"Me too," Annabel admitted, smiling up at me. She took a step inside my house, which she was fairly accustomed to, and approached my mother. "Hi Mrs. Robinson."
My mum glanced up from the meal she was preparing and grinned from ear to ear. "Hi sweetie. Are your parents still coming over for dinner tonight?"
"Of course they are," She stated happily, a small chuckle escaping the soft lips that I desperately craved. Annabel glimpsed at me to the food sprawled out along the counter. "Would you like Stu and I to help you make anything for tonight?"
My mum smiled even further. She adored everything Annabel did. Just like me. "That would be fantastic! Why don't you two try to make the appetizer while I go do some laundry?"
"Uh, alright," I agreed wearily, becoming a little annoyed that Annabel and I would have to be doing chores instead of just hanging out in my room. When my mother went upstairs, I turned to Ann and sent her a glare. "Why do you have to be so nice?"
"Come on, it's the least we can do," She tried, picking up my hand and lacing our fingers together. I followed her to the spot my mum was previously standing in and watched as Annabel scanned over the recipe in front of us.
I groaned, growing impatient as she read the directions intently. I was clingy. I wanted Annabel's full attention on me. I haven't seen her in a few days, except for our through the window chats late at night.
My arms wrapped around her waist from behind and I began to press kisses down her neck. I lightly sucked on her smooth skin, making her moan quietly. "Stu," Ann whined, tilting her head away from me. "Your mum is right upstairs."
"That's where we should be! I don't want to make this stupid food," I complained, releasing her body out of my grip and crossing my arms across my chest in irritation.
She had an amused expression covering her face, not even getting the slightest bit annoyed with my bad attitude. "Is little Stuwieee horny today?" Annabel cooed in a toddler-voice, poking me in the chest.
I laughed, my cheeks altering to a pink shade as heat rose to them. "Actually, yes. You should help out your boyfriend."
"Shh," She hushed, silencing me from talking to loudly about that subject since my mother had exceptional hearing. "Come on, Stu. You can cut the vegetables. Or better yet, we can just use your jaw."
I furred my eyebrows at her in confusion, nearly choking on her saliva at the suggestion. "What did you just say?"
Annabel giggled innocently. "Your jawline is so sharp we probably could just use it as a knife."
I chuckled even harder. "You're such an idiot," I joked, beginning to tickle her in order to make her laugh as hard as I was. I lifted her body up and placed it on the counter so she was sitting directly in front of me.
Annabel's soft hands reached out and caressed my face. I thought she was going to pull me in for an affectionate kiss. But instead, she picked up a thin slice of cheese and pressed it against my face. It cut into two pieces with a slight amount of pressure, and Annabel's green eyes lit up with joy.
"It worked! Oh my God, let's try putting on some of this burger meat," She insisted, extending her hand out to grab a patty.
I cupped my hand around her wrist before she could. "Ew, stop. This is my face we're talking about."
She just smiled at me. "And what a wonderful face it is."
A flutter of butterflies erupted throughout my stomach. I felt as if I was on a roller coaster, but like, a fun roller coaster that I never wanted to get off of. Annabel made me all giddy, and I didn't care at all if I ever was caught squealing like a girl.
I took a step closer to her, placing my calloused palms on the top of her thighs as her legs locked behind my back. "You're adorable," I complimented with complete sincerity, finally pressing our lips together.
"I knew it."
We immediately broke apart from the kiss, a loud gasp escaping Annabel's mouth. Our heads turned to see my sister, standing there with her arms folded across her chest and a sly look covering her face.
I backed away from Ann quickly, but it was too late. She had already seen me make-out with her while she sat on our kitchen counter.
"I knew you two were more than just friends! I knew it! Stuart always had this really goofy look on his face whenever he looked at you, oh my God," Mali squealed, bouncing on her feet with happiness. "Why didn't you guys tell me you were together?"
"Shut up," I silenced her, clamping a hand over her mouth before she could hear me. "It's supposed to be a secret. If The McKenzie's find out we won't be able to live together anymore. Please don't tell Mum and Dad."
