Friday afternoon Angus is waiting out the front of the gym for us, dressed in shorts and singlet for the blazing hot day. I see a new addition to his body poking out from beneath his shorts.
"When did you get another tattoo?" I ask him
"about 2 months ago, I'd show it to you here but it kinda wraps around my thigh and ends on my ass" He tells me with a cheeky smile
"So Zoey's the only one who will most likely see the whole thing" Tess blurts out and I give her my most fiercest death stare, I told her that he made it clear to me that we are not getting back together, how he said I should move on.
"Let's go warm up" Angus orders us, ignoring Tess' comments. If his last break up is represented on him as birds being set free then how am I represented?
When our session is over Angus tells the others he has something to show me in his office, which just spurs Tess on that he's taking me in there to show me the whole tattoo when in reality he's showing off her art. He opens the door and all along the side wall is a beautiful mural, she painted the lighthouse from Brindleton Bay at one end and the city skyline of San Myshuno at the other end with the bay in between, stand near the foot of the lighthouse there a girl, looking across the bay at the city, she has brown hair and a red mini skirt with black top.
"That's me, she painted me on your wall" I exclaim
"This whole thing is you Zoey, I love it, she's amazing and I want her to paint more of them around the gym" He says
"You loved it even when you hated me?" I question him
"Princess I never hated you, I was hurt and angry but I never felt hate for you, I love you Zoey" He says taking me into his arms
"Do you love me enough to show me your tattoo?" I joke. He pulls back from me and looks me in the eye. Shit, I went too far, stupid Zoey.
"My door doesn't lock here but I will show you, when the time is right" He promises and I blush and put my head down, "And she blushes at the thought of seeing me naked" He teases me.
"I have to go, I've got work early tomorrow and we are going to Sulani in the afternoon, I have to go" I panic and run from the office, he chases after me, catching me before I reach the others.
"Zoey please don't leave, not like this, not when I'm not going to see you for a whole week and I'll be thinking you're never going to talk to me again because of some stupid joke"He pleads with me.
"Angus I'm not leaving you, we are still friends, I was leaving that situation" I tell him
"The situation?" He asks
"The flirting that's never going to go anywhere." I explain, "I will see again next Friday though when we come home"
"Can I call you while you're away?" He asks desperately
"Of course you can" I laugh, hugging him, "How else am I going to tell you about all the sexy island boys I meet?" I tease him
"You're still so cheeky my girl" He laughs, "Stay at my place tonight? I'll drive you home in the morning for work and I'll even help you pack" He begs me
"Only if we can have burgers from that street stall again?" I bargain
"Deal" He smiles at me, knowing he won
We walk to the food stalls and order burgers and fries, get our food and walk to the apartment. Angus opens the front door and does his usual throwing of his keys onto the bar, I can hear noises coming from upstairs, loud noises that sound like mating time at the zoo.
"Fuck" Angus says in frustration
"Imogen and Justin?" I ask
"Yep" He confirms, "Great, I'm guessing they're in the lounge room too which means we can't get up to my room or the dinning table"
"We could eat out in the garden?" I suggest
"I kinda wanna eat my dinner without the porno soundtrack of my sister and her boyfriend." He laughs
"We could go to my house?" I offer
"Ruth and Don would be cool with you and I sleeping in the same bed under their roof?" He asks
"Angus they love you and they know we sleep in the same bed, they're not clueless" I laugh
"OK, we go back to the food stalls and eat at the tables and then to your house" He says
We get back to my house to find Tess and Declan are in the basement watching a horror movie, Tess pauses it when we walk down the stairs
"Why are you here?" She questions us, considering an hour ago I was telling her I'm staying over at Angus' for the night
"Imogen and Justin were getting it on in the lounge room so we left" I explain
"That's hot" Declan blurts out, copping him a poke in the ribs from Tess
"We just started this movie, come watch it with us" Tess says and we take a seat on the other lounge.
I hate horror movies, they make me jumpy and the really scary ones keep me awake after watching them, Tess on the other hand gets a kick out of them, she loves watching me jump.
"Lay down with me Princess, I'll protect you when it gets scary" Angus says and I lay on the couch with his arms wrapped around me.
"Why do they always throw in a sex scene in horror movies?" I question as we see the two main characters getting hot and steamy, "It's not romantic and one of them is usually the killer or they die so there's no point"
"But it's so hot to watch" Declan muses, grabbing Tess and pulling her in for a kiss.
