˖ ࣪ AGAIN, AGAIN, 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡
AGAIN. . . !

━━━━━ ( 018. real life / imessage )
✶  ・・❛ YOU ARE IN LOVE. ❜

( ☼ )

CHRIS RUNS A HAND THROUGH his messy hair as matt in front of him opens the gas stations door. the dinging of a bell is heard as chris walks in behind him, followed by nick and astoria afterward.

he instantly heads towards the chips section while nick and astoria head for candy instead and matt goes to the drinks.

he spots the barbecue twists he always gets and reaches out to grab them when his ears perk up. his movements slow as he comprehends the song playing through the stores speakers.

what type of fucking gas station plays 'you are in love' by taylor swift?

his eyebrows come together in a deep furrow and he turns to leave the same aisle he just entered, his bag of chips still in hand. all he wants is chips so while his brothers and astoria are picking out what they want, he takes the opportunity to head for the register, wanting to get a peak of who the fuck is in charge of the music here.

he usually wouldn't be so curious when it comes to a strange choice of song but when the song gives him minor ptsd, he is in fact very curious.

his eyebrows lose their furrow and instead raise to the top of his forehead when he finds gian behind the register and finnley greggory out of all people leant against the other side of the cashier counter. gian looks blatantly unamused while finnley looks like he's having the time of his life, a bright grin on his face.

chris' movements slow. this is a very odd duo for him to run into and honestly, he's not quite sure how to approach this.

see, he used to know gian. in fact, he used to be friends with gian. that was when he was dating clementine though, so when she chose clementine over him after the breakup, he couldn't even be offended. he met her through clementine and he's always really respected her, even though she might not like him as much since he accidentally broke up with the love of his life and all.

still though, she's one of clementines current friends that chris actually likes. she's not a preppy cheerleader or a football guy who's stuck up jaxs ass and automatically stuck up clementines ass as well. she actually used to completely back up chris when it came to his rivalry with jax. she understood his hatred and it instantly made him appreciate her twice as much.

and with finnley it's a whole other thing. chris doesn't have a clue how he should feel about him. seeing as finnley is one of jax's closest friends, any smart person would assume it would make him hate chris, but that just isn't the case.

most guys on the football team or just jax's friends in general will shoot chris a dirty look in the hallways (that chris is always quick to return) or keep their head down because they don't want any problems with him themself. when it comes to finnley though, he always nods his head at chris when he sees him in the hallway. he liked his last instagram post too which is a little bit of unusual behavior from a guy on the football team, considering the caption was throwing shade at jax.

"chris sturniolo?" chris' thoughts are cut off by the man himself—finnley. chris looks over to him and can't decipher what he's thinking from his tone of voice, so he just sends him a tight-lipped smile.

"my man!" he exclaims, now allowing a smile to form on his face that makes chris' eyebrows raise even more. he forces out a chuckle like he's not extremely confused why he's so excited to see him and walks over to where he stands. "how's it going?"

"it's going great," chris responds, his eyes glancing over to gian who is eyeing him up and down. he clears his throat and awkwardly sets his bag of chips down on the counter since finnley wasn't even purchasing anything. "just uh.. grabbing some chips."

"nice, nice," finnley responds, noticing the glare gian has set on chris and chuckling quietly. he finds the hatred towards chris amusing considering the fact that it's clear he obviously messed up and still wants clementine very badly. he just likes to treat it like it's a tv show. it makes shit like ten times funnier in his head.

gian takes her eyes off of chris and begins to reach for the chip bag to scan it, so chris has to awkwardly speak up again, "oh, i'm waiting for nick, matt, and stori."

gians eyes snap back up to him, almost assuming he just wasn't going to attempt speaking to her. "i see," she responds, returning her hands to rest across the surface of the counter. she decides to be a civil human being and narrows her eyes at him as she finally greets him. "hi, christopher."

he shifts uncomfortably on his feet, coughing a little. "hi, gian."

he feels like he's facing clint again but no, it's just gian, one of clementine's friends. still though, it's almost like he's receiving a disappointed look from his mother.

gian presses her lips together and looks away, chris assuming she's not going to speak any longer. finnley doesn't say anything either, him currently making a 'yikes!' face because of the awkward tension between them. chris sighs and decides he'll be the one to speak next. "are you the one playing taylor swift?" he directs his question at gian.

at that, her eyebrows raise. "i'm surprised you could tell it's taylor."

chris half-smiles, taking that as a 'yes.' he managers a simple shrug at her. "it's a great song." that kind of wants to make him want to die now, he finishes in his head.

gian just nods, so finnley cuts back into the conversation with a bright grin as the chorus begins to play. "it is a great song," he enthuses, agreeing with chris and offering a pat on his shoulder. chris chuckles and finnley drops his hand, then turning back to gian, his look turning smug. "could totally be our song, gian."

chris knows he probably shouldn't, but he decides he likes finnley.

he only has a moment to think about that though because gian and finnley begin bickering back and forth (or basically, him flirting with her and her insulting him) and suddenly, he gets lost in his thoughts.

all he can register now is the sound of the songs chorus playing faintly in the background through the stores speakers. it takes him back to a fonder moment of his life, when he still had everything—before he'd went and messed it all up.

the song takes him back to the time he told clementine he loved her for the first time.

