Look Alike, Think Alike
Changed By You
Henry gave the glass of water to his girlfriend. “Here.”
Amber smiled at him, taking the glass from him. “Few more boxes left.” She took a sip of water.
“A little repairs here and there.” He bit on the sandwich he was holding. “And we need to go to the grocery store soon.” He stood in front of their almost empty refrigerator.
“We could just get food delivered you know.”
“You didn’t have a chef for a boyfriend if he isn’t cooking for you.”
“But for now, we get food delivered to us, Chef Henry.” Amber picked up her cell phone and dialed the delivery hotline of their favorite pizzeria. As she waited for the operator to pick up, “The usual?”
“Pepperoni, but this time, get the largest size available. I am really hungry with all the work we did today.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” She smiled as Henry hugged her from behind, his hands lingered on her waist, pulling him closer to her.
“We won’t be living together if we don’t know each other that well.” He kissed Amber on the cheek.
“Let me order first, Henry.”
“I already changed my mind.” He whispered.
She ended the call even before the commercial jingle of the pizzeria stopped playing, walking towards their bedroom.
-x-
“What other ingredients you need for the party?” Amber placed some vegetables inside their grocery cart.
Henry crosschecked the contents of their cart to his written list. “Only the booze is left on my list.”
“Great. Let us get some and go. My feet is killing me. ” Amber hold on the handle of the cart, ready to walk towards the cashiers. “Why did you have such a long list?”
“My list isn’t that long.” Henry looked around. “Wait a sec.”
“What now?” Amber’s gaze followed where Henry was.
“Just wait.” And Henry was already out of her sight. She could hear his footsteps. He was running around.
“Tada! Solution to your problem” Henry appeared out of nowhere with a new cart with the booze.
“We are getting that much booze. Being black out drunk is not part of the plan, Henry.”
Henry then put the booze on the floor.
“What are you doing? Put them back inside the cart.”
“I just want you to sit inside first before I transfer all the ingredients we are buying to this new cart. I can’t push two carts.”
“How thoughtful of you?” Amber carefully got inside the cart, and sat cozily.
The two saw other customers at the same aisle, looking at them, murmuring to the people they were with.
“Hi” Amber waved and smiled at them, while Henry transferred their groceries to their new cart, laughing at his girlfriend as well.
“Stop it. Stop being Miss Congeniality, Amber.”
“They already think we’re crazy, seeing you running around, and me sitting inside the cart. So why not stick to being crazy?” She told Henry. “Woohoo!” She cheered as she danced, acting like it is normal for a 20 year old to still sit inside a grocery cart and enjoying it way too much.
“Why not help me instead?”
“You are the one who suggested this in the first place. You are the one who made me look crazy. So do that on your own, Henry. I won’t help you.” She sat there, her cap turned around, pouting like kid, and arms crossed in front of her chest.
Henry pinched her cheek. “You are too cute for me to be mad at you.”
Sticking to her new character, Amber touched her puffed out cheeks and gave her boyfriend the stink eye and then stuck her tongue out.
Henry laughed as he planned how to put all their groceries in one cart with his girlfriend occupying half of the space. He then tapped Amber’s legs, “Spread your legs”
Amber couldn’t help but laughed, “What?”
“I said spread your legs.”
“O...kay.” She was still laughing, thinking, “Did you just told me to spread my legs out loud?”
“Wider.” Henry continued on transferring their groceries.
Amber spread her legs wider since that was Henry’s instruction, knees now touching the sides of the cart. “I could just fold my legs, you know.”
“Then you will be uncomfortable, and I don’t want you feel that way.”
“But telling me to spread my legs wider out loud won’t make me uncomfortable? What will you say to me next, ‘put this in between your legs’?” She picked a random grocery item.
Amber waited for him to reply, and once again, she ended up wide-eyed because of what he did next, “Well, clearly, you just put that in between my legs without even telling me first” She pointed at it. “This like our first time all over again minus the pain.”
Henry caught her off guard and kissed her. “Let us go home now.” He told her, lips just above hers.
