Hi everyone!
Thank you all so much for the love on the first two chapters! It's totally out of my comfort zone on here and I was worried nobody was going to bother to read! I know a lot of you have read the first version of the story and I am glad you are reading this now!
ALSO, I LOVE SCOTT OMG. He is defiantly one of my favorite characters to write besides Madison or Nate in my Need You Now series. ANYWAYS!!! ENJOY!! ILY ALL!!! STAY SAFE!
-
*REECE'S POV*
The days had gone pretty quickly after Chris and I made up. We didn't talk about it that much because everything was still fresh and raw. He was so worried about him losing me, and it broke my heart. There was no way Chris was ever getting rid of me though, he is apart of me... despite how many stupid choices he makes. He's been there since I was born and he always will be with me till I die.
Harper got mad when I saw her at work on Monday. Honestly, I think she was more mad than me. She thinks Chris is a stupid idiot and that I should never talk to him again. But it wasn't even like we were together. People need to start realizing that he is a grown man that can make his own choices. It was always his choice. Besides the fact basically everyone stopped me at work, wanting to tell Chris congratulations, even Mr. Josby congratulated him.
Speaking of Mr. Josby, just as I suspected... he loved my new ending. Honestly, I don't think he has changed his outlook on life in the past thirty years. He's been the boss here. Even though I am one of his favorites out of the few who work here, he is the biggest asshole I have ever met. Creativity is not a possibility working here, but it pays my bills.
Today was Saturday, which meant it was stargazing with Chris. The stars were supposed to be super bright according to what Chris said. It was just nice when it was just the two of us. We barely get it nowadays. Either he is with Sawyer or we have the paparazzi following us around. These Saturdays meant a lot to us when we were young and they still do, to me it felt like it was the only thing holding us together.
I wanted to make sure I was there on time, because I always hate being late. I looked at myself in the mirror, examining my outfit. Sweatpants, Reed's old sweatshirt that he gave to me and my dirty converse. It was a typical Reece outfit. I heard a buzzing sound from my phone, and I pulled it out of my pocket. Chris texted me, letting me know he was already there.
Taking a deep breath, I run downstairs and grab my keys to my Camry. My hands were sweating and my stomach was hurting. Why was I nervous? Chris is my best friend. But now with everything that has happened, it doesn't seem the same. I want it to be, I want to believe that everything will be alright. But, I am just looking at the negatives.
I started up my engine and made my way towards our spot. I tried my best to play music so I can ignore the elephant that I am hiding in the room. Drives in LA were the absolute worst. But once you made it on the outskirts of LA where you can see the city lights in the distance, it was perfect. Eventually, I made it to our spot and I saw him resting against his car and was playing on his phone. His hair was covered with his NASA hat and just wore a simple pair of jeans and an old shirt. He looked up once I parked my car. "Thought you were going to ditch me." He joked.
I rolled my eyes and locked my car. "Do you honestly think I would ever ditch you?" I walked over to him, nudging his arm playfully. He let out a soft chuckle as we made our way to lay down on the ground to look up at the stars. He rested his arms above his head as I placed my hands on my stomach. Silence filled the area as we looked up at the stars but it was a comfortable silence, like it needed to be there. The stars were breathtaking tonight like he mentioned, so I didn't mind no conversation.
"How was your day?" Chris breaks the silence, and I look over at him.
"It was alright," I told him. "Got some cleaning done around the house, got some work done, you know... the important stuff." But in reality, I was thinking of more ideas to put in my book. Even though there were countless ideas of what I could possibly put in there. I just didn't have a mean bone in my body. Well, not when it comes to the person I care about the most. "How was yours?"
He let out a big sigh and shrugged. "I mean, it was a day." He tells me, still looking up at the stars the shine above us. "I hung out with Dodge for a bit, went on a walk. Then Sawyer called and wanted to set a date for the wedding."
"You don't sound happy about planning it." I look at him and he shrugs again.
