#jul writes

‘’Of course I know that, Gert! I was just making emphasis in the fact that I should be sleeping!!’’, Gert just smiled and nodded as she saw how her little sister grew in frustration. She knew it would happen sooner or later, and this time it was sooner than she thought, but right now she just needed half an hour and that would be just fine.

‘’Oh come on Mols, it’s only half an hour.’’

‘’Still G, we could be doing this with the others at normal hours of the morning, you know. Not like if we were vampires or something, and had to do everything in secret.’’

‘’Yeah, you know I can’t do that’’, Gert commented as she blushed slightly.

‘’Yes, you can.’’

‘’Maybe I can… but you know I don’t like to be seen by others. I actually hate it’’

‘’I know’’, Molly said after some minutes of silence. She of course knew about her social anxiety and all her other issues, and she totally understood her. ‘’But still! We could do this earlier in the day, or maybe even at morning and just move to another room, there is plenty of space here. The Hostel is huge!’’

‘’I don’t want them to know either Molly, I want it to be a surprise.’’

Molly just raised her eyebrows and then kind of smiled:

‘’A surprise huh, is it for all of us or for someone in specific?’’

‘’Shut up, Mols’’, Gert said as she rolled her eyes and tried to stop the blush forming on her cheeks.

‘’So, it really is for that someone!’’

‘’No, it’s not, Mols. It’s a surprise for the whole team and for me. Now shut up and let’s start before it gets later, please.’’

‘’Ugh, sometimes I can’t with you’’, Molly commented as her annoyance started to show even more. ‘’I’m too tired.’’

‘’Molly, please!’’, but Molly didn’t say anything as she neither move a single inch. ‘’Molly!’’, but she didn’t answer.

It took just a few seconds for Gert to finally start thinking on something Molly would never say no to:

‘’Molly! I promise to wake you up with waffles… with a lot of chocolate on... even marshmallows!On bed! Only if you help me one more night’’, she commented, and as she did she also saw how Molly’s smile started to get bigger and bigger.

‘’Are you for serious?’’

‘’Have I ever lied to you about waffles?’’, that comment made Molly smile bigger. It seemed impossible, but for Molly nothing was impossible.

‘’You promise?’’, Molly asked really excited, now extending her arm and offering her pinky for Gert to take.‘’Pinky promise?’’

‘’I totally do, I pinky promise Mols’’, Gert said as she took her pinky and twisted it a bit with hers.

Molly smiled and then after some seconds she just screamed ‘’watch out!’’ while attacking Gert out of nowhere, that made them both fall on the floor, with Molly above Gert, she was looking at her now totally surprised:

‘’Fuck off, Mols’’, she said, now a bit annoyed. ‘’ What the fuck was that?’’

‘’Always be ready, remember that?’’. She said with the biggest of the smiles now.

And that was just because waffles, they always fixed everything.

‘’Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just don’t do that again.’’

Molly laughed and then just helped her get up, some seconds later both totally ready and starting to combat, this time for real. They both did that every night since the team started to train, even though she didn’t train with them and they didn’t know she was training, but it was the same routine and the same movements.

It felt great.

She always saw them when they were training too, she was always with them but watching from afar, while reading a book or listening to music. Sometimes, she was just pretending to do that while she was actually watching them and their movements.

Even O.L. trained with them, especially with Chase just because they had a crazy bond going on; not even Gert knew how to explain how that was happening.

Anyways, they all decided to start training because they noticed that every time they left the hostel to look for supplies or food, they always encountered a new danger. Like for example a new gang of bad guys or some weird and crazy villain, on a lower scale that didn’t need the help of The Avengers or even the police, of course.

Even if the police was as evil as their parents, but anyways!

After 3 minor incidents happened where at least one of them got out of slightly hurt, they decided that they needed to be a little bit more prepared if they didn’t want to die, or worse, be caught by the police and their parents.

Gert decided that she couldn’t be part of it, but two nights after they started training she couldn’t sleep for some reason, so she decided to go for a walk. She ended up going to that part of the Hostel where they usually trained and after some minutes of just walking around it, she just tried some of the movements she saw them making that same morning.

She felt weird at first because she didn’t have any crazy superpowers like Karo, Molly and Nico had. Neither she was strong or muscled like Chase, nor didn’t she know all the weird but cool tactics Alex knew to fight thanks to his video games.

She felt just... out of place.

That was actually one of the main reasons she didn’t want to train with them, but in those few minutes that she was trying to train by herself she even felt worse than she thought she would, just because she felt that she was doing it wrong.

Until Molly appeared of course, she actually just let herself be seen by Gert because she followed her after she left the room they all were sleeping in after watching a movie some minutes ago, so Molly actually had been seeing her for almost 20 minutes.

Gert wanted to die when she saw her, she felt ashamed and shy of herself. But Molly didn’t let that happen, she actually encouraged her to keep going and at the end she even helped her to train, showing Gert how the movements had to be done.

Since that night they had that little system; while everyone was sleeping she left O.L. with Chase, and after some minutes she just reunited with Molly downstairs and started her training.

It was a good system, until Molly started to feel too tired to even try to function right during the days. Even Gert was starting to feel exhausted, so she knew that it was going to happen pretty soon, and tonight she was sure it was the last night.

But at least she learnt from Molly as much as she could, Gert thought. She also thought that she was getting faster; she could even say that she was feeling stronger and if she was honest, she really liked it. It felt just right.

‘’Alright, we are done’’, Gert said 45 minutes later, as she kept lying on the floor. She had bruises all over her body and right now she was feeling like someone was passing over her with a bus, she was really tired.

She already had thousands of bruises, but tonight the list was going to grow. No one noticed her bruises though, or well, maybe that’s what she thought.

‘’Of course we are’’, Molly said as she got up immediately and then just yawned. ‘’Tomorrow Gertrude Yorkes, remember my waffles. If not, consider yourself done.’’

Gert just smiled as she watched her little sister slowly leave the room, she was noticeably tired:

‘’Don’t worry, goodnight and hope you sleep well bruiser!’’

‘’Don’t call me like that!!’’, she said as she frowned and kept walking away. ‘’You know I hate it’’

‘’Sure, thanks for everything Mols!’’

‘’Yeah, yeah!’’

‘’I love you!’’, Gert just smiled at her response and kept lying there; slowly closing her eyes as she tried to gain some more energies again. Tonight it was the last one, so they trained harder than they ever did before.

