𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 || 𝐒.𝐃

chapter 22

CONTINUED —

David dabbed cassandra up, before turning to cynthia who did everything in her power not to look at darrian.

"you good? why you out the house, cyn?" david asked cynthia, seeing she was leaning on one of her legs more than the other.

she nodded, "cassandra made me."

david laughed, "you can walk now?"

she titled her head, "somewhat."

cassandra and cynthia followed behind david until they reached notti and ddot. notti stood, wrapping his arm around cassandra before playfully mugging cynthia. "why you outside, lil girl?"

cynthia rolled his eyes, ignoring him and moving her eyes to ddot who had yet stood up. cynthia missed when he would immediately bring her into a hug, never removing his arm from around her anytime he'd see her.

notti followed her eyes, before rolling his eyes. he was annoyed that his talk did nothing. he watched as darrian slowly turned his head, and cassandra mugged him, making notti laugh but shove her a little.

still no words were exchanged between the two teenagers, making it grow awkward.. and notti hated awkwardness.

"if y'all don't kiss and make up, bruh." notti smacked his lips, making cassandra chuckle.

cynthia glanced at cassandra, who gave her a reassuring nod. it took everything in cynthia to build up enough courage to sit next to darrian, her fingertips tapping on her thighs as she thought of a way to start a conversation with the boy who was avoiding her.

cynthia's actions caught the other three completely off guard, as they thought for sure that cynthia was gonna wait until darrian spoke to her first.

the three exchanged a look, before they slowly backed up. they walked father down the sidewalk, their eyes never leaving the two who were sitting in complete, awkward silence.

the two hated that it had grown awkward, but only one of them acted on making that change.

darrian heard cynthia smack her lips, before her body turned to him.

"why are you avoiding me?" she asked, her voice coming off shaky.

darrian looked up to meet her eyes, "i'm not."

cynthia furrowed her eyebrows, shocked with how he could completely lie in her face. "i texted you, darrian.. you didn't answer me."

darrian knew she wasn't going to believe any lie he came up with him, so he only sighed. he rsn his tongue over his lip, before looking back down at his lap. "cause, bro.. it's easier."

cynthia's eyes squinted, her eyes never leaving her face. "it's easier to ignore me?"

cassandra who had stepped closer again to be able to hear what they were saying, opened her mouth in shock. cynthia never spoke her mind like this, it was truly refreshing to hear it.

darrian shook his head, meeting her eyes again. "nah, it's easier for you. ion want you to have to fight with ya mom anymore." he shrugged, making cynthia scoff.

"it's not, though. i don't want that." cynthia told him, making his eyebrows raised. "i never told you i wanted you to leave me alone."

darrian was used to cynthia staying quiet when she felt a way, so this was shocking him. but he liked it.

"i don't want you to leave me alone, ddot." she repeated, "that doesn't make it easier. i don't want to fight with my mom anymore, and i'm not going to."

darrian gave her a confused look, continuing to listen to her talk.

cynthia sighed, "i don't know what i'm gonna do, but i'm not gonna fight with her anymore."

she bit on her lip, wishing he would say something. she had three words on her mind, that repeated in repeated as if she wanted to say them so badly.. but she was terrified to.

"are you gonna keep ignor—" cynthia was cut off as ddot reached forward, grabbing onto her neck in a slightly aggressive but gentle way, bringing her closer.

"oh.." cassandra mumbled, her lips folding inwards as she gripped onto her shirt as if she was watching some show that had her on the edge of her seat.

notti watched the girl, holding in his laugh.

ddot said nothing, only looked at her for a few seconds before he he closed the gap that was between them.

"oh!" cassandra smiled, cheering quietly, as notti finally let out his laugh.

"you're stupid." david shook his head, making cassandra mug him and shove him slightly.

cynthia grabbed onto darrians neck, bringing him closer than he already was. the kiss felt truly magical. it wasn't the first time they had kissed, but it was the first time in a long time and it felt long overdue. it seemed needy, passionate. and cassandra watched, completely in awe.

"that's gon be us." notti whispered, making heat rise to cassandra's cheeks, before she rolled her eyes to play off the fact he had made her nervous.

david mugged the two teens, slowly stepping away as he began to feel like he was third wheeling.

cynthia and darrian pulled apart, their lips plump and a little out of breath. they were still very close together, and darrian smirked a little because of the fact cynthia didn't move away.

"we good?" he asked, as she felt her her stomach flip as she held eye contact, holding back the huge smile that attempted to form on her face. she nodded, "yeah."

"you good, though?" he asked, looking down at her.

"oh now you wanna ask." he heard cassandra say, turning to see her staring at him with her arms crossed.

cynthia laughed, while darrian smacked his lips and rolled his eyes. "yo, notti, get ya girl." he spoke, making cassandra mug him, "get me?" she sarcastically laughed, making notti roll his eyes and push her gently.

"i'm good, by the way." cynthia spoke, cheering at him.

darrian slowly smiled, before he laughed as he realized she was basically quoting what he had said to her when she had ran into him months ago.

darrian stood, holding his hand out for cynthia to grab. as she grabbed into it, she let out a groan that made darrians face drop slightly, but she gave him a reassuring smile to let him know she was fine.

she walked next to him as they walked up to cass, notti and dd who were mid-conversation about something they couldn't seem to figure out.

darrian wrapped his arm around cynthia, and she relaxed under his arm. she melted into his touch, resting her head on his shoulder with a small smile.

for the first time in over a week, she finally felt relaxed and happy. she and darrian were back ok good terms, and now she only needed to speak to her mother.

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AUTHORS NOTES:

y'all i can't actually kill serenity off 😭 it would make the book really boring

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