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( 𝘨𝘪𝘧: 𝘫𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 )

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𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗦𝗜𝗭𝗘𝗦, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗬 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧.

For Cherry Doose, change came in two different shapes. One was New York City. The quiet town of Stars Hollow she had grown used to had been replaced by the busy, winding streets of New York. No longer did she recognise everyone she walked past by. No longer did she walk the streets with a confident destination. But after two months, as she entered the winter in the city, Cherry reckoned she was slowly learning to love her new environment. There was certain comfort in parading unrecognised and blending into the crowd. 

Another change that had derailed her life was Jess Mariano. It hadn't been a sudden change, meeting him a year ago. But his little habits had drawn her in, trapped in a spider's web she'd never escape. The journey that she was on now had begun with the small step of learning his name. Now, Cherry would surprise him at work in Truncheon with coffee as if it were something she'd do for the rest of her days. 

He had somehow believed in her and had opened a path of opportunities she had believed to be a far-away dream.

Which is why Cherry was excited to tell him about her new job.

Digging her keys into the shared apartment, the cold metal of the handle sent shivers through her skin as she swung the door open. The three boys were sat around the small, round table in the kitchen while playing cards. At the sound of her entry, Jess' gaze glanced up, meeting Cherry's as he supressed a soft smile that transformed his features. Troy and Marcus were too focused on the game, not raising their gazes from their cards as they greeted Cherry with a grunt.

Clearing his throat pleased, Jess spread his cards on the table. "I've won."

Marcus groaned as he flung his cards to a side, pushing his chair back. "Of course you've bloody won. Well, I'm making a brew. Cher, do you want a drink?"

"Coffee, please." she chirped, bouncing on her feet slightly.

Yet Troy remained in denial, mouth agape as he shook his head, a dark strand of hair hanging above his eyes. "There's no way you've won four times in a row. You've cheated."

"Have you considered maybe you two are just idiots?" Jess drawled sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at Troy's attempt at a rematch.

"Hey!" Marcus protested from the counter as he poured boiling water into a couple of mugs. "Don't drag me into this, I accepted defeat."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Troy leaned back with an annoyed huff. "Can you blame me for that assumption? You're an evil mastermind."

Taking Marcus' empty seat, Cherry leaned her head on her hand as she raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "Well, this evil mastermind does have some good moves, I must say."

Her comment gained different reaction: Jess' cheeks turned slightly red as he smirked slightly at the blonde, Troy choked on his coffee as he bit down his laughter while Marcus groaned loudly, scrunching his nose in distaste at the couple. "Keep it in your pants, will you?"

"How can I?" Cherry retorted, drawling sarcastically. "Jess would show up to class looking like a punk rock Kerouac and spend the period annotating a copy of 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ', while I would doodle on the bottom of my essays and daydream while staring out the window. How possibly could we resist each other?"

"Good point." Jess muttered, smiling into a kiss as he pulled the blonde towards him.

Troy muttered a 'gross ' under his breath as he stood up and moved away from the table. Pulling away, a bright grin illuminated Cherry's face as her forehead leaned against Jess, who raised an eyebrow curiously. "What has you in such a good mood?"

At the question, Cherry stood up, nervously rubbing her hands together as she got the attention of all the three boys. "So . . . you three are looking at New York's newest waitress!"

"Congratulations!" Marcus exclaimed almost immediately, arms wide as he pulled the small blonde into a hug. "I know how long you've been looking for a job."

"Where's the place?" Troy asked, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl that was mostly decoration, as the group survived from take-away deliveries. "We'll have to go and annoy you." 

The blonde chuckled, leaning on the table as she let her short legs swing. "Just the bar down the road. I've got my first shift tonight."

"Oh, we are so coming." Marcus swung an arm around Cherry, toothpick hanging from his lips as he grinned brightly.

The three glanced at Jess, whose eyes were trained on the mug in front of him as he had not said anything since the announcement. Noticing his companions had fallen to silence, he glanced up, mustering a weak smile as he pressed his lips together. "Congratulations."

Cherry's smile faltered slightly, shrugging off Marcus' arm. "Well, don't sound too excited for me."

Squirming in his seat, he pulled his gaze away. "I just didn't know you were so fixated in getting a job." 

Troy took that as his cue to leave, grabbing Marcus by the wrist and leaving the two alone. Cherry clenched her jaw, eyes narrowed as she stared at Jess, who still refused to meet her gaze. "Well, yeah. You out of all people should know how badly I need the money." at that, Jess sank into silence, licking his dry lips. Cherry searched his face for a sign, some sign, but received nothing. Jess had gotten so good at hiding behind a blank ask when he didn't want to face things. So she decided to give him some space, jumping off the table and clearing her throat. "I'm going to pick up my uniform."

