GOOGLE TRANSLATE! ( polibio. )

TWENTY-NINE!

LIFE!

MATTIA AND MONROE HADN'T TALKED for nearly four days, instead, she focused her time on Kairi and Kairi only. At the moment, she was laid out on his bed, wearing his hoodie as she watched him struggle for an idea to make a tiktok. "You're thinking too hard," Monroe spoke up, snickering when he turned to glare at her.

"So help."

"Do...Oh god, do the really hot boyfriend check," she squealed with wide eyes and Kairi arched a brow, not quite understanding her point. "I don't have a boyfriend."

Monroe jumped from her spot and gave him a dumbfounded look, gesturing to herself. "Um, use me," she grinned when Kairi gave her a glare, almost positive that she was making fun of the fact that he had a crush on her even though she swore that she wouldn't do such a thing.

Instead, Monroe brushed past him and set up his phone, searching desperately for the sound. When she finally found it, she let out a shriek of triump and all but threw the phone into his hands. He knew he didn't have a choice in the matter anymore and glared at her yet again, mouthing the words before he stopped recording for a moment so that she could join him in the frame.

He set the phone up on his dresser and stepped back, waiting for the timer to count down to zero. When the music started, Monroe threw herself into Kairi's arms and grinned at the camera, leaning up last second to kiss his cheek as Kairi's stomach flipped at the small action.

It wasn't even like she had never done it before but the last few days had left him extremely confused by her and everything she was doing. They had been with each other nearly everyday and everyday, he couldn't help but think that Monroe was beginning to become more and more flirty. He didn't want to raise his hopes that she was finally feeling the same way, knowing that she didn't, but deep down, he wasn't quite so sure.

"More."

Monroe was bouncing with energy at this point, each and every tiktok they filmed, she was all over him and by the time they had finally grown too tired to film anymore, she was curled up besides him on the bed as he looked for a movie to watch.

She had already told him that was sleeping there, not that he minded, but when she moved closer and rested her head on his chest, he never wanted her to leave. Of course, she was leaving in two weeks and he'd have to wait ages to see her again, but right now, this was what he had been waiting for all his life.

Kairi had first known he'd liked her when she walked into their third grade class and nearly fought a girl for making him cry. From that day on, they had become inseparable until her parents picked up and moved them across the world. He was crushed that his bestfriend no longer lived right down the street from him and he couldn't just hang out with her when he wanted.

When he finally escaped from his thoughts, he noticed that Monroe was staring intently at him. "What?" He asked, slightly embarrassed from her look, it was as if she could read his thoughts and that would completely obliterate their friendship if she realiazed just how deep he was with her.

"Nothing," she smiled, resting her head again as she shifted her focus to the tv. She moved slightly, throwing her arm around his stomach as she pulled herself closer to him, curling around his body and Kairi felt like he was going to have a heart attack.

He knew that she was just hurt about Mattia and what had gone down, but he was willing to be the distraction if there was any chance of soemthing in the future.

"Do you think I'll ever be happy?"

Monroe's voice was so quiet that Kairi wasn't actually sure that she had spoken until she softly repeated herself, moving to look at him. "I do. You deserve to be happy," he answered, swallowing roughly from the proximity of her face near his.

He felt like he was going to have a heart attack at the proximity of her face next to his and knew he was frozen in his spot. His heart alone began to beat fast when he caught her looking down towards his mouth before snapping right back to look into his eyes.

Monroe didn't understand how she'd been so stupid this whole time, chasing happiness when the boy infront of her had been trying to do that exact thing for so much longer than she could understand. In fact, Monroe hesitated for a single moment before she moved up and connected their lips, melting into the feeling as Kairi mirrored her exact actions.

Kairi had been waiting for this moment his entire life and it felt ten times better than he had ever imagined, his hands falling to her back as he wished for this to never end.

The only thing was, Monroe couldn't even get Mattia out of her mind.

oops.