(✔) 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙗𝙤𝙮 ↳ (𝔃.𝓭.𝓱)

nineteen !

     When Everly awoke, she was greeted by bright sunlight streaming in through the windows. She was momentarily blinded and she shut her eyes again, watching patterns swirl behind her eyelids. A moment later, she opened her eyes again and sat up groggily.

     Her face was throbbing and for a moment, Zach's room spun around her. That small moment made her muscles ache. She winced slightly but brushed it off. Her eyes drifted over to Zach's bed. He was fully dressed and scrolling on his phone. His body was turned towards the couch in the corner that Everly was laying on, as if he was waiting for her to awaken.

As if he had sensed her waking up, Zach looked up from his phone screen and at Everly. He grinned. "Good afternoon."

Everly frowned. "Huh?" She was still yawning. Zach snorted. "It's already two in the afternoon, sweetheart."

     Everly jolted out of the couch, eyes wide. She had never slept in that long before. "Zach, why didn't you wake me earlier?" She said, her voice oddly shrill.

     "You were really tired, you needed that rest!" Zach said, holding up his hands like he was surrendering. "And you look cute when you sleep. You aren't rolling your eyes or complaining at me," he chuckled.

     Everly fake pouted at him and threw a pillow at him. The both of them burst into laughter. When it died down, Everly realised she had been blushing. Did he really mean that, when he said I was cute? But she couldn't dwell on his statement for long because he spoke up, his tone suddenly serious.

     "Hey, uh, I talked to my mom about you staying here," He said.

     "Oh, they're back?" Everly said, trying to sound nonchalant. She was trembling at the prospect of Zach's mom disagreeing with her staying in their house and kicking her out soon after. She didn't even want to think about it.

     Zach nodded although he looked slightly nervous. "Yeah. They arrived at noon today."

     "So...What did she say?" Everly asked in a small voice.

     Zach sighed. "She...She wasn't very happy when I told her. But she agreed you could stay."

     Everly forced a smile. Of course she was elated that she could get to stay. Of course she was! But what did he mean when he said Myta wasn't happy? She had probably made a big mistake.

     But she kicked the thought out of her mind. Instead, she got up from her perch on the couch and walked over to Zach. "What—" He began but he fell silent when Everly threw her arms around his shoulders in a hug.

     He was slightly taller than Everly which made it a bit awkward but she didn't care. She felt his body go really tense and rigid for a second before he relaxed and started to hug her back.

     He chuckled and the sound tickled Everly's ear. "What's this for?" He asked softly.

     "Thank you. For letting me stay. For talking to your parents about this. For helping me when you didn't have to," She said quietly.

     They stayed like that for a couple of seconds more before Everly pulled away, her cheeks scalded. She felt a sudden surge of embarrassment and fear and confusion but also happiness. Why did she just hug him out of nowhere? But then Zach smiled really widely at her, his eyes shining and his cheeks redder than normal, and the mess of thoughts in her brain melted away completely.