𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: chanel rushes to the hospital to see wren after the accident.
Chanel told her cabinmate Delaney to cover for her if anyone needed her for some reason. It was already late so it didn't seem likely, but she wasn't trying to get in trouble for leaving the campgrounds without any notice. The moment she read Rory's texts, she immediately started to panic. Everything was so good the night before, why did this have to happen? Rory had already explained that Wren was fine, but she couldn't stop worrying. For some awful reason it made her think of that terrible Halloween night back in high school. She couldn't lose someone else. Not again. Chanel got to the hospital as quickly as possible and ran to his room once she was told where he was, "Laurie?! Oh my god, are you okay? What happened? Rory texted me and I tried to get here as fast as possible." She was already running out of breath from all the running and rambling. If it wasn't for Rory telling her that he was fine, she probably would have been sobbing, even though she was still tearing up. It was a lot to process at once, and she wasn't great in these kinds of situations. She just hoped she wasn't making this more stressful for Wren.
Wren was resting his eyes a little when Chanel came running in. This was the part he was worried about, all the trauma from Griffin was so real for her. Not to mention the other time Wren had to go to the hospital. It was all just a little much, and he felt so guilty. For making Rory feel guilty on accident and now Chanel being stressed out. He put his good hand on her face, "I am fine. First full day of being your boyfriend again and I'm already in the hospital though. That's tough" said Wren laughing a little. He wanted to lighten up the situation as much as he could, "but really. I'm fine. I might not be basketball fine for a while ... but I'm not worried about that right now." Wren knew he would be worried though. If he couldn't play basketball ... it would be such a huge change. His whole life revolved around the sport. Its how he made friends, how he was social. Sometimes he attributed it to why him and Chanel had started dating in the first place, even though he knew it was a lie. It was just nice to be a basketball player and to have your girlfriend cheering for you.
The dumb part of Chanel's brain focussed in a little too much on the fact that Wren called himself her boyfriend. She needed to do a lot better this second time around with him, so she wasn't going to push any kind of label on them until he was ready for that. Maybe he was, but there was more important things to talk about. That'll be a topic she brought up later, because of course Chanel would keep that in the back of her mind. Even though Rory said he was fine, she was relieved to hear him say it as well. She hoped he would recover in time for basketball season, but there was still a while before that came around again. Anyone could see how much Wren loved basketball, and it crushed her to think that it could be taken away from him. But that wouldn't happen, she was sure of it. "There's still a lot of time left, you'll be back to playing in no time." she said with a sad smile. "Is anything broken? How did this even happen? Do I need to bitch someone out? Cause you know I will, I have no problem with that." her questions kept coming in quick. Chanel tried to hold back, but she was still anxious about everything.
Lawrence hadn't given much thought when he called himself her boyfriend. A huge part of him thought it would be dumb to wait and ask. To begin it all, they had dated before. But the reality was that he had almost died, whether or not it felt like it right now, and there wasn't time to waste. Quite a foolish thing, labels, but it felt very important in the thick of things. "Yeah I just don't think I can do summer session in August" said Wren trying not to think about it too hard. How it was going to set him back. How he might not be able to use his wrist without it hurting for a long time. Quitting basketball just didn't feel like an option. But it might be the reality. "It's my fault. I was speeding and someone came in out of nowhere when I was trying to get home for a ... well an emergency. But don't tell Rory that. It's not her fault. It's just mine, I should have been more cautious" Wren rambled along, he tucked some hair behind her ear, "if you have someone to bitch out, it's me. But don't do that. I've been told by The Chanel Hampton that pretty privilege gets you out of most things" he said, laughing. But that made his whole body hurt, so he winced.
"Everything will be fine. Your coach will totally understand and you'll be back to playing in the fall." Chanel knew Wren could be really hard on himself, so she tried to stay as positive as possible. She made a little bit of an effort to not focus on him during games in the past year because of the breakup, but she always saw him as a great player. If anything, he was probably improving with every year that went by. There was no way this injury was going to take this all away from him. She remembered a few months ago how Wren mentioned that Rory was going through something, and though she didn't know what that meant exactly, she knew it was serious. "Yeah I won't say anything, promise. Is everything okay though, like with the emergency?" She wasn't going to be her usual nosy self and ask what the emergency was, but she did hope things were resolved. Chanel smiled as Wren spoke but immediately placed her hand over his good one and squeezed it gently once he winced, "She definitely knows what she's talking about, she a smart girl." she played along to lighten the mood. "Not only are you hot, but you're hurt, so bitching you out is a big no. I can get you something though, anything. I can stay the night, unless you wanna be alone. I get it." she nodded. "I totally didn't tell anyone I left camp, but Delaney's got that covered."
He just didn't know who Wren Bishop was without basketball. It had become such a huge part of his identity. Yeah he had other passions, but none like basketball. It just came so easily to him, and when he got more competitive about it he focused and trained until he could be the best. He liked being part of a team, it made him feel less alone. "Yeah, everythings okay with the emergency. I think she's grabbing coffee right now" said Wren, "she's planning on staying the night". He wasn't mad at Rory at all, but he was really worried that she was going to blame herself the same way he was blaming himself instead of the other driver. "I wouldn't be mad if you stayed. Just be careful I'm sore" he said as he shifted over in his bed a little bit. He wasn't sure what the hospital rules were, but Rory was already taking the chair. Wren's mind was rushing with the idea of him not being able to play again. At least not in college. He would always have the option to play for fun, but what if when he stopped playing he started getting worried about staying in shape again. What if his workout routines without basketball got too intense. He definitely needed to call his therapist, but he was happy with the easy fix of having Chanel next to him. "I'm really happy you're here" he whispered to her.
"That's good." Chanel said with a sad smile. She hadn't exactly talked to Rory yet since she'd been back, she sort of assumed his family hated her at this point. It was definitely all in her head, but it made sense to her. The fact that Rory thought to text her at all must have been a good sign. Chanel loved his family more than anything, and would be there for them no matter what. She perked up a bit when Wren said she could stay the night. Sleeping was always lot easier when he was by her side, she wondered if it was the same for him. As carefully as possible, Chanel got into the hospital bed and laid beside Wren. "I'll always be here." she replied sincerely. "I hate to say it, but you're kind of stuck with me now. I mean, you're totally lucky to be stuck with me of all people, but also, kind of a yikes too." she raised her shoulders and laughed. "At least I'm entertaining ... and really hot." She then took her phone out and texted Delaney that she'd be out for the night. "Are you gonna go back home when you get out of here? I don't know if taking care of crazy kids all day is really great right now." Chanel was just in her overprotective mode. Whatever Wren wanted to do was fine with her, but she still would be a little worried.
Wren smiled to himself when she said that he was stuck with her. "I think I've been stuck with you since we were five" he said with a little laugh. People didn't quit on Chanel Hampton, well that was wrong, but he wouldn't. Even with everything. He was never going to care about anyone the way that he cared about Chanel. "I'm not sure. I'll probably be back in a day or so? Just no more lifeguarding or piggy back rides for anyone" he said, feeling his wrist ache. He could do this. Wren enjoyed disciplining himself, and if he was going to get back out there he needed to do it right away. "Plus, Delaney is going to miss me in the cabin at night. She really loved tripping over my shoes this morning, and I have a reputation to uphold as obnoxious" he joked, laughing a little. His whole body hurt. He was exhausted. "Not to sound like a simp, but my mouth really hurts. Could you kiss it to make it better?" he said, wincing a little at the shitty line he had just pulled.
"That's true. I'm just so enchanting, you can't seem to stay away." Chanel said with an innocent, sweet smile. More like she couldn't seem to stay away from Wren. The thought popped into her head that she was already being annoying. Maybe Wren was being too nice, but didn't actually want Chanel over for the night. It's not like there was a lot of space anyways. But she told herself that if Wren didn't want her to stay, he'd be honest with her and say that. She needed to get better with pushing away because she assumed she was a burden on everyone. "A day?" she asked. Was that really enough time for Wren to get back to working? "You know your body, of course. But if you need more time, that's okay too." she said, trying to be as supportive as possible. She just didn't want Wren to overwork himself. Chanel successfully held back her laughter, but couldn't hold back a smile after hearing his little line at the end. She though it was cute, but she fell for practically anything Wren did. "Wow, having you been hanging out with Chase more recently?" she teased, before kissing him gently on the lips. Even after all this time, something as small as kissing Wren just never got old. "I don't wanna keep you up any later than you need to be though." she said before kissing him again. He must have been completely drained at this point, so hopefully some rest would do him some good.
The thing was, the kids needed him. The other staff needed him. He had made a commitment to camp and he was going to see it through, in whatever capacity that was. "I should be fine, I'll take it slow and make sure I'm going to all my check ups" said the boy, he was confident that he could handle this. He was Lawrence Bishop, nothing kept him down. Except those two times he was playing basketball and passed out, but that was neither here nor there. "I have been hanging out with Chase, do you think I got simp from contamination?" said Wren with a small chuckle, he knew better than to actually laugh after the last time. She kissed him again and told him to get some sleep, "I should probably do that, but I promise we can go back to late night chats when I'm better" he said as he laid his head back on the pillow. "I could honestly stay up and talk right now" said Wren, his words getting slower and his eyes closing, "we could literally talk about anything. I watched that cheer documentary this year" his words were getting slower and slower, "or the lore of the air bud franchise". Wren's eyes were completely shut, "whatever you want to talk about babe" as he fell asleep with her by his side. //END
𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: rory is not doing well, and wren is coming to save the day as always until he’s the one who needs to be saved.
rory to wrennie da pooh: arre yu slepe?
wren to clone: nah i'm up, what's crackin?
rory to wrennie da pooh: can yu mkae flat waffles
wren to clone: pancakes? yeah let me just tell my co counselor and i'll be there in like 45 (maybe 30)
rory to wrennie the pooh: thats so long, thats like 6 ever
wren to clone: i know, but i gotta drive (aka speed)
rory to wrennie da pooh: okay bring choclatte chips
wren to clone: you know that's going to only delay me, im sure there are some at the house
rory to wrennie da pooh: I hope so or I'll b a md turtle
Wren hopped into the truck quickly after telling Miles he needed to check on his sister. Miles knew that the twins were close, and that Wren wouldn't leave unless it was really important. Lawrence then hit the open road, knowing that it was dark but that the roads were mostly empty between camp and home. He knew where all the cop traps were, so speeding it was. He was worried Rory would be unconscious by the time he got to the house, so he really sped up. Then a car pulled onto the highway quickly without their lights on, and Wren slowed down as much as he could before inevitably hitting the other car. His wrist hurt like hell, neck hurting. Wren called for emergency help and went to check on the other driver. Before he knew it, there was an ambulance there for him. The other driver was completely fine, which was good. He already felt so guilty for not getting to Rory. The hospital called the house, he was going to be under observation for 24 hours to check for a concussion and to get his sprained wrist taken care of.