“So can you push this cart already to get this over with?”
“If you are helping me, this should have been done like five minutes ago.”
“Just place all of that here. No need to be organized.”
“Okie Dokie.” He placed the grocery items inside, unorganized and pushed their new cart towards the shortest line at the grocery store.
-x-
“So all of your closest friends are going to the our party, right?” Henry started placing the ingredients he needed to cook on the kitchen counter.
“Not all of them.”
“But we bought so much food. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“They haven’t replied to my invite yet.”
“This is a party, we are talking about. You guys love to party.”
“I don’t know. Maybe because they-don’t-like-you.” She spoke the last four words almost a whisper.
“Pardon”
“They-don’t-like-you.” She spoke again so quickly as she drank her soda.
“What? I can’t understand what you are saying.”
“They don’t like you.”
“Why? We like the same things, have similar personalities. We even sometimes look alike.”
“That doesn’t mean that my friend couldn’t like you.”
“Are you not listening to me?”
“I wish I could not listen to you right now.”
“We look alike in so many ways. We sometimes have the same hair color and style like we did two weeks ago. Don’t get me started with things we like and the clothes we wear. I am practically the boy version of you. So why don’t they like me? If they like you, they should easily like me.”
“Maybe because you have a and I don’t have one.”
“Just please tell me the real reason why your friends don’t like me.”
“Why is that bothering you?”
“Because--”
“It doesn’t matter if they like you or not.”
“Yes, it does. My friends like you.”
“That doesn’t mean my friends should like you too.”
“Please tell me what I did to make them not like me.”
“Maybe because you don’t know to let things go.”
“Them not liking me bothers me a lot, Amber. So please tell me.”
“Don’t you ever think that it didn’t bother me at all. It did, but I learned to just ignore it.”
“Do they like Eric and Mi?”
“Yes, they do.”
“Those two are also friends with your friends. Obviously, they like Eric and Mi. Maybe that is why they don’t like me. I am not that close to your friends.”
“Not all of them not like you.. Ailee and Fei like you. Add my sister to the list."
“Family members do not count.”
“But you are friends with my sister.”
“True.”
“So you have three girls who are close to me who likes you. Can we now prepare what you need for you to start cooking?”
“Among your friends, you are closest to Min and Jia. Their opinions matter to you what if…”
“What if they say to me, I should break up with you? Is that what really bothers you? That I would be convinced to do that?”
“Your friends are like your family since you moved here. They are important to you. You tell them your problems, everything.”
“You’re right. I tell them everything that was why when I first told them about me being friends with you, and later having feelings for you, they want to protect me from the possibility of getting hurt. They think that I am too young to be in serious relationship which led to us moving in together. I am the youngest in the group. They are my sisters. They will protect me no matter what. Them not liking you is their way of protecting me.”
“They could protect you in another way.”
“Let them realize that on their own. It will come a time that they will like you but still protecting me. I can’t guarantee you when exactly though. Plus it is more exciting and hotter this way. Isn’t it?”
“Now that I know about them not liking me but you are still in a relationship with me, it is.”
“Told ya.”
“The meat still needs to be defrosted.” He looked at the clock hanged on the wall. Henry smiled at Amber, held her hand, and led her out of the kitchen and towards the bedroom. “For sure, they won’t arrive early.”
“For sure, since they don’t like you. Maybe they won’t even come.”
“As long as we both come if you know what I mean.”
“Stop reading my mind, Henry.”
“Can’t help it.”
-x-
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A/N: Today marks the day of the 100th chapter for this collection. And it won't be the last chapter. Thanks for reading every chapter I post. :)
For new subscribers and readers, I noticed one week ago that I posted the wrong story on Chapter 26. Before it was the same with Chapter 24. I have posted the same thing when I was editing few months back. Sorry for that mistake. Hopefully, it won't happen again.
I haven't posted for a week so I haven't had the chance to tell you guys about my mistake and that I have already posted the correct one-shot for Chapter 26. Please read that chapter if you have the time. Enjoy. :)
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