—— Climb on board, we'll go slow and high tempo. light and dark, hold me hard and mellow. i'm seeing the P A I N, seeing the pleasure. nobody but YOU, 'body but ME, 'body but US, bodies together. i love to hold you c l o s e — tonight and always. i love to wake up next to you. i love to hold you close — tonight and always. i love to wake up next to you. so we'll piss off the neighbours in the place that feels the tears, the place to lose your fears. yeah, RECKLESS behaviour. a place that is so P U R E, so DIRTY and RAW. In the bed all day, bed all day, bed all day. fucking and fighting on. It's our ( paradise ) and it's our war zone. 18+ Mun
♫ I think I've seen this film before
And I didn't like the ending
You're not my homeland anymore
So what am I defending now?
You were my town
Now I'm in exile, seein' you out
I think I've seen this film before ♫
@prxttylittle
It was one of those lazy summer afternoons when they were younger, the kind where the world felt small and warm. Katie had dragged Leo and his cousins into the backyard, armed with a plastic tea set, and declared they were "playing house."
Eli and Ava took their roles as the kids a little too seriously. Within five minutes, they'd turned feral, shrieking nonsense and chucking plastic food across the lawn. Leo leaned back on his hands and sighed dramatically. “If this is what having kids is like, count me out.” Katie laughed beside him, curling her fingers around the handle of her fake tea like it was real. “Don’t be such a grump,” she said. “They’re not really our kids. Ours would be cooler.” He turned to look at her, caught off guard by the casual ours. “Yeah?” he asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. “You reckon?” She shrugged like it was obvious. “Definitely. They’d be funny. And smart. And—y’know—ours.” Her eyes twinkled a little when she said it. Leo blinked at her, the corners of his mouth tugging up before he could stop them. He didn’t say anything else, just tucked the thought somewhere quiet, somewhere he could keep it safe.
Then a plastic cup smacked him square in the forehead.
“Eli!” he shouted, scrambling to his feet as Eli bolted across the garden, squealing. Leo took off after him, already grinning, with Katie’s laughter trailing behind him—light and easy, like it used to be back then.
Today was the day. Today was Katie’s baby shower. He didn’t know if Jake would be there, but if Leo had to stand around and watch them act like the perfect family, he might just lose his mind (more than he already was).
Leo was fully dressed, shoes on and everything, but he laid in bed with his arm over his eyes, unmoving, for an hour. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t breathe. The love of his life was really having a baby with someone else. Leo didn’t want a baby this young, but god, he wished it was his just to avoid feeling like this. He’d take the fifty million lectures from his parents, judgmental looks from his peers, and even Nick wanting to kill him even more than he already did if it meant he didn’t have to bear witness to this.
His bedroom door slowly creaked open and shut before he felt the bed dip near his feet. Leo assumed it was his father, but he didn’t bother removing his arm from his eyes to be sure. “I’ll be fine. I just needed a moment.” He wanted to speak first to avoid any further conversation, but then his voice cracked, and he knew he wouldn’t be so lucky. The mystery person was confirmed to be his dad when he told Leo that he didn’t have to go if he really didn’t want to. Leo chuckled bitterly at that. Not only would his mom be mad at him, but he didn’t want to disappoint Katie. Was she the reason for his pain? Yes, but they were still best friends. How could he say that he was in love with her if he couldn’t show up for her even when it was hard for him? Especially during one of the most important times in her life? Katie didn’t get pregnant on purpose, and it felt unfair to punish her for it. “No, dad, it’s fine I just—” Leo’s voice was caught in his throat. “I just need to—” he tried again but this time a quiet sob came out instead of words. He was not going to do this. Leo was not going to cry right now. He finally sat up to catch his bearings, but the look on his dad’s face told Leo that he’d already lost it. If Leo could see himself, he’d know his eyes were already red and damp from unshed tears, and his face flushed red. Leo sighed heavily, letting his head drop, and this time he didn’t bother to stop the gut-wrenching sob that tore through his chest, or the next one, or the one after that. He squeezed his eyelids shut in hopes the tears would stop but they just wouldn’t. His father attempted to comfort him, but Leo pushed him away. He didn’t need to be comforted because Leo was fine. Couldn’t his dad see that?
