It's giving me a complex (Candira and Agnores)

Amy was dozing off when her phone went off. She checked the message, and put her phone back down, letting her eyes close for a second longer. A few minutes later, she shot back a quick 'k' and forced herself off the futon. Seriously, that thing was too comfortable. Her show was almost over, so Amy wasn't worried about missing anything. She quickly did a few touch ups on her make-up, adjusted her clothing, and made her way outside to wait on Drew. As she waited, she sat on a nearby bench, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. She hadn't meant to take a nap, but it had sure taken it out of her. The poor girl was now extremely tired. She would have to make dinner quick, especially if things with Drew were especially awkward.

Drew made it to his room, showered, and then made his way over to her dorm, soon after. He tried to be a little less worried, tried to relax a little, but it didn't seem to work...until he saw her sitting there, eyes closed in the dying sun. She looked innocent and vulnerable, and just so damn beautiful. He took a minute to just appreciate the sight of her before coming to her side. "Hello, pretty girl," he said, chuckling a little. "You sure you wanna eat? Looks to me like you should just go to bed."

"Huh?" Amy said, snapping up and looking around. "Oh, yeah, I wanna eat. I just accidentally took a nap before I came out here and that is why I am so tired." She smiled at Drew, stood, and started towards the dining hall. "Was your day productive?" Amy asked, looking over to Drew. "Mine wasn't. I pretty much just watched TV and dosed after class." She gave a small chuckle, thinking that may be more of the reason why she is tired. "With Sophie out with Evan, I don't have much else to do," she added, with a smile.

He felt irritation crawling up his spine at the mention of Evan doing anything with Sophie, but he managed to tamp it down. "Oh, yeah? I just worked out a little. How's it going with Sophie and Evan?" he asked, wondering if he should really be worried or not.

"Evan and Sophie? They are great together. Sophie seems so happy around him, and he can't help but grin like an idiot." She laughed, finally stepping into the dining hall and allowing Drew to step behind her in the small line that was forming. "He's apparently a real sensitive guy, and he cares a lot about Sophie. She definitely cares a lot for him." She let the clerk swipe her card, allowing her access to the dining room. She almost immediately spotted an empty table towards the back, and pointed it out to Drew. "I'll meet you over there when I have my food." With that, she walked off towards the salad bar, building a similar salad to the one she had last time. She wasn't feeling very hungry tonight, so she was just planning on building a small meal and laying in bed until Sophie got back.

She hoped Sophie didn't plan on going to bed without telling Amy how the date went.

It made him feel a little bit better to know that Sophie seemed happy. Amy seemed to think he was sensitive, but she didn't know Evan all that well. He nodded at her suggestion for a table and wondered what he wanted. He didn't have much of an appetite anymore, so he went for a sandwich and got some fries, too. Paired off with a coke, he headed off to the table to find her again. He smiled when he sat down and debated telling Amy about what Ryan had said to him.

But he'd feel stupid, he decided. Besides, he wanted to keep her focus off of that guy. When they were together again he smiled and asked, "Why so sleepy?"

She got her drink, a glass of milk, from the machine and made her way back to the table. She sat her plate down, smiled at Drew, and took her seat. When asked why she was so sleepy, she shook her head. "Not sure, exactly. Probably because I was lazy all day." She gave a small laugh, digging into her salad. It was good to eat something, she realized as she took her first bite; she was hungrier than she thought. As she took another bite, she looked over at Drew. "I didn't go to the gym or anything today. I just went to my room, turned on the TV, and laid on the futon until I texted you for dinner. Fell asleep at some point in all of that."

She took a sip of her drink, and dug back into her salad. At this rate, she may have to go back for more.

He smiled a little, imagining her falling asleep. She was just so cute.

"A nap sounds good about now. How's your salad?" he asked, watching her dig in. Maybe she just wanted the salad a lot, but he got the feeling she was hungry. He bit down into his sandwich and watched her, hoping she could help him forget about the fact that his best friend/surrogate sister was out with someone who could possibly hurt her in so many ways. He tried to focus on her completely, to forget that anyone else existed.

"Got any plans this weekend?" He asked, trying to make small talk.

"My salad is really good," she said, taking another bite. "I think I am more hungry than I initially thought." She gave a small giggle, taking a sip off her drink. "How's your sandwich?" she asked, attempting to return his question. She was starting to notice that the conversation felt a bit forced, like something wasn't quite right. Was Drew still bothered by what happened between her and him the other night? When he asked about her weekend plans, she sat her fork down and took a long pull from her drink.

"Not yet. I'm probably just going to hang out in my room, see if Sophie is up for anything if she is not with Evan." She thought for a second, then cocked her head to the side. "Drew...is everything all right?"

