False Spring

"So the way this would work is the two of you would date for a day," James looked at the other two people. His best friend, Chase, and his girlfriend, Mercedes. "We would film everything and put it on my channel."

"Are you insane?" Mercedes asked, eyes wide as a pie pan. "I am not going to pretend to date Chase for a day, so that you can clicks on Youtube."

Chase looked between the two, a smirk on his face. "What if I steal her from you? Given our history together…."

"Come on, Merci. Chase is on board, why aren't you?"

"Because this idea is ridiculous!" She answered. Chase leaned over and whispered something in her ear after her cheeks flamed red. "Fine. We can do this, only we won't be dating in words only. He will be my real boyfriend for the day."

James felt his world shift under his feet. He grabbed the armrest on the couch to steady himself. "What do you mean he's going to be your 'real boyfriend?'"

"We'll do everything couples do," she answered.

"Everything?"

"Everything," Chase said.

"No. No," James shook his head. "Why would you want that?"

"Why would you want to do this video?" Mercedes asked.

"It's a trend," for a second, James thought about the proposition. It seemed as if he realized he was backed into a corner. "Fine. We'll start this tomorrow."

Chase and Mercedes smiled at one another before he leaned into her body; both looked at James.

***

"I guess the first thing we should do is get some lunch," James said. Mercedes clung to Chase's arm. "We can take my car."

After James climbed into the driver's seat, Chase and Mercedes climbed into the backseat. She immediately snuggled into him; he planted a kiss on her cheek, then looked up front and asked, "where are we going?"

"I-I don't know," James shifted the car into gear. Mercedes turned so that she was face to face with Chase. They began to kiss, both men made eye contact. "How does Pam's sound? Or would the two of you prefer the Holiday Inn?"

"Why are you jealous of me and my girl?"

"My girlfriend," James snarled.

"You set this up, we didn't ask to be part of the video you're recording," Mercedes chimed in. "We don't need the views or followers."

"That's not fair."

"Isn't it?"

The diner came into view, so James slammed on the brakes. He turned the car into the parking lot. He noted that daffodils were already sneaking up from the soil. Two of them leaned against one another. A third one slumped over by itself.

"Don't worry, you aren't the third flower over there," Chase assured his friend after noticing the daffodils. "You'll always have me."

"And Mercedes."

"You pimped me out for a video, once this experiment is over, we might need to have a talk about that."

"You don't seem to mind making out with Chase," James muttered bitterly.

***

James sucked in a deep breath as he walked back to the table. When he stepped onto the outdoor patio, he noted that Mercedes and Chase were deep in conversation. Their eyes bore into one another; they acted as if they were the only two people in the world. He cleared his throat, "Sorry to interrupt."

"Chase was just telling me about the time he was in love," Mercedes said in response.

"Oh."

"Why don't you tell her about it, James," Chase encouraged as he played with Mercedes's hair. "Since you seem to feel some type of way about being the third wheel, after asking to be a third wheel."

"I didn't expect to be a third wheel," James countered. "I just thought we'd goof off and, and I don't know. It never occurred to me that you guys might have feelings for one another."

"Apparently there were alot of things that you didn't think about," Mercedes snapped. Her eyes narrowed, brows furrowed. "Like you'd trade our relationship to go viral."

"What is your problem?"

"I'm pretty sure that I've been pretty clear about what my problem is," Mercedes sneered. "On top of this sick experiment you wanted me to participate in, you never told me that you and Chase were a couple."

James looked between the two. He tried to speak, but nothing came out of his mouth.

"That's what I thought," Mercedes stood up and grabbed her purse. "My uber is here. Don't text me, I'll text you when I'm ready."

***

"Why? Why did you have to tell her?" James asked as he paced around the picnic table. After Mercedes stormed off, the men paid the bill and drove to the nearest park in near silence. "We agreed that we were never going to tell anyone."

"We were sharing. She asked if I'd ever been in love. I couldn't lie to her," Chase said, looking at his phone. He set it back down and turned his attention back to his friend. "The real question is why hadn't you told her? You can't build a relationship on lies."

"I don't know," James shook his head. "My video isn't going to work. And, and my relationship is over."

"Initially, we were just messing with you," Chase confessed. "But then something happened. I started to really like her and had to deal with my feelings for you."

"So, what you just want us to get back together? Like forget everything that happened and just give us another shot?"

"Why not?"

"Yea, James, why not get back with Chase?" Mercedes asked. "He asked me to come talk but I don't think there's anything to talk about."

"The video was a bad idea. I didn't think it through," James confessed. "And as unsatisfying as this is, I do love both of you. Maybe I was trying to bring something to a head."

"Let's go," Chase said to Mercedes. He looked back, "when you decide tell us."