🎱. . .CHAPTER 40 ! -----
( real life . . . )
❛ it's embarrassing ❜

ᵣₑₐₗ ₗᵢfₑ !

          Chris didn't realize how much being with mikayla actually meant to him until he heard those words leave her mouth. he's still standing in front of the bathroom door, already missing the sound of her voice and how happy it sounded whenever she said his name. as he takes a few steps back, hitting the handrail of the staircase, he doesn't even feel like going to the carnival anymore.

          "chris..." matt whispers, a crease of confusion between his eyebrows. he glances at the bathroom door, then back at his younger brother, puzzled. "what the fuck are you doing?"

chris shoves his hand into his pockets, dropping his head to the ground, to avoid it looking obvious that he's staring at the room mikayla's in. "nothing," he shrugs, looking up at his brother.

as matt furrows his eyebrows, the bathroom door opens and it reveals mikayla. a quiet 'oh' leaves matt's mouth as he watches her rush to her bedroom next door. "something happen with you guys?" he leans on the wall with his arms crossed.

"no," chris lies through his teeth and the expression forming on matt's face shows he immediately knows his brother's lying. but chris can't help it, he's slowly realizing that he might've lost mikayla even without properly having her in the first first place. he wanted to be hers, but he now knows that might not even be possible anymore.

        

        
         
"So, he really left you hanging like that," chris questions with a tilted head, sitting on the bench next to mikayla. her cheeks are stained with mascara while she slowly nods her head.

ever since the day he helped her get back on the swing in middle school, the park has become their new spot to confide in each other at. the sky melts into a mix of pink, yellow and blue hues, showing that the sun is preparing to tuck itself away for the rest of the day. with the breeze being slightly warm since it's in the middle of june, chris wants to enjoy the weather.

yet he can't because mikayla's currently crying next to him after being stood up on a date by a guy she really liked. her shoulders are slumped and she's fighting the urge to make any eye contact with chris, probably out of pure shame that she let someone do that to her.

          but the thing is, chris really knows what happened. he knows that eliana lockheart's responsible for it because she's the one who asked mattheo to ask mikayla on a date, knowing that he was never going to meet up with her in the first place.

          it angers chris that someone could be so mean to a girl that's like a little sister to her, watching as they fall into a comfortable silence. her head falls to his shoulder, sniffling quietly as a few tears drop and fall onto his jeans.

          "why didn't you tell nate? you only told me," chris utters the question, looking off into the distance and the sunset. he's glad that mikayla still feels comfortable enough with chris to talk to him about something like this, but a part of him is still curious as to why she's venting to him of all people.

          miks continues to rest on chris' shoulder, using her lacy, baby pink shirt to wipe her tears. she clears her throat before pushing her hair behind her ears. "nate was the one who told me not to go in the first place," she shamefully admits, playing with her pleated skirt. "i don't know why i didn't listen to him. maria and lucille said i shouldn't go either, but i still did."

          "i'm sorry miks," chris sympathizes with mikayla, moving his brunette waves out of his face. the park's still empty, and he's glad that they have a moment like this to themselves. "you don't deserve that," his words trail off while his gaze focuses on the girl leaning on him.

          mikayla forces a laugh to prevent chris from feeling so bad for her. "it's okay chris. it's not your fault, don't apologize," she mumbles, pulling herself away from him. "can you drop me home?" mikayla asks and chris immediately nods his head,

        

         
         
          Chris rests his arm around talia's shoulder as the two of them watch a movie in his living room. the room is dark, caused by the lack of light and the only source being the horror film. she pauses the movie, looking up at him before placing a kiss on chris' cheek.

          he chuckles before pulling her closer. talia's lips move from his cheek to his lips, placing a long kiss on them as the movie continues to play. but just as they're having their moment, the living room light's flicker on.

          they immediately pull away from each other, chris' face turning pale as he quickly looks over his shoulder, revealing that it's just mikayla standing in one of nick's hoodies. talia peeks over the couch, rolling her eyes with a scoff.

          see, talia's never said it, but the way she acts around mikayla implies that she has some sort of problem with her. there's no reason to, since chris' attention will always be on talia but he's not sure whether it's because she feels some sort of insecurity towards how close he is with miks.

          "shit, sorry. i left something in here," she admits and chris just flashes her a small smile as she enters the living room.

          chris shifts his gaze back to talia, noticing how frustrated she looks as she stares at mikayla lifting up pillows to try and search for something. talia huffs, shuffling away from chris. "can you hurry the fuck up? we were in the middle of something," she curls her upper lip and mikayla side eyes her.

           "talia," chris whispers, implying that she needs to stop treating mikayla like this. talia widens her eyes, clenching her jaw at his tone. "stop it," he says quietly so only she can hear but a bitter chuckle leaves her lips.

          miks continues to search for a certain item as talia glares at her, rolling her tongue inside of her cheek out of aggravation. she obnoxiously clears her throat and mikayla slowly turns to face them, her phone — that she was looking for — in her hand. talia repeatedly blinks, "so are you gonna get out now or what?"

          it's obvious that mikayla's trying to hold in her laugh at talia's tone, probably not wanting to anger her any further. she looks at chris quickly, then back at talia, chuckling to herself as she leaves the living room.

          talia immediately stands up, her arms folded in front of chris as she blocks the television. she tuts, clearing her throat and chris is fighting the urge to roll his eyes since he already knows how his girlfriend is about to ramble on about mikayla. again.

          "why do you keep letting her ruin me and you time!" she complains like a little kid as chris frustratedly pinches the bridge of his nose. this is not the first time these exact words have left her mouth and he's starting to get annoyed with how consistent it is. "you can't even stand up for yourself and tell her to fuck off christopher. it's embarrassing," talia rests her hands on her hips, looking down at him.

          "tal, she's like my little sister," he admits again for the hundredth time, but it seems that talia can't care less how many occasions he says that. "you know you're the one for me. the only one for me, mikayla's just my best friend's little sister, what do you actually expect?" his tone is sincere and talia's shoulders slump at his words, dropping on the couch to sit next to him.

          her hands reach for his hair, playing with it between her fingertips. "can you promise me that the next time she tries to bother us, you'll tell her to fuck off?" she pleads, batting her eyelashes at him. talia pouts her lips, as if she's attempting to make chris feel bad for her.

          chris feels like he can't do that; he's known mikayla since they were kids, way longer than he's been with talia. "tal—" he breathes out, clicking his tongue but she cuts him off as she already knows what he's about to say by the tone of his voice.

          "christopher," she repeats in the same tone, retracting her hand away from him. "if you don't tell her to stop trying to mess up our relationship, we're gonna need to take a break," talia mumbles, seeming serious with the expression plastered across her face. she forces a smile, watching as chris nervously chews on his bottom lip.

          "fine talia. i'll tell her to leave us alone," he presses his lips into a thin line and talia excitedly squeals, pulling him into a hug and peppering kisses all over his face, staining his skin with lipstick. chris smiles, internally knowing that it's going to be way harder than anything to tell mikayla to 'fuck off' in talia's words.

        

         
         
          Chris hates how long it took him to realize that the girl he really wanted has been in front of his eyes this whole time, since they were kids. he feels like he let her down but it seems like he has no choice but to let mikayla go.

          he hates to think so negatively, but the fact that mikayla seemed to be entirely serious with her words only solidifies the fact that he has to move on. normally it wouldn't be too hard moving on from a girl, but there's something special about mikayla doe.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ arianna speaks ¡
happy 40 chaps oh my gosh
currently locked in with writing this story