A Kiss To Change It All (Part 4) - Montgomery de la Cruz
Pairing: Montgomery x Reader; Jeff x best friend!Reader
Warning: Body image issues; Health issues;
Word count: 1240 words.
You were sitting in the library, facing Zach, three open books laying between you as you both worked hard to get over your biology paper that was due for the next week. You had time but you also wanted to be free for the winter formal.
“All we have left to do is a summary.” He said dropping his pen and stretching.
“I can finish this on my own, Zach.”
“Group project, everything is in the name. We start it together, we finish it together.” He insisted.
“And practice?” You shot back at him leaning above the table, head sitting on your hands.
“I still have an hour ahead of me before practice.” He imitated your gestures so you were inches away from one another. You couldn’t contain your smile longer and shook your head amused. “Let’s get this bad boy finished.” And less than an hour later, you finally left the library. “Told you we’d finish it on time.” He teased gently pushing you. You chuckled and looked at him.
“Am I being nice to jocks lately?” You asked as you turned to walk backward in front of him. He laughed before you started jumping and turning around him.
“And adorable!” He took your hand and made you swirl on yourself of few times before you bumped into someone.
“Sorry!” You said before you met the person’s eyes. Montgomery. You haven’t seen each other since the night he spent at Jeff’s and it was good that way. He ditched most of the French classes since then.
You woke up before Jeff. 5.30 a.m. was glowing on the clock on the nightstand. You growled and silently made your way to take a pair of sweatpants from his closet and then out of the bedroom. You walked downstairs, trying to make yourself as discreet as possible until you were in the living where Montgomery was sleeping, head resting on the armrest of the couch. You pulled a blanket from the chair beside it and carefully laid it on him. His face was beaten up. Badly. When you turned around, ready to leave as silently as you came in, he grabbed your wrist. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.” You whispered trying to get rid of his tight grip but you couldn’t. He let go of you and mouthed ‘Thank you’ before you left in a hurry. You crawled back next to Jeff and never told him about what happened with Montgomery. You didn’t get back to sleep, you kept looking at the ceiling wondering why in the first place you went to check on him.
“Watch out where you walk, (y/l/n).” He hissed before walking away from you and Zach.
“Terribly polite as usual.” You rolled your eyes and looked at Zach. “It was for me being too nice to jocks.”
“(Y/N)…”
“Go to your practice Zach, I have to meet up with Jess.” You said walking away from him. You were mad at him. You didn’t even know why. You and Montgomery weren’t even friends so why were you pissed at him being a jerk to you as he always did. “Sorry for being late, Jess.” You said as you walked up to your friend in the parking lot.
“I just got here anyway.” She smiled at you but you were looking away. “What’s gotten into you, (Y/N)?”
“Nothing. Just bumped into Cruz and he was nice as hell.”
“That dude is a douchebag, don’t get angry because of him.” She put a hand on your shoulder. “Let’s go shopping for dresses and shoes, you’ll feel better after that I promise.” You chuckled and followed her to her car. She blasted your favorite album loud in the car and you both sang along until you reached the mall. The first few stores were miserable, none of you liked what you saw there, too sparkly, too bright, too lacy. You walked into the fourth store on your way. “Look at those, Oh My Goodness.” You followed her and started digging. After nearly giving up, you found your gem.
“I think I got mine.” You said loudly so Jessica could hear you. “Oh, beauty.” Skater dress, burgundy, off the shoulders, simple yet beautiful. Jessica found hers in the next store and you both stopped for an ice-cream break before you went to pick up your shoes.
“Jeff is gonna be stunned by your beauty.” She said wiggling her spoon in front of you.
“I hope so.” You grinned. “I am wondering if he already got his suit by the way.” You dug into your bowl before you spoke again. “You and Alex…”
“We’re over. After what happened with the list and stuff, we couldn’t go further.”
“You’re ok?”
“Yeah. I mean, we’re still friends.”
“Good. That’s a good thing, Jess.”
“You and Zach on the other hand…”
“Oh come on, Jess. Me and Zach seriously?”
“Well from what I could tell, you spent a lot of time together…”
“For people who have biology projects to do together.” You finished. “He is nice and handsome too.”
“Sounds like Dempsey is scoring there.”
“No, he is absolutely not scoring.”
“So what you have feelings for Jeff that you can’t look at anyone else?” She asked crossing her arms over her chest.
“Of course, no. My friendship with Jeff has nothing to do with the fact that I don’t have feelings for anyone.” You sighed. “I just… My health issues are holding me back.” Her facial expression changed. It softened. She didn’t know what was going on with your health. Actually, not many people knew about your health issues. “I have scars on my body… I have had three transplants between the age of eleven and fourteen.” You said looking at your now melted ice cream. “It’s not pretty to see.” You played with the cherry that was floating in the green cream. Jessica didn’t know what to say, she was surprised by you confessing things like that despite you not knowing each other very well. She took her hand in hers and made you look at her, tears were rolling on your cheeks.
“You are beautiful, (Y/N). Scars don’t matter because they make you who you are today. A strong and beautiful girl that I wish I had met years ago.” She ran her thumb on your cheek, wiping away the tears. “Is that what makes you so close to Jeff?” You nodded and told her how Jeff always stuck by your side since you were a child. When you were too sick to play outside, he was the one to stay with you, ditching away everyone so you didn’t have to stay on your own. When you woke up from your first surgery, he was there. He was always there. It was probably the reason why you didn’t mind being half-naked in front of him because he knew those scars saved your life. He even told you that he couldn’t even see them when he looked at your body. She just listened to you, every word you said she took and said nothing back until you finished.
“I don’t do cheerleading because my lungs and my heart are weak. Any physical effort could end me right there. But I still like to go out for a run from time to time. ” You chuckled, sniffling a little bit.
“Rebel.” She laughed, this time wiping away her own tears. “Thank you for trusting me, (Y/N).”
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