It had been two days since the Spanish incident with Kellin in the locker room. It's safe to report that he still hasn't figured out what either I, or he, had said. It's not like he hasn't been trying though.

He lugs that Spanish dictionary around with him everywhere; I have to give him credit for his dedication. Why he cares so much about what I said is a mystery. I never should've let myself slip up like that. Thankfully, those books won't teach him slang. He'll never be able to figure it out.

Hopefully I won't have to deal with Kellin's pestering today. Today was the car wash. We had been working with the other guys all week, putting up flyers and gathering supplies.

It was Saturday morning and I was standing outside the Town Hall's recreation center, waiting for Kellin to show up with his mom's keys.

Tony, Jaime, Parker, Dan, and Alex all huddled around. Some of them were sitting on the steps, leaning against the brick building and yawning from having to wake up this early on a weekend.

"Morning gents, Vic, you're looking extra handsome this morning." Jack complimented as he climbed the wide concrete steps. He gave me a smile and patted me on the back, arriving fashionably late as always.

"I was going to say the same thing, does Vic have someone to impress?" Tony gave me a knowing smirk which I immediately shook off.

"Yeah, I thought Vic and Cannon were a thing." Jaime's eyebrows furrowed as he motioned towards Parker who was standing beside me, drinking his own coffee. Leave it to Jaime to always be the last to catch on.

"Whose a thing?" Kellin appeared out of nowhere, twirling a huge set of keys around his index finger.

"Parker and Vic." Jaime replied.

I shot him a look, instantly panicking as my widened eyes found Parker's. That morning after we all hung out in Tony's brother's record shop, I confessed my crush on Kellin to Parker. Him being the genius he is, already knew. Apparently he could tell during the Lacrosse practice. He was really sweet about it. We both decided we were better as friends anyways. I of course felt bad, but he reassured me everything was fine.

Parker shook his head and shot me a smile, "Nah, we agreed that we are better as friends. Plus, Vic's got a thing for dark brunettes."

I instantly brought my arm up and elbowed him in the stomach, causing Parker to grunt as he tried to suppress the laughter escaping his mouth.

Tony, who had been leaning against the wall, uninterested, and a few feet away from us, snickered.

My head was screaming at me to not look at the brunette I did in fact have a crush on but I couldn't help myself. As usual, I couldn't read Kellin at all. His face held no inclination that he picked up on the painfully obvious remark Parker just made.

"Oh do you now? Brunettes huh? Let's see..." Alex tapped on his chin as he racked his brain for a list of brunette athletic guys.

"No need to finish that sentence! Kellin? You brought the keys right?" I frantically changed the subject, turning to look at him.

That was a mistake. He looked so good this morning. He had on his usual black leather jacket with the zipper undone over a cream fisherman's sweater. A red button up flannel shirt was underneath the sweater. I could tell because the collar peaked out, buttons done up completely.

He must've just finished showering because his hair was curled slightly at the ends. There were little water droplets falling off a few of the pieces that framed his round face. The top of his head was already dry, poofing out a little from the morning humidity.

He smirked and resumed twirling the keys around his finger, "Step aside boys."

Kellin pushed through us and walked up to the big wooden doors. He sorted through the keys before stopping on the right one, putting it into the lock and opening the door.

He led us through the Town Hall towards the back of the building where the recreation room was. We filed in after him as he reached around and flicked on all the lights.

"Holy shit." Parker muttered.

The entire place was decked out. Food vendors and carnival game booths lined the perimeter of the room. In the middle, huge tarps covered the floors to protect the wood from the water and hoses we'd be using.

On the east and west wall of the room were huge garage door openings so the cars could drive in and out easily. PTA moms and other faculty volunteers were already here setting everything up.

"Damn Kellin, your mom really came through. This is way more than I could've ever expected." Parker offered with a bright smile.

"Yeah man, the lacrosse team really owes you one." Dan nodded in agreement.

Kellin shrugged, crossing his arms as he mumbled, "It wasn't a big deal. She was just really excited that I apparently showed an interest in charity work."

I rolled my eyes at him for that comment, "Alright boys, Alex and I put together a little schedule so we can rotate working the car wash." I slid off my backpack and handed Alex a clipboard.

"Let's see...Jack? You, me, and Dan are taking the first shift washing the cars." Alex called out.