"It's not like I'm not excited or happy about it.." He tells me. "I just feel like it's all happening all too fast and all too sudden. She already hired the frickin wedding planner without even telling me."
"Did she?" I ask in disbelief, and he nods his head. "I mean, I think she could have talked to you about it because it's your wedding too."
"Yeah, I know." He pauses as he tries to find his thoughts. "I just don't want to fight with her, I don't want to cause a problem. But I am really upset that she could have told me or talked to me about it. Like yeah, I told her to plan the wedding because I just want her to be happy but I also want her to include me in things."
By just looking at him, he looks drained. But I don't want to keep talking about the situation if it is making him upset. Nobody knows him better than I do. "How about we talk about something then doesn't make you upset." I mention, moving onto my side.
"Who said I was upset?" He asked me and I chuckled.
"Chris, I know you better than anybody on this planet but the facial expression says it all." I tell him truthfully. "I just want this to be a pleasurable experience so we get away from all the craziness in the world."
He sighs softly and moves onto his side, smiling. "I hate how you're always right."
I hate how you are always wrong.
I smiled lightly. "I know you do, but you love me for it." We eventually start rambling about nothing and just random things that just come to our heads. That's what I love about Chris. The conversation was always easy for us. The littlest things can turn into the biggest conversations. "Hey Reece," He says, breaking my thought.
"What's up?" I asked him.
"Do you remember that one guy... you know, the one you had a huge crush on?" Chris reminds me. "Spencer? Do you remember that?"
"Why are you bringing that up, that's so random?" I asked him and he just shrugs.
"I don't know, just a memory came to my head. He was such a douche." He turned back on his back and looked up at the stars that are gazing upon us. It was strange how I was just writing about Spencer and he just randomly brings it up. However, it could probably just be a coincidence.
"He was," I told him. "I remember telling you that we broke up and you wanted to beat him up so bad because he hurt me-"
"I wanted to, until you told me not to!" Chris argued. "I remember clear as day, you climbed up my stupid tree by my window and knocked on my door. Wanna know why I remember it so clearly? Because I had that stupid Spanish test the next day and I was studying for it."
"And I told you that Spanish was more important than some stupid boy."
He laughed softly at the memory which made me smile too. "Yeah, and I passed that stupid Spanish test too.." The silence filled the field that we laid in. We have been here for hours, but somehow the hours feel like minutes. My favorite time of the week is always with him.
"Remember Veronica?"
Chris let out a loud groan and I laughed quietly. "Don't even remind me about it. I liked her for so long and she ended up treating me like shit. You know after Captain America, I went home and she tried meeting up with me? Just because I was famous."
"Told you she wasn't shit." I remembered every memory he had gawking over her. One time he even had the courage to ask her out on a date. She was so down for it and they were supposed to see a movie on that Friday since Saturday's were always reversed for me and him. Well he came home earlier than expected because she had embarrassed him in front of all of her friends. I, of course, was watching out my window and already expected the worst.
The rest of the time we just spent talking about things that didn't include Sawyer or anything about the wedding. We both agreed to be back at the same place next week, like we always did and we went our separate ways. But leaving Chris sometimes always left a weird pit in my stomach. Like something was missing, a piece of a puzzle.
I pulled up to my driveway and locked my car, hoping for the best nobody would break into it. My keys rattled as they tried to unlock my door and eventually they did. I slipped off my shoes, shut my door and ran straight upstairs to write some more. Hanging out with Chris gave me plenty of new ideas to share. "Christopher, you're a genius." I mumbled to myself, as I found my notebook and wrote down some more ideas into my book.
After writing down my ideas, I decided on the memory about Veronica from earlier. It was one of my favorite memories between Chris and I. Not because I thought it was cute in a romantic standpoint but the symbolism behind the platonic part of it. The things Chris and I always did for each other as kids was something I would want my kids to experience. My fingers started rapidly typing on the keyboard, as the ideas in my head weren't stopping anytime soon.