She was tired; actually more than tired she was fucking exhausted. She had to pretend everything was normal, so she woke up with them every day at 8:00 am, even though she usually fell asleep at 3:30am every night, so she, of course needed more sleep.

She actually needed some vacations.

And the most important thing now, she needed a warm shower.

But right now she was just laying there, without glasses and with her hair on a high bun, something she never did. Also, she was using the sportiest clothes she could find on her little closet. She didn’t look like her best and she knew it, besides she was all sweaty and feeling dirty, but she didn’t care right now because the only one that saw her like that was Molly.

Or so she thought.

‘’Gert?’’, a really familiar voice suddenly asked.

‘’Fuck’’, she thought just as she opened her eyes and looked at him there, looking at her from above. His hair was messy and the way the light was shining above him made him seem like a literal God. ‘’Fuck, fuck, fuck’’

‘’Are you okay?’’, he asked again.

‘’Hey Chase’’, she slowly blushed as she just kept lying on the floor. She could see him and even if she saw him kind of blurry because of her lack of glasses, she knew he was smiling now. That smile she noticed was reserved only for her. ‘’Yeah! Of course I’m okay, why wouldn’t I be?’’

‘’Well, first… you’re lying on the floor and from there’’, he pointed at the top of the stairs where O.L. was now watching them as he sat like a huge, nice dog, ‘’if I’m honest, it looks like you are dead. It’s also 3:30 am, so... you know.’’

‘’Well, as you can see from the conversation we are both having right now, I’m not dead. So yeah, I’m okay Chase.’’ Gert smiled as she slowly sat on the floor, crossing her legs and trying to not maintain eye contact with him.

‘’Then what’s up, dear?’’, Chase asked as he just sat down in front of her. Gert taking a deep sigh immediately as he did that. He was on his pj’s, just as she left him like an hour ago.

Sometimes... well, most of the time they used to fall asleep together, they were sure no one knew about it. But of course everyone did know about it.

‘’I don’t know, what’s down?’’, that comment made Chase laugh, so he just bit his lip. Gert watched him as he did that, and in that moment she wished she had her glasses just to detail him better.

‘’What are you doing here and… like this?’’, he asked again as Gert just looked at him, she really didn’t know what to say so she just looked at him like she was judging him. ‘’By the way, you look adorable Gert. If I’m honest.’’

‘’God’’, she just thought as she rolled her eyes and looked at him, and then she just smiled a bit just because she couldn’t help it.

‘’Really adorable’’, he added with a little smile.

‘’Well, thanks… and nothing, really nothing Chase, I’m just here… chilling, don’t you see’’, she shrugged as she looked down; some seconds later she just heard him scoff.

‘’You’re never going to tell me, right?’’

‘’Tell you what?’’, she looked at him again.

‘’What you’ve been doing, G’’

‘’And what exactly I’ve been doing, Stein?’’, she asked as she raised an eyebrow.

‘’I notice how many bruises you get every day, you knew that, right?’’, Chase said as he raised his eyebrows. ‘We sleep together, G. I notice.’’

‘’So what?’’, Gert asked again, pretending to not know what he meant as her anxiety was growing inside and not slowly.

‘’Well, if you want an elaborated and detailed inform of what you’ve been doing these past weeks I think that’s going to take me more than a bit. But long story short, I know that today you finally perfected that kick you’ve been dying to do since two weeks ago, darling.’’

Gert’s face went expressionless as she felt how her cheeks started to feel warmer and warmer. Holy shit, that’s all her mind could think on right now as now she knew that he knew and that he has probably been…

‘’I’ve been seeing you, and Mols... every night’’, he just confirmed her. That affirmation made her close her eyes as she felt ashamed, but mostly shy of herself. ‘’I also feel when you leave the bed, you know… I can’t really sleep without you.’’

‘’Well’’, she said as she looked at him again, even more blushed by his second confession. ‘’Today is the last night you will ever see that, cause Molly doesn’t want to help me anymore.’’

‘’Yeah, and it’s a total shame G’’, he said as he just smiled and Gert looked at him confused. ‘’But now it’s going to be so much better, trust me’’

‘’What do you mean?’’, she just asked that, looking at him on a weird way.

‘’Yeah! Great you ask, cause now I’m going to be your trainer!’’, he said now with his biggest smile ever as he then kind of did jazz hands. Gert just looked at him on a weird way as her cheeks started to feel hotter, not even warmer but just hotter. ‘’Yayyy!’’

‘’What?! B-but… I’m not asking you, Chase!’’

‘’I know you’re not! That’s why I’m proposing myself, I’m not asking you either. I’m just saying that I will be your trainer’’

‘’But Chase, what the f…’’

‘’Oh, come on muffin lips…’’

‘’Don’t call me like that’’, she cut his words almost immediately.

‘’Alright, Gertrude’’, Chase said on a funny way as he kept smiling and she just rolled her eyes. ‘’We both know you want to keep training’’

‘’Well, yeah of course I do Chase, b-‘’

‘’But nothing, G! I want to be your trainer’’, he said as he kept looking at her, but now with big puppy eyes.

‘’Chase’’, he knew those eyes never failed with her.

‘’Please, let me be your trainer’’, he said or well, more like he begged her.

‘’Ugh, alright Chase’’, she said after some seconds, rolling her eyes and then just looking at him, trying to hold her smile. ‘’You can be my trainer from now on, are you happy?’’

‘’Great! Of course I’m happy’’, he said as he smiled bigger and bigger. He felt that was his opportunity to get closer to Gert again, he needed it to happen even if she seemed to have gotten over him.

And he also wanted to help her train by the way, because he always saw how happy she was when she was training so he didn’t want that little piece of happiness to stop for her.

‘’But!’’, she quickly added.

‘’Oh my god’’

‘’Yeah, you know there is a but… I only accept if you don’t try to teach me how to kick’’, Gert said now while smiling.

‘’What do you even mean?’’

‘’Oh Chase, I didn’t want to be the one to break the news for you, but you really don’t know how to kick’’

‘’Oh! So now you’re saying you’re better than me, huh!’’, Chase said as he smiled at her.

‘’Well, I didn’t say that but… you’re not lying either…’’ Gert shrugged as she bit her lip on a playful way.