Mali rolled her eyes at me, pushing my hand off of her face. "Of course I won't tell them. But you two are a bunch of idiots. They're going to find out eventually. Especially if you play tonsil hockey in the middle of the freakin' kitchen."
Annabel blushed, obviously embarrassed by getting caught even though Mali was basically the sister she never had and didn't care. "Yeah, but if they find out when we're back in America it will be harder for them to enforce any rules."
"Gotcha," Mali confirmed with a wink. "Well you two are really cute. I'm glad you finally got together after all these years."
"Me too," Anna replied with a giant grin on her face, glancing up at me with a look of pure adoration. It nearly made my heart swell up to the size of massive balloon. She was so cute.
My mother wobbled down the stairs with a basket of laundry in her hands. The three of us all acted as nonchalant as possible, hoping to convey the idea that we were just having a casual conversation.
She narrowed her eyes at us, her hands placed firmly on her hips. "You two haven't made any progress on the food at all."
"Uh, that's my fault," Mali quickly interrupted, before I even had a chance to come up with some elaborate response. "I have been talking to them. I didn't mean to distract them from their work. Sorry, Mum."
Annabel was sat next to me at the dinner table, with her parents directly across from us. She was concentrating on eating her food, whereas I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Her blonde hair was curled into cute little ringlets and they cascaded down her back. I wanted to comb my fingers through it, but instead I just casually placed my arm on the back of her chair, sneaking slight touches of her shoulder when my hand would graze across her smooth skin.
"So, Holly," Mrs. McKenzie started to say after she swallowed her tiny piece of chicken. "Do you know who Stuart's mystery girlfriend is?"
Great.
My mum instantly placed her fork down on the table, her dark eyes darting towards me in shock. "You have a girlfriend? Why didn't you tell me?"
Mrs. McKenzie giggled. "Oops. Sorry, Stu."
I sighed heavily. I couldn't get mad at Annabel's mother; it was my fault for telling her the truth anyways. "Mum, I didn't want to tell you because we just started dating. I was going to wait until things got more serious."
My dad nodded, believing my little fib. "Well, that's nice. Who is she?"
I took a sip of my water to stall. "Uh, I met her at a movie premiere. She's really nice. You'll love her."
"What's her name, son?" My dad pressed, becoming impatient with my ability to avoid the subject.
I needed to think of something quickly, but I couldn't manage to come up with anything. "Um, it's Ann-Katie Hill."
Annabel kicked me in the ankle immediately and I bit my lip to prevent myself from groaning in pain. I'm terrible under pressure. Mali let out a loud snort, but she covered it up with a believable-sounding cough.
"I've never heard of her. But if you're happy then I'm happy, Stuart," My father insisted, continuing to nibble away at his chicken. "Anna, do you know this girl?"
"Yeah," Annabel answered rapidly, her cheeks burning up. "She's lovely. I'm sure you guys would consider her part of the family if you met her."
"Stuart likes her a lot. It's obvious," Mali added, giving me the urge to kick her in the shin as well.
My mum sent me a pleased smile, lifting her glass up in the air as a congratulatory motion. "To Stuar
t and Annabel, the couple we've always wanted to get together."
I glimpsed at Ann in confusion, her green eyes revealing the same puzzled expression as my own as we hesitantly raised our own glasses in the air. "You mean Katie, Mum."
Annabel's mother let out a hearty chuckle as her eyes narrowed at the two of us. "Oh honey, we know about you two."
"Katie Hill," Mr. McKenzie chuckled, rolling his eyes at me. "You're such a dumbass. Just don't hurt my daughter, got it?"
I gulped, a mixture of happiness and fear surging through me. "Yes, sir."
Chapter 30
Annabel
Saying goodbye was difficult, but knowing that I was coming back to Sydney in just a few months for Christmas made this whole thing a little easier. My parents didn't even cry this time because they knew they would be seeing me again soon.
I fell asleep for practically the entire flight (after we had taken off, of course) which made the trip back to Los Angeles go smoother than I had originally expected. I think my body just needed to catch up on all of the sleep I had been deprived of, and Stuart's shoulder was a fantastic pillow.