You know, when you were a kid Chris... you sometimes didn't make the best decisions. Believe me. If anyone remembers all the stupid shit we did as kids, it would be mean. The time we got Scott in trouble for ruining the wallpaper in your parents house even though we were just being stupid and it happened, the way you thought it was a good idea for me to hang out the monkey bars with no hands until I broke my wrist. I remember your mom was so mad at you, that both of our moms agreed you take care of me the first few days because it was all your fault.
But probably the worst choice you've ever made besides proposing to Sawyer was liking Veronica.
She was the absolute worst. She used to bully me because my best friend was a boy. She would constantly get on my ass about things that weren't even here business. She always had her nose in places where it didn't belong. But for some reason, you were coocoo for her. I mean, then again... I dated Spencer.
I remember it was when I was almost in eighth grade. It was summer time, and you were doing a musical camp. I didn't want to do it that time around because I wanted to make money for myself that summer by dog sitting around the neighborhood. I remember you running to me one day after camp, telling me you finally got the courage to ask her out.
"Reece! Reece!" I turned around as I was walking home from one of the house's I sat for. Chris was running up to me with the biggest smile on his face. "You are never going to believe this."
"What? Did Elton John show up at your camp or did aliens decide to rule the earth finally?" I asked sarcastically and he playfully hit my arm. "Ouch!"
"Sorry, sorry," He apologizes, trying to wipe the big grin off of his face. "But I finally did it! I asked her out!"
"Asked out-" I said mid sentence before realizing who he was talking about. "Christopher Robert Evans, you are an idiot." I tell him before I start to walk towards my house. I heard Chris trotting behind me, and I did my best to ignore him.
"Reece, I know how much you really don't like her but who knows! Maybe it'll be good for me. I have liked her for so long and now it is finally my chance to take her out at least on one date." He explains as we walk into my house. Chris basically lives here anyways, and nobody is home. I marched upstairs to my room and he continued to follow me. "Reece."
"I heard you!" I groan as I plopped onto my bed with my head buried in the pillows. I felt him sit beside me and look down at me. He knows how much I hate Veronica with my whole being. But he has also been in love with her since the moment he laid eyes on her. That's been for years. The oblivious boy hasn't seen past her ugly... not yet.
"I know you're mad at me," He mumbled quietly and I looked up at him with a crazy look.
"Yeah, no shit sherlock. Thanks for reading the room!" I snapped at him before moving my body towards the ceiling. I was fuming, not because I hated her but I always want to look out for my best friend in situations like these. I basically have a best friend radar, and I can detect the good or the bad out of people Chris meets. "I'm not actually mad at you, I am just mad at your stupid choices."
"Look, if this date turns like shit then you can tell me you told me so., Chris tells me, crossing his arms. "That seems fair doesn't it?"
Stupid teenage boys.
I rolled my eyes and sighed, as he cracked the biggest smile knowing he got his way. "Fine, but don't come crying to me."
In situations like these, we always were each other's shoulder to cry on. We always warned each other if things would get out of hand. I knew how much you really liked her, but for some reason I didn't have a good feeling about that Friday night. I wanted to warn you, but you knew already how upset I was. That would just be adding more fuel to the fire.
Friday had rolled around, and knowing I was probably going to be by myself because Scott was at a friends house for the weekend, I rode my bike up to Blockbuster to get myself a few VCR's to watch. I think I got the The Muppet Movie and Dirty Dancing.
A category you never put together.
As I got all my stuff situated, I remember constantly looking out my window just to see if anything would happen. But sure enough, I saw you get out of Carly's car and march your way inside, slamming the door. Instantly, I knew something went wrong. I did have a moment when I told you so. But I knew that would be the last thing you would want to hear.
The sound of car doors caught my attention, and my head perked up as I saw Chris. This couldn't be any good. He walked right past Carly and marched inside, slamming the door. I frowned to myself, grabbing the VCR's I got from the store and stored them in my jacket pocket. I ran downstairs, ready to cheer Chris up. "Mom! Dad! Chris got his heart broken, I will be right back!" I screamed before running outside, going to the tree which gives me access to climb right into his room.
