twenty-two . Announcements
[ narrative ]
FEBRUARY 14TH, 2024
Valentines Day
lauren's pov
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WE ALL gathered in Dior's hotel room, sitting around the room in a giant circle playing Uno... again. It seemed to be the only game everyone enjoyed enough to play consistently, so it's always what the group chose.
"Uno!" Malachi shouts way too loudly.
Kate side eyes him, and Malachi does the gesture back. Surprisingly the two had become super good friends, and that's all they were. It was way obvious that Malachi was smitten for his girlfriend, and Kate wasn't interested in anybody because of what happened with Xander.
She acts unbothered, but I know she's hurting. She really did like him, wether she will admit it or not. I'm scared she won't let herself like anyone else, and I really think if she finds the right person she could be really happy with him.
"You two are dorks..." I mumble, and most people agree with me.
"At least we know what the word friends means, unlike you two," Malachi jokes, pointing at Brady and I.
I roll my eyes, knowing we aren't friends anymore. Brady said we could tell everyone today since we'd all be here anyway.
Malachi ends up winning Uno, which he holds over our heads for the rest of the night. Kate has thrown multiple things at him, including her hardcover book she brought... for some reason.
We're sitting around just talking casually and I get sorta cold, so I move closer to Brady, wrapping my arm around the front of his torso loosely as I put my head on his shoulder. His arm goes around my waist from behind.
"Right... and you two are just friends?" Leah asks, sounding unconvinced.
Brady shakes his head lightly. "No. We're dating."
I smile into his shoulder as the room erupts into chaos. Some people are confused, some are saying they knew it.
"Since when?!" Kate yells, "I feel betrayed I wasn't informed!"
I laugh. "Since yesterday, Kate. Nothing big, I promise."
She narrows her eyes at me. I smile innocently at her before burying my face back into Brady's shoulder. He softly kisses the top of my head.
"Wait... you two weren't dating that whole time?" Dylan asks, seeming heavily confused.
He sits up fully, his face is more confused than a high schooler trying to do algebraic proofs.
"No, we just started dating." Brady explains, and Walker groans.
"My 10 bucks, Walkie?" Summer says cheekily, and Walker rolls his eyes jokingly.
"Damnit, Sunshine. Here." He hands her ten dollars before slouching back grumpily.
My jaw drops. "You assholes bet on us?!"
Walker's eyes widen slightly, but Summer nods.
"As Malachi said, ten bucks is ten bucks... an easy ten bucks at that!" Summer replies, shrugging at me. "Plus I knew I'd win because I helped Brady set up what he was going to do when he asked you out."
Now it's Walker's turn to be shocked.
"You deceitful little bitch!" Walker says at Summer, and she sends him an offended look. His face immediately softens. "I'm sorry, Sunshine. You know I don't mean it."
"I know," she whispers, kissing him softly.
Leah, Malachi, and Aryan all say different variations of ew, gross and get a room.
"PDA!" Ari shouts, "cuddling is the max here! Not everyone has a partner!"
Walker rolls his eyes at their rule, but doesn't protest. Summer lays against his chest and he strokes her hair comfortingly.
"Congrats you two, seriously. I've been manifesting this since you met." Xoch laughs. "You're adorable together. Don't fuck that up, Noon."
"I'll try." Brady says honestly, "I wouldn't dream of hurting Lauren."
Xoch nods at Brady, acknowledging his statement. Summer wants to watch Aladdin, so we do, since nobody has any better ideas.
"No Beauty and the Beast, pretty girl?" Brady jokes, and I shake my head.
"No. It's time I let someone else pick the movie," I reply, and he laughs.
We all sing along to One Jump Ahead... but it really should be considered screaming. Nobody is actually singing, more like talking loudly.
"Wait, did I see that Xander commented on your post today?" Malachi laughs, and Kate nods.
"Yeah. Turns out he feels bad or something," She shrugs awkwardly, not really wanting to talk about it. "He asked to talk, I just didn't reply or anything..."
Everyone claps and cheers, which makes her smile a little. I send her a sympathetic smile which she shakes off, not wanting to seem affected by the breakup.
"He didn't know Alyssa was a freshman, can you believe that?! He willingly went for someone without asking their age!" Summer scoffs, "he broke that off quickly, apparently. Alyssa was posting about it."
"Kate-a-reeno do you wanna go for a walk?" Malachi asks her, and Kate nods.
The two of them walk out, making a few people slightly suspicious.
"Are they...?" Dylan asks, but I shake my head.
"No. Not at all. If Walker asked me to go for a walk would you be suspicious?" Everyone shakes their heads. "Didn't think so. Don't ship them, they hate it. Kate is fresh out of a relationship and Malachi is in one."
