─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"eli moskowitz. you haven't been here since freshman year." diego said with a chuckle. rowan's head snapped toward the door, heart pounding. eli was already here? his phone was upstairs— he hadn't even known when the boy started making his way over.

his bedroom was a complete mess, boxes and clothes scattered everywhere and the last thing he wanted was for eli to see them. the boy could barely hear eli's responses to his father's words, he was too busy internally panicking.

"oh, you brought muffins? may i?" his dad questioned. "thank you! i'll be upstairs getting ready for work, let me know if you need anything." diego said. rowan waited to hear his father's footsteps ascending up the staircase before he stepped out of the kitchen.

"oh, hey." eli said, surprised that the boy had been in close vicinity the whole time. "i uh, thought you'd be in your room or something." he suddenly noticed all the cardboard boxes scattered around the front room. "you guys packing?"

rowan nodded, "yeah. i think we're moving into esther's place." he explained. eli's face lit up at his words, "hey, just like we talked about." the boy reminded him.

"just like we talked about." rowan echoed. he rushed over to the couch, pushing aside some clothes so they could have space to sit. "sorry about the mess, i should've warned you before i invited you." he explained, perching on the couch.

eli sat beside him, only a little bit of space between them. "no, no. it's fine, i don't mind." he said. the boy glanced down at his hands to see the baked goods he had came with. "i brought you muffins. well, there were four but your dad—"

"took one." rowan lightly chuckled. "yeah, i heard. he loves sweet treat. thank you, do you want one?" he offered. eli shook his head. "no, i uh, don't really... don't really like the blueberries." he admitted.

rowan's jaw slacked at his confession, "you don't like blueberries? how can you not like blueberries? your mom used to pack you those little cups of berries for lunch." he reminded him, readjusting himself on the couch so that his body was facing eli.

eli laughed at his dramatics. "okay, that came out wrong." he said, placing the muffins on the coffee table. "i like blueberries, i just don't like them in muffins. or cakes, or pancakes. i just prefer chocolate chips." he shrugged.

rowan shook his head with disappointment. "typical." he sighed. eli seemed taken aback by his words, "typical?" he laughed.

"yeah, typical. you have no taste!" rowan exclaimed. eli softly laughed to himself before an awkward silence took over the room. rowan's leg began to tremble as his stomach bubbled with nervousness, the sweet smell of the blueberry muffins mixing with his anxiety made his stomach churn.

"i've been thinking about things, a lot." eli finally said. rowan glanced back up at him, holding eye contact to show he was attentively listening. eli cleared his throat. "thinking about myself and uh, what i want in life."

"yeah." rowan nodded, his voice soft. he could see that eli was struggling with whatever he was trying to say. "for the longest time, i thought i would always be with moon. even after she broke up with me and got a girlfriend." he said, lightly chuckling at the memory. "you should've seen my face when i found it."

"must've been a pretty funny face." rowan said with a weak smile. eli nodded, "definitely. but then i... then you came up to me at prom and things-things changed. i didn't care about trying to win moon over again. i wanted to focus on being friends with you again." he explained.

there was that word again. friend. rowan broke their eye contact, trying to ignore the sting. "yeah." rowan muttered. eli shut his eyes tightly. why was this so hard?

"but when demetri brought up everyone having a girlfriend but me, i realised that... i couldn't keep lying to myself." he said. rowan's eyebrows furrowed with confusion, now struggling to understand where eli was going with this.

"i had a crush on you, in freshman year." eli confessed. the second the words left his mouth, it felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "and when we stopped talking, i was completely heartbroken. demetri didn't understand, he told me that i would find other friends—better friends."

"eli, i'm so sorry." rowan said, his voice slightly cracking. "what i did was so shitty—" he started. eli shook his head, "no, no. i don't blame you at all. but fourteen year old me was pretty devastated."

rowan let out a shaky breath, "you had a crush on me?" he asked. eli nodded, biting the inside of his cheek. "yeah."

"freshman year?" rowan asked, glancing back up at him. "freshman year," eli confirmed with smile, but it didn't last long. "and then we stopped talking, and...it sucked. i wanted to hate you for it, but i couldn't. i still can't."

rowan blinked, his chest tightening at the vulnerability in eli's voice. "eli..." this was the last thing he expected when he invited eli over. he thought that he would be the one confessing and fearing rejection, not eli.

