close enough, lynn loud

11, ignition

Lynn Loud Jr. was a sucker for eye contact.

Maybe it was her affinity for dominating a situation. It gave her a sense of superiority. It didn't help when her coach would get mad when the team wasn't looking at her when they were getting a scolding. So, it just came natural to her.

She knows it makes others nervous, makes them cower. It fed her ego in a way. You could hold it, though. Except for when she knew you were hiding something. You would avoid her eyes like the plague.

Right now, you were looking at her. She doesn't know why she didn't notice it back then. Was it always this intimate?

She noticed the mascara you put on your lashes today and the way they framed your eyes, the way your lips parted, and the way your hair fell on your shoulders. She was sure it didn't matter back then, she knew you were pretty. But were you always this...

Lynn follows the way your gaze moves from her eyes and to her mouth. It makes her gulp.

"What?" Her voice comes out as a squeak, and she mentally cringes at it.

When you laugh because of it, she can't help but laugh with you. Lynn clears her throat when she realizes she just laughed at herself. Get it together, Lynn. What's wrong with you?

Your eyes drop so low, was it the smoke in the air? Everyone was either drinking or smoking. You weren't one to smoke, although with the way your eyes were drooping, she'd think Kiley let you take a hit.

"Ah," you acknowledge her question after what felt like forever. "Your dimples are too cute."

Then you smile.

Lynn Loud Jr. was tweaking definitely. From a compliment? seriously. Get it together.

"We've literally grown up together? You only noticed now?" the jock scoffed. She didn't know what she was getting all defensive for, but it didn't affect you at all. You keep your cool as if you weren't driving her crazy.

You let out a small laugh. "Of course I have. It's just cuter when I make it come out."

"Make what come out?" Lynn asks.

"That smile of yours. The deeper the dimples, the more genuine, right?" you say casually.

The deeper her dimples, the cuter? That's what you were trying to imply, right? What is up with you?

Up here on the roof with the party going on from below, no one would see you two. It was making her think of how close you and Kiley could have gotten, with no one to see or disturb.

When Lynn was coming down from her high of winning earlier, Owens offered to get her a drink, to which she declined. She was hoping to catch a glimpse of you; being drunk wouldn't have helped that. Besides, Lynn was never big on drinking. It was nothing but a drawback, especially with being an athlete, she had to take care of her body.

When she decided to come to the party by herself, she didn't think about the consequences that would follow. She could admit it was shitty. She knew she couldn't face you, but ditching you? Her stomach couldn't take it.

From the moment she's arrived at the party, she's been peeling her eyes, trying to catch sight of you. So, when she heard word of 'I saw Kiley leading (Y/N) upstairs.'

Lynn was beyond furious.

She banged on every door in the home as if it were her own. She looked around like she was a mom looking for her missing child. When she got to the end of the hall, she asked around, and finally, finally, someone said they'd seen you.

"Kiley? Oh, I saw her go in to that room with some girl."

Lynn swore she's never run so fast in her life. When she enters the room, she instantly recognizes it to be Owens. She spots an open window at the end of the room.

When she looks out, expecting Kennedy to be making out with you, she finds you sitting alone instead. Lynn hopped onto the roof and took a seat beside you.

"Where's Kiley?" Lynn asks, out of breath from all the running and asking she'd been doing.

You take a moment to respond, playing with an empty can of sprite. "She was just here, she said she had to take a call."

"What were you two doing here alone? What'd she say to you?" she interrogates.

"Relax, Lynn. We were just talking." Your tone was calm, as though you weren't bothered at all. Not at all how Lynn was. Did you not listen to anything she said? All her warnings, thrown out the window.

Lynn was looking around the roof, searching for signs—signs of what? She didn't know. How long had you been at the party? Did you spend all of this time hanging around Kennedy?

You look over to her, sensing her worry. You take your time to think about the words you were going to say next.

"I won't fall for her, Lynn, I promise."

That's how the two of you ended up like this. You complimenting her to no end while Lynn's mind ran at a thousand words per second, trying to find out what happened between you and Kiley.

She gets them a lot, the dimple comment. No one's ever connected it to her smile, though—to their ability to make her smile.

It's when her regrets resurface, because the moment you said you 'love the way you make her smile', Lynn's eyes dropped down to your lips. She's wearing lip gloss today.

Her guilt is brought alive as she realizes her train of thought. She'd completely forgotten about her mission to avoid you. Her thoughts are interrupted when she hears you say something.

"I think I've made up my mind."

"Made up your mind on what?" Lynn asks, confused as to what you were referring to.

"Nothing."

Lynn furrows her brows in confusion. "You still haven't told me what you and Kiley were talking about."

"She asked me out," you confess.

"What?!" Lynn practically stands on the roof. She almost takes a swan dive off the roof until you pull her to sit back down.

"Lynn! Sit down!" You pull her closer to you. "Calm down!"

Lynn complies, but she's still staring at you like you've grown another head. "What'd you say? You said no, right?"

Lynn can feel the desperation and urgency dripping from her tone but she pays it no mind. She watches as you ponder over your words.

It's making the hairs on her arms stand up, anticipating your answer. She's been telling herself this whole time that she trusts your judgment. Trusts that you'll do as she says, trusts that you'll heed her warnings. You always have.

You've always taken her side in any situation, in any disagreement. She could've been in the wrong, and you still would've defended her. So, why was she doubting herself right now?

Lynn has this small, insistent fire building up inside of her, like a feeling she can't shake off—and you were the ignition. She wasn't sure what that fire meant. She wishes you would blow it out so she wouldn't need to find out. Yet, the feeling was lighting up something deep within her bones; it felt warm, exhilarating. It made her feel alive.

Busy with her own thoughts, Lynn doesn't hear your answer at first. When she looks back at you, you were expressionless as you observe her reaction.

She cocks her head at you to indicate that she didn't hear the first time. "What?"

"I said yes."

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