CHRIS AND CLEMENTINE ARE sat at their usual place—the rooftop of clementines apartment building.

chris is sat up with his legs spread apart so clementine can lay in between them. she's got a small painting easel in her hands as she paints the scenery of the starry night sky above them. chris is doing nothing other than admiring her talent and listening to the song she's currently got playing through a speaker. the speaker is playing a spotify playlist she made specifically for chris, full of all the songs that remind her of him, so he always makes it his number one task to listen to the lyrics to the best of his capability.

as his hand is currently toying with the hem of the blanket they're on top of though, his mind is completely elsewhere. see, what makes this night different is that he has something he needs to tell her.

for as long as he's known her, he's constantly felt like he's had three words just on the tip of his tongue and now, he's decided tonight is the night he wants to let them slip out. he wants to make sure she knows how truly and completely in love with her he is. he just can't go another day without saying it, it's killing him.

honestly, his nerves are getting the best of him. there's so many ways he could say it and he's scared that when he tells her, he'll not make it clear enough how deep his love for her goes. he's afraid he'll say too much and scare her away, or maybe say too little and she won't feel the same. he just doesn't have a clue in the world how to get the right words out.

he sighs to himself and tries to focus on something else for the time being. he hears the sound of a new song starting and grows curious, reaching over to clementines phone and clicking on the screen while she continues painting. her screen lights up with 'you are in love' by taylor swift.

true.

chris has never really been a fan of taylor swift in the slightest, but he doesn't mind listening to her when it comes to clementine. anything she loves, he loves as well.

chris bites down on the inside of his lip. he really, really hopes clementine loves him too.

his mind soon becomes an internal debate on whether he should just shout it out right now or postpone saying it for another day. he just doesn't know if he has it in him honestly. he's so unbelievably nervous that he can feel his palms growing sweaty.

he takes in a breath and tries to calm himself down. he decides to try and focus on the song playing when he realizes the lyrics are describing something completely accurate to him.

morning, his place
burnt toast, sunday

chris gulps. oh, he's really got to tell her.

"clementine." her name leaves his lips before he can stop himself, and now he's really got to tell her.

you keep his shirt
he keeps his word

she pauses where she was currently painting a star. "yeah?" she hums, not really thinking too much of his quiet tone of voice.

and for once you let go
of your fears and your ghosts

chris notices how she doesn't turn to face him and sighs. he really needs her to face him. "i uh... need to tell you something," he tells her, immediately wanting to facepalm when his nerves become a little too clear in his voice.

one step, not much
but it said enoigh

clementine goes tense for a second, noticing how unusually nervous he sounds and almost assuming the worst. she frowns and sets her unfinished patining aside and scoots until she's fully turned to face him. when she notices his face, it becomes even more clear how nervous he is. she doesn't like that he's nervous, so she reaches out to grab ahold of his hands. "what's going on?"

you kiss on sidewalks
you fight, then you talk

he tries to take in a deep breath without making it noticeable. he can totally do this. "i've been meaning to tell you this for a while," he continues telling her anything that isn't what he actually needs to. "i just wasn't sure how to say it."

he still isn't sure how to say it. he's honestly got no clue how he's going to get the words out. still though, his point stands.

one night he wakes
strange look on his face

chris is actually beginning to grow more nervous the longer she looks at him with those furrowed eyebrows of hers. "what is it?" her voice is so soft with concern that it would make him fall in love if he didn't already love her with every piece of him.

he frowns, hating how he's unsure of what to even say. he knows what he needs to, he just doesn't know how to word it. he doesn't know if he should just say it exactly how it is or if he should lead up to it. he doesn't know if he should hint to it and see if she knows what he means. he doesn't know how to do this at all.

pauses, then says
"you're my best friend"

it's when the line from the song registers in his ears that he suddenly knows.

he takes in a breath and prays to any and all gods that clementine is as obsessed with taylor swift as she says she is or that she's just been also listening the song currently playing as attentively as he has been.