Jack leaned over and patted me on the back, "Bless your soul." He skipped off after Alex like a puppy, ripping off his shirt in the process. He was the only one who had actually showed up in his bathing suit.

I saluted at him, "You're welcome but hey, keep it in your pants okay?"

"You got it boss." Jack returned the salute with two thumbs up before joining Alex next to the table filled with buckets, sponges, and soap.

Reaching down I fished out a second clipboard and read off the remaining jobs to Tony, Parker, and Jaime. Scanning the already growing crowd, my eyes landed on a huge poster board with a fundraising meter. Our goal for new uniforms, equipment, and maintenance for the lacrosse field was $5,000.

We better wash a lot of cars.

\\\\\\

It was now about three hours later and things were running relatively smoothly. We were a little over halfway to our fundraising goal; thanks to a couple local businesses making separate donations.

Glancing at the clock on the wall I noticed that it was about time to switch up the roles again. Sighing, my eyes locked onto Kellin who was laying in a lounge chair, knees pulled up to his chest, and the Spanish For Dummies book propped up on his thighs.

He had clearly dragged one of the heat lamps we were using to create a summer feel in the gym, over to his chair.

"Why are you still reading that? Aren't you supposed to be working at the cotton candy booth right now?" I glared at him, double checking my schedule on the clipboard I was still holding.

Kellin shifted in the chair and sat up, pulling his head out of the huge book and made eye contact with me for the first time all morning.

I felt my heart race just a bit at the sight.

He was wearing glasses.

The big square kind with black frames. They balanced on his nose, slightly crooked.

"I uh, I didn't know you wore glasses." I blurted out.

Kellin removed them from his face quickly, folding them up and placing them gently in his jacket pocket that was draped over the chair.

"Just to read." He shrugged his shoulders.

"You never wear them in school." I pointed out.

He scratched the back of his neck and closed the book, "Yeah because I look like a loser."

"You don't. You look....studious." Trailing off, my eyebrows furrowed.

Studious? Really Vic? Could you have sounded any weirder?

Kellin tilted his head to the side as he pressed his lips together and stared at me with his huge blue eyes.

"Studious." He repeated.

"Anyways, you didn't answer my question. Why aren't you at the cotton candy stand?" I brushed off the nervous feeling in my stomach whenever Kellin looked at me like that and crossed my arms.

He leaned back on the lounge chair and folded his hands behind his head, "Because I am close to figuring out what you said to me in Spanish."

My eyes widened, "Really?!"

Kellin huffed and rolled his eyes, "No. Not even a little bit. Why won't you just tell me? This is the hardest I've tried to learn anything in years."

I held back a chuckle, "First of all, don't ever admit that again. Second of all, why do you care so much about what I said?"

"I can't let things go. Even if something doesn't seem like a big deal to other people, I can't let it go. I don't like feeling like the odd one out." He explained.

"Okay that's fair. But, really, it wasn't anything important."

"If it wasn't important then why can't you tell me?" Kellin smirked.

I looked at the clock again then back at my clipboard, "I don't have time for this. We're about to switch roles any minute and we still need to raise $2,000. There's only two hours left and I'm not going to let Parker down."

Kellin climbed up from the chair and grabbed his leather jacket, draping it over his shoulder, "How about we make a bet? If we raise the full amount, then you have to tell me what you said."

$2,000 in two hours? It took us three hours to raise $3,000 and that was with large donations from the community. We'd never make it in time.

I grinned, "Fine, you've got yourself a deal, Quinn. But if we don't raise all the money, then you have to promise you won't bring this up again. Ever."

"Deal. Now excuse me, I'll be back in a little bit." Kellin shot me a look of determination as he walked past me, leaving the room.

I rolled my eyes and went into the bathroom. After changing into my bathing suit I joined the rest of the guys at the car washing station.

We started to get to work, getting into a pretty good groove as we sprayed each car down with water, cleaned them with soap, washed them off, and dried them down. We repeated that process for about a half an hour when a few frantic car beeps got our attention.

A vintage white, Mercedes convertible slowly drove up to the front of the car wash station. Following behind it was a line of cars that stretched all the way out and around the building. There had to have been at least 25 cars.

The Mercedes rolled to a stop, the driver's side directly in front of me.

A smirking Kellin was seated behind the oversized wheel on a burgundy leather seat. He pushed his gold Aviator sunglasses on top of his wavy, air dried hair and grinned.

