favorite liar | xavier thorpe

20. :O

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

"I got you something," is how Xavier begins the first real conversation him and Iris have had since everything's gone down. "An apology gift," he explains as she takes the lid off the box to reveal a small iPhone.

"Thanks," she says like she's supposed to, not sure if she really wants to forgive him. He was being really annoying.

"Look," and she drags her eyes up to his face too, but now he's looking slightly at the floor. "I'm really sorry for all the stuff I said in the cell, I definitely didn't mean it."

"I feel like you can't say some of that stuff without meaning it a little," Iris also looks down now, so they're both just staring at their shoes - Iris's Doc Martens and Xavier's black Converse.

"I was just. . ." he realizes how it sounds like he's just making excuses now. "I was scared. . . and angry, and I didn't mean to take it out on you, I shouldn't have, but. . . I don't know, it's gonna sound ridiculous now."

"No, say it," Iris looks up again, interested now, but he still won't look at her.

"It's just. . . you walked in after some security guard was in there, and he was just saying all this stuff about how they tried contacting my dad, but he just couldn't care less about me, really, and then I started spiraling and I just-" he sighs slightly, knowing he has to go all in now, in the middle of the staircase to the girl who still hasn't even forgiven him.

"I think I just realized that I don't know how to be close with people. Like, I don't know when they're talking to me because they like me, or just because they know my dad's famous. And with Bianca, it was, like, she was only with me because it was good for her image and her place on the social ladder, and it just made me think about how I constantly expect myself to be perfect and how other people constantly expect me to be perfect, and the only time I don't feel like I'm letting everyone around me down is when I'm around you, because you don't expect me to be perfect, so I just keep self-sabotaging and pushing you away because I've never felt this way before and I don't know what to do, and I think I'd rather us never happen than me have to experience what it would feel like if it doesn't work out."

Iris thought Xavier talked a lot when they first met, but she isn't even able to get a word out before he starts again, looking at her this time, green eyes on dark brown.

"And I'm sorry it took me so long to realize, and I really don't want to mess this up, so I think I'm just going to need some time before I can go all in for this."

". . . You're gonna break up with me before we even start dating?" Iris doesn't really know what to say. She knows he's right, and she knows there are parts of herself she could work on before getting into a relationship too, but she also really likes him, and is willing to forget everything he said in the cell if it meant she could feel what it felt like to kiss him one more time.

They just kind of look at each other for a second, the phone getting heavier and heavier in Iris's hand by the second.

"Text me, okay?" is his response. "I'll see you next semester," and he stands up before Iris can say anything else, leaving her on the stairs.

"Alright," Enid and Wednesday both come to sit on the stairs beside Iris, Enid easily taking the phone out of the box in Iris's hand to start typing away. "We have three groupchats to add you to, sixty contacts to save, one Snapchat, three TikTok, and two Instagram accounts to make, and are you a VSCO girly? You seem like a VSCO girly," Enid nods to her own question.

"Make her a Pinterest too," Yoko comes up behind the girls, leaning over Enid's shoulder as she takes care of everything on Iris's new phone. "And don't worry," she throws an arm around Iris's shoulders, "We have this whole break to make him see what he's missing out on."

a/n:
lol anyway im kinda sad this is over i wish i could give u guys more :( but thanks for reading ily see u next szn🤞🤞