Lust

BFF

TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND/OR ACTIONS

Trope: Friends to Lovers

Grace and Nick

Nick's parents own this luxury beach house the friend group would sneak off to every summer, but this one was different. They'd all go their separate ways after tonight; Enzo and Blake playing ball at SFA, Kate moving out of state to be a tattoo apprentice, Nick attending UCLA...and Grace was staying in the town they'll all leave and never come back to. Left behind as usual. She watched in amusement as the boys each took turns jumping over the small bonfire in their drunkenness. Kate had long sense went to bed, claiming to have a headache, but they all knew she was waiting for Blake; they'd been together for as long as anyone could remember. Grace hoped they would stick with it through the distance. Nick plopped down next to her, opening another beer and resting his head on her shoulder; he smelt like the smoke of the bonfire with a hint of his cologne from earlier. 

"Well, fuckers, we're turning in," Enzo said, raising his beer to toast, "to us degenerates and the shit we'll give the world." They all raised their drinks and chugged, laughing. Grace watched as Enzo and Blake stumbled up the hill to the house, ramming into each other like state fair bumper cars. 

Nick chuckled, shaking his head, "They're so fucking dumb." She nodded and nursed her seltzer, pulling her cardigan closer around her body. "Are you cold?"

She brushed it off, not wanting to seem needy. "Nah, it's okay, I'm not freezing or anything."

He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close despite her gentle protest. "It's just me, Gray, relax." Of all the group, Nick and Grace were always drawn to each other in particular, thick as thieves. "I can't believe this is it," he sighed, resting his back on the wooden bench, "I don't know when I'll see you again after tonight." Grace stayed silent, letting the gravity of his words sink in. After tonight, she'd be all alone in a town she hated. "Do you remember when Enzo got his fingers stuck in those Chinese handcuffs in the fourth grade?"

Grace laughed and nodded, reminiscing, "He cried so hard for like, thirty minutes even after we cut the damn thing off," she chuckled. 

"And the time Kate tried to give Blake a tattoo, but he chickened out, so we all gave him shit for the next two weeks!" They laughed as he continued, memory after memory; it only made her heart break all the more. The mood dampened and Nick licked his dried-out lips, opening the last beer in the cooler. "You remember when she cheated on me...then paraded that asshole around in the hallway just because she could?" Grace cringed at his mention of Sophie; she never really like her, but Nick was head over heels for her for so long. "Or when my grandpa died? Or when I was...so broken that I didn't wanna be here anymore? You remember who was there through all of that?"

"We were all here for you, Nick."

"True," he nodded, "but who went to ISS for three days because she cornered Sophie in the student parking lot and punched her in the face?"

Grace snorted with laughter, "And I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Fucking bitch."

"Who was the one that cut off the Chinese handcuffs?" Nick took a swig of the beer, chuckling. "And who stayed with me after the funeral? Who stayed on the phone with me all night long when I felt...that way? Who picked me up and dropped me off when I broke my arm and couldn't drive? Who was the first to sign my cast? Who was my first friend when I moved to a completely new town in the second grade?" Silence stretched between them; she didn't really know how to react or what to say. "It was you...it's always been you, Gray." She turned to look at him, but he was already staring at her with a look in his eyes she had never seen before. "I'm a fucking idiot," he scoffed. "I know it's not fair or right for me to say anything now, especially with all of us leaving tomorrow, but I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I let you go without telling you how I really feel." He took her hands in his and took in a shaky breath. "I'm in love with you, Grace, and I think I've felt that way for a while. You've always been by my side, laughed with me, cried with me, and everything in between...and I'm a fucking idiot for not telling you until now. I know that things are about to change with the gang all leaving and you being stuck here, but I want to try and give things a shot between us..."