Butterflies (A Before You Exit fanfiction)

Chapter 17

*(August 1st)*

MARIA'S POV

I just woke up and now I'm going downstairs to get something to eat. The guys slept over last night and they're all sitting on the couch with the girls probably coming down within 10 minutes. But Riley's not there. Again.

"Guys, where's Riley?" I asked them.

"Uhm.. he went to get Starbucks." Braiden replied.

That's not unusual, but how long has he been gone for?

"What time did he leave?" I asked.

"Uhmm.... quarter to eleven." Connor said.

It's noon. Riley has been doing this a lot lately. Like, he'll get a text, smile, then say I'm gonna go run to Starbucks. Seriously, what's going on?!

"Guys, you do realize that he's been doing this a lot. It doesn't take an hour and fifteen minutes to order drinks from a place five minutes away!" I exclaimed.

"But it's morning. A lot of people get coffee in the morning." Thomas said.

"True, but enough people that you have to be there for over an hour?" I asked.

"That is true." Toby said.

The guys thought about it for a minute.

Then Connor said, "Okay. He has been doing this for awhile. How about once he comes back, the guys and I will ask him about it, because he might lie to you and the girls. So, you, and the girls if they're up, will go and get dressed. One of us will text you when we're done."

It sounds good to me. Because I told him, if he lies to me again we're done.

"Okay. That's a good idea. Because if I'm talking to him and he lies to me, I might get extremely pissed and hurt him." I said, but then all the guys got scared and shocked looks on their faces.

"Guys, I told you all this, especially Connor and Toby. I only hurt people if the get me really mad or they deserve it. It won't get into a fight, just like one slap or something. It'll only get into a fight if he hits be back. And I don't think he'll do that." I explained.

They all nodded their heads and said 'okay'.

Just then Riley opened the door. "Hey guys!" he said. Hmmm..... a little more cheeky than usual...

"Hey! I'm gonna go get dressed." I said, trying to do my best to put on a fake smile. Then, I dashed up the stairs.

Both of the girls are in Kristina's room.

"Hey guys. Have you noticed Riley is going to Starbucks a lot lately?" I asked them.

"You mean that he would stay there for a long time whenever he went? Yeah, we did." Kristina said.

"Well, he just got back from an hour and fifteen minute trip there. The guys are gonna talk to him about it now. We gotta stay up here because we're getting dressed. Connor thinks that he'll lie to us. So, once they're done, one of the guys is gonna text me." I explained.

"Okay. But if he hurts you, I will hurt him." Jenna said.

"So will I. Right where the sun doesn't shine." Kristina said while making a fist. Jenna nodded.

"You have fun with that while you're in custody." I said.

They rolled their eyes.

"Whatever. Hey, do you think this'll look good on me?" Jenna asked.

CONNOR'S POV

"Dude, what's going on?" I asked Riley.

"What do you mean?" he replied.

"What we mean is that you get a text, smile, say you're going to get Starbucks, then your gone for over an hour. What's up with that?" Braiden asked.

"I'm just meeting an old friend." Riley said.

That is such a lie. If he is cheating on Maria I will have to slap some sense into him. And I know that the others will love to help me. You never cheat on someone, whether it's Maria or not, girl or boy. You just don't do it.

"Oh yeah? Who?" Thomas asked.

"Someone you guys don't know." Riley said.

He is definitely hiding something.

"Who is it?" Toby asked, getting upset. Riley just glared.

He said, "No one you guys need to know. Now, can you just leave me alone?"

Then, he ran over to our house.

"Well, that went well." Toby said.

"Hey Toby, why did Riley glare at you?" Braiden asked while Thomas shook his head and said, "Yeah. Why?"

I looked at Toby. He nodded his head and told everyone what he told me last night.

Braiden and Thomas looked shocked.

"Guys, please don't tell anyone." I pleaded.

"We won't. Is it really true, Toby? I never knew you thought that about Riley." Thomas said.

"Well, I do and I don't like to, but I do. Though, I'm trying my best not to." Toby mumbled.

"Toby, if Maria doesn't like you for you, then she's not your girl. And please, don't be so hard on yourself." Braiden said. Thomas and I nodded in agreement.

"I know and I'll try. Now, I'm supposed to meet Kaitlin at the mall in 10 minutes. So I gotta go." Toby said and quickly rushed up and out the door.

"Poor kid." Thomas said.

"Yeah. We gotta help him." Braiden said.

"Yeah, but now's not the time. Maria's gonna get worried so I gotta text her to tell her she can come down. She probably told the girls." I said, then texted Maria, telling her that her and the girls can come down.

They came down a split second after the message was delivered.

"Guys, chill. All Riley would tell us is that he was meeting an old friend that we didn't know. Then, Toby asked him to, which made Riley even more mad then he ran out and back to our house, probably locked up in his room." I said.

"Fucking great." They mumbled.

"Wait, where's Toby?" Jenna asked.

"Out with Kaitlin." Thomas said.

"Oh. Okay. So what do you wanna do?" Kristina asked.

