peaches | fillie

twenty-three

"Why won't she pick up the damn phone?" Gaten shouted over the raising voices in the room. He clutched his foot tightly and sniffled, trying to bend his neck to look at his bruised ankle.

"I don't fucking know, Gaten, you tell me!" Noah said, slamming his phone down onto the table. The short boy ran his hands through his hair and let them trail down his face.

Ever since Millie had gotten back from California, everything was dedicated to Finn. Whether it was becoming friends with Sadie or giving up all of her other time just to think about him, Noah and Gaten were left behind. They had expected that this would happen at some point, the distancing, but they never anticipated that it would be over a boy.

Gaten sighed and closed his eyes. The party around them was becoming crazier by the second. More people kept rushing in and out of his house and he couldn't tell who he had even invited.

"Call her one more time, Noah, " he said. "And if she doesn't pick up, you have to go to her house."

Noah groaned but obeyed and tried again.

"Hey, this is totally Millie and I will totally answer your call later because this is totally Millie-" he ended the call before his voice could join the answering machine.

Millie didn't want her own voice as the greeting because she thought she sounded weird on recordings, so she had forced Gaten and Noah to make something up for her. They were about thirteen when this had happened, sitting outside of the orchestra room after class was over.

"Well, I'll be at Millie's. Call me if you need something, " Noah said while grabbing his jacket. He wrestled with the sliding porch door before storming down the sidewalk.

He rolled his eyes again and cringed as he thought of walking in on Millie and Finn being cuddled up together.

"I'll actually pick up the phone."

***

Finn was making pancakes for the pair's dinner when the front door to Millie's house began to rattle. He heard a clang of keys but knew that the chances of a robber having such easy access to the large house were slim.

Maybe Mr. Brown slipped outside while we were upstairs? He shrugged and poured another pancake, sprinkling blueberries across the top of it.

"Wow, not even worried about someone randomly getting into your girlfriend's house. That is just fantastic protection you provide."

Finn glanced up, startled by the voice.

Noah was standing expectantly in Millie's tall-ceilinged living room. He had his arms crossed and he looked disheveled. Finn raised an eyebrow, putting his arms up in defense.

"I thought that her father was coming in late or something, " He said. "Not that big of a deal."

Noah scoffed. "Of course you don't think it's a big deal. Because you don't know Robert's work schedule, and you also don't know that Robert never leaves Millie alone in the house with boys over, " He moved swiftly toward the stairs but maintained eye contact with the raven-haired boy as he walked. "You don't know her, Finn, not like Gaten and I do."

He ran up the stairs, slamming Millie's door behind him.

Finn blinked. Noah hadn't had a problem with him before this, so he wasn't sure what had changed. It wasn't like Noah and Gaten were begging to hang out with her or anything. In fact, they seemed like they were trying to push themselves away from her.

He didn't want to interfere with whatever was about to happen on the second floor, so Finn continued to make pancakes, adding another serving for Noah.