"you don't have to say anything." eli's words came out quickly, like he was trying to get ahead of the rejection. "i just—i needed you to know, okay? i needed to get it out there because if i didn't, i think i'd—"

"i liked you too. and i still do." rowan quickly said. "i think that's why i was so afraid of telling you about my mental state, i didn't want to scare you off." he admitted.

"well, i'm not going anywhere." eli reassured him with a smile.

rowan's lips parted like he wanted to respond, but nothing came out. he was suddenly hyperaware of how close eli was sitting to him on the couch, the warmth radiating from his body.

eli hesitated for a moment, his gaze flickering to rowan's lips before quickly darting away. "is this... okay?" he asked quietly, his voice uncertain. rowan's breath hitched, but he nodded. "yeah," he murmured, his cheeks warming.

eli didn't waste another second. he leaned in slowly, giving rowan every opportunity to stop him, but rowan didn't move and their lips met in a gentle, hesitant kiss. rowan's hand hesitantly came up to rest on eli's arm and the kiss deepened slightly, still soft but filled with emotions they'd both kept hidden for far too long.

the sound of giggling made the boys jerked apart, turning toward the staircase to see diego perched on the top step, grinning like he'd just won the lottery. "well, this is adorable. don't stop on my account," he said, barely containing his laughter.

"dad!" rowan groaned, his face flaming red. eli covered his face with both hands, muttering, "oh my god," under his breath.

diego raised his hands in surrender, still giggling as he headed back upstairs. "don't mind me! i'm just grabbing my jacket." he said, rushing back over to his bedroom. the two boys looked over to one another before bursting out into a heartfelt laughter, the previous embarrassment disappearing.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

esther stood in front of the couch, nervously staring her twins. she placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "okay. so, we have some big news... and i was hoping we'd tell you guys together but diego had to pick up an extra shift." she explained.

tabby's eyebrows furrowed with concern, "is rowan okay?" she questioned. esther's eyes went wide, she didn't even realise how depressing her statement sounded. the woman vigorously shook her head, "no, no. rowan's okay. it's not bad news." esther said.

theo let out a sigh of relief. "okay, so what's going on?" he asked. esther couldn't hide the growing smile on her face. "so, we were thinking that maybe... rowan and diego could stay with us for a few weeks and maybe if things go well, it could be a permanent thing?" she asked.

there was a moment of silence which made esther immediately grow anxious. theo grinned, "mom, they practically live here anyways. i think it would be cool." he said. his mother smiled brightly, "you think?" she asked.

the boy nodded, "yeah. it would be nice to have family dinners where they didn't have to leave in the evening." he explained. esther nodded in agreement, "right! that's what i was thinking. and we could do movie nights and—" she paused, realising her daughter hadn't said anything yet. "tabby?"

she looked up to make eye contact with her mom. "yeah?" tabby questioned. the girl quickly realised what she was asking. "shit— sorry. um, it would be nice that they stayed here full time." she stated.

esther didn't seem to convinced by her words. "are you sure?" she asked, "because if you're uncomfortable then—" esther started.

tabby shook her head. "uncomfortable? no, mom, of course not. i like diego, i'm happy you've found someone as great as him." she said. that was completely true. she did like diego, but she hadn't really lucked out with any form of father figures, so she hoped that diego could change that.

"and rowan moving in would just be like... endless sleepovers with my best friend." she said. the girl looked over to her twin beside her, resting a hand on his knee. "my best friends."

the boy seemed surprised by her words. "awh! you think i'm your best friend!" he exclaimed, pulling her head into a headlock. tabby groaned, smacking the boy's hands with frustration, "i take it back! mom! mom! tell him to get off of me!" she yelled.

esther laughed, rolling her eyes at the two. she knew that they could handle what ever attacks they threw at each other, and the woman hadn't seen them getting along in a while. so, she stepped away from the two and made her way over to the staircase.

"mom?!"

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

after she had forced herself out of theo's hold, tabitha made her way over to her room to take a nap. the nap was unfortunately cut short by her boyfriend's surprise arrival. "miguel?" tabby asked, sitting up in her bed and rubbing her eyes. "why are you here?"

the boy lightly chuckled, keeping the door open three inches just as esther had requested. "good to see you too, baby." he joked. tabby rolled her eyes, "i was having an amazing dream." she groaned.

miguel perched on the edge of her bed, "was i in it?" he quipped. the girl shook her head, a playful smile dancing on her lips. "no, that's what made it so amazing." tabby said.

