A Kiss To Change It All (Part 34) - Montgomery de la Cruz
Pairing: Montgomery x Reader; brief Jeff x Reader
Warning: FLUFF !!!!!
Word count: 2.1k
If Monday were a person, it would more than probably be Bryce Walker. Everyone hated it but everyone had to deal with it. You happened to hate that day as much as you hated the basketball-baseball football team captain, especially when it involved a more serious talk with your ex-soon-to-be-boyfriend-again. You woke up happy though knowing that your life was slowly heading back to normal but as soon as you laid a foot inside Liberty High’s halls, you had the sweet reminder from the look your best friend was giving you that you weren’t exactly honest with Montgomery two days ago as you didn’t mention the kiss Zach and you shared and also the fact that you two hung out a few times despite you being loud and clear that nothing would go beyond friendship and lab-partnership with Zach. “The sooner, the better.” Jeff elbowed you when he spotted the jocks, Zach and Monty included, leaning against the lockers close to yours. The simple sight of him sent your heart in a crazy race inside your chest and when you got to open your locker, you couldn’t help your hands from shaking at the simple thought of him getting crazy mad when you would tell him about that goddamn kiss.
You took your time taking out your books for the morning, glancing over to your left to catch his attention but he was determined not to look at you at all especially when Kimberly came close to him. You mentally cursed him and slammed your locker shut before you made your way to your first class missing how the cheerleader dragged naughty comments from the boys when she asked Monty to talk in private. Although you knew what she thought about the whole situation, you couldn’t help but get jealous at how he smiled at her and kissed her cheek as a greeting. Montgomery couldn’t be any more thankful when the cheerleader told him that the two of you had a talk a few days ago, he couldn’t even fake being surprised because he already knew but he didn’t expect her to be this comprehensive over his feelings for you. “She makes you a better person.”
Before they parted ways, he apologized for not fully being honest with her to which she responded with a smile and sprinted towards her first period when the first bell rang. It wasn’t long before he entered the classroom where you were seated at the back and instantly smiled at the sight of you focused on the drawing you were sketching on your notebook. Random flowers and other curved shapes were filing the page when Montgomery got close enough to see what you were drawing. You did this whenever you were upset, and he knew he did get on your nerves since he didn’t text you ever since he left your house on Sunday morning. But he also knew you would understand his odd silence when he’d tell what kept him busy. “Hey princess.”
Tilting your head up, you found a smiling Montgomery standing in front of your desk, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his varsity jacket. Part of you was tired of all the fighting and arguments and part of you reminded you of how anxious you were the day before when he didn’t even tell you he made it to his house safely. “Hi.” You simply responded and went back adding more flowers to the page. You were definitely something else to handle he said to himself before he pulled a chair to sit in front of you. You didn’t pay much attention to him but that was until he carefully took the pencil away from your hand. “Monty, give it back.”
“Not until you hear me out.” Sighing, you leaned back in your chair and waited for him to speak. You were lucky the teacher was a bit late, so he had plenty of time to defend himself. Once he made it to his house, his mother insisted on taking him to the hospital and despite him fighting back by telling her he was fine, Mrs. De la Cruz took him to the ER. “I spent the day there and my phone was dead.” He pulled up his t-shirt revealing a bandage wrapped around his torso.
At that point, you felt extremely stupid for pulling an attitude on him. You could’ve guessed that his mother would be a little more persuasive than you tried to be and would manage to get him to see a doctor before it got worse. “I’m sorry, Mont. I… Oh Gosh, I feel so stupid!”
“At least it proves that you actually spent the day thinking about me.” He smirked and handed you the pencil back. That was how you pulled the dialogue back while at school. At this point, people were far too busy with the suicide prevention campaigns to even have a look at the two of you while you walked out of your common classes together, talking and laughing as if nothing ever happened between you. You kept thinking about how you should tell him about what happened with Zach, but you never found the right time, so while having lunch, you texted him that you wanted to get to the dockside after class because you needed to tell him something. He shot you a concerned look from across the crowded cafeteria to which you responded with a smile. “You got me worried, what is it?”
“Let’s get out of here and I’ll tell you everything.” Not a word was exchanged during the ride which only made the jock nervous about what he was about to hear from you. He wasn’t even close to guessing anything because he was too busy making crazy scenarios in his head. You took a deep breath when you stepped in front of him, keeping a small distance between you. At this point, you were pretty certain that your heart would give up as soon as you would start speaking. “You remember that day I fought with Sheri?” Montgomery nodded. You went telling him that after your small argument, you told Jeff everything about the tapes and he got mad at you. You were left crying and only found peace behind the bleachers by the basketball court because at least nobody could see you there. But Zach did. And he didn’t just find you. “I was confused and tired. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
A loud sigh of relief escaped his lips and you could swear he was almost laughing after you blurted out everything. You were expecting him to snap at you in a split second, but he didn’t. He remained strangely calm. “That’s it?”
“Uh… yes?”
