summer changed a lot of things.

the weather. the climate. how the sun scorched the virginia soil with no mercy.

apparently adam parrish was something that was changed too. apparently he had gone through changes that no one in their right mind could have predicted - not even blue and her freaky psychic abilities - and it was interesting.

but when he walked into aglionby after the summer break and had all eyes on him? adam wasn't sure if he could cope with it. the new attention that was on him.

he'd once been a lean, lanky thing. he had muscle for sure, but it was more subtle. ronan had once compared him to a beanpole.

but now? he had visible muscle. biceps that had doubled in size, for example. gansey had warned him that things would be different, that people wouldn't see him as this poor boy anymore, they'd see him as someone desirable.

yet you? his best friend? you hadn't changed.

even as the two of you walked side by side down the halls, conveniently ignoring envious looks, you weren't treating him any differently.

from what he had figured out, you saw him as the same person. as the same lanky boy that had you'd been friends with since their first year here at aglionby academy. adam wasn't sure if it was reassuring or not.

so now, as the two of you sat in his room at monmouth, he had a question on the tip of his tongue. he had to know what you thought, if it was superficial or if you still saw him as the same boy. if you still saw him as a friend.

perhaps the word 'friend' made his skin crawl. perhaps his… changes. had been influenced by a certain affection toward a certain someone (you). not that adam would admit it. he'd rather get hit by an eighteen wheeler truck over admitting something like that first.

and now as he sat across from you, watching as you settled on his bed as if you belonged there, he knew that he had to ask. even if it made the atmosphere awkward.

so he broke the silence with: "started working out over summer."

oh that was so incredibly subtle. not. god he wanted to smack himself for how bad that sounded. to him, it sounded as if he was fishing for something, for anything from the boy sitting across from him. god he was going to lose his fucking mind.

"dunno if you… noticed." smooth. real smooth parrish.