Before We Say Goodbye

Chapter Twenty-One: The One Where I Get To Live

A/N: Sorry haven't uploaded in ageeeeees! This one's kinda short, but it felt like the right place to finish :)

for ewa, because she was totally awesome in getting me cellotape and wrapping up the birthday presents for me! :D

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Chapter 21 - Sophie

I’ve never felt so alive.

You know that feeling, where you’re having a good old heart to heart with an awesome friend of yours, and everything feels…right. Like nothing could go wrong.

Like you’re going to live forever.

It’s been a while since I felt that way. A long, long while.

I grin broadly the whole day. Till Livi quits embarrassing herself in front of Damon, till Damon has to go home, till Livi disappears, till me and Mark are sitting down to watch the X Factor on telly.

At first we sit in silence, intently watching the people singing. It’s mostly wannabes on this show, but there are a couple of really talented singers, who totally deserve to win.

After a while, Mark speaks.

“Uh, hey, Sophie. Can we talk?” he asks.

“Yeah sure,” I say, only half listening.

He raises the remote and mutes the TV. I turn to him, frowning.

“Hey! I was watching that!” I say, holding out my hand for the remote.

He shrugs. “I want to talk to you.”

I sigh. “Go on, then.”

“Okay. Uh, well. Okay. This is pretty awkward.” His cheeks have gone bright red, and he scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. He avoids my eyes.

“Just spit it out, Mark,” I sigh impatiently.

“Um. Okay. Well, first off. Okay. Are you actually, like, do you actually like Damon?” he questions.

I laugh. “Definitely! He’s really cool, you guys should hang out! He’s awesome!”

“Oh.”

My laugh dies down as I register his tone. Disappointed? Upset? Dejected? “So, uh, what were you going to say?”

Mark looks at the ceiling. “Ah, it’s not important,” he mumbles.

I lean towards him. “Tell me, Mark,” I insist.

“F-fine. Well, okay, so for a while now, I, I guess I kinda liked you,” he says in a rush.

I frown. Does he mean…like like, or just like as in, friends? He can’t mean like like. That would be so awkward. We’ve been friends forever, he can’t like like me! That’s…weird. He’d’ve said. Wouldn’t he? Yeah, he would. Where’s this coming from, anyway?

“Ugh, I shouldn’t have said anything. Just, forget it, okay?”

I stare at Mark, still speechless.

Like like? Or best friend like?

Unbelievable.

Un-freakin-believable.

No way.

Nuh uh.

Like like?

“Sorry. I, uh, I guess I’ll just go. See you later, Soph.”