The Squad Effect

Chapter 14 | Misunderstandings

Cameron Dallas

I heard a knock at our door, so I got off our new black couch.

"Hey." I smiled at Nash as I opened the door for him. I hadn't seen him since we came to an understanding of where we stood in each other's lives. I was expecting a smile or maybe a kiss on the cheek, but what I got shocked me to the point where I froze. Nash reeled back and slapped me across the face.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked as I rubbed the reddening area on my face, to stop it from stinging once I unfroze.

"Yes, it was, asshole." Nash seethes.

"Asshole? What did I do?" I ask.

"Don't act like you don't know!"

"I seriously don't know." I reply.

"...And you lie to cover it up? That's really not helping your case Cameron." He raged on.

"I'm not lying Nash. I don't know what you're talking about."

"I knew that you were going drag me down from the beginning! I hate you, Cameron Dallas." He shouted while walking back across the hall to his room.

"But I-" I tried, but he slammed the door loudly, causing me to flinch at the sound. I just stare at the closed door with my mouth slightly open.

"Woah, what'd you do to him?" Taylor asks while walking into the living room casually.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I guess I have to fix this if I don't want to get stabbed." I sigh. "Wanna come with me to the store?"

"Sure. What do we need?" He asked in return.

"A card, flowers, chocolate, and apparently a clue." I elaborate.

"I feel like condoms would be a nice touch too." He adds.

"What for? He's mad. Something tells me that s*x isn't an option."

"Dudes love it when you're sweet to them, especially when they've done nothing to deserve it. In my experience, nine out of ten times, they'll let you pipe after being irrational like that." He explained.

I'm highly doubtful that Nash'll let me "pipe," but it's worth a shot.

I go back into the room with Taylor and we grab all our stuff before heading out.

*

I come back with all the necessary tools to make Nash forgive me, for whatever the f**k I did. Taylor was fussing with the things we had bought, arranging them obsessively in my arms. He put the white roses in a wicker basket along with a heart shaped box of chocolates. Taylor had opened the box of condoms and took out two before stuffing them into my back pocket as well. He then gave me the thumbs up as he walked back across the hallway and into our dorm room.

"Good luck!" He whispered before closing our door. I knocked on Nash's door before hiding the basket behind my back, so Shawn wouldn't see it if he happened to open the door. Lo' and behold, the door was opened by Shawn.

"Can I speak to Nash please?" I ask.

"Nash doesn't want to speak to you." Shawn glares at me.

"Don't you think I know that? The point of me coming over here is so that he'll want to talk to me." I say.

"I doubt that anything you say will make him talk to you, sorry." Shawn says before closing the door in my face. Taylor walks out of our room.

"My baby is such a good friend." He coos after Shawn.

"Taylor can you help me please?" I ask.

"How can I help?"

"Distract him or something. Make him let me in." I mutter. Taylor nods and knocks on the door. Shawn opens it. His eyes light up as he sees Taylor.

"Hi baby. Can you please let Cameron speak to Nash?" Taylor whispers while walking up to the door. Shawn looked like he was thinking hard.

"Come to my room baby." Taylor says while pulling Shawn from the doorway. His cheeks were turning a pale shade of crimson.

"Taylor... I can't." Shawn mumbles while blushing.

"Oh, come on. If Nash truly hates Cameron, you blocking the door will have served no purpose." He convinces Shawn before kissing his forehead.

"If I hear that anything negative happened, you can consider yourself dead." Shawn said while pointing an accusing finger at me, before being dragged into my dorm room. I rolled my eyes and went into their dorm room.

I noticed that Nash was lying face-down against his pillow once I entered his bedroom. I could hear his breathing, which seemed too unsteady for him to be sleeping. I put all of my presents on Shawn's bed before walking over to Nash's. I sat down next to him and began rubbing his back. Nash immediately shrinks away from my touch before flipping over, an alarmed look on his face.

"Get out!" He ordered angrily.

"Not until you tell me why you're mad." I put my foot down

"Out of all the people you could've kissed, you had to choose my brother. My f*****g brother."

"I've never kissed your brother. Who told you that I did?" I asked confusedly. He was silent for a few moments before swallowing and speaking again, looking skeptical.

"Hayes himself."

"Alright, let's have a talk with Hayes, so that he can tell you that that's not true." I suggest.

"Seems like you've done enough talking with Hayes." Nash groaned while rolling his eyes.

"I've never even had a conversation with Hayes."

"Oh, so, you just f****d him once and left without a word? That makes things much better!" Nash says sarcastically as he rubs his temples. I noticed Nash's phone on the bed. His phone didn't have a password so, I just opened it. I called Hayes. It only rang twice before he picked up.

"Yeah Nash?" Hayes answers.

