┏━━━━⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚⋆━━━━┓

FORGIVENESS

"BEFORE YOU KICK ME IN THE ASS AND CURSE MY ENTIRE BLOODLINE, CAN I PLEASE APOLOGIZE FIRST?" 

From her place in the doorway, Nelly looked at her friend that was nervously fidgeting on her front porch. The Sequoia girl had two options: she could either slam the door in Kim Connweller's face and maintain her angry streak, or she could let the girl say what she needed to say.

Despite her mind begging her to choose the former, Nelly couldn't help but pry the door open further. "I wouldn't your entire bloodline," she responded, stepping aside to let her friend through the door. "I love your grandpa too much to do that."

Kim catapulted herself through the doorway with a laugh bubbling from her chest. "Fair enough." Nelly guided the girl towards her room, making sure to shove the paint cans out of the way so the girl could sit at her desk while Nelly took up residence on top of her bed. Kim sat down, eyes immediately locking onto the wall that had a million pencil markings on it. "Summer project?"

Kim knew her so well. "Yeah; it's just something to do."

It was silent for a beat. "Nell I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am," Kim breathed out, her forehead creased in distress as she looked to her friend. "I just— it wasn't my place, or Jared's for that matter, to invite him last week."

So Jared was involved in this somehow. Nelly's eyes narrowed. "Why am I sensing a 'but' here?"

Kim seemed to take a deep breath, her hand nervously playing with the hair tie on her wrist. "What you and him had was so special," she began, and it made Nelly's stomach twist in something other than anger— nausea. "I'd hate for you to throw it away, especially when he feels so horrible about what happened."

"And how exactly do you know that?" she quizzed the girl.

Hesitation. "Jared and him have talked about it."

Nelly hummed, not totally pleased with that cryptic answer; however, did she really want to abandon her friendship with Kim because of him?

No, she wouldn't let him ruin another good thing for her. Not this time.

"I just want to have a fun summer with you and Kira," Nelly responded, pointedly avoiding the topic they'd just been discussing. "I don't want any boy talk, I don't want any of his forgiveness... I just want my girls."

Kim's hand found a place on her knee, squeezing gently.

"You've got us, Nelly Belly."

˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

That day was officially deemed as a Kimmy and Nelly day, especially with the third member of their trio busy working what seemed to be an incredibly long shift.

They'd been lounging in Nelly's room, door open while they began touching up a couple of sketched lines on the mural wall. The pair of girls were talking aimlessly about the things they'd missed in their five days of not talking with one another, and apparently Kim's manager would be promoting her soon.

To celebrate, and technically since lunchtime rolled around, Nelly made them sandwiches to eat. They sat on the carpeted floor of her room, Nelly wiping mustard from the tip of Kim's nose while she barked out some laughter, and everything had been relatively peaceful.

Until the back door opened and shut with an earsplitting slam. Both girls' eyes widened at the sound that was paired with angry stomps that trekked toward the opposite end of the home, followed by another slam of the door.

Tate.

Nelly sighed and rose to her feet, sandwich on its plate abandoned on the floor. "I'll be one sec."

Kim nodded, her own chewing ceased for the time being, and Nelly was off in pursuit of her brother. Her feet were silent on the ground, pressing her ear against the door in order to hear what she was going to be walking into. There was only a deafening silence.

"Tate?" she called out from her side of the closed door. More silence. "Can I come in?"

She never got a response and her worry immediately spiked. With a bated breath, she cranked his door open and stepped within his room— and what she found was nothing short of a sheer disaster.

Tate's room had never looked so disheveled. Books were splayed across the floor, his desk chair was literally laying on its side, and as for the boy himself, he was currently laying on his bed with the sheets and blankets on the floor beside it.

With tentative steps, she approached the boy whose eyes were closed. If it wasn't for the way his chest was rising and falling, she would've assumed he was fucking dead. His bangs were sticking to his forehead, so she reached over to brush them away slightly, only to pull her hand back with a hiss.

His skin was hot to the touch, and up close, she noticed the faint flush of his cheeks. Shit, was he sick?

Nelly began tapping his left cheek, trying to wake him up, but all he did was grumble something incoherent under his breath and turn on his side. She closed her eyes for a moment before leaving the room, going to the living room in search of her grandmother.

Tabitha wasn't there, and her absence made Nelly remember that she said she'd be out until the afternoon.

"Everything good, Nell?"

Spinning around, she saw Kim entering the space. Nelly waved her hand dismissively. "I think Tate's got a fever," she said, tugging her lip between her teeth as she crouched beside the tv stand. Opening a drawer, the one that kept their medicines, she tried ruffling around for the one he needed.

"A fever?" Kim asked— no, more like repeated.

"Yeah, he must've caught some bug from his friends," Nelly speculated, "those boys never wash their hands... it's so nasty."

Her friend hummed. "I've gotta be home in a bit anyways, but I can leave so you can take care of him?" she offered.

Nelly thought that was a sound idea, because if her brother had come down with the flu or even something worse, she'd feel so guilty about it spreading to the Connweller girl.

So, she agreed with a nod. "See you tomorrow?"

Kim nodded, and Nelly didn't pay her hesitant grin any mind.

"Tomorrow, yeah."

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚⋆

[ wyn's note ]

somethings up with the sequoia siblings... ruh roh...

next chap is deffo gonna be one of my faves bc tribe secrets await ;) wink wink nudge nudge BONFIRE BABY