━

NOW MONTHS HAD PASSED since miles' encounter with audrey on her birthday, yet the only thing he could think of was how she'd told him so much about herself.

she felt so comfortable talking to him.

and to miles it seemed weird because while he knew she was shy and usually nervous, she put up a good nonchalant facade.

he spent every day being busy, but every spare moment traced back to a thought consumed by audrey kinch.

it was now march, and the spring dance was coming up.

he knew better than to ask, audrey. knowing that her response to those functions was usually how the school was trying to squeeze money out of them since the district was broke, or that she had something better to do.

so miles thought carefully about how he would tackle the situation.

first of all, she wouldn't be going to the dance, she would likely be leaving for a trip with her family that she'd been talking about; or spend her break to herself.

secondly, every science project is usually assigned before a break. and both miles and audrey had become regular partners throughout the year, which would give him the chance to finally invite her over to work on the project.

while miles has asked before if she would come over to work on the project, they usually facetimed to work on it since her parents would always make up an excuse not to go.

"miles, if i'm being honest," she started as she typed on her computer, looking to the side where her phone sat next to the screen, "i would love to come over and actually, help."

"but my parents are kinda iffy about me being around boys." she nervously said, "please don't think of me weirdly for this, i know we're just friends, but then my mom would get weird around you."

"no it's fine, i get it." he mumbled, a part of him being slightly disappointed at the fact that he couldn't see her. "i mean you could just say it's for a project," he shrugged, as leaned, looking at her on the screen of his phone.

"what are you doing?" she asked, laughing a bit as miles' cursor glitched a bunch of random characters. he turned back to his computer, "oh, my arm was resting on it."

"it's whatever, i mean," she started again, biting down on her lip in contemplation, "i could, but my mom's weird, miles." she sighed, looking at him.

"i feel bad, because i mean i totally would help you, but she has this rule where she wants to meet your parents first otherwise she thinks you'll–like–kidnap me."

miles stared at the wall across the room, "i'm sorry," she whispered as she carefully looked at his expression through the phone's screen.

"i promise though, i'll try to work something out, alright?" she said, as she pulled the phone into her hands, "i gotta go, eat dinner. i'll call you after?" she asked, as he nodded pulling his distracted gaze back to her face.

"bye." he smiled, as she waved.

miles sighed, as he tossed his phone on his bed, "what the hell am i supposed to do," he muttered to himself, "i don't even have parents." he whispered, burying his hands into his eyes.

━

as the week went by, spring break got closer and closer, and students as well as staff were itching to get away from school.

"hi," audrey huffed as miles walked up to her locker, "i thought we'd meet at the front at 4:15 like always?" the girl nervously said, looking around to keep a lookout for her friends.

"i know, i just wanted to talk to you." he mumbled, eyeing her outfit as he leaned against the locker. "is that so?" she asked, slamming the door shut, as she snapped the lock shut.

"and to what do i owe this pleasure?" she asked, as he smiled, pushing himself off the metal doors. "i wanna talk to your parents."

audrey's smile dropped, "you're fucking insane, miles." she said, quickly walking past him. "wh–how?" he asked, quickly following behind her.

"first of all, i can't do lessons today," she said, "and secondly, i need you to stop following me." she said, clutching the notebook and pencil case in her arm.

"why's that?" he asked, his hands in his pockets as he continued to follow the girl, "because my friends might see us, and they're psycho."

"whatever, see you later." he mumbled, rolling his eyes as he turned, "wait," she said, stopping. he smiled, before turning on his heels, "yes?"

"i'll try to talk to my dad, he's a bit more lenient." she said, pursing her lips. "sounds good, text me, okay?" he nodded, as she smiled back in response.

━

as miles waited for kate to show up around five o' clock, he began to walk in the general direction of where his home was.

while the manor was on the other side of town, miles had still remembered scott street being the only street down the lane until a point at which it would eventually turn into the other side of town, where the estate resided.

he sighed, as the wind blew against his face, pushing his curls every which way. he decided against smoking on the way home, realizing was too windy to keep it and knowing that if kate caught him he'd been in trouble.

as miles was ready to aimlessly walked down the street, an annoyingly familiar honk had replaced the serene sound of birds chirping and the wind howling.

miles paused, squeezing his eyes shut as kate's yellow car stroll up beside him.

"and why, may i ask, where you here instead of the coffee shop?" she said as he got in the car, "exploring." he mumbled, shoving his backpack down next to his feet.

"i see," she hummed, nodding as they drove away. "not bad, miles." she huffed a laugh, smiling at the boy's effort to get out more.

