Chapter 43: And We're Sailing!!!

Warlo thought aloud, eyes squinted and narrowed on the screen in front of him. "That's the only logical solution. I mean, she knows that Luke isn't good for her right. Yet, she continues to keep him around because he says cute things and kisses well?"

These comments seemed to get Nick heated, and he began to talk as well.

"Yeah! I mean she said it herself. She doesn't even know the guy!" Nick was waving his arms around so much that I had to work really hard to focus on what he was saying. He was frowning adorably as he continued to talk. "Yet she 'loves him for his flaws.'" The loud scoff that Nick used to finish his sentence made me bark out a laugh, but I turned it to a cough when he turned back to me with narrowed eyes.

"Come on guys, leave her alone. I don't like Luke either, but maybe she does have some real feelings for this guy." I suggest, feeling bad about how the two seemed to be drilling for her continued interest in Luke P. "We all know people that stay in abusive relationships because the love is still there, maybe this is similar."

Warlo laughed with a small shake of his head.

"And who said those were about love?" Mine and Nick's eyes widened and Warlo sighed at our reaction to his words.

"Okay, why don't we move away from such society altering questions and get back to the episode. I think that this next one will be the one where Hannah will finally send Luke home." Nick tells the two of us, successfully moving our attention back to the screen in front of us.

It wasn't a terribly large screen, being a laptop and all, but it was enough for the binge-watching that the three of us were doing. It was nearly three months after we moved in together that the three of us found out about our shared interest in the Bachelor and Bachelorette.

Actually, Warlo was into both, Nick only watched the Bachelorette, and I watched the Bachelor occasionally but focused on The Bachelorette. Once we found that out, we began to make plans to watch the show. But, each episode was approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes so it was hard to find time to watch one episode straight.

But, our plans aligned and now the three of us were hauled in our bedroom, all laying on the floor in front of the screen that played season 15 of The Bachelorette. We had quite a few episodes to get through and now that the season was finished, it was imperative that we finished it before it was spoiled for us.

I noticed Warlo's arm reach across me and dive into the large bag of goldfish before coming out with a handful. I nearly smirked at the sight.

The moment I saw it online, I knew that I had to conjure it up for myself because I had a light but unhealthy obsession with the snack. That prompted me to get a handful of my own and I relaxed into my spot again to continue on to the 6th episode.

A couple of hours passed by, and a whirlwind of emotions came and went. The drama was real, and we had to constantly question whether this show was worth all of the stress. We all knew that we would continue to watch regardless, but we liked to act as if we had a choice.

We were in a calmer state as Hannah was on a date with a guy that all three of us agreed to like, and apart from the noise from the laptop, it was quiet in the room.

Then, Nick bolted up and began to jump about as he made odd screeching like sounds. His nose was nearly pressed against his phone screen with how he was looking at it, so I assumed whatever was on it was the reason for his reaction.

Warlo was giving Nick a nasty look, clearly unhappy with Nick distracting from the show. I wasn't really upset but more confused and waited for Nick to explain what was going on. Nick finally stopped freaking out long enough to turn to us and hand me his phone.

Once it was firmly in my hand, Nick stepped back with a wide grin and watched Warlo and I. I hoped it was to see our reaction because if not, then it would be extremely alarming on top of it being creepy.

I went to look at his phone screen, hearing him mutter repeatedly "I knew it, I knew it would happen" as I did so. I squinted at it for a second, my eyes adjusting to his crazy brightness before a gasp left my lips, followed by a wide grin.

"Oh, I am totally drilling her for this later." I muttered, smiling widely at the screen. Warlo came closer and peeked over my shoulder to see Nick's phone. When he saw it, he grinned while cursing and saying something about "all these couples".

Nick had shown us a photo of Dipi and Lani standing near what looked to be the recreational center in the university. It was blurry, telling me that the person taking it was probably further away from the two and had zoomed in, causing the foggy blur.

But, you could still clearly make out the two and see that they were kissing. It wasn't simply a peck either. Dipika's arms were holding Lani's waist and Lani had his hands cupping Dipi's cheeks as they kissed passionately.

"Who needs the Bachelorette when you can have all of your friends finding love?" Nick asked rhetorically, eyes looking far away from the two of us.