He smiled when she said she was hungrier than she thought. "Well, everybody's gotta adjust," he said with a chuckle. Her question got another quick grin. "It's the best chicken salad I've had in a long time. If you're up for another round, I recommend it," he said setting it down for some fries. "Fries are so much better, though," he said, enjoying them. When his mouth wasn't full he looked down for a second and then back at her to answer the question.

"It's just...Sophie's like my sister. I'm just a little worried about her. I don't know Evan or what kind of guy he is, and you never really hung out with him. A lot of the guys Sophie's gone out with have been great in the beginning, and then just sort of devolved from there. It's like once they got what they wanted, they were gone. And I don't want to see her get hurt. I know you said he seems sensitive...but I'm just worried. And as much as I feel crappy about it, I keep thinking he's friends with your ex. And your ex didn't treat you very well."

Amy took a bite of her salad in silence, thinking. She knew she could say what she thought, that Evan was a great guy who was truly making Sophie happy. The problem was, she thought something similar about Ryan. And two days ago she found out Ryan was a complete douchebag. Was she doing the same thing to Evan? Was she letting Sophie unknowingly fall into the same trap she had? It didn't help she didn't know Evan all that well, but she knew Ryan too well. If they were friends, they had to be similar in some respects, right?

A worry crept over Amy, and she looked at Drew. "You think Evan will try and hurt Sophie?" She asked quietly, trying to figure out what she thought about it. All she saw was a nice Evan, an Evan that made Sophie glow. Could that be a front, a lie? Like the Ryan she knew was?

Drew frowned. "I really hope not. It would just feel a lot better if I knew the guy. I can tell you if he does hurt her, though, I'll kick his ass." He frowned and munched on another fry. "I'm sorry for making you worry. Maybe I'm just overreacting," he thought, desperately trying to forget about Ryan's words. "But maybe just watch out for her, okay? I can't look out for her all the time," he said with a chuckle. So he took another bite of the sandwich and wished he could stop thinking about it.

"You may be, I don't know." Amy said, taking the last few bites of her salad. Her hunger was gone now, she noticed. Maybe it was because she was suddenly worried? Worried that Evan might hurt Sophie? She had only met Sophie, but Sophie had helped her out when she was still really in the throes of her lost relationship. "Evan seemed like a really nice guy. He seemed really genuine. Its hard to fake that, isn't it?" She asked, taking a drink of her milk.

She knew she certainly couldn't act genuine if she wasn't, but she was simply a poor actor.

He frowned and started to shovel in the fries--stress eating. "I don't know. I would think so...but I guess you never know. I know I would feel a lot better if I could warn him. Sophie's my sister in my head. I can't just have people hurting her when I could do something about it. She can take care of herself--I know that. But she shouldn't have to all the time." He sighed and pushed his plate away before he could make himself sick.

"No point in worrying about it now," he said, mostly to himself, but also to reassure her. "Maybe he's a nice guy for real and I'm being overprotective and stupid. But sometimes people take awhile to show their true colors. So until he does, I'll be watching him like a damn hawk." His eyes were an intense green as he stared at his clenched fist. If Evan did anything to hurt or embarrass Sophie, he'd get a lot worse than Ryan had.

And that smug bastard had known just which button to press, hadn't he? Even if this all turned out to be a lie--which was possible, he was forced to admit--the idea of it had been enough to rob him of sense and calm. It had been enough to rile him and that burned at him. He sighed and forced himself to relax before running his hands through his blonde hair. "I have to stop thinking about this or I'm going to embarrass all of us by finding the two of them and ruining the date."

Amy gave an awkward chuckle at Drew's last statement, finishing off her drink and setting the empty glass on her plate. Her eyes was fixed on Drew, on his intensity; she had picked up quite clearly that there was a love there that was hard to explain. Drew was very protective of Sophie, called her his 'sister'...which meant that Sophie must of viewed Drew as a brother.

Thinking back on the times the three of them hung out, something occurred to Amy. She had always assumed it had been because Sophie and her had not been very close, but every time Drew had been around Amy with Sophie around, Sophie would either look a little bit hurt and sad, or she would just leave. Very rarely did Sophie stay around the two of them, and even when she did, it was rarely a happy look on her face. Slowly, she worked it through in her mind; as the realization came forth, her expression changed from worry to surprise.

Drew viewed Sophie as a sister, and Amy knew now Drew had some measure of feelings for herself. If Sophie didn't view Drew as a a brother, but as very close friend...and had feelings for him...suddenly the way she acted all those times made complete sense. It wasn't necessarily because they weren't close, it was because she was jealous! Jealous that Drew was interested in Amy the way Sophie was interested in Drew. It was that jealousy that probably kept the girls from becoming good friends, something that Amy had always wondered about.

