REAL REAL FEELINGS
( chapter 9 — new york )

IT HAD BEEN A MONTH SCIENCE EVERYONE MOVED TO NEW YORK; the city was confusing, Gale Weathers had basically abandoned them. They attempted to take the subway places, though quite a few times ended up getting lost. The one thing Lottie had discovered (and loved) was a local doughnut store that sold the best cinnamon doughnuts (in her opinion).

   Lottie's feelings for Chad had only grown stronger; she was over at his apartment almost everyday; the two would play Mario Cart (though they ended up losing because they were too busy laughing their asses off); they loved to watch the Barbie movies (weird, I know, though Chad seemed to love them); and they especially loved baking together (a new skill they had learned). At first their cookies and cakes ended up burnt, though they got better and yummier overtime.

   The two sat on the same beanbag in Chad's apartment; they were both laughing as the Mario Cart race ended. Chad had come 6th, though Charlotte came a whopping 12th (she was too busy attempting to make Chad loose that she made herself loose). "Can you smell that?" Chad questioned through a fit of laughter.

   The laughter died down as Lottie smelt it too; something was burning. "The cookies!" Lottie yelled as she practically threw the remote onto the floor, running towards the kitchen. Chad's roommate Ethan was out tutoring a high school student, so they had the whole afternoon to themselves (as long as they didn't burn the dorm down). Chad continued to laugh as he walked into the kitchen.

Lottie also started to laugh again as she pulled out the cookies they had made; they were almost fully black; Chad and Lottie had both forgotten to set a timer, so they had been sitting in the oven for who knows how long! Along with the cookies came a giant cloud of smoke, causing both of them to giggle. "It's fine, it's fine, just open a window!" Chad chuckled watching the girl cough from the smoke, the boy walked towards a nearby window and opened it, allowing fresh hair to seep into the room.

Lottie sighed as they stopped laughing, "Let's get doughnuts; our cookie recipe needs fixing way." She suggested as she emptied the burned cookies into the bin. Chad nodded his head, turning off the tv.

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THE DAY WAS BEAUTIFUL, THE SUN WAS OUT, AND IT WAS SLIGHTLY WARM. Lottie loved New York City; although it was confusing and busy, she believed it was magical (as people said it was).

The doughnut store was only a short walk away from Chad's apartment, the duo finally arrived, picking out their doughnuts. Lottie was picky and decided to be simple and have a chocolate-covered doughnut with sprinkles on top (usually she would go for cinnamon though she wasn't in the mood), and Chad got a frog in a pond (which was practically the same thing though instead of the chocolate being brown it was coloured green and a little frog chocolate sat on top). "No, don't eat the frog!" Lottie argued as Chad bit down on the chocolate head, causing the girl to let out a fake gasp as they both burst into yet another fit of laughter.

Both the boy and the girl felt their cheeks burn pink as they admired each other. Lottie looked so happy—the happiest he had ever seen her. How can someone so mentally unstable become such a happy and stable person? The girl's hair was neatly straightened and lay on her shoulders; her cheeks were red, though they were covered in beautiful freckles. Chad looked into her beautiful hazel eyes. God, he loved her eyes. Chad had his Blackmore hoodie on (he loved it so much and wore it all the time), and his hair was the same as always. His smile was contagious; she loved his smile. Lottie would do anything to see the boy's smile. She was in love with him. Just like she was in love with Amber Freeman.

The laughter died down as Lottie began to speak, "You know... I was in love with Amber, even when I hated her." Lottie admitted, causing the boy to truly become silent; his smile dropped, and he looked at her in confusion. He wasn't mad; he was genuinely just confused. "I loved her for so long; even after she broke my heart and I tried to let go of it, Mindy treated me like shit and I forgave her, though I couldn't forgive Amber; if I did, I don't think I ever would have gotten over her." She added.

Chad nodded his head. "Love is weird." He remarked, letting out a small chuckle, "I don't think I ever loved Liv; I mean, she had just gotten out of a relationship with your teammate, me and Liv were both at a party and we kissed; she kind of assumed we were dating, so she joined the group and we decided to officially date. I miss her so much, but I don't think I ever loved her." He would never have loved Liv because he had always loved Charlotte.

Lottie nodded her head as she took a bite of the giant doughnut she had in her hand. "You miss Liv?" She asked.

Chad looked down sadly, nodding his head. "I mean, I guess, I miss when we would fight over the tiniest things; I miss her bright pink hair that I could see from anywhere. She was never good to me; she used me to get over her boyfriend, and I guess I did the same, but yeah, I miss her." He answered, looking at the girl before speaking again. "Do you miss Amber?"

   Lottie hesitated, "I mean yeah, after everything, no, she was a horrible person, though I miss who she used to be, like we would have sleepovers every weekend while laughing over random things. I miss making out with her while her parents were out of town. But then I guess she met Richie and decided to use my schizophrenia as an excuse for breaking up with me, she had known about it months because i actually had my episode." She explained, "I miss Wes and Abigail so much though, but I guess they are together now." She added.

   Chad took a deep breath. "Me too," he replied. "Like I know, it didn't seem like it, though Wes was like my best friend; I would tease him all the time, and it was so funny; he knew I was joking; we even talked about girls together; I think I was the only one that knew about him and Abi before she passed."

   Lottie felt like she was going to cry; what turned into a fun afternoon turned into a therapy session with her best friend (also known as the boy she liked). Though they both needed it, Lottie and Chad had been smushing her thoughts down, and they both needed to let them out. "I knew about them; I mean, Abi never told me, but she was horrible at keeping secrets." She chuckled lightly; she was only laughing so she wouldn't cry. The same words are repeating in her head like always. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

   "She was so innocent, I don't think I had ever heard her swear." Chad added, remembering the girl had only swore once, and that was when she fell off her bike in third grade. It was a week before her mother passed away, and even then she didn't swear. Chad observed Lottie's bloodshot eyes and said, "Okay, let's change the subject." He suggested, causing the girl to let out a soft laugh and a deep sigh.

   "I love this new life; I mean, I've been taking my meds and the side effects are gone, and I just love New York." The girl changed the subject, taking a bite out of her donut. Chad laughed as a piece of the chocolate fell onto her top.

   "That's great!" Chad remarked, finishing his doughnut; eventually Lottie also finished her doughnut as they both giggled over the most random things.

   New York was a fresh start; they were happy even with their ways to deal things. They had friends, people they could rely on when they needed it. Lottie had people she could trust. She could trust them with her life, until one day she might not.

— MAEVE YAPS
so I added this chapter because I felt like Chad and Lottie needed more time together before scream vi when they (might 😏😏) get together. They are literally so cute and I can't wait for them to be a thing. Anyways I'm so sorry this chapter is so short I just needed a short filler chapter to end of the act!

Also I've changed some graphics on previous chapters so I hope you like them, unfortunately I won't be giving trigger warnings on chapters due to the fact it just doesn't fit my theme, though it is a scream fic so anything in the movie would be included in this.

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gif by amazing @/softbows <33

BLEED FOR YOU / Maeve
last updated: September 2nd