Rory hopped up to go see if she had chocolate chips in her pantry, she finished the bottle and stumbled to go see. She knew she couldn't cook herself she would of set the place on fire and going out on her own at this time gave her supper anxiety. She was going to give him the biggest of hugs when he got here, she checked her phone and sat down and waited. 30 minutes turned into a hour and she popped open another bottle, her phone in her hand as she sent one text after another, Maybe he fell asleep or he couldn't get away. No that didn't make sense since he would at least send her text updating her. She started pacing back and forth as she called him back to back. She was getting worried her mind racing as she sat on the edge of her bed. Finally her phone rang, she heard it when they said he was just fine but she called a uber and raced to the hospital. She didn't care what time it was she caused a fuss until they let her in his room. Sending a quick text to Chanel before entering his room, she walked in slowly and sat next to his bed. "This is all my fault." tears began rolling down her cheek, afraid that he really hurt himself just to make pancakes.
He was in a little pain, but honestly he felt ridiculous sitting in the hospital room. Before Wren knew it, Rory was there and crying. "It is not your fault. It's the other driver and me for speeding" he said as he wiped the tear off her cheek. "I think pancakes might have to wait for a minute" Wren added with a little laugh. This would all be forgotten soon enough, he had been saving for a new truck anyways. "But you will get them" he reassured, that same friendly smile that he always had appearing on his face. "Just a little time with the school physical therapist for my wrist, making sure I'm ready for basketball. But I have all summer to heal up. You didn't tell Chanel though ... right? I don't want to freak her out. I'm gonna call her to pick me up once I'm out of here and she can take time off" he said, thinking about how Chanel would lose it.
Rory was happy that they put each other as their emergency contacts when they turned eighteen just to keep their parents at bay incase they ever came to the hospital for something minor. If they would of gotten this all the parentals would be around for the summer and that would suck. "It totally is I should of just went to sleep." she felt guilty maybe it was because she was still buzzed or she just added that on top of everything else. She didn't want pancakes she wished she had never asked for them. "I have nothin but confidence in your ability to bounce back." she said looking down when he started talkin about Chanel, she was so out of it she didn't even think about all that."I might of sent her text ." she fiddled with her fingers. "Atleast it wasn't mom right?" she grinned.
Wren really didn't want her to feel bad, she was already going through so much. "Aurora Bishop. It is not your fault" he said sternly. He was worried how Chanel took the news, but his phone was far away and he knew she would be here soon enough. They had just patched things up, and he was really not trying to bring the emotional intensity on like this. What they needed was to slowly get comfortable again, at least that's what he had planned. "yeah and don't worry, I'll leave out the drinking when I call parents" said the boy, knowing that it wasn't what she was thinking about at the moment, but that it would be good later. Maybe hiding her shit wasn't the smartest, but there had been many times where she'd caught him throwing up and not snitched. So he was going to do the same. Twins before parents.
It had been so long since someone said her name she was surprise to hear it. She had to look at him to make sure he had said before nodding. "Fine, fine. I'm not to blame. She looked around the room and got up and decided to fold her clothes, she wasn't as lit as she was before and she knew she was going to have a huge handover come the morning. She shook her head when he said he wouldn't tell them about the drinking. "I don't care about any of that, I'm just happy you're okay. I can take whatever heat they throw at me. I'll just ignore them." she loved her parents but she felt disconnected to them. She was short then when they spoke, her father said she had a attitude problem and her mother thought she was challenging her. It was difficult.
Her relationship with their parents was already bad enough, it wasn't Wren's place to make it worse. "and I am absolutely fine. Chanel Hampton might kill me though. So we'll tell Nana to pray" said Wren with a little laugh, thinking about what his not girlfriend would think. She'd be upset with him for being reckless, or just more traumatized. He wasn't really ready for it. He felt like an idiot for going so fast. Wren was smart. He was calculated, he didn't know why he felt like he had to be there so quick. But she needed him, and he couldn't even show up right.
"No I'll tell her it was all my fault, I shouldn't of texted her anyway. I really need to stop drunk texting people." she shook her head. Why couldn't she just send her boyfriend a sexy text or a pic like most drunken text. No she wanted pancakes, how weird is that she thought. She wasn't even sure if Wren and Chanel was talkin again and she just forced this interaction. "I'm sorry I wasn't thinking straight." she really felt dumb for being so careless. "If she comes she'll see how much of a hot mess i look like an I'm sure she'll be more at me than you." she was being hopeful.
"Don't apologize. I want her to come" he said, covering his tracks. If had known Rory had actually texted Chanel, he wouldn't have said it. He just thought the idea was far fetched enough that she hadn't. Wren had wanted to make her feel better. "Chanel has been enough of a mess from time to time, you know she holds no judgement for girls" he reassured her, "plus it would look kind of bad for her to get mad at her almost boyfriend's sister" Wren said, to tease the idea that him and Chanel were finally getting back together after everything. A smile broke onto his face, just thinking about the moment they had shared the night before.
Rory groaned sitting back in the chair."You guys got this weird kinda toxic thing going on between you two." she chuckled. "I think you both like it like that." she understood very little about relationships she had their parents and they were sickeningly in love she was sure she never really saw the fight except before sending Wren away. Then it was her own but she was a hundred percent sure they were going to be married and stayed married. She thought that Chanel and Wren will get married atleast twice and divorce once.
"I love her, not the drama. It's a side effect" said Lawrence laughing a little bit, "I'm down bad for her. Gonna do my best to stay like that. Plus she makes really good food, so you're going to be thanking me next fall when she's spending the night and then makes food for all of us" he encouraged. God, Chanel was the girl of his dreams. It wasn't love like their parents, but it was the most authentic love he was ever going to have.
"Yeah I know it's been like that for a very, very, very long time. " she teased. She did know how it felt to have it bad for someone. It was just more fun to her to make fun of her twin and his love life. "Well if she's spending the night I can just imagine what you both will get up too and I alone deserve food for being traumatized." She liked Chanel and as long as he was happy she was happy. Even i she didn't understand it all.
Wren laughed, "yeah because you and Jonah just pray when you're together, right?" he teased her back. He was happy that this time around, him and Jonah were friends. Confidants. He really trusted Jonah with his sister, which was very comforting. "I really love her, and things are going to be good this time. I'm sure of it" he said, "as soon as I get out of here". He worried about his wrist, worried it might impact his basketball. He was sure it was going to be fine, but the anxiety was creeping up. His lack of control.
Pretending to clutch her pearls she tried not to laugh. " How dare you." She sighed." I'll have you know that we don't pray but we do watch a bunch of anime." She crossed her arms. She wasn't going to admit to being active but she was sure no one was as active as they were. " I'm rooting for you but I'll keep break up snacks just in case we pull a bishop." She had broken up with Jonah twice and noth times were hell and she didn't want there to be a third but she was prepared just in case. " Don't worry, you're tough you'll be shooting 3 pointers in no time.
"Would be a shame if either of us pulled a Bishop. We can't all have Nana's commitment issues" said Wren laughing a little. There was no way things were going to go south with Chanel again. He wouldn't let them. If things went bad, this breakup would be for good, and he couldn't handle that. "I should get some sleep, pass the time. Do you want to stay? Or should I call you an uber?" he asked, thinking about how his whole body ached.
"I think I'm closer to mom and dad's relationship pattern but if Jonah starts wearing sweater vest you and Chanel need to make room on your couch for him cause that's where he's going. " She was serious, she didn't think she would be exactly like her parents but no matter what sweater vest were a no no. " I'm not leaving until you're leaving sir." She didn't want him to be alone plus riding in a uber was made her anxiety skyrocket. Ready to sit in that chair for the next 24 hours with him and Nel //End
𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: they finally talk, communication trope be damned.
Chanel should have done this before they were working at the summer camp, but she wasn’t going to wait until after it was over either. The more she waited, the worse she felt about everything. Chanel was a very stubborn girl, and one thing she hated was admitting when she was wrong. When it came to her and Wren’s last conversation … well, she still thought he was in the wrong, but she messed up too. This wasn’t only about that though, there was another apology that was way overdue. Chanel waited until nighttime to go to Wren’s counselor room and knocked on the door. Once the door opened, she looked up at him and started speaking quickly just in case he tried to close the door on her, “I would have texted you, but I was scared you wouldn’t answer, and I really needed to talk to you. So here I am… Can I come in?”
Wren was sitting in his counselor room with Miles, just messing around with the guitars. When the boys saw Chanel, Miles immediately made a suggestive face and started to moan out Wren’s name so he could hardly hear Chanel. “Shut it Cambric” said Wren as he ushered himself and Chanel outside. “Sorry about him, he’s just … well he’s Miles. Head empty but also incredibly full. Let um… go on a walk” he said as they headed down the train around the camp grounds. “What’s going on? Are you doing okay?” asked Wren, worried about her. She wouldn’t have come to him after everything had happened unless something was really wrong. No matter what happened between them, he was always going to support her and understand her.
Chanel looked over at Miles and smiled sarcastically before flipping him off. She knew how Wren’s bandmate worked so she didn’t take him too seriously. He was harmless, for the most part. Chanel nodded and stepped aside so Wren could exit the cabin. “No, it’s fine. I’m very used to him by now.” she rolled her eyes. Chanel stopped walking after a bit and stood in front of Wren, “I’m fine. I just, I sort of have a lot to say.” Ugh why was apologizing so embarrassing? Maybe it was because her first apology was going to sound ridiculous, but she needed to say that one first. Everything after was just, really heavy. “Look, I didn’t mean what I said to you the last time we spoke. I was like, lying about you not being good at sex, and I was just trying to upset you, which I know was totally uncool, but yeah…” she trailed off before shaking her head. “But I’m not saying all of this because I only care about sex! I just don’t want you to feel bad about yourself because of something I said, you know? So I’m sorry … and you’re like, good at all of that. But more importantly sorry.”
This was a first. Chanel Hampton was apologizing before him. Wren had really held onto his stubbornness these last few weeks. Only out of spite was he able to not go running to her and say he was so sorry for what he said. “I accept your apology. Thank you” said Wren with a half hearted smile. He had a lot to apologize for, “and I’m really sorry too. You know I don’t care about your number, I’m just jealous of every guy and girl who has gotten to spend time with you. Jesse possibly getting that chance, even as a joke, it sent me spiraling about you … about myself… about what was left of us” he said earnestly. It was hard for him, knowing that she was the most beautiful girl he was ever going to be with. That he had peaked so young and felt the kind of love that he assumed only came once in a lifetime. “Do you think we’re bad for each other?” he asked as they walked, his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie.
“Yeah I know. It’s fine, really.” Chanel knew Wren had a kind heart. Ever since he was a kid, that never changed, but when they were together, she was scared that he’d grow embarrassed of being with her because of her reputation. Though she thought very highly of herself, she couldn’t help but feel like he was too good for her. “Not sure if it would make you feel any better, but you’re always my first choice. Even when you’re miles and miles away.” she said with a sad smile, thinking back on all the times she wrote up those unsent letters when he moved away. Chanel stayed silent for a moment when she heard his question. The only bad seemed to be her, or at least that’s how she viewed it. “Everything seemed great between us, until I fucked up.” she answered softly. It crushed her thinking about what could have been if she was just honest. This was it though, she needed to own up to what she’s done. “Actually, can I tell you something else?”
