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before he could slip away, mavis caught up to chris in the hallway, tapping him on the shoulder. he turned around, and immediately his lips parted in surprise, expecting anyone but her.
"oh, hey mavis." chris forced a smile, but it was weak, and mavis could tell he wasn't really happy to see her.
"chris, i'm sorry for what i said to you. i promise i didn't mean it, it's just... things are complicated. i'm not trying to make excuses for what i did but this whole thing has been hard for everyone who knew you well. i just want you to let me make it up to you." said mavis, pressing her lips together after she finished while she waited for his response.
"mavis, you don't have to make anything up to me, we really don't have to talk or anything if it's too hard for you. i'll leave you alone if it's what you want." chris looked down to the floor.
"chris, that's not what i want." mavis spoke sincerely, holding her gaze right on chris so that he couldn't really look away from her.
she prayed he believed what she was saying.
"you promise?" he asked.
it wasn't often that she saw younger chris when she looked at him, but in that moment, he looked like he was about eight years old again. like a little kid wanting a pinky promise.
"i promise." she reassured him.
"okay, then consider it forgotten about. it'll be like it never even happened. i'm sorry for stressing you out." chris was now the one apologizing, he just couldn't help but feel bad for making her life so difficult.
"no, you're not allowed to apologize!" she laughed, and now chris was smiling.
"okay, sorry!" he put his hands up defensively, and she quickly slapped them down in a playful manner.
"me just saying sorry is not enough for you to forgive me. can you meet me at my locker after school?" mavis raised a brow at the boy while she asked the question.
"mavis, you don't have to do anything for me i swear it's-
"great, see you then!" she turned around abruptly, waving to him as she walked further and further down the halls.
"mavis!" he called out, but he was giggling as he watched her walk away from him, turning back around to send him a smile before she turned the corner.
it was crazy to chris how quickly she could change his mood. that morning he'd been feeling disappointed and defeated, and now he was eager and excited for the school day to end.
she had this kind of hold on him, and though he couldn't really describe what drew him to her, it was something he couldn't get rid of.
mavis had been standing at her locker for almost ten minutes, and she was fully convinced chris decided she was still a terrible person, and wasn't going to show up.
she was a little nervous, when she talked to their friends about what she was planning to do, they were a little apprehensive, and definitely surprised, but she knew if he ever remembered his life, he would realize just how much this meant for her to do for him.
she closed her locker shut, getting ready to look around the school for him, but just in time, chris whipped around the corner of the hall, practically sprinting towards her.
"shit, i'm sorry mavis, my english teacher made me stay to talk to her after class about grades, she was going on and on about how well i did on my last assignment and how glad she was that i was 'finally' starting to put some effort in." he rolled his eyes thinking back on the encounter.
"it's alright chris, you're here now." her lips curved upwards into a smile, immediately putting chris at ease.
"so, what did you do?" he asked.
"just- come with me." mavis hesitated for a moment, before grabbing onto his hand.
she didn't know why she did it, but part of her just wanted to feel close to him after what she did to him. she would never tell anyone of course, but she really did miss his little gestures.
his good mornings to her everyday, his small waves across the hallway, and the way he would always watch her in class.
chris was in pure shock as they made their way across the school hand in hand. it wasn't exactly holding hands because she was directing him, but it was close enough for him to feel his insides stir.
they walked into the equipment room in the school gym, and mavis let go of his hand so that she could squeeze past all of the useless shit that took up space in the rather small room.
"why are we in here?" chris looked around in confusion.
there was no reply from mavis, who was busy digging around in a different section of equipment.
"mavis?" chris called her name.
he then noticed the girl ducking beneath a couple of hockey sticks, with two lacrosse sticks in hand.
he didn't really understand why the hell she would want to play lacrosse with him, but he wasn't going to complain about spending time with mavis.
she finally stood up to her actual height in front of him, and chris could tell she was really nervous about this.
"we're playing lacrosse?" he asked, grinning down at her.
"yeah." she reluctantly forced a smile, an embarrassed looking flush taking over her cheeks.
