55__Hiding Us

55__Hiding Us
Jackson and Phoebe sat on either end of a sofa, both looking in opposite directions of the living room, red-faced and too embarrassed to speak.

Erin stood between them, her narrow-eyed gaze moving back and forth between the criminals she called friends.

Braden calmly stirred his coffee, watching the whole thing with high interest. He’d never ever suspected that Jackson and Phoebe were together, this was far too juicy to miss. He pulled out a chair at the kitchen counter and turned it around to face the living room so he could sit and watch the drama unfold.

“Excuse me?” Erin said. “Ms. Lee and Mr. Pierce, are we going to be here all day?”

They jolted, straightening with clearing of throats and hard gulps.

“Uhm…” murmured Jackson.

“Uhh, I…” Phoebe couldn’t get out more than two words, it seemed.

Erin sighed. “Okay, I have four hours before I need to be at the office and I have to go home first, so let me help you out here. When were you planning to tell me you were a couple?”

“We’re not a couple!!” they both yelled.

“We were drunk!” Phoebe continued. “Do you think I’d touch him sober?!”

Jackson looked at her with a scoff. “Oh, please, you say it like I would. We’re friends, Pheeb. I love you, but I have boundaries! Boundaries that you crossed last night when you came onto me.”

Phoebe huffed loudly and jumped to her feet. “I came onto you?! Hah! Wow, Jackson.”

“I remember everything, okay?” Jackson said, his thick mop of hair messy all over his head. He stood. “You… you kissed me.”

Erin gasped.

Phoebe looked panicked, looking at Erin. “H-he’s lying. Don’t believe him, Erin! He kissed me!”

Jackson scoffed. “You’d have to pay me to.”

Braden snorted into his coffee.

All three friends stopped and turned, looking at him.
Erin’s eyes went wide. She’d forgotten to come up with an excuse for Braden being here!

Phoebe and Jackson’s faces took on identical expressions of bewilderment.
“What the heck are you doing here?!” questioned Phoebe. “When did you get here?”

“That’s what the hell I wanna know,” Jackson said. “What are you doing here?”

“Drinking coffee,” Braden stated like it was obvious. “What does it look like?” He waved them along. “Carry on.”

“Uh— okay, wait!” Erin hurried to block their view of him, drawing their attention back to her face. “What I want to know is this: Are you two together?”

Successfully distracted, Jackson and Phoebe shook their heads.
“No, babe, it was…” Phoebe glanced at Jackson. “It was a mistake. And, frankly, I’m really sorry, Jackson.”

“Yeah, same.” He nodded. “It was dumb and irresponsible and we lost control. For the sake of our friendship, let’s move past it. It’ll never happen again.”

Nodding curtly, Phoebe stuck out her hand and Jackson took it, shaking it.
Erin blinked in puzzlement. “What the hell? That’s it? That easy?”

Her friends looked at her.
Phoebe shrugged. “Yeah. Mistakes happen, babe.”

“And… and now, it’s done?” Erin asked, wide-eyed. "You guys go on being friends?”

“Of course, why would we stop?” Jackson asked her. “You know, maybe it was bound to happen, Phoebe did have a crush on me in ninth grade.”

Phoebe glared at him and clenched her jaw. “You know, we’ve just called a truce, so I won’t respond to that atrocious lie.”

Erin was watching them with crossed arms and a puzzled expression.

“But besides that,” said Jackson with a shake of his head. “What exactly is he doing here?”

Braden sat casually by the kitchen counter, one leg crossed over the other as he sipped his hot beverage.

“Oh! Nothing!” peeped Erin. “He’s leaving now! Right, Braden?”

Braden lowered his cup. “No, I’ll be taking a shower first. Phoebe Lee, I hope you have fresh towels for guests.”

Phoebe’s eyes turned dark with rage. “What the heck?! Did you sleep here?!”

Braden nodded, smiling.

Erin was slowly losing her mind, looking around herself in silent panic.

Jackson looked at her with a frown. “Erin? What’s going on here?”

Phoebe gasped quietly. “Are you guys…? Did you guys—”

“No!” Erin said urgently. “Whatever your question is, the answer is no.”

Braden said nothing, taking his cup to the sink to wash it.

“What do you mean by ‘no’?” asked Phoebe. “You guys obviously shared a room.”

Gulping, Erin crossed her arms. “Yeah, well, nothing happened. I promise. It was late, there was a thunderstorm and we couldn’t drive all the way home. I tried to call you, but you didn’t pick up. For obvious reasons. Reasons which make you two unqualified to judge me.”

“Nobody’s judging you,” said Jackson gently. “And, at least, we were honest about it.”

“If I hadn’t caught you red-handed, would you have told me about it?”

Phoebe nodded quickly. “Duh! Our group is just us three, of course, we’d have told you about it! How else would we figure it out if we don’t put our three heads together? Especially cause you’re the smartest of the three of us.”

“You figured it out just fine without me,” Erin pointed out.

“Erin.” Jackson was frowning. “Be honest with us.”

