IMESSAGE
briiii
maxy

maxy
you doing okay?

briiii
lol why'd you text me
we're literally sitting right
next to each other

maxy
because i didn't wanna call
you out in front of kj and noah
just in case it's some personal
stuff going on

briiii
dude i'm fine don't
worry about me

maxy
yea i don't believe that
you were quiet the whole 7hr car
ride here and i didn't say anything because i thought you were probably
just tired but now it's the next day and we're all eating breakfast and you still seem kinda sad

briiii
things are just kinda complicated/confusing for me rn and i don't
really wanna talk about it til i fully understand what's going on

maxy
that makes sense but just know
that i'm here for you, and so is kj, whenever you need to talk about
or need advice for anything, bri.
and that should be pretty obvious
since we're all best friends but i
just thought i'd put it out there again

briiii
😭😭 thanks maxy

———

INSTAGRAM

liked by briellethompson, ncentineo, and 89,754 others
maxyalvy: stuck exploring san fran with this guy 🙄🙄
[ tagged: @kjmcall ]

view all 10,589 comments. . .

username1: ok but kj looks ducking hot😍😍

username2: i love how max is literally always in photographer mood. like he can never just take a normal pic of someone lmao

username3: kj's shirt tho ummm YES 👏👏

kjmcall: fuck off you love me asshat
     — maxyalvy: 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

username4: ugH i love this friendship

username5: anyone else wondering where brielle is while they're exploring san fran🤔🤔
     — username6: probably off exploring with noah 😏
     — username7: wowie we love a couple ☺️☺️

———

REAL LIFE
right — brielle
left — noah

"hey, um, is something
wrong?"

brielle stopped reading the description
of the book she had in her hand to look
up at noah who was standing right next
to her.

following breakfast and her text conversation with max, brielle tried her hardest to make it seem like everything was fine, so that kj or noah didn't question her either. however, apparently her efforts were not good enough because noah was asking her that very complicated question.

"what? everything is good."

"you sure?"

". . . (sighs) nope."

brielle placed the book in her hand back on the shelf and grabbed noah's hand taking him to a more secluded part of the bookstore they were in so that they could talk without anyone interrupting them.

she really didn't want to have to tell him about how she was feeling and the confusion that came along with it, but she had to, she had to finally be completely honest with him.

"okay, so first things first i guess. . .
i, um, like you and not just in a friend way. (laughs) god that feels so fricking weird to say."

"wait, are you serious?"

"i wish i was joking."

brielle watched as noah's lips began tug upward in a smile and he opened his mouth to say something.

"but, before you say anything
there's something else i should
add to that. i'm 90 percent sure
that this can't happen."

"what, why?"

". . . because it can't."

"bri, we both know
that's a shitty answer."

she did know that, and she also knew the actual reason why things couldn't happen with them. it was a long thought that began to linger in her mind at the beginning of the week when everything else started to become confusing, and it was also a thought that she didn't want to believe. however, when this abrupt conversation with noah started brielle said that she would be completely truthful with him, so she decided that she should probably be honest with herself too and accept the thought because of how true it actually was.

"oof, fine. . . the truth is that i'm scared, okay. the last time i did something like this i fell pretty hard for the guy and i really didn't think that either one of us would get hurt, but i did and it fucking sucked. . . and every single scenario i play out in my mind of us happening ends with one of us, or both of us, getting hurt and i really don't want that happen because i love our friendship and i don't want it to get messed up."

"bri, i promise i'll never
hurt you."

"(shakes head) you can't make a
promise like that, noah."

"i can and i am. i promise, brielle, that i'm not gonna hurt you. and even if we do this and our relationship ends that doesn't mean our friendship is gonna end. and i can promise you that too. our friendship will not be fucked up."

brielle looked at the boy standing in front of her and there were so many parts of her that didn't want to believe what he said because of how "too easy" it all sounded, but then there was a small part of her that did believe him. and as the seconds passed that small part slowly started to grow until the majority of her trusted in what he said, and that is what made her begin nodding her at head to him.

"wait, you're nodding. 
(smiles) is that a good thing?"

instead of verbally responding to noah, brielle decided to step a little closer to him, place her hand against the nape of his neck and move in to press her lips against his. within that short kiss, brielle told him everything; that she liked him a lot, she wholeheartedly believed in all the things he said, and that she did want everything to happen between them. and brielle was able to tell by the way noah pulled her into a tight hug after the kiss that he knew exactly what she was trying to say and he accepted it all too.

———

author's note!
hey guyssss. it's kinda been a while. anyway thanks so much for 10k reads!!