Never Letting Go

She smiled a little,"sounds good, I was thinking I could get the burger supreme one, with the big pattie and all the cheese and savory sauce," she groaned, "and also chili cheese fries," she noted as she pulled out her wallet so she could be prepared to pay for her food. "I'm so thankful I still run in the mornings, or else I'd be the size of a house,"

---

He smiled,"Only three," he admitted sheepishly as he looked at her, "I'll make sure to check the weather from now on, if I'd known it was only going to be sixty I wouldn't have worn so much,"

"You could always take two off," She suggested, moving up in the line and ordering once she got to the front. "You did earlier in the car. What do you want? The same?" She asked, pulling out her wallet.

---

He nodded a little. "I'm sure if you looked like a house someone would still love you," He teased her and nudged her. "If you'd tell me who it was, I'm sure I could convince them to." He said, stepping forward and ordering his favorite, a bbq burger.

She smiled and leaned on him a little then let out a deep breath as she held back every emotion that ran through her, if only he knew - maybe he'd look at her the way he looked at Rayan. "I doubt it, he's out of my league and likes someone else..."

---

He nodded,"I know but one isn't school appropriate they'd kick me out," he laughed a little then nodded,"yeah the same is fine, but let me pay," he said to her putting his hand on hers, then pulling out his own wallet.

She sighed a little but smiled, lowering her wallet and closing it up. "I'm buying dinner tonight," She said, putting it into her bag and smiling. She ordered the same for him and then moved to the side while they waited for their number to be called.

---

He sighed. "That's unfortunate," He said as they waited for their food. "Can I know who they like or will that put them on the spot?" He asked curiously, grabbing two straws and handing it to her.

"It's definitely put them on the spot," she murmured softly as she sat down taking a straw from him, "It's fine though I mean, theres bound to be other guys I like. I mean with college starting soon, theres probably cute guys there...nice ones maybe, no frat boys though, gross," she said making a face as she laughed.

---

He smiled,"If you insist," he said to her as he paid for the food then went to stand next to her, "My mom wants to know if you'll come over for dinner next week, shes making that dish she made when you came over that one night,"

"The salmon and potatoes?" She asked him. "Yes, please." She said with a huge grin. "That was delicious, I don't think I can eat salmon that isn't hers ever again," She said, stepping forward as their number was called. She got the food. "Where do you want to sit?"

---

"Ew, frat boys," He made a face, before turning completely. "Oh, there's Rayan. Let's go over to sit with them," He said, grabbing the food and heading over. "Come on," He said, walking to the other side of the court.

She sighed a little then grabbed her food getting up and following him, she had hoped that maybe they wouldn't have run into her. She pushed a hand through her hair as she walked then once again made sure to plaster a smile on her face. "She's with someone," she told him lightly as she walked next to him.

---

He looked around, "how about there," he said to a table off on the side so it wasn't too crowded, "Leg room,"

She followed him and sat down, setting down the food and sticking her straw into the drink. "Do you like it here so far?" She asked curiously, pulling out the fork and mixing it up. "I mean, it's pretty far."

---

"If that's the guy she was with this morning, I can't risk them being alone together. I need to get her back," He said to her before walking over. "Hey Rayan," He said, holding his food. "Charlotte's here too," He said, looking between Rayan and the other guy.
"Oh, hi," She said, a little confused but mostly unbothered. "This is Hoseok, he's a transfer student from Colorado," She smiled a little and gestured to him.
Kihyun sat down in the chair nearest to Rayan and nodded. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kihyun." He said, giving Hoesok a slightly steely look.

Charlotte smiled a little, "It's nice to finally meet you," she said to Rayan with a small smile then looked from Kihyun to Hoseok then at her food. Anger was swelling up in her, most of it was towards herself and sighed as she took a sip of her drink.

---

He smiled a little and nodded as the two joined them, "So, are you both seniors?" he asked as he ate some of his food.

"Yep, though someone doesn't take his studies seriously I swear getting him to study is like giving a cat with rabies a bath," she snorted a little as she took a bite of her food. "What about you? I know Rayan's a senior since she is in like two of my classes but I haven't seen you around before,"

Rayan took a sip of her drink and ate, grabbing one of the chips on Wonho's plate and eating it. She took a bite of her food and smiled a bit. "Nice to meet you too," She smiled a little at Charlotte. She could see how Charlotte looked at Kihyun immediately, and it made her instantly weary. It was clear how Charlotte felt, but then why would Kihyun bring her over like this if they weren't together? She thought to herself, but not going too deep into it. "Speaking of which, have you worked on your paper yet? I haven't started mine," She said to Charlotte.

---

Kihyun nodded as he looked at Rayan. "Yeah I've never seen you before?" He said to Wonho, before looking at Rayan. "I meant to ask you, tonight some people were planning on going to the pier. Do you want to come? They're going to light the bonfire and probably roast marshmallows," He smiled a little. "That was your favorite, so you should come."

"Rayan and I were actually gonna go together," he said smiling a little as he looked at the guy then tilted his head a little - was this the ex she'd talked about. He turned to look at Rayan to read her expression, "shes going to pick me up so I can learn the area a bit before I start driving,"

---

She nodded,"yep, I started it a couple days ago, I can send you the links for the best sources if you want; lots of articles there and historical studies," she told her as she shoved a fry in her mouth. "Speaking of, am I picking you up or are you getting there another way?" she asked Kihyun hoping to stop him while he was ahead but she knew how stubborn he was.

