REBOUND ↣ ciarán mcdonald

IT WAS ONLY A KISS

a/n:
HAPPY CIARÁN DAY ! yall already know he's baby and i love he sm. here's a w.i.p i didn't finish in time for his birthday <3

salem didn't know how long she stood there, but when tavia walked through that glass door, she finally came to her senses.

"ciarán's a bitch." salem uttered before getting into the car.

tavia had an irritated expression on her face, but it softened once she heard what salem said.

she started up the engine, beginning to pull out of the gas station. "what did he do now?"

for the past few weeks, salem talked about ciarán in a positive light. it wasn't until last night when things started going downhill.

"did you see him kiss me?" salem was ashamed. she had gone against her word and now she had to face tavia about it.

tavia sighed. she did see them kiss, and that was only because ryan had his attention on them. if it weren't for him, she would have never noticed. "just tell me what's wrong."

"he only kissed me because ryan was watching. why the fuck would he do that?" salem scoffed, recalling their pathetic kiss.

tavia took a glance at salem, "well, when he kissed you, ryan seemed to be pretty pissed off. when i was in the little store, ciarán told ryan that you were happy now, since you got out of a toxic relationship and that you two are dating."

"of course he was pissed off! why wouldn't he be? and i just don't get why ciarán would wanna do that. he hates me, and, after all, it isn't his ex." tavia laughed at how oblivious salem was. "what?"

"sae, ciarán has feelings for you,"

"doesn't seem like it anymore." salem muttered under her breath.

tavia ignored what salem said, continuing with her speech. "he wants to make ryan jealous, either for his sake or yours."

salem's expression was puzzled. "what do you mean by that?"

"you told me that you started talking to ciarán because you asked him to make ryan jealous, right?" salem nodded. tavia took a deep breath before continuing, "that's for your sake."

"what about his sake?"

"maybe pissing ryan off gives him satisfaction."

salem snorted, "why would he be satisfied?"

"because he has something ryan doesn't have."

salem tilted her head, "and what's that?"

"you."

salem looked at tavia, then slumped back into her seat. she sighed. "when he kissed me, he felt—" salem struggled to come up with the right word, "—different."

"how?" tavia knew how much salem enjoyed giving and receiving affection from ciarán.

"he seemed, distant? it wasn't like our other kisses where i felt something. i mean, i did feel tingles when i felt his lips on mine, but other than that. it was only a kiss." she stared out the window, noticing how the grass just looked like a green blur.

"he's still mad at you, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about you."

salem bit her lip. "i wish he would talk to me."

"how about we forget about the leprechaun and focus on our trip, yeah?" tavia knew if they kept talking about ciarán, salem would surely start crying.

salem laughed loudly, "leprechaun, really?"

"is he not short and irish?"

"tavia, ciarán's taller than matt. you can't be calling him short." salem didn't know exactly why she was defending him. she was still pretty annoyed with him.

"yeah, by like an inch or two." salem rolled her eyes. tavia noticed this, but she chose to ignore it. "hey siri, play mr. brightside by the killers."

even with the beginning of the song blasting through tavia's car speakers, salem's laugh was audible. "are you serious?"

"it's fitting!"

tavia rolled down the windows, and together, they started singing the lyrics.

salem recorded herself singing, "it started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? it was only a kiss, it was only a kiss!" and posted it to her instagram story.

salemmchambers posted on their story.

since ciarán had her post notifications on, he saw that she had posted something on her instagram story. he hesitated, asking himself, do i really want to look at it right now?

he answered his own question, because he opened it.

he saw the video and immediately went to kevin. "dude, this is definitely directed toward me."

"what if tavia and her just like listening to throwback songs?" kevin brushed off the thought.

then, salem posted another thing on her story. this time, it was her singing, "jealousy, turning saints into the sea. swimming through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis. but it's just the price i pay."

"kevin, she's definitely singing about me. she probably knows i'm jealous."

despite ciarán's frustration, a small smile started to form on kevin's face. "you admitted you're jealous!"

ciarán rolled his eyes, "yeah, yeah, whatever. so what i'm somewhat jealous? she's talking to her ex!"

"it's not even somewhat, ciarán; and will you let that go? she feels guilty about it already."

ciaráns eyebrows knitted together out of concern. "she does?" he whispered, but then his concern quickly faded, and his jealousy was back. "well she shouldn't have been talking to her ex in the first place."

kevin sighed, "i talked to her during the party. she regrets responding to him, but it's hard for her to let him go, even if he wasn't the best boyfriend."

ciarán scoffed. "that's not what her lips were saying when i first met her." he mumbled.

kevin snapped, "can you stop thinking about yourself and think about her for a second?"

"kevin, i have been thinking about her. she hasn't left my mind ever since i met her!" ciarán cried.

a smile tugged at the corners of kevin's lips. "you're obsessed with her."

ciarán wheezed, "i am not!"

kevin crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. "then explain why you're worrying about her and her ex so much." ciarán opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "promise me you'll talk to her soon?" kevin asked, hoping he'd say yes.

ciarán sighed, "maybe."