𝐄𝐂𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐘 ✶ RAFE CAMERON

039

After an awkward, yet effective conversation with Adrien, Gianna felt a lot more confident in her next appearance at Marisa's house.

Enough had been enough. Petty fights with her best friend wasn't the way to go, and after getting slapped in the face with reality and her real, raw version of herself, she finally realized it. She walked up the familiar driveway, the one where she and Marisa would draw with chalk on, or play with their Barbies.

Gianna knocked on the door, multiple different outcomesflashing through her mind. The worst that could happen is Marisa not accept her apology and throw fifteen years of friendship down the drain. Lovely. But as the raven opened the door, and the millions of memories from their childhood, god-awful preteen years and adolescence, the two couldn't help but smile.

Gianna spoke up. "Can I come in? I wanna talk—"

Marisa, completely cutting the girl off, wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her with all her strength. Gianna, even though she was shocked by the action, hugged her best friend back, inhaling the signature scent of her Black Opium perfume. The two stood together like that for a while, enjoying each other's presence and company, something they had been deprived of for long enough.

Pulling away, Marisa grabbed Gianna's hand, yanking her inside her home. "Come on. We have shit to sort out." Gianna chuckled at the girls tone, following her into the living room.

And as the two settled into the couch, wrapping themselves in a large, fluffy blanket, Gianna prepared the apology she had practiced in her bathroom mirror.

"Listen, uh, about these past few days..."

"You don't have to say anything, Gia. We both fucked up. I mean, I said shit, you said shit... it's fine—"

"But it's not fine!" Gianna exclaimed, waving her hands in the air. "I've been treating the people around me like— like they don't matter. Because some days I feel like this person, and others I feel like trash."

Marisa kept her face slightly contorted, pity clearly coating the girls face. Though, she continued to listen.

"I keep creating these versions of myself, just to try and get through the day without falling apart. Because I feel like my true self just isn't enough. My mom went to rehab multiple times, my dads almost never around, I slept multiple times with Rafe Cameron, I—" she huffed, slightly shrugging.

"I'm a mess," the blonde laughed at herself. She knew it wasn't funny, but just admitting it to herself after pretending to be something she wasn't for so long was in fact laughable. The fact that it took hooking up with Rafe again after being in a relationship with someone she didn't have feelings for was laughable.

She sat in silence, waiting for an audible reaction to come out of her best friends mouth. Anything that either implied that she was there for her, or that she never wanted to look at Giannas face again. But the softening of Marisa's face was enough to see that at least she had some affection for the girl, or perhaps it was pity, Gianna couldn't tell.

The raven opened a small, yet sympathetic smile. "Gia, you're my best friend. You're the one who's been by my side since day fucking one," she chuckled. "If there's someone who'll always be there for you, it's me, bitch!"

Suddenly, Marisa practically jumped on top of Gianna, hugging her head tightly as she practically suffocated the blonde, who exclaimed various asks for help.

"Not Nathaniel—"

"Ow, Marisa!"

"Definitely not Amelia—"