𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 - Ericdoa ⭑

16

"Baby?"

--

    Lei looked up at him surprised. "Huh?" She said "Huh?" and he mocked. He stood in a position that trapped her, she couldn't run, but he also made sure she wasn't uncomfortable. "What are you talking about?" She tried to play dumb but it very clearly wasn't working.

    "You called me baby." He stated. "Hmm.." She didn't know wether to agree or deny, she settled on "Maybe." She tried to escape while he was distracted thinking of how to make her confess, but he quickly stopped her and trapped her again in his arms. She struggled and squirmed but he didn't let go.

    "Say it again and I'll let you go." He said while laughing and fighting to hold her. "No!" She argued. She fought and fought until she was exhausted and she gave up. He loosened his hold on her and turned her to look at him. He brought his face closer to hers and repeated himself. "Stop being so shy, you weren't shy earlier." He added.

    She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "You like being called baby?" He let her go, as promised. "Only by you." He said as she walked away and he took a seat on her couch. Her smile grew wider as she sat beside him.

    "Can you give me Ash's phone number?" She asked him, as her smile  slightly faltered and she realized she needed to talk to his and her best friends. He agreed and sat beside her and she went to message him. 

    "Hey is this Ash? It's Lei, do you know why Raquel was crying?" She sent, not bothering to look at Eric for conformation or support, though she knew he was there if she needed him. He quickly read the message and took a few minutes before replying. Lei noticed how he had his read receipts on and Eric never had. "No, I don't know, but I think it has something to do with us."

    She glanced at Eric but he was focused on the phone screen in her hands. He wanted to know what she was going to say. Who is us? He thought, and that's exactly what she replied. "Me and you. Ash and Lei." He replied, she had no idea what he was implying. "What did I do?" She asked back.

    "Raquel likes me. and she's mad at you.. I think." That confused her. Raquel never told Lei that she had feeling for ash, so where did he get that from? "Why would she be mad at me?" Lei whispered to herself out loud. "I don't know, find out." Eric said to her, gesturing to the messages between her and Ash.

    "Why would she be mad at me?" As the message bubble sent, the pieces clicked in her mind. Eric had told her she thought she had feelings for Ash, is that what he and Raquel thought too?

     She closed the messages between her and Ash and went to text Raquel instead. "Hey, are you okay? Want to talk about it?" Read. "You like Ash don't you?" Read.

    Ash wasn't replying either, but he wasn't ignoring her. He didn't know what to say, he was finally starting to realize that maybe he was wrong. "I thought you liked me?" He built up the courage to send.

    "Oh.." She said as she read the notification from Ash, before looking over at Eric. He stared at the phone screen intently, his jaw ticking. He didn't know how to feel about this. He and his best friend liked the same girl, but he couldn't be mad could he? He never specifically told him, but it was obvious wasn't it? Ash even said he saw how he looked at her, and he helped her text her when they first met. His thoughts were swarming and he was pissed now, but he didn't show it.

    He wanted to see what she was going to say, without hearing his opinion first. Lei clicked on the notification and began typing. "I'm sorry Ash, I don't feel that way about you. I like someone else but we can be friends right?"

    As Ash took forever to respond again, she tried to text Raquel. "I'm sorry I didn't know you liked him, but I promise Raquel, I never had or ever will have any feelings for him, but I wish you would've told me." She hesitated sending it for a bit but before she could, Ash texted back.

    "Yeah, of course we can, sorry I got the wrong idea." He said. She replied happily, glad that it didn't have to be awkward tension between them anymore, and now all she had to do was apologize to Raquel. 

   As she did so, Eric had other things on his mind. He bounced his leg anxiously as he watched Lei mend the relationships between their friend group. He decided he wasn't going to be the only one who was still mad, so he texted Ash. 

    "I heard about what happened." He decided to say. He didn't know how else to start this conversation. "Yeah, I know you're at hers." Eric tried not to let his words make him even more angry, he definitely knew, "I know what you're going to say. Sorry man, I didn't know." Eric wasn't convinced, but he was satisfied.

    He set his phone down and turned his attention back to Lei, she was smiling. He was relieved to see her happy and assumed she had solved everything with Raquel. A smile quickly spread onto his face too, and she looked up from her phone. 

    "Hi." He said, with he same stupid smile she was wearing. "Hi." She replied. He smiled harder and realization struck that time was only ticking down before the moment where he'd have to leave. He only wished for one more night here, he didn't expect to go home so soon, and after meeting her, he certainly wasn't ready.