real life, imessage

"no, fuck that. sarah and john b. kiara and jj. pope and cleo." lilith objects from the front, looking back at chris and nick.

"but kiara and pope were great together." chris replies, hanging onto her seat.

"kiara only slept with pope because she couldn't have john b." lilith begins going into detail about her theories. chris watches intently as she gets into something she feels strongly about. he makes comments here and there just to make her talk even more.

he takes this time to admire her features. the way her green eyes glow when the sun meets them, or how they squint when she laughs. if he looks hard enough when she laughs, he can see slight dimples in her cheeks. even just the way she carries herself. her light and caring personality but also the sassy and sarcastic aspect of her.

christopher can't help but fall more in love with this girl. he feels like a cliché as he gets bubbly inside when she flashes her big smile at him, or giggles at his jokes. and whenever she kissed his cheek... he swears up and down he could've died right then and there.

"chris, are you listening?" lilith looks at him, blushing slightly as she catches him staring. he nods and sits back in his seat, turning red at the fact that she found him staring at her.

"was he staring at you?" matt whispers to lili when she faces the front of the car. lilith nods and looks over at him, grinning.

"yeah."

"he's so into you, lilith. everyone can see it but you." matthew keeps his low volume so that chris can't hear them talking.

"nope. i don't think so." lilith shakes her head. "we're just friends."

"i'm going to quote tate mcrae for a second here, 'friends don't look at friends that way'." lilith rolls her eyes at him, turning around to see chris' eyes down on his phone.

"what are you two conversing quietly about up there?" nick asks, poking at lilith's side, making her giggle quietly.

"none of your business, nicolas." matthew replies, in a sassy tone.

"well, excuse me then! i'll just have a conspirational convo with christopher." nick puts his hand over his mouth as he whispers in chris' ear.

"no fucking way. shut up with that shit, nick." chris pushes him away and leans into the door.

"what did you say?" lili looks back at him.

"none of your business, lilith mariana." nick copies the sassy tone matt used earlier to reply to her.

lilith only laughs it off to open a text from chris.

chrispy🤌🏼

hey

why are you texting
we are literally in the same car?

i need to talk to you later
i don't want the guys to hear

oh okay

they ask too many damn questions

this is vv true

you look so pretty.

you can't even see my face

i just know you look gorgeous rn
i hope your face is red
and there's a big grin on your face
despite the fact that matt could look over and see you rn

chris
literally i will throw my phone at you

do it then
bitch

lilith grabs an empty and tosses it in the backseat, hitting chris square in the forehead. she laughs loudly after hearing the sound it made.

"ow!" chris rubs his face. "don't start something you can't finish."

"i can finish it just fine." lili pulls her bottom lip in between her teeth, leaning her chin against the seat. chris quickly throws the bottle towards her, but misses as she ducks with a squeal.

"ha, bitch! you missed!" lili teases as she comes back up, only for her face to be hit with an empty box of cheez-its. she winces and puts a hand to her face. chris dies of laughter, nearly falling on the floorboard.

"okay, christopher. this is war." lilith smirks, turning around in her seat just as matt pulls into the hotel parking lot.

-

after settling in, the group heads out to a casual restaurant for dinner. lilith scoots into the booth, expecting for nick to sit beside her, but chris takes the spot instead.

opening a menu, she already knows kind of what she wants. the waitress that comes over carries herself lightly and in a polite manner.

"hello, guys. i'm kiara and i'll be taking your orders today!" she flips open a small notebook and clicks her pen. "what beverages can i start you guys off with today?"

"i'll have a pepsi."

"a dr pepper, please."

"pepsi."

"can i please have a dr pepper, as well?"
nick intertwines his fingers on top of the table. the red-head nods, walking away with a smile.

chris faces the menu, secretly looking at lilith through his peripheral vision.

"what are you guys getting to eat?" lilith looks up as nick asks a question.

"the spaghetti. it looks scrumptious." lili smiles sweetly over at nick, then turns to see chris and matt laughing at her.

"i'm going to get the cheeseburger. it looks scrumdiddliumtious." matt mocks lilith, making her laugh at his weird word choice.

"i'm going to be safe and get the chicken spaghetti." chris looks over at lili, "it sounds absolutely delightful."

all the boys began talking back and forth in a posh tone, even going to the extent to pretend to drink with their pinky up. when the waitress walks back up, she is taken aback by their different voices, but when the guys start laughing, she realizes it was a joke.

"are you guys ready to order?" kiara looks around the table to see everyone nod. she then begins writing down every order. when she has matt and nick's attention, chris slides his arm around lili's waist and pulls her closer to him.

immediately, the smell of expensive perfume hits him. he smiles at it, looking over at lili who has gone back to looking at the conversation going on between nick and the waitress.

lilith's face burns red by the feeling on chris' arm around her. a tingly feeling spreads across her body when chris looks over at her. she tries to play it off that it's not a big deal that he's being more affectionate, but she's freaking out on the inside.

after the waitress walks away, nick and matt both notice how close lilith and chris are right away. nick gasps as matt tilts his head to the side.

"chill the fuck out, nick." lilith looks around at the people now looking at their table.

"aww. are you guys finally realizing how much you like each other?" nick ignores lili by asking a question.

"what?" lilith widens her eyes.

"we don't like each other." they say in unison, surprising each other.

chris feels a pang in his chest, not realizing how much those few words could impact him. he pulls his lips into a line, looking over at lilith, who seems to be zoned out.

lilith couldn't help but feel guilty saying those words despite not actually meaning it. she completely lied to herself and everyone at the table. she just realized her feelings for chris. the way he smiled at the littlest things. and the way he's rubbing circles on her side with his thumb right now. she snaps out of the thought and looks up to see matt looking at her.

"do you guys think we're fucking stupid?" matthew deadpans, looking at the two with a serious look on his face.

"i have no idea what you're talking about." lilith leans back into the seat and chris' shoulder. "we're just friends."

goosebumps appear on chris' arms.

three words just hit him like a bullet train. right in the chest, shattering his heart. he frowns slightly, which matt notices.

"you might want to rethink that, lili." matt looks at chris, which lilith copies. his smile that was there is now replaced by a gloomy frown. lilith's face drops, realizing just how much those words meant to chris.

the waitress walks up with their food, pushing away the conversation that just happened. once they begin eating, different conversation picks up, making the duo temporarily forget about the confusing conversation.

lilith and chris have separated slightly so that they could have room to eat. during the entire stretch of the dinner, they couldn't help but find ways to make physical touch with each other. light kicks or brushing of arms. they are slowly coming to their senses, but neither of them want to admit it.

author-to-reader :

oh my lord-

writers block sucks ass

on another note, this story has 5 fucking thousand reads. i cannot believe it.

thanks for reading!

also, chris and lili, they're getting more affectionate 😏😉

so excited!!

see ya next time, loves <33