SHUT UP. ( K. COSENTINO )

058.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* LIFE *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

DELANEY SCROLLED THROUGH THE RECENT tiktokroom comments about the fact that she was now no longer followed by a single person in the Jersey trio. Many of the comments speculated that it was her fault, that she had done something and fucked up the whole dynamic of their friendship.

She threw her phone to the end of the bed and grabbed the bottle from her nightstand, curling into a ball as she tried not to cry. She had never cried over rude comments before but this just hit different due to the fact that these people had once meant the world to her and now they hated her more than anything else.

The music from downstairs pulled her from her bed and she staggered towards the door, tossing her hood up over her head before she descended the stairs and made her way towards her friends.

At the sight of Ryland on the couch, a beer in his hand and a smile on his face, Delaney all but sprinted over to him and dropped down besides him. She curled up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arm around his own in desperate need to have somebody in that moment.

Ryland looked over at her and frowned, gently pulling his arm from his grip so that he could turn to face her. When he saw the glossy look in her eyes, he took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around her tightly, resting his chin on the top of her head as she cried quietly into his chest.

Across the room, Nick grinned at the pair and took a picture of them curled up. Of course, he would have never posted it if he knew that she was hiding her face because she was crying, but from his point of view, they were simply confirming something that everyone thought they knew.

"Look at them all cute and shit," Alex Warren grinned, pulling out his camera to do the same, but Ryland shot him a glare and his friend instantly put the camera away.

Without a word, Ryland wrapped his arms under Delaney's legs and stood up, quietly excusing them both as he carried her towards his room so that he could understand why she was so upset.

He kicked the door shut behind him and laid her down on the bed, sitting down besides her. He jumped when she curled into his chest again, no longer crying but also not speaking a word to him.

"What happened," he finally asked, rubbing her back like he always did when she was upset about something.

For the past years of their friendship, their had never been a time that Ryland had ever turned her away when something was bothering her and she did the exact same, always making their friendship her top priority over everything. There had been many ups and downs but they always had each other and they knew that.

"Mattia just laid down the facts," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she sat up and turned to look at him. He nodded for her continue and she sighed, not wanting to talk about it but also not wanting to ignore the fact that it had happened.

"He said that I'm selfish and I put all my problems onto everyone else. And he's right! I do push my problems onto everyone else because I'm too scared to deal with rejection—"

"Shut up, Delaney. Mattia is talking out of his ass because he's upset that you needed a break. It happens — got that? Sometimes we just need a break," he quickly defended her from her own personal attack, grabbing her hand to stop her tearing herself apart over something that wasn't her fault to begin with.

She didn't say anything for another few moments, only stared past him and focused on the pictures he had hung next to his bed.

The one that caught her eye was the first time that they had ever actually met. It was way before either of them had any sort of following on social media, in fact, it was way before that was ever even an idea for them.

She had met Nick Austin through mutual friends and had decided to hangout with him and his own friends during a bonfire that they had planned to throw somewhere in the woods. It was the first time that she had ever snuck out of her house and even though her nerves were eating her alive, Ryland decided that his job that night was making the new girl feel welcomed with them.

She was smiling in the picture, one of the biggest smiles that she had ever had on her face, and Ryland had his arms wrapped around her, a beer in his hand and his hair a mess like always.

It was that night that he decided that this girl was going to be his bestfriend one day and she had yet to prove him wrong on that. He loved her more than anyone else in the world and he knew that he always would.

"How did you know?"

Ryland cocked his head to the side and gave her a confused glance, his eyes following the direction of her stare as he caught sight of the picture. He knew exactly what she was trying to ask but he didn't want to answer unless she actually said it.

"Know what?"

"How did you know that you loved me? More than a friend. Like how did you know that?" She finally blurted, too afraid to meet his eyes and equally afraid to hear the answer to her question. They hadn't ever talked about the way he felt, even after what had happened.

"I just knew, I guess. I wanted you to be happy even if I wasn't, no matter what. You were always my top priority and it just kept growing and growing," he asnwered softly, watching her every move but again, her eyes never strayed from the picture on the wall.

"You love him?"

Delaney just shrugged and finally turned away from the memory, curling up on his chest as he tried to hide his heartbreak the best that he could.

Like he had told her, Delaney's happiness was the most important thing to him, even if it wasn't him that got to make her happy.

ugh my bean