𝐏ʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍs || ᵗʸˡᵉʳ ʰᵉʳⁿᵃⁿᵈᵉᶻ ˣ ᶠ ! ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ ⁽ˢˡⁱᵍʰᵗ ᵒᶜ⁾ || ˢᵇᵍ

(𝐒𝟏) 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟑𝟗

𝟏ˢᵗ 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖.

𝐌𝐞 and Tyler walk next to each other with an irritated face. I could practically feel the awkwardness emitting from Aiden and Ashlyn. It was also getting on Tyler's nerves as he had a scowl on his face.

Tyler turns to me and glances at Aiden and Ashlyn. I nod. He sighs as he then speaks up.

"You guys are getting on our nerves." He tells Aiden and Ashlyn. Both of them seem a little startled at his blunt and straightforwardness.

"How are we supposed to 'celebrate' when you two are ruining the good mood with your awkwardness?" He asks then with his arms crossed over his chest as he gives them a bored look.

Taylor deadpans at her brother. She then turns to them as she sweat drop slightly. "..What Tyler means is that you both seem tense-.. there's about 10 minutes before class, how about you two talk things out and we'll go grab some snacks?" She suggests.

Aiden and Ashlyn look at each other a bit awkwardly before they both nod. Taylor smiles and we then start to go down the stairway.

"We're gonna eavesdrop on them aren't we?" I ask Taylor as i whisper to her quietly. She grins and nods.

I deadpan and nod back. We stay on one of the floors of the staircase and wait for them to talk to each other. I was in between Ben and Logan as i sit down on the stairs, not wanting to keep on standing.

Aiden then started talking. "..Are you sure you should've come to school with your head injured like that?" He asks her.

"..What about you? You're limping." She points out. "Yeah, but that was kinda my own fault haha." He says as i could hear him awkwardly chuckle.

"Haha?" Ashlyn asked in a questioning voice.

There was a silence for a moment. "Maybe we should talk later, my head is throbbing." She tells him. I then hear her footsteps i look up at the others as i sweatdrop.

"Ah- wait!" Aiden slightly exclaims. There's then another pause. I could hear footsteps again.

"..I'm sorry, Ashlyn." I heard Aiden say. I become a bit confused on what he was apologizing for.

"I didn't think me getting hurt would also mean you would too." He says as he then pause for a moment.

"Ah-, am i too close?" He asks her before he continues to talk. "To be honest, i'm still confused about the boundary thing. I've never tried to get close with someone like you." He says a bit nervously.

'I have a feeling he likes her but he himself doesn't know it yet..' I think to myself.

"..'Someone like me?' What's that supposed to mean?" She asked in a slightly irritated voice.

'Uh-oh she sounds irritated. I don't know if he meant it in a bad way or good way. I'm guessing she thought he meant it in a bad way.' I think as i mentally shrug. I continue listening in with everyone else.

"Not in a bad way! What i meant was- with my parents traveling all the time, I just passed the time talking to random people while waiting for us to move to our next location. I didn't really care about them and they didn't really care about me. But now that i'm stationary, i wanted to try something different. You seemed like the type of person who wouldn't become close with somebody unless they were actually special to you." He explain to her.

There's a pause for a moment. "..and i'm not exactly sure.. how to go about it." He tells her. I could hear the awkwardness in his voice.

"Well how am i supposed to know? I don't usually get along with people, period." She says to him, i could basically hear from her voice that she was deadpanning. I stifle a quiet chuckle.

"Listen, i'm not good with phrasing my words like Taylor is. So i'm just going to be blunt-.. You're impulsive, rash, pushy, annoying, and have no concept of personal space." She tells him blandly.

I mentally facepalm. 'Well, she did say she was going to be blunt about it.' I think to myself as i sweatdrop and shake my head.

"..But i was wrong to blame you for what happened in Savannah. You may have pushed me to go, but it was still my decision if i would or not. And i don't blame you for what happened on the porch." She said in a softer tone before she continues to talk.

"I would also appreciate it if you listened to me more, maybe take things more seriously-.. and i'll try to be more open with all of you. I'm not under the illusion that i'm the greatest to deal with since i never planned to be with anyone. But-.. let's both just try our best, i guess?" She asks him.

'Good to know they made up and they won't be awkward with each other. It was so insufferable. They make a good duo together.' I think to myself as i smile.

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Word count; 777
May 4ᵗʰ, 2024
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EDIT;
Word count; 868
June 19ᵗʰ, 2024

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