come on, come on, don't leave me like this
i thought i had you figured out
❥━━━━━━━━━━━━━
𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇 adriana didn't expect to ever cross paths with chris again after he had shattered her heart but unfortunately on her first day of senior year...
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CHAPTER045 - ╰┈➤ ' you know where to find me ' ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧ 「 real life 」
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─ real life ᥫ᭡
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CHRIS STOOD AT THE FRONT DOOR FOR A SECOND LONGER AFTER ADRIANA LEFT, the quiet click of it shutting behind her echoing in his chest. the house suddenly felt too still. too empty. he lingered there like a guy who forgot to say something, even though he'd already said more than he meant to.
he turned and headed for the kitchen, where matt and nick were already waiting for him like two buzzards. they'd been annoyingly silent while adriana was around, but chris knew better than to think that would last.
"you're down bad," nick said the second chris stepped in.
chris shot him a look and reached for the fridge like he hadn't heard it. "she just came over. chill."
matt leaned against the counter, arms crossed, watching him with a knowing smirk. "just came over? you've been walking around the house like a damn golden retriever ever since she said hi to you again."
nick grabbed a leftover slice of pizza and flopped onto one of the stools. "seriously. chris begging for a girl was not on my bucket list."
chris's head jerked toward him. "i'm not—" he cut himself off with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "i'm not begging."
"sure," nick said, chewing. "except for the part where your room's still covered in pictures of her and you haven't let mom take them down."
matt shrugged. "honestly, it's kind of sweet. pathetic, but sweet."
chris didn't bother arguing. there wasn't a point. because yeah, the pictures were still there. and no, he hadn't been able to bring himself to take them down, not even when he'd been angry or bitter or convinced he'd never see her again. she was still in every corner of his room, in the polaroids taped to the walls and the hoodie she forgot in his closet and the echo of her laugh in his head.
"she used to clean my room," he muttered suddenly, more to himself than to them. "came in like she owned the place."
matt grinned. "yeah, i remember. you'd get all defensive about your laundry pile and then let her organize your whole closet."
"she said it wasn't usually that messy," chris said, and he didn't mean to sound as soft as he did, but it slipped out.
nick rolled his eyes. "so what now? you two just hang out like nothing happened?"
"no," chris said, finally pulling up a stool across from them. "i don't know. it's not like that."
"but you want it to be," matt said, more gently this time.
chris didn't answer at first. he stared at the edge of the counter, fingers tapping idly. "i always did."
the words surprised even him a little. not because they weren't true, he'd known for a long time, but because it had never come out so clearly before. he'd always loved adriana. from the start. even before he knew what to call it, even when they broke up and he tried to tell himself he'd get over her.
matt and nick were quiet for a moment.
the teasing settled down after that. the room felt quieter, like they all understood that whatever chris was feeling wasn't just some casual thing. he could handle jokes. he could handle his brothers being annoying. but not this, this strange limbo of almosts and maybe-agains.
after a few minutes, he stood up. "i'm gonna head upstairs."
"go write in your diary about her," nick said, grinning.
chris gave him the finger on the way out, but his steps were slower as he climbed the stairs.
he left his light off when he walked into his room. the glow from the hallway lit up the photos on his wall enough, polaroids, candid shots, blurry selfies, old birthday parties and lake days and movie nights sprawled across the years. adriana laughing in his hoodie. adriana with wet hair after jumping into the pool. adriana pressed into his side like she belonged there.
she did. at least, she had.
chris sat on the edge of his bed and stared at the lock screen on his phone for a long moment before unlocking it. he didn't overthink the message. he never really could with her.
chris you left your water bottle also my mom already asked when you're coming back no pressure though
he hovered for a second, then added:
you know where to find me, dria
he stared at it for a moment longer, then tossed the phone to his pillow and leaned back, hands over his face. his heart was pounding and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or just exhausted. but she'd been there. in his house. talking to his parents like no time had passed. laughing at nick. giving him that look she used to when she was trying not to smile.