He had changed into a bathing suit of his own. I had to catch myself and pick my jaw up off the floor because well, he looked good. He looked better than good.

Kellin Quinn was fucking hot. And I hated it.

He was wearing a simple pair of black swimming trunks that hit at his thick, toned thighs. He wasn't wearing a shirt but still had on his leather jacket. The zipper was undone, showing off his pale chest and defined abs.

"This oughta help make a dent in your little goal I think."

"H-how?" I stuttered, feeling like I just got caught staring at something I shouldn't have been. That something being Kellin's body.

He smirked again and motioned behind him at the line of cars, "I told the football team I'd make them run extra drills every Friday for the rest of the season. They came running. Well, driving."

I smiled at him and peeled off my t-shirt that Jack had just previously soaked by spraying me with the hose.

"I've gotta say, I'm impressed." I replied, taking a step closer to the car.

I noticed Kellin's eyes flick from my gaze down to look at my own toned stomach. I couldn't hide my smirk as I reached up to run a hand through my slightly damp hair, making sure to flex my arm just a bit.

Kellin bit his lip and immediately turned his head to face forward.

Suddenly his car dipped forward a bit, causing us both to look at what was causing it.

"Hey! Barakat! Get your fucking ass off my baby!" Kellin sat up in his seat and yelled over the windshield.

Jack was on top of the hood of the car, posing.

"Dude, this is a sexy car." Jack replied, completely ignoring Kellin's protests as he squeezed a sponge over himself and started cleaning the hood.

"Yeah I know it is, that's why I'm telling you to get off of it so you don't leave a scratch!"

Jack flipped Kellin off and slid down the hood, walking back over to Alex.

Kellin turned his attention back to me, looking me up and down again.

"Now how come you're not up there giving me a show?"

My eyes widened as my brain tried to process what he had just said, "Um..."

"What? Cat got your tongue? Did I finally get Fuentes to not have an immediate comeback?" He teased me.

I regained my composure and took a few steps forward until I was standing directly in front of Kellin. I put my hands on the side of his car and leaned forward, "Baby, you wouldn't be able to handle it if I put on a show for you."

Kellin's mouth opened slightly, it looked like he was trying to figure out what to say.

"Aw now who can't come up with a comeback? You might want to put the roof on and roll up the window, you're starting to blush."

"Now, I have to go run the dunk tank for the last 30 minutes. Let's hope your boys tip well, I'm not sure we're going to make it." I added before winking at Kellin and walking over to the dunk tank.

I met Tony over there who nodded behind me as I approached, "What was that about?"

"Oh. Nothing. Just Kellin brought his football friends to try and meet our goal. He's desperate to find out what I said to him in Spanish."

"Yeah? Well it looked like you two were flirting." Tony raised his eyebrow at me.

"What? No way. I mean, he did say this one thing that sounded like maybe he was flirting with me but he probably was just messing with me to be a dick. You know, because he knows I also like guys." I rolled my eyes and waved Tony off.

"What are you going to do if we do hit the goal? You're going to have to tell him."

I shook my head, letting my bare feet trail across the top of the water. I was currently seated in the dunk tank, having just switched positions with Tony.

"Nope. I'll come up with an excuse. There's no way I can admit that to him."

"Well well well. Do my ears deceive me or are you backing out of our bet? Because from the looks of that tracker over there, we are only $500 from hitting it." Kellin appeared in front of the dunk tank with an unamused look on his face.

Fuck. He totally just overheard mine and Tony's conversation.

"Take a look at the clock, smart ass. We have five minutes left until this event ends." I smirked and looked over at Tony who was just smiling at us.

Kellin looked past my head at the sign hanging behind me.

"A five dollar donation for three tries to knock him in?" He asked Tony who nodded in response.

Kellin dug around the inner pocket of his leather jacket before slamming a thick stack of bills into Tony's outstretched hand.

"How many tries does five hundred dollars get me?" He grinned proudly as he grabbed one of the rubber balls off the table.

I gripped the seat of the dunk tank as I realized what he was about to do, "Wait wait Kellin. Wait. Let's talk about this ok -"

I didn't have time to finish my sentence. The next thing I felt was freezing cold water as Kellin hit the lever that dropped me into the tank.

