It's Not What You Think It Is

I think I might actually be absolutely fucked. Seriously, I never even got the chance to explain myself, they never even asked me why? Judging by the fact that I haven't heard from any of them, I'm assuming that they think that I lied to them. They most likely just assumed the worst without even coming to me about it. It's most likely not even as bad as they thought it was, and judging by their expressions and reactions, they must've thought that it was extremely bad.

I should call them, I should go over and talk to them, I shouldn't let them continue to think what I think they're thinking. Wait, but what if they told Knox already? He wouldn't even want to lay eyes on me. He'll most likely send me away before I even get the chance to speak. No, there's no way. He'll always listen to me and give me the chance to explain myself.

I throw on my shoes and immediately head out the door, Cerberus almost joins me but I tell him to stay. I've already given them enough time to think without any explanation, it's almost been a day since they saw me. I need to go see him, I need to explain myself, I need to make sure that everything is alright between us.

I stop just outside of their door. My fist hovers in front of it. Why am I not knocking? What's there to be so scared of? The worst that could possibly happen is that they're all too pissed off to listen to me and they immediately send me away. That is the worst, right? It's not like they'll hate me forever, right? I won't lose any of my friends, right?

Just then, the door opens and I see Knox standing in front of me with a confused look on his face.

"Are you going to stand there forever?" He asks me, looking me up and down like I'm from a different planet. I take a deep breath and follow him inside, I guess that maybe he's not as pissed as I thought he would be. "Hey can I ask you something?" He mumbles as I follow him past the kitchen and down the stairs.

"Yeah, of course," I give him a smile but feel like my heart has sinked inside of my chest. He's going to ask me why I'm such a bitch. Why I can't keep my promises. Why I am such a terrible friend.

"Do you have any clue as to what's up with Keita and Afia?" My heart immediately slows. He doesn't know. Oh god, he doesn't even know. I guess that I must've been staring at him for a while because he gives me a weird look then continues to talk. "I know you probably have nothing to do with it. But yesterday when they came back from the store they both looked absolutely defeated for some reason. They won't even tell me why."

I let out a breath of relief and as we enter his room. "So they didn't tell you."

He gives me a worried glance, "Tell me what?"

"Are they home?" I need to explain it to them all at once. I need to make sure that they know the truth.

"Um yeah," Knox continues to give me looks of confusion.

"Guys can you come in here!" I shout out the door without missing a beat. "I need to explain myself!"

"Explain yourself?" Knox blinks. "What did you do?"

A few seconds later I see both of them enter the room, Afia looks absolutely disappointed and Keita still looks pissed.

"What?" I notice Keita twitch slightly as he speaks with a fierce tone. Afia softens a bit because of that. She must think that I still don't deserve to be hated just yet.

"Please let me explain myself before you decide to live on with hating my guts," I raise an eyebrow at him and speak with an uninterested tone.

Knox places his hand on my shoulder, staring into my eyes, searching for the answers to his questions in them. "Alina, what's going on?"

I take a deep breath and stare down at the floor, "There's been a misunderstanding."

"Oh really?" Keita crosses his arms. "Then explain."

"Why else do you think I'm here?" I give him a sour glare then gaze back to the floor. "Knox, Afia and Keita saw me with Zack at the store yesterday." I can immediately feel his eyes burning through my flesh, though the tension doesn't feel like he's getting mad at me, it's more like he genuinely wants to know the explanation. "I promise that I wasn't hanging out with him. My mom sent me to the store to get some milk and he just so happened to be there."

"Let me guess, he didn't leave you alone," Keita talks like he doesn't believe me one bit, like he's sick of me, like I don't belong here and I should leave.

My eyes start to burn and I'm assuming that Knox must've noticed because he put his hand on my thigh and stared at me with loving eyes. He knows I wouldn't lie to him, he knows that there's more to explain.

"Alina," He speaks in a calm voice, the kind of voice that makes me feel like I'm loved and that he's here for me. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I gesture to his siblings as I choke back my tears, "Because I thought that they've already told you, and I was so scared that you hated me so I didn't tell you."

"Of course we didn't tell him," Afia rolled her eyes. "It's your guys' friendship, you two should be telling each other this stuff, not us."

"Why didn't you just walk away?" Keita crosses his arms, he hasn't quite calmed down yet.

"His friends and him kept on following me, they only backed off once they knew that you both noticed," I respond, finally able to meet their eyes. "They were purposely following me around until they knew that you guys would be pissed at me."

Keita finally calms down a bit, "Oh."

"You guys just assumed the worse, didn't you?" Knox sounds upset with them as he said this. He sounds like he's offended that they thought the worst of his best friend.

Afia gives a defeated smile as she scratches the back of her head, "Yeah sort of."

Knox breathes with anger, "Get out."

Without another word they both rush out of the room, shutting the door behind them and leaving Knox and I on our own.

"Knox, I-"

"Don't worry about it," He gives me a forgiving smile. "Unlike them, I'm willing to listen to reason, especially when it comes to you."

I can't help but giggle and blush a bit from this, and for the first time today, I actually look at him. He looks like a mess, as per usual. "So we good?"

He nods, "Yeah, we're good. Just make sure to invite me the next time you go somewhere, especially the store." He licks his lips and his gut subtly rumbles, "I haven't had junk food in forever, I could've gotten myself a bag of chips."

I let out a holler of laughter, "I'll be sure to bring some the next time I'm over."

He wraps me in a large, comforting hug, and whispers calmly, "Thank you."