🎱. . .CHAPTER 35 ! -----
( real life . . . )
❛ repercussions of nathan doe ❜

ᵣₑₐₗ ₗᵢfₑ !

          Fortunately for the friend group, the past week has gone by so quickly, leaving them all in their homes on a thursday afternoon packing their bags. mikayla, nate and maria are all at the sturniolo's home, their suitcases next to the door while they wait for the triplets to gather the rest of their things.

there aren't enough words to fully describe their excitement to have such a fun road trip as well as a couple days in a secluded area away from the excessive amount of stress caused by their daily school schedules. for the past couple of days, all they've been talking about in the group chats and during their free periods was this trip, so the fact that it's finally happening is a dream coming true for all of them.

          the ambience surrounding the cabin belonging to maria's family is perfect for a getaway to reduce any stress and also a great, romantic setting for everyone. another reason why mikayla's happy to be going on this road trip out of the city is because she'll get to spend more time with chris without nate practically watching her every move.

          see, since the kiss they shared, mikayla and chris have been sneaking around regularly, having their romantic moments while everyone else is asleep or out of the house. the thought of nate catching onto it both inserts a large amount of fear inside of them, but all they want is each other and no matter how hard he's trying, he can't stop that.

          with matt and maria being the only people who know about the late night rendezvous between mikayla and chris, they've managed to keep it a secret no matter how much they get the urge to ramble on about it. the new couple have also been helping miks and chris, warning them whenever the rest of their friends are around to prevent them from getting caught.

          the last thing chris wants to do yet again, is almost ruin his long term friendship with nathan over mikayla and his feelings towards her. after their conversation on the day miks filmed her youtube video, nathan told him to stay away from her with justified reasons. so of course, if nate catches them doing anything this weekend, chris is in deep shit. again.

          the friends all sit in the kitchen, waiting for matt to pickup the key belonging to the old van maria's letting him borrow so the whole group can fit. it's barely functioning, but maria's family always uses it to get to the cabin so it's a tradition at this point.

          chris slips a couple of cans of pepsi into the gym bag he's using to store all of his clothes and toiletries, being the obsessed pepsi drinker that he is, and mikayla chuckles at his constant desire for the specific drink.

          matt twirls the keyring around his pointer finger, imputing the location of the cabin into his phone and maria stares at him, with her jaw practically on the floor because of how attracted she is to him. their dynamic is adorable and mikayla's extremely glad that her friend is happy with him because she wouldn't want maria to be with anybody else.

          maria clicks her tongue, preparing to speak as she stands up from her position on the couch as the triplet's sling their bags over their shoulders. "can i remind everyone that this getaway means no phones!" she beams and chris rolls his eyes immediately. "it's our last school year with you guys and mason so no technology allowed, thanks."

          mikayla feels her mood quickly drop at the remembrance that nathan, the triplets and mason are all leaving high school this year. she's gonna miss all of them, specifically mason since he's moving to a different city for college, knowing that next year isn't going to be the same without them.

          matt huffs and shakes his head, shuffling towards maria. he throws his arm around her shoulder and she instantly melts at his touch, grinning widely. "no phones," he repeats, pleasing her. "now can we please get the fuck out of here, thank you."

Maria sits in the front of the van, matt driving obviously, with her feet resting on the dashboard. the weather's extremely hot, even the trees miles away from them are searching for shade. since matt drove onto the highway, the warmth wrapped around everyone's bodies like a severely uncomfortable blanket, causing sticky beads of sweat to trickle down their skin.

mikayla sits in the back with the rest of her friends, fanning herself with a nearby leaflet of the area they're driving towards. she's sat in shorts and a cropped tee, resting her legs on mason's thighs. nick's also sat next to her, chris, nate and lucille opposite in the surprisingly spacious area in the vehicle.

the windows are open, humid bundles of wind entering the van and hitting everyone as well as the loud sound of the air conditioning filling the vehicle. the road matt's driving in is secluded, passing by cornfields and lakes covered in green moss as well as a couple ducks swimming. this atmosphere is not at all like boston; definitely not a bad thing.

"lowkey feel like i'm in outerbanks right now," lucille comments before chuckling while she continues to fan herself with her hand.

mikayla nods her head in agreement, squeezing her eyes shut out of frustration because of this overbearing weather. "literally, where's rafe cameron?" she says with a grin, her eyes still closed and lucille rapidly nods her head.

"we're fucking almost out of gas," matt announces from the front, then noticing the large, dramatic sign pointing to a nearby gas station — the first area of civilization they've seen in a while. he speeds up, later slowing down so he can easily swerve into the parking, one hand on the wheel while the other rests on his thigh.

"i'm hungry," nick groans loudly, followed my mumbles of agreement from everyone else. he adjusts his seating position, giving himself easy access to the phone in the pocket of his jean shorts. but of course, they're in the middle of nowhere so he has no service.

for the amount of eagerness they all had to this trip, so far it definitely isn't living up to their expectations. but maybe it's because they're teenagers who spend most of their time on their phones, filming content or taking pictures for instagram.

murmurs of excitement leave everyone's lips at the sight of the store as matt stops next to the gas pump, putting the van into park. he claps his hands, and everyone takes it as a sign to put their shoes back on. matt exits the van first, sliding the doors open so everyone can leave.

they make a beeline out of the van, immediately getting hit by the extremely hot air. mikayla leaves first, using the hair tie around her wrist to pull her hair into a high ponytail, preventing it from sticking to her slightly sweaty neck. she stretches her legs as everyone else makes their way out of the van.

