the two boys. Their eyes drifted to mine and I could tell they weren't finished but I was.

"Come on guys, save it for another day." Jaden explained, stepping in between me and them. Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I knew Noah was there. Jaden placed his hands on either boy's shoulders, guiding them out of the house before making his way back into the room. "It's safe to say...this has been one hell of a 19th birthday, Regs." He joked, laughing as everyone cheered and the music came back on, I couldn't help but smile. Yeah, I wanted to know why this just happened but like Jaden said, save it for another day.

---

"The speculation of Tayler and Regan is becoming more and more evident as Thomas and Chase seem to have proof of the relationship fans are longing for! Stay tuned to see what the Hype House members had to say!"

It had been a couple of days since my birthday and what happened during it seemed to spread like wildfire. Suddenly everyone knew what had been said and I still didn't really understand why all of a sudden the boys seemed to have a problem with me.

"So I talked to Alex," Casey said, walking into my living room. "and Thomas and Chase won't say a single thing about why they're saying this stuff. Everyone in that house is just as confused as you are."

"It's just so random...like, what did I do? I'm literally over at that house all the time and there was never an indication that we had an issue." Sure, I didn't talk to them every single day of my life but in my eyes, we were still friends and I would never say anything bad about either of them. "Does Alex know what kind of proof they have?"

"Let's be real, Regs, they don't have any proof. They're just saying that to keep this shit going for as long as possible and then they'll back out of it. Chase just thinks everyone will believe everything he says from here on out because of all that shit from before. They don't have anything on you." She said, trying to brush this all under the carpet and as much as I'd like to believe her, something in me was saying this wasn't going to go away as quickly as she thought it would. "Everyone is just going off of their word right now and until they come out with actual proof, Tegan is just a figment of their imagination. And honestly, why they want to prove it so badly is beyond me."

"Hey." Turning my head in the direction of the voice, I saw Noah. "Sorry to interrupt."

"That's okay, I was just leaving anyway." Casey lied, sending a wink my way as she grabbed her purse and began heading out. "I'll figure it out." She called out before she fully left the house.

"The story's getting pretty big." Noah said, sitting down next to me on the couch. Sure, the rumours of Tayler and I were always going around but everyone around us always denied it so now that there's two people claiming it's true, all while claiming they have proof, it's become even worse.

"Noah," I began, turning my body to face him. "none of it is true, okay? I don't know what kind of proof they have and I don't know why they're doing this, for attention mostly, but I need you, out of anyone, to believe when I say there never was and never will be anything between me and Tayler. I love Tayler with all of my heart, I do, but never in that way. I don't want you to get uncomfortable or to question things because I'm enjoying...whatever this is and if this turns out to be nothing, that's fine but I need you to be on my side of this."

Deciding to end my rant, I suddenly became nervous when Noah didn't say anything. Great, he definitely does not believe me. Letting out a sigh, I looked down at my fingers, trying to avoid the awkwardness of the situation when I felt Noah's lips press against mine.

"This isn't nothing." He whispered.