Wren knew that in his heart and in his head, that she was worth it. That he wanted them to work. That all this other stuff … it could pass. He guilted himself for giving up, but after everything they had been through together, he felt like such a burden. Like she only existed to watch out for him, but she never let him watch out for her. “Don’t say that. I messed up too” said Wren as he stopped walking. “You can tell me anytime thing” he said softly. He wanted to be there even if she was yelling at him, or they were having a fight they could easily work out. Wren wished that they both didn’t come with such heavy baggage sometimes. Wished that they could just be head empty and happy together like your typical prom queen and king. But they had spent prom night fighting, and here they were a year later. Nothing was different, but yet everything had changed.
Chanel stood still when Wren stopped talking, it was almost hard to look him in the eyes right now. There was so much shame in finally apologizing now, after a whole year. She knew she should have the night they broke up, but she didn’t because she was too damn stubborn. “I should have said this a long time ago, but I’m … really sorry for how I went about everything last year. There’s no excuse, I was wrong. Like, I was out of my mind for thinking I could completely hide something like that from you and act like it didn’t happen.” She was doing a good job so far holding in her tears, she didn’t want him feeling bad if she started crying. Chanel wasn’t expecting him to forgive her at this point, but this still needed to be said. “And I know I don’t talk about my issues a lot, and I never wanted you to feel like I’m pushing you out of my life. I just didn’t want to sound like some broken record.” she shook her head. “I’ve put too much on you and your family our whole lives by never leaving any of you alone.”
Wren just put his hand on her head and pulled her into his chest, resting his chin on her head. He knew there was mascara getting onto his sweatshirt, but he didn’t care. She needed him. She still needed him after all this time. Sometimes when he was angry about what happened, it was because he needed her so badly but it felt like she didn’t need him at all. “I don’t want to be left alone by you” he said quietly as he kissed the top of her head. “You’re the girl of my dreams. All of you is. I just want to be the one in yours” said the boy, holding her close. He didn’t even want to kiss her, he just wanted to hold her. This wasn’t about sex. It really had never been about sex at all. It was about two people who had everything that the other one wanted, and how easily they could hurt one another because they loved so much.
Once Wren pulled her in, Chanel suddenly became overwhelmed with emotion and started crying quietly into his chest, wrapping her arms around him tightly. She felt like such a burden sometimes, like she was so desperate for love and everyone could see it when she was around them. But it wasn’t about wanting any kind of love wherever she could find it, she wanted Wren’s love. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before, it was home to her. “Of course you are.” she said, smiling to herself. “You’ve always been, every single part of you.” Chanel looked up at him and wiped her eyes, “I wouldn’t want you any other way. You mean everything to me.”
He knew he needed to set a boundary with her now. But it was so hard to not just ignore all of it and be with her. Wren tucked her hair behind her ear, “promise to tell me when things are going on, okay? I want to be there for the bad stuff, not just you there for mine” he said as a weak smile appeared on his face. This was it. This is what he wanted, more time with Chanel. There was this pull to him to be with her, even from when they were small. To even be her friend was a gift, he wanted to spend the rest of his days protecting her.
Chanel nodded her head, “I promise.” she said softly. “But if I’m being totally annoying, you can tell me.” she immediately added in. Maybe that was stupid to say, but it always just felt like Wren would be too nice to tell her to stop, so she thought she’d shut herself up instead. She knew she had to work on this though. She needed him to know that she was not only showing her life to him, but she was also telling him too, even if it was super embarrassing to her. Chanel really wanted to get it right this time. She wanted to be a better person, not only for him but for her as well.
"I don’t know, maybe totally annoying is our thing” said Wren with a laugh. He gave her a kiss on the top of her head, “does this mean all my sweatshirts are going to go missing again?” he asked as he took her hand, rubbing his thumb up and down hers. He had a feeling this summer was going to be great. Nothing could go wrong, just camp and Chanel and good times. They might not be official, but he would be sure to make his grand declaration of love when they could get out of here for the night. He wanted it to be more special than last time.
𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: rory is back and wren hopes she is better than ever!
"Wren open up." She said opening the door of his dorm. Instantly regretting it as she remembered he shared the room with Jet. Lucky for her only person in there was her brother. " No welcome party?" She smiled looking through his stuff for his snacks. She found two snickers, looking over at her brother she sat at the edge of the bed. " I assume it was your idea to have me here instead of under the parental thumb." She opened the candy bar and took a bite. She spent a few days with them and they wouldn't start asking her questions. She was sure they thought she was in drugs with her attitude but they were not the easiest to talk to. Nana encourages her coming here if she didn't want to stay home. Now that she was here she just wanted to disappear. She knew she would have to pretend more than she wanted to. " If it was, thank you. I love them but they were suffocating." She admitted. " Anyway how are you?"
Wren was honestly shocked to see Rory in his room, it felt like a hallucination. He had no idea she was coming and he had been studying for exams all week. Now she was transferring, so not only did they have the summer but they had the next three years too. "You're pretty casual, it's good to see you Ror" said Wren with a big smile, "I'm doing pretty bad, as per usual. How are you doing?" Something about telling someone you're not doing great with a smile on your face just makes everything a little better. "Also, in celebration of you officially transferring, I have started looking at on and off campus housing for us to live in. Dorms are kinda tired, dontcha think?" he said. He wanted a place where he could keep Rory as safe as possible. Where she could feel as safe as possible. Plus they could have the dog there, the dog Chanel had gotten him but that was besides the point.
Rory nodded, if anyone knew about putting on a mask to hide Wren knew. It was like their go to coping mechanism without the actual coping part. "Why? What's wrong?" She opened up the second candy bar. How was she? She didn't even know. She was trying to number herself to what happened so most of the time she felt just that...nothing. "I look better but I still feel like hiding in a ditch somewhere." She bit into the snack. She didn't see a reason for her to lie to him she was sure they were passed that. " Thank goodness, I'm in a hotel right now and it's not bad. I mean the room is nice and our parents send someone up to make sure I'm not strung out or something." She shrugged. "You're my favorite roommate, I think we need better privacy than a r.a being nosy, and telling us we can't have air fryer." She also needed more room if she was going to actually try and find her spark again. She missed designing clothes but her muse seemed have disappeared. Everything just seemed horrendous.
“No hiding in ditches in the fall, also I heard a rumor that this summer is going to be great. Nana said ... hot girl summer?” Wren said to be as encouraging as possible. Things weren’t great for him right now, but nothing he was going through was any comparison to Rory. “I am a pretty great roommate. We could even see about inviting some friends to also live with us if you want. We have a few months to figure out a lease” he wanted to make her living arrangements as positive as possible. A good place to live with people she liked was going to make life better. Happy Rory means happy Wren.
She shook her head in amusement. " I heard the same thing." She wasn't sure what she was going to do this summer, she had a suite to herself and she could wallow in misery in peace. " From personal experience I know exactly what kind of roommate you are." They were together most of their lives so they were used to each others habits. Her mother thinks that them being so far away from each other was why Rory wasn't doing so good. Rory wasn't sure she agreed a hundred percent but she might of been right. " Don't think I didn't catch on to you not telling me what's wrong." She crossed her arms." Go on, spill."
With their parents being so busy and them moving more than once, Rory was the only solid constant in his life. Yes, their family was strong but there was something special about their relationship as twins. Reliability and accountability between them. "Big fight with Chanel, some fucked up things were said by both of us. I am aware that I messed up too, don't worry. I just think that she was in the wrong" he said stubbornly. He wasn't going to let go of this at all. This was a fight to hold on to. A fight they weren't going to be coming back from. A lifetime of friendship destroyed. "But it's no big deal. I'm just going to get out there for real this time. No random hook ups. It's time to rebound and actually date" he said confidently. He had no idea who would want him now. Too much baggage.
Rory always felt lucky to have Wren. She lived her parents and loved how close of a family they were even with her fathers sweater vest. With Wren she knew she had someone who understood her and loved her unconditionally. They could fight and make up and no love was ever lost between them. " You know I support you in anything that you do. I think you should eventually apologize for the things you said because we're better than that." Maybe. " Also of you slept on it and you still feel likes she wrong then its serious. Most things.calm down over a little time. " She laid back on his bed. " If you date I want to vet these girls first. I don't want them taking advantage of you." Rory didn't believe the two would stay away for long but she wasn't going to say it. Plus what did she know anytime her and Jonah broke up is was amicable on the outside and heart wrenching on the inside.
He was not backing down this time. "And let her think she can still walk all over me? No, I'm not doing it" said the boy, even though he still missed her on a major level. They had had such a good day together only a short while before, but then he had to let people get into his head about everything. "She just wants me to forget all that shit that happened in senior spring, and I don't want to. Its a big deal, right?" he said, looking for validation. He laughed when she said she wanted approval first, "We'll see about that. But you know who always has a gold stamp in my book? One mister Jonah Keller" said Wren with a shrug. He didn't want to push her to reconnect, but Jonah was such a good guy. Such a safe option to keep her safe. One of his friends, someone he could trust.
It was always obvious that Chanel had a pull on Wren. She wasn't sure what the argument was this time but she could he was really upset. It was a family trait to blow up at things unnecessarily but when the smoke clears they could see their wrongs and fix it. Didn't seem like he wanted to fix it. Rory couldn't deny that he had every right to be mad about it, she was sure he never fully dealt with it. "Absolutely, it's huge. " She couldn't tell him he had to work on getting past that. It would make her a hypocrite, internalize until it all goes wild. "Who?" She asked already knowing the answer. " I'm going to marry that man..eventually." She ran her finger through her hair. " I love him but I don't think he'll want if he ever found out." Her voice drifted off. " He deserves better but I still want to be his wife, that's selfish right?"
"Okay good, I'm not being crazy" said Wren, he was constantly doubting himself. Gaslighting his own emotions every minute. He never knew if he was in the right until someone else told him he was. Sometimes he didn't even know if he was angry until he checked with other people that he had the right to be. Wren listened to her about Jonah, "It's not selfish, and I promise you that he will care, but not like that. He cares about you, and nothing is going to change that. He's going to be there for you, all you have to do is talk to him" Wren encouraged. He was so happy that there was a chance for those two to get back together. That Rory would have that kind of support.
" No not crazy." She repeated. She understood him and what he was thinking. She did it too. Over think and make up scenarios in her head. Let other people whisper in her ear things are not always true. The only difference is Wren was impulsive with his words, he said things that hurt but usually felt bad later. Rory never really argued, if she did she was cold and of she said it she probably meant it. " I'm going to talk to him I'm just not going to tell him." She sighed. " I don't want him to look at me differently or secretly resenting me. "
While he couldn't control his mouth, Wren on a good day was a great communicator. He valued honesty above most things, and he hated himself for every lie he ever said. He had spent so much time lying to himself, letting his brain lie to him, that when he was doing good it was all truth all the time. "Don't be afraid to tell him when the time is right, but take all the time you need. He won't look at you any different, I know I don't think any differently of you" said Wren with candor. It was important that she was still Rory to him. Nothing could ever change that, especially not other people's choices. She was and always will be Rory. "But enough about that. If you want we can ask Jonah and Chase to live with us next year, or tell them to get a place nearby. I would love to have the boys nearby" he added as the conversation changed. He loved his friends, how easy it was with them. Things with Jet had been so difficult recently, he was looking forward to having his own room again.