‘’Does this means what I think it does?’’

‘’I don’t know, what’s that?’’

‘’Are you challenging me now?’’

‘’Oh, hell yeah I am’’, she said as she just got up, suddenly feeling all energetic again.

‘’Ohh, alright. Let’s dot this’’ Chase said as he got up, taking his phone from the floor and unlocking it. They all had phones, but none of them worked like they should do, so they were practically just iPods without apps and internet.

Really boring to be honest, but at least they worked for music.

‘’What are you doing… pumpkin eyes?’’, she quickly whispered the nickname she gave him some years ago, just loud enough for him to hear as well.

So when he heard her calling him by his old nickname, his eyes couldn’t get brighter and his heartbeat couldn’t get faster, he just smiled and kept looking for the song:

‘’If we are going to train then it’s gonna be on my rules, muffin lips’’, he smiled as he played the song.

Gert frowned just as soon as she heard the intro. It was Eye Of The Tiger.

‘’Oh my god, what the fuck?’’, and then just laughed. ‘’Are we suddenly inside a Rocky movie, or what?’’

‘’Oh come on! It’s good for training!’’

‘’If we were living on the 80’s, for sure it is!’’, she said, just kidding though.

‘’So what? You love the 80’s!’’ Chase pointed out as he smiled.

‘’Alright, whatever’’, she just rolled her eyes and fixed her bun, all while smiling. Chase couldn’t help but smile like an idiot as well. ‘’I hope the next song after this one gets better, though.’’

‘’It’s the same song.’’

‘’What do you mean by it’s the same song?’’

‘’It’s a playlist, dear’’ he then showed her the phone, scrolling down the playlist as it showed the same song over and over, and over again.

‘’Oh my god, Chase!’’, Gert just laughed as she just kind of leant herself back. ‘’I can’t believe you.’’

‘’Well, you like me like this after all’’, he just shrugged as he left the phone on the floor.

‘’Yep, I do… anyways, let’s start!’’ Gert said quickly again, as she tried to avoid the little affirmation she made after he said that.

This must be Chase’s lucky day… or night, technically. His heart felt like it was filled with emotion as his cheeks got redder. She never admitted it like that; she has actually never said something like that. Ever.

‘’Alright!’’, and then they just got in position.

It seemed like they were actually going to fight, but it was never really close to it. They basically just played with each other as they laughed and playfully bumped each other, they were just having fun and they liked it.

They missed goofing like that.

They all lived under the same roof as a team, it was weird to have those kind of intimate moments with the person you liked, and even trying to make a movement was weird because there was always someone else in the room so you were never really alone.

And the walls were thin, so somehow everyone always knew what was up with the others. Nothing was a secret, and if it was then everyone knew about it but no one talked about it. It was like a non-written rule.

So having moments like those were really appreciated. Chase felt free; doing something he always wanted to do with one of his favorite persons in the whole world was something that made him feel free.

Gert felt completed, for a moment she felt like nothing else but her little game with Chase was what mattered. No anxiety attacks, no panic, no depression pills were even on her mind. She felt good.

Both felt freed and completed, like they finally found the thing that was missing on their lives. The thing that they lost by acting like they never were friends some years ago. But now it was back, and way stronger than before.

‘’Chase! Your phone!’’, Gert said out loud as she kept running. He stopped to look at her as she just hit herself against him just because she didn’t stop, as soon as that happened she fell above him on the floor.

‘’Sorry’’, she said as her cheeks got redder than they already were.

‘’Don’t worry’’, Chase answered immediately as he was gasping and looking at her. None of them moved, none of them wanted to move actually, just because they both were waiting for the same.

But, as usual on their weird relationship, none of them did it even if the desire was showing in their eyes.

Suddenly the atmosphere on the room quiet down. The laughter and banter disappeared as there was only a little tension on the air, it neither was uncomfortable nor weird, just the kind of tension they both have been wanting to break since they started to be friends again.

‘’I-‘’, Gert started to say as she slowly moved to get up, but Chase was faster. And even if she was stronger now, she really wanted that too so she didn’t even made an effort on stopping him.

‘’No, don’t leave’’, Chase suddenly said as he made her get closer, taking her by her waist. ‘’Please’’

‘’… make me stay’’, Gert suddenly said. After that, there was definitely nothing that could stop them.

Gert suddenly took Chase by his neck as he pulled her a bit closer to his face, none of them kissed first; it was more like a mutual and non-spoken decision just because they both wanted it. They both needed it.

First it was a really wild kiss, both wanting the most of each other as their hands touched the most that they could. They both were desperate, they both were hungry for each other because they have been trying to hide it for so long but at the end nothing could really stop them from doing that.

They both have been craving it since the last time they touched like that, since that night they boosted their parents. But it was also the night they both touched heaven and hell at the same time, and they will never forget about that.

Chase has been repeating the moment on his mind over and over again; meanwhile Gert has been regretting what she told him after what happened. The anxiety won over her that night, and after some time Chase knew that was what actually happened.

Both seemed to have forgotten about it, both tried to forget about it, but none of them really did it. They wanted to repeat it all over and over again.

In the middle of the kiss, Chase suddenly took over; rolling over the floor and getting above her as now his hands were on her neck, showing a slightly dominance as Gert slowly started to caress his back on a slow way, even almost undressing him.

As Chase took over, the kiss also slowed down; it suddenly got sweeter and even romantic.

They felt like old lovers that were finally reuniting after spending some time separated. They were loving it, Gert couldn’t stop thinking on how much she missed his lips, on how much she was craving his touch and on how much she was in love with him.

Meanwhile Chase only had on his mind how happy he was right now; how nothing or no one could compare to her and her touch, her kisses, and her body. How no one could ever be like her and how no one could ever top the love that he felt for her. He was so in love, and he could finally admit it.

Suddenly Chase’s lips took another direction and he soon started to kiss her neck on a really slow way, making her feel better as she wasn’t able to stop smiling. He stopped on the middle of her neck as he whispered something that was incomprehensible for her.

‘’What?’’, Gert said on a fragile and even sensual voice. That voice made Chase get crazy as he has only heard that voice once.

And oh, he missed it.

‘’God, I fucking love you’’, he said as he went back to her lips and started to kiss her immediately. She was shocked about what he said, she couldn’t believe what he just said but the way her heart was racing couldn’t say it more, she fucking loved him as well.

