𝖦𝖮𝖮𝖣𝖭𝖨𝖦𝖧𝖳 𝖭 𝖦𝖮 ❕RUDY PANKOW

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

  rudy sits at my feet, shirt relocated onto his body, sadly, but still holding anakin.

  i nudge his back with my shoe. "i swear he loves you more than me."

  rudy scoffs while shaking his head. "no way. anakin loves you more than anything, mac. you love your momma don't you bud?" the octave of his voice raises significantly.

  anakin meows loudly and peers up at me. my heart melts at his cuteness so i lean over my legs to pet him. he climbs onto rudy's shoulder to give me a kiss.

  "are we taking ani with us?" austin interrupts as he enters the room, tugging a shirt on.

  "sure." i agree. anakin loves the water oddly enough for a cat.

  "okay cool let's go. you two are with me." he grabs his car keys off the hook and heads towards the garage.

  "you two as in me and rudy or me and ani?" i ask, sliding off the stool.

  "both!" austin shouts over the rumble of the garage opening.

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  "can we please not talk about this right now?" i beg. the maddies have been persistently questioning me about rudy today and for the life of me i can't think of why. i was completely sober last night so i would've remembered if something happened. especially between the two of us.

  "why?" mads pouts. she kicks water at me and anakin immediately jumps after it, trying to catch it.

  "stop drinking this water. it's bad for you." i scold, stretching across the paddle board to pick him up. he nips at my fingers and walks away from me. rolling my eyes i push myself back up and let him continue drinking it. his fault if his stomach becomes upset later.

  sighing, i turn back to mads. "i just don't want them to overhear." i nervously crack music knuckles against the paddle board beneath me. i'd originally planned on surfing but the waves were low and died out too quickly for my liking.

  madison scoffs. "overhear what? they're aaaaall the way over there." she points in the direction of the boys. they're all up on the beach playing a game called spike ball.

  "what's the deal with him anyways?" lilah asks. she didn't quite understand the rudy situation because i didn't tell her. i didn't tell madison either but mads accidentally let it slip to her last night. i wasn't too mad about it. madison supported my crush through and through.

  "you like him." a bitter voice objects.

  my body went rigid and my heart dropped to my stomach. "elaine." i tried but she cut me off.

  "you did a really good job hiding it for my sake, really. you did. but you can't hide feelings like that forever." tears are gathering in her eyes and i swear my heart breaks. "i heard you guys talking about it yesterday morning."

  i knew i should've checked who was outside the bathroom door.

  "i'm so sorry." i cry. "i never meant for you to find out this way. or at all. i swear i didn't like him when you asked me at first and i'm not doing this for drama at all. i just-please don't be mad, just let me explain first."

  elaine shakes her head, paddling over to grip my shoulders. the girls are watching in complete silence all looking different levels of nervous.

  "maison listen to me. i'm not mad okay? i promise i'm not angry with you. i'm a little upset and a bit betrayed but i'm not angry. you're human. you hurt people sometimes. we all do." she sighs. "when i heard you talking about him i could hear the smile in your voice. your feelings for him are genuine, that's how i know you didn't lie, and i know you aren't trying to cause drama."

  tears are rolling down my cheeks at this point. she moves her hands to wipe them away.

  "why are you being so nice about this?" i mutter, sniffling.

  i'm surprised she heard me over the consistent loud noises around us as she answers, "because i know you'd do the same for me. you have no malicious intent in anything you do. you're the sweetest girl i've ever met and i know you'd never do anything to hurt me on purpose."

  she's crying now and i feel awful. i reach over to wipe her tears away, ignoring the wet ball of fur that suddenly curls up between my thighs.

  "you can't choose who you have a crush on, it just happens. and the more you hide your feelings for someone the harder you fall." elaine continues. "i want you to go after him okay?"

  "but-"

  she shakes her head. "no buts. you really really like him and you were holding yourself back for my sake. and for that i apologize. but mac, you should really go for it. truly. you'd be great together, i just know it."

  "you're sure?" i ask hesitantly.

  elaine laughs and i marvel at her. if this happened to me i'd very certainly not be laughing.

  "yes mac. i'm positive. honestly, i'm more disappointed in myself than anything else. i should've realized that my feelings were infatuation, not genuine appeal." she grabs my hands, squeezing them tightly. we're both crying and probably look like hot messes. she must be thinking the same thing because suddenly we're both doubled over laughing.

  "what the fuck?" maddie verbalizes.

  "i'm so fucking confused." mads adds.

  "what the hell just happened?" lilah chimes in.

  elaine and i sober up from our fit. "i really want you to do this maison." she says, squeezing my hands again.

  "for you." i promise. the least i can do after breaking her heart is go after what i was breaking it over.

  she shakes her head immensely. "not for me. for you. you deserve someone to be happy with and if that's rudy then so be it."

  i surge forward and wrap her in a hug, nearly knocking us both off our paddle boards.

  i knew from this moment forward our friendship wouldn't be the same. she might develop trust issues towards me and we definitely would not be as close as before but i'd settle for the fact that we were still friends. no one hated each other and that was enough for me.

. . .
hey y'all lol