Rory had played how she would tell Jonah, if she would tell Jonah so many times in her head. She couldn't shake how it made her feel. She could feel herself getting angry and then sad. Deep down she knew she couldn't do it, she didn't even want to tell Wren but he was persistent." Maybe." She said as her thoughts swirled in her head. "Chase is here too?" She smiled. " Sounds good." She never lived with them but she was sure it wasn't any harder than loving with Wren, especially with how they were always at the house, eating up the pizza rolls. " I don't think living on my own would be productive so it's perfect.
"We can get a bunch of people together. Our own little college fam. It'll be fun, and when it isn't we can all just go to our own rooms" said Wren, it honestly sounded like a really good support system for all of them. No matter what got difficult, they could always just go home. "Are you taking any summer classes, or are you just chillin" he asked, wondering what her summer plans were looking like. There were good times to be had, and he was ready to be completely done with school. Rory was back and things were going to be good, he was sure of it. The looming Chanel problem would be in the rearview before he could even overthink it anymore than he already had.
" I'm going to ask Zoe if she would be down." She tapped her chin thinking about it. "Maybe do a college vlog." She thought outloud. " I have to come up why three designs by August if I want to bring up my grades. Besides that I'm free to eat ice cream in my room and watch young and the restless."She said only half joking. It might be good for her to be around people that actually cared about her. It was also appealing to have Jonah in the house to.
"I'll message the boys, Stevie'll probably be down too" said Wren as he messaged in his discord group. It would be really nice to have everyone at home with them. He was mostly excited to live with Rory. The year apart has been way too long, especially with everything that happened. "I'm going to be lifeguarding, but in the evenings I will definitely be down for young and the restless. Maybe even some new stuff?" he suggested. He wanted to make sure they weren't sticking to any depressive patterns, "Other than lifeguarding I have therapy and some basketball stuff, so it's a Bishop summer for sure" he encouraged.
"Sounds like a plan." She looked up at the ceiling. "I would day we need hook up rules but I don't think this group would need to many of those." She teased. She knew for her and her brother they lost their virginity later than most. " Everyone seems to be doing something, maybe I could find a little job at a boutique." She sighed. She had to work on her designs She didn't have one that came to mind it was frustrating. " We'll see about all that." She teased. " That reminds me I have to do yoga. Mom insisted."
"I feel like a boutique job is perfect for you. Nana's got connections, it would be super easy for you to work at any one you want" he said, thinking positively about her getting back into what she loves. "You had any of those amazing Rory design ideas recently? Or are you ready to fix my wardrobe again. I've been wearing exclusively hoodies for the whole semester" said Wren, hoping that would tempt her with a good time. Knowing she didn't enjoy fashion school was just killing him. It would be like if he hated basketball. It's hard to see people let go of things they love.
" I will I just want one where I could also do my designs." She looked over at him and pouted. Sitting up she and pulled her book out of her bag. " I made a dress for Zoe, that's the only design in there. " She shook her head. "That was drawn before I left high school. I finally put it together and that took over three months." She sighed. " Maybe I need to find another major." She looked over at him.
He was worried that she was loosing all her passion. He hoped going to Brindleton might fix it. "I would hold out on switching majors just yet. Maybe just take a class outside of it to, in something you're interested. See how the fashion classes go here. New year, new teachers" he encouraged. He wouldn't push her like this if she wasn't talented, but she was honestly so excellent at everything to do with fashion. It would be hard to see her working a 9-5 at some desk when she had so much skill and talent in her soul.
He was right, even with her lack of passion and confidence she couldn't imagine herself doing anything else but that. "All my classes center around it so maybe it'll help me. I just hate this. I used to have fucking ideas pouring out of me and now it all empty. " she got up to look for more snacks. "I just feel like I was robbed twice, and it's frustrating." she was frustrated. "And where are all your snacks Wrennie, no ones room should be this empty of sugar and salt." she wanted to smoke but she didn't want to get in trouble.
Wren gave her a smile, "you'll get it back" he said. He knew she would, it would just take time and therapy. He hated that guy who took so much from her. Wren did not often get full of rage, but he was explosive even teetering about thinking about it. Wren shrugged, "I just don't eat food like that. Just a reminder of who you're talking to" said the boy, "Chase and Jonah are down the hall, you can always go see Jonah?" he said with a smile. He wanted to know that she was connecting with other people than him. He couldn't be her only friend here.
She wasn't sure if she would get it back but she was going to try, she looked up at her brother and rolled her eyes at him. "So what are you not eating again? " she raised her brow. "Don't worry i won't tell or convince you to do so if you don't make to to anyone." she smiled, opening his drawer and looking at his clothes and started to pull things out
"Not really eating candy, nana dropped off those treats for me just in case I wanted something for exams" he explained. Wren was doing really well, just not eating sweets unless they were homemade. "I'm going to have to be looking fresh if I'm going to be dating this summer" he said with a positive vibe. Letting go of Chanel was going to be such a bitch, and they had just been together again. No girl compared to her. Not emotionally. Not physically. Not anything.
"I need to call her so she can make us brownies and then come steal the ones she makes for you." She rolled her eyes at his comment. " Not with these clothes you're not." She started taking out his clothes and separating them. "Text me your sizes I can't have you moving on with twenty something pairs of sweatpants." She said in a disapproving tone. " it's like you don't even care." She turned to him. "We're going to get you summertime fine for all the ladies."
Wren laughed, "I thought women loved a man in gray sweats. It's when I get my best compliments" he said with a laugh. "Just nothing too tight" he said as he started to text her his sizes. He was going back and forth on whether or not he should just go to Chanel and apologize. But a part of him knew she was in the wrong. That it would be an admission of guilt if he were to apologize first. Wren didn't want to seem weak.
Rory made sounds like she was about to throw up, "Eww." she rolled her eyes folding up his nice clothes which they ones she had got him or made him. "I would never, i'm going to have you looking so good that Chanel would look at you and immediately try and win you back." she winked. "You know if you're into that." she knew he was. She had a pit in her stomach for missing someone and it wasn't hers. She missed Jonah but it was more of a longing so she knew it was her feeding off him.
He thought about his words carefully, "I mean, I don't think that's a reality at all" he said. Wren wasn't sure if he even wanted to be back with Chanel, part of him felt like he needed to be back with her. He knew he was happier with her, its just all the shit that happened when they weren't dating. And that thing right at the tail end of their relationship. "But testing the theory doesn't sound too awful" he relented.
"Crazier things have happened." She said absent-mindedly. She knew what ot felt like something wasn't going to work and it came together. At one point she thought Jonah was in love with another girl, but they ended up back together. What if he was in a relationship? Nah she was sure Wren would of given her the heads up. " No and if you can atleast turn her head the you know you got it in the bag."
"I think we both know that Chanel Hampton has always been and will always be the head turner" Wren insisted. Sometimes, he wished she wasn't so beautiful. Because Wren loved her for everything else about her too. It drove him mad how much attention she got for just her looks, even when they were younger. There is so much more to Chanel than that. And there was nothing about Wren like that, and it constantly made him worry that she would leave him for someone who was in her league.
" Yeah well you're nothing to cough at either." She turned to him. " Dearest brother of mine, you are a catch. You possess everything that a girl wants for in a man and with my help you'll also dress to impress." She said proudly finishing up folding the clothes he was going to keep. " In all seriousness Laurie, Chanel is a great girl I'll never lie or deny it. But you can shine so much brighter than her you guys compliment each other when you're together." She closed the drawer. " You're a catch without her."
She had a point that they complimented each other. Chanel was everything he admired, and somedays he believed it when she said that about him. It was just hard knowing that you don't feel complete without someone else there. Someone specific. But that ship had sailed, and that was the new reality. "I'll believe it before you know it" said Wren, "fake it till I make it" he added. "I have to get to the gym, but text me when you talk to Jonah" said Wren with a little wink, "go get him".
𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: wren and june talk about stevie, and also what’s really on his mind ... chanel hampton.
Wren had gotten to band practice early, he seemed to always have too much time on his hands. Soon a text came from Rose that something had come up, and it seemed like everyone was cancelling. Wren heard someone came in and saw the girl standing in front of him, "She's not here, sadly" said the boy, knowing she had come here for Stevie. He had met June a few times, he liked her. She was really sweet, and having another athlete around was always nice. Any friend of Stevie's was a friend of his.
June had stopped by Brain Freeze to grab a couple milkshakes so she could meet up with Stevie before her band practice. She didn’t like to intrude on practices very often, but they hadn’t gotten to see each other for a few days. Once she walked into the performing arts center and saw Wren, she smiled. “Oh, damn, she’s not?” she asked, looking around. She was sure the girl had told her to meet around now. She shrugged. “Is she on her way, or...?” She could have texted Stevie herself, but her hands were full, and maybe Wren knew.
"She'll probably be coming around if she was meeting up with you, I just didn't know about it. Practice is cancelled" said the boy as he stepped away from his drums. "How are you doing, June?" he asked, hoping she was having a good semester. He was very happy to see that Stevie was getting back into the groove of things, someone more stable was always better. He knew that was something that they both sought after, whether or not they would admit it. Stability in others.
Eyebrows knitting together in confusion, June replied, "Oh, really? I didn't know. We were just going to hang out for a little bit before your practice. Everything okay?" She would need to check her messages to see if Stevie had mentioned that practice turned out to be canceled, unless she was going to surprise her with the extra free time. Shaking the thoughts, she turned her attention back to the boy in front of her. She smiled. "I'm doing really great, actually. Thank you for asking, Wren. How about you?" Though she hadn't talked to Wren much, she always enjoyed it. He was a sweet guy.
"Yeah yeah everything is fine, people were just busy and I got here early" said the boy, he didn't know if Stevie had something planned or just hadn't seen that practice was cancelled. "I am doing pretty okay, it's been a weird few weeks ... but I think I'm back on my groove" said Wren honestly. He really appreciated when people actually answered the question, how are you doing.
She nodded in understanding. She was relieved to know that nothing bad had happened. Life happened, and sometimes schedules got changed. “A weird few weeks, huh? Do you want to talk about it? You don’t have to, obviously. Glad to hear you’re bouncing back, though,” she said, nudging him with her elbow. She took a drink of her chocolate milkshake and held out the other one. “Do you want Stevie’s? I can share mine with her if she shows up or take her to buy another one since practice is apparently not happening.”
Wren smiled, "I'd actually love a girl's advice. I was going to bother Stevie about it anyways" said the boy. "Oh, uh sure" Wren took the milkshake from the other girl, "I can totally venmo you also". He didn't want to put her out for anything, he was sure to drink it slowly so Stevie could have the majority of it anyways. "So yeah, my ex and I have been texting and she keeps sending these obscure horny texts to see when I'll break. She loves playing games, they're a good time for her. But the thing is: I can't tell if she's being serious or not" he explained.
“Well, I am a girl, and I can definitely try to give advice,” she said with a laugh. She waved him off when he offered to pay her back. The milkshakes had been a surprise anyway, so it wasn’t like Stevie was expecting one. Taking a long drink, Juniper hummed and nodded thoughtfully as Wren explained the situation. When he was finished, she took a few moments to consider her response. “Well,” she finally said, a pensive look still on her face, “I can understand why you’ve had a weird few weeks, for one. Has she ever not been serious about something like that?”
