𝐄𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 - 𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐋 [✓]

𝟏𝟔. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 '𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐓'

𝙹𝙰𝙽𝚄𝙰𝚁𝚈 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟿 | 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙼𝚂𝙻𝙾𝚆

Elizabeth was hurting, she had every right to be as she saw George getting on with the rest of the boys like he was completely unaffected by whatever had happened between them. While she was still awkwardly sitting there, waiting for her apology and things to go back to normal between them. Adam picked up on this through the whole rehearsal she sat in on, her older sister had stayed back at their shared flat in Uni so she wasn't going to be there to comfort the youngest Collins sibling. Which is why he took it upon himself.

When Elizabeth finally got too inside her own head she decided to leave, barely choking out a 'Goodbye' before slamming the door shut behind her. The four boys looked to themselves and mainly at George who got very defensive. "What are you looking at me for?" 
Ross sighed and his the boy upside his head, "She's crying because of you, idiot."
George rolled his eyes, "Well maybe she shouldn't have been so overdramatic and then nothing would've happened all that time ago. It's her fault if she's not over it by now."

Even Matty was calling him out on his shitty behaviour, which was a telltale sign you really fucked up as Matty was normally an advocate for only thinking about yourself in the game of girls. "You were her best friend G, we all are and now she's got to sit and watch her three best friends be happy with the boy who broke her heart."
"I didn't break her heart!"

Adam scoffed at the boy and got up in an attempt to follow her, "I'm gonna go make sure she's alright." Ross and Matty nodded, George not even bothering to look at Adam out of shame.
"Can you at least think about apologising at some point?"

With that Adam had left the room, on his way around Wilmslow to find the girl who was now sobbing in the skate park. It was the second place he'd checked, after a park on Georges road that he had mentioned they spent a lot of time in together. Rebecca had been the one who told him about how they ran off to the skate park when things got too much growing up, and he was relieved to see her there.

The girl gave him a look that read, 'How did you know?' and he only had one word for a reply. "Rebecca."
She nodded and took a drag of her cigarette, not particularly wanting to engage in conversation with anybody and especially not one of the people she considered a brother. It was awkward talking emotions and getting soppy with them.

After a short while of content silence Adam decided he didn't want to waste either of their time anymore, "You know I think he only got mad all that time ago because he had a massive thing for you." 
She laughed bitterly, "You are joking right? We were strictly friends with benefits, I reminded him of that so much."
Adam shook his head, "To you maybe but I'm telling you Elizabeth, the boy was obsessed with you. I don't know if he even realised himself how much he was head over heels."

Now it was her turn to shake her head, refusing to believe the things she was hearing out of either denial or protection of her own emotions. "We were best friends of course he'd seem like he was obsessed with me."
"No it wasn't just friendly," he was quick with his admission, "He'd mention you all the time - like all the time," he dragged the 'all' for emphasis. "Like I'd talk about something Rebecca did and he'd mention how you did it too-"
"Well of course he did, we're sisters you can't be surprised we did the same thing."

Adam let out a frustrated groan at her ignorance. "No, it was different the way he spoke about you compared to the way you spoke about him," he paused and thought about more proof he needed to convince her. "And, you didn't see the looks he'd give you while you looked the other way."
She couldn't help but scoff, "You sound so cliche, we're not in Love Actually."

"I know it sounds cliche Elizabeth, but you've got to believe me. You didn't come to rehearsals for a while because you were hurting too so you didn't see how he was. He was so hung up on you."
"Yeah, I was hurting because I'd lost my best friend of nearly five years, he lost his too." she stated so matter of factly it was irritating Adam even more. Not a fan of losing and especially not losing an argument he was right in. 

"Oh my God, stubbornness does run in the Collins genes-" he muttered under his breath, pinching between his brows.
With a quick slap to the chest she scalded him, "Oi, don't be rude." 

Adams words were becoming desperate, trying to drill into her head that what he was saying was true even though she was having absolutely none of it. 
"He was heartbroken, I'm convinced he was in love with you Elizabeth."  

His words felt like they run around her mind, suffocating her with thoughts. There is a crystal clear difference between loving your best friend and being 'in love' with your best friend. A difference that Elizabeth had never picked up on.
"Why would he be in love with me, he would've told me if he was and he wouldn't have been because it breaks the rules. We were best friends with the added benefits and nothing else.

Adam gasped, not understanding how she was basically spelling out the answer to her own questions without acknowledging them herself. "Have you ever thought that maybe that's why he didn't tell you? He knew he was deep into the friend zone with you and he couldn't tell you and risk what you already had." 
She drew out a groan and put her head in her hands, about to speak before Adam interrupted her again. "You can't blame him, the pair of you blurred the lines of friendship and relationship far too often for you to be surprised that he caught feelings."

She got silent, Adam knowing he was right. Even Elizabeth knowing he was right but she couldn't bring herself to admit to anything.
"Adam are you kidding me, you can't spring this on me now that he's gotten over it. All that happened was he did the typical jealous teenage boy thing and got insecure, then did something stupid by taking it out on the first person he saw who happened to be me." He nodded at her words, the hurt lacing off of her tongue. "He probably thought I'd get over it and run back to him but there is no way I'm getting over what he did. He was in the wrong and you know that."
Adam nodded simply, knowing she didn't owe anybody in the messed up situation anything. She didn't have to forgive him or act civil for the sake of everyone else. They were adult enough to handle the situation between them without altering things for anyone else. 

"I know he was in the wrong, all I'm saying is people say and do the wrong thing out of love."

There was a silence as she thought. Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked very stressed out. 

"Adam, did he ever explicitly say to you, Matty, Ross or anybody that he was in love with me?" 
A simple yes or no would clear it up for her, and then be the main factor in her next decisions. She wasn't sure if she'd go to George and ask him to confess his love to her, or if she'd even forgive him right away if he did. Adams words had opened her eyes a bit and she did feel that maybe she'd been a bit harsh.

He thought hard started speaking with a slight shake of his head, "Not properly, but-"
"No buts, I'm taking it as you're wrong and I'm right. He wasn't in love with me he was just a giant crybaby over something stupid."

She ignored the eye roll she got from her friend and he sighed. "What you don't know can't hurt you I guess."
She shook her head and leaned into him, "Shut up you idiot." 
There was a silence for a second as she was content with her friend, "I'm glad you're the one with Rebecca, I don't think any of them would handle big brother duties as well as you do."