Just Friends by Roxanne Riley

Chapter Six

Mason

“Dang, Lizzy says she already got all of her boxes in and she’s even unpacked a couple,” Trent remarks, glancing up from a message on his phone.

“She did say she left most of the stuff with the ex-boyfriend,” I remind him, “Moving’s not as bad when you don’t have to worry about furniture or kitchen shit.”

“Except the can opener,” he remarks, smirking.

“You know, I just thought of something else she could have done,” I say absently, “She should have grabbed just one fork. Or spoon, or knife or whatever, but just one, so that he’ll never have a full set.”

“…Remind me to stay on both of your good sides,” Trent laughs, “You and Lizzy have some truly evil ideas.”

“I’m genuinely disappointed that we won’t actually get to see that ceiling fan thing,” I sigh sadly.

“Yeah, that was truly some next-level brilliance,” Trent agrees.

“What time is she going to be over here?”

“She said she’s leaving now, and her new place is about seven minutes away.”

I nod. I’m trying to keep my cool, but this is going to be a rough evening. Lizzy’s coming over to hang out tonight and we’re going to catch her up on a show we’ve both been watching obsessively.

When Trent came home Thursday night, he was practically floating. He said their date had been amazing, and thanked me again for giving them my blessing. I couldn’t stay mad at someone who was just head over heels in love. I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever seen him so happy. It wasn’t his fault I was a lonely, single idiot.

And even if I wasn’t exactly over the moon about the blossoming new romance, I was looking forward to spending some more time with Lizzy. Even if I was jealous, my friend was still back, and I had to appreciate that.

So I try to shake off all the negative thoughts and feelings, and by the time Lizzy arrived, I’ve gotten myself together to the point where I could be genuinely happy to see her.

At least until Trent greets her with a kiss.

It isn’t anything obscene, just a quick little peck, but it still reverberates through me like a gunshot. My heart pounds and my stomach lurches. Fuck.

I knew it was going to hurt, but I didn’t think it was going to hurt like this. The two loves of my life, everything I can never have, dangled in front of me.

I take a deep breath and collect myself, and Lizzy glances at me. “You ok, Mason? You look a little pale,” she says worriedly.

I shake my head. “I’m good, don’t worry. Come on in.”

“Thanks, I’m wiped. Got everything in, and the bathroom’s totally set up, but I’ll need to go shopping for furniture soon, all I’ve got at the moment is an air mattress.”

“You know you can crash here until you’ve got a real bed,” Trent tells her.

She blushes, I eye him, and he holds up his hands. “We have a guest room! I wasn’t trying to-”

But it makes all of us laugh, and some of the discomfort ebbs away for a bit. But it returns again once we’re a few episodes in and Trent puts his arm around Lizzy. She snuggles into his embrace, and while I’m only seeing them out of the corner of my eye, I can’t focus on anything else.

I struggle through to the end of the episode, faking a few yawns, until the credits roll and I get to my feet. “I think I’m gonna turn in. You’ve still got a ways to go before you’re caught up to us, you guys can keep going without me.”

“You sure?” Lizzy asks, “I don’t mind waiting so we can do it all together.”

I shake my head. I don’t need to be the third wheel out of some misplaced sense of pity. “Nah, go ahead. I’ve already seen these.”

“You feeling ok, man?” Trent asks me, eyeing me pointedly.

I nod, not quite meeting his gaze. He knows me too well, and I’m afraid he’s going to pick up on the lie. “Yeah, got a headache. Gonna go try and sleep it off before it gets bad.”

He nods slowly. “Ok…Well, hope you feel better. Just yell if you need anything, all right?”

“Or you can text us,” Lizzy adds.

The “us” is almost enough to make my already knotted stomach heave, so I just nod.

They bid me goodnight and I head up the stairs and to my room. I strip down to my boxers and slip between the sheets, closing my eyes. I can hear the television come back to life, and if the two of them are talking, it’s not loud enough to be heard over the drone of the show.

I feel like a fucking coward, but I hadn’t expected the sight of them together to tear me open like this. It was like all the feelings I’d been suppressing for Trent all these years were flooding back, full force.

And then Lizzy. I thought I’d gotten over whatever I felt for her when she moved away, even if our running group text still gave me those little twinges in my chest. But now she’s here again, but it feels like she’s farther away from me than ever.

I ball my fists into my eyes and let out a sigh of frustration. Maybe I should have said no when Trent asked me. Maybe I can’t be ok with this.

But can I be responsible for taking that happiness away from them? The immediate stab of guilt in my gut tells me that no, I can’t. I saw the way they looked at each other, and even if it makes my heart feel like it’s going to shatter, I can’t be the one to take that away.

In spite of that, however, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Maybe for their best chance at happiness, the two of them would be better off without me in the picture.

I open an apartment-finder website on my phone and start to browse.