"Hi Hayes, get to Nash's room right now. It's an emergency!" I tell him, just to get him here faster.

"Okay, I'll be there." He says while hanging up the phone.

A couple of seconds later we heard a feverish knock at the door. I stood up and walked out of the room to the door.

"Get in here." I ordered Hayes. He walked in slowly, seeming guilty. I dragged him to the bedroom.

"Wanna explain why Nash thinks I kissed you?" I ask Hayes.

"Because you... did?" Hayes obviously lied.

"Hayes, that's a lie and you know it. Tell him the truth before I knock you out." I cross my arms.

"Okay, okay. Fine. I lied. Nash caught me with my boyfriend and he made me go and break up with him afterwards, but when I went to go break up with him, he gave me a hickey. When Nash saw it, I knew he'd think my boyfriend and I were still together, so I assumed since Nash already hated you, it wouldn't make a difference to say that you gave it to me." Hayes said all in one breath. As understanding washed over Nash, an angry look spread on his features.

"Look what you've done." I stated.

"I'm sorry Nash." Hayes said.

"Yeah, we'll talk later. Leave." He ordered Hayes. Hayes nodded solemnly before turning around and leaving the bedroom. Nash only spoke once the sound of the door closing could be heard around the dorm.

"Today has been the worst day." He sighed while collapsing back on his bed. I picked up the basket I had brought before handing him each item consecutively. I started off with the card, before handing him a white rose. As he accepted the flower, a small smile appeared on his face, followed by a light crimson blush.

"I'm sorry, that I jumped to conclusions." He apologized while rolling his eyes playfully.

"No worries just don't do it again." I mumbled while leaning down. Nash pulled me on top of him eagerly. I eliminated the space between us by connecting our lips in a passionate kiss. I slid my tongue into his mouth as soon as I could. During the course of our make out session, Nash's hands found their way to my ass. His hands pass over the same spot about three times. I dismissed the action in my mind and let my hands travel to his crotch to pull down his zipper.

His hand slips into my back pocket, which I didn't mind it until I remembered what was in there. Nash pushed me away, seeming surprised and disgusted with me at the same time.

"Condoms, Cam? Really?" He asks.

"Yeah... I don't see what the problem is. Better safe than sorry, right?" I ask, hoping he'll agree.

"You planned this, didn't you? All so you could get rewarded?" He says.

"No, Nash. You've got it mixed up. I didn't do this to get rewarded. I don't want to f**k you." I say. The look of disgust stays constant. "s**t, Nash... I care for you enough to not pressure you into anything. The condoms weren't a part of my plan. Taylor gave them to me. My plan was to apologize and that's it, but he figured that if things got heated afterwards, I wouldn't want to ruin the mood by getting up and leaving to get a condom." I explained. This time the look of disgust faded.

"I believe you, but I still think that you should go. I'm not in the mood for company anymore." Nash bites the inside of his cheek nervously. I nodded silently as I turned to face the exit of his bedroom.

"Enjoy your gifts." I sighed.

"Thanks Cameron." He replied just as quietly. I exited the room and proceeded out of the dorm. As I entered my own room, I was met with Taylor and Shawn making out on the couch in their boxers.

I felt as if all of my energy had been drained, therefore I was not in the mood to witness one of Taylor's exploits.

I took the last condom out of my pocket and examined it. "Here! You'll need this if Shawn's self-control gets the tiniest bit worse." I muttered aggressively after whipping the condom at the couple on the couch. I stormed through the living room and slammed the bedroom door behind me once I was over the threshold.

Less than a minute passes before the bedroom door opens again.

"So, I'm guessing your apology didn't go too well?" Taylor questions as I stretch out on my bed.

"It was going fine until he found the damn condoms in my back pocket. Now he's mad again, thanks to you." I groan.

"Hey, I get it. You're mad. But that gives you no excuse to take it out on me or my boyfriend, Cameron. That s**t's not cool." He insists calmly.

"Since when is stating facts the same as displacing my anger? I'm confused about the whole abstinence thing anyway. You know, with Shawn being such a desperate w***e and all." I jabbed again.

"Take it back." Taylor orders seriously.

"Take what back?" I ask with the same amount of levelheadedness.

"Take back what you said about my boyfriend."

"Why would I? It's all true." I narrowed my eyes. He wrapped his hands around my neck, beginning to strangle me for my trespasses. I coughed and spluttered while kicking out at him, attempting to get him to let me go.

"I-I'm sorry! I take it back!" I choked out. Taylor released my neck, causing me to collapse back onto my bed. He fell back right beside me.

"You're so damn stupid." Taylor groans.

"You're a f*****g train wreck." I replied.

"Why are you being like this?" He asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"I'm sorry." I shrugged.

"It's okay."