Emily

It had been fifteen seconds since Gojo Satoru had been staring intently in your direction. Anyone watching from afar would clearly say that he was a crazy guy obsessed with a girl and that he liked to stalk her around. In fact, this was the complete opposite, you had known each other for years, almost more than half of your lives, and in the situation you were in, Satoru really did look like a maniac staring in your direction, but not on purpose, he was almost hypnotized, unable to stop looking and thinking.

“If you keep staring a little longer, he’s going to find out.” The one who stole the young man's attention was Ieiri, one of the best people who had crossed the young man's life, and also, a long-time friendship that, possibly, was the first person who noticed the different way he looked at you.

He sipped a little of the drink he held in his hands, trying to pay attention to something else.

Satoru, in fact, wanted to be able to forget your existence, at least for a day, and nullify any feeling he had for you. He knew that he could never even touch your hair or whisper words of affection to you, after all, Geto Suguru was your older brother, and he knew very well what had happened to other people who had confessed to you.

This was the first time he thought he was screwed.

Coming in his and Shoko’s direction, Geto had a small smile on his lips and a cup in his hand.

Suguru and Satoru had a long history. They were childhood friends, lived on the same street, and studied at the same school. And, even after leaving high school, they went to the same college and the same fraternity. They were the perfect definition of best friends and Satoru didn’t want to ruin that. After all, Geto had a huge attachment to you and knew that it wouldn’t be easy to convince his friend that this wasn’t just a joke.

“Why is he like that?” Suguru asked Shoko, who was watching the scene without expressing any kind of reaction.

“He got dumped”, she replied, lying, while pulling a cigarette from her pocket and lighting it.

Geto pretended to punch his friend’s shoulder.

“Stop being an idiot and enjoy the party!”

Gojo pushed himself off the beam he was leaning against and ran a hand through the white strands of his hair.

“I’m going to get another drink”, he said and passed by Suguru and Shoko towards the kitchen, where the various drinks of the party were.

As he walked, some people greeted him, after all, he was one of the hosts of the party, however, he only gave a small smile and continued on his path. He was starting to get stressed with himself and didn’t want to chat with others.

However, the last person he wanted to see at that moment was in the room, near the kitchen sink, filling a cup with some cheap drink that was there.

“You know it’s rude to stare, right?” Gojo was quickly pulled out of his reverie when he heard your voice. He blinked a few times, a little stunned, but quickly composed himself and stuck his tongue out at you.

“What’s that?” The young man walked up to you, asking about the liquid in your cup.

“Energy drink.”

“Just that?”

He seemed surprised by your answer and took the cup from your hand, sipping a little of the drink in an attempt to see if you were telling the truth. And you really weren’t lying, it was just a bit of cheap energy drink that you had bought earlier.

“What happened? Did Suguru forbid you from drinking or something?” He handed the cup back to you and went towards the fridge and took a bottle of Heineken from it.

“You guys should work for them”, you said, referring to the beer brand, rolling your eyes and, now, it was your turn to stick your tongue out at him.

Satoru walked in your direction, put his arm around your shoulders, and whispered in your ear:

“You look really pretty today”

And a blush appeared on your cheeks upon hearing the compliment. Satoru knew very well how to make you flustered, even more so after discovering that compliments were your weak point.

Then, he started guiding you through the crowd, leading you to where Suguru and Ieri were talking.

“Look who I found lost in the kitchen”, Satoru commented with a smile.

Suguru gave his famous smile when he saw you, and Shoko put out the cigarette she had on her lips, throwing the butt into a nearby trash can.

“Enjoying the party?”, your brother asked you.

However, you were more paying attention to Satoru’s arm around your shoulders, which, as much as it was common, made you extremely nervous. And, to your displeasure, Suguru had noticed.

“It’s going fine”, you replied as you moved away from Satoru’s arm.

More and more, you were certain that being at that party was one of the biggest mistakes you had made over twenty years. Being near Satoru Gojo, in fact, was your biggest mistake.

But what to do when he was your brother’s best friend? The person who, since you were five years old, had been part of half of your day and whom you grew up watching become the person he is today?

What to do when you are in love with your best friend?

Suddenly, one of your friends approached, calling you to meet some other people, and, as an attempt to avoid Gojo, you followed her.

The smile that had been on Suguru’s face simply disappeared.

“What the fuck was that, Gojo?”, he asked, punching his friend’s arm, the same one who had been watching you walk away, and who was startled after such an action.

“What?”, Satoru seemed extremely scared by the question, knowing very well that he had noticed.

“I think you better not try anything… or else I’ll beat you up”, Geto threatened the other and walked towards the kitchen of the house.

“Pff… I told you, ‘Toru!” Shoko had a small smile on her face, the famous look of someone who warned and the other didn’t take it seriously.