“Okay.”
“Okay? Did you get what I just said?” You were fully convinced that he either didn’t hear what you said or didn’t get it properly, but it was none of the above.
Montgomery heard you well and was himself surprised it didn’t make him lose his temper in seconds. But he didn’t want to be that angry kid anymore. He wanted some change in his life, the good kind of change. It started operating when you kissed him back during the Winter Formal night and continued through the months you spent together, he didn’t want to admit it to himself but the ‘naturally violent’ label people had put on him for years was fading away and his life had never been so peaceful. But all of this stayed in his head. He didn’t want to tell you anything just yet. “Wanna go to Rosie’s tomorrow night?”
The alarm clock sitting on your nightstand flashed five thirty-seven when you entered your bedroom, one hand holding the large towel tight around your body, the other drying your dripping hair. Before you even opened your wardrobe, you already knew that it was going to be a long debate with yourself on what you should wear for your date. Yes, you had a date with your ex-boyfriend. He told you that this time he would go the old-fashioned way and take you out on a date -or several- before you make yourself official again.
When your father called you from downstairs to let you know that Montgomery had arrived, you weren’t expecting your heart to start beating this fast as you got closer to the living room where your father and he were talking. It felt like the first time you two would go out. Technically it was since you were starting everything over. “Don’t bring her too late, kid. You have school tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry, sir.” You could feel Montgomery’s nervousness from miles away which made you smile as you tugged on his arm and dragged him out of the house before your father said anything else. “Lifesaver.” He breathed when you two were in the car.
“You’ll thank me properly, Cruz.”
He shot you a playful grin and started the engine. Unlike the day before, the ride was filled with laughter and whoever would see you, would probably think you never had a single dark cloud in your relationship whilst in reality, you were rebuilding everything from scratch. The waiter at Rosie’s was happy to see you again after so many weeks as you stepped inside the dinner, holding Montgomery’s arm with both hands. You sat facing one another, knees lightly touching while you kept talking, not bothering to look at the menu since you already knew what you wanted. He was telling you how miserable he was at baking even with a full guide under his nose he would somehow mess everything and you were listening, chin resting on the palms of your hands as if he was telling you the most fascinating story on earth. One of the girls sitting two booths away from you made a comment about how your eyes screamed love when you were looking at him.
It was beyond true. You loved him. And he loved you back, in a way that almost scared him because he never had any similar feelings in the past.
He gave you his varsity jacket when you took a walk down the empty streets of Crestmont since the air got colder when you got out of the diner. None of you wanted to head home just yet. His hand traveled from the small of your back to your hip, pulling you close to him as he leaned to press a kiss on the top of your head. It was the first time he would dare to kiss you somehow. And it felt good. “I missed you, princess.”
You missed it too. The sweet feeling of loving someone to the point of forgetting the world surrounding you, especially if that someone was Montgomery. You got lost in his tight embrace despite your protests that he shouldn’t do this because of his cracked ribs but God forbid if he listened to you. “Yup, see, now you’re hurt, moron.” You shook your head at the sight of him wincing when he released you from his hold.
“Worth it.”
“You know you’ll have plenty of time to do this after you’re healed, uh?” He knew it but he couldn’t resist. Screw the pain.
And he did it again when you were standing in front of your house, a less tight one this time but right about enough for you to feel his warmth soaking through your clothes. It felt so good that you could probably spend the rest of your days there, happy. “Your father is watching us, princess.” He whispered as he pulled away from you.
“Of course, he is.” Now that you were doing things the right way, not sneaking behind his back, your father wouldn’t miss a chance to spy on you and would probably interrogate you during breakfast tomorrow morning. You were really looking forward to it. “Text me when you get home, okay?”
“Okay.”
He did in fact text you as soon as he parked his car in the driveway. A simple ’Hey’ made you instantly smile behind your lightened screen. You typed your response back before you crawled under your blankets. He didn’t bother to look where he was going when he jumped out of his car and made his way inside the house, his smile growing larger as your texts filled his screen. It went on for a while before you called it a night much to his disappointment, but he knew how much you hated staying awake late especially on school days.
Montgomery wanted to wake up earlier than you to surprise you with a cheesy morning text but apparently, you had the same idea only you woke up earlier than he did, texting a rather simple ’Good morning. I can’t wait to see you today.’ and went about your morning routine which this time included your father’s embarrassing questions. But you didn’t count on Jeff adding another layer before you could even breathe. “Well, don’t you have a lot to tell your handsome best friend this morning?”
“I went through a full interview from my dad like five minutes ago.” Seeing the smile on his lips, you sighed. “Alright, alright, here you go.” You went on telling him how much of a gentleman Montgomery was and how you were falling in love with him all over again. Not a detail went missing in your tale until you reached Liberty. The most surprising part of all of what you said was the fact that Montgomery didn’t jump on the opportunity to kiss you, he just kissed your cheek before he left. Truth, he was dying to kiss you.
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