Leo didn’t want to be honest with himself and admit that he was grieving the future he thought he and Katie would have together. They were supposed to be each other’s first everything. There would never be only him and Katie — there’d be him, Katie, and a baby that was Jake’s which meant, in one way or another, Jake would always be around. This was not how things were supposed to go. Leo couldn’t believe it — he didn’t want to believe it.
His breath hitched as he tried to calm down, wiping at his cheeks with the sleeve of his shirt like that’d erase everything he was feeling. Leo wasn’t even sure if he was angry or heartbroken anymore—maybe both. Maybe neither. Maybe he was just tired of pretending it didn’t hurt, of acting like he was just Katie’s best friend and nothing more these days. Of swallowing every feeling he’d ever had for her just to keep her in his life. “I’m fine, dad, please,” Leo gasped as his father reached for him again. He jerked away. “I said I’m fine, okay? Just—just leave it.”
But Prince didn’t. He moved slower, steadier, and wrapped his arms around Leo before he could protest again. Leo fought it again at first—tensing, shaking his head, fists balled against his father’s chest like he could still pretend he didn’t need this. But the second he felt the weight of his dad’s hand cradle the back of his head, Leo let it happen and broke down once again in his father’s arms. He let out a sob that didn’t even sound like it came from him. Then another. And another. Until he was clinging to his dad like he was a kid again. They both sat on Leo's bed like that, with him crying into his dad’s jumper, his chest heaving with all the heartbreak he’d been pretending wasn’t there. His dad didn’t say much—just held him tighter, rubbed slow circles into his back, and let him feel it all. Tomorrow, Leo would be embarrassed his dad saw him like this, but right now, Leo needed this. He needed someone to be there while he let it all out.
It took a while, but eventually, the sobs slowed. Leo’s breathing evened out. He was still red-faced and raw, but the storm had passed. He pulled back enough to wipe his nose on his sleeve again, groaning under his breath. “You’re not gonna tell anyone I cried like this, are you?” His dad gave him a look. “Mate, I’m not sure you’re gonna recover from crying like this.” Leo huffed a weak laugh, then shook his head. “God, I’m sure I look like hell.”
“You’ve looked worse,” his dad said. “Year Eight. Flu. Disaster.” Leo rolled his eyes but smiled faintly. He stood up shakily and gave his arms a shake like he could shake off everything that just happened. “Alright. I’m going.” Prince insisted that he didn’t have to go. “I want to,” Leo cut in. And he meant it. His chest still ached, his heart still bruised beyond recognition, but the clarity was there now. Katie didn’t need to know he fell apart this morning. She just needed him to show up for her because that’s what best friends did.
By the time he got to the baby shower, he’d scrubbed his face clean, put in eye drops to get rid of the redness, and practiced a smile in the rearview mirror that didn’t look quite so fake anymore. When he spotted her across the room—Katie in a soft pink dress that skimmed her bump, her eyes lighting up when she saw him—it hit him all over again, but gentler this time. It was all very bittersweet. She wrapped her arms around him, and Leo hugged her back tightly, longer than he probably should’ve. “You made it,” she beamed. “Of course I did,” Leo said, smiling like nothing had happened. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
He handed her a wrapped box—something small but meaningful—and let her fawn over it while he kept his hands shoved in his pockets and swallowed down the rest of what he felt. She didn’t know he’d spent the morning crying over her. She didn’t know that when heard people congratulating her and Jake, Leo would feel sick to his stomach. And she didn’t know that even now, he’d have given anything to go back in time, just to rewrite the ending.
But Leo was here, and that had to count for something.
prince watched leo nodding, immediately thinking of luna and how she was going to have some kind of existential crisis upon learning their kid was grown up enough to have fallen in love. prince shrugged. “so you are in love with her?” prince raised an eyebrow, deciding to pry for once. “but you two– aren’t together?” he hadn’t questioned the nature of their relationship in the past. generally prince wasn’t one for asking questions, anyway. he wasn’t particularly nosey and he figured he could just trust leo knew what he was doing and even if he didn’t it was up to him to make his own mistakes, but now felt like the right time for prince to stick his nose in his kids business. why not, after all? especially since he was now starting to get a little concerned that leo would get hurt. he wanted to be happy for leo that he was falling in love, considering for leo’s parents that was the best thing to happen for them. it just didn’t seem to be having the same positive impact in this instance, which worried prince.
