Best Friends to Mates

Chapter Two

I nodded my head quickly, making Thatcher smile at me before rolling off of me. I groaned as he did, feeling his full weight on my stomach. "Jeez you lard!" I playfully growled. Thatcher grabbed my hand and helped me to sit up. My face was hot from laughing so hard, making me fan myself with my hand.

"Yes, yes, I know. I am so devishly hot, you don't have to keep telling me." Thatcher teased, shooting me a wink as I fanned myself. I rolled my eyes at him, but the smile remained on my face.

"In your dreams." I snorted, standing from my bed.

Thatcher chuckled, "You're always in my dreams, Tessy." I quickly turned towards Thatcher, my heart speeding up at his words. I stared over at him, not fully understanding what he was saying. "My nightmares." He finished, grinning wickedly at me.

I felt a pang of hurt flash across my heart, but I quickly pushed it away. I forced a smile onto my face, and laughed. "Asshole." I called back as I made my way towards my door. Thatcher jumped from my bed, rushing to block the way.

"Where do you think you're going?" Thatcher smirked, raising his brow at me once again. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Uh, to the bathroom, duh?" I tried to push past him, but his large frame wouldn't buldge. I groaned out, earning another chuckle from Thatcher. "Move, Thatch!" I whined.

"Uhn-uh. Nope, you gotta answer my question first." Thatcher smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. I huffed out.

"Thatcher, please! I gotta go pee so bad!" I whined again, trying to push past him once more. He shook his head at me, making his hair bounce around his head. I held back a smirk that wanted to spread on my face.

"Nope." He replied, popping the 'P'. I groaned, throwing my hands in the air.

"Fine! I was laughing because you were pacing my room, and getting mad about me leaving. I thought it was... ya know, sweet..." I trailed off, looking away embarrassed.

"Why wouldn't I get upset about you leaving, Tessy? You're my best friend." Thatcher's voice softened significantly.

I gulped, and stared at the wall to the side of Thatcher. I didn't want him to see the pained look on my face. "I don't know.." I said.

"Tessy, look at me." Thatcher demanded softly, grabbing my face, and turning me to look at him. "Why wouldn't I get upset about you leaving? Why would you think otherwise?" He questioned.

I shrugged my shoulders, as I glanced down towards the floor. My heart was racing in my chest. "Look at me, Tessy." I glanced back up, and looked into Thatcher's blue eyes. "Answer me, please."

"Because, you... you just.. nevermind, Thatcher. It's not important." I told him. I couldn't bring myself to tell him my reasoning for thinking that way. I didn't want Thatcher to get angry at me.

"It's important to me, Tessa." He growled softly. I looked back up at him, and my heart stopped in my chest for a brief moment.

"I was afraid that you wouldn't care about me leaving, because you have Amy to keep you company now. Why would you even care that I left?" I said, holding back tears that wanted to spill. My eyes glanced back and forth between his own as he allowed my words to register in his mind.

"Tessy, never think that again!" Thatcher growled, his eyes narrowing slightly. I knew he would get mad at me for thinking that way. The tears threatened to spill from my eyes, and I turned my head down quickly so he wouldn't see.

"You mean so much to me, Tess. You have been my best friend since we were kids, and I couldn't imagine my life without you in it. I know that here lately we haven't seen each other as much, but I still love you as much as I always have. You're my best friend, and always will be, Pryntess." Thatcher pulled my face up to look at him again, and my heart almost stopped once again.

Thatcher's eyes held so much sincerity in them that I was no longer able to hold the tears back. I felt the warmth spread down my cheeks as the tears slid down. Thatcher's eyes softened, and he pulled me into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, Thatch." I cried, holding my breath to keep the sounds of my crying quiet. I felt Thatcher lay his cheek on the top of my head.

"Don't be sorry, Tessy. I'm sorry for making you feel like I don't care anymore. I promise I do, more than you know." He told me, making my heart soar with happiness.

