🎱. . .CHAPTER 59 ! -----
( real life . . . instagram )
❛ worth it ❜

ᵣₑₐₗ ₗᵢfₑ !

Mikayla and maria erupt into loud laughter as they sit on the floor in mikayla's living room, covering their mouths. matt and chris exchange judgemental looks from the comfort of the couch, shaking their heads.

"it's not that funny," matt grumpily mumbles and maria nudges his knee. he chuckles, rubbing his skin through his jeans as if the gesture hurt, but it definitely didn't. "ow," matt dryly and sarcastically says, making maria rolls her eyes.

chris takes a sip from his canned pepsi. "he's literally right, tiktok has never been that funny," he chimes in but mikayla just narrows her eyes at him. chris' upper lip curls into a grin at her facial expression, finding it extremely funny.

mikayla doesn't know how to explain the feeling that she gets when chris smiles at her; she just knows it warms her heart. she's overly excited that she has an opportunity to spend time with chris, even if there's other people around, without nathan consistently breathing down her neck.

she fights the urge to grin back at him, but mikayla just ultimately returns the expression before pressing her lips together to conceal her happiness. the sound of maria's fake gagging fills her ears and she playfully nudges her friend away.

chris then softly hits mikayla's knee with his foot from his seated position, shifting her attention away from the conversation she's having with maria and matt. chris gestures his head towards the direction of the hallway and mikayla quickly understands, not even thinking twice before standing up from the carpeted floor.

mikayla's slightly confused as to what chris has to say, but she watches as he also stands up from his seats position on the couch — she leads the way to
the hall with chris on her heel.

"we can hear if you guys kiss, you know!" maria loudly comments as she stands up to sit where chris was—next to matt—and mikayla just laughs in response.

mikayla leans against the wall in her hallway with folded arms and a tilted head. "what's up?" she questions as a crease forms between her eyebrows.

"i still haven't been able to take you where i wanted to," he says through a huff, his hand reaching for her arm. chris drags his pointer finger against her skin slowly, making a familiar feeling settle in the pit of her stomach. "can we go?" he finally asks.

"i mean—" mikayla pauses as if she's actually thinking on saying yes to being able to spend time alone with chris without a disruption. "duh?" she says with a broad smile, making chris' face light up.

chris pulls his cap back slightly, trying to fix his brunette waves. the expression on his face is enough to show mikayla that he feels the same way. she's excited but also nervous on where chris is planning on taking her.

There's a comfortable silence between mikayla and chris as they take in the peaceful and tranquil ambience surrounding them. the clouds lounge lazily in the sky as it melts into light hues of pink and blue and they listen to the quiet music playing on chris' phone.

mikayla's feet hang off of the beige sea container, kicking them slightly while her hair blows in the wind perfectly. she doesn't even realize that chris is staring at her as she mutters the lyrics of a steve lacy song on chris' playlist to herself.

girl, you're the one i want
you're the one i need
i'm beggin' you, please
can you come back to me?

mikayla swears to herself that she hears chris quietly singing along too so she slowly turns to look at him, her eyes widening slightly as they make eye contact. "are you trying to have a staring contest?" miks questions sarcastically while tilting her head.

'cause i was blind to see
that you were right in front of me (you were right in front of me)

          chris shrugs, manspreading slightly while his hands rest on his lap. "just like staring at you," he's quick to reply with that same grin that makes her weak in the knees.

you were right in front of me (you were right in front of me)
girl (you were right in front of me), i was blind to see (i was blind to see)

          mikayla just hums in amusement, her gaze shifting back to the sunset. she rubs her glossed lips together, focusing on the music and not the intense desire to be closer to chris. but it takes over, and she shuffles towards him, their thighs now touching.

that you were right in front of me (you were right in front of me, you were right in front of me)

          that spark mikayla's been waiting for finally returns as she turns her head to look at him, a grin spreading across her face. "you should know that i really do care about you chris," the words leave mikayla's mouth surprisingly easily without even thinking twice, "it was worth it."

you were right in front of me, yeah (you were right in front of me, you were right in front of me)

"definitely worth it," chris wastes no time replying, playfully nudging her with his knee. their hands touch and mikayla taps her acrylic nail against his skin. "it took me long to realize that you were who i wanted this whole time," his head drops, most likely at the remembrance of his blunt attitude and how he used to treat mikayla at the beginning of their fake relationship.

girl, you're the one i want
you're the one i need
i'm beggin' you, please
can you come back to me?

she grins at the way he talks about his feelings and emotions, the sweet but also honest words filling her ears. "you're important to me chris," miks whispers, not cringing at the sincere sentence as she would've in the past.

'cause i was blind to see
that you were right in front of me (you were right in front of me)

          chris stretches his arm, gently throwing it around mikayla's shoulder. she rests her head against him, playing with the rings on her fingers as they continue to watch the sunset.

you were right in front of me (you were right in front of me)
girl (you were right in front of me), i was blind to see (i was blind to see)

          "and you mean a lot to me, mikayla," chris says a couple seconds later, the rawness in his voice is enough for fireworks to explode in her gut. she's trying her best to keep a strong front, but there's not enough positive words to describe how she's feeling right now. "a lot," he repeats, only solidifying his emotions.

that you were right in front of me (you were right in front of me, you were right in front of me)

          her fingers nervously play with the denim material of chris' jeans, fidgeting around slightly. she's not sure what to say but the comforting silence around them—the only noise being the nearby cars and buzzing chatter—should be enough.

you were right in front of me, yeah (you were right in front of me, you were right in front of me)

          throughout those entire periods where they wouldn't talk or act weird around each other, his company was always enough for her. mikayla's surprised but she isn't complaining, even if it took them so long to get to this stage. they've had their ups and downs; a difficult path to get to where they are now, but honestly, she wouldn't change a thing.

ᵢₙₛₜₐgᵣₐₘ !

christophersturniolo

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christophersturniolo  infrunami 🎶

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mikayladoe wait i didnt know u were gonna post these...😓
↳ christophersturniolo now you do miks

user WHAT IS GOING ON

user POSTING MIKAYLA ON THE MAIN!!!!!!!🫣🫣

user i am so confused right now 😰

user wait are they bf and gf

user this is insane

user CHRIS ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS PLEASE

user this is disgusting (im jealous) 😤

matthew.sturniolo oh?
↳ christophersturniolo oh

nicolassturniolo the fuck am i looking at
↳ christophersturniolo idk bruh

reedmason OH OKAY‼️‼️‼️‼️
↳ christophersturniolo mason.
↳ reedmason christopher.

user my jaw dropped

nathandoe8 how do i get used to this.
↳ mikayladoe all in good time dude ❤️❤️

user i love them so much

mariagooding AH.
↳ christophersturniolo ah.

matthew.sturniolo so this is why you left us huh
↳ christophersturniolo correct

user WOAH! 😃😃😃

user this is so cute (die)!

abelridge 🙌🏼
↳ christophersturniolo 🤝🏼

lucyv oh christopherrrrrr how cute
↳ christophersturniolo i can smell your saracasm
↳ lucyv good ☺️☺️ (jk u guys are cute tg 🙄🙄)

user when is it my turn 🙏🙏🙏

user Awww

user miks doesn't know how lucky she is bro 😰
↳ user real that should be me

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⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ arianna speaks ¡
been binging love island so sorry for the lack of updates (and watching rob edits)

also i fear im cutting this story short and there's only like 7 chaps left!! (65 chaps instead of 70) + an epilogue
but this DOES mean longer chaps or more time skips