did it sound so ridiciulous that leo was in love with someone he wasn’t dating? he and katie were dating in a lot of ways despite not ever going as far as to slapping a label on it. they went on dates, they had sex, they argued, they hung out with each other’s families, and they told each other that they loved the other. the one key difference was that they could technically do all of that with other people too (except maybe the love part). all of which leo explained to his dad but leaving out the sex part because even though they both knew, it was still something he was not willing to look his dad in the eye and say. “we sorta have this thing where we agreed that we were too young to be exclusive, but I think we underestimated how complicated things could get.” although, his dad was very obviously not meant to be a complication since his dad was very obviously not an option for katie. “i’m not sorry for calling her a slag like maybe you should’ve been with mum because i reckon that someone who knows you’re in love with them and says that they’re in love with you too but still makes a pass at your dad fits the definition quite nicely.” leo knew that would likely disappoint his father considering this conversation started with his dad wanting him to be less like his younger self, but leo had to be honest here. “but i am sorry for everything else i said because i know i didn’t mean any of that.”
❝ i don’t love you, okay? i never did. i never will. ❞, ❝ i think we should see other people. ❞, ❝ i’m sorry. ❞
I don’t love you, okay? I never did. I never will.
For the 100th time, Prince’s finger slammed the doorbell. It was going to break soon, but he knew Luna was home. Her car was here and several lights were switched on. She was ignoring him on purpose. He couldn’t say he didn’t understand. He really fucked up this time. He told her he didn’t love her, this was just sex and to add fuel to the fire he basically ignored her at Matt’s party last night and made a big show of talking to Sky instead. He rang the bell again and slammed his fist against the door. Finally, it flung open. Cass stood there, looking angrier than he’d ever seen her. In fact, he was never sure she could emote anger. Clearly she could. “She doesn’t want to see you Prince! Take a hint.” Prince did not take a hint. What he did take was the opportunity of an open door by pushing it further open and getting past Cassie. “Where is she?” Cassie yet again insisted he needed to leave. He ignored her. She was never going to be of any kind of help to him anyway. He found Luna in the living room. He couldn’t tell if she looked upset or angry, or maybe both. Either way whatever emotion it was was his fault.“You’re ignoring me.” He pointed out and the look she gave him in response really made him realise how much he fucked up this time. Cass was hovering like an irritating bug behind him, telling Luna to stick to her guns and trying to tell Prince to leave. “Jesus can you at least call off your fucking watch dog?” She didn’t tell Cass to go away, but she did tell Prince to and stood up to walk away from him. As she walked past him he grabbed her hand. He was starting to feel a little desperate and he didn’t like it. “This is a bit of an overreaction even for you.” Luna didn’t look at him. Instead she looked at Cassie. Everyone in their group wondered if these two could read each others minds and they confirmed it when Cassie finally left despite Luna not saying anything. About time, he thought. He was still holding her hand. Was this a good sign? He put his other hand up, brushing her hair behind her ear. This was always his way of apologising. He never used the word ‘sorry’ or admitted what he did wrong. He would show up, and be gentle to show how he felt instead of saying it. It worked every other time. This time however Luna shook free of his grasp and he brought his hands back to himself. He didn’t say anything, expecting her to. Instead she looked at him with these big sad eyes that were almost completely clouded by the anger on her face. He rolled his eyes. “Fucking hell, do you have to be so dramatic?” He wasn’t the most graceful person that was for sure. He stepped closer to her but she stepped away. Prince was confused. Normally their fights led to make up sex but that didn’t seem to be in the cards tonight.
“Prince. I don’t love you, okay?” Prince scoffed but she didn’t let him speak. “I never did. I never will.”
