Page 21 of Mary had a Little Harem

"To be fair, you two have a standing agreement," Noel carefully added, disheartened his two friends were fighting. Over a girl. Again. Last time that happened, it almost tore their group apart.

"Do we?" Louis spat out bitterly, glaring at Sam.

"I thought we did," Sam scowled back, not sure why his friend was this angered. They had always shared before, and it had never been an issue before.

"After what happened with Valerie, you're trying to claim another girl just for yourself?" Louis barked, kicking one of the chairs under the table.

"Woah, woah, what do you mean? I kicked Valerie to the curb after she pulled that stunt on you!" Sam called back, his face contorted in a painful grimace.

"Like hell you did."

Roughly, Sam smacked the bag of carrots on the counter. "I swear, dude. When I found out she pawned your computer, I broke up with her on the spot."

Louis frowned. That was not what he heard. "But she said you visited her after..."

"Yeah, to demand the money from her. Where did you think the funds for your new computer came from?"

"Wait... So you didn't go over there to bang her?" he asked, doubt colouring his voice. The anger swirling in the pit of his stomach slowly settling down.

"Dude, of course not. She really screwed you over, I wanted nothing else to do with her," Sam defended himself, saddened that his best friend seemed to believe he'd do such a crappy thing.

"Fuck... Man, I'm sorry, I thought..."

"It's fine. It was a long time ago," he waved Louis' apology away, not wanting to dig the past back up.

"It's not. Shit. I'm sorry..."

"This is why you're being so anal?" Sam asked, nodding at Mary who looked like she wanted to sink into the ground.

"I just thought..."

"Well, you thought wrong."

An awkward silence befell the four of them. Noel quickly turned on the tap, hoping the running water would break the quiet and uncomfortable vibe holding them all.

"I..." Louis started, immediately shut up by the hurt in Sam's eyes.

"I can't believe you thought I'd screw you over like that. After all we've been through?"

Louis' head sank in shame. "I know. I'm sorry, bro."

"Did you really think I'd touch Val after what she did to you?"

"She said..."

"She said a lot of things. A lot of lies, to be more precise. I can't believe you took her word over mine."

"I know. I"m sorry."

"You better."

Louis scratched the back of his neck. "So why didn't you tell me you were going after Mary?"

Now it was Sam's turn to avert his eyes.

"Sam?"

He coughed uncomfortably. "Maybe I wanted to get a rise out of you," he quietly admitted, shame rising to in his chest.

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