𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐞

𝟑𝟖.

"Yeah, yeah, mom... okay, is that everything?"

"Yep- basically. Are you settling in fine this week?"

"Yeah mom, I'm doing just fine."

"How about Will? How are things with him? Or rather, between you and him?" I can sense the smug look on her face.

I smile at turn around to look at Will - he doesn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation, but instead to his art. "They're... good, mom."

"Oooo... that's good."

"Yeah, they are..." I don't even notice that my fingers are twirling around the cord of the phone, "Anyway, um... can we talk about this later, though?"

"I'm sure you'd love to talk about this later." Mom replies and I chuckle softly.

"Yeah, yeah- whatever, mom." She's not wrong. I could talk about Will all day without an issue if someone asked me to. Nevertheless, this conversation is getting kinda uncomfortable as Will is in the room and it won't take him long to figure out that I'm talking about him. "Well- okay, I'm gonna hang up if that's okay. Bye, mom."

"Bye! I love you." And the line shortly disconnects.

"You pissed all over Mr Kowalski's floor?" Will asks after a few seconds of silence, causing me to snort.

"No- of course not! But um... I had to say something so I could go to the bathroom to talk to you, right?"

Will pauses for a moment.

"Y-yeah... I guess."

I place the phone back in the cradle and slowly approach Will from behind, observing the way that he strokes his paintbrush against the canvas, leaving golden-yellow streaks.

"So..." I begin, wanting the change the subject, "What are you working on, there?"

"Uh... it's just Angela, since y'know- I guess she's kinda one of us now and I didn't include her in the other painting I gave you guys for Christmas."

"Ohh." I nod, smiling at the mention of the painting Will made for the party. Come to think of it, I really wish I brought and hung it up here. Now it's kinda just chilling all isolated in my basement back at home. "Well, it looks amazing so far." I remark and he turns to me with that grin I've grown to love so much these past few months.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." I smile and hesitantly lean closer to him before planting a kiss on his lips. Although I absolutely love the feeling (and I hope he does too), it still feels weird- in the sense that it's not something I'm used to and I still kinda feel like a burden in this relationship. Sorta that I need to ask for permission to kiss him and such because what if he's just as uncomfortable as me? But hopefully by time, that feeling will fade away because I truly love Will and I'm not gonna let such little things ruin us.

"Okay, okay... let me continue painting." Will rolls his eyes at me playfully and I squint my eyes in thought.

"Hang on- did you finish the essay Mr Harrington assigned us for Tuesday?" I ask.

"Ah.. no. Not yet- I'll probably start in the weekend, though." He shrugs and I shake my head in disapproval. I know really damn well how easy it is for Will to get distracted when he has to do something for school. Not homework since that doesn't really take long but the essay that Steve told us to write has to consist of at least 2000 words. I already completed mine yesterday and now I just want to encourage Will to get it over with too.

Then maybe we can hang out in the weekend rather than study.

"Okay- no, Will. I'm gonna help you clean up your art supplies and then I'm going to help you complete your essay." I instruct and wait for a few seconds before noticing the brunette's shoulders slumping down in defeat.

"Fine."

Max Mayfield

"Max?" I shoot my gaze across the room to my best friend, who is sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Yes, El?"

All I can hear for a little bit is the sound of the heater whirring against the wall.

"I... I think I have to tell you something." She confesses to me, immediately making me curious and maybe even slightly alarmed too judging by the way she's speaking.

"What is it?" I furrow my brows as I look at her attentively, sweeping a loose strand of my hair behind my ear.

"So... um... you- you know Angela right?"

"Yeah? What is this about?" I ask, needing a few seconds of silence for me to softly gasp in surprise, a smirk forming on my face.

...

"Oh?" Is all I manage to say further.

"Oh." She shrugs, looking down with a small smile.

To be honest, I'm not really sure how I feel about this. It's confusing. I'm super happy about dating Lucas and I'm also super happy for El for finding a relationship with someone new.

It's not even about liking El- I guess I didn't really expect her to... get over what we were so fast?

Then again, I'm not one to talk since I have a boyfriend too. And maybe that was her waking up call to get over me in the first place.

Overall, I'm happy.

I smile, "That's amazing, El, okay? I'm so happy for both of you!" I assure her and she nods, the smile on her face growing even more.

"Thank you, Max... you know, I'm glad I can talk to you about this stuff."

"Of course."

To Be Continued...

a.n.
CHILL CHAPTER CORE

Same as like every chapter, feel free to point out if something needs to be corrected or generally doesn't really make sense !!

ok I'm going to bed it's like hardly 11pm wtf but anyway.
this chapter was pretty simple but I hope you enjoyed it a little bit regardless <3