"I'm with Zoey on this, if you're being hunted by a maniac killer you're not really going to be thinking about getting it on, you're going to be finding the safest place to hide or a weapon" Tess explains
"If i knew my days were numbered I'd be taking every opportunity I could to get it on" Angus tells her
"Says the boy who hasn't had sex in almost 4 months" Tess laughs at him and he throws a cushion at her, I turn myself around on the couch so I can look at him and smile.
"See Zoey? No one else" He confirms, kissing my forehead.
"Can you two just get back together already?" Tess yells at us and I turn back around to glare at her, my sister really has no filter, she just says whatever pops into her head regardless of who she offends, I ignore her comment and turn back to Angus
"Wanna go sit by the water on the docks?" I ask him
"I'd love that" he replies
"I'm sorry about Tess" I apologise for my sisters behaviour, as we dangle our legs over the docks and watch the sunsetting, "She just loves to stir me up"
"That wasn't about stirring you Zoey, she's angry at me after Tuesday night and is being protective of you" He explains, hanging his head low.
"Which is my fault because I told her what happened" I say, feeling guilty that he's in the firing line of Tess
"You know how you said you felt like there were three people in our relationship? I felt that way too and never said anything but for me the third person wasn't Steph, it was Tess. I felt like we had to run every thing by her and get her permission, we even had to get her approval to have sex" He exclaims and the guilt builds in me
"She's my best friend Angus and my twin sister, she just doesn't want to see me get hurt" I cry
"I know but there comes a point when she needs to back off a bit and give me some breathing room because between her and Imogen I'm feeling a lot of pressure" He says angrily
"Pressure to do what?" I ask confused
"To jump back into a relationship with you, every time I'm with you they both feel this need to push it and when I say I can't then I'm the bad guy who is breaking the heart of the most beautiful girl" He says with shame on his face.
"I'll stop talking to Tess about us" I promise
"Oh Zoey no, you need to have someone you can confide in and I don't want to be that person who drives a wedge between you and your sister" He comforts me
"Then I don't know what to do because if I tell her anything about us then she will be involved but if I don't tell her then I'm keeping a secret from my sister" I feel caught in the middle
"I'm the problem here Zoey, I'm the person who is causing all this drama all because I'm in love with a girl I can't bring myself to be with out of fear. I should just walk away, you're life would be easier then" He says, standing up to leave
"My life wouldn't be easier without you, who would take me dancing and to trampoline parks? And who would I make fun of for their lack of cooking skills?" I laugh, tugging at his hand to sit back down and gives in and sits, "You're my best friend Angus, I've shared more with you than any one else I've ever known. I'll talk to Tess and get her to back off. No more pressure." I smile at him and he smiles back.
"I wouldn't really be able to walk away anyway, I'd miss you too much" He tells me
"Angus and Zoey friend rule number one, neither one of us is allowed to walk away from the other ever again, it just causes heartache and we are ultimately hurting ourselves. Rule number two, we block out pressure from others and just enjoy being friends" I tell him, setting our boundaries.
"Rule number three, no more secrets, ever again, I will tell you everything and we will talk it through" He promises
"Rule number four, Steph is part of our lives, she is your friend and I accept that" I continue
"She's your friend too now Zoey" He reminds me
We walk back up to my house and find Tess, alone in the kitchen making toast.
"I'm sorry about my comment" She apologises to Angus and he nods, "I just don't want to see Zoey get strung along like she did on Tuesday night"
"Tess I need to feel that I can trust you when I confide in you and that you're not going to use it against Angus" I yell at her
"Zoey open your fucking eyes, he keeps telling you that he doesn't want to be with you, that you need to move on yet he won't let that happen, not while he's hugging you and calling you cutesy names and asking you to sleep over." Tess fires back at me before turning to Angus, "What happens when she starts going on dates with other boys and she realises they're not assholes who punish her for their own wrong doings? You kept secrets Angus and you're acting like she's the worst person in the world because she didn't want to be lied to anymore, you fucked up the best relationship you will ever have and you did that all on your own but you're a coward who wants to share the blame with her. I've bitten my tongue long enough and I'm tired of it. You had 3 months to come and explain to her what was going on, 3 fucking months and I spent that time picking Zoey up off the floor. You're either in or you're out, there's no in-between." Tess screams at Angus before grabbing her toast and storming off to her room.
Angus turns to look at me, his face is full of anger and his breathing is rapid.