"sick." he grabbed a stick from her hand, before holding open the door for her to get out.
they walked to the field together making jokes, chris hitting her lightly with the stick every chance he got.
"chris, fuck off!" she chuckled, making him start to cackle.
mavis knew there wasn't practice that night because matt and eddie had told her, so the field was completely empty. it was just the two of them.
"so, are we playing or what?" chris turned to look at the girl, finding she was anxiously chewing on her bottom lip.
"uh, yeah." she said trying to sound like she was comfortable, but she definitely wasn't fooling anyone.
anyone who knew mavis matthews, knew that this was a very big step out of her comfort zone. she never exactly excelled in gym class, and had definitely never been a loyal fan to the sports teams at school over the years, which made her feel incredibly out of place.
she just had to keep telling herself this was for chris.
"are you sure?" chris chuckled at her.
"okay, i don't really know what the fuck i'm doing. i suck at this shit." she confessed, looking down at the ground.
"well, i don't know why we're here, but if this is something for me, i think i might be okay at lacrosse? we can help each other." said chris, making her look up to him.
he could've sworn he seen her cheeks heat up, but before he could get a good look, mavis turned her head away from him.
"okay then, let's go, fucking one v one me!" she giggled, running out onto the field, chris jogging behind her.
"how do you know what one v one means if you aren't a sports person?" he asked.
"give me some credit chris, it's pretty self explanatory. but also, mario kart." she said, already laughing at herself.
chris shook his head at her before scooping up the ball into the net from the ground, lifting his stick up, getting ready to pass the ball to mavis.
"relax big shot, let's just play pass for a bit first."
"okay." mavis agreed, already starting to relax knowing he was going to be nice about it.
he passed the ball over to her very lightly, but when she went to catch it in the net, she completely missed it. she then proceeded to try and scoop up the ball like chris had, but for some reason, it just wouldn't go in.
mavis was now running around, essentially pushing the ball with her stick instead of picking it up, and chris was doing his best not to laugh, trying to give tips instead.
she finally stopped running, looking over to him, and she could see right through his tight lipped expression that he was holding in his laughter.
"it's okay to laugh chris." she rolled her eyes, and he immediately burst out laughing.
before, this would have made mavis incredibly angry, but now, the sound of his laughter only made her want to join in.
he finally walked over to her, putting one hand on her stick. he easily scooped up the ball in one motion, doing his best to show the girl how you were supposed to do it.
"yeah, i think you're gonna be the only one helping here." said mavis, but he waved her off.
"let's just keep trying, you got it." said chris.
it took a couple of tries before mavis finally caught it, and when she did, chris made a point of making a big deal about it. he started to cheer and ran over to her, hoisting her up on his shoulder like she just made a game winning goal or something.
she hadn't expected to have so much fun with chris, but she was actually kind of... enjoying herself.
once she got the hang of passing, they decided to try and get past each other to score. chris was going as easy as he could on her, but every now and then he would pull a fast one on her just to keep it interesting.
he obviously let her score a couple times, and he could see in her face that she wasn't scared anymore.
he smiled at the thought.
"alright come on mavis, show me what you got." he stood a ways away from his goal, getting ready to try and defend it.
she started jogging, trying to swivel around him before he took her by surprise and ran towards her, tackling her as gently as he could into the ground.
he fell on top of her, and they laid there laughing uncontrollably for a while.
"chris, you're not even allowed to tackle in lacrosse." mavis chuckled, shoving his body off hers.
their laughter died down, but they decided to stay lying down on the grass together, watching the clouds roll by ever so slowly.
"i don't know why you did this, but i'm glad you did. i had a lot of fun. i can't really explain it but being out here... it just feels like me." chris rolled his head over to the side so he could look at mavis.
"i'm glad i did too actually." she replied.
they stayed in silence for a couple more minutes before mavis finally spoke up.
"can we be friends?" she asked him.
chris felt a small pang go through his chest, he didn't like her as a friend. he knew that, but he was willing to take anything he could get.
like he had told his brothers, she was special, and he knew he needed her in his life one way or another.
"of course. friends." he smiled, swallowing the lump in his throat as she looked away from him smiling.
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