Give Up the Chase

It seemed as though Chris, Street, and Luca had fallen into old patterns, Chris thought as she pulled into the driveway. Recently she had been coming over a lot more often without an invitation. Despite the tension still reeling between her and Street, the three of them had been spending just as much time together as they did before things went south between her and Jim prior to her leaving for Paris.

She stepped out of the car and started making her way to their front door. As she got closer, she saw Luca walk out with his keys in his hand. "Oh, hey Chris!" He greeted.

"Hey Luca! Sorry I probably should have called," she started. "You heading out?" she asked, pointing to his car keys as he passed her.

"Don't worry about calling Chris, this house is basically just as much yours as it is ours at this point," Luca smiled. "I am heading out though, grabbing a bite with Tuana while Kelly's hanging out with her friends for the day. Street's home though!" He answered, body halfway into his car at this point.

Chris nodded. "Alright, I'll see you later then!" she responded with a quick wave. After watching a smiling Luca drive off, she puffed out her cheeks and let out a deep breath. Maybe she should just go home...

But, on the other hand, with Luca gone for a few hours, this might be the perfect opportunity for Chris to talk to Street without any interruptions. If she caught him here it'd be a lot harder for him to make up any excuses to escape the conversation. Deciding that this might be her best chance to really fix their friendship, Chris took out the spare key she had to their house and opened the door.

Chris was greeted to an empty, silent living room, which made her assume Street was in his bedroom. Figuring he might pretend to be sleeping or something of the sort, she stayed quiet and made her way to his room. Taking a low, deep breath to calm her nerves, she knocked on his door.

Chris had been over enough times for Jim to know the difference between her knocks and Luca's. So when that strong, yet gentle knock came at his door he knew it was her. But he wasn't going to let her know that he knew that, so he pretended he thought she was Luca.

"What'd you forget this time, du- Oh hey, Chris," he said as he opened his door.

"Uh, hey," she hesitantly started before clearing her throat. "You have a sec?" she asked, silently pleading with her eyes for him to give her the time of day.

Knowing he couldn't justifiably say no this time, Street nodded and moved to the side. "Uh, yeah sure come on in," he invited as he wiped one hand along the back of his neck. The silence between them was overwhelming. Street took a seat at the edge of his bed looking at Chris standing awkwardly in front of him. He noticed her fidgeting with her fingers as she tried to find her words - a nervous habit of hers that he usually found adorable.

"I, uh," Chris nervously starts. "I know we haven't had the chance to really talk since I've been back. So I figured, with Luca gone for a bit, now might be a good time?"

Street nodded. "Sounds logical enough to me. What exactly do you want to talk about?" He wasn't trying to be petty by playing stupid, but he didn't feel like this was a conversation he needed to lead this time around. She ignored him, if she wanted to talk she could take the reigns for once.

Chris sighed as she shifted her body weight in slight defeat. He wasn't going to make this any easier for them was he? "Come on, Street," she softly pleaded as they locked eyes.

He sighed. "Guess it's time for that talk, huh?" Chris nodded. "Well, there's clearly a lot to unpack here so where exactly do we start?"

"Well I guess the best place to start is by saying I'm sorry. We weren't on the best terms when I left and I didn't do much to make things better while I was gone." Chris cursed herself as she cleared the lump forming in her throat. Why, of all people, did it have to be Jim Street that made her this nervous?