( ⁱⁿ ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ ⁺ ᶠⁱⁿˢᵗᵃ )

ⁱⁿ ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ !

IT'S fucking awkward.

even though they said they were okay, they are so very clearly not.

when stella enters the room, louis finds an excuse to leave. when they accidentally make eye contact, they look away quickly as if they have been burned. it's a never-ending cycle, and for the past week, it's been torture.

but if stella could take back what she did, she doesn't think she would. of course she wishes she could change how it happened, but having her feelings out there and not having to hide them for the first time in nearly a decade is like resurfacing from the ocean after being underwater for long enough that you thought you were going to drown.

it feels like she's breathing fresh air after going without for what seems like years.

but she wishes things didn't have to be like this.

the three of them—stella, louis, and william—are sitting at the kitchen counter eating breakfast. every time stella and louis make eye contact, they quickly look away and pretend nothing is wrong. william, like the dense idiot he is, doesn't notice anything.

but then again, his eyes have been glued to his phone ever since he came back from italy. he's also been going out far more often than he would usually, and stella can't help but think something's suspicious.

getting his attention is nearly impossible and in the rare instances where they do get his attention, one notification on his phone has him immediately shutting out everything else.

he's looking down at his phone even now, the smallest of smiles tugging at his lips as he tries to hide it. something on the screen makes the grin on his face widen as he doesn't even bother hiding it anymore.

for the first time since the confession, stella and louis make eye contact on purpose. they share a look, a silent acknowledgement of them both realizing something's going on with william. louis quirks an eyebrow to which stella smirks, immediately knowing what he's insinuating.

carefully, so her brother doesn't see it coming, she gets up and steals his phone. she jumps up and runs over to the other side of the counter where louis is.

"STELLA, WHAT THE FUCK!"

william gets up immediately, rounding the corner of the counter.

"stella, give me back my phone."

"no."

"stella!"

"i want to know why you keep smiling and blushing at your phone."

william opens his mouth and then closes it. "i-it's not—whatever, it's none of your business. give me back my phone."

"nope."

stella and louis both move simultaneously, stella on one side of william and louis on the other. just as william gets to stella, she tosses his phone to louis who catches it.

"louis!" william yells. "not you too!"

"sorry, mate. i'm dying of curiosity. you've never been like this before. i can't tell if it's concerning or nice."

william advances toward him, and louis throws the phone back to stella.

"oh my god, you guys are so lucky you're not dropping my phone," william barks out. "i swear i'm going to kill you both."

stella sticks out her tongue and her brother starts to come toward her again.

"louis! hold him off!"

louis abides, cutting off william before he can reach her. she looks down at the phone and realizes she waited too long to check it because the screen has gone black. she taps on it, but his phone is locked.

"fuck! what's your password?" she demands.

william scoffs. "what makes you think i'm going to give it to you?

stella grins. "because i'm going to find out who you're dating either way, so you can go about it the easy way or the hard way."

her older brother gapes at her, struggling to find words to respond with. "what—you—i—it's not—what—"

stella and louis share another look, raising their brows at him.

"so you are seeing someone," louis muses with a light smirk on his face.

a light blush stains his cheeks. stella and louis gasp loudly and then burst out laughing. william scowls at them. they're both distracted with laughing as william steals his phone back and glares at them.

"i hate you both."

he flips them off and they laugh even harder. william rolls his eyes though even he can't stay mad at them for so long.

"whatever," he says as he walks back into his room.

the laughs die down after a minute or so and stella and louis grin at each other.

"we're going to have to ambush him again so we can figure out who he's seeing," stella says.

louis nods in agreement. "definitely. i'm dying of curiosity of when and how this happened."

the brunette girl chuckles in response. "me too."

they stare at each other for a second more before they both go back to finishing their breakfasts. this time, though, there is a comfortable silence and the tension that seemed to have been suffocating them before has now vanished.

ᶠⁱⁿˢᵗᵃ !

notinapeartree

liked by nickshouse, princewilliam, gavisfinearse, and 38 others

notinapeartree ivy is asking for help

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onehappyhero ik i put a pic of a black cat in a previous chapter as ivy so pretend the cat in this pic is black

gavisfinearse shut up
↳ notinapeartree look at her eyes she wants to get away

burgundyonmytshirt poor kitty she's suffocating

solongdaisymay house of stone her ivy grows and now she's covered in stella (in a bad way)

mattybraps this is exactly why ivy loves me more than you stels

ihatebritishmen ivy desperately needs a break from stella, you should give her to me
↳ princewilliam after i teach her to claw at you

gavisfinearse i hate everyone

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𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 !

if max wins his 4th championship this weekend in vegas, i will publish the enemies to lovers max verstappen book in my drafts...