"you're my best friend."

and you knew what it was
he is in love

he wants to close his eyes as soon as the words leave his lips because she's either going to instantly know what he means or he's going to look like a fool and have to explain it further.

he keeps his eyes open though, and watches as her eyebrows grow even more furrowed. they form a deep crease in her forehead before suddenly, it hits her. chris' heart skips a beat as he watches the way her lips part just slightly and the way her face relaxes into a softer one.

she opens her mouth to respond but chris can't do it, his nerves get the best to him, so he accidentally lets it slip out even more. "and i'm in love with you," he continues, his eyes instantly widening because he did not plan to say that.

you can hear it in the silence, (silence)
silence, (silence), you

clementines eyes go wide and chris almost wants to cover his face in his hands so he won't have to watch her reaction to his words.

he's grateful he doesn't though, when a smile eventually takes over her lips and he swears to god, he can feel the entire world sigh of relief. "chris." her voice is especially soft as she scoots closer to him, rubbing her thumbs over the back of his hands as they're still held in hers.

you can feel it on the way home, (way home)
way home, (way home), you

"i really, really love you, clem," chris is speaking yet again. now that he's started, he has to make sure he gets it all out. clementines smile widens, and the butterflies in his stomach right now are throwing an entire party. "and you don't have to say it back because i know you—"

"i love you too," clementine cuts him off. chris can feel the way his entire body relaxes—the way his heart is suddenly completely warm. "duh."

you can see it with the lights out, (lights out)
lights out, (lights out)

chris doesn't even hide the way he sighs of relief. he lets go of one of her hands to instead come up and cup her cheek, now allowing a lopsided grin to take over his face. "you do?"

you are in love

clementines smile is bright enough to light up the night sky above them. she manages a nod of her head as she leans closer to him. "i do."

true love

chris' heart feels twice as big when he leans in to break the distance between them and when his lips are on hers, he knows there's nowhere else he'd rather be than here—even with some cheesy taylor swift song playing.

actually, especially with some cheesy taylor swift song playing.

"CHRIS, WHY ARE YOU staring off into space, my guy?"

chris is suddenly snapped out the painful memory playing like a film reel in his head by the sound of finnleys voice. he snaps his head over to him and notices the way both finnley and gian are looking at him expectantly. "sorry uh, what were you saying?"

finnley sighs but repeats what he first said anyways, "i asked if you're going to jakes party tonight," finnley tells him. chris is instantly brought back to when jax called clementine telling her to go to jakes party with him earlier. "me and gian are going." he looks over to the girl in question when he speaks and wiggles his eyebrows at her. he receives an eye roll in response, but his expression doesn't even falter.

"ohh," chris responds, eventually giving him a shrug. "yeah, i dunno." chris going to a football guys party is like jax going to a party thrown at the triplets house.

"well, you know who else is gonna be there?" finnley starts, already receiving a look from gian—which he ignores. chris raises his eyebrows, so he continues, allowing a grin to take over a face. "clementine."

oh, the corner of chris' lips turn upwards, he really likes finnley.

"yeah?"

"no."

"yeah."

gian instantly looks over to finnley with narrowed eyes, showing that she doesn't approve of what he's doing since they are the ones who have had to listen to clementine complain about chris since january.

still though, finnley just smiles. he looks over to chris and nods his head. "she'll be there, bud," he assures her. "you didn't hear it from me though."

chris decides not to tell them how he kind of already knew that because he overheard clementines phone call earlier, and instead, grins. "thanks, bro."

"of course, bro."

soon enough, matt, nick, and astoria meet chris at the cash register. they give him questionable looks because of finnleys presence, but he assures them that finnleys now a certified g.

they give him even more questionable looks after that, but he just shrugs it off, instead sneaking off to pull out his phone.

WIFEY 4L (🤞)

wifey 4L (🤞) ( clementine )
Unknown ( chris )

Unknown
this gas station is playing you are in love
i'm thinking of you

it's ten minutes later when he's exited the store and is currently in the car with his brothers and astoria convincing them to go to a party tonight, when his phone vibrates.

he pulls his phone out of his pocket so fast that the device almost slips out of his hands. he catches it though, and sets his eyes on the notification lighting up his phone screen.

wifey 4L (🤞)
stfu chris
now

he grins.

💌

WE'RE BAAAAAAACK 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

i can alr see the comments so yes i know chris hates taylor swift i just don't rlly gaf since this is fiction & it's just an opinion anyways sooo

stay on the look out for chapter 19 and 20 soon btw 😊😊 bc i have them both completely written and ready to go i'm just waiting to publish them until i feel silly enough 😜 and these are NOT chaps u wanna miss 😏😏

<3
jaden