My Bubblegum King - Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Diego and I were at the EatOut; we came out to celebrate the fact that we both aced a test with perfect scores. Well, he had a perfect score, I was a number down but who cared? I did but I was too proud of him to be jealous and happy for myself because I actually thought I'd fail two questions, not just one. I'd have to do better next time but we'd cross that bridge when we get there.
"Chicken fingers for you, um," I bounced my feet under the table, drumming my fingers on it excitedly. "Drumsticks for me. Oh maybe Chicken salad," I thought better. "Nope, I don't think I can stomach anymore salad. Sim has been making us eat salad although now he's actually perfect at it. He has unfortunately fallen in love with it. Poor me. I think I'd just go with chicken and fries... Ah, we can have pizza, what do you think?" Then I snap my fingers and make a tch-ing sound with my tongue. "Doesn't really spell celebration, right? Chicken it is."
Diego blinked at me and burst out laughing. I was already smiling even though I didn't know what exactly was making him laugh. "What?"
He shook his head to himself, "do you even realize you've been having a full conversation with just yourself?"
"Uh—"
He was laughing again, covering his face with both his palms, making his hair go up and letting me see his dangling cross earrings. Sometimes I forget it's there. "Fucking cute, oh Christ."
I blushed, "well, you're the one not saying anything."
"You gave no room for a reply, Freshman."
I pouted, "whatever. We're getting chicken, right?"
He shook his head, still amused for some reason. "Why do you even want to celebrate? It's just a test."
My jaw dropped, "are you kidding me? You got a perfect score and I got a near perfect score. That's a lot of reason to celebrate."
"Dunno," he sucked in air from between his teeth. "Still just a test. Happens."
"Not for me," I whined. "This is my first near perfect score. The other ones didn't come out like I wanted."
He gave me a deadpanned look, green eyes screaming 'you've got to be kidding me'. "You didn't fail, drama king."
"I didn't pass like I wanted either," I said leaning towards the table, shaking my head, pursing my lips and blinking— behaving like the drama king he called me. "And aren't you supposed to be the king, here?"
Diego stayed silent for some seconds, just looking at me. I guess my antics took him off guard. I blushed and retreated back to my seat. Now he leaned forward, relaxing his head on his hands that were now resting on the table. "Why am I the king?"
I shrugged, "your name is Royal?" I chuckled. "That's like a crown on it's own. Somehow."
Diego rolled his eyes and snatched the menu from my hands. I didn't even realize I was holding it. "You don't need a crown to be royalty, or king."
"Are you trying to say something, your highness?"
"Yeah," he shut the menu, dropping it on the table. "You're a king. The worthiest one I know."
My world paused for a second and for that second all I could hear was my heartbeat. Then I looked away, down to my shoes. My voice came out small as a whisper, "shut up and order what we'd eat."
Diego didn't say anything and when l looked at him, those shining green eyes were on me and he had a smirk on.
"What?" I asked, trying to mask the blush and whatever I was feeling.
"I thought you'd run."
"Hm?" I straightened up. "Run when?"
He shrugged, looking away from me and I could see his ears get red. "After the wedding, I thought you'd run. Maybe ghost me like you did earlier."
I scoffed, "now, why would I do that?"
He looked at me again, answering me with his soulful eyes that seemed enchanting.
... because of what he said during the dance.
I swallowed, understanding him clearly. "W-would you have wanted me to?"
Diego sighed, "I honestly don't know."
"Well, I'm not running."
"Even if you know I lo-ike you?" He said, startling three year out of me. I looked up, completely stunned and meeting his clear green eyes head on. He wasn't looking away from me and from the corner of my eyes, I could see him fisting his palms so tight, it made veins pop in his arms. "More than just a friend."
I froze. I literally froze, I couldn't even hear my heartbeat anymore. If this was a movie, this would be the part where the screen freezes on both our faces and a song pops out from nowhere. I couldn't move, I couldn't open mouth, I couldn't think of words. I so was not expecting that.
