𝙨𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩?

(part 2) 

THAT WAY - TATE MCRAE

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—IT STARTED FROM ONE night, nearly a week after the "incident''. liz had been staring at her phone for an hour, scrolling up through their messages — old ones from before things got complicated.

they used to talk about everything: music, school, random inside jokes that made no sense to anyone else. now it was all short replies, half-hearted "yeah"s and "maybe"s.

it was strange really, the words of him confessing that he used to like her echoed in her head. her heart raced each time she thought she had a chance with him — the thought of him made her feel confused. okay then mr mixed signals. she thought to herself at she stared at the words 'delivered for 12hrs' on her screen.

he wasn't ignoring her exactly. but he wasn't there either.

and it hurt more than she wanted to admit.

he had left her on delivered the whole night but he wasn't asleep, she saw his snap score go up at least a few more times before she shut her phone off and went to sleep. it felt sort of half way as the days progressed, it was from 'mornings' to silence unless she started the conversation. 

it was a monday night, she checked the time to see it was 7:15 PM. half seven last week was when they confessed. it was crazy enough that she chose to stay out but it was crazier to know the exact time — that's what kinda made it worse.

she typed out a message, deleted it. then typed again.something casual at first — "you busy?"

she didn't expect him to reply so quick. 

elizabeth 🤎: you busy?

owen: kinda, just got home from filming, what's up?

elizabeth 🤎: oh nothing, just wanted to talk i guessowen: about what?

elizabeth 🤎: can i ask u smth? 

owen: always

elizabeth🤎: ik this is probably gna be a mistake but after wha we were talking abt last week i'd rather js say it but like i like u but if u don't like me back it's fine yk i don't deep it

owennn: idk what to say

elizabeth🤎: sorry

elizabeth🤎: idk wha to say either 😭

owennn: it's not that i don't like u but i think i js need more time ugm?

owennn: ur pretty and i like ur humour n stuff but i think i needs think abt it

elizabeth🤎: if u like mia idc bro we can stay friends yk me

owennn: does she like me ?

elizabeth🤎: i think so yea

owennn: is it not bad out if like say if i got wi u

elizabeth🤎: nah we both agreed to stay friends if u got wi one of us if that makes sense

owennn: oh okay

owennn: sorry liz

elizabeth🤎: don't be, take ur time

owennn: alright

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she stared at that last message until the screen dimmed.

don't know how i feel right now.

not no. not yes. just uncertainty wrapped in kindness. it was somehow worse.

few days later, it was friday at school, saoirse could tell straight away. they were sat on the floor of the common room, waiting for the rain to stop before heading home. liz was picking at the threads on her sleeve, quiet.

"what happened?" saoirse asked softly."nothing," liz muttered."liar. you've been actin' weird since tuesday" liz sighed. "i told him.""you told him what?""that i still like him."

saoirse blinked, then immediately leaned forward. "no way."liz nodded miserably. "yeah." saorise raised a brow "what'd he say?"liz shrugged. "that he doesn't know how he feels.""oh, liz...""i know." she laughed weakly, but it cracked halfway through. "i actually thought maybe— i don't know. that he'd say something."

saoirse frowned. "he will. maybe he's just thinking about it." "yeah." she looked out the window. "or maybe that was his answer."

that friday, liz was at saoirse's house for a sleepover — just the two of them, takeaway boxes on the floor, a film playing low in the background.

it was raining again, tapping softly against the window, and liz was ranting quietly into her pillow.

"i just don't get it," she said. "he says he cares, he says he wants to make time for me, but then he goes quiet. like, don't say that stuff if you don't mean it."

saoirse passed her a crisp bag. "boys are stupid."liz huffed out a laugh. "yeah, well, this one's really stupid.""you still like him though." saoirse stated "yeah," she admitted. "i do. i wish i didn't, but i do."

she turned onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. "it's like he's just out of  reach, you know? like he's right there, but not mine."saoirse smiled softly. "that's deep." "shut up," liz said, throwing a pillow at her.

they laughed, but it didn't last long. liz could feel it, saoirse could probably feel it too — that ache sitting heavy in elizabeths chest, even as she tried to ignore it.