‘’Oh my god!’’, the sound of Karo’s voice made them both stop as they looked at the top of the stairs. Karolina was there, looking at them in total shock as Old Lace was on her feet, moving her tail as a huge dog. ‘’Get a room you guys, what the hell!’’

And just as soon as she appeared out of nowhere, she just left. Her face said it all, it was a total poem and oh, everybody was going to know about it.

‘’Dammit’’, they both thought.

‘’Huh...’’, Chase finally broke the silence.

‘’I- I think we should go back to sleep’’, Gert said as she looked back at Chase.

His cheeks were as red as a tomato and she couldn’t even stop her smile, just because he looked adorable.

‘’Yeah... yeah. You’re right’’ Chase then looked back at her again and then just smiled. ‘’I’m sorry.’’

‘’It’s totally perfect Chase, you know it’’

Both smiled and then they just got up, Chase finally stopping the playlist as they both started to walk upstairs. They were quiet and noticeably nervous, both of them really were.

Gert couldn’t stop playing with her bracelet, meanwhile Chase was breathing on a really weird way. Their minds were racing because both wanted to say many things, but as always no one said anything first, so no one said a single word about what just happened.

Some seconds later Gert suddenly stopped just as Chase kept walking to their usual room, he then just stopped with a sleepy Old Lace next to him when he noticed that she stopped.

‘’I’ll... I’ll take a shower, you know’’, Gert said as she smiled and he started to walk back to her.

‘’Oh’’

‘’Yeah’’, she nodded.

He smiled and after that they both got quiet, it wasn’t uncomfortable nor weird. It was just the fact that they were just really nervous and didn’t want to leave things hanging on like before, of course.

They actually just wanted to keep going. But again, none of them did nothing.

‘’Oh yeah, shower, sure! I should get going... you know’’, he just smiled and then just started to walk.

‘’Wait, Chase!’’, she suddenly took him by his hand and just pulled him back, making him get closer.

She then just took him by his neck and suddenly kissed him, getting on tiptoes as he just closed his eyes and tried not to smile during the kiss, it was the most sincere and sweet kiss ever, and he wanted it to last as much as it could.

It would never stop feeling as the best thing he has ever done, and it felt the same for her.

‘’You know I hope you really meant that thing you said back there... cause I do too... I love you too, Chase’’, she just smiled and then just went inside the bathroom, leaving a smiley Chase outside of it.

They both immediately laid on the door, closing their eyes as they both felt their hearts racing. Now they knew it and they could declare it, they were really in love and nothing could stop them from feeling that way.

‘’Dammit, I love you so much.’’ They both whispered after some seconds, still laying on the bathroom door. They totally heard each other and nothing could stop them from smiling the way they were.

Just as the way they were feeling.

That wouldn’t last long though and they both knew it.

So one day the inevitable just happened. Both of them didn’t answer anymore and their chat went from the top to the bottom where neither of them could remember or see it. So both of them forgot about their little getaways to their rooftops and soon started to do other stuff, seeing other people, and then that escalated pretty quickly to not acknowledging each other at all.

Chase soon tried for The Lacrosse Team and Gert in the other hand went on a really different path, one that is really different from what we know now.

She started partying, and really hard. With people that didn’t care how she felt or how she was doing on her daily life. And she really didn’t care about that, as long as she had a drink on her hand she was okay.

But the truth was that she wasn’t doing okay. She was lost, like all of them.

But she didn’t care and neither of them seemed to do so, at least not like before. Except for Molly of course, because honestly she was always worried about her, but she still didn’t tell Dale and Stacey because at the end of the day they were sisters and sisters kept secrets.

So it was another night, and that of course meant another party. Gert could go days sleepless and that was tiring for sure, but she could do it. She always could pull it off.

Tonight was the perfect night to go out because Dale and Stacey were out of the city, they were currently in San Diego or something like that was what they said to Gert and Molly after they received a message and practically ran out of the house. 

Anyway, that meant they were going to skip their family movie night. So that meant Gert could go out without needing any excuse.

And it was normal for them at this point since they have been missing The Big Movie Night, how Dale liked to call it, with many excuses since weeks ago... or well, since Amy died, and it wasn’t a coincidence. 

‘’So you’re going out tonight as well’’, Molly said entering the room as she put her hair in a ponytail.

‘’Yep’’, Gert responded short and sure as she took off her glasses and started to work on her eyeliner. With that answer Molly just nodded and kept looking at her.

Maybe she was just 12 going on 13, but she understood... the most of it at least. She got that Gert needed to distract herself like Molly herself did with her dance classes, and instead of that it was parties.

Deep inside she just wishes Gert got another hobbie like poetry or maybe singing, not partying like crazy until she forgot her name, but Molly was no one to judge that unfortunately. 

‘’I’m getting tired of my long hair’’, Gert commented after some minutes while brushing her hair and looking at Molly through her mirror. Her little sister was looking at her with big eyes, just quiet and maybe... worried. 

Worried for her, she knew that look.

‘’I think it’s pretty, but if you want I could help you change it’’, as to this Gert smiled.

‘’I think that’s amazing Mols’’, Molly smiled and got up from her bed, thinking on getting her laptop to see what kind of style she wanted. But as soon as she heard a car pulling over in front of their house she just stopped.

‘’But I think that has to wait until tomorrow’’, Gert saw how Molly’s smile dropped and decided not to pay it attention, grabbing her stuff and putting them on her bag. Even though it hurt her.

‘’Sure’’, Molly said a bit disappointed but not saying it out loud. Gert knew she was, and really deep inside she felt the same way.

‘’So... I guess see you tomorrow, Mols’’ Gert said smiling a bit as she opened her window and put a leg outside it.

‘’Gert, you don’t have to do that... Dale and Stacey aren’t here’’.

‘’Right!’’, Gert said while getting blushed and then locking the window again. ‘’I’m used to it, bye Mols. Take care! I’ll be back s...’’

‘’Soon’’, Molly finished for her as she walked outside her room. ‘’Take care, Gert’’

And then she just closed her door. Gert wanted to go after her and give her a big hug, but the car that was waiting for her honked its klaxon so she just walked out of the house and got in.

She quickly said hi and everyone said it back to her, but no one even smiling or at least not really smiling at her. They were there just on the same ride to the same party. Not friends, not smiles, just same objective.