"I'll see you at training on Friday Zoey" He says coldly and he walks out of my house, slamming the door behind him
"When did you get another tattoo?" I ask him
"about 2 months ago, I'd show it to you here but it kinda wraps around my thigh and ends on my ass" He tells me with a cheeky smile
"So Zoey's the only one who will most likely see the whole thing" Tess blurts out and I give her my most fiercest death stare, I told her that he made it clear to me that we are not getting back together, how he said I should move on.
"Let's go warm up" Angus orders us, ignoring Tess' comments. If his last break up is represented on him as birds being set free then how am I represented?
When our session is over Angus tells the others he has something to show me in his office, which just spurs Tess on that he's taking me in there to show me the whole tattoo when in reality he's showing off her art. He opens the door and all along the side wall is a beautiful mural, she painted the lighthouse from Brindleton Bay at one end and the city skyline of San Myshuno at the other end with the bay in between, stand near the foot of the lighthouse there a girl, looking across the bay at the city, she has brown hair and a red mini skirt with black top.
"That's me, she painted me on your wall" I exclaim
"This whole thing is you Zoey, I love it, she's amazing and I want her to paint more of them around the gym" He says
"You loved it even when you hated me?" I question him
"Princess I never hated you, I was hurt and angry but I never felt hate for you, I love you Zoey" He says taking me into his arms
"Do you love me enough to show me your tattoo?" I joke. He pulls back from me and looks me in the eye. Shit, I went too far, stupid Zoey.
"My door doesn't lock here but I will show you, when the time is right" He promises and I blush and put my head down, "And she blushes at the thought of seeing me naked" He teases me.
"I have to go, I've got work early tomorrow and we are going to Sulani in the afternoon, I have to go" I panic and run from the office, he chases after me, catching me before I reach the others.
"Zoey please don't leave, not like this, not when I'm not going to see you for a whole week and I'll be thinking you're never going to talk to me again because of some stupid joke"He pleads with me.
"Angus I'm not leaving you, we are still friends, I was leaving that situation" I tell him
"The situation?" He asks
"The flirting that's never going to go anywhere." I explain, "I will see again next Friday though when we come home"
"Can I call you while you're away?" He asks desperately
"Of course you can" I laugh, hugging him, "How else am I going to tell you about all the sexy island boys I meet?" I tease him
"You're still so cheeky my girl" He laughs, "Stay at my place tonight? I'll drive you home in the morning for work and I'll even help you pack" He begs me
"Only if we can have burgers from that street stall again?" I bargain
"Deal" He smiles at me, knowing he won
We walk to the food stalls and order burgers and fries, get our food and walk to the apartment. Angus opens the front door and does his usual throwing of his keys onto the bar, I can hear noises coming from upstairs, loud noises that sound like mating time at the zoo.
"Fuck" Angus says in frustration
"Imogen and Justin?" I ask
"Yep" He confirms, "Great, I'm guessing they're in the lounge room too which means we can't get up to my room or the dinning table"
"We could eat out in the garden?" I suggest
"I kinda wanna eat my dinner without the porno soundtrack of my sister and her boyfriend." He laughs
"We could go to my house?" I offer
"Ruth and Don would be cool with you and I sleeping in the same bed under their roof?" He asks
"Angus they love you and they know we sleep in the same bed, they're not clueless" I laugh
"OK, we go back to the food stalls and eat at the tables and then to your house" He says
We get back to my house to find Tess and Declan are in the basement watching a horror movie, Tess pauses it when we walk down the stairs
"Why are you here?" She questions us, considering an hour ago I was telling her I'm staying over at Angus' for the night
"Imogen and Justin were getting it on in the lounge room so we left" I explain
"That's hot" Declan blurts out, copping him a poke in the ribs from Tess
"We just started this movie, come watch it with us" Tess says and we take a seat on the other lounge.
I hate horror movies, they make me jumpy and the really scary ones keep me awake after watching them, Tess on the other hand gets a kick out of them, she loves watching me jump.
"Lay down with me Princess, I'll protect you when it gets scary" Angus says and I lay on the couch with his arms wrapped around me.
"Why do they always throw in a sex scene in horror movies?" I question as we see the two main characters getting hot and steamy, "It's not romantic and one of them is usually the killer or they die so there's no point"
"But it's so hot to watch" Declan muses, grabbing Tess and pulling her in for a kiss.