"Is there anything thing I can help you with?" A waitress that wasn't Jordy said, heroically breaking the ice and interrupting the moment. Honestly, she was an angel sent.
Deigo looked away first, bending his head down and I could him muttering, "shit, shit."
I coughed, turning to give the waitress a forced wide smile. "We'd get back to you."
"Sure," she smiled back and walked away.
I gulped looking back at Diego.
He barely raised his head up before his mouth started speaking. "Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me. I shouldn't have said that, you're fucking dating and I'm being—"
"I'm not running," I cut him off and his eyes snap to me. I offer him a small. "Yes, I'm being selfish but you're my friend and I honestly don't know what I'd be doing with my time now if I wasn't spending it with you. I was already a douche once, I'm not doing it again. I'm not running."
"Pax—"
"You make the decision then," I shrugged. "Do the right thing for us both. I would totally understand."
He scoffed, "I barely do the right thing on a daily basis. You know I won't ghost you."
"Then we understand each other," I said, trying to look at him seriously. "I love Sebastian."
He nodded, "I know."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't fucking be."
I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I'm a piece of shit. "Are we eating something or not?"
He chuckled, biting his lips in thought as he looked at his fingers. "Have you ever gotten shit face drunk that you couldn't move?"
I laughed, "once. Just once."
Deigo gasped exaggerating and I had a feeling he was trying to mimic me. "No way. Tell me, tell me, tell me."
I laughed so hard, tears rolled down my cheeks. "Fuck you."
He laughed, "no, really. I'm actually this excited to hear about it. Were you with someone?"
"Yeah, Seb," I smiled at the fond memory. "He was being a mixer and I was his taster. God, I got so drunk that night, I couldn't feel my lips or face or anything. Seb had the time of his life laughing at me because he advised me against it in the first place. I passed out, woke up sick the next morning. The hangover was deadly." I shook my head. "Never again."
The memory would've been a bad one what I would try not to ever remember but because of Sebastian Crown, it was one of my best memory. I could remember him scolding me affectionately as he gently patted my back while I threw up like I was going to die. Then I remember him giving me a piggy back ride while singing. Then him feeding me and rubbing my tummy to ease the pain retching caused. He was completely caring that day, it was a side of him even me had never seen before. A side of him no one who had a one time encounter with him would ever think he had.
Diego laughed, "ah what I'd do to see you that way. I'd take a video and you'd go viral."
I gasped exaggeratedly, "you wouldn't dare."
He smirked, "wanna bet on it?"
"Nope," I answered, still very much sane. "You'd never see me like that."
"Too bad," he shook his head. "Anyway, you do know, there's no celebration without alcohol, right?"
I pouted, "there isn't?"
He slowly nodded, "if you want to truly celebrate, I have just the place in mind."
I smiled, "are you inviting me to a party now?"
He shrugged, "if you're interested. We could just eat chicken, hit coca cola cans and be on our way or I could show you real fun." He winked.
I narrowed my eyes as I considered my options. "Can I invite friends?"
"Of course but we're going to an LGBT club, just so you know."
My mouth opened and closed like a fish. I've never been to one here, I didn't even know there was one around. I was already excited but I have to invite Ry too.
You in? — to Ry
Hell yes, bitch! — from Ry.
I grinned at Deigo, "I'm in."
"Good," he got up and helped me get up my seat though I needed no help and put his arm around my shoulder, leading us out. "Now we're actually going to celebrate."
*
Diego wasn't kidding when he said we were going to an LGBT club and he was going to show me real fun. I was completely mind blown. When we got there, the place was already filled up with people and there was a line outside. Ryder and I were already complaining about having to stand in the line but then, turns out Diego has some kind of connections because after talking to the bouncer, they smiled, shook hands and the big guy let us in without any hiccup. He didn't even check our ID's.
"Daddy's connection?" I asked Diego as we walked through a little hallway, heading to a big entrance door.
"Nah, Diego's connection," he winked at me. "I knew the guy from when I was in the frat."
"Hm," I nodded, completely impressed.