Muttering, Cherry grabbed her things before leaving. 

Jess didn't see her again until Marcus and troy had dragged him into the bar where she now worked later that night. Even he could tell that Cherry was avoiding their table, only getting close to give them their drinks. "Okay, let's see if I can get this right. A beer for Marcus, a vodka coke for Troy and an Old-Fashioned for Jess."

The boys smiled up at her in encouragement, but as soon as Cherry turned away, they interchanged their drinks to the correct order, as Jess gave his to Troy, Troy have his to Marcus and Marcus gave his to Jess. As the latter leaned back and downed part of his beer, he became aware of the other two staring at him. "What? Have I got something on my face?" 

"You are so oblivious." Troy rolled his eyes at Jess. "Why can't you be supportive of Cherry? It's just a temporary job." 

"I am supportive." he muttered under his breath, squirming uncomfortably. When Marcus raised his eyebrow at him, Jess sighed. "Fine. Maybe I have been acting slightly odd—"

"Slightly?" Marcus repeated.

"—but I have my reasons." Jess ignored him, setting his beer down. "Which are completely selfish so don't ask me about them." 

"What reasons?" Troy asked, as if he hadn't heard what Jess had just said. When Jess glared at him, Troy raised his hands in defence. "Come on, it can't be that bad." 

Jess leaned slightly forward, adjusting his shirt. "I'm just . . . I'm just scared that she'll start finding her own life here and I don't know, drifting away from me or something." Troy and Marcus shared a look before bursting into laughter, causing Jess to squirm embarrassed, looking into the bottom of his glass. "I told you it was stupid."

"You didn't warn us it would be that stupid." Troy nudged him, causing Jess to frown in petulance. "It is completely stupid because Cherry is like, head over heels for you. Even Marcus can tell." 

Marcus frowned. "Oi, we're mocking Jess, leave me out of it."

"Geez, thanks." Jess muttered, and Marcus flashed him a grin. 

"Look, Jess." Troy interrupted, steering the conversation back into serious waters. "Just talk with her, instead of projecting your insecurities."

Jess raised his eyebrow. "Since when are you a love expert?" when Troy glared at him, Jess raised his arms. "Okay, fine! I'll talk to her." when Troy continued to glare at him, he added "Wait, you mean now?"

"No better time than the present." 

Turning round the corner of the bar, Cherry nearly knocked into a vibrant red-head, but managed to balance her drinks on the tray, baby blue meeting hazel eyes. "Shit! I'm sorry. Hey, aren't you the new girl?"

"Yeah, this isn't a great first impression. I'm Cherry." the blonde stuck her free hand out, and her new co-worker shook it with a bubbly grin. 

"I'm Jacqueline, though I prefer Jacquie." the redhead replied.

"Hey Cherry, can we talk?"

Jacquie eyed the curly-haired boy carefully, glancing between him and Cherry. "I can cover for you if you need a second alone."

Cherry smiled at her, nodding curtly. "Thanks, Jacquie."

Following her boyfriend outside, Cherry had to use her hands to warm herself against the autumn nocturnal breeze of New York City. Lately, things have been good. Too good. Cherry had learnt from her parents that when things were good, it usually didn't take long for it to turn sour. The blonde had learnt to brace herself for the impact, to assume the flight would eventually end in a crash. Jess on the other hand, had never learned how to appreciate a good thing. Usually, he didn't deserve them, so he pushed the good things away. But Jess couldn't find it in himself to do the good thing of letting Cherry go. Instead, he found himself selfishly wanting her to stay, to entangle her with him.

"I can't stay long, Jess, I'm in the middle of a shift—"

"You, Cherry Doose, have wrecked me." Jess interrupted, digging his hands into his pockets. The blonde stared at him wide-eyed, opening her mouth to speak confused. "Wait, let me finish. I fell in love with you knowing there wasn't any opportunity of us being together and that was okay with me. Until you also fell for me. You turned everything on its head. And since then I've been a wreck. Because all I can do is wait for the other show to drop, for you to realise what a big mistake you've made."

Cherry stared at him, slightly agape as she took a few steps towards him, closing the physical distance between the two. "Jess . . . you are the one and only thing that has made complete and total sense in my life."

He let out an exhale of relief, glancing downwards. "I know it's stupid—"

"It's not." she breathed out, nudging him with her shoulder. "Promise me we'll talk about these things, okay?"

Jess smiled.

"I promise."

But Jess Mariano had never been good at keeping promises or being honest about his feelings. 

omg thank you so much for 100k!!! crikey...this is surreal

it has inspired me to write, and i've published a stiles stilinski fic, an anthony bridgerton fic and a james potter fic go check them out!