𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 [𝐣𝐣 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤]

𝐦𝐚𝐜 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫

The whole ride was quiet, I didn't know what to say and apparently, he didn't either. The awkwardness was starting to get to me just as the house came into view. "Here we are." JJ said with a sigh of relief as he pulled off to the side of the road. I got out and looked at him through the open window.

"I'll be like 10 minutes." He nodded and let me walk away.

When I got to the gate, I hit the button and waited for a response. There was no response, but I did hear the gate unlock, so I took it as an okay for me to walk into the yard. Rafe was standing in the open front door as I made my way to it. He held a sad smile on his face as I approached him.

"Is Sarah here?" He shook his head 'no' and invited me in. "It's okay, I only stopped by to see Sarah. If you see her before me, could you just let her know I was here?" Rafe looked like he was ready to have me leave, and I was ready to leave too. Until Liam came rushing out to us, stopping me.

"Are we not going to talk to each other?" He reached for my wrist and pulled me back toward him. I was really wishing JJ had come in with me.

"I was just coming here to talk to Sarah." His grip tightened, "Ow, Liam. You're hurting me." I heard rustling behind me and soon enough saw my favorite blonde boy in between me and Liam.

"Alright man, I think that's enough." JJ said making Liam let go of my arm. He held up his hands and backed away toward the house. We waited for Liam and Rafe to disappear behind the front door before heading back toward the van.

We didn't bring it up again. It was nice that he didn't pry or ask any questions about it. I didn't want to have to explain everything to him. Although I did know that I would have to explain everything to him eventually.

"You down for some milkshakes, Jayj?" I asked once we were back in the van. He didn't answer me for a second. Then, he looked at me with the sweetest smile and took off.

"Okay, fill me in. New songs, bands, books, anything. I feel like I'm missing out on so much." He said as we started on the road. I smiled at his question. Suddenly the mood was different, I was no longer anxious about what had happened with Liam. I was just happy to be in the car with JJ, doing something we had always done with each other. Sharing music was something we both loved to do because we were so dynamically different. He wasn't much of a reader, but he would listen to me talk about the books I read. He wanted to know if I liked them or not and the reasons behind the decision. It was something so simple, yet sweet, that made me like him even more.

"If we get the chance, I have to take you to this bookstore in Charleston. It has literally everything. There are two floors. The first floor is strictly books, and the top floor is music. Old vinyl, new vinyl. CDs, cassettes. Name it, it's there."

"I have to see this store." He agreed as we pulled in front of the same ice cream place I had run into Liam. "So like, there's old vinyl?"

"Dude, so much Johnny and Merle. It's a literal dream." I said as I met him at the front of the van. I watched his eyes move down to my hand then back up to me. He hadn't hesitated before to grab my hand, why was he now?

I took matters into my own hands and reached for his. He looked almost bashful that I had grabbed his hand, but he didn't skip a beat as he continued on with his questions.

"Mac?" He held a hopeful look on his face. Mac Miller is where JJ and I connected. He was one of the artists that we could listen to all day and never get tired of. Despite being such a huge seller for the younger generation, barely anywhere around us had his music.

We walked into the shop and waited in line to order, "Tons!" We took our shakes back to the twinkie to keep the conversation going. "I read like 3 books this summer and loved them all. One was about these friends that found treasure, kind of like you guys." We chuckled at the coincidence, "Another was about a girl that after so many years started to see her best friend differently." He cleared his throat making me rethink what I had just said. I started to blush once I realized.