Diego pushed open the wide entrance doors for us and we entered the warm room, filled with half naked, dressed and dancing bodies. Given the amount of people it should be warmer than this.
"Whoa," Ry said, eying some of the half naked people that walked passed us. "Damn, Diego you know your places."
He shrugged, "it's pretty lit. There are security to keep people in check, a wonderful bar and everything you could ever want. Also a nice place to hook up."
"Ever hooked up here?" Ryder asked and I knew she was really interested in the hook up part. Jordy's rejection really did a number on her.
Diego blushed, like are you kidding me? We know you're not a saint. "Not in a while."
"Uh huh," Ryder said, wiggling her brows at him.
I didn't think he could blush anymore but I was wrong. "Go away before I fire you."
Ry laughed, grabbing my hand. "Come on Pax, let's go check out the bar man. He doesn't have a shirt on."
Things get pretty crazy from then on. Ry flirted with the bar guy while asking him to recommend the best drink for us. I didn't want to get drunk but I could do with a little buzz. He gave us some whitish drink that looked really suspicious, winking and telling us to enjoy. Ry and I exchanged looks, then back at the drink and shrugged, gulping in down once. Thankfully it wasn't sperm and it tasted amazing. We got shots of two other different drinks and then we set off to the dance floor. Before that though, I used my eyes to look for Diego and I found him at a corner of the bar, talking to some dude. Okay...
I think I got more then a little buzzed because the rest of the night turn out to be some kind of blur. I knew there was a lot of shouting involved, grinding, dancing, jumping up and down and I couldn't be that drunk because despite all the fun I was having, I kept looking around for Diego. I didn't even realize what I was doing until Ry called my attention.
"The fuck are you looking for?" She laughed, clearly drunk. "Stop it, it's not like he's going to get lost and we can find our way back home without him."
"Huh?"
She turned around to face some chick with a buzz cut and a kind of bikini on. I shook my head, ignoring her and my head turned out again and now I actually found Diego. He was smiling at the guy from earlier, holding his hand in front of him and right in front of my eyes, I saw the other guy lean up and connect his lips with that of Diego. My stomach pinched together painfully but I didn't look away. Deep down I thought Diego would push him off or something but then I saw him hand slowly go up to his hair and it's then I look away like someone slapped me. My heart was beating really fast and something hurt but I couldn't say what. Inhaling and exhaling, I slowly recognized the feeling and I chuckled dryly, pulling on my hair as if that would bring me back to my senses.
"What the hell, Pax?" I murmured to myself and I was tempted to look back but I didn't dare. Instead I moved closer to Ry, moving to her ear to yell, "I'm going to the bathroom!"
She turned to face me, "okay, should I come with?"
"Nope, just ride on with whatever you're doing," I laughed, turning around and wiggling my way out of the dance floor. It took me a while to find the restroom but when I did, the relief was worth it.
It was a pretty big and impressive restroom and I just went to the large mirror and to one of the sinks, turning on the water and splashing some on my head and face. It was supposed to be bring me back to my senses. I was pretty sobered up too. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. My hazel eyes looked glazed, my hair was now a bit damp in the front and dripping water, my red face stared right back at me. "You can't be jealous Paxton, you don't like him like that."
I had to admit I wasn't feeling okay. Maybe it was because I really wanted to celebrate with Diego. Why did I even want to do that? He's right, it's just a test. I shouldn't want anything with him, he likes me and I rejected him, I have a boyfriend. I slapped myself hard on both cheeks, something has to work in making me think right again. "Fucking hell, Paxton."
Sighing, I bring out my phone to call Sebastian. It's true I love him, with all my heart and soul and if given the chance now I wouldn't choose Diego over him. But why was I feeling like this? Being selfish sucks, I should've ran. It rang thrice and then he picked up. I sighed in relief, already smiling, "Se—"
"Babe, can I call you later?" He rushed out and I could hear a lot of noise coming from the background. He was moving about even. "Working right now. This place packed." I could hear someone shouting 'hello!' at the background.
