𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 // 𝙟𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙖𝙝 𝙛𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧

[ 𝙛𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣 ]

daniel and stella had gotten home safely. his car was parked in her driveway and there was music playing quietly on the aux. 

stella unbuckled her seatbelt and sighed. "i had a really good time tonight, if that makes things any better."

daniel copied her actions and unbuckled his seatbelt too. "i had a really good time too."

"i'm sorry that tonight ended so terribly," she apologized.

they are dead when i see them, she thought. she felt bad for the boy. 

"it doesn't have to." he made eye contact with the girl.

he started to lean in and that's when it was happening again. she had him by the collar of his shirt and he had his hand on her waist. after a few moments, she realized that anybody could just walk out of the house and see her making out with a boy in the drive way.

she pulled away. "i should probably go inside."

"okay," he smiled softly. "i'll see you later?"

"text me 'bout it," she said, making a phone hand motion.

"gotcha," he said and waved her good-bye before pulling out of the drive way.

as soon as she walked into the door, she was greeted by her best friend. or former best friend. she wasn't sure what terms they were on at the moment.

he was standing in the middle of the kitchen with his permanent frown on his face. stella didn't let the bottle of beer in his hand go unnoticed. "how was your hot date?" his voice was monotone.

"i really don't wanna hear it, connie." she made a beeline for the fridge, finding where he had gotten the beer. she opened a bottle for herself and leaned against the counter.

"okay, relax. we were just having a little fun," he said, avoiding her eyes.

stella shook her head and ran her hands down her face. "conrad," she started. "you've had this whole summer to have a little fun but you chose now."

"stella, come on..."

"and i'm getting confused, connie! you act like you don't care about me anymore and you're all distant and everything, then all of a sudden, you're back? i don't recognize you anymore." she took a big gulp of the beer and moved her hair out of her face. "and i really miss you, so i'm going to ask one more time. what's going on with you?"

conrad let out a spiteful laugh, moving a few steps closer to her. "stop acting like you know me."

she took another sip. "i do know you."

"no, you don't-"

"connie, how long have we been best friends? every summer, i had the choice to hang out with j and steven and belly and andy. i had the chance to join in on their water fights and their antics. but 99% of the time, i chose you, connie. i chose to listen to you talk about how you hate football and how you hate your dad. i chose you every god damn time. so there's no way in hell that you can tell me that i don't know you."

conrad held his stare on the kitchen counter, not wanting to look at his best friend. he knew it would be too painful. "stella, i'm-"

"if you don't tell me what's going on, then i'm just going to assume that you changed. we're not as close as we used to be. we grew apart, i guess," stella shrugged, trying not to cry. she wasn't going to cry. "but i really fucking hope that we didn't. 'cause that would mean that i wasted all my fucking time caring about you and making you my number one priority for you to not give a single shit about me."

stella had finished the last of her beer and set the bottle down the counter. she crossed her arms and let one hand even out the creases on her forehead. her face felt hot from trying not to cry. conrad's mouth was parted open slightly, scared that one false breath would set her off again.

maybe that's why their friendship had always worked. they never cried around each other. they never really fought. they never brought up anything that they thought would cause an outbreak like that. maybe that's why their friendship is failing.

stella swallowed the feeling in her throat that was rising in her chest. they had never had this type of argument before. she was regretting it. she was regretting ever bringing this up. "i'm sorry. i shouldn't have said anything," stella muttered, stepping away from conrad.

"i- i'm sorry," he spit out before she was gone.

"what?" she turned around to see her best friend finally looking up from the kitchen counter.

"i'm sorry for wasting your time. and for- for acting like a stupid fucking idiot this whole summer," he said quietly. stella took slow steps back to the kitchen. he sniffled. "and i miss you."

stella was standing in front of the boy once again. they made long eye contact for the first time that evening. she slowly wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. he returned the favor and let his arms wrap around her neck loosely.

"can we never fight like this again?" conrad asked her quietly after a moment of silence.

stella looked up at him through her watery eyes. his eyes were almost matching. "can you not be a total dipshit the rest of the summer?"

"i'll try my best," he said with that signature conrad smile.

he had missed her just as much as she missed him. maybe what they had been avoiding was all that they needed to mend their broken friendship.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note

okay that did not go how that i thought it was going to. i surprised myself there lmfao umm i'm still unsure about this chapter so pls let me know what you guys think.

pls vote, comment, etc. THANK YOU

if you guys have any ideas PLEASE let me know in the comments :)

[ unedited ]