OK IK IT'S LONG BUT IMPORTANT CHAPTER ALERT THIS IS A MUST READ ik it's a lot of irl scenes and a lot of badly grouped paragraphs but u can push through u got this i believe in u!!!

it was 6:04 a.m. in a planet fitness, and walker was struggling. it might have had something to do with charlie's insane workout. he now understood that being as perfect as charlie was took insane effort, and he had a new kind of respect for the guy. and yet the pain his muscles were being put through was nothing compared to the mental turmoil his brain was going through. 

kaitlyn had never not been his best friend. he felt like even before they'd met, they'd been connected, like he'd somehow known that every close friend he'd made along the way would never measure up to his future best friend. like somehow he'd known he was going to meet her. 

but his friends' words had made him wonder if the things he did for her and the things he thought about her, justified with his constant claiming that that's what best friends were for, was maybe not normal. was maybe behavior of someone who liked their best friend as a little more than a best friend. 

he went through it all in his mind. first, there was the issue of him thinking about her constantly. every single thing reminded him of her. it wasn't just things like seeing a tiktok about someone in the aphrodite cabin or seeing a short brunette cross the street or walking past the skincare section of a sephora in the mall or seeing a shirt that looked like one she wore or smelling a perfume that smelled like hers. no, those were just the obvious things. there were the little things, like that a certain shade of pink in a sunset reminded him of the way her cheeks would flush when she talked about something exciting, or that whenever he saw a girl with a bow in her hair he would think of that one time when she wore a bow in her hair, and remember every time she laughed at one of his jokes on that specific night. that was the issue of him thinking about her a little too much.

secondly, there was the issue of the way she made him feel. he would later on compare it to how he imagined percy felt in the sea - strong, invigorated, like he could do anything. but it wasn't just that - it was the way his stomach would flip when she smiled at him. that one wasn't even one of the new things. that had happened the first time they met and every time since, and he had begun to believe that he was slightly allergic to every food they ate together because of how warm he would feel all over and because of how his stomach would do cartwheels when she smiled at him across the table. he blushed just thinking about it. 

thirdly, there was the way that especially lately he'd wanted to be around her all the time, and not just be around her but talk to her, not just talk to her but hold her, not just hold her but kiss her, and he didn't know how to tell her that he-

"hey, man, you've been bench pressing for the past half hour... i have no idea how many reps you've done, but your arms are shaking, so you might wanna stop..." 

walker let charlie lift the weight from his hands, then sat up slowly. he looked up at charlie, an absolutely shellshocked expression on his face, which was bright red. his hands were shaky.

he wiped his hands on his gym shorts, then promptly slid from the bench to the floor.

charlie sat down next to him. "woah, man, are you okay?"

"no. i'm not. charlie, how long have i been..." walker gulped. he couldn't finish his sentence. 

"what's going on?" charlie looked concerned. he placed a hand on walker's arm. "geez, i know it's only your third time in the gym, but you're burning up. should we get you some water? should i call 911?"

"no, i just..." he hesitated. "charlie, i'm going to tell you something, and you can't tell anyone."

"oookay..." he said, taking his hand from walker's arm. 

"i-i think i like her."

a slow smile began to tug at charlie's lips. "you think you what? who?"

"not like. i think i'm completely in love with her. kaitlyn." he looked up at charlie, who was silently trying his best to fight a grin. 

"go on."

"well, the other day, leah recorded me talking about kaitlyn. and she's done that before, and it's always been funny, and i've always been like no, that's how best friends talk about best friends, and dior was like no, it's not, and best friends don't look at best friends that way either, and i didn't know if she meant that i was looking at kaitlyn that way or if kait was looking at me that way, but suddenly i really, really cared. like i really, really wanted her to look at me that way. and then the doorbell rung and she was there, and she always looks pretty, but she was gorgeous, but she was on her way to some date, and it felt like someone had dumped boiling water on me and i couldn't even look at her and i acted SO dumb, and now i'm here at six in the morning just thinking about her nonstop and i think i'm in love with her."

he felt as though he had made a huge, unexpected confession. to his surprise, charlie burst out laughing. the people on the other machines looked at him in annoyance as he cackled, slapping his leg.

"what?" walker said, confused. did charlie really think he was joking? he would never joke about her.

"took you long enough, man. the rest of us have known it since the day you two met. we've been waiting for this."

"well, i thought you were all joking." walker said, a smile growing on his face. charlie's laughter was contagious

"dead serious, man." charlie gasped for air. "oh man, i gotta tell dior-"

"what- no!" walker's smile dropped. "she's gonna tell leah, and leah's gonna tell kaitlyn and then she'll hate me forever and i'll lose my best friend."

"or she'll feel the same way and you'll start dating the girl you're in love with." walker hadn't even considered that. he felt like the wind had been knocked out of him for the third time in the past 24 hours.

"she doesn't." he shook his head.

charlie, who had recovered for a split second, lost it again. he buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

"holy shit. you're so stupid, scobell, you know that?" 

walker tilted his head. "what?"

"she likes you. she more than likes you. she talks about you all the time when you're not there. i mean, come on, she looks at you like you're a literal god. her face gets red every time someone brings up the idea of you two dating. i'd be willing to bet my life that she likes you back."

"you really think so?"

"i know so." he stood up and pulled walker to his feet.

"c'mon. let's go get breakfast. we can talk about how exactly you're going to tell her. okay?"

"okay." walker followed charlie from the gym. strangely, the confession had made him feel lighter than he had in years.

⮑ author speaks
ok he finally got there!! kaitlyn is not quite there yet though.... what about that date??

ALSO THANK YOU FOR ALL THE COMMENTSSSSS leave more i love hearing abt ur guys' thoughts throughout this and it motivates me to write smmmm