rory edmond had been apart of your life far longer than he should’ve been. and he knew much more than he should’ve known about you.

and it was all because of that stupid apartment building.

the two of you grew up next door neighbors in the same apartment building on the poor side of town. both of you hearing your parents scream on each side of the wall that separated the apartments.

he was your best friend. the one who you could talk to when things got bad and you needed to get out of that apartment.

however, when high school came? he became associated with his basketball teammates and fucking ryder collins. the biggest drug dealer in your town.

so that was it. what used to be walking to school together and trauma dumps— turned into walking past each other in the hallway and seeing each other when you would go get laundry from the laundry mat across the street.

sure, you still heard his parents arguing all the time— but yours stopped. why? your dad left to be with his new family. leaving you, your mom, your gross step dad, and your older brother— Niko. practically your only friend anymore.

sure, you had cherry. a bubbly red head that you had become fond of, however she didn’t know what happened in your house.

the only people who did in your school were niko and rory. but only one of them cared.

it’s late on a friday night, and your sitting on the roof of your apartment building smoking a cigarette. you didn’t want to be in that apartment. with your drunk step dad and your people-pleaser mom.

plus, niko had been spending most of his time with his girlfriend. which was great, but it left you without anyone.

as you were smoking, you hear a group of people walk onto the roof. turning around, you see a large group of basketball players and cheerleaders making their way onto the roof with coolers and lights.

a rooftop party.

you sighed and turned back around— watching the city streets instead.

that was until you felt someone stand next to you.

you didn’t even have to turn around. he still smelt the same way he did in 7th grade.

“why are you up here, chloe? we’re having a party.”