"Oh, Uh yeah of course. Come on in." Delilah waved the girl into the room as she awkwardly stood at the door, not knowing what to do.
Paige rocked on her two feet for a second before getting fully through the doorway, shutting the door behind her.
Delilah watched as she hesitantly sat on the bed and turned her body to face herself. "So" Paige said rather awkwardly. "how have you been?"
Honestly Paige wasn't sure why she was there. She didn't know what she expected to talk about with Delilah. Honestly she wasn't even sure why they stopped being friends but that was a topic for another late night talk.
"Um, I've been good. It's been pretty easy to keep contact with mostly everyone from high school since most of them still go in state." Paige nodded along.
"What about you? How have you been?" God, Delilah hated how awkward it was between them now.
"Good, we're undefeated right now so basketballs going pretty good." Delilah nodded. She already knew that. She used Maggie as her excuse but Delilah had watched pretty much every game from the season. Little did she know Paige had done the same thing.
"That's good." Delilah stared down at her sheets for a second. Paige shook her knee up and down for jitters as the awkward silence filled the air.
"Did you ever end up doing it?" Delilah asked suddenly, the question she had been wanting to reach out and ask Paige for months.
"Do what?" Paige straightened out her back, sending the blonde in front of her a confused expression.
"Tell Claire you we're like in love with her."
Paige was pacing back in forth in her own bedroom. It was a week before both her and Delilah were leaving for collage and she had decided she was going to do it. She was going to tell Delilah she was in love with her.
It might be the most stupid thing she ever did. She might get rejected and have Delilah never want to see her again. But at least she would know and if she chose to never see Paige again then they wouldn't be forced to see each other at school anymore.
Delilah was excited when Paige invited her over. She had been spending practically every wake and hour with Claire lately and Delilah missed her best friend. So much.
She wasn't going to lie and say Paige choosing to hang out with Claire over herself didn't make Delilah mad. Or at least a bit upset. Another word to describe it that Delilah would never use would be jealous.
She had come to terms that she liked Paige but also decided to never do anything about it because she didn't want anything to ruin their friendship before both girls shipped off to collage.
When Delilah opened the door to Paige's bedroom the blondes eye's immediately went to her best friend. "Hey." Delilah said, sending the other blonde an awkward smile.
They talked for a little bit about school and sports before Paige tried to change the subject. Well, didn't really try. Paige changed the subject.
"I like someone."
Delilah stared at her shocked. "Who?" Paige winced. Here comes the hard part. Why couldn't Delilah just read minds. "Do I know her?" She asked again.
Delilah's heart was beating out of her chest. Or at least the two halves of her heart were. Hearing that Paige had a crush on someone else made Delilah feel as though she was stabbed in the heart with a wooden stake.
Of course just as she comes to terms with her crush on her best friend, Paige comes to terms with her crush on someone else. Just her luck. Or so she thought.
"I would say you know her pretty well."
Delilah's frown deepened. She knew what was going on now. Paige liked Claire.
"And you like this girl? Like actually like?" Delilah was scared for the answer. Paige on the other hand took Delilah's reaction as she knew what was actually going on and all of what she was saying was her response to knowing Paige had a crush on herself. Not Claire.
"I think i'm in love with her." Delilah took a sharp inhale. "Oh." She stared around Paige's room before faking a look at her phone. "Oh crap. I need to go." She lied through her own teeth.
"Oh." Paige said abruptly standing up. "Call me later?" She asked, worried she just fucked up their whole friendship. "Um, I don't know, maybe." Delilah said quickly fleeting the room without looking back.
Paige stared at the door worriedly. What had she said? She was so sure Delilah was taking it well. Or at least she didn't think Delilah hated her. But then all of a sudden her mood changed. Paige was reading into everything she had said. Trying to find anything that would give Delilah a reason to react like that. But she couldn't think of anything.
For the next few days Delilah was completely off. She wasn't answering Paige's texts or calls. When Paige asked to hang out she always had plans. It wouldn't be so bad but it was the last week of the girls living in the same town.
The day Delilah's grandmother was planning on driving her up to the collage with all of her stuff Paige drove herself over to the house. She had given Delilah all the time she would need to react but now she was done. There was no way in hell she was letting her best friend move without seeing her off.
"Why are you ignoring me?" Okay, now that she thought over the moment Paige wished she hadn't started the encounter that way.
Delilah stared her down. "What do you mean? I'm not. I'm talking to you right now aren't I?" She denied, lifting a box filled with her stuff into the moving van.
"Bullshit." Delilah was taken aback by Paige's tone. "Delilah you can't just ignore me after I tell you something like that. It's not fair."
Delilah rolled her eyes. She didn't want to hear about Paige's love life the day she leaves. "Paige I don't care."
Now it was Paige's turn to be taken aback. "What?"
"I don't care. Love whoever you want but I really don't care." Paige's heart broke. She could feel the tiny pieces of heart touching her rib cage as it broke apart. Never ever ever would she think Delilah would reject her like this.
She would have thought at least she would be nice about it. But here they were.
Maybe it was her heart talking but not her brain but Paige shook off her sadness and replaced it with anger. She learned to do it as a kid. It was an easier way to deal with emotions.
"You know what, fuck you Delilah." She was angry. Really angry. She felt led on. She knew that now that she thought into everything Delilah was just being her friend but that didn't lessen the amount of times their hands would brush and knees would touch, Delilah not pulling away.
Delilah pushed her tears down as she watched her best friend of twelve years glare at her like they had been friends for a week.
"Delilah sweetie say goodbye to Paige it's time to go!" The sweet voice of Delilah's grandmother cut through the air like a knife. Delilah stared at the trunk of the van. Pulling it down before brushing passed Paige to get to the car.
"Fuck you too."
Paige huffed, getting in her car, leaving the house for the last time in a very long time. Once Delilah watched her go she broke down in a puddle of tears. Sobbing to the silence of the empty car, Delilah felt completely empty. Everything had happened so fast. She already wished she could go back and fix everything.
She overreacted so much. She shut down because she was upset about Paige and Claire. Completely forgetting she would most likely never see the blonde again. Everything was so fucked.
Paige had to pull over at a random gas station because she couldn't see straight. The tears in her eyes blurred the road and she knew it wouldn't be safe to drive. Sobbing to her car, much like Delilah. Paige slammed her hands against the wheel of her car.
God she was so stupid.
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Paige asked, genuinely confused.
Delilah stared at her like she was stupid. "Did you ever tell Claire you were in love with her?" She repeated the question. "You know, the girl you were so in love with before leaving for collage?"
Paige stared at her. "You thought I was in love with Claire?" She gaped at Delilah as she nodded. "Why are you saying it like that?"
Paige suddenly stood up. "I have to go." Delilah watched wide eyed as she darted out of the room. "Um okay." She frowned as she realized she was now talking to herself.
"You could at least shut the door." Delilah grumbled as she had to get out of bed to shut her own door. But across the house Paige was completely distracted dialing Jalens number into her phone.
She didn't know what to do. After all these months of thinking Delilah cut off their friendship because she didn't feel the same way as Paige did she was relieved but also upset to find out Delilah had no idea all along.
"I need help."