Going there to forget stuff.

Chase in the other hand was getting a handle of how was to be a member of The Lacrosse Team. And it was hard, more than he ever imagined, but most of his teammates said it was because it was the beginning. But he knew it doesn’t get easier in any way, he just needed to get used to it.

He was just finishing his, now daily, training on his room when Daniel, one of his teammates invited him to a party that was going down near his house. It was already pretty late at night and his parents weren’t in the city, in fact they weren’t going to be in the house as of tomorrow afternoon so he just took a shower and decided to go.

One of the things he learnt about being in The Lacrosse Team from Atlas Academy is that if you missed one of the parties you were getting an invitation on, you would be losing an important spot on the team.

Because it wasn’t all about sports, but also popularity. And he didn’t want to lose and be forgotten.

Not again.

So he arrived there on a Lyft after some time, he in fact didn’t know the neighbourhood but as soon as he arrived he knew the house of the party was from someone on their school because every person he spotted on there he has at least seen them on his classes or the halls.

So he started to walk in the house saying hi to some people and getting ignored by most of them. He wasn’t an official member of the team yet, so he was still unknown, or at least only known as ‘’the son of the big mind, Victor Stein’’, he was known as a shadow.

But soon, he knew he wasn’t going to be one anymore. He was going to be his own, big person and he was going to make sure of it.

‘’Chase!’’, he turned around and smiled looking at Daniel and his other teammates back there, so he just walked over there and took the drink he was being offered.

At first he wasn’t really comfortable in that group, but the more the drinks and the girls kept making their way to him the more he was getting comfortable. In fact, after some time he found himself really enjoying it and didn’t see it as a ‘’duty’’ anymore. He cold quickly get used to it.

It didn’t last long until one of those girls dragged him upstairs, and it was not like he was going to stop her.

At first Gert got annoyed at her... party friends? booze mates?... at those people because they didn’t tell her it was going to be a party from someone in the same school as them. So they just left her there alone, saying they didn’t like complainers.

They usually went to other parties, not like these.

She didn’t like anyone on that school, so it was obvious that she was mad at the beginning. In fact she didn’t want to be seen with them, she just didn’t want to do anything to with them. 

But she forgot about it just as fast as she got mad some minutes before.

After drinking 5 or 6, she already forgot how many, cups of whatever drink they were serving at the party she didn’t care about who she was with or who she danced with anymore, and eventually who she kissed as well.

It was just another night in her life, another one she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to remember really well, or more like at all.

Chase was a little bit dizzy, but actually okay. He could walk straight and the way he talked was still pretty normal. So he could say he was okay. 

He was pulling his jeans back up on their place as he saw Chelsea get out of the room they entered some minutes ago with a smile, he got her number and she left him with some hickeys so he could remember her and in fact he wasn’t going to forget her soon.

After some seconds he just got out of the room and went back to the party. Pretty much everyone was wasted, and how they could not? He saw how they poured every kind of alcohol possible in a huge bowl and that was everyone’s drink. He saw many bottles that went from vodka, tequila, to beer, ron and even whisky.

It was crazy. 

His teammates where nowhere to be found and so he decided to go to the backyard to take some air, the party was going pretty wild and the house was about the explode just as the backyard was.

But even in the most crowded of all the places he couldn’t have missed out that laugh. It was unique and bubbly, and he knew it too well to not recognise it.

It was Gert’s.

And what was she doing there?

He walked closer to wherever she was and over there, he could see her, she didn’t have her glasses on and her hair was now pulled on an unusual bun for her, but it was her and she was smiling and laughing. And he knew he missed that because his chest felt tighter with emotion at the same time he felt hollow.

He found himself smiling at her but that changed quickly as he noticed she was with two other girls who had the intention of throwing her into the pool. Gert was laughing but just because she was drunk as fuck.

He has never seen her like that, in fact he didn’t know she even liked to be at parties and less to get drunk. That drunk.

Before those girls, who were definitely less drunk than Gert, threw her at the pool Chase ran towards them and held her just as she was going to get pushed.

‘’Hey, hey. I don’t think that’s a good idea’’, he said as the both girls looked at him bad.

‘’Boring!’’, one of them shouted at Chase and then just jumped to the pool. Some seconds later many people joined her making a huge mess.

He just rolled his eyes and looked at Gert that was looking at him with huge puppy eyes, her hands were kind of above his while trying to push him away but not even trying hard enough. So he just turned her around.

‘’Gert?’’, he asked confused.

‘’Chase!’’, she just smiled and it looked like it was the first time she smiled for real after days, and the next thing she did was hug him as hard as she could.

‘’Gert’’, he just smiled and hugged her back, now kinda moving side to side. He really missed that.

‘’I can’t believe you’re here!’’, she said getting away slowly and smiling again.

‘’I... What a-’’, but she interrupted him.

‘’I want to dance with you... I need to dance with you’’, she said slowly and on a way he has never ever heard her talk before.

So she just pulled him closer as she put her hands on the back of his neck, pressing their foreheads together because they were the same height and slowly playing with the end of his hair as they swung slowly, kind of following the music that was playing back in the house.

He couldn’t help but smile as he kinda pulled her closer and placed his hands on her low back, he has never seen Gert this relaxed before and he definitely loved it. So he couldn’t help but accept her request as they just swung back and forth slowly in the same place.

After some seconds she just took his hand and started to walk slowly, pulling him to the house as they just smiled and looked at each other. She was walking backwards so he was taking care that she didn’t fall.

‘’Come on, let’s get more drinks Stein, I need to forget and dance’’, she said on an innocent way as she pulled him.

In that moment he knew something bad was up. To forget? that wasn’t the Gert he knew and liked, at all.

‘’Gert, I think you’re fine as you are, you don’t need more alcohol’’, he said trying to stop her.

‘’Aw, come on Chase’’, she said trying to pull him again.

But he just stopped walking, making her almost fall down but Chase quickly pulled her into his body, making them get definitely closer than they were before. They could feel their breath against their skins. They were finally as close as they both always wanted to be, but were always afraid of doing. 

Her smile was little but it was there, Chase on the other hand couldn’t stop smiling. He’s always liked Gert, since he could remember he did but could never make a move on her. And Gert always stopped herself because of her anxiety and panic, but now it was her chance.

