REACP:

sophia looked at jack, her eyes almost glowing.

she must know, jack realized.

"oh, i'm good!"

"yeah, amazing." jaeden spoke up, smiling. "my lips are kinda chapped though."

jack watched as sophia shot jaeden a look, holding back laughter.

"what, it's true! and it's spitting rain. is that the word? spitting? spitty? saliva?"

"it's not raining." finn said, unamused.

"oh, it's not? god, you're so right finn. i'm sorry. anyways, did you guys try tongue last night?"

jack coughed, obviously not expecting that. he let out a quiet "what?" and looked at jaeden.

"early yesterday morning, before jack was here and finn has woken up, andy brought around food from this restaurant that only makes brazilian food. they had beef tongue; andy thought it would be funny to make us eat some. we decided to try some during supper, but you guys were in the bathroom. you missed it."

"oh," finn said, his face turning a light shade of red. "no, sorry. no tongue. look, we'll be ready soon. let us get changed?"

sophia quickly jumped up, grabbing jaeden's wrist and pulling him out of the room, erupting into the laughter she was holding in as she got into the hall. finn quickly shut the door behind them, giving jack a look.

jack started giggling.

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

as jaeden got pulled out of finn's room by sophia, leaving fack to themselves, he ran into wyatt, causing him to stumble back a bit. sophia let go of the grip on jaeden's wrist, giving him a small smile and a wave as she went out to the living area to join chosen and jeremy.

jaeden grew nervous. him and wyatt were okay; their friendship was as it had always been, which quite honestly, wasn't enough for jaeden anymore.

jaeden and wyatt always had things figured out. they were unproblematic. they were levelheaded. they never got into fights like finn and jack did; (even though jaeden knew that wasn't fack's fault. they just loved each other too much and couldn't come to terms with it.)

wyatt had always loved jaeden in a more than friends way.

and jaeden had only recently realized that he felt the same way too.

it was always there. wyatt had always been more touchy with jaeden, more intimate. wyatt's friends and family had dropped countless hints to jaeden about wyatt's crush. he was almost sure both of their families knew before the boys themselves knew.

"hi," jaeden spoke up, trying to break the awkward silence.

"i like you." wyatt blurted out suddenly, causing jaeden to go wide eyed. jaeden looked up at the boy, almost feeling his heart catch in his throat as he said those words.

"but if i keep hurting you, i think we only work as friends."

and just like that, the air was almost knocked out of him.

neither of them said a word. it was as if wyatt had simply made a comment about the weather; jaeden just gave him a small, uncertain nod and started on his way, and wyatt immediately turned, grabbing jaeden's elbow, stopping him.

jaeden slowly made his way over to wyatt and looked at him for a moment, before closing his eyes and lightly kissing him on the nose.

and as jaeden walked away once again, wyatt not stopping him this time, he knew.

life was very unfair.

especially to two boys who thought they had viewed each other as friends until one watched the other finally walk away.

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

"laser tag is lame," jack grumbled, looking out the window of the van at the buildings flashing by. finn, sophia, wyatt, jeremy, jack, jaeden, and chosen were headed to the location where they were filming the movie; sets were almost completely finished, costumes were done, and now, the actors had to come to get used to their characters again, and continue getting comfortable with each other. over the past few days they had read and practiced their lines, but they still had around a week to go before finally starting filming.

"laser tag isn't lame!" chosen spoke up, nudging jack slightly. "you get to 'shoot' your friends with lasers."

"exactly!" jack rose his voice. "i'm not that desperate to chase you guys with fake weapons." he started to laugh, and chosen rolled his eyes and started to laugh with him.

barbara and andy were driving the crew to the movie studio. the kids parents would meet them there. they were actually filming most scenes in port hope; however, meetings and certain sets would take place at the studio, inside. today, they were doing acting exercises.

"i think laser tag is COOL, jack, and it'll be fun tonight." sophia shrugged and laughed, ruffling jack's hair lightly, causing him to call out and protest, saying sophia was going to 'mess up his hair!' leading to everyone everyone to make fun of the boy for worrying about his looks.

"hey, beauty takes time." jack insisted.

the group was back to normal; except wyatt and jaeden. despite jaeden's chipper mood earlier that morning, jack could tell something was off. jaeden kept giving wyatt secret side glances when he thought no one was looking, and wyatt would do the same. when jack had caught jaeden staring at wyatt yet again, and look away flustered, he took it upon himself to glance at finn to see if he was watching. "what's going on?" finn had mouthed. jack simply shook his head.

at least him and finn had made up.

he wasn't expecting it. but he felt his cheeks heat up even just thinking about the kiss. jack had kissed plenty of girls before. jesus, he had even had girlfriends. but nothing made him feel like that before. he had waited so patiently, and wanted it so bad.

every time finn and jack would make eye contact, they would immediately break out into a smile until they were forced to look away. they felt their hearts would probably explode of happiness and admiration if they looked at each other for too long.

"what's going on with you two?" barbara teased as they hopped out of the van together, starting to grin as the boys accidentally bumped into each other's sides and clumsily landed on the ground.

"nothing," finn chirped, as jack yelled "everything!", causing them to break out in a fit of giggles all over again.

sophia nudged chosen and raised an eyebrow at him, starting to snicker. "they're crazy." chosen just grinned and shook his head.

"yeah, crazy in love." sophia took the opportunity to grab her camera, snapping a picture of the pair practically skipping into the building, facing each other and grinning.

"stalker much?" chosen teased.

"nah, i'm just taking after my stepdad. it's cool to photograph candid photos," she flushed. "they turn out super good. you can really capture some real heart eyes when people don't realize they're being photographed. now, c'mon loser, we're behind."

the two quickly hurried to catch up to the others, sophia joining in as finn and jack started singing the chorus chosen's new song, making him ultimately embarrassed, yet also pleased they took the time to listen to his new music.

jaeden took the moment to look over at wyatt, and when he met his eyes, he didn't look away. instead, the light eyed boy gave wyatt a genuine, tight lipped smile, which wyatt returned.

because even if it breaks your heart in two to be just 'friends', if you care about that person, sometimes you just have to take the hit.

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

gah damn long time no write

honestly not the best chapter; but i really want to update this more! i'm sorry if my writing seems lazy or off, i'm just trying to get back into the groove of things!

thanks for reading!

- courtney