♯ irl !
river and drea being on a date meant one thing, the rest of the group desperately needed to hang out. they had grown so accustomed to hanging out that even a few days apart felt unusual. it wasn't necessarily specific things planned, even turning up to one another's houses and being with company was something they loved doing. it felt easing to their souls and the surrounding of others distracted them from problems they were perhaps facing or even just the disliking of being alone.
well the group was together until matt and nick decided they wanted mcdonald's and chris and rena were mid mario kart round so decided it would be best to stay home. there was most definitely no other reason. there was no chance that nick and matt only needed to wait two more minutes before they could all go together; that would be absurd.
"we'll be back soon with your stuff!" nick yelled to chris and rena from the hallway as he placed his sneakers on, tying the laces up lazily seeing as they were travelling in the car anyway.
"okay don't be stupid and die!" rena yelled back from inside the living room, her head leaning against chris' shoulder as she spoke whilst her fingers continued to move against the controller simultaneously.
"only if you won't!" matt responded from beside nick and after a little laughter and a few more words being exchanged, they were off and the front door closed making a rather loud sound that made rena jump.
chris laughed at the fear prominent on the girl beside him's face and she scowled, nudging his side before diverting her attention back to the screen for the last few seconds. as per usual, she won the round and chris groaned loudly.
"you're cheating!" he said out of frustration, pushing his fingers through his hair and staring at the screen in surprise, despite this being an all too familiar occurrence.
"how the fuck am i cheating? it's not my fault you're dog shit at the game," she laughed and he sighed loudly, eyes still trained on the proof that he lost for the millionth time.
"you smell like dog shit," he retorted childishly and she gave him a look.
"you're so mature, teach me your ways," she giggled and he couldn't help but join in.
"it just comes naturally sorry," he beamed at the girl and she wiped away an imaginary tear which only made him laugh harder.
the conversation faded into something else before chris and rena lazed around doing nothing in particular for a while, merely enjoying one another's company. they occasionally showed each other their phones or laughed at a comment that made no sense. they spoke about anything that came to their mind. it felt normal and as though it was second nature for them because to be frank, it was.
the pair could go hours upon hours in silence without it feeling wrong because it was what they had grown accustomed to do with one another. absolutely nothing felt forced with them and they knew it was something that wouldn't change. so as they sat on the couch, the atmosphere was one they wanted to remain in forever, for they felt the most comfortable with each other even when nothing specific needed to be said or done.
"christal let's watch something," rena suggested after a while, already smirking to herself because she knew he was going to get annoyed at the nickname like he always did, claiming it was stupid.
he didn't actually get annoyed, how could he? he didn't think it was even possible to get mad at rena genuinely. he could never be mad at the smile that didn't stop or the laugh that played every so often that he had the mediums memorised. being annoyed with her never crossed his mind and he didn't think it ever would because rena could do absolutely anything and she would still be the person he could not stop thinking about, the person he didn't want to stop thinking about. she just made him feel do happy, both within company and alone and he adored the way the mere sight of her could raise his spirits when he felt them dropping.
"stop calling me christal!" he scolded, his finger's absent-mindedly fiddling with the hem of her skirt, letting the soft fabric brush against his fingertips until it slipped away.
she laughed in response, her laughter travelling straight to chris' heart as he took in the beautiful sound and stored it with the other variants he had heard before, "why, it's funny and cute?"
"like you," he said smoothly with a toothy grin and she had to do all she could to not turn bright red at the simple words.
sometimes chris said things that rena found herself wondering about more than she would like to admit. his words replayed in her mind like a song that she had on loop and she often reflected on whether or not he realised the impact he had on her, whether or not he noticed the small flush that appeared on her cheeks when he complimented her or even when he was just close by.
"be quiet, what should we watch?" she asked, brushing aside his comment like usual as she racked her brain for something to watch in order to pass time.
"i know!" he yelled after a moment or so as he grabbed the remote and selected youtube on the television.
rena waited patiently for him to put whatever on but her mouth dropped in shock we she saw him searching her channel name. she absolutely despised rewatching her videos and for chris to even think otherwise was absurd according to her. of course, he knew she hated it and so he found pleasure in annoying her and watching the scowl appear on her face as she groaned in frustration.
chris laughed at her reaction as she tried to grab the remote from his hand, "chris no. we're not watching me, i'll literally die if i hear my voice any more than i have to."
"oh come on it'll be fun," he tried to convince her whilst standing up so she couldn't access the remote, laughter spilling out of him like nothing had ever been funnier.