"yeah, yeah, whatever." he rolled his eyes, "i just waited forever for you, so i decided to walk around."

"what about your friend?" she mumbled, "she didn't need help today, she had something else to do after school." he replied, looking out of the window.

"okay," kate trailed off, "well, flora has some questions for you when she gets home.." kate muttered, "like what?" miles asked, as he turned back to look at kate.

"i don't know, but she won't leave your room, and she's holding a something in her hand." she went on, as miles' face dropped.

"what?" kate asked, concerned, "nothing–just please hurry up," he muttered as he tugged at the fabric on his thighs nervously.

━

"why can't she come over?!" flora begged, as miles shook his head. "because," he simply said, resting his head on his hands.

"can you at least tell me who she is?" flora asked, as she looked at her brother helplessly, "just a name? pretty please?" she smiled, "no."

"please, miles!" she said again, dropping her hands to her sides, "why not?" she asked again, "why were you going through my things?" he asked, finally opening his eyes to look at her.

"don't change the topic, who is she?" flora asked, "i just wanna meet her, she's so pretty." flora cried, looking down at the picture in her hands.

she'd found a polaroid of audrey that miles had taken of her with her tests on the day after her birthday.

"i know she is, but she's not coming over." he simply said, shifting his head back to rest. "you like her don't you?" flora prodded, "i bet you wish she was your girlfriend," she sang, as miles turned on his side.

"can't you just ask her?" flora asked, running over to the other side of the bed that miles faced, "i already did, she's not coming." he replied, "why not?" the younger girl asked, fiddling with the ends of her hair.

"because she can't." he muttered, "we can hangout later, i just wanna rest for now." he quietly said, as flora nodded, tossing the polaroid beside him.

"okay, see you later." she said, hugging him before getting up and running out of the room.

miles opened his eyes to look down at the small plastic lining, taking the picture into his fingers as he examined audrey in the small photo.

he smiled slightly to himself, slipping it back under his pillow as he adjusted his head back to sleep.

miles was going to make audrey his.

━

"miles!" audrey smiled, as the boy picked up the call, "why would you call me at one in the morning," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"because i have really good news, so good you'll shit your pants and smile at the same time, but not because you liked shitting your pants, but because of what i'm gonna tell you." she quickly said, as he scoffed a laugh.

"what is it, odds?" he whispered into the phone, "my dad said i can come over to your place for the project," she excitedly said through the phone, "really?!" miles smiled, his eyes going wide.

"did you do it?" she asked, "did i do what?"

"shit your pants and smile?" she grinned, as miles rolled his eyes, "shut up."

"you totally did," she laughed, "anyway that's all, dad said i can go on saturday." she said, "if it's fine with you," she added, "no, yeah, sounds perfect." he yawned.

"see you then," she smiled, as he hummed a yes in response, "goodnight." she sweetly smiled, "night, audrey."

as the screen went black miles set his phone down on the hardwood floor, happy that audrey was able to debate between her parents.

finally, the project would go into play.

━

"can you meet me at the library?" he asked through the phone, "yeah sure, why?" audrey asked as her father drove down the main street.

"i need to pick up some books for the project and then we can head back." he told her as she compiled, "got it, be there in five."

"alright, don't do anything dangerous, and don't let him marry you." her father said, "yeah, right. see you in an hour, papa." she smiled as she waved bye to the car that drove away.

audrey waited outside for miles for twenty minutes before trying to call him. she dialed his number multiple times, upon remembering that the wifi had been terrible.

"boo," she heard a voice say as she shrieked, feeling a hand grasp her shoulder. "did i scare you?" miles asked, laughing, "you're such a jerk, miles." she rolled her eyes, "i'm not, but i can be." he winked.

"c'mon, the limo will be here any second." he mumbled, taking her hand in his as he guided her back to the parking lot.

"did you say limo?" she asked, as a sleek, long, dark limousine rolled into the curved pick up lane. "this is–for–for us?" she stuttered as miles opened the door for her, "duh," he said as she got into the mobile.

she scooted over to the farthest side as miles followed in after her, setting his bag down. he looked around at the inside of the mobile, they hadn't used the limo since he was ten.

"this is so fancy, mi." she hummed looking at the glass table installed into the side opposite of them. "i know," he sighed, "we haven't used it in so long." he mumbled, "why not? it's gorgeous." she smiled, looking around at it.

hopefully one day we'll share it. he thought as he looked at her excited expressions. "sorry," she whispered, looking down at her lap, "i probably sound so stupid," she laughed.

