Friends with Benefits [m.c.]

Change

A/N: I've casted Brooklyn Beckham as Ross :) We're the same age, which is awesome, ha.

Alyssa's POV

"No!" I cry out with a laugh. "That's not what happened at all, you freakin' liar!"

James laughs. "Yes, it did! Don't lie, Lyss. You spit all over the waiter! We were kicked out of the restaurant, for God's sake!"

I giggle. "Hey," I tell him. "I didn't do it on purpose. You just caught me off-guard and it just kind of happened, okay?"

I hear his breathing change as he laughs silently. I've missed that laugh.

"That was the date that made me realize how much I wanted to be with you," he tells me, his voice turning extremely serious.

I sigh, looking at my feet that are hanging off my bed. "James, don't say that. I dunno if I can talk about this."

I have a feeling that he's nodding. "I know, I know. But Lyss, nothing changes that fact that I love you."

"And I still love you," I tell him honestly. "I feel like part of me always will."

"Same here," he agrees. I hear him yawn faintly.

"James," I say. "If you're tired, you can say so. It's, like, three in the morning over there."

I glance at the clock and see that it's 3:00. I should probably leave for Reyna's any minute now.

I hear him yawn again. "But I wanna talk to you!" he whines.

I giggle loudly. Only James can truly bring that out of me. "You can call me whenever you want, you know that. You've been doing that for over two weeks, now."

He chuckles. "Yeah, you're right. I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow, or something."

We bid each other farewell, and I quickly run to the counter in the kitchen to grab my keys.

"Hey," Hailey says. "Going to hang out with the guys again?"

I shake my head. "I've gotta go to Reyna's. I'll probably be there to hang out soon, though."

She nods. "I'll come, too. Just let me know when you're going and I'll tag along."

I nod, evidently surprised. "So are you over this hatred for Ash, or...?"

"Hell no," she snorts. "Still fucking hate him. What a pervert."

I roll my eyes. "You talk about him more than you talk about anything else, Hail," I say. "Are you sure there isn't something underneath it all?"

She laughs. "I'm positive, Lyss. I promise. You should probably get going, though."

I say goodbye to her and start toward the door, until she stops me with a question.

"I forgot to ask, are you and James back together?"

I slowly turn to her. "No."

She cocks her head to the side. "Why not? I thought he was the love of your life?"

"He is," I tell her. "It's just... different now. I dunno, it just isn't the same. I still love him, but I'm trying to figure out if it's the same love I had for him when he left me over three months ago."

She nods. "Alright, I was just making sure you weren't doing anything dumb, like the time when you wanted to sleep with Michael just for the hell of it," she laughs.

I chuckle nervously. She has no idea.

"Actually..." I trail off as I open the door to let the mid-summer breeze in.