She slowly caressed his nose with hers and got even closer, the whole world seemed to stop when he could feel just a little bit of her lips touching his. They were barely touching, just one inch more and they would be kissing for real, and they knew what they had to do so they just closed their eyes immediately.

Chase was about to do the first movement, he caressed her nose once more and was just about to lean totally in when she just suddenly leaned back, getting away instantly from him.

He was confused so he just opened his eyes while still holding her by her waist, she was giving him her back while bending down, she was in fact throwing up all the alcohol she consumed that night. So that was the moment he knew that she needed to go home right now and rest, because she looked exhausted.

He knew she was exhausted.

‘’Okay, let’s get you home, babe’’, he said while caressing her back on a slow way.

‘’Yes’’, she whispered immediately, not even refusing..

‘’Gert, how do you feel?’’, he asked making her sit on the copilot seat.

‘’Fucking horrible, how do you think future-jock’’, she said on a sarcastic way and then drinking more of her cold water.

Chase couldn’t help but smile as he heard her sarcastic ways come back, now that sounded more like the Gert he knew and still liked.

‘’Alright’’, he nodded saying no while still smiling and got inside the car, it was David’s car and he was kind enough to get out of the party to give her a ride to her house. 

The ride was pretty quiet and not even that long, they all were quiet except for the fact that David was mumbling a song but on a really quiet way. Gert seemed fine and Chase was fine with that.

‘’That’s the house’’ Chase and Gert said both at the same time while pointing at the house. It all seemed so peaceful. 

‘’Alright’’, David laughed as he pulled over. ‘’You’re home sweet home’’.

‘’Thank you, David’’, she said with a little smile as she looked at him. ‘’Really’’.

‘’It’s fine’’, he winked at her and she quickly looked away. Chase knew she was blushing and he just rolled his eyes looking how she got out of the car.

‘’Eh... thanks’’, and she just started to walk to the door as David just laughed.

‘’I’m going to get her to her room, she might be still a little dizzy’’, Chase said quickly as he looked at him.

‘’Don’t worry bro, I can wait’’, he said smiling. ‘’Go, I think she is waiting for you’’

He looked back and in fact she was looking at Chase, waiting for him in the middle of the way. Chase just smiled and got out of the car, walking towards her.

‘’I just wanted to thank you for taking me home’’, she said starting to walk with him. ‘’I don’t remember anything of the night and...’’, she messed her hair that was not in a bun anymore and sighed, ‘’I think I should stop doing this’’.

Chase blushed as he heard her. ‘’Since how long have you been doing this?’’

‘’I think... Uh... Two months ago’’, she said looking at him with big eyes. He recalled it, and that was the last time they actually talked.

‘’Woah’’, that was the only thing he could say. ‘’I-I... I didn’t know’’

‘’Only Molly knows’’, she rolls her eyes and looks at him again as they stop in front of the door. ‘’I didn’t want anyone to know... I don’t want to do this anymore... and I think this is not the right way to cope with...’’

‘’With Amy’’, he finished for her and they both nodded as they got in.

None of them talked on their way to her room. And it wasn’t uncomfortable, it was actually the opposite. But they got in and she just went to look for her pijamas. They didn’t talk until she broke the silence some minutes later.

‘’Don’t... don’t go yet’’, he nodded as she got in her bathroom.

It was just a couple of minutes and Gert was back already, with her glasses and all. And he couldn’t help but smile because she looked so pretty. Exhausted, but pretty.

‘’I’m also coping with the fact that I lost more people’’, Chase stopped smiling and he knew what she meant by that.

‘’I think we all are, on different ways’’, she nodded and then just sat next to him.

Just some seconds passed as they just sat there, close to each other and someway making it better. But he saw the time on her night table and realised it was super late, or early. But he needed to go.

‘’You need to sleep’’, he said looking at Gert and getting up.

‘’And I guess you need to go’’, Gert said as she looked at him. She wanted to tell him that he needed to stay, she needed him to stay but couldn’t say it outloud.

‘’It’s late.’’

‘’Or early’’, he smiled at her and just nodded.

He wanted to stay, it felt like the right thing but again they didn’t really talk anymore so it would also feel weird the next day. So he just got closer and kissed her forehead on a really soft way, maybe kinda long. But it wasn’t a problem.

‘’Take care, Gert’’

‘’Take care, Chase’’, she answered on a little voice.

So they just smiled at each other for the last time and he left her house. Both weirdy content with each other but still extremely hollow on the inside, like a piece of them was missing.

Because there was in fact a piece of them missing within each other.

‘’How do you feel?’’, Molly asked Gert as she came to her bed with one of those healthy milkshakes Stacey taught her how to make.

‘’I’ve been better, but I’ve been worse’’, she took the milkshake and drank most of it in record time.

‘’I heard someone bringing you in’’, Molly said with a smile as she sat on the bed. ‘’Tell me, was he or she cute?’’

‘’Oh my god’’, Gert blushed and then just laughed. ‘’I-I think it was Chase’’

Gert said confused as she remembered only bits of her night, a slow dance with Chase, too many making out sessions with a lot of people, a short car ride with Chase and another guy... but Chase. She looked at Molly when she started laughing.

‘’Come on! As if you haven’t seen how he ignores you always you walk past him’’, Gert rolled her eyes as Molly laughed again and got up from her bed. ‘’Whoever it was, they left a letter right there’’

‘’What’’, Gert turned around to find a piece of paper lying on her night table. It read for Gert.

‘’I leave you now, Dale and Stacey will come back soon and I need to finish my homework. You should at least take a shower to see if you fix that dead face’’, Molly just left her room laughing as Gert just smiled and rolled her eyes.

She just took the letter as soon as she left and couldn’t help but smile. It was Chase’s handwriting.

Gert, I bet it must be confusing for you right now as to why I left you a letter. Well I hope you remember but last night I took you home. We talked and you told me you’ve been doing this for a while, you also told me you wanted to stop and if you don’t remember I want to remind you that you said it. Because I think you deserve better, I think you’re hurting yourself and that... I don’t like it. Please take care of yourself. 

Love, C.S.

Gert couldn’t stop smiling now. She in fact remembered what she said to Chase and it was true... she couldn’t keep doing that to herself. To Molly neither. She deserved better and she knew it, because there were better ways to cope with the death of Amy even if it was by herself.

