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ben's pov

holy shit "oh my gosh!!" peyton and riley screamed.

dev had a smug look on his face and he looked happy for me.

why did i even do that? did tate even like it? i probably did too much. fuck.

dev noticed the sudden awkwardness between us due to my overthinking and quickly changed the subject. "so are you guys wanna show me around?"

"oh yeah." the others said.

we all put our shoes on and me and tate kept making eye contact and smiling like crazy. me and devon were catching up on stuff in the car while riley and peyton were still freaking out in the back with tate.

"i can't believe you guys just-" riley whispered and made a quiet kiss noise. i chuckled and devon hit my arm slightly and said, "she's cute"

riley and devon?? i can see it to be honest.

"um.. okay tell her not me." i said. "no thanks"

-

we ended up thrifting at goodwill and riley ran straight into the store. "come on guys, hurryyy uppp" we followed her and went to look around at stuff.

i was at the shirts section when tate came up to me, "i'm sorry." i apologized without thinking. i regretted saying that when i saw her alarmed face, "about what?"

"uh kissing you? in front of our friends." i said as a question, making myself confused. "no- ben don't be sorry. it's fine." she walked closer to me, we were standing only inches apart and i just wanted to feel her lips on mine again.

she seemed like she had more to say but ended up not saying anything.

"you uh ready to go?" tate stuttered. "yeah."

we decided to eat somewhere. "there's literally nowhere to eat here except crusty fast food." peyton sighed.

"we should have a picnic!" riley chirped. "oou yeah! we can go to walmart or something to grab food." tate said.

we all agreed and i started driving off to walmart. riley wanted to have a "theme" for her instagram and pinterest posts so we decided to buy pink and red food.

me and peyton had to find the basket and blanket, tate got the main food, riley got the desserts, and devon got the drinks. we all split up and separated.

"where would they even put the picnic baskets?" i asked. "uh i don't know i think it's over there." he pointed towards the kitchen and dining sign and we headed off there.

"peyton wait." he stopped walking and looked at me. "it's obviously very obvious that i like tate and have asked her out. but how long do you think it'll take her to..give me a decision."

"just be patient. i know it's taking her awhile to make a decision, but trust me. if you're there for tate and show that you care about her, she'll eventually say yes. and i know she'll say yes."

that gave me so much hope for me and tate, and i know that someday we will be together. i hope.

-

"what! no wayyy. ben you are not that bold." tate said in between laughs. "yeah i actually did that. i totally regret it." i answered back, laughing too.

"wait what did she say?" riley asked. "she said no." a huge wave of laughter came upon the group and we were all laughing so hard.

being here with these people make me so happy. we can talk about anything and we'll just end up in laughter.

they make me feel so welcome and safe, a feeling i haven't felt in forever

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