everyone was silent. the only time any of them talked was when they ordered. they could sense the tension between wren and joba. ian tried to alleviate the awkwardness but asking wren how astrid and sage were but she replied coldly with, "fine."
they ate in silence, matt stealing glances at joba and merlyn trying to get wren to play tic tac toe with him on a stray napkin.
everybody was waiting for somebody to say something.
"y'all are mad childish." dom spoke, not even looking up. "we just wanted to have lunch and catch up. now it's all weird. i think you both should go talk it out then come back when you kiss and make up." he glanced between joba and wren who were sitting as far apart from each other as possible. joba's face flushed red and wren shifted uncomfortably like a small child in her seat. she looked at joba and then to the rest of the group whose eyes all said that they were thinking the same thing.
"ok." she got up and walked toward the exit, joba following right behind her. when they reached joba's car, wren threw herself into him, hugging him tightly.
"i'm sorry."
he pushed her off of him and held onto her shoulders. "look at me." her brown eyes were wet with tears and her eyelashes hung low. "don't be sorry. it's stupid." the blonde boy bent down to kiss her forehead and he wrapped his arms around her small frame.
wren pulled away and rummaged in her jeans pocket. joba gave her a confused look and she laughed. "i wanna show you something."
-
joba watched her play around on her phone. her face was an emotion he couldn't read. "can i use your aux?" he nodded and passed the cord to her. he noticed that she had shaky hands and her leg was bouncing uncontrollably. "what's wrong?" the blonde placed his hand over hers and she sighed. "i'm nervous."
before he could ask why, a song played through the speakers.
sorry I didn't kiss you
but it's obvious I wanted to
bubble gum down my throat and it's a curse
but my luck couldn't get any worse
joba listened closely. "is that you?" he turned to his girlfriend who was nervously biting her hair. "yeah." a huge smile crept on the blondes face. he turned the radio all the way up and kissed wren passionately.
"this is amazing! did romil help you? is there more? you are so damn perfect."
-
after a while, they forgot that they were still at the restaurant. their friend probably thought they were still upset at each other. but in reality, wren played joba every song her and romil had made (which was only 5, but still). joba never failed to gush at every song and tell her how much he loved it. the last one she played was the first one she wrote.
i want to kiss you
i want to love you
joba grabbed her hand with both of his and smiled. "you should release these like in a little ep. i cant believe you and romils sneaky asses produced these tracks without me knowing." he shook his head, his hair moving in every direction. it was dark now and the streetlights illuminated every curve in the bengali girls face. joba felt his heart beat harder than a thunderstorm in the summer.
"hello. knock knock knock."
the couple turned to see ciaran standing outside their door.
"you promised to give me a ride home russ. unlock the door."
joba nodded then unlocked the back car door. ciaran scooted into the seat quietly and smiled at wren. "hey. sorry to intrude. they booted me." she wanted to laugh but wasn't sure if he was joking or not. "no like, i'm not joking. but i don't care. you guys are cooler. period." at that, wren laughed and clapped her hands loudly. "periodt!"
-
wren and ciaran talked the whole way home. they talked about music about memes and about everything in between. joba tried his hardest to not get jealous but it was hard. he wasn't the jealous type - but he was the paranoid type.
she never smiles like that when she talks to me. am i not interesting enough?
"ok. we're here."
he parked the car in front of the house and unlocked the doors. without waiting for a response from his passengers, joba got out of his car and made his way inside. he only focused on the sound of his footsteps as he walked up the stairs and into his room, ignoring the calls of his friends that had come home before him.
joba didn't know why he was overreacting. it was simple conversation right? he was always in his head. pondering things that should be left alone and reading into things that weren't serious. he was sensitive.
ciaran wasn't going to steal his girl and wren wasn't going to leave him for one of his friends.
"joba? you in here?" there was a soft, but loud knock on his door. as much as he wanted to be bitter and annoyed, he knew the way he felt was irrational. joba took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "yeah, come in."
the girl sat beside him on the bed and folded her tiny hands in her lap. there was a silence between them. not awkward but not exactly comfortable either. it was silence like the one in between songs when the first one ends and before the second one begins.
"what's up?" he turned his head towards wren and saw her biting her fingernails. unsure if it was nerves or just a habit, he took her hands in his and shook his head. "nothing. sorry for just walking off without a word. i was just...being stupid."
"how do you mean?"
joba turned a slight shade of pink before replying because he felt embarrassed about the situation. "um. do you like ciaran more than me?"
stupid. you sound stupid. like a child. asking for validation.
wren's face was blank of any emotion. then she laughed. tears pricked the corners of her eyes and she wiped them away with her thumb. "russell are you serious? baby come on! you're so silly. you're my forever. i'd never trade you in a million years for ciaran."
-
ok sorry this is lowkey kinda late skdjdjd i have finals and i've been busy
love y'all
vote & comment pls muah