"no chris stop it," she repeated whilst she stood on the coach to reach for the remote. she attempted to grab it but chris moved backwards and she fell right onto him with a loud thud, both of them now on the floor near the couch.
neither of the pair could stop laughing as they remained on the ground, cheeks slightly flushed from the constant laughter. for a while, they were unable to speak due to the continuous laughter they were letting out. each time they went to talk again, the laughter continued and it was a long time before they both regained their composure.
"that was your fault," rena laughed yet again as she went to stand up, finally able to get her words out. however, her movements faltered when chris looked away from the floor and into her eyes. both their breathing patterns fast. for a moment, nothing happened as they just looked at one another, waiting for something to happen. it was almost there, a mere few seconds away, a mere few inches away as they leaner closer but of course, nothing ever went to plan when it came to friends who so clearly wanted to be more.
"we're home!" nick and matt shouted as they entered the house, interrupting whatever could have happened or more specifically would have happened.
rena cleared her throat slightly as she quickly stood up and fixed her hair, ignoring the far too fast pounding of her chest. chris did the same and they both remained silent, no words shared between the pair as they were unable to come to terms with what just happened. how do you recover from nearly kissing one of your best friends? how do you recover from wishing it had happened so badly?
they both gradually slupmed onto the couch wordlessly and as if to mock them even further, nick and matt entered the living room, bag of food in their hands and smiles ever so prominent on their faces as they were well and truly oblivious to current matters.
"what the fuck? did someone die in here? why y'all so quite?" nick laughed but when they didn't join in, he glanced warily at matt. he could feel the awkward and tense atmosphere from a mile away and he was sure matt could feel it too, from the curious expression on his face as he studied chris and rena intently.
matt moved closer to the pair, "hey, are you guys okay?"
rena just nodded her head, suddenly she couldn't seem to do anything and her mind and thoughts blurred together, "mhm my mum just rang me, she needs me home because of an emergency or something. i'll see you guys another time, thanks for having me and i'm sorry i can't stay longer."
"are you sure? we don't mind you staying," matt tried, clearly knowing she was lying and that she didn't need to go home from her tone of voice, no matter what excuse she came up with.
"i'm sure, thank you matt," she mumbled and after a few small hesitant goodbyes, she left as fast as she possibly can.
she walked out of the house and finally allowed herself to think, her mind moving at an alarming rate as the moment replayed in her head. the entirety of the walk home, she couldn't quite get it out of her head. i was like a bee that you spot in your room late at night but on a hot summer's day and it doesn't want to leave so you're left cowering in the corner, praying to rid yourself of the burden.
chris just groaned loudly and went to his room without bothering to offer an explanation to nick and matt who so evidently required one, slamming the door a little and flopping onto his bed. he rubbed his head in confusion and resisted the urge to scream. he just could not think straight. he knew he wanted it and if he was being entirely honest, part of him knew she did too but the way she walked away didn't sit right with him. surely if she had wanted it as much as he did, she would have stayed and she would have tried again.
nick and matt just stared blankly at one another before nick sighed heavily, looking to matt who was still staring at the door that chris had exited from, as though it was going to suddenly reveal all he needed to know, "do you think we interrupted something, both their cheeks were slightly red. both their cheeks were... oh my god matt we fucked everything up. we're fucker uppers! do you hear me? we're fucker uppers!"
it was matt's turn to sigh as he finally shifted his gaze to nick who was captivated with panic that could be detected by anyone who even glanced at him for a second, "shut up nick, relax. if they were going to kiss or something then they'll want to do it again and it'll happen."
"no matt you don't understand, it was probably a heat of the moment thing. they'll probably never get the confidence again," nick explained, attempting to make matt understand his point of view and where he was coming from.
matt practically groaned as he realised what nick meant and the fact that he was most likely incredibly right, "should we speak to chris?"
"maybe later?" nick suggested and matt hummed in agreement.
they chose to leave the matter alone for the time being, even if they knew they had to do something. chris and rena were wonderful creatures, they were amazing and held so much affection for one another but they just couldn't seem to comprehend that the other felt the same way. it was insane that they couldn't see it because anyone, even a stranger, could tell they yearned for each other within the solitude of their own mind.
back at rena's house, she huffed loudly and flopped onto the coach. her mum hadn't rang her. in fact, her mum wasn't even home for a few days but she had to get out of there. a million questions began rushing through her head, the main one being, what would have happened if they weren't interrupted?
it was of course such an annoying and difficult situation to be in but rena knew the best thing to do was to just talk about it. after all, communication was key. she decided on texting him tomorrow to ease the tension a little and give them both some time to think things over. she put her headphones on and made her way to her room and fell asleep to the sound of music drowning out her thoughts in a sea of what she could not control.