"Just to clarify, I don't really mean it like that. I more so mean that my best friend is MIA and the rest of my guy friends are idiots" he disclaimed, it was important to him that she know his intention. "You see, she is usually serious about things like that. But we've never been broken up before, and a week ago she was hanging out with me. She kissed me, and then ran off. So I'm getting my fair share of mixed signals." Honestly the whole thing was confusing, she was a lot more confident over texts than she was in person. He knew it was a communication problem, and if they both just said what they wanted then there would be no issue. But if they didn't say the same thing? Then it was over over, and he was going to look like an idiot because he doesn't just want to fool around. He wants more.
She waved a hand at his clarification and laughed. “Don’t worry about it, dude. I was joking. No offense, but guys are typically idiots about this stuff, so I understand why you’d want the female perspective,” she responded. There were certainly exceptions to that rule, though. There always were. She nodded and listened as he explained. When he mentioned the kiss and ditch, her eyes widened. “Yikes. Yeah, I get where you’re coming from.” Humming, she took a drink of her milkshake as she considered his predicament. She had dealt with her fair share of mixed signals, so she hoped she could find something vaguely helpful to say to the boy. “Well, I think that if she’s usually serious about it, she’s not going to suddenly start joking, you know? Plus, it’s a lot easier to be behind a screen and say what you actually want than it is to do it in person. Like... I’m thinking she wanted to kiss you, so she did, but maybe she didn’t think you would want her to? Have you hinted back that you’d want it? Well, wait. Do you want it?”
Wren wasn't really sure what he wanted. Yes, deep down he wanted to be back with Chanel. But at what cost? Could he ever trust her again, he wasn't sure. He wanted to, but he just didn't know if he could. "I feel like I have hinted enough, and it's complicated. She really hurt my trust, and I think I hurt hers too. So on some level I think we both want to be back together in that way but I don't think she wants to be together together" said Wren with a shrug. It was hard to imagine them doing anything but not dating, painful really. "I mean, exes are a weird thing. This is my first time having a proper ex" he added for context. He really hadn't dated anyone but Chanel, Valerie was an afterthought.
a fight you don’t come back from || wren and chanel
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: chanel’s dorm room // spring 2021.
𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: wren x chanel.
𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒: uh oh, language.
𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: honestly this whole argument is really upsetting and i don’t want to give details.
Wren was out running trying to not think about the messages on his phone. That shit got him so worked up. He was positive Jesse was just gaslighting him, but then Chanel liked his comment! Wtf was up with that? Would she seriously do all of that with him yesterday and then even consider being around Jesse like that? One of his friends, and he knew she knew that. Wren didn't like letting things so surface get to him, but it got under his skin so easily. Thinking about her switching up on him, so soon too. Like he was just somebody to use. He knew he was worth more than that. He headed into the dorm and went up to her door and knocked very loudly. Luckily for him Juliette was not in there or it would have been very startling for her. "It's Wren" he said, as his breath came down to normal. When she opened the door he just started talking, "what the actual fuck Chanel, Jesse?" he said as he rubbed the nape of his neck. He was boiling with rage, but he was doing his best to keep it down. It wasn't working very well.
Chanel was busy looking through her Instagram with a pleased smile on her face, the bathing suit pictures always did well. But of course, she was secretly hoping Wren would see it, give a like, maybe even comment something. She'd give it some time though, there was no need to freak over nothing. She was Chanel Hampton, of course he'd like the picture. Then the sound of someone knocking almost made her drop her phone. There was no way Juliette was banging on the door like that, but it still pissed her off. Who the fuck needed her that badly? The moment she heard Wren's voice, the smile instantly appeared on her face. "Coming!" she yelled out happily, before opening the door. Unfortunately, Chanel didn't even have a chance to say hello, "... what?" she asked, furrowing her brows at him. "What about him? Are you like, okay?" He seemed really upset, and she wasn't sure why.
He was unbelievably pissed at how happy she sounded when she said she was coming. Nothing was okay, and he was so insanely jealous. Even if it was a joke she was playing into it. "They're clowning me in the group chat and you're totally egging it on like you'd get with Jesse" said Wren, realizing how crazy he sounded but he wasn't done. The words started spilling out of him, "but of course you wouldn't let this just be a good thing" he said mentioning between the two of them. There wasn't even a them. It was all just pretend, "not that there even is a thing, not if it's gonna be like this" he said, his brow furrowed. He felt jealous like a boyfriend, but he knew that wasn't his place which only made him madder that he felt this strongly.
Chanel narrowed her eyes in confusion, she seriously was at a loss for words. For a moment, she didn't understand where Wren was going with this at all, but it slowly hit her. Jesse's comment on her picture. She did like the comment, but she just enjoyed the attention, from anyone really. It meant nothing to her. But to see Wren so upset about this, that was sort of new. These were usually the kinds of things she would get jealous of. But there was a silver lining, he was jealous. So he had to have some kind of feelings for her, right? Then he kept going, and his words started to hurt more and more. "Like what?" she asked, the anger building up in her now. Chanel thought things were moving in the right direction, but now he was saying that there wasn't anything going on between them? Was there really nothing to this for him? "I am not going to get with Jesse, ew. I mean, like, no offense, but no. It was one dumb comment, and I didn't even respond. If this is what you're so worked up about."
"Like what? Like its me versus everyone on the planet to get your attention" said Wren, it was kinda cute when they were dating and she wanted to get him a little mad so he'd be a little more aggressive in the bedroom. But that was high school and it was clearly a game. With them broken up it was not like that at all. "You know what, I am fucking worked up. Clearly this is not working". Wren did not think he was going to come out of this with such a grand proclamation. To be honest with himself, he regretted everything that was coming out of his mouth right now. Not to mention he was making a fool of himself, it was obvious how much he cared. It was embarrassing.
Chanel immediately rolled her eyes at Wren's first statement. "Oh my god, you're being ridiculous." She thought it was so obvious that he got all her attention. Even when they were younger, Chanel gave all her attention to Wren, so much that she was scared he secretly found her annoying and would leave her for someone better. Her expression softened after Wren finished speaking, was he really done? Again? Just like that? "Are you ... are you fucking kidding me? Now you decide that this isn't working, because of some comment on my picture?" Wren just never wanted to try, he always left the first chance he got. It's like she was never worth it. Why was she never good enough for him? "What was all this? Some grand attempt to get one last fuck before you ditch out on me? Again?"
Wren's insecurities were at the forefront. That he was never attractive enough for her. Not outgoing enough. Not healthy enough. That he let her in too quickly and she knew too much of his baggage. "Don't ever say I ditched out on you. You didn't include me" he yelled, "you're the one who ditched Chanel!" Wren was furious, she had chosen to leave him out when they were seniors. She was the one who decided to do everything on her own and that is why she was so lonely. They were close, their arguments were always like this. Up close and personal. They were the kind of close physically and emotionally where they knew how to hurt one another. Truly hurt one another. He turned down the yelling and his voice got low, intending to hurt her. Which was not good, but he was so fueled with rage "and if I was going to make a grand attempt to get one last fuck, you wouldn't even be able to stand right now"
Chanel hated herself for how she went about everything senior year, she never thought it was going to result in her relationship ending. If she was able to take it back, she would. Maybe this was the time to finally say sorry, as if that would actually matter at this point. But she was so angry, and she did feel left behind by Wren. "I made a mistake!" she yelled back. "But I didn't leave, I wanted to work through it. You left me, you immediately gave up." Their fights always got nasty, and it usually ended with her regretting whatever stupid thing she told him. But in the moment, she just wanted to hurt him, even if it meant lying to him. Chanel was visibly taken back by his last comment, and she had half a mind to slap him, but she didn't. There had been guys along the way that spoke to her like that, but to hear it from Wren disgusted her. "Oh is your confidence suddenly kicking in now? You sure have a lot to say for someone who's only fucked one girl. I'll be generous and say two if that makes you feel better, but I'm sure there's no more than that." she glared him up and down. "Nothing's really improved from last year."
"I left because you gave up on us way before I ever left" he yelled, "I wasn't the one keeping shit from you". Chanel really knew where to hit. Which just fueled the rage and confusion more. "There is more than that, not that anything could ever compare to your number" he said, holding his eye contact as he watched her look him up and down. Poking at her number was most definitely not okay, and he didn't really think about her like that. Only when he was insecure did he think about all the other girls and guys she had been with, and how they were better looking than him. God, it drove him crazy. Chanel was really the only person who did it for him, at the end of the day when he had been with other girls it had either gone really badly or he had to think about Chanel the whole time.
"No I did not, I was trying to keep what we had." Chanel's blood was boiling. To think the one person that made her the most happy in this world was also the one that upset her the most. But Wren knew where to go if he wanted to hurt Chanel, he knew everything about her, or at least she thought he did. He kept going on and on about how she never let him in. Sure she didn't always talk about her issues, but he could see it for himself, especially the ones she had at home. He was always going over to her empty house when they were kids, she was at his house almost ever night for dinner when they were together. Chanel being alone was no secret, why did she have to be even more of a hassle and vocalize it to him? She held back any tears that were fighting to come out when he spoke, being the meaner person seemed easier than showing how hurt she was. Even thinking about Wren being with other people drove her crazy. "I mean, you were the person that lied about not being a virgin, I wouldn't be surprised if you're lying about this too. That's what you do, talk a big game but always fall short." Chanel was straight up lying at this point. She couldn't even find someone that came close to Wren once they had broken up, it was incredibly frustrating.
She didn't seem to be hurting at all, and his heart was on fire. It was so painful for them to be talking like this. Like it was really and truly all over. "Lying is more your thing" said Wren bluntly. He wasn't going to be backing down. But he wasn't afraid of making an exit. Especially since she was criticizing something he was so sensitive about. Wren was deeply insecure that he wasn't a good partner for Chanel in the way that she needed. Had she been lying the whole time they were together? It drove him crazy, "I'm just gonna go. Enjoy your night" he said harshly as he headed out the door. He headed right out of the dorms and went on a run to get the rest of his frustration out. Lawrence was only a few feet away from the dorm before he broke down crying, he was so mad at himself for being so unkind. For treating her so poorly, but he was still so angry at her. How did they get like this? How did they let each other do this?
Chanel bit down on her bottom lip once Wren started speaking again. Not only was she holding back tears, but she was at a loss for words at this point, mainly because she was lying to him during this conversation. It just showed her that she never learned from last time, and that she was no better than before. "Whatever." she mumbled as he left the room. The moment the door closed, she immediately began to cry. She was so frustrated with herself. Chanel still thought the whole issue with Jesse was stupid, but she of course had to make everything worse. Her and Wren were finally at a good place with each other, she hadn't been that happy all year, and it was all ruined in the matter of minutes. She was still upset with Wren, especially with everything he said to her tonight, but she was even more upset with herself at this point. [ END ]
𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: wren and chanel attempt to communicate. it goes surprisingly well.
In Chanel's pretty little head, she thought her and Wren were getting back to a good place. Even after her dumb fuck up of kissing him the last time they were together, he still seemed to show interest in hanging out with her again. But she couldn't get over the fact that he made his friend bring her skates back, and she took his hoodie from Chanel's room without her noticing! Why did this bother her so much? Because anything that didn't go Chanel's way pissed her off. Shocker. She tried her best to not hit him up first because she didn't want to come off as desperate, but she couldn't wait any longer, so she decided to just go to his dorm room. After she knocked on Wren's door and he opened it, she almost immediately walked in, "Is Jet here? No? Cool." she spoke too quickly for him to give a proper answer. "I need to talk to you."
