Page 1 of Fate Forever and Always

Nick

Prologue

Eighteen Years Old

Ithink my brain just short-circuited. My best friend just had her tongue down my throat. I was doing everything I could to avoid staring at her like an idiot. I settled for nervously glancing at her, then back at my hands that were awkwardly hovering near her face. Honestly, it kind of sucked. It felt like I was kissing my sister, and judging by the look on her face, I’m not sure if I ruined everything and she liked it or if she felt the same way.

Aubrey looked at me with wide eyes as I pulled away and righted myself back into the driver's seat of my car, clearing my throat.

“That was…”

“Awful,” Aubrey finished for me in an almost laugh. “That was horrible, right? Please tell me you didn’t enjoy that. I would dieif you found any pleasure in that at all, and if you did, I would totally make fun of you for the rest of our lives.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thank God. That was probably the worst kiss I’ve ever had.”

She slapped me on the shoulder. “Hey, don’t hurt a girl's feelings now.” She was smiling just as big as I was. I was thanking my lucky stars above that this kiss wouldn’t change anything between us and that no awkward feelings were happening.

“Okay, maybe it wasn’t the worst. Can I say it was very awkward and had little to no feeling behind it? I felt like I was kissing my sister.” I laughed again.

“That’s better,” Aubrey smiled.

Aubrey has been my best friend since I moved here, and everyone has always assumed we would end up together. However, after that kiss, I was now very confident our relationship wouldn't go beyond friendship.

She looked out the front window and gestured forward. “Take me home, Prince Charming. Let's not speak of this ever again, okay? Plus, my dad would kill you for corrupting his sweet, perfect, seventeen-year-old daughter,” she smiled. “We don’t even have to tell Callie if you don’t want to.”

My stomach dropped at the mention of Callie’s name. Callie is our other best friend. She is the complete opposite of Aubrey in every way possible, yet they’ve somehow always been best friends. They are the perfect balance of sweetness and utter craziness.

Most people assume that I’m gay since I have two best friends who are both female. I don't date around much like most of the guys in my school, and I am also the drama club president. It's stereotypical of people to make that assumption, but I understand. I also don’t give a shit what people think.

We are off to Callie’s mom's restaurant for the prom after-party with some of our friend group. Callie and her date went in his car, so we are meeting them there. Aubrey and I have been hearing how perfect we would be together for the past three years, so tonight we tried it.

If I am completely honest, I immediately knew I had kissed the wrong best friend. The night would have been entirely different if Callie and I had kissed. I’m sure of it. Instead of the sibling-like kiss I got. I imagine Callie and me having a sweet, sensual kiss. The kind that would leave us wanting more.

I’ve had a massive crush on Callie since I first met her when I was fifteen. Although I've kept my mouth shut about it, I'm pretty sure Aubrey knows, and I'm pretty sure that’s what that kiss was all about. That was Aubrey’s way of trying to help convince me to tell Callie how I genuinely feel about her. Aubrey was never really a romantic option for me if I'm being realistic, but it was a last-minute thought for us since everyone and their mother has always brought it up at every chance they got. She will never admit that’s what it was, but I know my best friend better than she thinks. I honestly hope she was serious about not telling Callie, though.

The prom was a few weeks ago, and I haven’t stopped thinking about Callie since. Kissing Aubrey made me come to realize just how different I feel about Callie. Granted, I care about them both more than probably anyone in my life besides my grandma, but all this thinking about Callie has made me realize my heart wants more than a friendship with her. I was finally ready to tell her how I really felt.

Callie was showing me a few songs that she was learning on the piano for the upcoming junior band concert on her phone.She is fucking phenomenal at the piano. I missed half of what she told me since all I could think about was my feelings for her.

This admission could fuck up everything we have been planning for. It may change the entire dynamic of our friendship. Callie, Aubrey, and I are applying to the same colleges in hopes we can all stay together. We’re all hoping to get accepted into a local college here in Connecticut. I don’t know what distance would do to our friendships, but I don’t exactly want to find out either.

“Have you talked to your prom date lately? What was his name? Chris, something?” I asked, trying to keep the tone of my voice even and calm. I didn't want her to think much of it.

She gave me a weird look, and I realized asking like that was pretty stupid. It was entirely out of the blue. She answered after hesitating for a moment.

“Alvarez, and no. He was nice, but we were too different. He isn’t into music or anything that I enjoy, so we had nothing to connect on. I didn’t see it going anywhere. He was fun to hang with while my two best friends ditched me for each other,” she laughed.

“We didn’t ditch you, but whatever,” I said with an attitude.

She smacked my shoulder lightly. “Oh my God, Nick, you so did. You guys were all googly-eyed with each other and having fun. It surprised me I didn't get a text saying somethingmorehappened between you.”

“Me and Aubs? Sweets, I could never date her. She’s like my sister.” I omitted the kiss information since Aubrey and I had agreed we wouldn’t ever mention it.

I couldn’t tell if Callie was just stating facts or if Aubrey and I had genuinely hurt her by going to prom and having fun together. My stomach lurched because I realized now was the best time to tell her how I felt since we were already talking about dating.

“Hey Sweets, speaking of dating, I wanted to talk to you abo—”

“Oh my God, I didn’t tell you.” She turned to look at me.

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