sweven // chase rutherford

v

y/n's pov://

      "wow, thanks! now i have your face in my head's database."
his words snapped me out of the daze i was in. i snapped my head down, giving a superficial chuckle. "y-yeah," i said, taking a bite of an almond. we were only about 5 minutes into the lunch period and i felt like i had been sitting in that library for 5 years. i remembered how i thought earlier, when i talked to him for the very first time. like i was on an entirely different universe where it was just him and me and me and him and both of us together. i felt that same way now, it's like your brain and your heart are perfectly in sync and every part of your body knows what it wants. i didn't get to feel that way very often.
      "soooo," he said. he was always breaking the silence. "soooooo," i responded, looking down at my hands. i felt him shuffle, his elbow brushing against my arm as he took a bag of teal floss sticks out of his backpack. my brows furrowed in confusion as he popped one in his mouth, making a thought pop into my mind. he was always chewing on one in his tiktoks. my heart skipped a beat. what do i do? do i just casually bring it up? no, i couldn't. 2.6 million was not casual. "what's.. that for?" i questioned, earning a chuckle in return. "so, i always chew on stuff. and i used to chew on straws all the time, and then i hurt my tooth pretty bad. so, i vowed to chew on floss for the rest of my life. it's good for your teeth, if you didn't know," he gave me a cheeky smile, to which i smiled back. i couldn't NOT smile. every little thing i was learning about him made my heart flutter. (except, y'know, THE FOLLOWERS)
"here," he reached back into the bag. my heart actually stopped as he shoved one into my mouth, making me look away to hide the fact that my face was probably as red as a baboon's asscheek. i bit down on the floss.
       "hey, just because i put something in your mouth doesn't mean you have to be even more quiet,"
his eyes widened. "WAIT, I DIDN'T, THAT SOUNDED BAD," this made me burst into laughter. "no, no, it's fine," and he started laughing too. and we did this thing where we're laughing together and we're sitting on our planet where it's just us alone. and every time we laugh, the entire planet shakes. i guess this gave me a surge of confidence, to which i asked him. "so, tell me about yourself," i asked. "well," he paused a moment, his smile fading a bit. i noticed this. "i'm pretty cool and great. i like video editing and stuff like that, honestly just producing content in general," i gulped. "i like traveling, and music, nature, professional dance, and uh, tiktok." the energy of the room felt tense now. i could tell he was just as nervous as i was. "i also dabble in anthropomorphism."
"uh.. as in furries?"
"yeah, what about it?"
we both burst out into laughter again. and any of that tense stuff sort of just left. i didn't know if i should bring back the fact that i watched his life on my phone screen before i even knew he was a real person or not.
not.
we sat and made jokes and he was really good at bringing out the real side of me. he was the only person i'd ever met that could do that. i felt so comfortable, and i'd known the kid for 4 hours. i guess that really said something. i could feel the sunshine in his soul. he was one of those people that's put onto the earth to brighten it up. i loved that about him.
        "i know i've only known you for like a day, but this is the most i've ever heard you talk in your entire life." he said, which made me smile. "yeah, i guess you just have that affect on people." i saw him smile really genuinely out of the corner of my eye. that made me feel really good, making him smile. we talked about music. we talked about media. we talked about everything in the world in 19 minutes.
and then the lunch bell rang.
and i think my heart shattered along with it. i didn't wanna leave this safe place.
"we should come here everyday. well, until the 12 catches us." he chuckled.
"yeah, we should." i could feel my heartbeat in head.
"eating in the library basically makes us like bonnie and clyde."
i smiled. i think i smiled more in a lunch period, than i have in my life.