‘’Molly! Remember what I said about my hair yesterday?’’, Gert screamed getting up instantly and going to the bathroom.

‘’Yup!’’, she screamed back.

‘’Get ready! We are going to get hair dye from the store!’’

‘’Wh-what?! No!’’, Sam said just as he walked up to his dresser and grabbed a jacket, his cheeks now a lighter pink. Sam was annoyed, he knew now Tom wouldn’t stop annoying him for that.

‘’Oh, come on! I heard you’’, Tom said just as he entered the room and walked towards him. ‘’Y/N, I like you!’’, he imitated him on a dramatic way, his hands reaching his chest on a really dramatic way as well.

‘’Oh, shut up’’ Sam said as he faced him again, Tom was smiling on that way that he knew already. ‘’Oh no, no! Tom...’’

‘‘Come on! People need to know about this’‘, he said smiling, starting to walk to the door.

‘‘Stanley, don’t you dare’’, as soon as Sam said his full name Tom just smiled even more. Sam knew he made a mistake.

‘‘Stanley... okay’’, he nodded.

‘‘No, Tom plea...’‘, Sam started to say.

But it was already too late, Tom just started to run downstairs where a lot of people were already there, with beers on their hands and whatever other alcohol mix Harrison made earlier. This was the worst time ever Tom got to know about his crush because they had a party.

Sam was fast, but Tom was faster.

‘’Sam has a crush on Y/N!’’, Tom shouted out repeatedly as he let out loud chuckles, some people not even paying attention to whatever he was saying.

‘’No way!’’ Harrison shouted back as Tom and Sam runned pass the kitchen.

‘’I knew it already’’, Harry commented loudly to Harrison as he acted not surprised about it. Meanwhile Harrison acting falsely ‘’offended’’.

‘’Oh, for fucks sake’’, Sam just looked at them but just kept running. Y/N could be there at any moment, they could be there right now! And Sam knew they couldn’t get to know it in that way.

It would be a disaster.

‘‘Sam really, really likes Y/N!’‘, Tom shouted again as he ran around the pool, the music was loud and no one was really paying attention to him.

‘‘Tom shut the fuck up!’‘

‘‘No! That’s what you get for calling me Stanley’‘, he shouted back at him, running again into the house.

More people were coming in and Tom kept shouting as he ran, dodging the people to not hit anyone and then create a big mess on the house. Sam was almost done with it as he didn’t see any glimpse of them, when he suddenly saw them just entering the party.

No.

‘‘Tom!’’, Sam shouted even louder as he ran towards his annoying older brother, that obviously getting Y/N’s attention and making them walk towards them.

No, no. Sam kept repeating on his mind.

‘‘What?!’’, Tom responded but just kept talking. ‘‘Attention everybody, Sam really likes Y...’‘ but the words died on his throat just as he turned around and saw them standing right in front of them. ‘‘Y/N... hi!’‘

‘‘Tom! Hi’‘, they just smiled and raised a bit their eyebrows. ‘‘So, keep talking’’

‘‘What’’, that was the only thing Tom could say.

Asshole. 

Y/N kind of looked behind Tom and saw Sam, smiling immediately as their cheeks flooded with a light pink. Looking amazing, that’s all Sam could think.

‘‘Yeah! Who does Sam really like?’’, they asked again.

‘‘I-uh... I’‘, Sam started to say while stuttering a bit, his cheeks as red as a tomato.

‘‘Oh! Yeah! What I was saying is that Sam really likes... this song’‘, Tom finally said as he looked back at Sam, that was having a mental breakdown in that exact moment. ‘‘Right?’’

‘’What’’

‘’You really like this song, don’t you?’’

‘‘Huh, yeah... right, I do!’’, he finally nodded as he looked at Y/N which was of course looking at them on a suspicious way. ‘‘It’s so good’‘, he added as he danced on a weird way, making them giggle as Tom just looked at him on a weird way.

‘‘God, I really need to teach you how to dance’‘, he rolled his eyes as he took Sam by his shoulder and made him get closer to them. ‘‘Good luck’’, he whispered just for him.

‘‘You’re an asshole... but thank you’’, Sam whispered back earning a little smile from Tom just as he walked away from them both.

‘‘So you really like this song, huh’’, they said after some seconds in silence.

‘‘What?’’, Sam looked back at them with big and startled eyes, his heart pounding as hard as it could. He was so nervous.

‘‘The song’’, they said still smiling. When they were around him they never stopped smiling and honestly, he loved that.

‘‘Oh yeah! It’s amazing’‘ he nodded and finally listened to the song, this being the first time he ever heard it... and he didn’t really like it, if he was honest. ‘‘I love the beat’’, he added and then kind of regretted it because it sounded a bit sarcastic, ‘‘anyway, do you want something to drink?’‘

‘‘For sure, I haven’t been here for too long and I need one’‘, they said on a nice tone, making Sam smile.

‘‘Great! Then stay here, I’ll be right back’‘

‘‘Sure, babe’‘, they said on a cheeky way, hiding a little smile as they said it.

Babe.

Sam kept repeating the nickname on his mind as he went to the kitchen and grabbed two cans of beer, he couldn’t stop smiling because of that. It was the first time they ever called him like that. 

He could get used to being called like that, he liked it.

He wasn’t even aware of his surrounding until he looked up and saw Harrison, Tom and Harry looking at him with big smiles. They all made thumbs up as he looked at them, and he couldn’t help but smile as he rolled his eyes.

Idiots.

He quickly turned around and started walking back to the living room, he began to make his way to where they were just some minutes before but he didn’t see them there so he just started to look around until he found them.

His smile disappeared almost immediately as his heart dropped.

They were there, in the couch sat next to someone as they kept chatting on a rather excited way. With already a drink on their hand as this person kept touching them as they talked.

Sam couldn’t help but feel wrong about walking towards them and interrupting the conversation, after all Y/N looked like they were having a great time right now. So he decided to not interrupt and just kept going with the party.

With a slight difference, locked on his room.

He eventually came out of his room again. After drinking the two cans of beer in less than 5 minutes and getting thousands of messages from friends that were downstairs that  wanted to see him. 

He felt more confident after the alcohol started to run through his veins, he didn’t even care anymore about the reason he went back to his room again so he just went downstairs and had the time of his life.

Meaning, he got wasted.

