Chapter 41

Chapter 41
NOAH
I narrowed my eyes at Javier as he whispered something to Dalia to make her laugh when I walked into the living room, before smirking at me. He came over thirty minutes ago with groceries because I didn’t have any and he and Dalia clicked almost instantly. It made me want to throw him out. He must have figured that out because he started bringing up embarrassing stories of when we were in university and whispering in her ear to make her laugh.
“There’s not much to unpack, Javier. You can go home now.”
“It’s just next door. I’ll go later,” he said, giving me a dismissive wave, and I frowned.
“Did you see the ground rules I sent to you?”
It was his turn to frown now. “Ground rules?”
“Yes, I emailed them to you yesterday,” I replied and his frown deepened before he dropped the book he was holding and pulled his phone out of his pocket. I watched him for the next minute as he went through his phone and when he finally opened the email, he paused.
“We’re neighbours, not roommates,” he read out and lifted his gaze to mine, shooting me a dirty look. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
I tapped on the screen of his phone and grinned at him. “Exactly what it says,” I said and he scoffed as he dropped his phone on the floor.
“This is why you don’t have friends,” he muttered while he resumed going through the box in front of him before turning to face Dalia. “I’m his only friend.”
“Really?”
“That’s not true,” I blurted out and the asshole gave me a smug look while Dalia raised her brows, a smile playing on her lips. “I have friends.”
“Mention one that’s not me,” Javier stated without hesitation and pointed at me. “Go.”
“I, uh- Avery.” They burst into laughter. “...Are you done?” I asked, sneering at them when their laughter finally died down and they grinned at me while Dalia brought a book out of the box she was sorting through. A picture fell out of it before she could set it down and when it landed face up on the floor, I quickly grabbed it. It was a picture of me and Allison. When I moved into my dad’s place after finding out about Allison and Shane, Taylor had been the one to bring my things over, but I only unpacked my clothes, so I had no idea that this was among my things.
Dalia furrowed her brows slightly, tilting her head to the side, as I stuffed the picture in my pocket and I tucked her hair behind her ear before her phone began to ring, breaking the silence. We both glanced down at it to see that it was a call from her dad and she picked it up, got to her feet and walked out of the living room after saying, “Give me a minute.”
My eyes then darted to the box she had been going through, wondering if there were any other pictures of Allison and I in there, before lifting my gaze up to see Javier sneering at me and I pulled the box to my side.. “You have a problem.”
“You have a more serious one. You shouldn’t have invited me over if you were going to be like that because I was getting along with her. Would you rather I fight with her over you?” he asked and I gave him a once over before returning my attention to the box. I didn’t even invite him over. “Wait. Who do you like more, me or her?”
What the- I jerked my eyes back to his and frowned while he stared at me expectantly. “What the hell is that question?” I replied and he instantly let out a laugh.
“You’re so shy. Such a cutie pie,” he muttered while pulling my cheek and I swatted his hand away but couldn’t stop myself from smiling. He was so ridiculous. “Your birthday’s coming up,” he added and I hmmed as I went through the contents of the box. “Where are you taking me to for it?”
“Why should I be the one to take you somewhere?”
“Because I’m me,” he replied in a matter-of-fact tone and I heaved a sigh just as Dalia walked back into the living room.
“It’s getting late. I have to go,” she said, getting on her knees next to me, and my shoulders sagged because I had sort of hoped she’d spend the night.
“...I’ll drop you off.”
Her brows instantly shot up in surprise and the next moment, a small smile crept onto her face. “No. My dad’s at the supermarket. I’ll meet him there, so we can go home together.”
“I’ll see you off then.”
“To the lobby,” she said before pressing a quick kiss to my lips, and I frowned at the fact that she didn’t want her dad to see us together even though I understood why. She then smiled and gave me another kiss before getting to her feet. “I’ll come over tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I muttered, getting to my feet too while she grabbed her bag from the couch.
“Bye Javier.”
“Bye, sweetheart.”
I shot him a glare and batted his eyelashes at me, making Dalia laugh before I ushered her towards the door.

DALIA
“Huxley, I need you to give me a ride -” I cut myself off when my eyes fell on him after I walked into his room, and my lips parted slightly as I took in his hair which was no longer shoulder-length. It was now short.
“Which kind?” Hux asked, peeking around the corner with a lopsided grin on his face, when I was about to speak, and I furrowed my brows in confusion. I then realized that the short-haired man was Harvey when I saw the necklace I bought for him on his neck and I scowled while he suddenly hit Huxley over the head. “Dude! What the hell?”
“Stop saying shit,” he retorted before Hux faced me, giving me a look that said he wanted me to defend him.
“Dream girl -”
“Can it,” Harvey cut him off and after a little while of them staring at each other in silence, I decided to cut in.
“Why are you avoiding me?”
Huxley pursed his lips and his eyes darted between me and Harvey before he walked out of the room.
“Why are you avoiding me?” I repeated after Huxley shut the door and the corner of his mouth twitched while he rubbed the back of his neck.
“I told you. I’m not.”
“Look me in the eye when you’re talking to me,” I muttered as I walked over to him and his eyes widened when he turned to find me standing right in front of him.
“I’m not I-I just…”
“What is it? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, I…” he trailed off again and I frowned.
“Harvey.” Did I really do something?
“I didn’t want to bother you,” he finally said and my shoulders relaxed as I muttered an ‘huh?’. He glanced away from me for a moment and cleared his throat as he leaned against the desk. “I heard you talking to Tamika,” he added softly and I drew my brows together before realizing what he was talking about. Tamika had called me the day before he started acting different and when she asked me if Noah and I had made up, I told her why he had been mad at me in the first place. I didn’t know that Harvey had heard and that he’d assume he was bothering me because of what happened.
I took a deep breath and let my gaze fall to the ground. “That’s what this is… You’ve been thinking that you were bothering me since last week.”
“I… figured I was being a nuisance.”
“Don’t just assume stuff without asking!” I yelled, making him jolt, after jerking my head back up.
“I- I’m sorry,” he said and I scowled, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and pulling him down so our faces were on the same level.
“Just remembering how you ignored me makes me so mad!” I tightened my hold on his shirt before headbutting him and we both let out a yelp while I took a step back. One of my hands flew to my forehead as it began to ache and I glared at him.
“You’re the one who did it. Why are you glaring at me?”
“... Is that all though?” I asked and he raised his brows at me. “Is that the only reason?”
His mouth set in a hard line as he stared at me and after several moments, he pulled me into a hug. “Sorry… I won’t do it again,” he said and I frowned before hugging him back.
“You better not.”