Faking It (Fake boyfriend Duet 1)
|♠ 12: Despondent Me.

Gabriella got her wish, after all. My fake relationship with Gun is officially over. I wanted it to be real between us, but it ended up going the opposite direction. Funny how that worked out, huh?

I thought he and I were on the same page, but it turned out I was wrong. Has it been one-sided all along? Did he not feel the same way? Then why the hell did he keep kissing me? We even went on a date, for crying out loud.

"Trust me, I'm regretting that now"

I keep replaying those words in my head, wondering how everything went to shit. Was it because of Zac? Was it because he was jealous of him?

Maybe Gun though that I'd go running back to Zac now that he's single again. He said as much when when he drove me home last night. But then, he didn't exactly get to drive me home, did he? I was soo upset with him that I decided to walk the rest of the way home. Then I proceeded and to bawl my eyes out in my room.

I thought I had my heart broken with Zac, but it was nothing compared to what I'm going through right now. I know it sounds completely ridiculous and stupid, knowing that I've been with Gun in just a short time, but my feelings for him run deeper. In just a matter of days, he managed to get me hooked on him. Quicker than Zac ever did. Hell, quicker than any other guy ever did.

"Why the long face this time?" Daph loudly plops her tray across from me, pulling me from my mopping state. "You've been wearing that expression on your face since I picked you up this morning."

That's because I've been sulking over your stupid gorgeous brother.

"I'm just feeling a little under the weather, I guess." I lie.

Her face scrunches up, her eyeglasses falling to her nose. "Oh, no. Do you want to go to the nurse's office?"

"No, I'm fine." I hurry on. "I already took ibuprofen before I left home."

God, I hate lying to my best friend. But I don't want to spill all the details when anyone can easily eavesdrop into our conversation. I've had enough of being the center of the romour mill, thank you very much. I plan to do it later when school ends and it's just the both of us. Which means I need to distract her for now.

"Anyway, how did the party go, after your, um brother and I left? You don't look hungover."

"That's because I stopped drinking when you guys left." She gives me an assessing look. "Actually, you're the one looking hungover right now. You're eyes seem a little puffy. Did you resume drinking when you disappeared at the party last night? Maybe that's why you're feeling off right now."

"Yeah, um, something like that. So who did you bum a ride home with?"

"Rodney. When he found out you and Gun left, he offered to drive me."

I raise one eyebrow, intrigued. Interesting. "Really? That's nice of him."

"It sure was." Daphine agreed, twirling the spaghetti on her plate with her fork, not meeting my eyes.

Really, Interesting.

Which makes it even more so, when she quickly changes the subject. "So, have you already finished your Science paper? It's due tomorrow."

My eyes widen, oh crap, I totally forgot!

With all the boy drama going on in my life, I've neglected my studies. My mom will totally kill me if she finds out I'm not prioritizing school.

"I need to pull an all-nighter tonight." I groan. "This sucks."

"Well, I'm done with mine. Which means I can help you finish yours. Sleep over at my house tonight. If we start early, we'll still get good sleep.".

If Daph had any clue about what's going on between me and Gun, she wouldn't ask me to stay the night at their house. As much as I don't want to, I really have to work on my Science homework. Which means my boy drama needs to take a back seat. My assignment is more important. I just need to steer clear of Gun while I'm there. I'll stay holed up in Daph's room, just in case.

*****

" Dinner's fantastic, Belinda. "I tell Daph's mom, rubbing my well-fed stomach. "I think I just gained a couple of pounds from it. "

"Oh, you still look great sweetie. You don't have to worry about gaining weight just yet." Belinda waves a hand dismissively from across the table but looks pleased with the compliment.

Daph and I just started working on my paper in her bedroom when her mom called us down for dinner. I was hesitant at first, not wanting to face Gunther just yet. Besides, I haven't even had the chance to tell Daph about her brother yet. Although I managed to tell her about Gabriella and Zac while we were having lunch at the cafeteria. She was pleased to know that I don't want anything to do with Zac— for revenge otherwise — anymore.

But I couldn't say no to Belinda's cooking, her homemade bolognese sauce, Greek pasta salad and Chinese BBQ pork- Char Siu is the best. Even better than my mom's to be honest —not that I will ever tell her that. So I had to go join Daph and her parents for dinner.