Warlo deadpanned and Nick quickly took the expression off of his face before Warlo could remind him of how obsessed Nick still was with the show. Dipi kissing Lani was a nice surprise. The show was rewound a bit and paused before we delved into a conversation about the two.

While it is embarrassing to think about, it took me a while to be concerned about who took the photo and where they were sharing it. When I brought it up, Nick explained that Sam and Harvey saw them as they were hanging out together and Sam, ever the nosy one, took a quick pic before leaving them alone.

Warlo, however, was the one who decided to text the two and ask them about the kiss. Really, we all wanted to find out if they were official yet. He was a bit of a romantic and was really gunning for these couples.

Nick and I sat around Warlo eagerly, attempting to peer at his phone and find out how Thulani and Dipi were responding. It was several minutes before Warlo looked up to say three words.

"They said 'yes.'"

"What?" I asked him, not really understanding what he was referring to. "Said 'yes' to what?" Warlo rolled his eyes but answered anyway.

"They said that they kissed but aren't explaining much more than that, Sebastian." Warlo furthered explained. I was kind of getting my head around it but Nick was not. He huffed frustratedly and reached for Warlo's phone.

"Give me that." He blurted suddenly as he pulled it out of Warlo's hand. Nick went on ahead, scrolling through Warlo's phone with a focused expression. Warlo and I could both see when the realization fell over Nick's face. He quickly tossed Warlo back his phone before grabbing his own. Nick began to text frantically on his own phone and, out of curiosity, I asked to see the messages that Nick was looking at.

But, it was as Warlo had said. He asked each of them if they had kissed the other during their date, and their only response was "yes".

Warlo would ask them other things to elaborate and they would respond with "well, that's what happened, what more can I say?" Or, if he asked if they were official, they would reply with a "well, I guess you'll find out."

"Waste yutes." I muttered under my breath, eyes still on the screen. Warlo gave me a quizzical expression but I ignored it and gave him his phone back. I turned to Nick then.

"So, what are you doing now, Nick?" I asked him, noticing how his tongue stuck out during his concentrated texting. Nick continued on for a few beats longer before he looked up at me.

"I'm texting them myself to get some answers." He told me, a small and oddly placed grin on his face as he went back to his texting. "My hope is that my sneaky manipulation techniques will fool them into revealing their relationship status, or at least their feelings over the kiss."

I opened my mouth to tell Nick how bad of an idea that was, but Warlo beat me to it.

"What 'manipulation techniques'?" Warlo asked, chuckling at the thought of Nick manipulating anyone. "You can barely lie about whether you took a shower or not, how could you be cunning enough to make those two brainiacs spill?"

Nick's mouth gaped open, planning on responding but stopping before any noise came out. I made a snorkelling sound instead of a laugh from trying to hold my laughter back, but Warlo laughed shamelessly at Nick's embarrassed expression.

I rubbed Nick on the back, feeling bad about his burning cheeks and wide eyes before I turned back to the show. Warlo and I went back to watching the good drama while Nick tried to split his attention between Dipika, Thulani, Hannah, and her boys.

Probably not the best idea but that was how he spent the next half hour or so.

It was a pretty great weekend evening and I felt accomplished by the time we decided to turn in. Of course, I probably felt accomplished because it was like 4 am and we were on the 2nd last episode of the season. We weren't all smiles like we had hoped, but the drama was worth it.

It was a good idea to chill that night. I deserved some fun, like the calm before the storm. Things were going to change and I at least deserved to get into some good ol' manufactured tea before things got hard.

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It has been so long since I have updated! It feels great but also weird to be updating again.

I hope that you weren't too bored by this Chapter.

I have been a bit busy trying to get through the work I pushed back while procrastinating and finishing Running From Him.

But, the Chapter is here now!

That end part was really just so you guys know that stuff is coming, so don't worry.

Anywho,

You guys might have noticed that this Chapter was updated, and that was because I made a tiny mistake regarding the details of where and when Dipi and Lani kissed so I fixed that up. Just letting you all know.

Do you guys watch the Bachelor or any of its spin-off shows? (Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise)

I'm not sure if some of you guys don't have them in your countries or just don't know about them but they are pretty big shows in North America where a large group of girls date 1 guy or the opposite.

I think they have an Australian version too. There is no gay or pan version yet *eye roll* but now that I have gotten into the Bachelorette, I'm kind of hoping for it.

Anyhow,