Well, not even as wasted as he originally wanted. After all the party was on his house and his parents would kill him if they saw any kind of damage in their house. They would kill them, actually, including Harrison. 

But Tom and Harrison were long time gone and super wasted, and Harry was not even on sight. 

So he was alone and the longer he saw his friends getting drunker and drunker, making more mess than before, the less he kept drinking eventually drinking just water. He felt like the adult in the party, and he hated it.

The only good thing about being sober enough was that he could notice when Y/N was coming so he could leave the room, he felt his actions were childish but they kept being around that person and honestly he was too jealous to even act right.

And also, he felt kind of heartbroken. Because honestly he has been crushing on Y/N for quite... a really long time.

Eventually the party started to die down as people kept leaving the house and he just looked at them leave, he was saying goodbye to some friends when he saw that person leaving... just that holding hands with someone that wasn’t Y/N, obviously. He couldn’t help but walk inside looking for them instantly.

‘’Samwell!!’’, Harrison shouted as he chuckled from upstairs. Hair totally messed up, and well... still drunk. ‘’Why so worried, what is uppp my dude?’’

‘’Have you seen Y/N?’’

‘’Huh yeah! Actually they are up here’’, Harrison smiled and just kept walking upstairs.

‘’What... why?’’, Sam started to go upstairs immediately, skipping some steps.

‘’We all were watching a movie... they are now in the balcony, though’’, Harrison said while yawning, then raising a bit his eyebrows as he kind of hit him with his elbow. ‘’Are you gonna make your move on them?’’

‘’Oh, shut up asshole’’, Sam couldn’t help but blush as he started to walk towards the balcony. Feeling really nervous all of sudden.

But without thinking much about it he just got out to the balcony, making them look back as a bit of smoke escaped from their lips, making them look slightly more attractive than they already were.

‘’Sam!’’, they said on an excited way making him smile as he kept walking towards them. ‘’I’m still waiting for my drink’’

‘’Huh’’, that made Sam stop on his tracks as he started to blush even more, Y/N on the other hand just laughed.

‘’It’s okay’’, they said as they smoked a little bit more, again, looking slightly more attractive than always. ‘’What happened to you, anyway? I missed you down there’’

They were really interested on the answer and actually even a bit worried, then they just looked a bit down as the seconds passed and Sam didn’t answer yet. ‘’I didn’t even see you in the whole party, actually’’

‘’I-uh, I’m sorry’’, Sam nodded and sat in the little couch that was right in front of them, looking up at them with a little smile. Like kind of apologizing. ‘’I was taking care of my friends, and the house, and... I’m sorry’’

He nodded saying no and closed his eyes, they weren’t even looking at him. So he spoke again after some seconds of a weird silence between them.

‘’Actually, I just saw you with this person and... you looked like you were having so much fun and I- I-...’’, he nodded saying no and looked up at them again. Y/N was now kind of smiling. ‘’Wha-’’

‘’You mean Alex?... well, they are just an old friend’’, Y/N said letting out the final part of the smoke, throwing away the cigarette and just sitting next to Sam. ‘’they were here with their SO, and I was kind of third wheeling the whole night’’

Oh... shit.

Sam couldn’t help but feel stupid and embarrassed at the same time, just feeling like an idiot as his cheek started to get more and more red, if it was even possible. His skin felt like burning.

‘’I had a great time though! It was an amazing party, Sam’’, they said laying their back on the sofa, like finally resting from the party.

Sam just let his body fell next to theirs just feeling really tired and stupid. He looked at them immediately and realised they were just inches away of each other, neither of them got away though, so they just stood there.

‘’I am really sorry’’, he finally spoke.

‘’It’s fine’’, they smiled and suddenly just got closer to him, laying their head on his shoulder as they just got more comfortable on the couch. ‘’I had a nice time, I’m just really tired now, is this fine?’’

‘’Y-yeah! It’s completely fine, it’s p-perfect’’, Sam rolled his eyes as he said that, feeling as he was too nervous, but how couldn’t he?

‘’Did you have a good time?’’, they asked on a soft voice.

‘’Well, you can say I did’’, he kind of shrugged and then quickly apologized, making them giggle.

‘’It’s okay... what do you mean by that?’’

‘’Had lots of fun at the beginning the booze started to come in my way... then well, everything started to get a bit messier, I think my parents will kill us because of...’’

‘’The huge hole Malcolm made on the kitchen?’’, Y/N finished for him.

‘’Holy shit, yes’’, Sam laughed with them as they slightly got closer.

‘’What about the table that’s laying in the bottom of the pool?’’ they said, casually.

‘’The what?!’’, Sam kind of shouted, actually surprised.

‘’Oh... you didn’t know that... well yeah’’

They just looked at each other and started to laugh, talking about the party and then quickly about his crazy trips with Harrison, Tom and Harry, and then the subjects just changed as fast as they came.

Talking about anything, and the awkwardness and nervousness they both were feeling wasn’t there anymore. It just felt right.

And soon the time went flying as well, from minutes to hours, and before they knew the sun was already coming out. Both of them feeling tired enough but still wanting to talk, most of their sentences finishing in yawns and little laughs.

Soon enough they were kind of cuddling, as his hand reached their hair and softly started to caress it, some seconds later making them finally get the courage to hug him fully as they got totally closer to him.

Both feeling sleepy and... in some way, complete.

‘’Sam’’, they whispered after being some minutes in silence.

‘’Y/N’’

‘’Are you awake?’’, they asked on a really light voice, honestly more asleep than awake at this point.

‘’Yes, that’s why I’m talking right now’’, Sam responded with a soft smile.

‘’Right... you know... earlier in the party’’, they said between yawns. ‘’I was hoping Tom would say you liked me’’

Sam couldn’t help but blush again, feeling just really nervous. He didn’t say anything as he felt his throat closing, he just couldn’t say anything right now.

‘’Cause you know what?’’, they whispered now really low, only for him to hear. ‘’I was hoping you would like me as much as I do’’

And just at the end of that sentence Y/N was totally asleep, still hugging Sam on a rather tight but sweet way.

Sam couldn’t believe it, he was still trying to process the information on his mind as he kept repeating those words over and over. Feeling as the smile on his face started to grow bigger and bigger every second it passed.

He didn’t feel good, he felt amazing.

And just as he finally closed his eyes and his finger were still caressing their hair, he finally got the courage to whisper: