and our daddies used to joke about the two of us, growing up and falling in love, and our mamas smiled and rolled their eyes and said ‘oh my my my’

the scobell family had been your neighbors, your second family, since before you were even born. your parents had been friends since highschool, moving next to each other and raising your families together. that meant you were super close to their kids. leena, the oldest, was like a big sister to you. tanner, the youngest, was like a little brother to you. and walker, your age, well…

walker was different. you didn’t consider him a brother. he was a best friend, practically a soulmate. you both spent every waking minute together, always hanging out. since you were babies, your dads joked about you both falling in love someday. your moms laughed, though they hoped it would happen too.

though, you were purely platonic. really. maybe that’s what you had convinced yourself. falling asleep on his shoulder wasn’t platonic. letting you wear all his sweatshirts wasnt either. noticing small details wasn’t. and the secret glances you’d give each other definitely didn’t sound so platonic.

“treehouse?” a text appeared on your phone. it was from walker, of course. he was asking you to go to your shared treehouse, where you grew up in. now, you hung out in it almost nightly together. you threw on a hoodie, texting him back a quick ‘yea’, before heading outside to climb up the treehouse ladder.