The Mortician's Daughter

Andy and I got out of the car simultaneously, the smirk on his face left unseen as he silently walked behind me. I moved to the side and waited for him to unlock the door to our building, my eyes locked on the ground until I saw the door swing open out of my peripheral vision. I walked into our apartment building and thought about how all I wanted was to go to my room and sleep the rest of my life away. The past few days drained me - both mentally and physically - so the second Andy and I entered our apartment, I sulked down the dark hallway, ignoring Andy's quiet 'goodnight'.

Sleep did not come easy. As I tossed and turned, the overwhelming feeling of loneliness washed over me and I found myself stumbling into Andy's room where he lay, sleeping. I bit my lip and pulled the comforter back, unsure if getting into Andy's bed was a good idea or not, but it seemed my body was working faster than my brain and before I knew it - I was in his bed, curled up in a small ball beside him.

His arm draped across my stomach, pulling me up against his warm body. I buried my nose into his chest, finding comfort in the familiar scents of cigarette smoke and cologne, and chose to ignore the unfamiliar lingering scent of hard liquor.

Andy kissed my head, a small smile of satisfaction on his face. "Sweet dreams." He whispered. I nodded and snuggled deeper into his warm embrace, slowly falling asleep.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

When I awoke I was no longer wrapped in the arms of my best friend. I heard the sound of the shower running faintly in the distance and turned to grab my phone off the beside table. All of my texts and calls were from Ashley begging me to answer him, to forgive him, anything. I threw my phone onto the bed and let my body go limp against the mattress.

"Did I wake you?"

My eyes flickered over towards the sound of the voice and I sat up, taking in Andy's glistening form.

I shook my head and quickly averted my gaze to my lap as the towel that hung loosely around Andy's hips suddenly dropped to the floor. I lifted my head up and gazed at Andy's bare ass as he rummaged through his dresser in search for, what I hoped to be, a pair of boxer briefs. This new - more bold - side of Andy was something I was not used to. Where is this coming from?

"See something you like?" Andy joked, a smug smirk plastered across his porcelain face.

He was now dressed, in boxers at least, and stood at the foot of the bed with his hands on his hips. I gulped as I racked my brain for something to say. My eyes trailed up his milky white chest and finally landed on his face.

I let out a shaky breathe. "I have to pee." I mumbled, scooting off the bed and darting to the bathroom adjacent to Andy's room.

I ran my hand over the mirror, rubbing away some of the fading steam to reveal my face. The floor outside the bathroom creaked and I gripped the counter tightly. Andy appeared in the doorway, his smirk was lessened but still there.

"What's up with you this morning?" His voice was slightly teasing but I decided to ignore his tone and instead said,

"I could ask you the same thing."

One of Andy's perfectly arched eyebrows raised and he entered the bathroom, leaving not much space between us. I involuntarily gasped when his fingers danced up my bare arm and gripped the counter even tighter. My heart was pounding in my chest at an alarming rate, but I didn't know why. It was just Andy - same old Andy. So why was I getting so nervous around him?

"You're so beautiful.." He trailed off, his eyes locking on my bare thighs.

I cleared my throat uncomfortably and fought the urge to shiver under Andy's touch as his fingertips tickled my jaw. "Thank you." I mumbled. My attempt to mask my shaking voice failed and Andy chuckled under his breathe at the noticeable unease in my tone.

In a flash Andy spun me around and pulled me flush against his chest. His hands massaged my shoulders, his breathe tickled my neck. "You're so tense." My breathing hitched when his hands moved from my shoulders to my hips and his fingers slipped underneath my bed shorts. He rubbed teasingly slow circles into my protruding hipbones as he kissed just under my ear.

"What," I sighed shakily. "W-what are you doing?"

He hummed against my neck, the vibration on my skin causing my heart to hammer against my chest.

The sound of multiple knocks on our front door broke my trances and I immediately pulled away from Andy. My face was flushed with all of it's color drained besides my cheeks which were burning a fiery red, my legs were wobbly, and my hands were shaking.

"I'll go get that."

I hurried passed Andy and down the hallway to the front door, trying to wrap my mind around what just happened moments before. I unlocked the door and opened it, gasping softly at who stood on the other side.

My attitude from the night before resurfaced and I spat, "What are you doing here Ashley?"

The tan man sighed and looked down at his cowboy boots before regaining the courage and meeting my eyes once again. He looked truly heartbroken, disheveled, sad. The bags under his eyes made me wonder if he had gotten any sleep that night - or if my harsh words kept him awake and ran through his mind up until the sun rose. I frowned at the thought.