Rayan had been looking at her food for the most part, trying to figure out what to make of this. She felt Wonho looking at her and she looked up at him, smiling weakly before looking back down and taking another bite. She wasn't sure what this was, and she was pretty confused by it. "That would be helpful, I found some great archives if you'd like them. I'll send them to you, just remind me." She smiled a little, looking up at her.

---

"Oh, you should probably go too. It would be good for you to meet other people, you know, since you're new and could probably stand to make more than one friend." He said with a shrug. "I heard Rayan was volunteering to show the new kid around, that's really nice of you." He said to Rayan before turning back to Wonho. "Don't want him to get lost, it's a pretty big town."

She nodded a little and looked at him furrowing her brow then let out a sigh of annoyance, "Can we put the rulers away please?" she said as she looked at her food then closed her eyes. It was moments like this when she realized why she didn't hang around him all that often, it took a lot out of her - emotionally.

---

He snorted a little, "We've been hanging out a lot," he said as he sipped his drink, "She's probably coming over to mine for dinner this week, my parents love you - you know that right,"

Rayan covered her mouth, trying not to laugh too loudly and ended up snorting instead. Her eyes widened and she covered her face, taking a sip of her drink. It was hilarious, but she was right. It was like a pissing contest and it made no sense to her. "I do know that," She smiled a little and tried to cover her face from the snorting. "But really, we're going to the pier, Wonho has never been there before, so I'm taking him." She smiled a little and ate more of her food. "So it's fine really, we'll both be there. Charlotte are you coming too?"

---

Kihyun shrugged. "Rayan does great with parents, I'm not surprised. My parents love her too, what do you want a medal?" He scoffed, shaking his head. "But fine, since we'll all be there. It'll be fun." He said, taking a bite of his burger. He didn't like Wonho, at all. He wished he wasn't here permanently, and wanted him to go back to colorado.

She finished her food then sighed a little,"I guess," she murmured lightly as she finished her drink then looked at Rayan, "So I'm done I'm gonna throw my stuff away we should probably head back soon if we don't want to be late," she said to him lightly as she looked at him then rolled her eyes when she saw he wasn't really paying attention to her.

---

He looked at charlottle then smiled, "your friend is talking to you, it's kind of rude to ignore someone when they gave you a ride," he said as he looked at him ,"besides, you kind of interrupted something," he said motioning between him and Rayan.

Rayan raised her eyebrows slightly, never seeing this side of Wonho. She turned to see Kihyun's expression, who looked a certain level of pissed. She took another bite of her food, grabbing another one of Wonho's chips. "It was nice to meet you, Charlotte," She said, smiling a bit and then sighing at Kihyun. "I'll see you around, Kihyun."

---

Kihyun all but glared at Wonho, but he knew he couldn't stay because Charlotte was his ride. "Yeah, I'm finished," he said,standing to toss his food. "I'll see you tonight, Rayan." He smiled a little, but it was tense because he was visibly annoyed by Wonho. "See you later," He said, going to follow Charlotte.

She walked to her car and waved to Rayan, she was angry with Kihyun then shook her head, as she unlocked her car then climbed in laying her head against the head rest as she looked at him, "you know in the end its her choice right?" she murmured softly as she started the car.

---

He nodded and waved to Charlotte then stood up following Rayan sighing, "that guys an asshole," he snorted as he laced his fingers with hers, "was he always like that? and what kind of idiot can see that his best friend is in love with him?"

She took Wonho's hand and sighed. "You saw that too, huh?" She said, standing to throw their food away. "I wonder why he doesn't notice," She murmured. "Well, I guess I do know." She said softly. "And no, he wasn't always an asshole. Quite the opposite actually. He's hardheaded, and very determined. He likes to fight for things he wants," She explained, holding onto his hand and sighing.

---

"I know it is, but I can't just sit and give up," He said, visibly annoyed but his expression softening. "I messed up, Charlotte. I really did. I let her go, and now I'm dealing with it. I want to try to fix it, and get her back. So I'm going to fight. Especially with that guy, he's an asshole and I don't like him." He muttered.

she sighed a little as she looked at him "Well, if you say so," she said gently then wet her lips a little, "this is why I dont do relationships - too sloppy, too much hurt," she told him then started to drive. "I just want you to be happy, thats all I want and you could be happy with someone else there are tons of girls who want to be with you,"

---

He sighed then shook his head,"Well, too bad, he can't have you," he smiled a little as he looked at her then looked at her, "you should try to hook Charlotte up with someone; keep her mind off him for a bit,"

She smiled a little and walked with him, squeezing his hand. "I'm with you now, but he's stubborn," She said softly. "It's how we got together, he was insistent," She explained as they walked. "If he would open his eyes, he could have her, it was obvious she liked him. I hope she knows I don't want him though. But I can find someone to set her up with, I have plenty of guy friends who might be interested."

---

He sighed and buckled his seatbelt. "I'll be happy with her," He said softly. "And with him out of the way. He was a real asshole." He said to her. "You never know, you could find someone that made you happy."