Unproven Chapter Ninety "Mounting Pressure"

Fifteen minutes later Dori pushed her way through the crowd of people at Andie's. She'd tried calling Ary repeatedly on the way here, even took a gamble and tried her regular phone, but there was no response. She could understand why now, it was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think let alone a phone ringing. She was almost to the kitchen when a hand grabbed her elbow. She turned to see Ary smiling widely.

"I didn't know you were coming!" She exclaimed. "Isn't this crazy?"

Dori nodded, "Yeah, can you come outside with me while I catch a smoke?"

Ary blinked, "Um, sure, is everything okay?"

Dori winced, "Just come outside, I can't hear anything in here."

They made their way through the throng of people and ran into Andie, whose eyes immediately narrowed at the sight of Dori.

"Sorry," Dori spoke loudly to be heard, "Am I persona non-grata? It seemed like an open invitation."

Andie frowned, "Where are you guys going?"

"I asked her to come outside with me while I smoke," Dori answered.

Andie glanced at Ary who shrugged and gave her a pleading, ‘Don't be mean’, look.

"Right." Andie made a face and turned back to Grant.

There wasn't anyone on the porch so Dori didn't waste time. She handed Ary her phone that already had the picture up on the screen and said, "This is why I'm here."

Ary looked down at it and paled. "Oh shit, you have got to be kidding me!"

"I know, right? And he saw it Ary, and it was everything I could do to talk him out of coming here."

Ary's head whipped up, "Coming here? Is he insane?" He was going to ruin everything over a stupid picture?" Her heart rate sped up as she imagined the repercussions. She wanted to scream in frustration, why did someone have to capture that of all fucking things?

"It was nothing Dori, I mean nothing. He came up to me to apologize for being such a jerk that night, then made small talk," she glanced back down at the picture. "Right here he made a comment about Andie and Grant being all hot and heavy and how he wouldn't be surprised if we heard wedding bells after graduation, then something about the pitter patter of little feet, that's about it. I haven't talked to him since then!"

Dori nodded, her face sympathetic. "I knew it was something like that. But you still need to call him. Just use my phone."

Ary nodded and stepped off the porch, walking into the yard as she dialed.

He answered on the first ring, "You there yet?"

"Are you insane?" She demanded without precursor. "You were going to come here because of a lousy picture, ruin everything because you, what? Don't trust me? When have I ever given you a reason not to? When?"

"About twenty minutes ago," he growled.

"Oh my God, Grayson," She took a breath and softened her tone. "You never wanted to hear about that night, so I never told you how mad he was when I told him I was still in love with you. He was a bit of a jerk, so tonight he came over and apologized."

"That does not explain the smile," Grayson said tightly.

She made a sound of frustration. "He started talking about Andie and Grant and wedding bells and pattering of little feet- it was a funny image, it made me smile, end of story. In fact I'm pretty sure that as we speak he's hitting on Janie Larsen. Grayson," She pleaded, "I love you, and only you. I want you, and only you. I don't look at other guys, not ever. That night of the concert I didn’t intend for anything to happen, I wasn't interested in him despite what happened, I was just a little drunk and for a few tipsy minutes I thought it might help me stop hurting so much. But it actually did the opposite, because naturally I would compare him to you and he fell so far short it was disheartening."

"Disheartening?"

"Yes. Because how was I ever going to find someone else if a cool guy like Tyler didn't even make it into the ballpark?"

There was silence for a moment, then, "I'm sorry. I just...That picture...I lost my shit. I haven't seen you in days and I hate going that long. I didn't really mean it when I said I didn't trust you. I'm just frustrated and under a lot of pressure."

“I know you are. I don't like going days either, I miss you every minute."

He sighed noisily. "Okay, I'll let you get back to your party, just try and steer clear of Mr. Lips, would you?"

She laughed, "The only Mr. Lips I know is talking to me right now, and steering clear of him is the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

He laughed softly. "I love you," he said.

"You too, more than I could ever say." She pressed end, and walked back to the porch shaking her head as she handed the phone back to Dori. "He..." She looked up, "Uh oh, what's that look for?"

"Andie was watching through the window. I'm not sure how long, I don't know if she saw our conversation, but she definitely saw you on the phone."

Ary blanched, "Shit. Shit Dori, what do I say? Oh damn it, this night is a disaster, what do I tell her? I am such a bad liar and I know she's gonna ask. Usually she doesn't bring him up which is why it hasn't been hard, but there's no way she's not gonna ask about this."

"Relax, let me think. Okay, just tell her Grayson got really drunk and was going on about you and how he hates his dad, then he saw that picture and started ranting about the other ones and was threatening to come here and kick Tyler's ass, but I talked him out of it, told him I'd come here and have you call instead.”

"She'll hate you for that. She literally will. And then what? I called him and told him...?"

"She already hates me. And, you told him if he wanted to talk to you he could do it when he's sober, something like that…You can do it Ary. For the sake of what you and Grayson are trying to accomplish, you can lie."

Ary nodded slowly. "Yeah. It sucks, though."

Dori raised her brows, "Tell me about it. I don't even get to hang out with you anymore."

Ary bit her lip, "I'm sorry.”

"No, don't be, I'm glad to help you guys. You give me reason to believe that true love exists. Anyway, I'm probably gonna go. These things have never been my scene."

Ary nodded, "Okay. I'll text you tomorrow."

Dori smiled and gave her a little wave as she hopped off the porch.

Ary went inside and was immediately accosted by Andie, who grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the stairs. She didn't stop until they were in her room. She shut the door and turned, folding her arms over her chest and raising a brow.

Ary started talking, the words spilling out too fast in her nervousness. "He was drunk. And in his drunken state he was going on about me, and he saw a picture of me with Tyler on Facebook from tonight, and apparently he was going to come here and kick his ass. So Dori talked him out of it, told him she'd come instead and have me call. So I did. And, I told him that if he wanted to talk to me, he could do it when he was sober, and as far as Tyler went it was none of his business.” She stopped abruptly, hoping Andie bought it, because to her ears it sounded like utter bullshit.

"And that's it?"

Ary nodded, "Yup, basically."

Andie looked at her skeptically then shook her head. "Dori's a bitch. She should have just let him come here and make a fool of himself."

Ary frowned, "She's not a bitch, she's a good friend. And you saw what he did to Mark and Gary."

"Good friend? You're kidding me right? She is so not your friend Ary. And you said he was really drunk, I'm sure his fighting skills were not up to par. Besides, from what Grant's told me, Tyler's no slouch."

"Actually, I meant she's a good friend to Grayson. And fine, he might have made a fool of himself and that would've totally made your year, I know. Whatever Andie, I don't want to talk about it. I told you what was said, now I'm going back downstairs to drink more beer."

She turned and walked out of the room and Andie followed.

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"Hate him, yeah I think I know that pretty well," she said without turning.

"I was going to say that I just worry about him getting back under your skin. You've been doing so well, I just don't want to see you hurt again."

Ary kept moving toward the stairs, but it was all she could do not to turn around and spill everything. The only thing that stopped her was knowing Andie would never understand, never be on board, never be happy for her. So it was pointless. She sped up and made a beeline for the kitchen. She hadn't drank nearly enough for the night she was having.

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