Wren was back in his golden girls hoodie and was working through some homework while having some cookies that Nana had dropped off. When he heard a knock at the door, he assumed Jet had forgotten his keys again. He was pleasantly surprised to see Chanel, but she looked ... not exactly happy as she blew past him into his room. Wren was about to respond when she cut him off before the words could even form in his mouth, "talk about what?" he asked. Wren went over everything he had done in general recently, and didn't think there was any severe Chanel offense. Unless somebody lied to her, or she was just pissed for no reason. Well, by no reason we mean a Chanel reason. Which in a court of law would probably count, in Wren's opinion.
Chanel noticed Wren was wearing his hoodie and pouted her lips without realizing. Stupid boy looking cute in his stupid sweater that she wanted to wear. It was all stupid. She exhaled sharply before her eyes travelled up to look him in the face, "If you don't want to hang out, or like, I don't know, talk at all, just tell me." she crossed her arms and raised her shoulders. Chanel obviously hoped that wasn't the case, but she wasn't going to say it. She already got broken up by him before, she didn't want to look like the loser that couldn't get over him.
Wren genuinely had no idea what she was talking about, he was happy that she was here. He was happy to be around her ... but he did not understand why she was mad. "When did I ever say that?" said the boy, cocking his head to the side. He hoped it wasn't something through the grapevine that was misunderstood, who would believe him? "I haven't said anything like that at all. I thought we were goodish?" he added.
"No it's not about what you said, it's about what you did- or didn't do...?" The sentence came out as more of a question. Chanel didn't know how to explain it, she was just upset, in her usual bratty way. “I thought the whole, I give you your hoodie, you give me my skates, meant you wanted to see me again. We’d like hangout or something.” she tried to explain. “But then Stevie showed up and it seemed like that was you sending a message. Like, I’ll just get my friend to do this instead cause I actually don’t wanna see you again.” Saying all of this out loud made her roll her eyes, she sounded kind of stupid but it all made sense in her head. “You get what I mean, right?”
He hadn't been thinking about how it would make Chanel feel when he gave Stevie the excuse to see Juliette, the accountability of needing to do a task so she wouldn't chicken out. "It wasn't that at all, I wanted to hold Stevie accountable to see Juliette without having to physically walk her there" said Wren, feeling like an idiot. He should have done the exchange with Chanel. He wasn't sure if Chanel had even wanted to see him, it was just easier. But easier wasn't always better, and he knew that now that she was here and hurt. "Last time we hung out, you ran out of my room" said Wren with a little shrug as he shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the floor.
If Chanel didn’t feel stupid before, she definitely did now. Wren was always putting others before himself, and he simply did that out of the kindness of his heart. Chanel’s brain just never worked that way. “Okay ... I mean, yeah that is technically true.” she spoke slowly, tossing some of her hair off her shoulder. “But I thought I crossed some kind of boundary, you know? Kissing your ex, it’s not usually a smart move.” Referring to Wren as her ex still pained her, it never sounded right. “Besides, I don’t know if you’re seeing someone.” she slipped the comment in, trying to figure out if he actually was with someone right now. “I wouldn’t want to ruin that.”
Wren really didn't care for being called her ex, he felt like he was a lot more than the title recognized. He smirked when she asked if he was seeing anyone, "I think we both know that I'm not" said Wren, laughing a little at the idea. "I'm not exactly anyone's idea of a good time" he slipped in, knowing that he wasn't exactly fun to date. Especially not after everything that had happened Junior and Senior year. "If either of us was going to see someone, I would bet money on you" he added with a smile, "are you? Seeing anyone?" he asked, his voice cracking a little bit.
Good to know. Chanel thought to herself. She did her best to hold back a smile after hearing that Wren wasn't seeing anyone, but it was starting to peak through a bit. "Oh please." she shook her head. "I'd say I had the most fun with you. Now I'm not exactly sure if you're talking about sex or just you in general, but I stand with what I said." she said with a single nod. If there was any opportunity to compliment Wren, she would take it every single time. She loved boosting his confidence. Chanel answered Wren's question with the shake of her head, "Nope. I think I've been too distracted lately." It was the truth. She didn't have time to think about other people right now. Ever since her and Wren started talking again, he was sort of all she thought about.
He knew she was just being kind, but he also knew that she didn't have to be. She was Chanel, she knew better than anyone that she didn't have to do anything. Wren smiled and bit his lip a little before his smile grew a little more. Her compliments had that kind of impact. "Let me get a redo" he said as he pulled off his sweatshirt and folded it up, handing it back to her. "Hey, thanks for bringing that buy, it's my favorite sweatshirt. I hope you took good care of it" Wren said with a kind smile. It was little moments like these that made him forget everything that had happened. All the layers of mistrust between them, all the walls that had been rebuilt.
Chanel's small smile instantly widened as Wren gave the sweater back. Even if it was for a second, the thought was cute and she very much appreciated it. "Of course I did. I couldn't let anything happen to your favorite sweatshirt. I might have to borrow it again though, I just look so good in it." She reached her arms out to give the sweatshirt to Wren, before pulling back quickly, "But, I would like something in return." she wiggled her eyebrows as she spoke. "You said you had your skates with you, right?" she asked excitedly. "Maaaaybe you could show me how much you've improved."
He was about to take the sweatshirt back when she pulled it back, smiling at her wanting to skate. "Only if you promise not to laugh if I fall" said Wren as he took the sweatshirt and put it over her head, he was okay not having it for the afternoon. She did look good in it. He liked the way his clothes hung on her short frame, they made her seem even smaller, like he could put her in his pocket for safe keeping. Wren reached down under his bed and pulled out his skates, "to your room to get yours?" he asked as he looked her up and down. She looked like she was his girl, it felt comfortable.
Chanel put her arms through the sleeves of the sweatshirt and fixed her hair, she was practically glowing at this point. "When have I ever laughed? I usually just clean your scratches, give you your first kiss, and then we watch Snow Dogs." she referenced back to when they kids. The memory of their first kiss always stuck with her. "Yep!" Chanel instinctively grabbed his hand and walked out of his room. She quickly took him to her room grabbed her skates, "We have a mini first aid kit. Should I bring it just for you, Laurie?" she teased him with a smile on her face.
"Damn shame, we can't have a proper repeat of the events that day" said Wren giving her a frown. "I don't really know how to tell you this, but I've already had my first kiss. My precious flower is gone to this world. Never to be seen again" he teased as they walked down the halls. They were holding hands, god it felt good. People passed them by. He liked the idea that Chanel was going to be seen around with him today. A few less people were going to hit her up because of it. That made him feel good. "I think I can go without the first aid kit, but leave it out in the room so it's easy access. Just in case you fall" he said, laughing a little at the idea. She was an amazing skater.
Chanel pouted her lips sarcastically, "I'd say you're breaking my heart, but I've also already had my first kiss. What a shame." she responded, smiling afterwards. "I'd like to say I enjoyed my second kiss a lot more though. No offense to Cole, I hope he's doing good." She started to swing her arm back and forth a bit as they walked, it just felt so natural to be like this with Wren. Chanel nodded her head a couple times as she laughed at his last comment, "I am officially offended, Lawrence. Let's hope I don't accidentally shove you a little while we're on our skates." she teased him as she grabbed her the first aid kit and placed it on her bed. "You do know that Chase and I used to accidentally drop the flyers on our team, right? I am not one to mess with." She made air quotes when she said the word 'accidentally'. They never let the flyer hit the floor of course, it was just a way to spook them when they were having issues.
Wren remembered being so deeply jealous of Cole when they were kids, that he got to kiss Chanel before he did. It was an old insecurity now, especially since he and Chanel dated for over a year and were currently holding hands. "You would purposely push me?" he said, faking shock. "I don't see Chase anywhere, so there's no one here to help you. I hate to say this, but I could definitely take you in a fight" Wren teased as they went into her room. He sat down on Juliette's bed and put on his skates while Chanel grabbed hers, sad to have let go of her hand. "So what's the music situation looking like for this? Want to share airpods or do you have a boombox to skate around with?" he joked.
"Oh don't tempt me with a good time. I might be shorter, but I'm strong, and I have won quite a few fights in my life." Chanel stated proudly. She never did back down from a fight, and she wouldn't mind playing around with Wren. "I bet I could pin you down to the ground." she laughed as she let her mind wonder off to the thought of him pinning her down to the floor. Chanel wouldn't mind losing that fight. After she grabbed her skates, she hopped onto her bed and started putting them on. "I was thinking you could just sing to me. You're in a band, I'm sure you're good enough." she said jokingly, missing the day when she'd go see him practice. Chanel grabbed her airpods and opened the case to hand him one, "I do have a special rollerskating playlist, but since you're with me, you could pick something out first."
"I know, I've broken up a few of those fights" he replied with a laugh. Wren remembered when he was dating Valerie that her and Chanel were pretty much constantly in a physical altercation. It felt like so long ago now. "I'd like to see you try" said Wren as he thought about how good it would feel to be play fighting with Chanel, to have his hands all over her. He hadn't touched her like that in so long, his mind couldn't help but stray into thoughts like that. He liked her for so much more than her body, but goddamn it did not hurt at all how beautiful she was. "I think your rollerskating playlist sounds good to me. I will not be singing, unless you want me to get Rose and Stevie in on this outing. I just do some harmonies" he said as he tied up his skates.
"That is true. I know I don't make the kindest decisions all the time, but one thing I know I do is bring excitement to everyone's lives." Chanel laughed as she thought about the times she fought Valerie. Sometimes Chanel would find herself in a lot of trouble because of it, but at least they were memorable moments she could look back on and laugh at now. Once they both had their skates all tied up, Chanel walked over to Wren and placed both hands on his shoulders, "There's not a lot of space here, but I think I could manage." she told him as she pushed him back onto Juliette's bed and got on top of him. Chanel simply did not know the meaning of self control, especially whenever she was around Wren. In her eyes, she wasn't doing anything too crazy. It was just some harmless fun before they go out to skate. All very wholesome. "See, it's just too easy."
He was ready to head out and had his skates all ready to go in his hands. Wren had just been making a joke about him and Chanel wrestling, but he smiled when she pushed him back onto Juliette's bed. When she got on top of him, his brain went on fire. How much he missed her was really sinking in, how he hadn't been able to do anything with anyone else. How all he thought of was her. "You got me" said Wren sighing, faking a defeat. Wren held on to her hips and flipped her onto her back, putting her hands above her head, "You know, Chanel. It's kinda like you're letting me win. It's just that easy" he taunted.
The worry about taking something too far would usually sink in right about now, Chanel was trying to be on her best behavior when she was around Wren. But once she was under him, she knew this was going in a pretty good direction. She missed having him this close, with his hands all over her. "Hm, me letting you win? I don't know what you're talking about." she put on an innocent face as she spoke. "I'll gladly accept this defeat." she said softly as she wrapped her legs around Wren to pull his body closer to hers. "But I'd like to think this is a win for me too."