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by monday, everything felt weird again. owen was still filming. she'd texted him once over the weekend. a simple "how's it going" — and he'd replied hours later with "long day lol, how's yours."

it felt polite. detached. like something had quietly broken between them and neither of them wanted to say it out loud.

lunchtime came. liz and saoirse sat in their usual spot outside the maths block, waiting for mia. when mia showed up, she looked flustered — hair slightly messy, blazer undone, smiling a bit too much.

"sorry i'm late," she said, dropping her bag down.

they started talking, but liz could feel it. the tension. mia kept whispering to saoirse, half-smiling, like there was something she wasn't supposed to hear "what are you two whispering about?" liz asked, trying to sound casual.

"nothing," mia said quickly.saoirse avoided her eyes.

liz frowned. "you're lying. what's going on?""it's not a big deal," mia said."then say it."

mia hesitated, then finally sighed. "me and owen are together."

the words hit like cold water.

liz blinked. "what?""we've been talking," mia said quietly. "and i guess... it just happened."

liz stared at her, heart hammering. "it just happened?" as much as she wanted to scream in mia's face, telling her how wrong that was. she knew that she was better than that. "oh" she cleared her throat, looking away and blinking rapidly so the tears would fuck off so it wouldn't ruin her mascara.

 "...are you mad?"  mia asked, more soft spoken. 

saoirse mentally slapped her forehead at mia's question. "is SHE mad?" saoirse thiught to herself. but she was there watching the two. liz finally looked at mia, her cheeks dusted pink and her eyes no longer glossy. "..nah.–i'm happy for you" she tried to grin but failed, simply just flashing a soft smile before frowning. standing up and grabbing her bag. "bells about to go so... i'm gonna get to class" liz muttered before leaving as swiftly as possible. 

she didn't go to class. she went to girls bathroom, sounds pathetic.

why am i crying over this? she thought to herself. she was upset, but also mad. — mad that she told him just to feel stupid and led on. the bell wasn't going to ring for another few minutes so she sat in the closed toilet seat and scrolling aimlessly through her phone as she waited for time to fly. 

only 4 more classes and i get to leave. 

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when she arrived home, she laid on her bed — not daring to move a muscle. her curtains was closed and the small lamp light was on, the warm yellow of the room made it a bit more comforting whilst she was tucked into her bed. it had been an hour and she's been laying there, not going on snap nor instagram or vsco — just scrolling on tiktok.

there was a knock at the door. 

"what?" liz said dryly before isabelle opened the door. "sorry i forgot to give you you're straightener b—.. what's up with you?" isabelle saw her state and raised a brow. "nothing" liz spoke softly. "something clearly happened" isabelle rolled her eyes as she sat at the edge of her bed. "it's owen. him and mia are together" she sighed as those words came out. "oh.. ew" isabelle said with a judgemental look in her face. 

"that's exactly what i thought" liz laughed dryly. "i never really liked mia, she gave me 'pick me' vibes" isabelle shrugs. "doesn't really matter since she's with the boy she knew i liked" liz sighed. isabelle didn't talk, she just listened. "i mean— like yeah i get we both agreed to stay friends and yeah i knew she liked him as well and obviously you can't control how you feel about a person but it still hurts, you get me?" elizabeth rambled whilst isabelle just nodded. 

"that's still kinda bad out on her though, she knew you liked him first and yous were chatting first" isabelle stated. liz shrugged, sitting upright and leaning her head against the headboard. "again, doesn't really matter tho, she has him" 

"bitchy friend. it's owens loss, if he wants to deal with a girl that has about 5 lads on her best friends list then he can have at it" she snickered, that made liz smile — just a little bit. "right, i'll leave you alone but if you need me i'll be downstairs" she said as she patted elizabeths leg through the blanket before standing up, leaving her hair straightener on her vanity before leaving.

there was silence in liz's room once again. she wiped the tears from her cheeks and cleared her throat. she knew that there was nothing that she could do except accept. 

she hated that she still liked him, even thinking about him still... — but the thought of him made her  upset.

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a/n: quite a depressing chapter ngl. also iwl some of the texts between owen and elizabeth is loosely based off of texts msgs between me and my ex-talking stage lmaoo

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