"is that so? i guess i'll just have to give this gift to another girl then." he dramatically sighed, pushing himself into his feet. tabby immediately sat up straighter at the mention of a gift, she didn't even realise that he had a gift box in hand.

"wait... wait. you know what they say about dreams, they're super hard to remember and stuff. maybe i was wrong—i think you were in my dream." she quickly said. miguel laughed loudly at her pathetic attempt to take her joke back. he moved around the bed and climbed in beside her.

"no need to beg, you were going to get it anyways." miguel said, handing her the silver box. tabby smiled as she gently rattled it, wanting a clue as to what it was. "what's the occasion? our ten months? i didn't get you anything."

"it's okay. it's less of a month-aversiry gift and more of a... thank you for coming to mexico with me gift." he explained. tabby pouted at the gesture, her heart warming at his words. "miguel, that's so sweet. you didn't have to get me a gift for doing that... i'd go anywhere with you." she said.

"that's why i love you so much." he said with smile. she grimaced, "miguel... that's so sappy." tabby said.

he raised his eyebrow. "i'll take that back—" miguel threatened. her eyes went wide. "i love you so much too." tabby quickly said. "does it still feel good when you force me to say it?"

miguel thought for a second. "hmm... yeah. yeah, it does thanks. now, open the gift." he said. she grinned, pulling the lid off of the box and glancing inside to see... another smaller grey box. this one was much prettier, decorated with stars and sequins. "wow, this is so pretty. thank you." she said.

"the gift isn't just the box." he explained. she nodded, gently pulling the keepsake box out of the gift box. miguel watched intently as she opened the latch of the smaller box, nervous to see what she would think. a soft gasp escaped from tabby's lips when she realised what was inside.

for a moment, she was surprised that miguel had such a creative side of him. but then she remembered the video that he once made for sam and then tabby understood.

inside the box was shredded tissue paper and printed photos of them that she didn't even remember taking. but there was one thing caught tabby's attention. a folded sheet of lined pastel pink paper. miguel's smile grew wide as she picked it up and gently unfolded it.

the writing on the top was in large, bold, black ink which made it much easier for tabby to read. "50... 50 reasons that—" she started.

"that i love tabitha." miguel concluded. he started getting nervous at her initial lack of reaction, clearing his throat. "it's all the things i wrote down about you, but i love you for all those things. you once said it was illegal if i didn't show you what i had written down about you." he explained.

for a moment, she didn't move, just stared down at the neatly unfolded paper. she remembered when she first found out that miguel had a list of things about her and she begged him to read them to her. but after that, the thought completely slipped her mind.

this was overwhelming, miguel had poured so much thought into this, into her. "fifty reasons?" she whispered, her voice softer than usual.

"yeah. i mean, i could've done more, but i didn't want to make it too long, you know?" miguel said with a nervous laugh.

she traced her finger along the edges, her lips quirking into a shy smile. "it's... a lot of words," she said, her voice tinged with self-consciousness. miguel smiled, leaning closer. "i can read it to you if you want. but only if you're ready to hear me get super cheesy."

she glanced up at him, her big brown eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "you're ridiculous, diaz," she teased, though her voice cracked slightly.

"ridiculous good or ridiculous bad?" he asked, grinning nervously.

"ridiculous good," she admitted, her lips curving into a soft smile. miguel exhaled, some of his tension easing as he took the paper back, clearing his throat theatrically. "okay, i'll read some of my favourites. reason number twenty three: your laugh can make my worst day better."

tabby let out a soft laugh, swatting at his arm. "oh, come on." "reason number thirty four," he continued, ignoring her playful protests, "you always fight for the people you love, even if you're scared."

that was the moment tabby's tears broke free. before he could read another line, she reached forward and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. "you're such a massive dork," she murmured, her voice muffled, "but i love you so much for it."

miguel wrapped his arms around her tightly, grinning against her hair. "i love you too, tabby. more than i can put into words... though, clearly, i tried."

she pulled back just enough to look at him, her eyes glistening. "this is so sweet, miguel. but you've officially set the bar way too high."

"guess i'll just have to top it, then," he teased, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead. tabby laughed, resting her head against his shoulder again. "you're lucky you're cute," she said softly. "otherwise, i'd think you were trying to make me cry on purpose."

"maybe a little," miguel admitted with a laugh, holding her close as she let out a watery laugh of her own.

it was things like this that made tabitha glad she picked love over ambition.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
sappy, happy and medicated tabby 🥰🥰🥰

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