High School Sweethearts

•17•

•Toms pov•
"I absolutely adore you." Elle says squeezing me tightly.
"What can I say, I'm amazing" I laugh.
"Seriously like you saved me from the most possibly embarrassing situation of my life" she says.
"I wish it wasn't like that though, I wish you felt good enough without having to lie" I admit.
"I'll get there" she gives me a small smile.
I wish I could just tell her, she needs to be with someone who makes her feel perfect, because she is. She shouldn't be with a guy that makes her feel like she needs to change herself..
"I'm going to go put all my stuff in my locker, meet you at your car?"
"Yeah" I nod and she walks away.
"Who the fuck is Daniel?" Haz walks up to me and I shut my locker.
"The guy you just met?" I say.
"But who is he? Are they dating?"
Why is he so angry?
"Yeah, why does it matter?" I ask.
"We had a thing" he says and I can't help but laugh.
"And then you said all you wanted was to fuck her, she cried that night, saying no one thinks she's worth more than a one night stand. Then you started dating the literal devil. So you don't really get to be offended that she's moving on from your 'thing' you had"
"Woah she heard me say that?" He asks.
"Yeah" I nod and he gets a worried look on his face.
"Dammit. Well this totally backfired" he mutters.
"What backfired?" I ask.
"Nothing it's nothing" he shakes his head. "This Daniel guy makes her uncomfortable though, we've got to get rid of him"
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but leave it alone" I say.
"What? Did you not see how fake she had to act around him?" He asks.
"Believe me, I see it. She's happy, and if we ruin that she'll hate us. I can't have her hate me"
The thought of Elle hating me is the worst thing I could ever think of. So we haven't known her very long, but she's still special to me.

•One month later•
"Thomas get off my fucking ass!" Elle yells through the phone as I drive my car right behind hers.
"Sorry love, you're driving too slow" I laugh.
"Fuck you" she says, pulling over and letting me pass her.
"Love you too" I joke.
"We could have beat him!" Haz scolds Elle.
Haz and Elle have become better friends over the past couple weeks, ever since brook stopped hanging around our group got back to normal.
"Well sorry I don't want to die before getting to my boyfriends concert!" She says.
Boyfriend, ah yes it's official between Elle and Daniel, has been almost the whole past month. Although she always has to come up with excuses of why she can't hang out with him and his friends because she feels so insecure around them. This is the one event she couldn't get herself out of though as it's his first real performance for a charity event. She insisted on dragging us along with her to feel a bit more comfortable but who the fuck can be comfortable when this dressed up. Jesus Christ it's not like we're meeting the queen.
We get to the building where the event is being held and go inside.
Elle looks stunning in her mid length lavender dress. Her hair curled to one side, pinned away from her face.
"My beauty" Daniel greets her, and I can't help but cringe. What the fuck is he wearing? And why does he think his hair looks good? He's so stupid. I hate him.
"How are you? Nervous?" She asks.
"A little" he nods, turning to Haz and I. "Glad you two could make it."
"Elle, been a while" a light haired guy hugs her, followed by a tall guy giving her an awkward side hug.
"Oh, Tyler, kody, this is Tom and Harrison, Elle's friends" Daniel introduces us.
So these are the guys who make my sunshine feel less than.
My sunshine, that's a little cringey. Glad that was said in my head.
I feel irritation rise as Daniel slides his hand a little too low on Elle's waist, practically grabbing her ass.
"I already regret this" I whisper to Haz.
"Same here mate" he mutters.
"Hello, and who are you?" A brunette girl with bright eyes smiles as she approaches me.
"Tom" I introduce myself.
"Haven't seen you around before" she comments.
"Oh just here to support Daniel" I shrug.
"Daniel has quite a big head doesn't he?" She says and I laugh.
"Just between us, I absolutely agree"
"I'm rose" she shakes my hand.
"Nice to meet you rose"
"Thomas come on" Elle waves me over.
"Your girlfriend?" Rose asks.
"Daniels girlfriend" I correct her.
"Poor girl" she says
"Couldn't agree more. Excuse me"
I make my way over to the group and we wait as Daniel walks up the stage. He starts to play and to be honest, I drowned it all out.
What did I have to drown out even more? How Elle went on and on about how great Daniel is when we got home from the event. We sat on the couch, drinking beer and watching a movie.
"And the way he looked at me as he played, he's wonderful" she smiles, but it quickly fades. "Can I admit something?"
"Of course" I say.
"I don't love him" she says.
"Darling you just met him a month ago, love takes time"
Well, not for all of us.
"I don't know if I ever will love him.. I enjoy being with him, and we're great together, but I don't feel like myself when I'm with him"
"Why's that?" I ask.
"I feel like I have to try so hard, and so does he.."
"It'll smooth out" I encourage.
"I don't get why it can't just be easy, like you and me." She says.
Her and I? Is she really comparing her relationship to us?
"Elle, give it time" I say. I don't know why I'm encouraging this. I hate the guy, but I love seeing her happy, which normally she is. "You're just discouraged because you always feel uncomfortable around his friends. Sleep on it yeah?"
"You're right. Thanks Tom" she rests her head on my shoulder and lets out the breath she's been holding, releasing all of her stress before falling asleep right there.