Wren laughed as she said this was a win for her too, "whatever makes you feel better about losing" he said, feeling his hips against hers. Wren thought about the last time they actually kissed, and all the destruction that had come from that. But that went to the back of his mind as he thought about how badly he wanted to kiss her. To be connected with her like that, even here on Juliette's bed. Wren pressed his lips against hers, moving his hands all over her. Not thinking about what this meant for right now or tomorrow, or in a week. Just existing and doing what he wanted.
Chanel laughed along with Wren as he spoke, looking back and forth between his eyes and lips. To no surprise, she was tempted to kiss him again, but she felt like she had ruined the good time they were having the last time she did. She just wasn't sure if that was something Wren wanted. He was the one to break things off, it would make sense if he had moved on after all this time. All the doubt she had though, completely left her mind as she felt his lips on hers. Chanel deepened the kiss as her hands moved up the sides of Wren's face. This seemed like a good enough sign, so she left herself have this.
Wren wanted to hold onto her forever, but he knew that this was just casual for her. It was always just casual for her, he had lost his chance with the way he had acted. Wren was so hyper critical of himself, but he couldn't help but feel like he was where he was supposed to be when her hands were on his face. Wren put off the immediate need to ask what this was, or what this meant and just enjoy himself for once. He missed her so much. This meant everything to him, even if it was on Juliette's unsuspecting bed.
Chanel was too into this moment to come up with any kind of thoughts, all she knew was that she was truly happy. She felt like she actually belonged when she was with Wren, it was a feeling she wasn't exactly used to throughout her life. No one truly valued Chanel, she was simply meant to be used, so she did the same with others. There was no reason for her to care when no one took her seriously. But there was no fear of being used by Wren. Chanel's hands travelled down his shirt, but before she tried removing it, she pulled away from the kiss, "Sorry, is this okay? I totally don't mind either way." she said with a smile.
"Yeah, it's good. But we might want to get off of Juliette's bed" said Wren with a little laugh as he held onto her, putting his face in her neck. He kissed her collarbone before getting up and putting his hand out for her to get up off the bed. He pulled her close in the space between the two beds, bodies up against one another as one hand was holding hers and his other on her waist. It felt like they were back in the kitchen when they would dance and just have fun. He wanted to tell her that he missed her, but the words wouldn't come out. So he just kissed her, hoping she would understand what he meant.
It didn't even cross Chanel's mind that they were on Juliette's bed, her mind was too preoccupied to be thinking of things like that. But as usual, Wren kept her grounded. "Oh my god." she laughed as she nodded her head. "Yes, I'm not trying to have more problems with her." Chanel smiled against Wren's lips as they kissed. Sure she had hoped something like this would happen again, but she didn't think it actually would. She thought Wren would eventually end up with some really sweet girl and her chances would be gone, and that still very much could happen, so she tried to enjoy this moment as much as possible. Chanel pulled at his shirt as she fell back onto her bed before removing it. She was worried she was moving too quick, but it was Chanel, and it she wasn't sure if she'd have this opportunity again.
- Fade to Black -
After everything, Wren still wasn't sure where the two of them stood. If this was just a hook up for her or if it was something more. He got back into her bed with her and he just wanted to exist with her for a minute. Even if it was just a meaningless hookup, it felt like they were back. Wren was worried about sounding like a total dweeb, but he needed to know. "So what does this ... mean?" he hated the words as they came out of his mouth.
After Wren was back in her bed, Chanel moved in close and laid her head against his chest with a small smile on her face. She didn't want this moment to end with him. She picked her head up to look at him once she heard his question. "Well I guess it can mean whatever we want, right?" The answer was clear for her, but she wasn't too sure if they were both on the same page. "I mean, I do care about you, I always will. So I'm totally not using you for sex." she said with a laugh before realizing that there was a possibility that this didn't mean anything to him. "Unless this is just a casual thing for you ... cause I get it. What does this mean for you?"
The way she laughed made him a little nervous, like he shouldn't go all in on his answer. He needed to hold back to protect himself. "I mean I don't think anything between us has ever been casual" said Wren, skirting his answer. "I mean, I had fun. I think we should keep doing this" Wren said looking at her, it wasn't like they should date again. He wanted to, but she wasn't going to let him in. And right now, he didn't really want to tell her what was actually going on with him. Like there was a wall between them and only the happy stuff got in. "It's really whatever you want" he said honestly as a comforting smile appeared on his face.
Chanel could feel her heart sink, she didn't want to be just some girl Wren was hooking up with. She wanted so much more, she wanted to go back to what they were before. But she had no right to ask for more when she was the problem. If he broke up with her once, why would he want her back after all this time? "Right, yeah. We could keep doing this. I had fun too." she answered back with a smile plastered on her face. "It's nice to talk to you again, so I don't want to cross any line here. I'm just trying to be good. Shocker, I know." she forced out a laugh, trying to seem more relaxed about this than she really was.
Wren couldn't help but feel back to where they started with her here. There was something so comfortable about it all. "You're not crossing a line. We can just agree to let the other one know if we do" said the boy, wondering if he could start having her sleep here. He knew she didn't sleep well without somebody. He wanted to be that person. He just didn't know how to ask. He had ended it, what gave him the right to ask for something so big.
Chanel nodded her head, "That sounds good to me." Communication was never her strong suit, especially when it came to their relationship, but maybe this would be a good way to show Wren that she wanted to try and be better. "Is it crossing the line to ask if you're doing anything the rest of the night?" she asked with smile. They planned to go rollerskating, but time clearly got away from them. Now all Chanel wanted was to spend the night with him. "Cause I'm free if you are."
He thought about it for a minute, but his want to stay like this overtook any kind of smart thoughts. "I am not doing anything, we can hang out here or in my room. Whatever is better for you" he suggested. He definitely didn't want to put Juliette out of her room. "We could watch Snow Dogs or Jumanji or Jennifer's Body or the Scooby Doo movies" Wren said, listing off a few of their favorites. His least favorite part of dating was having to learn a bunch of stuff about someone when he didn't know how long they would be hanging out. He liked that he already knew Chanel through and through, but that was the problem. Like that might all be fake, the way she could lie to him so easily. It made his skin crawl.
"Maybe your room, Juliette should be coming back any minute." Chanel answered. Sure they had both kicked each other out of the room before when they had company over, but they at least gave each other a heads up in advance. The smile widened on her face when Wren began listing off the movies they could watch. "Hm, I haven't watched Snow Dogs in a hot minute." She still kept that stupid promise she made to herself back when she was a kid where she would only watch that movie with Laurie. "But then there's Robin Williams. I don't think I can pass that offer up. Unless you wanna go the Pride & Prejudice route." she brought up one of his favorites as well, it always reminded her of Wren. Chanel didn't care what they were watching, just being around him was more than enough, and she didn't know when this would happen again. There's was always that chance that Wren didn't want to do anything with her beyond sex, so she wanted to really be in this moment.
"Yeah let's go to mine" said Wren, he was happy that this wasn't it. He wanted more, but he knew it wasn't good for him. He talked with his therapist about healthy boundaries and being less of a people pleaser, but with Chanel it was hard to stick to his guns. Honestly ... it was hard with everyone. Wren wanted to be a good guy so bad, but it always ended up hurting him or he ended up really hurting someone when he let them down or he lashed out. He started to get dressed, "you know I have a soft spot for Robin Williams. Legendary man" Wren replied as he looked at her up and down. Being with Chanel felt so good, but he knew he was going to hit a low later. That's how it felt when they weren't around each other. Just low.
Chanel was trying her best to not look as excited as she felt. Things with Wren had been turning out a lot better than expected recently, but that didn't mean they were back together. Yes, she's the one who messed up, and yes, she should have apologized for it a long time ago, but bringing that up right now would ruin the good moment they were having. She also couldn't act like she wasn't hurt by what happened. The breakup seemed so quick, it almost felt like Wren had no issue leaving her behind. For some reason, the people she loved the most never stuck around. Chanel got dressed as Wren did and fixed her hair, "Isn't he the best?" Before walking out of the room, she placed her skates back to where she kept them. "Wow can't believe you got out of skating with me. It's almost like you know I'll outshine you. Weird." she raised her shoulders and smiled, acting like she wasn't the one to totally change their plans.
Wren laughed as she teased him about skating as he opened the door for her and they went out into the hall, "Weird that I picked a different activity where you outshine me. But watch out. I am very good at watching movies. The best, even. I've heard stellar reviews from people" he said laughing a little as he unlocked his door and they went into his room. "Do I need to lock up my sweatshirts? Or are you on your best behavior?" Wren joked as he turned on the tv, kicked off his shoes and got onto his bed. Wren pushed the thoughts about the break up out of his head. Today was just going to be a good day. He needed it more than he thought. She was probably going to leave him for someone more exciting, but for now he could enjoy this. "If you want we can order a pizza" he suggested. He had been doing really well in therapy, having a treat was going to be okay.
Chanel rolled her eyes and smiled up at Wren, "I'm just multitalented, what can I say?" she raised her shoulders as she spoke. "So are you though. I gotta admit, I was really impressed back in the day with all those boy scouts skills of yours. What can't you do, Laurie? I'm so jealous." she sighed dramatically. She always thought highly of Wren, even as kids. Anything he did was amazing in her eyes. But that might have been because she had a massive crush on him back then as well. Chanel must have acted like such a dork, and it was totally embarrassing to think back on. "What's the fun in being on my best behavior? Plus, my clothes don't cover a lot and these rooms can get really cold." she said with a pout before hopping on his bed. Hearing him suggest pizza put a smile on her face, "Ooh yes! I'm up for any kind, I'm not picky." Between this and Valentines day, it seemed like things were going well for Wren. Unfortunately, the selfish part of her brain thought about how it must be because she wasn't in the picture. A life without her must have been a lot less stressful for him.
Wren let out a hearty laugh, "it always comes back to the boy scout uniform. I see your ways Chanel Hampton, and I stay impressed." He liked how playful they were being, it felt like the last year had just been stressful. Every conversation had been awkward or hard. In a true moment of simpness (as certain men are called to) he took off his sweatshirt and handed it to Chanel, "Say it with me. I will return Laurie's sweatshirt" he coached. He loved the way his clothes looked on her. It felt like he was taking care of her needs when she wore his clothes. He liked taking care of her, he liked when she took care of him. Wren leaned back on the bed and opened up an app to order pizza, getting a plain cheese pizza. "It should be here in like 45 minutes to an hour" he said, resting his hands behind his head. He hoped she would put her head on his chest, and he really wanted her to spend the whole night. But he felt like he was wanting too much for what they were.
Chanel laughed along with Wren, "I can't help it. You shouldn't have shown me all those cool ways to tie a knot back then. Maybe I wouldn't have found all of that super cool. I think you knew what you were doing." she poked at the side of his arm. Chanel missed the times they spent when they were kids, it was all so happy and innocent. Sometimes she'd let her mind wander and think about how different her life would have been if he didn't move to California. It's not like she started acting out because he moved, but he was one of the only people that really cared about her. Life was lonely without him. Chanel flashed her teeth at Wren as she grabbed the sweatshirt, "I will return Laurie's sweatshirt. When? Who knows!" she said as she put it on. Wearing his clothes was always a form of comfort for her, especially at night when she had trouble sleeping. Chanel held back the strong urge to wrap her arms around his body and lay against him. Wren just looked so good and she was so weak for him. But she didn't want to cross any line so she sat next to him and made herself comfortable like that. "Sounds good, we could wait for the food to start the movie." she suggested, trying to spend as much time with him as possible. "Or we could start now, whichever works for me."