I would normally never climb up this tree and just walk into his house because it is like my other home, however I wanted this to be special. Something that will make him laugh and put a smile on his face.. even though I am not quite sure if that will be the case right now. The goal was to get to the top of the tree in one piece, knock on the window and surprise him. I grabbed onto one of the tree branches and pulled myself on top of it, making sure I wouldn't fall. To my luck, my clumsiness didn't get the best of me this time around. I made it to the other branch, and then the other and somehow... I managed to make it to the top to where Chris's room was.
I carefully moved my way towards the window to see my way in. Chris was crying. My heart shattered into a million pieces because I hated seeing him upset. He looked defeated, he looked so hopeless. I carefully knocked on the window and his head lifted towards me. I smiled weakly and gave him a wave. Immediately, he walked towards the window and opened it. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I not doing here?" I asked him, as I climbed through the window and fell to the ground. After picking myself up I looked up at him. "I know I could just walk through the door like I always do but today I was feeling more adventurous than normal and I thought it would make the surprise cuter."
He sat himself back on the bed after shutting the window. "Let me guess, you saw me upset so you ran your way over here to tell me you told me so." He mumbled. I sighed, crouching down so I could be in front of him.
"No, the smart ass in me can wait on this situation." I smiled softly as I grabbed his hands like I always did to comfort him when he was sad. "What happened?"
He takes a moment to collect his thoughts and looks up at me. "Well, we were supposed to go to the movies. But for some reason when I arrived, a bunch of her friends were there. It's not like I didn't mind. But then they all started to laugh at me... including her. So I went up to her and we started talking, but then... she just got mean. Her friends started ganging up on me, bullying me and making fun of you and Scott. Then, they left. Good thing Carly was waiting outside for me because I didn't want to be stuck there."
I squeezed his hands for reassurance. "Chris, look at me." He looked up at him and I gave his hand another squeeze. "Veronica is missing out. I mean it. I mean, look at you. You're incredibly attractive and you are a good, kind hearted person. It's not easy to find people like those. You're a golden ticket. So it's her loss. Screw her. And her friends? They got nothing better to do anyway. Don't ever let people make fun of you and don't let them take advantage of your good heart. Believe me the good ones care."
Chris had a few tears slipping from his cheeks and I wiped them away with my thumb. "It's okay to cry too," I whispered. "When we feel worse we have to let go of our emotions." He just nods and I try to think of another idea.
I get up and pull him up with me. "What are we doing?" He asked.
"Slow dancing."
"Reece, there's no music!" He tells me, but I just smile.
"So?" I told him, moving his hand on my hip and I rested my head on his shoulder. I felt him smile like an idiot. "C'mon theatre kid, sing me a song."
He let out a soft laugh as he moved his other hand to my hand and started to sway. Soft melodies of Dream A Little Dream of Me by Ella Fitzgerald. At that moment, I felt a warmness in my chest. It felt safe, it felt sweet... It felt like home.
That moment has been imprinted in my mind for years. All I wanted for you was to be happy. To share a laugh during hard times or even a dance during the sad. But you care so much about people. You care about how the care about you and what they think about you. I noticed it when we talked about Sawyer. I hope Sawyer isn't making you feel this way.
I hate how caring you are.
I stopped to look at my writing and realized how fast the time had gone. I looked down at my phone to see a text message from Chris.
"I had fun tonight Reece's Pieces. I don't like it when you're mad at me. Love you."
My heart gushed as I read that. Maybe I was just way too over my head about this Sawyer stuff. I slid his message and replied to him. "I had fun too. I don't like being mad at you either, Jellybean. Love you most."
I placed my phone down next to me and sighed, looking at my work I had finished in front of me. I just had to stop thinking about my love for him and my hatred for this wedding. But it's what's best for him. What if this is what is best for him?