After a while of Thatcher hugging me while I cried, and finally getting to use the bathroom, the sad mood was over. Thatcher and I have always been able to talk about our feelings, and problems together, fix them, and then laugh like nothing happened. Over the last eleven years, since we were six years old, Thatcher and I have been best friends. Our parents say that we were attatched at the hip when we were kids, and would cry when we had to leave each other.

Many sleepovers happened because of us throwing fits about having to leave each other. I smiled widely as the memories floated in my head.

"What are you smiling about?" Thatcher chuckled, bringing me back from my thoughts.

"Oh, just remembering when we wre kids, and we would scream and cry when we had to leave each other." I laughed.

"Yeah, and everytime your parents would let me sleep over. We would stay up super late, and sneak down to the kitchen for snacks." Thatcher chided in, reminiscing about old memories.

"We would take as many snacks as we could up to my room, and build a fort out of my blankets, and pillows." I laughed, holding my stomach. Thatcher was laughing along with me, just as hard.

"And we would watch movies all night. I remember we would be so tired the next morning when your mom woke us up for breakfast." Thatcher chuckled, shaking his head.

"Yeah, she always knew that we stayed up late. I think she did that s**t on purpose." I giggled. I leaned back on my headboard, sitting cross legged, across from Thatcher. He was laying across my bed, up against the wall, with his legs dangling off the bed.

"Yeah, I remember the time that we snuck that horror movie from the living room, and waited until your parents went to bed before we watched it. You were so scared that night, I had to sleep in the bed with you, just so you would go to sleep." Thatcher chuckled again

The memory of that night flooded back to me. Thatcher and I wanted to watch the scary movie with my parents, but they wouldn't let us, because they didn't want me getting nightmares. Later that night, we snuck downstairs and took the movie, and watched it under our fort. I remember being absolutely terrified, and Thatcher crawled up in my bed with me, so I could sleep. He played with my hair until I fell asleep.

"We really have been best friends for so long. You're in almost every memory I have, especially from when we were younger." I replied softly, looking down towards my bedspread. My thoughts were consumed with memories of Thatcher and I, before he started dating Amy.

After he got with her, I started seeing less and less of Thatcher. He started canceling plans we had, and skipping out on weekly traditions we would do.

My heart hurt thinking about how much Amy has drove Thatcher and I apart. I always knew that once we got older, that we wouldn't share as much time together; but actually having it happen, hurts even more.

"I'm gonna miss you when you leave." Thatcher spoke up. I glanced over at him, to see him staring down at the bed, like I was. I frowned deeply, feeling the tug at my heart. I would be away from Thatcher for a year, and who knows how much distance Amy will wedge between us by then.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Thatch." I held back the tears that wanted to escape, knowing that today will probably be the last time I will get to spend time with Thatcher like this. When his birthday comes around, and especially if Amy is his mate, I know I will lose my best friend.

"We'll see each other again in no time. The time you're away will fly by." Thatcher said, trying to make me feel better. Little did he know, the time away isn't the only thing that will be seperating us.

"Yeah, we'll see.." I whispered. Thatcher glanced over at me, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"What do you mean?" He asked. I gulped, unsure if I should tell him how I feel or not. It saddens me to think that I'm afraid to be honest about my feelings with my best friend. I never used to have to worry about that, until Amy came along.

"I-... I just.. just, don't forget about me, Thatcher. Promise me you will always remember our friendship together, and our memories." I almost pleaded.

"Why are you saying it like we wont see each other again, Tessy?" Thatcher asked. I swallowed hard, and looked away from him.

"You just never know what the future will be like, Thatcher. A year away from each other could drive a wedge between us.. I'm just.. afraid." I told him honestly.

Thatcher scooted closer to me on the bed, and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I looked over at him, and noticed that his eyes had softened. I smiled weakly.

"Don't think that way, Tessy. You will always be my best friend, I promise." Thatcher squeezed, pulling me into his chest. I rested my head against him, trying to savor what could be the last moments of our friendship.