Yeah, it's just the four of us, Gun isn't home yet. Probably still held up at basketball practice.

Thank God for small favours.

I can probably make my escape to Daph's room before he even gets home.

Just as I finished thinking it, Gun walks into the kitchen, his steps faltering when he sees me. My heart stutters in my chest at the sight of him, and I glance away before my face betrays my feelings in front of his family. Not when Daph is still in the dark about it.

Belinda clicks her tongue. "Honey, you just missed dinner."

"Sorry Mom. Coach was pretty hard on us today."

"My poor baby." She coos, making his cheeks burn as his eyes find me. "Take a seat and I'll get a plate for you. Daph, Nikky, be little angels and clear the table and load the dishes into the dishwasher, will you?"

"On it, Mom." Daph says giving her mom a thumbs up sign. "We'll dig into the Chocolate Cherry Garcia in the fridge while waiting for Gun to finish dinner."

Get stuck in the same room with her brother? I want to protest, but the words get lodged in my throat. Besides, everyone would think I'm being lazy. So I simply nod and smile, careful not to look at Gun who just pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Alright. I'll be in the living room. I think there's a football game tonight." David, Daph and Gun's dad mutters, kissing his wife on the cheek and messing Gun's hair on his way out.

Belinda sets the place in front of Gun and leans down to place a kiss on top of her son's head before following her husband out. Gun groans.

"Awww, my poor baby." Daph coos in the same voice their mother used, snickering.

Face practically beet red, Gun flicks his eyes to me then glares at his sister. "Shut up."

Is he embarrassed because of my presence?

With a laugh, Daph walks over to the fridge to retrieve the ice cream. While I grab a couple of ice cream glasses —hesitating for a beat before grabbing another for Gun— and spoons. I can feel his gaze on me, hot, and searing as I pad back to the table and set the utensils down.

"Thank you." I hear him mutter.

I just nod, still not looking at him.

Ughh. This is complete torture. But I can't just run back to Daph's room without arousing her suspicion. So I square my shoulders and sit across from Gun.

"I forgot to tell you, Nikitta," Daph starts, putting the ice cream on the table. "I saw Zac kissing Lytton outside the girl's bathroom. They're supposed to be broken up, right?" She scoffs. "It's a good thing you turned him down when he tried to get back together with you at the party. I'm really glad that you're totally over that no-good jerk."

I just shrug, because what can I say to that? Although it pisses me off a little that Zac made a big show of wanting to win me back last night. I even felt sorry for him. I don't know if he suddenly realised that Lytton is the one for him or he's just using her to make me jealous, but I don't give a crap either way. They wouldn't be hearing any objections from me.

It doesn't escape me though, that Gun visibly stiffens his hand holding the fork freezing in mid-air. He lifts his eyes to me. "You rejected McCarthy?"

For a moment I'm taken back by his question. But I quickly recover and huff out a laugh. "You prevented me from telling Zac when you interrupted us, but yes, I was going to reject him."

Daph stops, mid-bite of her ice cream. "You interrupted them?" She asks Gun. Then whips her head to me. "You didn't tell me that."

"She didn't tell me that, either." Gun says accusingly, but he's not talking about the interruption.

Is he seriously blaming me?

I glower at him. "You didn't exactly give me the chance to do that remember. What did you Say again? That I was dumb for wanting to crawl back to the asshole?"

"I didn't call you dumb." But he flinches, shame filtering through his features.

"You might as well did." I say bitterly still feeling the sting of his words, remembering how deep they cut through me.

Don't you dare cry, I mentally warn myself when my eyes start to water.

"Wait." Daphine interjects. "What is going on? Is there something I need to know about? Nikky?"

"You should have told me." Gun ignores his sister, his eyes still hard on me. He looks pissed. Like I wronged him.

"And you shouldn't have jumped into the wrong conclusion, but you did anyway." Angrily, I wipe at the tears rolling down my cheeks.

Damn it. I wasn't supposed to cry in front of him.I didn't even get to start on my ice cream.

Unable to remain in the same room with Gun a minute longer, I jerk up from the table. "You can do the dishes on your own right? I'd like to continue with my paper now." I don't wait for Daph's response. I hightail out of the kitchen like the devil is on my heels.

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