When wren was working on getting his knot tying badge, him and Chanel had tied literally everything they could find. His parents were frustrated for weeks trying to get things open in the house. He remembered retying knots after his parents finally cut items free. "We can wait for the food" he said with a smile as he looked over at her, the space between them felt like it was getting bigger and bigger. "If it gets kinda late, and there's that really long walk back to your dorm room a few doors down. You could stay here. It's such a long walk, and it might be pretty late when we finish the movie. Especially if we were to watch two. As a professional movie watcher, I know these things" said Wren laughing a little. He was uncomfortable asking her to stay, but he wanted to communicate what he wanted.
Chanel's smile widened as Wren suggested she stay the night. She was already planning on subtly asking that without seeming too pushy, but it was nice to know that he wanted this too. Maybe it was the stress of the semester, but Chanel had been having more and more issues when it came to sleeping. She promised herself that she'd see someone about it, but she kept putting it off. It was just difficult overall. Sleeping next to Wren always helped with that though, she felt safe around him. "Well you are the professional here, and you've always seemed trustworthy." Maybe she could have used a better word than trustworthy. The topic of trust was not exactly something she wanted to bring up, so she quickly kept on talking. "Plus I've been so tired from our last team practices for the semester. Long walks are a total no right now." she laughed. "So yeah, I'll stay. I'd love to. I wouldn't want you all by yourself, I'm sure Jet would want you to have some company."
Wren was doing pretty well until she said the word trustworthy. He did his best for it to not send him spiraling, but it reminded him that he couldn't trust her whatsoever. When you can't trust someone, they start to feel like a stranger even though you've known and loved them your whole life. She was a stranger, and as much as there was between them. None of it was real. "I'm sure Jet would, it's not every day he lets me be in here alone, or at all" said Wren, trying to bring himself back to the moment. It was a cruel twist of fate that the one person Wren wanted to share his life with, didn't want to share everything with him. It made him feel like a decoration, pretty to sit there but not useful. Not a necessary thing in her life. There was a time where he would have given anything to be important like that to her. That time seeped into the present, and he found himself wanting to be that for her again. To be important to Chanel Hampton, for real this time.
𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: stevie comes to wren to tell him that juliette is back, and wren gives her the confidence to say hello
After getting a stressed text from Stevie, Wren closed his book at his desk and headed down the hall to her room. Wren fell onto the bean bag in Sailor and Stevie's room. "I got your 911 text, and I learned from my conversation with Jet to not sprint, but I did pick up the pace" said the boy as he moved a pillow onto his lap and was fidgeting with the tassels. He wondered what was bothering Stevie, "did something chaotic happen with June?" he pried before the girl could start talking.
Stevie decided to not text the whole band to hangout that day, her whole world felt like it was crashing down. She did however need to talk to someone. Sailor wasn't in the room when she got there, so she immediately texted Wren. He would give her good advice, or at least be able to calm her down a bit. Stevie was pacing back and forth once Wren walked in, she never paced. This was Stevie, she barely got stressed. That took too much energy. "No, everything's great with her." Fuck. she thought. Everything was going so well with June. Stevie couldn't mess this up, she wasn't going to mess this up. "She's here. Juliette." Just saying her name out loud hurt. "Dude, she fucking goes to this school. Did you know?"
Seeing Stevie pace around the room was ... well it was a sign that something was really serious. Last time he had seen her pace was the weekend it had all gone down, she was going to wear the floors down with the energy she had. "Dude, fuck no I didn't know. I would have told you!" said the boy, shocked at the news. His jaw could have been on the floor, "Like she actually goes goes here? Are you sure she isn't visiting Gabrielle, Jonah, or Marina? She might just be stopping by, and you could say hey. Hey wouldn't hurt? Right? Or is this a cold turkey situation?" he asked. He knew about the agreement, but if they were in the same place at the same time they could at least say hello.
"Sorry, I'm just kind of flipping my shit right now." Stevie didn't mean to sound accusatory, she just never thought this was going to happen. Out of all colleges, this is where Juliette was, and she didn't even know how long. "That's what I was thinking, she was with Jonah when I saw her. But he gave that panicked face he makes when he thinks he royally fucked up. Fucking Keller." she sighed. It wasn't a shock that Jonah kept this, she knew how close the two were. He had known Stevie was downtownsasquatch and Juliette was perchancetodream back in the day and kept his mouth shut the whole time. "I know I promised I wouldn't do this, but I unblocked her from instagram to see if I could figure something out. One, she had me unblocked. Who knows for how long. Two, she definitely goes here." she felt like she was talking super fast. Stevie went on Juliette's instagram and passed the phone to Wren. "I don't mind saying hey, it's been so long. I'm sure she's found someone new." she said as calmly as she possibly could.
Wren took the phone and tried to compose himself. He didn't want to add on to any of Stevie's anxiety. He looked at the pictures and found one of her in her dorm here, "I unfollowed her when the ya know, happened. I guess I should refoll- hold the fuck up. Those are Chanel's skates. In the background. And her bedding. Not to sound like a fucking creep, but check this out" said the boy standing up and showing Stevie the phone. "Okay here's the picture of Jules, and here-" Wren pulled up Chanel's instagram and showed a picture of her in her room, "You don't think God would permit the two of them to live together, right?" Wren went back to Juliette's instagram, "oh shit, is Florence like roommate Florence from boarding school. I met her a while back, she said her best friend just transferred. So ..." he continued to put the puzzle pieces together, "she's only been here like three months?" Wren realized that this was an unfortunate amount of time for one Juliette Hastings to be avoiding a Stevie Summers. "Do you know what you're going to do? We could go stare at the door decs and go into an existential crisis? Or we could ignore everything? Or you could go hang with June? I mean ... do you want to say hi? How are you feeling?" said Wren, realizing he definitely forgot to not make her anxious.
Stevie furrowed her brows as Wren started listing off some of Chanel's stuff, "What the fuck, you serious?" she asked. There was no way they had been rooming together. Hadn't those two been through enough? Stevie leaned in closer to look through the girl's instagram. "What kind of sick joke is the universe playing?" she asked in complete shock. This was all getting too crazy, but it didn't stop there. Wren was basically figuring everything out in the matter of seconds. "She's been here this whole time? I mean, I guess it's shorter than I was assuming," Stevie was thinking that Juliette had been here as long as her. "but do you think she's been ... avoiding me? I don't know, maybe she doesn't know I'm here." she quickly shut down her assumption. Why would Juliette still be caught up on Stevie? She probably was already seeing someone by now. "I don't mind saying hi. It's been two years, you know? I've moved on, I'm fine." she said, thinking about how she literally had the journal Juliette gave her tucked away in a drawer. But she brought that before she started talking to June, she had only looked through it once and it was Cody's fault. "If she doesn't wanna talk, that's fine too. But I'm not going to actively ignore her. There's no reason to. I'll probably hang with June later tonight anyways." Stevie was trying to tell herself that everything was still the same. Juliette being here wouldn't change anything. Nope, not at all. "Or do you think saying hi is a bad idea?"
"I mean there's no way to know if that's the Florence, but I remember the pictures from way back then. I was wondering why she looked so familiar" he was a sucker for a conspiracy theory though. Wren always believed the best in people, there was no reason to believe that Juliette even knew that Stevie was here. "She's probably in the dark just as much as you, I mean clearly people were keeping quiet to you about her being here ... and people were probably keeping quiet to her. Jonah definitely knows how to keep a secret to make sure people don't freak" Wren was willing to think of any reason that this was all okay. He wanted to believe the best, and so he did. In line of him believing the best in people, Wren was pretty sure that Juliette wasn't over Stevie. But a lot of that was just him assuming that people didn't get over people, the way he couldn't seem to get over Chanel. "I don't think there's any problem with going and saying hi" said Wren, knowing that she was only talking about it because she wanted to do it. "I think she would be happy to see you, and who knows ... maybe she saw you and is trying to figure out how to tell you" he added.
"No it's gotta be her. I've seen her around here a few times. I've never said hi of course, but I remember all the times I would see her when Juliette and I facetimed back when she was in boarding school." Stevie nodded as Wren spoke, "Yeah, that's true. She'd say hi if she knew." As the words came out her mouth, she thought about how unlikely that was. It wasn't impossible, but it was however, more unlikely than likely. The thought of Juliette hiding away because of Stevie hurt. She was already thrown off to boarding school because of her, she didn't want her to hide during her college years too. Juliette deserved the best in life, and Stevie just always seemed to mess that up for her. "It usually backfires on him, but I guess he means well." she let out a sigh. When was that poor kid gonna learn? "Yeah... yeah maybe." Stevie held back a smile, trying to remain as cool as possible. She had a good thing going with June right now, but maybe there was hope for her and Juliette to be friends. "I'll text Chanel, see if she's in her room. I can always pass by. I'd ask you to text her, but I don't wanna make anything weird for you two. Unless you guys are fucking again?" she asked jokingly. She was just trying to find anyway to calm her nerves at this point.
Wren knew that she was just blowing off steam with the joke, "We have been texting really late at night, but nah" said the boy, it wasn't really the time to unpack any of that. "You should stop by, and oh while you're there can you drop of Chanel's skates for me? And if you see my favorite hoodie, snatch it" Wren made a mental note to get the stuff for her. "You know what, if you're going now you can just walk with me and grab the skates?" he suggested, he wasn't sure how much she needed to prepare for seeing Juliette. He would suggest to her to just rip the bandaid off, but Wren had been a huge weenie lately and also always about acting the way he intended to.
Stevie raised a brow. Chanel Hampton texting late at night? She could only imagine what that meant. "Ahh okay. Well I hope you both are having fun." she patted her friend's shoulder slowly. "I'd love to know the details, but we could save that conversation for band practice. I'd hate to leave Rose out of it." Stevie was visibly taken back when he mentioned going over to her room now, she didn't feel prepared to talk to Juliette right this second. But if she held off now, who knows when she'd actually do it? "Uh, yeah sure. We could go now, I'm down."
They weren't really having fun, but the texts were sometimes a nice distraction from how much he missed her. There were moments where it felt like they had never broken up, "Oh I know she will" said Wren, Rose did love hearing about her teammate and Wren. Wren and Stevie were about to head out the door, "its my gilmore girls sweatshirt. Very hot commodity, Austin got it for me and I think I look like a snack in it" said the boy, bringing some lighthearted vibes into the conversation. She needed a healthy distraction from it, and Wren was here to bring the positivity. He opened up his door and grabbed the skates, "She's around the corner, if you see Chanel too say hey for me" Wren said before adding, "And remember, it's just a hey. She's going to be happy to see you, you're Stevie fucking Summers."
Stevie rolled her eyes and smiled up at Wren, "Oh I know the one. I'm surprised you let her take that one." she teased her friend as they made their way out of the room. She grabbed the skates and nodded once as if she was on some mission. "Will do." Stevie had to keep reminding herself that it was just a hello. A simple hello to a potential friend. "I'm Stevie fucking Summers." she repeated. "I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks, man." she said with a small smile as she headed off to Juliette's room.