A clicking noise echoed through my ears as my eyes started to flutter. I slowly pried them open, revealing a stream of California sunlight blinding my vision. Stuart's arm was extended across my body as he attempted to undo my seat belt. "Hi sleepyhead," He cooed, kissing my forehead gently.
I yawned loudly, shooting my hand over my mouth to try and smother it. "Hi," I greeted in a deflated tone, stretching my arms out wide. "Did you sleep?"
"No," Stuart explained, shaking his head from side to side. "Actually, I did for a little bit. But not as much as you."
I felt a blush creep its way onto my cheeks, highlighting my face like a red tomato. "Sorry," I muttered in embarrassment, laughing nervously.
Stuart just grinned at me, lacing our hands together as we stood up to grab our carry-ons from the compartment above. "It's okay. You're cute when you sleep."
"You're cute all the time," I countered, poking him in the chest as I gripped onto the handle of my carry-on.
"I got it," Stuart insisted, taking my bag out of my hands and carrying both of our bags. If I wasn't so exhausted I would have protested, but I decided to enjoy the chivalrous gesture instead. They weren't necessarily heavy, but it did still make his biceps clench, which I had to admit was a glorious sight to see.
I followed him out of the plane and through the make-shift hallway and the airport until we reached the baggage claim section, being greeted by numerous amounts of photographers that were outside that immediately started snapping pictures of us.
I stood a little behind Stuart, pressing my face onto his shoulder as I hid from the flashing lights that I hated. I always got uncomfortable when the paparazzi surrounded us, especially when they would call out obscene things to me.
Stuart craned his neck to the side to catch a glimpse of me. "You okay, baby?"
"Yeah," I said in a non-persuasive manner. I let out a little groan as the volume of the paparazzi behind us grew louder as the desperately tried to get us to turn around and give them some type of reaction.
We were standing in front of the luggage carousel, and a little girl next to us was clutching onto her mother's leg in fear with her eyes squinted from all of the flashing lights. I smiled sheepishly at her, feeling guilty that she was being exposed to this greasy behavior these men outside were displaying. "I'm sorry," I mumbled to the Mum, but she just simply nodded her head.
I wrapped my arms around Stuart's waist and snuggled into his side as if it was some sort of protection for me. The baggage claim was taking forever and I was becoming impatient. I just wanted to get out of here.
"Stuart!"
I expected the loud call of my boyfriend's name was going to be from some fan who was going to ask for a picture or something. To my surprise, when we whipped our heads around we saw no other than Benjamin sprinting towards us, with the rest of our friends trailing slowly behind.
Stuart let go of me to give his band mate a hug, and I assume he had missed the three of them immensely during their time apart. They were used to always being together.
"Hi Ann," Benjamin greeted, stepping forward to give me a terribly awkward hug. I nearly forgot all about Benjamin during this week in Australia, but now the memories from my birthday were flooding back through my brain.
"Hi Benjamin," I responded timidly, fully aware of Stuart's gaze on the two of us.
He had nothing to worry about though. I had moved on from our brief fling fairly quickly, much quicker than I imagined to, and I was no longer even remotely bitter over the fact that he chose another girl over me. I mean, I basically picked Stuart over him too. We also weren't technically exclusive so Benjamin didn't really commit any crimes and it would be a waste of energy to hold a grudge. It just wasn't meant to be- it's as simple as that. There was no need for me to try and force relationships.
The rest of our friends caught up to us. I couldn't help myself from leaping into Grace's arms, since I had thoroughly missed my best girlfriend. "Grace!" I squealed loudly as I clutched her body tightly against my own.
"You guys are the over-dramatic, annoying girls that everyone hates at airports," Bradley complained, placing his hand on Grace's shoulder and yanking her away from me. He smiled down at me to assure me that he was only kidding. "How was the trip, Annabel?"
"Wonderful," I explained, looking up at Stuart for him to confirm this, but he was too busy in a conversation with Clayton to even pay attention. At this point I finally noticed the presence of Sarah, who had her hand laced together with Benjamin's, and I waved at her.
