in between, kit connor

twenty

"hey, do you have plans?" kit says, walking into gracie's trailer as they were leaving work for the night.

"no," she laughs. "it's almost midnight."

"want to hang at mine?" he asks. "we can watch a movie or something."

"yeah! uh, joe's kind of my ride though, should i ask if he wants to come?" gracie says.

"no!" kit replies quickly. "i just mean that i'm fine with driving you home. or if you just want to spend the night, feel free."

"oh! uh, yeah," the girl says. "i'll just let him know i'm coming with you. i'll meet you by your car?"

"yeah, sure." after kit leaves, gracie takes her phone out and texts her brother.

to: joe
> hey i'm hanging with kit tonight so i don't need a ride home. thank u tho

from: joe
> you guys are hanging? it's almost 12

to: joe
> yeah we're just watching a movie. nothing crazy, i'm probably just going to sleep over

from: joe
> uhhh okay lol

gracie frowned, but exited out of her messages with joe. she assumed that he seemed a little weirded out by her sleeping over at kit's and hanging out with him so late, but he hadn't outwardly said anything about it bothering him. in all honesty, gracie had been thinking about kit a lot over the past few days after he told her that he had a crush on her while he was drunk. at first she thought that really was because he was drunk, but ever since then she'd been making observations and it kind of seemed like he was into her. she was still unsure how she felt about liking someone after olivia, as that breakup was still fresh. however, gracie found herself enjoying a lot of her time being spent with kit. he made her laugh more than anyone else, especially when she was in a bad mood. she sighed, grabbing her bag before heading to his car, opening up the passenger door.

"joe's being weird," she tells him.

"huh? what do you mean?" kit asks as he begins to drive.

"like, i told him i'm going to hang out with you or whatever and he was just being dry about it. i don't know. are you guys beefing or something?"

"no, not at all."

"hm. okay."

—

gracie and kit were about halfway into their movie when she was about to speak for the first time in a while. however, she turned her head to look at the boy beside her, and he had fallen asleep. his head was starting to fall towards her shoulder, and oh shit, gracie liked him. like, properly liked him. she took a deep breath before gently removing him from her shoulder, causing him to wake up.

"oh, shit, did i fall asleep?" kit asks, slowly blinking.

"yeah, a bit," gracie giggles in response. "it's okay, though. i'm pretty tired too. i think i might head to bed if that's—"

"no, you're so comfortable," he groans, pulling her closer to his body. "and your hair smells good."

"you're crazy," she laughs. "kit, come on. i need to go to bed."

"fine," he grumbles, sitting up. "sorry for falling asleep. i know i invited you and everything."

"it's all good."

"i guess i should get to bed then," says kit. "uh, and sorry for using you as a pillow."

"wouldn't be the first time."

"what?"

"you did the same thing at will's party," gracie explains. "when you were very drunk, you used me as a pillow. you weren't asleep, but you did it."

"fucking hell, i keep learning more about that fucking party against my will."

"you also told me you had a crush on me."

"i did?" he asks, and she nods. "shit. wow."

"i mean, you were really drunk so... you know. saying a lot of meaningless things," gracie says.

"uh, yeah. sorry. um, i'm going to bed." he quickly gets up, walking towards him room and shutting the door. gracie sighs, unsure of how to feel about his reaction to what she just told him. gracie suddenly stood up, walking into his room.

"why are you being weird?" she asks, not bothering to knock.

"what? i'm not being weird," kit says.

"okay... but when i brought up you telling me—"

"fuck, gracie, i don't want to talk about that!" he exclaims, and she widens her eyes. she'd never seen him that upset.

"okay, i was just asking you a question, you don't have to be a fucking asshole about it."

"what do you want me to say? that i was telling you the truth? there's no fucking point in that. you're not ready for a relationship or ready to date someone else yet and i'm trying to respect that, so stop bringing what i said up." he speaks more softly this time, but still serious.

"you know i like you a lot. it's obvious i like you!" says gracie.

"oh really?"

"yes, my god! that's why i've been trying to ask if what you said when you were drunk is actually true."

"i just told you it is. but it doesn't matter. joe's your brother, and we still work together, and—"

"do you like me?" gracie cuts kit off.

"yeah. i told you."

"then why does that stuff matter?"

kit sighs. "i just— i really don't want joe to get upset over this."

"look. we wouldn't tell him right away. i would wait a bit and then tell him. he won't be upset. he just doesn't want me to get with someone as a 'rebound' or whatever, so if he sees that we've been a thing for a while, he'll understand that it's serious. besides, he knows you and he knows you're a good guy."

"you must really like me," he says, and gracie scoffs.

"what?"

"you're willing to do all that just to date me, which means you must like me a lot."

"yes, i fucking like you a lot, okay? now you're just being annoying," gracie groans, and kit laughs.

"okay, i'm done, i promise. it's cute," he says, pulling her closer to himself, sat on the bed. "can i kiss you now?"

"yeah," she replies before leaning in.