Everyone's nods in understanding. We finish up watching Aladdin, Malachi and Kate come back halfway through, and luckily she's smiling now. Most people decide to head back to their rooms since we have to film tomorrow. I guess Jennifer had a hot date because she cancelled filming today, but it's back on tomorrow.
the people that stayed are me, Brady, Kate, Summer, Walker, Leah, Malachi, and obviously Dior since it's her room. Everyone else retreated back to their rooms.
"Hey Kay? I'm gonna head to my room, alright? Tell me if you need something. I don't want you suffering while you're here. You're supposed to have fun." Malachi says comfortingly, and Kate nods.
"Cya, Mal." Kate smiles as they do a handshake.
As far as I can tell, it's the one from spider-man: homecoming.
Malachi walks out, saying bye to the mass of us. We all collective shout a bye, Malachi! and watch him leave.
"Noony?" I mumble.
"Yeah?" He whispers, his full attention on me.
"I'm sorta tired, I think I'm gonna head in for the night. Is that alright?" I ask him, and he nods.
"Of course, sweetheart. I'll walk you." Brady replies.
He explains that we're gonna go, and if anyone wants to reach him or me to text us. I hug Summer and Kate, then smile at Walker. He smiles back.
Unfortunately we have been drifting a little because of his relationship with Summer, but I don't want to bring it up because he could get mad and think I'm suggesting he give her less time. Would he assume that? Probably not, but I can never be sure.
"Don't come back too late, Walk. I don't wanna be woken up at one AM." I joke, and he laughs silently.
"Alright, Laur. I'll be down in about thirty minutes maybe." He shrugs, and I say bye to him.
He says bye back, and as Brady and I head for the door, Walker speaks up again.
"Hey! Brady, I know we bonded over frank ocean and Drake on your live, but if you hurt my best friend, me and my girlfriend will hunt you down." Walker threatens, and Brady nods.
"Got it." He replies, and Walker nods approvingly at him.
Brady grabs my hand and leads me out, walking to the elevator.
"Noony, I—" I hesitate. "I'm sorry about them. I know you won't hurt me."
His face softens at my words, he smiles gratefully at me. "I know, sweetheart. You don't have to be sorry. They're protective for good reason, after... well, Xander I would be overprotective of my other friends too."
I hug him, my face in his chest so he can't see the blush on my face. I wrap my arms around his upper waist, since that's about where they fall comfortably. His arms go under my arms and around me.
The elevator dings, so obviously we pull away so we can get off. Our hands are laced once more, and he walks me to my door.
I remember I wanted to ask him about why he was so awkward the other day when dropping me off.
"Bray, why were you so... awkward when I was saying goodnight to you the other night?" I ask him, and he blushes a little.
"Uh... honestly I got flustered. I don't know why really, but I'm sorry if it made you upset." Brady mumbles, and I smile before pecking his lips lightly.
"Don't apologize, Brady. It's okay, I get flustered too. See you tomorrow at the studio, okay?" I smile again, placing my hand on his arm.
He nods. "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow, sweetheart."
We kiss once more, then I head into my room. I assume Brady heads back to his room. I stay up on my phone until Walker gets back.
"Laur? Why are you still up?" Walker asks me, seeming a little concerned.
"I'm fine, Walk. I was waiting for you to get back so I knew you were okay. Did summer head to her room too?" I ask, and he nods at me.
Walker walks to his bed and grabs his Batman pajamas as he speaks.
"Yeah. She told me she'd catch a ride with Kate to the set tomorrow so she can watch us again." Walker explains, but he then sighs. "Summer told me that you and me have been drifting, and I don't want us to. You're my best friend, Laur. I don't want to drift."
Well that was pretty straight to the point... alright then. I smile at Walker, but I'm not sure how Summer noticed and not Walker...
"I don't want to drift either. We gotta hang soon and do something like we used to. No Summer, no Brady." I reply, and he nods.
"No Summer at all?" He says hesitantly, and I laugh while rolling my eyes at him.
"At all. We can lock our phones in a box so we're not tempted to text them." I joke, and he laughs now.
He heads into the bathroom to get ready to go to sleep, and I plug my phone in, finally laying down and allowing my mind to slow down for a while, falling asleep within minutes of laying down.
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jenna speaks!
IF I SEE ANYONE SHIPPING MALACHI AND KATE UR ON MY BAD LIST THEYRE STRICTLY PLATONIC NO FEELINGS WHATSOEVER. MALACHI HAS A GF (IRL AND IN THE FIC) 😭.
Kate already has a super great bf in the making he's coming soon! (Not really... he's coming whenever this fic ends) but don't ship them please! If you commented something before you saw this note, ur fine. If you commented after, I just won't be replying to ur comment 😭😭.
TYSM FOR NEARLY 11K ON THIS. THATS LITERALLY INSANE.
this book is almost over omg. Like 7 chapters left! then I can start Kates!! I'm so excited.
Go check out Seaside, my new fic if you haven't already!!
Don't forget to vote/comment if ur enjoying!! Also do we want Belle and Celeste as constants or just minor characters? Either can be done for them!