"no, i don't blame you. we got the limo when i was four and it was my first time sitting in it," miles said, "i swear, i was just as amazed," he laughed, "i almost shit my pants and smiled at the same time."

audrey laughed, smiling at the boy. "almost?" she emphasized, as the long vehicle pulled into the driveway.

"yup, oh," miles said, as his eye caught the familiar trees passing them by, "we're in the driveway." he mumbled, gathering his bag.

"you have a pretty long driveway," she chuckled, as she began to pack her things as well. as the limo came to a halt, the chauffeur stepped out to open the door.

miles walked out, sighing as his eyes landed on the manor, "welcome home." he said, giving audrey a hand as she stepped out.

"holy fucking shit," she said, her jaw dropping slightly as she looked from the manor back to miles, "why did i expect anything less," she shook her head, laughing. "the birthday money, the limo, it makes sense." she nodded, smiling.

"glad i didn't have to explain it," he winked, as he lead her to the front door. "i'm home!" miles called, taking off his jacket as audrey began to take off her shoes, "oh, just keep them on, the manor's huge to get around."

she hummed, lacing her shoe back up as a small voice yelled, "miles! miles!" audrey heard, as she got up, looking around. "who–"

"miles!" flora huffed as she ran into the room, "look at what i ma–"

she gasped looking audrey dead in the eyes, "what?" miles smiled, at his younger sister's reaction to the girl. "she's here!" flora beamed, running up to audrey to hug her by the legs.

"oh my gosh!" audrey laughed as flora hugged her, "are you–is this?"

"yeah, she's my sister," miles chuckled, "she's been waiting for you to come over since i told her why i was staying late from school."

"which was last week," flora murmured, turning back to her older brother, "whatever," he huffed, his cheeks turning red.

"come play dolls with me!" flora smiled, holding audrey's hand, "i can't i have to help miles with our science project," audrey said, bending a little low, "but don't worry i'll play with you later, okay?" she smiled, rubbing the little girl's shoulder.

"awh, alright," she hummed, "it's okay, you can come over some other time," flora shrugged it off, "bye!" she smiled, running into the living room.

"she's adorable," audrey chuckled, "she's flora," he sighed with a smile. "let's go." he said, taking audrey's hand.

they made it to his room, miles quickly running to pick up spare clothes and toss them to the side. "so this is your room," she hummed as she walked in, "yup," he said softly.

"sit where ever you want," he smiled as he walked to his closet. "okay," she mumbled, sitting down on his bed. she unpacked her bag, taking out her science notebook as he brought out the small cardboard project and a bag of gummy bears from his closet.

"here," he said, tossing the small sweets to her, "have as many as you want." he chuckled, sitting beside her.

"so, where do we begin?" miles asked, as audrey took out the project's contents from her bag.

"i got all the supplies from my mom's craft boxes, and i put everything adjusted," she explained, "but i figured we should do it together."

together.

miles smiled, before nodding a bit. "okay." he huffed, shifting closer as he looked at the worksheet their teacher had provided. "let's get started then."

━

as evening rolled around, the birds' chirping quieted down, and the sun began to set across the estate.

miles and audrey had been working on their project for the past four hours, of course making sure to take breaks and eat snacks in between.

miles had shown audrey around for a good half hour in between the hardest part of their project, the presentation.

"you're doing it backwards!" audrey laughed, throwing her head back onto the pillow. miles furrowed his brows with a smile, biting down on his lip as he stared between the note cards in his hands.

"what do you mean!" he replied, laughing a bit as he saw her, exasperated on his bed. "it's fine, we have all break to work on it." she sighed, propping herself up on her elbows.

"yeah, it is getting pretty late," miles hummed, frowning a bit. he didn't want her to leave.

"i'll text my dad," she hummed, reaching for her phone. "do you have to go already?" he mumbled, staring down at the project.

"awh, does miles want me to stay?" audrey asked, dropping her phone in her hands as she looked over to him. "i just want to finish the project, we're so close." he groaned, throwing himself back onto the bed beside her.

"yeah, sure you do." she chuckled, ruffling his curls. "wait, you have to eat dinner." miles shot up. "i'm not letting you leave without eating." he raised a finger.

"fine, fine."she surmised, as he got up. "c'mon, mrs. grose probably made dinner already." miles said, offering her a hand.

flora and kate chriped on their own, talking about their own topics such as tomorrow's schedule and kate's 'okay' towards a volcanic science project.

meanwhile, miles and audrey sat down beside each other, talking about their own plans for the rest of their spring break.

