a/n: just wanted to let you guys know in advance that uh,, there's revival brooke and jenna in this. other than that its obc bc i love all of them. and can we appreciate the bmc girls in this fandom i love them

also sorry for taking this down!! there was a part that was really bothering me and i wanted to change it. if you want to read the deleted scene, just switch to chapter called "chapter eight deleted scene"! I've had to DM a lot of people so I figured it would just be a lot more practical to make an actual chapter of it. enjoy!

****

"You gotta get a load of this!" Rich ran downstairs to the basement Michael was in, a wide grin on his face.

The Filipino swished his chair around, "Hm?" He hummed, letting the tingle on his lips calm down for a moment afterwards.

"So, you know Jeremy? Heere?"

"Obviously. Why?" He cocked a brow

"Brooke told him I was a medium. A MEDIUM!" Rich cackled, "What an idiot!"

"Are you a medium?"

"NO! Geez, Michael. But also, he thinks mediums can like, crack dreams and their meanings. If mediums can't do that, I certainly can't do that! And I don't know why, me! Me of all people, he felt he had to ask!"

"Well, if Brooke told him then he probably--"

"And you know what he said? What kind of dream he had?" There was a pause, "It was a dream about you!" He laughed, "He's falling hard! Just saying." The blonde had a cocky grin on his face.

"He's not falling." Michael said quickly.

"You shoulda seen him," Rich's laughter died down, "he was TOTALLY falling. Anyways, I'm getting Chinese with Jake and Chlo. Just wanted to let you know that before I left. Adios!" He ran upstairs.

For some reason, Jake thought it would be a great idea to get Rich and Chloe in the same place together. To put their differences aside, maybe, but that wouldn't be how it would go.

****

Rich walked into the hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant Jake had forwarded him the address to. He was wearing a dark green hoodie over his iconic muscle shirt, hands in his pockets. Frankly, the blonde wasn't really looking forward to this, but Jake was his friend, and Chloe made him happy, so he'd suck it up and spend a half hour with the two of them.

After a few moments of scanning the place over, his eye was caught by the familiar brunette waving his hand with a wide smile on his face. Rich flashed him a weak smile back, then made his way to the table that was about to seat all three of them.

"Where's Chloe?" Rich asked as he sat down, brows furrowing slightly and face relaxing.

"She hasn't shown yet." Jake pursed his lips, "I just got here though, so I'm sure she'll be here soon." He smiled hopefully.

"Yeah." Rich nodded, "I give it ten minutes tops."

Jake had this look in his eyes that almost gave Rich a pang to run through his whole body. It was so helpless and hopeful. It looked like Jake could melt if Chloe said one word, like a small puppy. Puppy love, Rich would call it. Something he hadn't seen Jake have before. It almost hurt seeing Jake like this, seeing him be so vulnerable and knowing that Chloe could snap him so quick.

The brunette didn't let many people in. He kept most at bay, to the point where they couldn't hurt him, but this was different. He'd let Chloe in, and that scared Rich. That scared him really bad. He wanted Jake to be happy, of course, but why with her? Why with someone as bad as Chloe? She could be vicious, and Rich knew it.

Eventually, fifteen minutes passed with no Chloe. Rich pursed his lips, looking at the not as hopeful Jake as the sparkle in his eyes started wearing down and his body started to slouch. The blonde swallowed his pride and put his hand on Jake's.

"Are you okay?" Rich asked with an endearing tone. He was like this to very little people.

"Yeah, I guess. . ." Jake let his voice drift off as he looked into nothing.

"Wanna ditch this place and go to the arcade down the street?" Rich offered with a forced smile. He was trying to keep it a bit lighter for Jake, but the way he was genuinely feeling wasn't exactly discreet.

"Five more minutes." Jake said, shrugging his hand away from Rich's.

The blonde's breath hitched. He stared at his friend for a moment before gulping and nodding while pulling his hand away from its spot slowly, "Okay. . . Five more minutes it is." His voice was meek.

****

"I don't even know if I should go through with this, Brooke." Chloe pursed her lips while Brooke curled her hair.

"You should go through with it! Are you crazy?" Brooke responded, "You really like Jake. You can't just ditch him like this, and use you getting stuck in traffic or me curling your hair being an excuse for not showing."

"I know!" Chloe groaned, "I sound like you when you had your thing with Jeremy."

Brooke paused, her fingers clutching the curling iron a bit harder than before. She started to stare blankly into Chloe's hair and didn't stop until she smelled smoke coming from the curling iron. This quickly snapped Brooke out of her trance, and she continued curling.

"Can we not talk about Jeremy and I? Please?" Brooke gulped.

"Yeah. . ." Chloe nodded, "Sure."

Brooke straightened her ballcap, then continued, "So what are you going to do? Ditch him or go to him? You're already twenty minutes late."

"I think I should ditch him." Chloe responded, "This type of thing scares me, and you know how I am when I get scared."

The bald girl sighed, "I know. . . And I understand how you're feeling! But you can't let fear take over what you do. I did that with Jeremy, and you see where we are now. Nonexistent."

"I'm gonna ditch." Chloe said matter-of-factly before flopping onto the bed. Her hair waved out of the curling iron.

"Okay. . ." Brooke sighed, "Either, ditch him and deal with him tomorrow being sad and asking you why, or go and it be slightly awkward or just played off as a misunderstanding."

Chloe pondered for a moment. Brooke was really set on getting her to go, wasn't she? "Fine. I'll go." The brunette popped up.

"Then go fast! You can't be a second later than you already are!" Brooke exclaimed, a wide smile pulling across her face.

****

By the time Chloe pulled up (in Brooke's mom's car) to the Chinese restaurant, she saw Rich and Jake in Jake's car (Rich had Ubered there). Rich was comforting Jake, an endearing look on his face. He was rubbing Jake's back while talking to him in a soft tone.

"I know it's sad, but I told you she was a lying backstabber." Rich said, gradually speeding his pace up as his sentence went on.

"I should've known!" Jake sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Lets go to the arcade." Rich told him, hand stopping.

Chloe looked at them with sad eyes. She pursed her lips. Chloe figured that if she'd go to them, she'd make it awkward, and that if she didn't go to them, she'd have to face Jake at school the next day (but not if she persuaded her parents into letting her stay home). The brunette sighed, and put her car in reverse. She drove off with mounds of guilt placed on her shoulders.