Close as Strangers | Why Don't We {ON HOLD}

0.9

"Do you think this is gonna end well?" Lilia asks, glancing at Emily's door every now and again.

"Yeah, I think Zach's gonna win her over," Paige shrugs, also glancing at the door. "It's Emily and Zach. They always manage to fix things. Do you remember that fight over Jorden?"

"Oh god, don't," Lilia groans, holding her hand up to stop the girl. "I don't understand what Zach saw in her."

"Wait, Jorden? As in Jorden Salter?" Jonah cuts in with a raised brow. Both girls nod quickly in confusion. "She still messages him."

"Oh fuck," Paige and Lilia chorus, their eyes wide.

"When she finds out about Emily and Zach she's gonna be PISSED," Paige gasps, her jaw dropped to the floor. "This is seventh grade all over again."

"Explain," Christina demands, sitting down on the sofa next to Corbyn.

"Alright, so you know that Jorden is Zach's ex, right?" Lilia questions earning nods. "Alright so, when they started dating, Zach distanced himself from us. It got to the point where he would walk away if we even looked at him. We later found out that Jorden forbade him from talking to us. Emily was pissed, to say the least, and showed up at his house, forcing him to talk to her."

"Jorden was unfortunately there at the time and got mad that Emily was there," Paige takes over for Lilia. "Jorden made Zach choose between her and Emily. He chose Jorden."

"So this isn't the first time Zach's fucked up with Emily?" Jack clarifies, in complete shock.

"Yup," Lilia replies, popping the p. "Again, usually we made his decisions because he's a dumbass. Anyways, Emily tells us and Zach continues to ignore us. One day, Paige found Jorden cheating on him and just simply sent him a picture of it. They broke up but Emily refused to talk to him. She literally acted as if he did not exist."

"I don't blame her," Christina mutters, rolling her eyes playfully.

"I honestly don't know how he made it up to her but one day everything was back to normal. They both refused to tell us what happened," Paige finishes with a shrug.

"Okay, wow," Jonah breathes, his eyes the size of saucers. "I knew Zach was an idiot but really?"

"Why do you think we were so cold to him? He hurt her once and we forgave but didn't forget. When he did it for the second time, we didn't even want him to look at her," Lilia says, playing with Jack's fingers unknowingly. "She's always been the baby of the group and we always want to protect her. Sure, she acts like a mother figure to us and is more mature but we still try to shield her from things."

"It just sucks because he promised he was never gonna hurt her again and then he did," Paige sighs, running her hand through her hair. "Lilia and I used to call him the king of broken promises."

"How are you guys trusting him again?" Corbyn can't help but ask.

"Oh, we're not," Lilia laughs, leaning back against Jack. "We just know the only way to get our best friend back is to get him back in her life."

"If we thought there was another solution we would have taken it by now," Paige adds on, running her hand through her hair. "It's always been like that. Emily is just a different person without fuckface, unfortunately."

"What about me?" Emily questions as she walks out of her room with Zach in tow.

"You're a different person without fuckface," Paige repeats, gesturing to Zach vaguely. "Is our bestest friend Emily Hope Matthews back?"

"Did she ever leave?" Emily asks as she unplugs her phone from the charger in their small kitchen.

"She hasn't been here for two years," Lilia says, not even looking up from her phone. Jack tightens his arm around her shoulder, bringing her closer to him. "Zach, do me a favor and block Jorden?"