"Um, sur—"
"I'd call you back, okay? Love you." He rushed out and then the line died.
I looked at the phone on my hand and I felt like I was going to cry. Well, I just wanted to hear his voice and I did. I can't be selfish here and I'm just being an attention whore right now. I sighed, "I love you too."
I spent more minutes in the restroom, just relaxing and getting back to normal and when I finally left,  I took a turn to go down and then I bumped into a frenzied Diego. His eyes met mine, went wide and the he grabbed my shoulders. "Shit, freshman, where the fuck have you been?"
"Uh," I blinked. "I j-just went to the restroom?"
He sighed and the next thing I know, he's pulling me closer, against his body and wrapping his arms around me in a hug. "I take my eyes away one second and you disappear. I got so scared, Paxton."
I could hear his heart beating against my body and he still smelled nice and was really warm. I smiled, turning into a ketchup. Okay, being an attention whore, isn't completely bad, right? My hand moved up his hard body and I hugged him back. "I'm fine."
Diego sighed, "I'm being dramatic huh?"
I giggled, "yup... But I don't mind."
"Don't ever leave my sight."
I giggled and pulled away from him. My heart was doing things it shouldn't be doing and I had to break the moment. "That's such a cliche thing to say, how can I not ever leave your sight?"
He shrugged, "I always want to be able to see you."
Shut up!
I smacked him, walking off. "I'm not a baby and you're definitely not my babysitter."
"Who told you, you're not a baby?" He walked beside me, stroking his chin as if in thought. "Is there any difference between your height and that of a seven months old?"
I gasped, "you didn't."
"I did."
"It doesn't even make sense. A seven months old, can't walk."
"I've seen one that does."
"Ha, where? Who?"
"You."
"Diego!"
"Paxton."
*
We managed to convince Diego that we could go on our own. He didn't bring a car and I didn't want him following Ryder and I to our various dorms before making his way to his place. Plus, I wasn't drunk anymore, I could take care of Ryder and myself. After much fuss, he agreed and called a taxi for us both.
When we stopped at Ryder's dorm, the taxi man kept grumbling saying he couldn't wait for me to come out. That students always lie that they'd be out soon and then they end up taking hours inside. He insisted on being paid and leaving, so I paid him and he left. I took Ry into her dorm and after spending a whole lot of minutes, apologizing to her roommate for the disturbance (whatever it was she was grumbling about), I finally left. I guess the taxi man was right, I wouldn't have been out on time.
It was already really late, past midnight and unlike the club street, this street was not busy at all and completely quiet. After standing and considering my options, I decide to walk to my dorm. It wasn't that far and before I know it, I'd be there. There wasn't a single soul on the street and it was a bit creepy but I wasn't going to think about it. Campus is safe, right?
I brought out my phone to check if Seb had gotten back to me but nothing, I had no notifications. He was still busy then. I wondered if he's going to stay all night at the bar. I decided to text him goodnight and that's when I hear a snapping of twig. I froze, it wasn't me, I didn't step on anything. I turned around and I couldn't see anyone behind me. Swallowing, I pocketed my phone and increased my footsteps. I would just text Sebastian when I'm inside my safe room.
I started hearing footsteps too, not mine, following behind me. I stopped and turned around and it was then I saw two guys, both wearing big hoods that stopped me from seeing their faces. They were standing a little distance away, facing themselves and murmuring as if in serious conversation. My heart skipped, not in a good way and I slowly turned back around and continued walking. They did too. A sheen of sweat broke out on my skin and I brought out my phone. I was about to call Sebastian but it occurred to me that he was not here and couldn't really do anything. My fingers were shaking as I searched through my contacts for Sim or anybody that could be close.
I heard their footsteps increase and then I couldn't take it anymore and I broke into a run and they did too.
Fuck, fuck... Is this how I get murdered?!
Everything happened in a flash, one minute I was running with my heart in my mouth and the next, my shirt was grabbed and a hand clamped over my mouth.