Evelyn laid calmly in her bed after a long, boring summer day. It was the beginning of June now, and Evelyn had yet to make any plans with her friends.

A few days had gone by since Evelyn and Troy's second almost-kiss. Evelyn's mind was still scrambled, while Troy was out doing his chores and whatever else he did in his free time. Evelyn didn't want to see him anyway. She was still hurt from the way he disregarded her and left her alone at the stable. She couldn't stop thinking about it. She didn't know what she expected, but it was definitely more than that.

     Evelyn was teetering right on the edge of falling asleep. The warmth of her blanket was enough to knock her unconscious. She was relaxed, she no longer had a care in the world.

     "Psst, Ev!" a voice whispered very close to her ear, causing her to practically jump out of her skin.

     "What are you doing here, Troy?!" Evelyn's startled body shifted. Her eyes tried their hardest to see the boy in the dark room.

     "Come, follow me," his head nodded toward her slightly-opened bedroom door, reaching out for her to take his hand. Evelyn was too sleepy to refuse, so she placed her hand in his and let him drag her out to his truck as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

     "How do you even get inside my house?" Evelyn rubbed her tired eyes as Troy opened the truck door for her.

     Troy didn't answer until he was situated in the driver's seat, which to Evelyn felt like fifteen years. "I just walked in. You really gotta tell Scott to start locking the door."

     "Then how else would you get in?" Evelyn whispered. The innocent question made Troy's lips curl up into a grin. He reached over to lace his calloused fingers with her soft ones.

     "I didn't think about that," Troy shrugged, tightening the grip on her hand. "I'd find a way. but when did you start caring about how I got in?" he teased. even in Evelyn's sleepy state, she managed to roll her eyes at him.

     "I don't."

     "Sounds like somebody misses me when I'm not around," he let go of her hand to poke at her stomach, which left her squirming angrily.

     "Troy!" she whined, grabbing his hand and placing it back on his lap. "Please. I just woke up."

     "Never too early to mess with you," he leaned over and connected their hands once again. She was a little more alert now. The touch warmed her heart.

     "Wait!"

     "What?"

     "Where are we even going?" she couldn't believe she didn't think to ask. It had become so normal for Troy to take her on some unsolicited adventure, Evelyn was beginning to not question him.

     "Our spot," he answered simply. Evelyn tilted her head in confusion.

     "Our spot?"

     "Yup."

     "Am I missing something?" she fought the urge to yank her hand back into her own lap.

     "You'll see, Ev," Troy squeezed her hand again, leaving everything up to her imagination.

     Evelyn was so busy taking in the parts of the ranch she'd never seen before, she barely even realized Troy had stopped driving. He hurriedly opened his door and made his way over to Evelyn's side to open hers. "Wow, Romeo. You're so polite," Evelyn jokingly remarked as she grabbed his hand, stepping onto the grass.

     "Anything for you, Juliet," Evelyn's heart almost gave out when she registered his reply. She'd only called him Romeo as a joke, and she was sure he was joking too, but his statement was filled with so much charm she couldn't help but feel like it was sickeningly endearing.

     Troy led her to the back of the truck. Evelyn wasn't sure what to do next. Troy answered her silent questions by opening the tailgate and gesturing for her to hop on the truck bed. Evelyn knew better than to fight with him, especially at this hour, so she complied. 

     "Why are you going so slow?" Troy questioned her languid pace.

     "'Cause I'm tired... and I don't want to embarrass myself," she muttered, trying her best to sit back as elegantly as she could.

     "You know I'd never make fun of you, Ev."

     "Right, instead you'd probably leave me alone with somebody who would most likely call me countless racial slurs that i've never even heard of and act like I never even existed right after we were about to kiss," evelyn shrugged innocently as Troy climbed after her, acting like she didn't just project all of her pent up anger onto him.

     "Wow. I wonder where all that came from," Troy shook his head and raised his eyebrows obliviously. Evelyn scoffed. He wasn't even going to own up to it.

     "It was just a thought I had," she crossed her arms, curious to see how he'd respond.

     "What a crazy thought!"

     "Troy," she spat, "you have got to be kidding me."

     "Fine. I'm sorry," he sighed.

