MAROON ! | j. champion

o10. you're my best friend

IN REAL LIFE

BEA, JACK, AND MAEVE ALL sat on maeve's bed, all phones containing a few different people in the group facetime's for the virtual listening party. maeve couldn't control her excitement as she held bea's hand and squeezed it.

it was 11:59, less than a minute until her first single in a year would be dropping. maeve was incredibly proud of this song, it perfectly fitting her life right now, authentic and true; just what she wanted to be. she looked at jack, who was already looking at her, noticing he was half asleep with a tired smile on his face. she leaned over and whispered to him, ignoring the fact that mason and jenna could see them, "you can sleep after this, love. i won't make you leave, you're half asleep."

jack's cheeks went red, suddenly being startled by the delayed countdowns from the three phones and bea. maeve whipped her head around, patiently waiting for the screen to refresh. "it's out!" audrey exclaimed, quickly putting it on as she put her airpods in. the rest of the people on the phone did the same, as the three young adults muted themselves so they could play it from maeve's laptop.

maeve was nervous, to say least, "before you listen, i've never done anything like this song before. it's really, you know, special to me. just so you know, i'm nervous." bea laughed at the girl as jack just scoffed, "don't be nervous. any song about me is great!"

"it isn't about you!" maeve blushed, making bea press play. the three listened intently, maeve finally getting to have all her friends listen to the final product of the song she was so, so proud of.

she looked at her friends faces, even the ones on the phones, and felt her heart grow three times bigger than it was. she felt so happy. bea shook the girl next to her as the chorus began, jack high-fiving bea without taking his eyes off the lyrics.

maeve ignored the pit in her stomach, realizing that if jack read into this too good, if he was a little bit too smart, he'd know the truth. the song wasn't just about him, but right now she was scared of falling for him. she tried to push it to the side as she heard the cheers from her friends.

olivia sat up from her laying position in shock, her glitchy voice exiting bea's phone, "holy fuck. that was amazing." everyone else agreed, bea hugging her best friend and squeezing the life out of her.

everyone erupted into chatter, the only two silent were jack and maeve. she bumped him with her shoulder, "j? you okay?" jack looked at her, a different look then she'd ever seen. if she searched it up, the exact photo, the look would be love. but she ignored that feeling; everything was platonic that day. platonic friends cuddled, gave each other kisses on the cheek, longingly looked at each other. right?

he nodded, "sorry— fuck. that was just, really beautiful." maeve blushed, shaking her head. "it was nothing special, aaron did a lot of the work," maeve felt herself begin picking at her nails. jack took her hand, holding it, "maeve. it was amazing, i mean it. you are so, so, talented."

thanks to you, is what she wanted to stay. but instead, she just gave him a kiss on the cheek, before turning back to her friends so she wouldn't say something that could ruin their whole friendship. she felt jacks thumb rubbing the back of her hand as she said her goodbyes and good nights to her friends, her stomach erupting with butterflies.

bea looked at the two holding hands, giving maeve a quick kiss on her forehead and running out, shutting the door behind her. jack slowly felt himself falling towards maeve's shoulder, turning off the lamp on the side table as he got comfortable. he was too tired to care, he was in his safe place.

maeve sheepishly placed in her arms around him, hugging him as he snaked his arms around her waist. his head rested on her chest, slowly relaxing to the rise and fall of her breathing. she began brushing her fingers through this curls, a smile pulling at the sides of her lips. "did you like it?" she whispered, not sure if he was asleep or not.

she felt him nod, "of course i did, i like everything you do." he wasn't thinking before he spoke, deliriously exhausted and so comfortable he could die in that spot happy. maeve felt her cheeks heat up, "you do?"

"of course i do," jack randomly gained energy, lifting his head and resting it so he could look at the brunette's face. the only light seeping into the room was from the busy new york streets, it made her look ever more beautiful.

you could hear the love, even in the silence. see it, even in the dark. in that moment, jack wasn't afraid. he wasn't scared to be honest. maeve felt eyes on her, looking down slightly to meet his eyes. his eyes flicked down to her lips, back up, and then down again.

as she was about to ask if he was okay, he took a breath, "you're my best friend." the tension in the room could be cut with a knife, maeve knowing what the look was now.

it was love, pure love. how could she have missed it? in just a month, the boy fell for her. and goddamn it, that terrified her. that fear controlled her every move, except for now. instead, it gave her strength.

"i am? or am i more?" maeve questioned, almost a whisper. jack smiled, "whatever you want to be."

there was a few more beats of silence, before maeve leaned in without thinking. the kiss was innocent, jack not wasting a second to kiss back. the two smiled, and pulled away, "i take that as more."

maeve laughed at the boy's comment as he rested his head back down, hiding the blush on his face, "well, i kissed you, so i'd hope so."

jack weighed the options of ruining the moment by asking this question, "so, was it really about me or am i an idiot?"

"it was about you, though you're still an idiot." maeve put her hands back in his hair, soothing the boy.

jack smiled, "well, please don't think you're not worth it, because you are. you're my gold rush."

"oh stop being so cheesy, j," maeve pressed a kiss to the crown of his head before shutting her eyes. jack leaned up and kissed her jaw, "being cheesy is my specialty, eve!"

"go to sleep, fuckface," maeve let out a content sigh, letting herself drift off quickly with a smile on her face.

CLEM,
two updates in one day??
wow look at me go.

this chapter is so you are
in love by taylor swift core

they're so happy... cherish that
while you can