I could've sworn that Maria looked even more upset when Thomas said that Toby was with Kaitlin, but she's probably just upset about Riley.

"We can just han-" Braiden started.

"No. Don't say 'hang'. I need something to get my mind off of Riley." Maria cut Braiden off.

We thought for a minute, but then I had an amazing idea.

"We can go to the beach!" I said.

Everyone cheered.

"Okay, then let's go!" I exclaimed.

We all piled into my car. Braiden and Thomas ride the bikes/skateboards here so they don't have their cars.

I drove, with Braiden in the passenger's seat. Maria sat on the end, then Kristina in the middle, then Jenna sitting on Thomas' lap.

"How come I have to be in the back?" Thomas whined.

"Because you're the smallest." I said.

Everyone laughed and Thomas rolled his eyes.

We finally got to the beach, well ten minutes later.

The girls laid out their towels and were now taking off their sandals. I gave the boys a nod. Then, right before they were about to sit down, Thomas ran and picked Jenna up, Braiden ran and picked Kristina up, and I ran and picked Maria up. I didn't really have a choice, the other pair were couples.

So, then we ran to the water and threw them in. We stood laughing as the girls were treading water.

"You jackasses are so lucky that we're not wearing that much makeup!" Kristina shouted.

"You guys don't need it!" The guys and I shouted back, which made them all blush. I love how it's so easy to make all three of those girls blush. The guys and I find it so cute and adorable, but they sure don't.

"Well, we're in! Now you guys gotta come in!" Jenna shouted.

"Neva gonna happen!" We screamed to them.

Then, Braiden, Thomas, and I heard them say 'pussys' and we laughed, then ran in.

"I think you got the wrong pussys." Thomas said.

"Yeah. I think you did." Braiden said and I nodded my head.

"Whatever. Let's play chicken!" Kristina shouted then ran to Braiden while Jenna ran to Thomas. Maria just stood there. Maybe the beach wasn't such a good idea.

Well this is really awkward.

"Well, I guess it's you and me, Smiley." I said and Maria smiled and came over to me.

*

We ended up playing chicken, best of three. Of course, we all won one. Then, Kristina called the game bull and said we all won. Now, we're just walking along the beach, laughing, telling funny stories.

Then, Maria trips and loses balance, but I catch her. I held her in my arms for a little longer than necessary. We were just looking at each other. Then she whispered 'thank you' to me, which is when I let her go.

Shit, I think I'm falling for her too. Why can't I just be like Braiden and Thomas and like a single girl, not a taken one. This is just great. Now, Toby and I are crushing on Riley's girlfriend. But, the next time she's single, she's gonna be mine.

MARIA'S POV

Oh my god. I think I'm falling for Connor. I tripped and lost my balance, but he caught me before I fell. We just stared at each other in silence until I broke it and said 'thank you'. Then, he let me go. Just great, now I like Riley, Connor, and Toby. Why can't I be like Jenna and Kristina and like one person? Why is this happening to me?

Okay, I'll save those thoughts for later. Now, we're going to go get ice cream, then to the park.

Us girls sat in the swings while the boys pushed us. Great, now Connor and I look like a couple, but we're not. This is just so awkward. And the girls realized it. I knew that they always wanted to be paired with their boyfriends, I mean I would to, and that they're not doing it to get Connor and I together.

Well, once they noticed how awkward this is for me, they got off the swings, so I followed.

Then, Jenna said, "Toby should be back by now, I mean, it's 6, and Riley should be cooled off too. So, why don't we order Chinese and have a movie night?"

"Sounds good." We all said.

So, that is how I spent the rest of my night, with my best friends and their boyfriends, and the three boys I have crushes on, one of which my boyfriend. Well, the girls made it less awkward for me and I really appreciate that.

So, after the boys left, Kristina asked, "What's up with Connor?"

"I don't know. But I'm pretty sure that I like him, Toby, and Riley. That's just my luck. I don't get why I can't be like you guys and go for one guy." I said.

"Everything happens for a reason. And Riley has been being an ass lately, so maybe it might be only two guys that you're going for." Jenna said.

"I don't know. I just don't wanna make things more complicated than they are now. I've always wanted to be close to the guys, but not like half of the band." I explained.

"We understand. Now we gotta go to bed. It's 11." Kristina said.

"Yeah. Okay." Jenna and I said.

Then, we all trudged to our room, obviously wiped, and fell asleep. Well, for me, luckily.

CONNOR'S POV

I can't believe that I like Maria. I mean, she's 14 and I'm 19! That's a 5 year difference! This makes no sense at all! She should be with Toby, but I can't help but think that she could be better with me.

All I know is that I can't tell the guys. Well, I already told Braiden and Thomas, because, well, I had to, they saw what happened between Maria and I at the beach. But I can't tell her boyfriend and the one that's crushing hard on her.

This is a disaster.

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Plot twist! Well, because I love writing this so much I decided to write a small chapter before I have dinner, and well pack and shower! I really hope you guys like it! Please comment suggestions and like and vote! The girls' beach outfits are on the side!
Enjoy!

~Maria💕