To her shame, Diana realized that she had cried herself to sleep. Her cheeks feel tight from all the tears that had landed on them. She didn't have to look at herself to know that her eyes were swollen and her nose was likely red.

    Standing up, she went to the kitchen and splashed cold water on her face. Diana filled the kettle with water and sat at the table for it to boil. As she sat there, she replayed in her mind how badly things had gone with Jackson. She considered him a friend, she just wanted to warn him about her. But he got so defensive and he had that condescending look on his face that she hated so much. She lost her temper and she regretted that. Immensely.

    The whistle of the kettle brought her out of her revery. She poured the water and picked up the mug to take it with her to the couch. She had slept for over three hours and wasn't tired anymore. It seemed like a perfect time to catch up on her dramas. But as she left the kitchen, Jackson walked through the front door. They looked at one another and then away quickly. They didn't know what to say to each other. He spoke first.

    “Hey,” Jackson said quietly.

    “Hey,” she parroted. She clenched the mug between her hands and racked her brain for what to say next. Again, he beat her to it.

    “Go ahead and say it.” Jackson took his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair.

    “Say what?”

    “Just say it!”

    “Say what?!”

    “Don't act like you don't know!” The angry expression was back on his face.

    “I just woke up and you just walked in. What am I supposed to know?!”

    “Look on Facebook,” he ordered her as he walked by her. Diana's eyes followed him as he went to his room and shut the door. She spotted her cellphone on the coffee table and went over to get it. Scanning through the apps, she opened it and went to Jackson's page. With a hand on her chest, she tried to still her heart as her eyes landed on the picture of him in the corner. Diana scrolled down the page, but didn't see anything noteworthy.

    The idea struck her to look at Whitney's next. Diana immediately felt a sense of panic when she saw that Whitney had changed her relationship status to 'engaged'. But then she saw who she was engaged to. Diana didn't recognize the name, so she googled the guy. 'Mark Tuan, NBA Number 1 draft pick.'

    Diana curses as she sat back on the couch. She set the phone next to her and rubber her hands over her face, not quite sure what to do with the information. It did make Jackson's behavior when he came in clear, though. Diana sat there for a while, then before she realized it, her feet had taken her to his door. Knocking softly, she called his name through the wood. “Jackson?”

    “Yeah,” he answered quietly.

    Diana let herself in and saw his back as he laid on the bed. She sat on the edge and rested her elbows on her knees. “I'm sorry, Jackie.”

    He rolled onto his back and turned his brown eyes to look at her. “You really didn't know?”

    “I really didn't know,” she assured him. “You know how I feel about social media.”

    “'It's the devil'”, Jackson quoted her previous words with a short laugh. “You're right about that. You're right about a lot of things.”

    “I would have loved it if she had proven me wrong. I take no joy in seeing you hurt,” Diana whispered.

    “But you were right. I should have listened to you,” he admitted. Jackson tugged on her shoulder until she looked at him. “I'm sorry for how I spoke to you. I'm really sorry that I pushed you.”

    “It's okay.”

    “It's not okay,” he cut in quickly. Jackson sat up and turned her to face him. “I hurt you tonight and I feel terrible about that. I'm sorry that I called your feelings for me 'pathetic'.”

    “Can we not talk about that?” Diana moved to stand, but he caught her arm.

    “I'm in the mood to talk. Lay down.” Jackson patted the space beside him and pulled on the back of her shirt. Nervously, Diana let him guide her down, but she kept her posture stiff and stared at the ceiling. Jackson found this amusing. “I'm not going to bite you. I just want to talk.”

    “O-okay,” Diana stuttered.

    Jackson rolled onto his back and put one arm under the back of his head. With the other, he grabbed her tense hand and let it rest between them. “I remember how you would come to my tournaments and cheer me on. You would sit there all day, bring me food, and keep me company between matches. Have I ever thanked you for that?”

    “Not in so many words.”

    “Well, thank you. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for caring enough about me to tell me off for being a . . . 'dumb jock', was it?”

    Diana laughed and covered her face in shame. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.”

    “No, you were right. I wasn't able to see through her, but you did. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you sooner.”

    “How much did she get you for?”

    “Don't ask. It's embarrassing,” he confessed with a smile. “But I will have enough for rent, if you're okay with me staying.”

    “You can stay, Jackie,” Diana told him as she looked over at him.

    “You're the only person allowed to call me that.”

    “That's because I'm special.” Diana winked and chuckled as she said it.

    “You are special, Diana,” Jackson said with more feeling than he meant. He to his side and looked in her eyes. “To be honest with you, I've only ever thought of you as a friend.” Diana turned her face away. He grabbed her chin and brought her eyes back to his. “But that doesn't mean that's all I can see you as.”

    Diana dropped her eyes and smiled sadly. “You don't have to try to like me just because I like you.”

    “I do like you, Di, it just didn't occur to me to think about if I like you, like you.” Jackson stopped speaking and nodded slowly. “But as I'm looking at you now, and thinking about how good to me you've been all these years, yeah, I think I can I like you, too. If you're up to it, I'm willing to give us a try.”

    Diana closed her eyes and savored the sound of him saying the words she had wanted to hear for so long. She let out a deep breath and looked up at him. Consumed suddenly with a moment of insanity and bravery, she leaned forward, cupped his cheek and pressed her lips to his. She could tell he was surprised by his lack of reaction, but it didn't last long. Jackson parted his lips slightly and his fingers into her hair. Their tongues swirled around one another's as they both fought to control the kiss. Jackson pulled back for just a moment to breathe before kissing her again. Diana maneuvered herself so that she was stretched out on top of him. His hands rested on the small of her back, then her hips while he strained upward to kiss her as deeply as possible. When she moaned into his mouth, he backed off.

    With their foreheads pressed together, they breathed against each others lips. Jackson his reflexively and pushed back the curtain of her hair. “I didn't know you would be such a good kisser.”

    “Well, now you know.”

* / * / *

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