Ashley cleared his throat. "I came to see you." His voice was cautious and lifeless, as if he was expecting me to slam the door in his face. When I didn't answer, Ashley swallowed thickly and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry, you don't wanna see me. I get it. I'll.. I'll leave you alone now." He turned to leave, but my hand around his forearm stopped him from going any further than a few inches.

"Wait!" Ashley turned around, a look of hope on his paled and tired features. I bit my lip. "Why don't you come in and sit down? You look like you could use some rest..." I stepped aside and allowed Ashley into the apartment.

He chuckled dryly and shrugged. "Didn't get much sleep last night."

I knew it was because of what I said, or at least because of what happened. It made me feel like the bad guy but I had felt, and still did feel, as if Ashley and Andy were playing tug-of-war with me. They expected me to choose between the two - my best friend for almost two decades or my newly formed crush whom I had developed major feelings for - but I knew that if made that decision, the relationship between the not chosen man and I would be damaged forever. I couldn't handle that. So was I really the bad guy after all? If not, who did I have to blame?

We sat on the couch together as a thick silence filled the room. Footsteps padded against the floor from the hallway and I squeezed my eyes shut, dreading the expected fight that was bound to come the second Andy's eyes landed on Ashley.

And it did.

Andy hadn't even fully emerged from the hallway before his eyes locked on Ashley and stopped dead in his spot. "What's he doing here?" He asked, a hint of anger rising in his voice. Something flashed through his eyes but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Uh.." I swallowed thickly. "He, uh, came to see me." I watched as Andy visibly stiffened and held my breathe as he approached the couch that we were on.

He walked passed Ashley and sat in between us, rubbing his chin as if he was in deep thought. I knew this wasn't going to end well and tensed when he opened his mouth to speak. "I'm sorry," Andy laughed. "I'm just trying to remember what you said to the last girl when she found out about what a player you are. What was her name? Stephanie? No, Sophie! Ah, yes, Sophie. She was a cute one, wasn't she? Stephanie was the girl before her - 'bout a week or two - who you gave the same exact speech to. Y'know what Ash, I think you need to make a new one. You've been using the same speech about how you truly care about them for years!" Andy smiled challengingly at Ashley who had his jaw clenched.

Ashley shook his head and stood up. "Fuck this." He mumbled, starting for the door.

"Sit down!" I ordered, all of a sudden extremely pissed off. Ashley obeyed and silently sat back down on the couch, planting himself as far away from Andy as possible. I moved to stand in front of the two with my hands on my hips and my eyes narrowed as they flickered back and forth between Andy and Ashley. "I demand to know what the fuck is going on here, right now!" The boys remained silent - Andy glanced out the patio doors, looking rather bored, while Ashley stared down at his lap in attempt to avoid my harsh glare. I huffed. "Fine. Andy, You go first. What's been up with you?"

Andy raised an eyebrow and brought his attention to me. "What do you mean?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes and said, "You know exactly what I mean, Andrew." I only called him by his full name when I was insanely pissed off, which I was. "Ever since I went to the party at Ashley's house, you've been obsessed with keeping me away from him! You're either mad at him, mad at me, drunk, or completely all over me!"

Andy groaned obnoxiously and stood up from the couch. "I've told you a thousand fucking times why I don't want you around him, Dahlia! He's a womanizer! Why can't you see that I'm just trying to protect you?" His volume increased immensely by the time he was done and I was shocked at how fast his anger rose.

"Jesus Christ, Andy! Why do you all of a sudden give a shit about how I am with girls?" Ashley interjected.

"When it's a random whore you pick up at the bar, I don't give a fuck! But when it comes to Dahlia, yeah, I do! I don't want you hurting her!"

Ashley stood as well, turning to face Andy. "I wasn't planning on hurting her, Andy. I actually really like her okay? Why can't you just give me a chance to prove to you, and Dahlia, how much I care about her?"

A silence washed over the room and I stared at Andy as I awaited his response. I watched Andy's fist clench then un-clench and prayed he wasn't going to hit Ashley. There would be no way I'd be able to pry the two off each other and, eventually, the cops would probably be called.

Andy broke my daydream by saying, "Because.." He paused and sighed, his eyes flickering towards me for a brief second before snapping back to the floor. "I love her."

Notes

let me know what you guys think Andy means!!
sorry for the late update :(