Prince was a little bit lost for words. Every time feelings came up between them he always imagined he’d prefer to hear her say something like this. He was only now realising he preferred hearing her say she loved him, despite arguing with her every time she did. He wouldn’t say it out loud, mostly because he didn’t understand what he was feeling in reaction to her words, but there was definitely a sting there after hearing that. Prince could leave now and they could call quits on this whole thing. That would be too easy though wouldn’t it? He didn’t even believe Luna expected him to do that. So despite how he was feeling, he shrugged. “I don’t care.” That was a lie but he was trying to be casual. “I never expected you to love me. There’s nothing to love, really. Doesn’t mean we have to stop this, does it?” His tone was more of a whisper now and he stepped back into her space, wrapping his hand around hers. He lifted her hand to his lips and grazed a gentle kiss over her knuckles. He smirked, looking right into her eyes. He lifted her hand more, to his shoulder so it could fall there, his arm wrapping around her waist so they were closer together now, face to face. His lips went to hers, but he just gave her a peck. “If you don’t love me, it’s just sex right?” Last week she got annoyed with him for saying that but if she was saying she didn’t love him, surely he wouldn’t get in trouble this time right?
I think we should see other people.
Prince let out an exasperated sigh. He and Luna had been going at this for what felt like an eternity. They were having the same argument going around in loops, mostly about his inability to talk about his feelings, both parties thinking they were correct and both refusing to back down. Prince was tired. He was actually about to suggest they drop it and he go home, mostly to avoid reigniting the fight, but just as he went to speak Luna made a suggestion of her own. “I think we should see other people.” Prince simply blinked at her. It was as though she said it in her native tongue because he was struggling to understand what she said. He sat back and thought about it. Did he want to see other people? No. He hadn’t even looked at another girl since him and Luna started this thing up, even at the start when he did truly hate her and kept thinking ‘this time’ was the last time. They were a bit past that now though. It was a thing now. Thinking about it, he realised her idea pissed him off. The fight they’ve been having all day never once made him think he’d be better off with someone else.
“You can see whoever the fuck you want to, Luna.” He wondered if she already had someone in mind and that was why she made the suggestion. Well if that thought didn’t near drive him into a blind rage. “I’m not stopping you.” He stood up. It was definitely time to leave now.
Prince showed no interest in other girls. He practically became best friends with Nick to get any scoop he could which Nick would have gotten from Cassie because she couldn’t keep a secret. Nick was better at secret keeping but he swore blind he knew nothing about Luna. Days went by with Prince and Luna not speaking. Those days turned to a week and soon that week turned into two weeks. He hadn’t even seen her when he would hang out at Matt’s. He was hoping he would, secretly. Simply just seeing each other after a fight was normally their turning point to make up. Prince wanted to see her. He wanted to make up, even if he wouldn’t admit it aloud. Opportunity presented itself when Nick asked Cassie one night if she thought Luna would collect her, since he smoked more than he intended. Prince was dead sober and offered to drop Cassie home. He could tell she didn’t want him to but Nick insisted it was a fine idea and far be it for Cassie to argue with him. The car ride was awkward because, well, Prince and Cassie weren’t friends. Neither of them even knew how to make small talk with each other so they didn’t. Cassie was the one to eventually break the silence. “I know this is just your excuse to see her. But if you’re not serious about her Prince, leave her alone. Why shouldn’t she see other people? She deserves someone who’s going to love her, because she’s amazing and she’s worth loving. She doesn’t deserve your crap.” Prince scoffed because Cassie just didn’t understand. They pulled onto the street of the girls place and Prince hadn’t spoken since Cassies little lecture. “Is she actually seeing someone?” He was that embarrassed about his question that it came out in a quiet tone that made it twice as embarrassing as asking in the first place. Cassie didn’t answer. Prince decided to take that as a no and as they pulled into the drive he also got out of the car, much to Cassies irritation.
“This is not my fault.” Cassie motioned towards Prince trailing behind her. He knew Luna was confused because Prince hadn’t yet showed his face to Luna, but as he strolled into the kitchen he watched her face go from confusion to irritation. He wondered if that meant they would argue. That would at least be more normal than the not speaking the last few weeks. He almost smiled when Luna demanded to know why he was here.