When I resurfaced, Tony and Kellin were both laughing hysterically. I whipped my soaking wet hair from my face and gripped the side of the dank.

"That wasn't fair! You're the fucking quarterback. Of course you're going to hit me in on the first try." I mumbled angrily.

"Not my problem. Now get back up on that seat." Kellin waved his hand at me.

"What? No way."

"Excuse me but I paid for $500 worth of dunks. Up." He demanded again.

I let out a heavy sigh as I climbed out of the tank and went back up the steps, sitting back down on the seat that hovered above the water.

On my tenth time being knocked into the water I surfaced, "Fine! Kellin fine! I'll tell you what I said okay? That's what you wanted right?"

Kellin grinned as he started to back away.

"Keep the change. Later boys." He waved at us before walking through the crowd of people.

As I climbed out of the tank Tony handed me a towel, "Well, looks like you really are screwed now."

\\\\\

I didn't see Kellin for the rest of the day. He must've left right at the end of the fundraiser because he didn't stick around to help us clean up. Not that it surprised me.

It was dusk, just after four in the afternoon. That time of the day where the sun shone golden, shades of pinks and orange in the yellow sky. I was sitting criss cross on the floor of the treehouse, sifting through a box of board games. It was Saturday evening and that meant family game night. No matter how old we got, mom never let go of family game night.

I found Monopoly, my mom's favorite, and started climbing down the ladder. My feet crunched on the fallen autumn leaves as I hit the ground. Standing still, I heard more leaves crunching from my left.

Turning around I spotted Kellin leaning against his side of the white fence that separated our yards. He had a cigarette in between his fingers.

Begrudgingly I walked over to it, tucking the board game underneath my arm.

I banged my fist against the wood slate next to his head, "Knock knock."

Kellin jumped and swiveled around to face me, Fuck! You scared the shit out of me dude."

"Why're you already in pajamas? It's not even dinner time yet." Kellin questioned as he stared at me through the fence.

I looked down at my oversized grey crewneck sweatshirt and matching sweats. Mike always said they made me look like a prisoner but they were the biggest pj's I owned. They made me feel extra cozy.

"Huh? Oh. It's because of you. I was freezing after you knocked me into that dunk tank ten times. I came home right after and took the hottest shower."

"Ah thanks for reminding me! I almost forgot." I watched Kellin smirk as he leaned back against the fence, staring straight ahead and away from me.

"As if you ever could." I grumbled under my breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Quinn."

"Do I need to remind you about our bet?"

I sighed and rubbed my face with my free hand, before setting the board game down so I could grip the fence slats in front of me, "No..."

Kellin raised an eyebrow at me, "You know I can let you in the gate you weirdo."

"Nope I'm good over here." I rambled.

I can't believe I was about to do this. Kellin stayed leaning against the fence as he took another inhale of smoke, holding it for a few seconds before blowing it out into the frigid October air.

"Alright alright...what I said was...that you had a nice ass. Well if we're being technical, I said I would sin for your ass." I finally admitted, saying the last part extra fast.

Kellin immediately turned to face me, becoming eye level with me. I couldn't tell if it was because of the cold or if he was actually blushing.

"W-wait, you said what?"

Instead of answering, I reached my hand through the fence slats and plucked the cigarette that was dangling from Kellin's mouth with my fingers. I held it up to my own lips and took a long drag, keeping my eyes locked on his.

Kellin pouted when I didn't reply, "Hey, you always yell at me for smoking."

"Come here." I spoke as I exhaled the smoke.

Kellin looked at me confused but listening, putting his face closer to the fence as one of his hands gripped the slat I was just holding.

I transferred the cigarette from my fingers, back into Kellin's slightly agape mouth, before walking backwards slowly.

"Later, Quinn."

Author's Note

And we're back! Sorry this chapter kinda sucks and there were a lot of time skips. So much had to happen in this chapter and I didn't want it to be too long. (ALSO this isn't edited lol)

Our boys are finally starting to flirt! Please let me know your thoughts for this chapter, your favorite part and all that.

I'm sorry for the huge delay in updating this story, I was feeling extremely unmotivated and uninspired to write which made me sad because I do love this story so much. But I'm finally feeling better about writing in general so hopefully I can get the next update out sooner!

Thanks again for supporting my writing!

also shoutout to @0Kellic0 for editing the gif i used for this chapter lmao

See ya on the next one

- Cassidy :)