     "Is that all you have to say?" Evelyn chuckled in disbelief. Knowing troy, she'd have to force a somewhat sincere apology out of him, which kind of hurt her. She knew that if they were ever to somehow find themselves in a relationship, that'd be a huge problem.

     "I don't know, I just froze up."

     "Why? Why were you embarrassed of me?" Evelyn took deep breaths. She was truly fighting to keep her composure. The last thing she wanted was to cry in front of him, especially now that a relationship between the two was silently being questioned.

     "I wasn't embarrassed of you, Ev."

     "So then why?"

     "I told you, Ev, I just froze up," he grabbed both her hands, soothingly running his thumbs over her knuckles. "I'm sorry. I'll work on that, I promise."

     "Fine," Evelyn's nose scrunched up in regret. She could not grasp why she forgave him so easily. After the whole incident at the stable, she really began to believe carson. She should've made better decisions. She shouldn't let troy have this much control over her.

"Great. Now stop being depressing and lay back! I even brought pillows," Troy saw a chance to change the subject and took it as fast as he could.

"Thank goodness," Evelyn stretched her arms out. "I hate just laying flat."

"I know, that's why I brought 'em. You brought it up one time when you were talking about how you were having trouble sleeping," Evelyn was taken aback at Troy's ramble. She never expected him to actually listen to what she said.

"I can't believe you remembered that," Evelyn shook her head, desperately trying to rid her face of the smile it held. He was making it really hard for Evelyn to not give in to him. Almost impossible. she was now starting to lean toward katie's argument. She was so tired of having to run back and forth between her thoughts on Troy, but she really couldn't help it.

"Why wouldn't I? I remember everything my best friend says," Troy gifted her a wide, charming smile (which totally didn't make her blush), and pulled her down to lay beside him.

For a while it was silent. The two just stared up at the clear sky and bright stars. Evelyn never thought to appreciate the night sky like this, but now that she has, she'd cherish it forever. She was sure she'd cherish the exact moment forever, laying next to Troy, stargazing.

Evelyn sighed, deciding to press Troy on something that'd been bothering her for a while now. she figured troy would be the one to help. "Troy?" he only hummed in response. "This whole ranch deal is based on like, surviving the end of the world, right?"

"Yeah, guess so. Why?"

"I don't want the world to end."

Troy let out a soft chuckle. "I don't think anyone does. At least here we'll be prepared."

"But I don't want to world to end!" Evelyn repeated, running her tired hands through her messy hair. "I want to wake up knowing that I still have to go to school. That i'll still be able to see my friends, spend time with them, you know?"

"Well, you'll always have me."

Evelyn huffed. "How would the world even end?"

Troy shrugged, mumbling an 'I don't know'. "Government gets overthrown, I guess. It'll be every man for himself."

"No," Evelyn shook her head. She refused to believe it. "I don't like that."

"No one does, Ev. Sometimes that's just how it goes."

"I really hope the world doesn't end," she tightly wrapped her arms around her own torso, almost to protect herself.

"Me neither, but otherwise, I feel like this whole 'ranch deal' would be a waste," he joked. Evelyn didn't laugh with him. Her expression remained worried. "Ease up, Ev. If worse comes to worst, we're ready."

"Yeah, whatever."

Silence crept over the duo once again. Evelyn was feeling tired again and decided to just let her body have it's way. It was Troy who broke the quiet this time.

"Ev?" she simply hummed just like Troy did before. "I'm cold."

"And?"

"Come here," Evelyn look over to see Troy with his arms out. Evelyn smiled, shaking her head before moving toward him. She rested her head on his warm chest and felt his hand come down to sit on her waist.

"What is this?" she asked softly. The noise from the bugs almost drowned her low voice out, but Troy was listening. He listened.

"Just two best friends cuddling," he answered in the most nonchalant tone ever. Surprisingly, Evelyn appreciated his response. Her mind was too groggy to question his intentions at the moment, so it was nice to hear him be somewhat "straightforward" for once and use the term they'd both been questioning lately.

"Goodnight Troy."

"Goodnight Ev."

a/n
currently cackling while
sitting on the throne in
my evil lair!!!
this chapter is like longgg
but i hope y'all enjoyed them
like kinda sorting things
out?? vote + commentttt
and so sorry for mistakes
wc: 1693
03.17.22
edit 3/17/23: this is my fav
chapter ever