Wiping his hands on a kitchen towel, Braden made his merry way by. “I’ll be taking that shower.”

“Hey,” Phoebe said.
He stopped and looked at her.
She sighed. “I’m gonna ask you because I know you’re always straight forward about everything. You and Erin have something going on?”

“Impossible,” Jackson muttered, looking disbelievingly at Braden.

Blue eyes rolled slowly over to Erin, staring into hers. She was so panicked, Braden saw. So frightened that her friends would know. He wouldn’t say it didn’t make him feel like shit because that would be a lie.
He looked away. “No.”

They watched him walk to the stairs and turned to Erin.
“Is he lying?” Phoebe asked.

“Definitely,” said Jackson.

“Oh, come on, guys,” Erin pleaded. “Get over it.”

“Why don’t you want us to know that you and Braden are together?” Jackson asked quietly. “You don’t… you don’t trust us? Not even me?”

Phoebe didn’t say anything, but her dark stare said a lot.

Erin was beyond herself, overwhelmed by the situation. “Guys, it’s not like that—”

“You know what?” Jackson said. “Uhm… I actually have to go, I need to get rid of this hangover and get ready for my meeting.”
He turned around and walked off, heading upstairs to get his stuff.

“Jackson…” Erin called. He didn’t turn around.

She released a huff of disbelief, feeling her insides knot up.

Phoebe crossed her arms. “Did you think we’d judge you?”

Erin looked at her, her throat getting thick with tears after Jackson had walked away from her. “No…” She swallowed. “We’re not together… it’s really complicated.”

“You had sex?” Phoebe offered.

Erin flinched, her brows drawing together.

Phoebe smiled. “It’s okay. When you’re ready.”

She also turned and walked away, making Erin’s heart wither.
Luckily, Phoebe stopped, turning to look at Erin. “Babe?”

Erin straightened. “Hm?”

“I’m serious. When you’re ready, we’ll talk. Don’t stress about Jackson, he’ll be fine. Maybe have a talk with him as soon as you can, though.”

Sighing, Erin nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Phoebe.”

Phoebe gave her a smile that did wonders for Erin’s frazzled nerves before disappearing up the stairs.

With a sigh, Erin deflated onto the sofa, staring into space. That hadn’t gone well.

There was still about two hours left before they had to be at work and Braden was driving them home.
She glanced at him. “Uhm… you didn’t shower?”

He shook his head. “Nope.” Phoebe inconveniently hadn’t had separate bathroom toiletries prepared for guests. Braden hadn’t wanted to use Erin’s and smell like a tasty razzle dazzle for the rest of the day.

She looked at him after that short answer. He hadn’t said a word to her since they’d left Phoebe’s and she sat, studying his strong side profile like it would give her answers.
“Braden?”

He looked at her and was greeted with the adorable sight of her swallowed up in his trench coat as she stared anxiously at him with her pretty, brown eyes. He sighed, looking back at the road. She was too cute for his heart, he’d collapse one of these days.

Erin couldn’t see into his mind and so was left wondering why he wouldn’t answer her. “Are you mad at me?”

He blinked, glancing at her. “What? Of course not.”

“Oh.” Her heart sighed with relief. “Okay, I was worried for a second there.”

“Although I would like to know why you’re keeping us a secret from your friends.”

Erin tensed. “Braden… why do you keep saying ‘Us’? There is no ‘us’, we agreed it was too dangerous, remember?”

“You agreed, not me. There is an ‘Us’,” he said calmly. “Stop overthinking everything, it’s gonna be okay. I’ll handle everything. Trust me.”

The weight of his words had Erin’s heart sinking in her chest. Her brain was so confused, the words he spoke made her want to smile herself silly, but she couldn’t help the anxiety they also caused.

As much as she wanted to do as he said, Erin was a realist and she couldn’t ignore the reality of the situation.

She didn’t say anything more until they got home. Driving into the estate, they parked by the main house and quietly got out of the car.
Braden followed Erin into the house, shoving his hands into his pockets when he realized he wanted to hold her hand. She’d freak out for sure, so he didn’t.

Stephanie and Erin’s mom were closely huddled in the downstairs living room, whispering to each other.
As soon as they saw Erin and Braden, they jumped up, hurrying over.

“Erin!” Alicia gasped. “Why won’t you pick up your phone?!”

Stephanie looked between them. “Where have you two been? Did you sleep out?”

“We were at Phoebe’s,” Erin explained cautiously. “What’s going on?”

“Don Michaels is upstairs,” Stephanie whispered. “In Dad’s office, discussing something important.”

Braden frowned. What was Chris’s father doing here?

“It’s probably business,” Erin suggested.

“It isn’t!” her mother said firmly. She was frowning at Erin. “They’re discussing you.”

Erin’s eyes went wide. “Me?!”

“You and Donny’s son, Chris,” Stephanie clarified.

Erin’s mom crossed her arms, staring at her daughter. “Mr. Michaels apparently showed up here offering some ridiculous marriage negotiation! When were you going to tell me you were dating that Chris boy and that he proposed?!”