𝑳𝑶𝒀𝑨𝑳𝑻𝒀 - 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨 { ✓ }

• 46

『 LOYALTY 』
{ irl }

it hasn't been necessarily awkward between mae and chris. but they have been avoiding the fact that they kissed.

mae doesn't know how to feel about it. she knows that the feelings she has for chris are more than what she should have for a friend.

but she's scared. what if he cheats on her like rian did? what if she's betrayed again by someone she knows.

what scares her the most, though, is that she trusts him. she loves spending time with him. and — unlike rian — he seems to enjoy being in her company as well. which makes her feel guilt about these doubts she's having.

chris on the other hand knows he likes her. he's known for quite some time now. but he also knows how unsure she feels. it's written all over her face whenever he gets near her.

she clearly wants to back away from him and distance herself. but she's only drawn closer.

as much as chris loves mae and as much as he wants to kiss her worries away, he respects her. he knows how it can feel to be uncertain about your emotions. he's one of the best people to ask considering everything that happened between him and coraline.

the best thing he can do for her right now is to just let her knows that he's here for her — even if she doesn't want to accept his help.

"guys!" nick shouts from where he sits on the sidewalk of the parking lot in front of the bowling center. "cora's girlfriend is here!!"

"she's not her girlfriend," mae corrects him. "she just has a crush on her. so don't mention it!"

cora's tapping her foot anxiously before standing up from the bench she's sitting on and walking over to lai's car. she smiles at her and offers to help her out of the car.

"i don't need your help." lai snaps, stepping out of the vehicle, putting on a fake smile before walking out from behind the car.

upon seeing lorelai for the first time in years, mae and nick gasp in unison. chris and matt weren't in their friend group while in high school so they're simply watching the drama unfold.

"lorelai!?" nick shouts, standing up from the sidewalk and running up to her. before lai can even respond, nicks crushing her in a tight hug. "if i had known you and cora were still friends this whole time, i would've hung out with you a lot more."

"i missed you too, nick," lai says with a small giggle before hugging him back. "but we're actually not friends."

"uh," nick says, stepping away out of the hug. "what?"

"we're, um—" lai stammers, "cora and i are dating."

"what?!" nick shouts, his eyes wide and jaw hanging loose. "i thought it was just a crush!"

"nope," lai says, slinging an arm over cora's shoulder. "she told me a few days ago that she had a crush on me and of course i returned it. cora's an amazing person and i'm crazily obsessed with her."

cora's eyes widen. lorelai is better at lying than she anticipated. almost good enough that cora could believe her.

"let's go inside, guys." matt announces, sensing the tension within the group.

"teams?" mae mutters as she stares at the two screens hanging on the walk above the bowling lanes. "i've never had to group into teams for bowling."

"how else would you play?" nick asks.

"in my family, it was everyone for themselves." she shrugs.

"let me guess," nick says, "alice always singled you out?"

"yeah, how'd you know?" mae asks sarcastically.

"just a hunch."

"so how are we going to split ourselves in half when theres an uneven amount of groups?" lai asks, scanning everyone.

"matt and i will split up," nick says, "since we're not actually together."

"they're not actually together either." cora says, nudging mae and chris.

"do you two want to split up?"

"no!" mae and chris say in unison. they glance
at each other, a tint of blush climbing to both of their faces.

nick laughs at them, "well then. in order to keep the two couples paired together, i'll join one couple and matt will join the other."

"i don't know cora's girlfriend," matt says, "but it seems like nick does. so i'll go with mae and chris and nick can be with cora and lorelai."

"okay."

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧.˚ₓ
a/n : WE PASSED FIFTY THOUSAND READS WHILE I WAS GONE?:?/!:??/!/ OH MY GOD.