"I'm with Zoey on this, if you're being hunted by a maniac killer you're not really going to be thinking about getting it on, you're going to be finding the safest place to hide or a weapon" Tess explains
"If i knew my days were numbered I'd be taking every opportunity I could to get it on" Angus tells her
"Says the boy who hasn't had sex in almost 4 months" Tess laughs at him and he throws a cushion at her, I turn myself around on the couch so I can look at him and smile.
"See Zoey? No one else" He confirms, kissing my forehead.
"Can you two just get back together already?" Tess yells at us and I turn back around to glare at her, my sister really has no filter, she just says whatever pops into her head regardless of who she offends, I ignore her comment and turn back to Angus
"Wanna go sit by the water on the docks?" I ask him
"I'd love that" he replies
"I'm sorry about Tess" I apologise for my sisters behaviour, as we dangle our legs over the docks and watch the sunsetting, "She just loves to stir me up"
"That wasn't about stirring you Zoey, she's angry at me after Tuesday night and is being protective of you" He explains, hanging his head low.
"Which is my fault because I told her what happened" I say, feeling guilty that he's in the firing line of Tess
"You know how you said you felt like there were three people in our relationship? I felt that way too and never said anything but for me the third person wasn't Steph, it was Tess. I felt like we had to run every thing by her and get her permission, we even had to get her approval to have sex" He exclaims and the guilt builds in me
"She's my best friend Angus and my twin sister, she just doesn't want to see me get hurt" I cry
"I know but there comes a point when she needs to back off a bit and give me some breathing room because between her and Imogen I'm feeling a lot of pressure" He says angrily
"Pressure to do what?" I ask confused
"To jump back into a relationship with you, every time I'm with you they both feel this need to push it and when I say I can't then I'm the bad guy who is breaking the heart of the most beautiful girl" He says with shame on his face.
"I'll stop talking to Tess about us" I promise
"Oh Zoey no, you need to have someone you can confide in and I don't want to be that person who drives a wedge between you and your sister" He comforts me
"Then I don't know what to do because if I tell her anything about us then she will be involved but if I don't tell her then I'm keeping a secret from my sister" I feel caught in the middle
"I'm the problem here Zoey, I'm the person who is causing all this drama all because I'm in love with a girl I can't bring myself to be with out of fear. I should just walk away, you're life would be easier then" He says, standing up to leave
"My life wouldn't be easier without you, who would take me dancing and to trampoline parks? And who would I make fun of for their lack of cooking skills?" I laugh, tugging at his hand to sit back down and gives in and sits, "You're my best friend Angus, I've shared more with you than any one else I've ever known. I'll talk to Tess and get her to back off. No more pressure." I smile at him and he smiles back.
"I wouldn't really be able to walk away anyway, I'd miss you too much" He tells me
"Angus and Zoey friend rule number one, neither one of us is allowed to walk away from the other ever again, it just causes heartache and we are ultimately hurting ourselves. Rule number two, we block out pressure from others and just enjoy being friends" I tell him, setting our boundaries.
"Rule number three, no more secrets, ever again, I will tell you everything and we will talk it through" He promises
"Rule number four, Steph is part of our lives, she is your friend and I accept that" I continue
"She's your friend too now Zoey" He reminds me
We walk back up to my house and find Tess, alone in the kitchen making toast.
"I'm sorry about my comment" She apologises to Angus and he nods, "I just don't want to see Zoey get strung along like she did on Tuesday night"
"Tess I need to feel that I can trust you when I confide in you and that you're not going to use it against Angus" I yell at her
"Zoey open your fucking eyes, he keeps telling you that he doesn't want to be with you, that you need to move on yet he won't let that happen, not while he's hugging you and calling you cutesy names and asking you to sleep over." Tess fires back at me before turning to Angus, "What happens when she starts going on dates with other boys and she realises they're not assholes who punish her for their own wrong doings? You kept secrets Angus and you're acting like she's the worst person in the world because she didn't want to be lied to anymore, you fucked up the best relationship you will ever have and you did that all on your own but you're a coward who wants to share the blame with her. I've bitten my tongue long enough and I'm tired of it. You had 3 months to come and explain to her what was going on, 3 fucking months and I spent that time picking Zoey up off the floor. You're either in or you're out, there's no in-between." Tess screams at Angus before grabbing her toast and storming off to her room.
Angus turns to look at me, his face is full of anger and his breathing is rapid.
"I'll see you at training on Friday Zoey" He says coldly and he walks out of my house, slamming the door behind him