"i mean i'm not doing much, i usually go out with family on trips during spring break." audrey explained, as miles nodded. "spring break is just like any other break around here, for me." he mumbled in response.

"and what might that be like?" audrey asked, as mrs. grose passed around the salad. "boring, lonely, i think the best part of it is seeing flora." he smiled, as the both of them looked over to the girl across from them, who excitedly talked about her crafts with kate.

"that's sweet," audrey hummed, pouring some soup into her bowl, "i have aaron, but he's kind of annoying." she said, "we hang out a lot, but we also tend to keep to ourselves."

"when spring break starts, flora and i have a complete activity session for the week straight." miles smiled, as he poured in his own food.

"usually we talk through letters, since i used to go to a boarding school," he shrugged, "but this last week, we've been planning a bunch of things to do together."

"like what? go to the library, the park?" audrey asked, as she ate her food, "not really, it's stuff around the estate, she doesn't leave the property." miles whispered.

"why not?" she asked, "she's scared." miles hummed, "she saw our parent's die right outside of the gate." he hushed, glancing from flora back to audrey. "she's scared she'll die too, if she leaves the estate."

"oh, i see." audrey frowned, reaching for her water glass, "that's so sad, though." audrey said, looking back to miles. "yeah, i know. she used to go to school too, but now kate's her at private tutor."

"kinda like you, huh?" audrey smirked at him, before turning back to her food. "ha, ha." he rolled his eyes. "don't compare me to kate, please." miles simply said.

soon enough, everyone had made their own small talk, kate came to know audrey was the girl who miles had been tutoring, and flora had talked about hanging out with her the rest of dinner.

"are you coming back over break?" flora asked, twisting and turning nervously on her feet as audrey put on her bag.

"well, i can ask my dad," audrey nodded as miles put on his jacket. "please do! i can't wait for you to come back, miles talks about y–"

"alright, she'll be back, 'kay flora?" miles said, giving his sister a look. "okay," flora hummed, lunching forward to hug audrey.

"aww," she hummed at the little girl, "i promise i'll ask and ask until they let me come back." audrey winked, hugging flora back.

"yay!" the girl smiled, before running to miles and hugging him as well, "c'mon flora, let's get ready for bed." kate smiled to the girl, waving audrey goodbye as miles opened the door.

"so," miles huffed, as the two walked over to the dimly lit limo. "so?" audrey smiled, looking over to the boy who walked beside her.

"you are coming back, right?" miles asked, squinting at the girl as she laughed, "well it's just that flora wouldn't want to find out you lied to her." he shrugged.

"i won't." she smiled, as miles stared at her blankly. "won't, lie. i will come back." she specified as he cracked a smile, shaking his head.

"you first," he said, pulling the door open for her. "why thank you." she cocked her head to the side, before shifting to get into the car.

"damn, it's already eight." audrey yawned, as miles rubbed his hands together. "tough, huh?" he hummed, looking over to her, "are you gonna be okay? like your parents and stuff."

"oh, yeah my dad talked to my mom. he knows you're dropping me off, so, he'll be fine with it when i get home." she huffed, as miles looked around.

he grabbed a spare blanket that had been tucked into a seat, "here," he whispered, spreading the blanket onto the two of them. "thanks," she sweetly smiled as he glanced up at her.

━

"we've arrived," the driver spoke from upfront, as audrey squeezed her eyes open, she glanced around before her eyes landed on the house outside the window.

"mil–" audrey paused, her cheeks heating up as she glanced down at miles' head placed in her lap. she quietly sighed, hearing his soft breaths as his hands clutched the fleece blanket on her lap.

"m-miles," she whispered, running her hand down the side of his face. "miles, i've gotta go." she whispered, lowering herself to his ear.

she nudged him slightly, before he drew in a sharp breath, looking up at audrey.

"shit," he whispered, as he shot up off her legs, "sorry." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he sat up straight. "it's alright," audrey quietly said, looking to the side.

"we're here?" he asked, looking around before his eyes landed back on audrey. "yup, 6875." she said, as miles scooted towards the door.

he got out, holding the door open as audrey moved out of her seat.

"thanks, for y'know, letting me come over." audrey smiled as miles shut the door, "thanks for helping me with the project," he shook his head, as audrey laughed.

"any time lab partner," she chuckled as she walked up the lawn, "see you thursday!" she called from her front door. miles laughed before an excited feeling had caught up in his chest.

"thursday," he smiled as he got back in the limo.

━

guys.

i tell you all i hassled to write this entire chapter in stress.

nonetheless, i wrote it all & here you are reading it <3

hope you liked ittt

BYEE