“Nick asked me to drop Cass off. Just making sure she gets in okay.” His voice was dripping in sarcasm, proven by Cassies scoff and her insistence that Prince wouldn’t care if she dropped dead. Princes eyes didn’t leave Lunas once though. He could barely even tell Cassie was still in the room nor did he notice her leaving. He just felt that suddenly him and Luna were alone. He did look around to confirm because he sometimes felt like they were alone even in a crowd of people. Prince made a bold move and walked over to Luna. She was leaning against the counter so he rested his hands on either side of it, practically wrapping around her from behind. For some reason, she let him when he pressed his lips to her neck. Her daze didn’t last very long when she pulled away from him and moved his hands so she could get out of his grasp. Prince didn’t need pushing, if she wanted away from him he wouldn’t stop her, and took two steps back. “This is so fucking stupid Luna. You’ve made your point.” He sighed. He should have saved his exasperation though because she began ranting and raving about their last fight and how she stood by what she said.
“What?” He snapped, annoyed now. “About seeing other people? Fuck that. I’m not going to go near anyone else.” He walked back over to her. They were now both annoyed at the other being annoyed, funnily enough. “I don’t want anyone else.” Bravely, he kissed her. When it felt like she was letting him, or more that she wanted him to, he placed one hand on the small of her back to pull her closer and the other under her jaw. He smirked and pulled his head back. “You really need to see other people to feel like this?” His lips went to her ear to whisper. “I know I don’t. It’s only you.” They kissed again, slower this time, softer. And because Prince is Prince, he dropped both his hands and despite being amused by the back and forth, he completely removed himself from her personal bubble. “Think about it.” And then he left.
“I’m sorry.”
Love was a funny old thing. One day Luna and Prince were just fuck buddies who hated each other and were so mortified about continuously going back to each other that they would leave as fast as possible. Now, they wanted to know every thing about each other and spend every waking moment of their free time together. “I don’t have a dating life.” Prince retorted when asked. “You’re the only person I’ve ever-“ he didn’t finish his sentence because he still found it difficult to admit he had feelings. She seemed to take him up wrong and thought he was talking about sex and considering she knew him for a while before they got together she knew that wasn’t true. He chuckled lowly when she said as much. “No you’re not the only girl I’ve shagged.” He confirmed with a smirk. “You’re basically the only one I’ve dated.” He hated that word, visibly cringing as he said it. Dated. It felt so American. He didn’t know how else to label it. He was in love with her, sure, but the boyfriend girlfriend thing wasn’t a regular conversation for them, more of a regular fight. So they limited themselves on bringing that up. Luna decided to dig deep with her curiosity asking about his first time. Prince chuckled again, because thinking about it felt so silly. “It was in her bedroom when her parents weren’t home and I’ve watched music videos that lasted longer. Happy now?” He groaned when she asked who the girl was. “Stacey.” He confirmed, when asked if she knew the girl. He was so embarrassed that he slept with her but also afraid of Lunas reaction. After that it was awkward for reasons Prince could barely understand.
The next day Prince texted her but got no response. He didn’t think much of it as he had a busy day anyway with work and schoolwork and driving Pandora from one place to the next. By the end of the day, she still hadn’t replied so he sent her a Snapchat. He struggled to fall asleep, constantly checking if she replied and if his phone had accidentally been turned on to do not disturb. She opened his messages and still no reply. He wracked his brain to try figure out why she was ignoring him but he couldn’t think of anything. That conversation about Stacey occurred to him but he couldn’t actually believe that was reason enough for her to go ghost. She’d told him the story of her losing her virginity too and he didn’t care. Why would she? It had to be something else. He just couldn’t think of what and no doubt it pissed him off that he had turned into this person checking his phone dying for a text back. A few days later at school Prince very dramatically threw himself down on the seat next to Luna at lunch. She didn’t even look at him, despite the weird glance he got from Valerie and Matt. He was going to make her look at him though. He glared at the pair sitting across from Luna as a kind of silent way of telling them to mind their own business, then he leaned in super close to Luna. “I’m not invisible. I know you can see me.” She finally looked at him and he nearly punched the air in triumph. A look. At least it was something. He was about to start questioning her when Nick decided this moment to have the worst timing ever when he and Cassie arrived with none other than Stacey. Nick sat down next to Prince, Cassie next to Luna and Stacey across from Prince, because of course. Princes body was already fully turned in the direction of Luna anyway so he didn’t even spare Stacey a glance even when she greeted him. He did spot Cassie looking between Luna, Prince and Stacey. He furrowed his eyebrows. Was Stacey really the reason Luna wasn’t speaking to him? Why would Cassie have given them all that look if Luna hadn’t spoken to her about it? He rolled his eyes and leaned in to her. “Is this why you’re fucking blanking me? Really?” He was whispering because nobody needed to hear them half-arguing. She’d gone back to not looking at him, probably because he got distracted by the others arriving. Definitely didn’t help his case that he looked up and away from Luna upon Stacey’s arrival but in his defence he didn’t know she was there before he looked, it had been Nicks voice that made him glance over. He grabbed a hold of her hand, a big deal when they were in school with all their friends considering he was normally very private about all of that. “This silent treatment is pissing me off. At least tell me what the fuck I did.” And what he did was sitting across from them and decided to interject herself, teasingly asking what the two of them were whispering about. “Fuck off Stacey.” Prince snapped. It was if she knew she was what they were fighting over and wanted to make it worse on purpose. Him interacting with her was apparently the last straw for Luna who got up and left. Prince sighed and rolled his eyes. “Trouble in paradise?” Stacey smirked and Prince didn’t even look at her. He caught up with Luna at her locker.
