• Mae •
Mae had broken down to Cass on Sunday, and now it was Thursday. She hadn't heard from her friend much, but when she did, Cass tried to convince her to talk to Chris.
She really did want to. She wanted to tell him everything about how she was feeling and how she really did like him, but she was terrified of what would happen to them. But that took even more courage after she had ghosted him.
She had just gotten home from school, instead of starting on her homework because she honestly didn't care, she called Cass.
"What's up?" Cass greeted, the sounds of her car running in the background.
"I really miss him." Mae didn't know what else to say, that really summed up everything that she had been feeling for the past few days.
"Ya know, you could just text him and apologize."
"We both know that you can't just ghost someone and then come back like nothing happened."
"Which is why you apologize!" Cass sounded a little impatient, like she wanted her friend to just man up and talk to the boy already.
The two bickered for a few minutes about whether it's better to text him or get on the train tomorrow and act like nothing happened.
"You know where he lives, just go talk to him."
"No. I can't just show up at his house. I'll probably run into his whole family and they're definitely all mad at me because of this." Cass let out a breath. She was beginning to regret trying to help her friend because she just didn't want to take any advice.
"I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, Mae. Love you!" Cass hung up before Mae could respond.
~~~
She was laying on her bed when the doorbell rang, a bit odd considering no one ever stopped by her moms house. She was the only one home so she got up and made her way downstairs.
When she got to the door, she took a deep breath, calming herself down. She really needed a hot shower, her face probably had permanent tear tracks down it. She opened the door slowly, expecting a delivery man, but she was very surprised to find Chris standing there.
"Hey, Mae." Mae saw Cass give a thumbs up from her car in the drive way, of course she had planned this.
"Hey, Chris." He swallowed, clearly unsure of what to do. "Wanna come in?"
He nodded, and followed her inside to her kitchen.
He didn't speak, just followed her and accepted the cup of water that she poured for him. He wanted to give her a chance to explain what had happened.
"I'm really sorry." She wouldn't meet his eyes, her eyes trained on the toaster oven on the counter. "I'm just really scared."
"Of what? Me?" Chris looked hurt, she never wanted him to hurt because of her.
"Of us. Love never works out for me." He made his way over to her, but he didn't touch her, no matter how much he wanted to hug her.
"Can I help at all?" She felt her eyes well up, she hadn't expected him to say that. She had expected him to tell her to get over it.
"I don't know. I don't know what I need." He nodded, she could tell he was hurt, but that he understood. "I was trying to not ruin this with my own insecurities, but I've already done that."
He shook his head. "No, you didn't ruin anything. If something doesn't feel right or if you think we're moving too fast, you can just tell me."
She threw her arms around his waist, holding him tight as the tears started falling from her eyes. "I'm really sorry. It was just... meeting your family and everything was something I thought I was ready for, but I wasn't."
He shushed her, playing softly with her hair as he hugged her back. "It's okay. You don't have to come back to my place for a little bit if you don't want. Not until you're ready."
She nodded, unsure of what to say. She had really missed him, and she felt terrible for ignoring him like she had been, but everything felt like it was starting to fall back into place. She pulled away to grab a tissue and take a sip of her water, his eyes followed her the whole time.
"Is Cass still outside?" She suddenly remembered that her friend had dropped him off and she might be waiting to drive him back.
Chris shrugged. "I told her she didn't need to stay, but I have no clue."
They walked together back to the front room and looked out to the driveway where Cass' car sat. Inside, they could see her dancing and singing along to a song that they couldn't hear.
"Oh my God! She is so embarrassing!" Mae covered her face, unable to fathom that her friend was just hanging out in her drive way like that.
"Wow... she is really going for it." Chris sounded amazed, which Mae was too. She never thought that this would happen to her, making up with Chris and then having to watch her best friend live her best life in her drive way. She was a little jealous, but then she remembered that she had nosy neighbors and she remembered that she would never do anything like that.
"Maybe I should go soon, I still have some stuff to do at home tonight." Chris mumbled into her hair from behind her. His arms had snaked around her waist, holding her to his chest.
"Yeah, I have to finish up some stuff too. Have a good night, Chris." She smiled up at him, turning her head to meet his eyes.
"Can I kiss you goodnight?" Mae's face flushed at the question, but she nodded. She turned around, tipping her head up and pulling him down to her.
He pulled away after a moment, cheeks a little red. "Good night, Mae." He smiled, and then walked out the door, back to Cass, who was still jamming out in her car.
When Cass looked up at Mae, she waved and sent her a thumbs up. She'd have to text her later to thank her for this.
When she was back inside, she smiled to herself. She hadn't completely fucked up this thing they had going. They were fixing it, and Chris was trying to help her.
