Dare To Kiss (GxG)

Chapter 23

A/N: Hi, everyone!  I'm sooo sorry I haven't updated in over 2 months 😅 but real life takes precedence.  Sorry I've been so busy but I promise that I'll definitely write more over the summer holiday and this book will be completed!! (Some time in the future, that is...)

Also, I'm aware I'm super late but HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!! 🏳️‍🌈❤️ (Cause I didn't update last month lol)

Another also, thank you for being so patient and still following this story.  It truly means a lot to me that there's someone out there reading this, so thank you! 💕 

"Well..." I echo Katherine, not knowing what answer would satisfy her enough that she won't ask us anymore questions.

Ruby seems just as reluctant as me, and I can feel Katherine's exasperation simmer and grow with every second we remain indecisive about our response.

Under Katherine's obstinate and expectant look that indicates she won't back down until she gets the tea she's looking for, Ruby caves in.

"We kissed, okay?" Ruby blurts out, rendering Katherine sputtering and speechless. Giving me an apologetic glance, she elaborates, "Well, I kissed her, but I was just sad and lonely and desperate. We talked it out. We're okay now. We're friends. Happy?"

"Wait, what?" Katherine exclaims in a total state of shock, not even able to string a sentence together just yet. "You... and..."

"It's true. But nothing came out of it. Like Ruby said, we talked and now we've come to an understanding," I chime in to rescue Ruby and give her a warming smile, which she returns.

"Hmm..." Katherine still looks sceptical, and knowing her, she won't let it go just yet. Therefore, Ruby and I try to explain the situation as briefly and vaguely as we can, but still enough to quell our friend's observant curiosity.

"Alright, alright, I believe you," Katherine finally relents, holding up her hands in a gesture of surrender.

I breathe a sigh of relief, and I hear Ruby do the same beside me.

"I'm glad you guys talked it over," Katherine continues, then mutters under her breath even though she clearly meant for it to be heard, "God knows that it's overdue."

I cough while Ruby blushes as we recognise her implications of my not-so-subtle crush on my best friend for the past years.

Thankfully, Katherine chooses not to comment and we soon turn to more mundane and easier topics before joining back in with the rest of the group's chattering and discussions.

After breakfast — or rather, brunch, considering how late it is — we gradually make our way to the train station, window-shopping and even venturing into a few shops that capture our interest as we do so, since our train doesn't depart until 11:40 am, which means we still have just under an hour to spend in London.

Time flies by, and the ride feels as if it only lasted minutes when in actuality it takes over an hour and a half. Before I know it, we've arrived back at our town's train station. Our brief but fun reprieve in London is over, and back to the morose and depressing reality of school and the impending exams.

The six of us say our goodbyes rather tearfully and dramatically, despite the fact that we'll almost definitely be seeing each other again before the term break ends, even if it won't be all of us together. And even if not, we text on our various group chats almost daily, and it's only a week before school starts again anyways.

"Where are you off to now? Home?" Katherine asks just before she gets picked up by her parents, their car only just pulling up in the area outside train station. She's the last in our friend group to leave apart from me; everyone else has already either been picked up or headed off to a bus stop in various different directions.