In It Together→Book Two (SEQUEL)

Part One→Chapter Six

Kaiden wasn't doing anything in particular on his phone. He was responding to dms and snaps and all that other shit. He also scrolls through TikTok as he waits for people to respond. It only lasts a few seconds because people are good at responding to him.

Harley looks over, sighing slightly. "Yeah, I guess I am..." she takes a breath. "So you know when you try to help someone but they just shove you away?" She asks, although in a way that sounded like she wasn't fully sure how to word it. Like the words just escaped her mouth and they can't be put back in.

Alex watched, interested in who he was talking to. Adriana nodded. "Like they don't want or need the help, but they really do?" She responds, looking at her.

Kaiden continues, although it wasn't the most clear on who he was talking with. One name that kept popping up though was a guy named Cole, who is one of Kaiden's friends. And Kaiden even liked him more than that at some point. Harley nods at what Adriana said, "Exactly. It's really annoying and stressful. I just want to help."

Alex tilted his head a bit. "Who's that?" He asked softly. Adriana sighed. "You're talking about Alex, aren't you?" She assumed, looking at Harley.

Kaiden took a second to realize who Alex was talking about. "Just a friend," he shrugs, continuing to look down at the screen. Harley takes a while but then nods. "Yep..."

Alex nodded softly and just watched still.

Adriana sighed. "I figured. Just leave him alone honestly..."

Harley sighed slightly at what Adriana said. "Fine.."

Alex soon pulled away from behind Kaiden, sighing gently. He looked around before turning up his music and putting the other earbud in.

"Alex is a tough cookie to crack, it took me a while to get him to even talk to me again," Adriana explains to her, looking up at her.

Harley nods slightly. "He holds grudges for sure," she mutters.

Adriana nodded. "And they can be over the stupidest things.-"

Harley sighs, nodding in agreement. "Oh for sure," she responds.

Adriana held Harley's hand softly. "I'm sure if you give him a bit of space, or just talk about something different, he'll be fine with you."

Harley waits a few seconds before she responds. "Yeah... I guess. I just wish he knew how to communicate," she tells her.

Adriana nodded. "I think we all do-" She sighed softly, shaking her head after a moment.

Harley laughs lightly. "Oh definitely. He'd be a whole other person."

Harley grins. "Oh for sure. New and improved. 2.0 Alex."

Adriana laughed more. "Definitely. I swear, I wanna ask him if he could act like that for like- a day. I bet for the right amount of money he would-"

Harley snickers. "I'll pay him myself just to do that. You think he'd accept $500 for a day?" She asks eagerly.

Adriana looked at her, blinking. "$500- you'd really pay that much-?" Alex walked towards them.

"If she paid me that much, I'd totally do it," he said, joining the conversation.

Harley grins, nodding. "Oh, I'd a hundred percent pay him to do it. I'd Venmo the cash to him at the end of that exact day," she shrugs.

Alex looked at her, taking out both of his earbuds. "Bet." He agreed.

Harley turns to him. "When do you want to do this?" She asks him.