-In 2023, not all parents hold their children to traditional standards for love and marriage, but modern lifestyles are still not always accepted. Especially not when your younger sibling is getting married first and your parents are practically jum...
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THE FOLLOWING FRIDAY
A week has gone by and you've spent most of the time either drunk or high with your friends. When you aren't working, that is. You haven't found time to visit either of your parents and you've seen your brother a few times, but only briefly to bring him some groceries and help him with cleaning the house he now has to himself.
Currently, you're at Faye's apartment with a bottle of Jose Cuervo in your left hand. The three of you have been drinking since you came over from work and the sun's just setting now.
As you stumble across the main room of her apartment, you reach for the unlocked phone on the couch and search for your brother's contact. You wanted to let him know that you won't be able to drive to his house later like you had planned when he had asked you to help him clean up the broken glass from the vase he accidentally knocked over.
However, what you find is a much more interesting story than that. You quickly realize that your phone isn't the one you've picked up. And the conversation on it with your brother is definitely not the same one you were having with him.
Your eyes go wide as you briefly scan part of the conversation. You then flip the phone over to check the back case- clear with a polaroid of you, Faye, and Kotonoha on the inside. It's Faye's phone.
Suddenly, you drop the phone to the ground when it all clicks into place. And then, like clockwork, your two friends walk into the room.
"Nothing!" you smile as you quickly stand to your feet.
"Uhh, doesn't seem like nothing..." Kotonoha quickly catches on to your lie. But you don't know what to say to her. She's got the biggest crush on Faye ever. She'll be so devastated if she sees what's on Faye's phone.
"Uh, the truth is," you begin to stammer as you look between the two of them, "I accidentally picked up Faye's phone and saw a few pics I don't think I was supposed to see," you giggle as you reach down and pick up the phone. "Faye, can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Sure," she agrees, confused and drunk, as you grab her arm and drag her into her bedroom.
"Be right back, Noha! You can get the karaoke ready if you want!" you hum out to your friend before shutting the door behind you and locking it.
"What the hell is going on?!" you whisper shout at Faye next.
"I don't know!" she replies. "You're the one acting super weird, Y/N."
"Cause I saw some messed up stuff on your phone, Faye. You're sexting my brother? What the hell?!"
"Shit, that's what you saw?" she sighs. "Well, I guess there's no hiding it now."
"Hiding what? Are you fucking my-"
"No!" she replies rather quickly. "Not yet anyway."
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" you continue to whisper angrily.
"Look I know I'm just a rebound but I enjoy talking to him! I'm sorry, Y/N. I know it's really strange and awkward but I think it makes him feel better. I mean, he just broke up with his wife essentially."
"I don't even know if they're legally divorced, Faye! You need to stop this! I- I don't even know what to say!" you shake your head.
"Hey, Y/N," you then hear Kotonoha call you quietly from the next room. However, unsure if it was just your imagination, you ignore her. That is, until you hear her call your name for a second and third time.
"What is it? What's wrong?" you ask as you walk toward the sound of her voice. However, just before reaching her, you stop short.
Kotonoha stands in the doorway with the door swung wide open. She looks ahead of her at the person on the other side. She, just like you, is completely speechless.
"I thought you said he wasn't coming back..." Faye mutters from behind you.
"I'll be right back," you whisper back as you stomp toward the door. You put your hand on Hinata's chest and push him out of the doorway, shutting the door behind you.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" you shout at him in the middle of the overhanging balcony which leads to other apartments besides Faye's. "You said you weren't coming back. I told you I wasn't going to wait for you."
"No," he smiles, "That's not what you said. You told me not to come crawling back to you if I decided I was going to stay in California. But I decided. I'm not staying in Califonia, Y/N."
"You're not?" you ask curiously, not wanting to get your hopes up but unable to help it.
"No," he shakes his head as he reaches his hand out to yours and grabs it gently, "I'm staying here. I want to stay here because it's where I know you are. I want to be with you, Y/N. I wouldn't want to be anywhere you're not. Is there any way you can forgive me?" he asks sincerely.
"You're the worst, you know that?" you shake your head as tears prick at your eyes. "You made me bawl my eyes out last week because I thought I'd never see you again and now you're telling me that you're going to stay?"
"I know. I suck," he agrees.
"That's an understatement I think," you chuckle.
"So does that mean you forgive me?" he then asks.
"Yes," you smile up at him, "of course it does. I'm so glad you came back, Shoyo."
With that, you wrap your arms around him and allow him to literally sweep you off your feet. And when you finally reach the earth, you look up at him with one of the biggest grins you've worn in a while.
"Can I kiss you?" he then asks as his eyebrows knit together. He doesn't want to say the wrong thing. He's still being cautious for some reason, even though you said you'd forgiven him.
"You may," you hum as his hand cups your cheek.
As his lips slide across yours, heat sweeps across your cheeks. You genuinely thought you'd never get to kiss him again, but here you are with his lips still on yours. A moment you hope will never end.