•••

       the rest of the day was decent, but things got better every time i saw chase waiting for me when i left a class. it was last period, and i was surprised when i walked out of the door and saw him standing there. i figured he would've let me go home on my own, since i basically knew my way around the school now. but there he was.
"hiya, chase."
"what are you doing like, for the next hour?"
"going home and sitting on my bed."
"alright, let's go,"
he started walking towards the school doors. my eyes widened as i realized he wanted me to follow, so i did. what was happening? where was he taking me?
we walked out of the doors and in the opposite direction of my house. i mean, mom probably wouldn't mind. she'd praise the lord that i even made a friend. so i followed.
"where are we going?"
"corner mart!" he smiled.
"what's that?"
"it's like your wawa, but texan."
"ohhhh. but why?"
"it's an adventure, y/n. APPRECIATE." he rolled his eyes jokingly.
i just nodded and walked along, until we came up on a little convenience store just found the road from the school. it seemed like a lot of people from school went here after classes ended. i mean, it was pretty convenient. he walked me in, and i followed him back to the snack aisle. he snagged a bang energy from one of the fridges. "want one? or are you one of those monster bitches." he said, pursing his lips and looking down at me. "monster bitch, i am," i said as i took an ultra rosa from the fridge. he laid down some cash on the counter, nodding at the cashier, who looked to be a bit older than us. "thanks for paying," i sheepishly said, prompting him to jokingly smirk. "the man ALWAYS pays." he took me to the back of the store, which had some chairs in it. i sat down across from him and popped open my drink. "sooo, where's your house?" he asked, and i responded with my street. his eyes widened, making me a bit unnerved. "i live like, the next street over." he said, making MY eyes widen in response. "oh, really?" i said, my heart picking up. "yeah, so we can basicallyyyyyy hang out whenever you want." he said smiling. "oh, okay, awesome." i thought a second. "wait, why weren't you on the bus this morning?"
"i like to walk."
"oh, makes sense. so you'll walk home with me?"
he smiled.
"why, yes i will."
       we finished our drinks and started back to my place. i felt a bit apprehensive. one thing i knew about texas is that chase lived in the better part of the suburbs, and i.. not so much. i was scared he'd see that i was on the lower end of the economic spectrum and run the other way. i hated how i felt like he protected me, and i hated how i had known him for only a few hours but already depended so much on him. before i could think more about it, i heard his phone buzz. he pulled it out lowly, but i couldn't help but glance at the screen.

claire : HOW IS IT GOING ?!?!?!?!?!!!!!?????

      he swiftly put his phone back in his pocket, looking forward. i jetted my eyes back to the sidewalk. who is claire? is that his GIRLFRIEND? my heart really sank to say the least. why was i upset over a girl texting him? WHAT THE FUCK. "y/n," i turned to look at him. "you're not stepping on any of the cracks." he noted. "oh, yeah. never do. i really love my mom too much to do that." this got a laugh out of him. "i never do either." at this point, we were approaching my neighborhood, and i dreaded every step we took closer. you'd think this would've made everything go by slower, but in the blink of an eye, we were at my doorstep. he looked normal, in fact he looked happy. "it's pretty. this house has always looked sad. i'm glad you're in it now."
"me and my mom are gonna clean it up and make it look better soon. but yeah, i'm glad i'm in it too..."
we stood in a brief silence.
"hey, so, y/n. we're basically like 5-minute-walk-neighbors and stuff. so you're gonna need my number in case someone decides to start shitting on everyone's doorstep and you have to notify me before they get to my house."
i giggled at this.
"that's fair."
he gave me his phone, and i felt i was holding something powerful. i felt like i was holding 2.6 million people in my fingertips. i sighed.
i put in my number.
"thank you for today, like, it actually really means a lot. i thought it was gonna be totally awful. but..."
"you're welcome. i had a really good day." he smiled. i felt pretty special that i got to see this side of him.
"see ya bye!"
i laughed.
"see ya bye, chase."

hey lol this is getting a lot more reads than i thought it would 😳 so tysm wow. buttt i plan on updating like FREQUENTLY like almost daily if i can bc i really love writing this and the fact that people r actually seeing it !!!! is mega cool. see ya bye 😏