Why had she been so blind to it?

Still, Amy began to wonder, looking away from Drew and out a nearby window; would Sophie date Evan to get back at Drew? It wasn't that Drew specifically hated Evan, at least not before Amy's breakup with Ryan, but after Ryan proved to be a despicable person and made it onto Drew's shit-list, it wouldn't be hard to associate the people Ryan hung out with with the same qualities. Surely, Sophie would see that, and Amy couldn't be sure Sophie wasn't the kind of woman to be passive aggressive in her revenge.

Then again, Amy thought, Sophie was positively glowing around Evan, and that was something that wasn't easily faked. Maybe Evan was the real deal, and it was just an odd coincidence he was Ryan's friend.

Her mind blown, Amy looked back at Drew. "You ready to go?" she asked. She wanted to get back to her room, text Sophie. She knew she wouldn't be able to get a hold of her until later, but she just felt she needed to try.

Amy's question broke into Drew's own twisty and admittedly dark thoughts. He really needed to work on having faith in his friend's judge of character. After all, she'd been friends with Evan before they'd gotten together, and she had a good radar for phonies when it came to friends. Besides, this was a second date, and Sophie wasn't easy, no matter how genuine guys came across.

"Yeah, I'm finished. Hey, maybe don't mention all this to Sophie. I'm going to feel really stupid if I'm just overreacting." He chuckled and then took his tray, along with hers because he was just polite, and put them away before walking with her. "Want me to walk you back?" he asked, deciding that he wanted to be around her a little longer now that he wasn't in such a worried state. Oddly, her own panicked reaction had made him feel better. Was that good or bad, he wondered?

Amy smiled at him when he took her tray, and walked towards the dining hall's exit. She smiled at him when he finally caught up, and she walked beside him as she headed back to her dorm. "Sure," she said, with a smile. As they walked, she didn't say much. She was lost in her thoughts, her dinner-time realization still her primary focus. She wondered how mad she had inadvertantly hurt Sophie. As she thought, she remembered when Drew came by the day Ryan left her. Sophie had pretty quickly ran out then, too. That time, she met Evan. And he was making her happy, wasn't he?

So maybe the whole thing wasn't as bad as it may have seemed.

When they arrived outside of her dorm, Amy gave Drew a quick hug and a wave good-bye before she turned quickly and scurried to her room. Once there, she picked up her phone, sat on her bed, and shot Sophie a quick text. 'How is it going?'. She didn't expect a quick reply, but that was all right. Amy's earlier tiredness was returning, and she would just take a quick nap while she waited.

---

Evan stretched a bit. The movie was nearing its in, that was true, but he hadn't found it too interesting. It wasn't a bad movie, Evan thought, he just had more important things on his mind...like the girl right next to him. She seemed to be enjoying herself, as far as Evan could tell, and that was good. He was half tempted to say something to her, but he didn't wanna ruin the movie by talking, especially if she was actually drawn into the movie. Evan smiled, and he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Wondering who it was, he removed his arm from around Sophie, pulled the phone from his pocket, and checked the message. It was from Ryan, surprisingly. 'ran into little bitch 2day. he yellin' bout how sum bitch stole his girl. heard him spreadin' rumors u like to fuck n leave. that u nuthin but a waste of time'

Evan read the message several times, his first reaction to disregard it. It was Ryan, and he wasn't the most reliable source. Still, Evan couldn't quite put it past Drew to do something like that, especially since he was with Sophie. Deciding this was best dealt with later, Evan pocketed his phone and placed her arm around Sophie again.

Drew didn't mind the silence as he walked her back. It was nice to just spend some time with her. Maybe he couldn't have the kind of relationship he'd originally wanted with her--maybe he'd carry that want around forever. But that was okay, really. He'd be fine with just being friends with her. Maybe it would be a nice change over time. He smiled and hugged her back when she surprised him with one. He wished it would have lasted a little longer, but he knew she was tired. "See ya later."

With that, he left Amy on her own and went back to his own room to ponder what the hell he was supposed to think about all this.

---

Sophie was having a great time. The movie was funny and had one of her favorite female actors as the lead. It wasn't fantastic, but she was enjoying the story of it. She enjoyed the fact that she was at the movie with a fantastic guy. That distracted her a bit, too, and she found herself thinking of him during lulls in the story. And as much as she had enjoyed the ending, she was very glad when it was over and his arm was around her again. Her own phone buzzed, but she'd check it later when they were out of the theater.

As the credits started to roll, people got up. She stayed seated for the time-being, though. It was nice to have Evan's arm around her. She looked up at him and smiled. "Well that was good. I liked it," she said with a little smile.

