chapter 2
"prove it"

7:45

matt was rushing around the house, trying to find his car keys. he was meant to set off to pick dejah up 5 minutes ago, but had lost his keys. "thanks for helping me look guys, appreciate it." he shouts sarcastically at nick and chris who are sat on the couch, watching matt run around frantically.

nick and chris look at each other and giggle, "should we tell him? it's been five minutes" laughs nick, whispering in his ears.

chris giggles, "fine." he says, "matt." he shouts, getting matts attention. when he looks over, chris bursts out laughing, nick joining in. "they're in your hands buddy" he laughs.

matt looks down at his hands and he sees the keys, dangling on his pinky. matt smiles from the embarrassment and tries to hide it. he groans and flips them both off before walking out of the front door.

nick and chris quickly follow behind and chris gets in the front seat next to matt, and nick gets in the back. matt sends a quick message to dejah saying that they're coming to get her. chris was kinda dreading having to be in the same car as dejah today ever since their slight argument last night in the library, but he had decided that he was gonna try and talk to her today, and hopefully apologise. chris grabs the aux cord and starts to play taylor swift, before turning the corner into her street. "the fuck is this? you hate taylor?" asks matt, smiling in the rear view mirror at nick who smiles back at him.

"it's not for me. it's for dejah" he says, making the car go silent. the only thing you can hear is taylor blasting in the background. matt parks his car outside her house and waits a few seconds before watching her walk towards the car. she looks exhausted, tired and miserable. when chris saw her, he knew it was gonna be hard trying to talk to her.

she opens the door and when she hears the music her mood immediately switches, "wow matt. good choice"

matt glances at chris who puts his lips together awkwardly. "oh, um. it wasn't me who put the song on for you.. it was chri-"

"it was me." says chris, cutting matt off. he turns around in his seat to look at dejah who stares at chris in disbelief. they hold a stare for a few seconds before dejahs lips begin to curl upwards into a big smile, making chris turn around shyly.

"thanks chris." she says, quietly. nobody else in the car heard her, apart from chris. he was happy that she was happy, and she was happy that he played her favourite song for her. "you.. remembered." she says, laughing a little bit.

chris turns around again, "how could i forget?"

middle school
~flashback~

chris came into class late, making dejah worry about him as she thought he wasn't coming in at all, so seeing him walk in late was what she needed. "oh my gosh, i was so scared that you weren't gonna come in at all today" she says, hitting him playfully on the shoulder.

"ow, that hurt" he laughs, "i was late because.. i got you a gift." he says, grabbing a box from his bag. she was shocked to the see the new gold beats headphones in his hand, "these are for you." he says, handing them to her.

dejahs mouth dropped to the floor as she reached out, grabbing the box. she was absolutely speechless, she didn't know what to say, so she ultimately pulled him in for a big hug. the hug was warm and was filled with happiness, a hug that she will cherish for her whole life.

she pulls away finally, "thank you so much.. i'm honestly shocked chris? thank you, so,so,so much!" she says happily.

chris admired her as she happily unboxed her new headphones, he takes in all of her features, like how she closes her eyes fully when she smiles and how her nose scrunches upwards when she's happy and when she bites her bottom lip slightly, while she opens the box. chris laughs, "what are you gonna listen to with them?"

dejah looks up to him and smirks, "you should know, taylor duh?"

"yeah, yeah i know. but what songs? like.. your favourite song."

dejah stops opening the box to look at chris, pondering on his question for a second, "you belong with me."

the tension in the air started to drift away as chris felt more comfortable in the car now that him and dejah had that interaction with each other. he still knew that he had to apologise, but knowing that she's not too mad at him, will make his life easier.

the rhythmic beat of the music filled the air, creating a comfortable ambience. chris was searching on his spotify frantically, trying to find other taylor swift songs she's talked about before to start playing as the one he was playing when she first got in the car was coming to an end. dejah noticed and snatched the phone from him, "hey!" he says, looking down at his empty hands before looking at dejah who starts to type something on his phone. paper rings began to play, and dejah gave the phone back to chris who furrows his eyebrows. he slides his phone into his pocket.

"does liv and abbie need a lift too?" asks matt, turning around in his seat at the red light to face dejah.