“I think I used the wrong words, when we talked last week.” Prince was mortified. “You’re not just the only girl I’ve ‘dated.’” He could see her attitude was about to get worse. “You’re the only person I’ve ever had feelings for. And you’re the only one I ever lied to about it being just sex. If we had this four years ago then there’d be no other girls at all in my past.” He placed his hand under her chin to make her look at him. “You ignoring me has made me feel like fucking shit, just so you know.” He cleared his throat and announced he was done sharing now. It was getting to be a bit much for him. He went to drop his hand but hers covered his so he kept it there, his thumb looping through one of her fingers. He kissed her. “I’m sorry.” She said as he pulled away and he shrugged, as if he hadn’t spent the last few days losing his mind trying to figure out what he did wrong this time. “We’re good.” He confirmed and kissed her again. Besides maybe Luna was right to ignore him, the universe should have punished him a long time ago for ever even getting into bed with the worst person he knows.
a concept: its late, around 2am maybe. we’re sitting on the couch. we’re a little bit drunk. im straddling your lap. you’re kissing my neck telling me how much you want me.
Katie chuckled softly. “If you’re worried about being that type of guy then, trust me, you are not that type of guy.” Katie confirmed. “And you know the difference by telling her how you feel and if she shoots you down then it’s friendly, if she feels the same it’s romantic. There isn’t really a simpler answer than that, sorry.” She understood that for Eli, a man who chose not to date, that what she said was probably daunting. Her basically telling him to just do it was not an easy suggestion and she understood that but it really was the quickest way for him to find out if there was something there or not. “Don’t you dare. You’ve already got step one out of the way, which is asking your incredible bright best friend for advice. Like, how long were you standing outside my door considering doing this? Or how many times did you try to convince yourself not to even ask me anything at all? But you just did it. You obviously were a little scared since you told me not to talk shit, but here we are and I’m not so it worked out. Now apply all of that to asking her out, that could work out too. You’re never going to know unless you try and you’re not doing you any favours by waiting around, and if she feels the same you’re not doing her any favours waiting around either. You just have to do it, you can’t leave it up to her.”
Eli groaned as he flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling as he considered Katie’s advice. He appreciated her encouragement, but he really couldn't fight the anxiety creeping into his body right now. Katie's suggestion of just telling Georgia how he felt seemed so straightforward, yet it felt like a huge risk to him. He wondered how he could be sure that his feelings wouldn't be rejected, or worse, that he wouldn't risk damaging their friendship. Eli came to the realization that Katie was right, though. He’d spent the past week debating on whether he should try to figure it out himself or turn to his friends for advice. It was a big deal that he even acknowledged that he was actually crushing on someone, let alone saying it aloud to another person. The fact that he was even asking Katie meant that he was ready to take his relationship with Georgia to the next level. Now Eli was stuck at the part where he didn’t know what to say to ask her out. Eli had no game. He thought of himself as charming, but he didn’t think that transferred into the romance department at all. He was certainly not a flirt like his friends were. “Okay, Keller, let’s go with what you’re saying: I’m going to ask her out. When? Where? How? I need you to explain this to me like I’m in primary school, Katie.”
