𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 ; 𝐝𝐬

0.2

[E L A I N A  H O P E]

i woke up this morning, and when i checked my phone, i got a text from a very unlikely person: zach.

i haven't talked to zach very much since daniel and i's breakup, which also caused me not to talk to ellery very much since they're always with each other. yes, they're still together. 

i picked up my phone to see what he said, and i laughed at my old contact name for him.

--

elf boi☺️🎄: hey elaina.

me💞: hey zach, it's been a while.

elf boi ☺️🎄 has been changed to zach 

zach: i was wondering if you and i could hang out today and catch up. i've missed having you around, and i can't exactly hang out with you around the boys.

me💞: of course! meet me at the café at 10?

zach: that sounds perfect. i'll see you then.

--

that was odd. you don't get texts from people you haven't talked to in three years everyday.

i sighed and got up from bed and changed into some leggings and a hoodie.

i run downstairs through the lobby and into the garage where i my old 1966 red mustang convertible is replaced with a 2022 audi q5. my modeling agency said they would prefer for me to have a newer car to impress people, or whatever the fuck that means.

as i drove down the road, i started to wonder what zach looked like now. he's twenty-one years old. i don't really think i've changed that much and i'm twenty-three now.

i am snapped out of my thoughts when a car honks at me and i realize the light has turned from red to green. i hit the gas pedal and drive down the street to the café, somewhere i haven't been in four years. it's somewhere zach, ellery, daniel, and i would always go together. it was our 'hangout', if that's what you would call it.

when i turn into the parking lot, i see zach, much taller may i add, leaning against a yellow porsche. figures, he's rich.

as i get out of the car, i start to examine his features. he doesn't look like a babyface anymore. he has very defined cheekbones and slight sideburns growing. he's also about four inches taller than he was when i last saw him. he isn't a kid anymore.

"hey zach." i said, hugging him.

"hey elaina, it's been a long time." he chuckled.

"three years." i told him, slightly smiling.

"i can't believe it's been three years since the last time we talked."

"let's go inside. i'm burning up out here,"

"it's your fault for wearing that massive hoodie." he argued, and i laughed.

"besides that fact that you grew taller than me and that you don't have a baby face any longer, you haven't changed one bit." i said, smiling as we sat down at a table.

"and besides the fact that you cut your hair and that you don't have the face of a teenager anymore, you haven't changed one bit." he chuckled.

"so how's life?" i asked.

"me and ellery got engaged last month."

"congratulations! you're gonna have to tell her i said hi." i told him. "after the whole 'daniel fiasco', i don't really talk to her anymore since she hangs out with you guys all the time. i don't blame her though."

"trust me, we've been wanting to talk to you for a while now, and we didn't know if you still lived in paris or not, so we didn't say anything," he explained," until last week when you posted a picture on Instagram for the first time in years of the fountain at the grove."

"makes sense." 

"so tell me about you." he insisted, sending me a cheeky smile. 

"well, i got a new boyfriend two years ago, and he proposed a couple of days ago." i told him.

"congrats!"

"wait, you didn't let me finish," i said, "i told him no and now we're broken up."

"oh, i feel really bad for saying congrats now." he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"it's fine. i don't even really think i loved him. i definitely didn't feel how i felt with daniel while that relationship lasted." i sighed.

"do you really care if i bring up daniel? because there is something i need to talk to you about."

get ready to fight back the tears, "no, not at all."

"so ever since he did what he did, he has changed. you can rarely ever get him to wear something other than black. the only times he comes out of his room is when he needs to eat or we have rehearsals. you can always hear him singing sad songs in his bedroom." he sighed. "i think daniel still loves you."

"what?"

"yeah, he hasn't been himself since the day you guys split up." he explained.

"oh." is all i could manage to say.

"speaking of daniel, is that his hoodie?" 

"oh fuck, i guess it is. shit, this is the hoodie i wear practically every day." i told him, slightly blushing of embarrassment, "i haven't gotten rid of any of his stuff, now that i think about it. it's not like it's just sitting out, but i didn't get rid of it. i still wear that necklace that he gave every day, just because it's a nice necklace, i guess."

"wait, do you still love him, too?" he asked, shocked.

"what?"

"do you still love daniel james seavey?" zach asked slowly, as if he were talking to a small child.

"um, i, uh..." i looked down and sighed, "yeah. he's the reason i didn't get engaged. when cyrus, my ex, asked me to marry him, i said no because i still loved him. and when i said him, i was talking about daniel."

"oh shit! this is getting spicy." zach exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. i heard a ding in his pocket and he pulled out his phone, "i totally forgot about rehearsals today. i have to go, but we'll have to meet up again." 

"yeah, totally." i said, hugging zach.

"bye!"

"bye, zach."

♡