"no, they're both getting lifts from livs mom" she smiles, watching as matt turns back around in his seat. she turns to nick and begins to talk to him. chris listens to their conversation for a second before playing the rain drop game from his window when he sees jude walking in the rain getting drenched. "wait, is that jude? he looks like he's getting drenched" she says, pointing at him, "shall we offer him a lift."

chris scoffs and places a hand on his cheek, resting on the side of the car door. "yeah, lemme pull in, one second." says matt, pulling in front of jude who stops once matt rolls down his window, "jude! need a lift?" he says.

jude's smile formed, "yes, thanks erm.."

"matt. the names matt, and it's fine no worries" he says, rolling the window back up. jude opens the door and climbs over dejahs legs to get to the middle seat. "hey guys" he says, announcing his presence. (that chris didn't want there)

"hey" says nick, smiling. jude smiles back and faces dejah who starts to play with his wet hair.

"your hairs so wet" she says, ruffling it with her hands. chris watches as she does so through the rear view mirror and rolled his eyes. "it suits you though, looks cute"

chris didn't mean to gag, but it just slipped out i guess? the whole car looked at him which made chris start to laugh. "the fucks up with you?" asks nick.

"nothing."

the whole car collectively ignores it and moves on, starting their own conversations back up again. the only one chris cared about however was the conversation between her and jude.

"why do you even wear those beats? they're so old." he asks, noticing the gold beats that are in her hands. she shrugs her shoulders and hides them between her thighs. jude giggles a little bit.

"because she wants to?" says chris, butting into the conversation. he whipped his head around as he said it, giving jude a dirty look. "and i bought them for her in middle school." he says, making sure he knows that she still wears the ones he bought her so many years ago.

jude furrows his eyebrows, "o..kay?" he says, like he doesn't care. he scoffs before putting his arm around dejah. chris sighs and glares at jude for a few seconds longer before turning around slowly. he watches them giggling in the back seat from the rear view mirror, scoffing or sighing loudly every time they did something flirty towards each other. chris had never been more happy to arrive at school than today because then he didn't have to deal with dejah and jude for another second.

matt parked his car in the school car park and exited out of his car, the rest of them doing the same. "i'm gonna go find my friends, catch you guys later." says jude, waving everyone goodbye.

the whole group said their goodbyes apart from chris, "he didn't even say thank you, what a great friend" he says sarcastically, making dejah roll her eyes.

"he said thank you when he got in. besides, you never say thank you?" says dejah, catching him out. she knows it's his own brother and all, but he still never says thank you.

chris pauses for a second, "touché" he says, cracking up a little bit, "yeah, but.. that's different."

dejah giggles, "different yeah? how so?" she says, rolling her eyes. chris scoffs and starts to walk towards school, the others following close behind.

nate came into chris' art class to 'help with the teacher.' (he was just there to talk to chris)

"can you do me a favour and help any student with their hand up? that would be amazing." says the teacher, making nate nod his head. nate glances over to chris who smiles before putting his hand up, "ah, chris needs help. be a dear and help him out?"

nate nods and makes his way over to chris who sits at the back by himself, "hey bro, what's good." he says, dapping him up. chris smiles and pulls out the chair next to him so nate can sit down.

"nothing much. we had to pick up this jude guy this morning and he's been mad flirting with dejah, it's weir-"

"wait- jude? like jude cunningham?" he asks in a panic. chris looked at him confused.

does he know him or something?

"erm, i think? he's got like blonde fluffy hair i guess and is kinda tall." chris explains. nate's expression changed to an annoyed one once he heard his name being mentioned again. "why? do you know him?"

nate groans and takes his phone out of his pocket, "yeah, his older brother and i aren't on the best terms right now. and not even just that, jude's trouble. but i'll never be able to convince her, she'll just think i'm lying" he says, rolling his eyes. chris thinks on the idea for a second before asking.

"well. i could try?" he suggests. although she doesn't really talk to him, and she probably won't believe him either.

nate laughs, "yeah, try is an understatement." he says, thinking the same stuff chris was thinking about. this wasn't going to stop chris however because he knew something was wrong with jude the moment he saw her with dejah, and now he's just got to prove it to her... somehow..

¹⁸⁴¹ ʷᵒʳᵈˢ

maisie
💌

not chris thinking he can change her mind..
we love nick and chris messing w matt 😜
cute lil flashback 🥰🥰🥰