The beep sounded, meaning that the luggage was about to start moving around the conveyor belt and I excused myself to go retrieve ours. Stuart was still talking and laughing.
I spotted our suitcases after a few moments and, with only a tiny bit of struggle, wheeled them over towards where our group was huddling together. I'm still in awe that not one person from our flight has approached any of us, even with all of the nearby photographers banging on the window.
"Here, Stu," I called, placing the suitcase by his side.
He jumped instantly, as if I had sneaked up on him. A grin appeared on his face several seconds after. "Oh, I forgot all about this," Stuart informed me with a little chuckle. "Thanks, baby."
"Baby?" Clayton repeated in disgust, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets at what he had just heard. He threw his hands up in the air. "Jesus Christ, I'm surrounded by couples. At least you guys aren't as bad as Benjamin and Sarah over here. I walk in on them making out all the time."
Me too.
An uncomfortable silence fell over us. It was all a bit weird. First Clayton was with Grace, and now she is with Bradley. First I was with Stuart, and then Benjamin, and now I'm back where I belong- with Stuart.
"Oh, Stuart!" Sarah finally spoke up, gnawing away at the tension that had been built within our group of friends. "I just wanted to thank you again for encouraging me to get back in contact with Benjamin. It has been the best decision I've ever made and it's all thanks to you."
My jaw dropped open slightly. Benjamin's blue eyes instantly turned to me in confusion. Neither of us clearly had any idea of what was going on.
"What?" I almost shouted, since I was so puzzled by what Sarah had just said.
Stuart pursed his lips together, a guilty expression plastering over his entire face. "I, um, I kind of told Sarah that she should try to meet up with Benjamin while she was in LA again."
"Oh my God," I whined, suddenly becoming overly irritated with him. "You knew the whole time! That's why you weren't even surprised when I told you! You set it up to break us up, didn't you?"
Stuart swallowed the lump in his throat apprehensively. He was too scared to even look at me. "Yeah, I did," Stuart admitted quietly. Benjamin and I both let out a grunt of anger at the same time. "But it shouldn't matter! You're both happier now! We're all with the people we are supposed to
be with! I did everyone a favor."
I tucked a piece of hair behind my ears as I struggled to find the words I wanted to say. "Well yeah, but now it just feels so wrong."
I thought the whole Benjamin getting back together with his old girlfriend and me finally realizing that my best friend was, in fact, more than a friend on the same day was some weird coincidence. I thought this was all fate. It restored my belief that everything did happen for a reason and that the universe was able to work its magic in mysterious ways. But now that I found out that it was all fake and set up, I'm sort of disappointed.
Benjamin stuffed his hands in the pockets of his black skinny jeans. He glimpsed up at Sarah with a face of sadness that mirrored my own. "I thought this was your own idea. Like I thought you just suddenly remembered that you still loved me and that we could make this work. I didn't know it was just Stuart convincing you to do something you never even had plans to do."
"Benjamin-" Sarah began to say, but he just shook his head, walking away from everyone. She followed after him rapidly.
Clayton, Bradley and Grace all stood there dumbfounded and completely unaware of what to do. I was growing pissed at Stuart for completely sabotaging my almost-relationship, which is what he had done years before with Charles.
"I can't believe you did that," I stated in an icy tone, rolling my eyes at Stuart. "Did you even tell Sarah about me when you contacted her? Did you even tell her there was a chance that Benjamin wasn't going to be available for much longer?"
Stuart adjusted the strap of the duffel bag that was around his shoulder. "Well, no," Stuart confessed, making me want to walk away as well. He gripped onto my wrist to prevent me from moving. "Ann, look. I knew Benjamin was going to hurt you. I didn't want it to happen to you so I stepped in! Why does it matter so much? It's not like you and Benjamin were going to last anyways."
"That's not the point!" I yelled for the first time, despite the fact that the paparazzi was still outside and there were still numerous amounts of people nearby to us.
Raunchy Roommate Page 17
