Grinded

chapter XX.

"Lily, pacing by the window isn't gonna make him get here any quicker," said Sophie.

She had claimed the couch August and Freddie had been cuddling on earlier. The tipsy teen lay back, a peaceful, but subtle, smile playing up on her lips. She placed one hand behind her hand, while the other held an almost empty bottle of beer.

It'd been a minute since Sophie felt somewhat at peace with the world around her. She let her mind start to wander off mindlessly, closing her eyes as she lightly hummed along to the country music that had been playing, courtesy of Thomas.

Despite having her eyes closed, she could still feel the impatience flooding off Lily, who continued loitering by the window. Just as Sophie cracked open her eyes, she saw Thomas palming his pockets with a focused gaze.

Thomas winced when he shifted his casted arm and the pained expression on his face tugged at Sophie's heartstrings, striking a note of sympathy for her friend. The cast was now sporting faint splotches of dried, dark blood, mainly where the slash had been made.

She opened her mouth to offer a hand, but quickly stopped herself. Thomas was one of the most stubborn guys she knew, there wasn't a chance he'd take her up on her offer for help.

After a moment, Thomas grinned to himself as his hand fidgeted inside his back pocket. Sophie couldn't help but watch, intrigued to find out what had gotten him feeling so victorious.

"You good?" Sophie asked him, drooping her head in his direction; she kept her voice casual, making sure not to come across as though she was treating him delicately.

Something he made abundantly clear he didn't want.

Thomas nodded, stretching out his injured arm. "Think it's time for a smoke break."

The second those words left Thomas' mouth, she didn't even have to look over to Lily to know she was going to be pissed over it. Sophie couldn't help the sigh that fell from her mouth as she propped herself up, glancing over at Lily.

And she was right – there was a clear flicker of frustration burning in her ice blue eyes. 

"Really, Tommy?" asked Lily with raised eyebrows and a tone stripped of patience.

Thomas didn't even look up to her, instead focusing on tightening his shoelaces as he pulled his letterman jacket.

Lily crossed her arms sternly, continuing to burn a hole into Thomas' head. "You said— No, you promised you would cut down on that shit."

A moment of pointed silence passed, and Sophie took a swig of the beer in her hand, gulping down the last few drops before setting it down on the caramel oak coffee table. She warred with the idea of excusing herself to get a refill, not wanting to be around for any potential confrontation.

But she couldn't even ponder the idea for longer than several seconds before Thomas huffed out a breath, throwing his head back in exasperation.

"Are you my mother?" Thomas shot back, snapping his head to meet Lily's fiery glare.

Great. The last thing any of them needed right now, was to be fighting with each other. 

Especially over something as trivial as marijuana. 

But she didn't say shit. She didn't say much of anything to begin with, instead watching her friends closely, ready to pounce up in case things got out of hand.

She loved Thomas and Lily, but they were like live wires, sometimes; a little liquid is all it took for sparks to fly between them.

"No. But you made me a promise, Tommy. It's not good for you to smoke so much."