matt takes hold of one of the gas pumps as his job is to fill up the vehicle, maria staying with him so he isn't left alone. she leans on the van, watching matt in admiration as he's completely focused on what he's currently doing. maria tilts her head and matt looks up at her, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "what?" he questions with a smile.

maria giggles quietly, moving the frizzy waves out of her face. "you're just pretty matt, let a girl stare at you without questioning her," she retorts and he playfully rolls his eyes.

nate, lucille, mason and nick are all in front of mikayla, making their way to the rustic gas station. it's pretty empty, the only people already in their being the clerk and a couple old guys.

mikayla's attention is strictly on the four people in front of her, until she feels a finger poke her in the ribs. she squeals quietly, looking up and realizing that it's chris with an ear-to-ear grin on his face. for two people that are trying to avoid seeming like they're messing around, chris has no trouble making it difficult, especially because of how perfect he looks right now.

he's in a blank tank top, accompanied by some matching shorts as well as his infamous cap, wearing it backwards. there's a few rebellious strands peeking out underneath it, also the same chain, earrings and a silver bracelet. his cheeks are a light shade of pink while his blue eyes are emphasized by the beams of sunlight shining down on everyone.

"you look good," she quietly admits, not wanting everyone else in front of her to hear. a grin immediately grows on chris' face at the compliment, moving to walk backwards so he can continue to maintain eye contact with her.

chris shrugs, pretending like he's not going to think about that for the rest of the trip. "likewise," he adds on with a smirk just as they reach the glass door to enter the gas station.

the four friends are already inside, crowding the candy aisle; their mouths practically watering at the wide range. mikayla joins them first, followed by chris a couple moments later to avoid any further suspicion. her eyes set on a packet of reece's pieces, but considering the current weather, it doesn't seem like the wisest choice to choose something chocolate.

she examines the other aisles, her vision setting on the freezer with a variety of popsicles. mikayla then looks back at her friends, noticing mason and the fact that his hands are full of different snacks ranging from chips to candy, giggling at him. "one sec," she adds on and they watch as she shuffles towards the freezer.

mikayla picks up a bunch for herself and everyone else, the contrasting cold feeling sending tingles down her spine as relief from the hot weather. her eyes flicker over anything else in the aisle she's currently in, her body flinching as she feels a hand on her lower back. mikayla whips around, her tense shoulders dropping once she realizes it's only chris.

his hand stays there for a couple moments, slowly moving to her waist as she shifts to stand in front of him, glancing up at the boy in front of her. "they're right there," miks whispers but chris shrugs, showcasing that he doesn't care one bit. "you've gotta chill chris, nate'll kill you, you know that right?"

a crease appears between chris' eyebrows as his hand drops from her waist, understanding what will happen if nate finds out about everything. "guess i just need to wait until we're alone," he mumbles, a lopsided grin on his face as he continues to make eye contact with her.

mikayla feels her cheeks heating up, hastily moving to stare at the ground to avoid chris mocking her for how easily he can make her flustered. she slowly looks back up at him again, "mhm," she hums. "i don't wanna face the repercussions of nathan doe."

they share a laugh, followed by silence as he accompanies her to the till where the rest of their friends are waiting. nate narrows his eyes, his vision flickering between mikayla and chris as she sets the slightly melted popsicles on the counter.

it's not that he actually has a problem with the idea of mikayla and chris dating, but it's just not something he'd support. after all, they've known each other since childhood, even being neighbors at one point, so it's slightly weird to him that he'd be witnessing them kiss and hug in a happy relationship. nate knows that it's annoying, but he can't help but be overprotective over his little sister considering the circumstances with their parents.

they all leave the store together, chris and nate paying for everything, then noticing how maria and matt are in the van already, sharing a kiss in the front seats.

lucille howls at the sight as everyone thought the most that they were doing was hugging and holding hands. they immediately move away from each other, maria burying her face in her hands to avoid showing her embarrassment. "well, well, well," lucille applauds them while everyone gawks at what they just witnessed.

"i can't believe i just saw that," nick huffs, tearing the wrapper off of his blue raspberry popsicle. "holy fuck i'm already regretting coming here."

matt rolls down the window, sticking his head out of it. "everyone just hurry up and get in," he shouts, clearly trying to shift everyone's attention from the fact he just shared a kiss with maria.

"i'm never gonna stop teasing him about that," nathan jokes with mason, both of them snacking on a bag of chips that they're sharing.

mikayla and chris stroll behind the group, a tote bag of snacks and drinks around her shoulder as she holds a kiwi popsicle between her lips. the rays of sunshine reflect against her skin, the sunscreen she'd previously put on, glistening in the light. as mikayla stares at the distance of more mountains and a lack of any other gas stations, she doesn't even register how chris places his hands on her shoulders from behind.

he draws circles on her skin, making her almost melt at his comfortable touch. but she realizes the surroundings that they're in, pulling away from chris quickly. "you're a little desperate," she utters, not even looking back at him.

"definitely," he confesses and mikayla chuckles, the strong flavor of kiwi lingering on her plump lips. but the fact that chris is already acting like this, only a few feet away from the rest of their friends gives mikayla a sneak peek of how the rest of this trip is going to go and she simply cannot wait.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ arianna speaks ¡
holyyyyyyy shit i loved writing this chap 🫦🫦
the ideas i have for the next chapters are literally burdening my notes

also got the idea to write them on a road trip from tumblr..THANK YOU TUMBLR