Katie’s gaze was torn away when all of a sudden Eli made his presence very known. She glared at him and shrugged her shoulder. “I am happy.” She insisted. She looked up at Eli and smiled as brightly as her face muscles would allow but her gaze was like gravity and immediately went back to Leo, fading her fake smile. “It’s just-“ she paused trying to work out what she was feeling or thinking. She knew her behaviour was that of an obviously jealous person but if confused her because she still felt the same about everything as she did before. “I know I’m the one that ruined it but, like, is it fair that I can’t be touchy feely with Jake if Leo’s around, I can’t even mention him but I have to sit front row to his flirting?” Katie looked back to Eli now. He really annoyed her at times but he was still one of her best friends so she chose not to be embarrassed about basically admitting being jealous. What he said next made her mouth drop open though she wasn’t sure why. She knew Leo slept with other people. She did too. It was part of their thing. It was something about Eli saying this girl was the first after herself that made Katie feel a certain way. Like this was the first person who made Leo want to sleep with someone other than Katie. She wasn’t sure why that was significant but it felt that way. Katie didn’t get a chance to collect her thoughts or ask any questions because she saw the pair separate and then Leo making his way over. She looked at Eli because she felt like she just couldn’t look at Leo. She had no choice when he reached them. Elis smirk was so Eli that it irritated Katie. She refrained from rolling her eyes at their interaction and looked at Leo when he looked at her. She noticed his expression falter which made her raise her eyebrows. Why did his smile fade upon looking at her? Why was she annoyed about that tiny thing? “Me? I’m good. I’m great.” She knew her answer gave her away and she slyly elbowed Eli as a silent warning not to point it out.
Leo couldn't help but notice the tension in the air when he approached Katie and Eli. His cousin had to be up to no good. He wasn't sure what Eli could be stirring up, but he had a feeling it had something to do with him. He ignored it because he didn’t want there to be drama anymore, but he couldn’t stop his brow from raising at Katie’s answer. Before now, Leo was never above ignoring another girl to give Katie all of his attention. Even back when they were both down for the pact, they still weren’t above getting jealous at seeing the other with someone else, and he’d drop anyone for her. As he’s joked with her many times whenever she’d get jealous, she’d always be his favorite. In all seriousness, though, she was. Katie was his endgame until she started dating Jake. Leo didn’t have a reason to care anymore. She didn’t care how jealous he’d be when she got a boyfriend, buy in a way, her being jealous made him happy. It meant she still cared that he was with someone that wasn’t her. “Okay, good. I’m glad,” Leo spoke awkwardly. His eyes flickered back to Eli smriking, wishing he’d disappear like his sister.
Eli always loved a bit of chaos, and he was not going to pass up the opportunity for more even with Katie’s elbow in his side. “Katie and I were talking about how we could keep your little driving lesson going when you inevitably call me to be your Uber in the morning, right, Katie?” Eli looked to her because he knew she wasn’t going to admit to what they were actually talking about. They just became friends again. Neither one of them was going to risk pissing each other off right now. Eli, not even attempting to be annoying anymore though, asks Leo how the logistics of sex will even work considering he was still on crutches. “Easy. She’s on top the whole time,” Leo shrugs. “If I were her I would never shag you again,” Eli chuckles. “Well, you’d have to be having sex in the first place to do that,” Leo retorts. Eli just laughs again. He walked into that one. “And this is already us shagging again. Besides, it gives me a reason to hit her up in 6 weeks and say, ‘Hey, remember that time I was rendered immobile and still blew your mind? Well, now all of my limbs are functioning, so imagine how much better it’ll be.’ It’s a perfect plan.” Eli rolled his eyes at his cousin but took the moment to loop Katie back in. “Do you hear that? It’s the perfect plan.”