Evan didn't move when the movie ended, instead looking over to Sophie and planting a light kiss on her forehead. He smiled warmly at her, chuckling at her comment. "Might have to watch it again if it appears on Netflix, I didn't pay attention to it very much."

He watched as the people filed out of the theater, but he kept his seat. "Got a message from Ryan, something about Drew spreading lies about me because I am with you. Sound like something he'd do?"

He had decided he would just be blunt and honest with Sophie, and wouldn't waste time beating around the bush. He wanted to know if Ryan was just trying to start shit, which had happened before when Evan didn't do exactly what he wanted, or if Drew would really sink that low. Evan couldn't quite put it past Drew, but he wasn't going to assume. Not when the wrong assumption could ruin his slowly forming heaven.

She smiled at the forehead kiss, finding it sweet. The fact that he hadn't paid attention to the movie made her want to ask what he'd been watching because she was sure she had been boring. But then, the idea of him watching her was too nice of an idea to give up. So she just smiled at him. They both stayed seated, and she leaned a little into him as she just sat there a little bit.

His news, however, made that smile vanish and turn into a frown. "What? That doesn't sound like him at all. It can't be right. He can be protective, but he'd never spread rumors. He doesn't even know you." She frowned up at him and wondered why the rumors were about. "Besides, I told him you were a good guy." She smiled again and squeezed his hand. "But why would Ryan send you that message if it's not true? I'm almost entirely sure it's not."

Evan sighed, his eyes closing. "Ryan has done this before. He's probably mad I didn't help him go after Drew or something, so he's trying to give me a reason." Evan shook his head, then looked back at Sophie. "He'll get over it though."

The theater was empty now, and Evan looked around with a smile. The people who clean the theater hadn't arrived yet, and Evan wasted no time turning to Sophie, leaning in for a kiss. His hand found its way to her cheek, caressing it gently. The kiss itself was firm, passionate; however Evan made it much shorter than he truly wanted it to be. After a few seconds, he broke away, pulling away from Sophie and standing up. He stretched a little bit, then offered his hand to Sophie. "Wanna get out of here?" he asked, with a smile.

He wasn't sure where they would go after this, but he didn't care as long as he was with her.

Sophie frowned. Now, why would he be friends with someone like that? It just didn't seem right that someone as sweet and gentle as Evan would be friends with someone as mean and harsh as Ryan. But that thought was soon cut off--along with her other thoughts--when he turned and kissed her. She melted into it and kissed him back, enjoying the caresses. She blushed softly as he pulled away and smiled as he offered his hand. "Please. Did you still wanna go to dinner with me?" she asked, standing with him, stretching a little.

"Of course," Evan said, weaving his fingers in with her's and leading her outside of the theater. Once they were outside, he smiled at her. "We can head back to the pizza place, but I've got another place to show you. Not as atmospheric, by far, but its a nice place. Offers more than pizza." He gave a small laugh as he continued on his way towards his car. He felt good with Sophie, and she seemed to feel good with him. He hadn't forgotten about the message about Drew, he had just considered it case closed; he believed what Sophie said; she knew Drew better than he did by far, anyway.

Once they got to his car, he opened Sophie's door for her, returning to the butler voice he used. "Ma'am," he said, motioning for her to take a seat. Once she was in, he shut the door and wandered around the car, climbing in and starting it up. "So, pizza place or new place?" Evan asked, leaning over and kissing her lightly.

She smiled and let him lead her around, considering the delicious pizza she'd had before and the opportunity to try something new. The pizza was a temptation all its own, but she still had her leftovers. Besides, why miss out on something new? She held his hand until they got to his car and smiled as he opened the door for her. "Why, thank you Jeeves," she said, slipping into his car. She buckled up and took her phone out to turn the volume back up on the ringer. When he climbed in, she kissed him back and said, "New place."

She snuck a peak at the message Amy had sent and smiled. An idea struck her, but she'd take care of that later on. Right now, she was on a date, so she put the phone away and turned her attention to Evan, happy to know more about him. "So what kind of music are your radio presets tuned to?" she asked, watching him drive.

New place it was.

Evan pulled out of his parking spot, getting caught in the traffic of the other movie-goers trying to leave. When she asked about his radio, Evan laughed. "Whatever the factory defaults are," he said, reaching in his glove box and producing a small cable. "I just realized I forgot my iPod, but usually I plug that into my radio and plays what's on my radio." He sat the cord back down into the glove box, and pulled his car forward a little bit as the line slowly moved forward.

"As for what I actually listen to, I'm pretty varied. Rap, rock, dubstep; all of it, really, as long as it speaks to me. I'm odd about music like that," he said, with a laugh. "What about you? What are your radio presets set to?"