Katie found all of this to be incredibly endearing even with Eli being a bit snappy. It was sweet. She literally had to stop herself from squealing when he admitted there was a girl. She sat back and nodded, listening intently to every word as he talked about the girl. “Well, you’re not just sitting next to her in all your classes. She’s sitting with you, too. She must like you somewhat if she’s willing to put up with you that much.” Katie pointed out. “At the very least it means she’s comfortable around you which is already a good sign that you can ask her out without making it weird.” This was all very foreign to Katie to see Eli open up like this. She was happy for him because no matter how much he said she, Leo and Ava made love look unappealing, Katie loved love and she wanted to see her friend fall in love. She shook her head. “Worrying about making it weird is such a waste of your time, Eli. You really like her so regardless you need to know if it’s reciprocated. Like, if she has the same feelings you two could be spending this time you’re using to secretly crush on each other to actually hang out, right?”
Although Katie was making a good point, Eli couldn’t help but still be skeptical. Obviously, she knew more than him about girls and dating, but Georgia wasn’t like every girl, and he didn’t want to scare her off with his amateur skills. “I don’t want to be the kind of lad who assumes a girl is into him just because she’s being nice. She's sort of my friend, at this point, like how do you tell the difference between friendly and romantic?” Maybe it would’ve been beneficial to date around when he was younger. At least then he wouldn’t have juvenile questions like the one he just asked. Even if there were hints of girls crushing on him before, he never paid any mind to it because he wasn’t ever interested. Eli was completely and totally lost. “Katie, I don’t know if you realized this, but I don’t know how to ask her out. Maybe I shouldn’t say anything. Let her make the first move, right? That’s not a bad idea.” He figured at least they’d be moving at her pace, and he’d feel less weird about potentially making things awkward. Eli still wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, though. He looked to Katie expectantly.
Katie should have been studying but she just kept finding herself picking up her phone and scrolling through Instagram even though she’d seen pretty much everything that could interest her. So she was glad when she heard a knock on the door and was almost gleeful to invite the intruder in. She patted the space on her bed in front of her to welcome Eli to sit. She was just about to make an incest joke when she noticed he actually seemed a little nervous and it surprised her. She nodded at his warning, dying of curiosity about what she was about to be privy to that she couldn’t share with Leo and Ava. She furrowed her eyebrows. He was going to need to speak up. “You need what advice?” She swore she heard the word ‘girl’ but considering those words never came out of his mouth before she had to double guess herself. “Are you-,” she paused because she didn’t want to seem like she was mocking him, because she wasn’t. “Eli, are you having girl problems?” Katie struggled to hide her excitement because she’d been waiting for this day to come.
Eli shifted uncomfortably on the bed, his cheeks turning pink again as he struggled to find the words to explain. He knew he could trust Katie not to judge him, but it was still embarrassing to admit his feelings. “It’s not a problem, alright?” He didn’t mean to be snappy with Katie since he was the one coming to her for advice, but he was sensitive about this which was why he didn’t bother with his cousin and sister. Eli's blush deepened as he looked away. “But there is a girl, and you know I’ve never really done this kind of thing before. I thought maybe you’d have some insight to share.” He explained how he and Georgia met through some mutual friends a few times before they wound up in the same course this semester. They sat together every class, and whenever Eli was around her, he felt like he could be himself. It was a strange feeling for Eli because he usually had a guard up around others, but with Georgia, he felt comfortable enough to let it down. He found himself laughing at her jokes and being genuinely interested in what she had to say. He wanted to see more of her. Eli just had no clue how to do it. “I can’t even bring myself to ask for her number. What if she’s not interested, or I somehow make it weird?”
Eli hesitated outside of Katie's door, his heart pounding in his chest. This was an entirely new experience for him, and the first person he could think to talk to about it was the one person who never judged him for still being a virgin. He swore off relationships because no one around him made them look inticing. If it weren’t for his sister and her messy love life, Katie and Leo definitely sold him on avoiding relationships like the plague. That was, until Eli met Georgia. She was beautiful, charming, smart, and matched his wit with ease. He had never felt this way before, and he was both excited and terrified. He had no idea what to do or how to handle his newfound feelings. Taking a deep breath, Eli finally knocked on Katie's door. He heard her voice from inside, telling him to come in. “You can’t start chatting shit or tell the other two,” he said, taking a seat on her bed as he did so. Eli lost his confidence as he felt the blush rush to his cheeks. “I need girl advice,” he mumbled so quietly he wasn’t even sure if Katie would understand what he said.
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