A/N: Okay so I'm not American and I don't know how exactly the class system, and classes work, so just bear with me and the potential errors my ignorance can cause xD I also thought I should include this every time I borrow elements from the book.

ELEMENTS FROM THE BOOK:

1. Peter and LJ were friends and were part of a squad of sorts, that included Gen.

2. They sometimes hung out in a treehouse.

3. LJ's mom had died when LJ was 10.

And keep this in mind while you read, it took me a while to figure it out lmfao - Gen and LJ had a fallout when they were in seventh grade. Kitty is 6-7 years younger than LJ.

Just putting this out here because it's trivia + useful information so this chapter doesn't get too confusing!

P.S: I love you guys. I nearly cried at the response :)


2. Partially Burned Bridges


When the class comes to and end, Lara Jean doesn't seem to notice. She's still spaced out and Chris has turned around in her seat to give her an amused look. Peter packs his bag slowly (not on purpose), watching in amusement as well, until Chris rolls her eyes and thumps Lara Jean's desk.

She jumps in her seat and gives Chris a sheepish look, and Chris quirks an eyebrow. "So, what bodice ripper nonsense are you daydreaming about, LJ?"

Bodice rippers?

Lara Jean sheepishly asks Chris to shut up as she gets to her feet, and Chris chuckles, as she waits. Chris catches his eye for a second and holds his gaze, looking at him questioningly. In response, Peter clears his throat, shrugs in what he hopes is a nonchalant manner, and hurriedly walks out.

Once in the hallway, he feels a little lost. He wonders where Gen went off to; she never did that. When leaving class, she never left without ensuring that Peter was right behind her. His eyes search for her as he stands in the doorway, when someone clears their throat behind him.

"Out of the way, Kavinsky," Chris says in a bored voice, and he steps aside in a hurry.

Chris makes a show of looking up and down the hallway. "All alone, huh?" she asks, and leans towards him conspiratorially. "They say the She Devil only disappears for a couple of minutes at a time, PK. Make the best of it," she finishes, patting his back with mock sympathy.

Peter rolls his eyes. "That's just a myth, Christine. Clearly, the She Devil is still here," he retorts.

Chris gasps dramatically. "He knows my secret! Quick, Lara Jean, throw me my flaming trident so I can take him out!"

Lara Jean is chuckling softly, and Peter only then remembers her presence. He looks at her over his shoulder to see that she's leaning against a desk in the first row. When he catches her eye, she coughs and stops laughing, but the corner of her mouth twitches just slightly.

Chris's eyes look to Lara Jean pointedly before she gives him a two finger salute. "Later, PK," she says and turns away to leave.

Lara Jean passes Peter, saying, "Peter," with a nod in the form of a polite greeting and goodbye.

"Lara Jean," he responds in kind, but she probably doesn't hear him and is already walking away with Chris.

Shaking his head, he follows them to their next class to find that Gen is already seated there. When he asks her where she'd left to suddenly, she tells him that she'd thought he was right behind her. Her eyes are on the floor when she says that, and he knows something is wrong, but he doesn't push it.

He spends the rest of the class worrying about it, though.

The rest of the day passes by in a blur, and Gen is more immersed in her phone than usual. The worry is eating away at him but he doesn't show it. As the bell for the final hour rings, Gen is chatty once again. They're walking towards the exit and he is automatically heading for his car with Gen in tow when she pulls back.

"Babe, you go on without me, today, 'kay?" she says, smiling up at him.

Peter frowns. "Everything okay? You've been weird all day."

Gen blinks and pats her hair nervously. "Everything is... fine. I just… I have somewhere else to be," she says.

She doesn't tell him where.

Peter shrugs casually, but the worry grows as he kisses her lips before she turns around and leaves. He watches her navigate the parking lot to get to her car; as she drives away, she gives him a single wave, which he returns and starts to walk towards his own car.

He has an uneasy feeling about Gen that he can't seem to shake off. He is half tempted to text her and just outright tell her that she was being really weird and it was starting to worry him. But he knew what she'd say.

You're reading too much into it, babe, with a little laugh.

He feels disgruntled and just as he starts to increase his pace, a car on his right moves suddenly and bumps lightly into his leg.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he exclaims, bending a little bit to see who it was, a tiny frown on his face.

Well, what do you know…

He walks over to the driver's side of the car to see Lara Jean in the seat, eyes closed frowning slightly and shaking her head, presumably at herself. Next to her is a girl with glasses who, much to his amusement, is wearing a teal-coloured helmet. She is cackling and with a jolt he recognises her as the youngest of the Covey sisters; she was in first grade the last time he'd seen her.

He raps on her window and Lara Jean looks at him, and sighing deeply she rolls the window down.

"Hi," he says, crouching to her level, and he's ready to tell her off

"Hi," she replies, not looking at him.

"How you doing?" he asks, and he knows he's being cocky, but he can't help it. Clearly, she's nervous and he doesn't really want to yell at her anymore.

"Good," she nods.

"Yeah?

"Yeah," she says, like she'd rather be anywhere else but there.

"You know," he starts. "People usually check behind them before they reverse. To avoid killing others, it's a thing we do."

She's looking at him now, eyebrows raised just slightly. "Yeah, I'm just not completely comfortable with using my mirrors yet, so…"

"Yeah, clearly," he says, feeling a little smug. "Think you're gonna be able to make it out of the parking lot?"

"Yeah," she nods again. "We're fine," and continues in a nervous rush. "Really, seriously. Um, so you should just...go, seriously."

She refuses to look him in the face, clearly uncomfortable, clearly wanting him to leave.

"Sure," he relents. "Whatever you say, Covey."

He looks at her sister, who has the weirdest smile on her face; like she knew something he didn't. (She did.)

"Hey, you're in charge," he says, pointing at her, and she was still grinning at him, her eyes darting back and forth between him and Lara Jean.

With that he walks away to his own car, and is about to leave when he notices that Lara Jean's car still hadn't moved. He revs his engine and sees that Lara Jean had parked her car back into the parking spot. Her sister steps out of the car in her helmet and climbs onto the hood, and Lara Jean sticks her head out to probably tell her off. Seconds later, Lara Jean is out of the car as well, seated next to her sister and handing her a small bottle of something to drink.

They sit like that for some time, and Peter realizes as seconds pass by that they were waiting for the other cars to leave. He chuckles to himself with amusement, and also realizes that for the second time that day, he was being really creepy.

He backs his car up and leaves.

As he drives home, he finds himself wondering again about why Lara Jean wasn't friends with Gen anymore. She seemed nice enough, and though he'd never admit it to Gen or anyone ever, he could see that if Lara Jean wanted to, she could easily become the conventional "popular" student.

She was…. Well…. Hot.

She didn't really even have to do much, except maybe leave her hair down. He thinks she'd look prettier with her hair down.

It was easy to forget that they'd ever been friends, but he would remember that they used to be very suddenly and out of the blue, at the most random moments.

He'd be in the mall with Gen and see a bunch of sparkling hair ties and he'd think Oh, Lara Jean would love those. Or when he went out to have Korean food every once in a while. He remembers being in middle school, borrowing her notes all the time to study and she'd always give them to him while admonishing that fact that he never made notes of his own.

When he sees her around in school, it still feels odd that they don't speak anymore.

He wonders if the treehouse is still there, if Lara Jean still liked to bake, if Margot (?) still scolded her about keeping her room clean.

Huh.


A/N: Soooooooooooo... WHAT DO YOU THINK.

I AM SO SORRY IF IT SEEMS TO BE GOING TOO SLOW. If you think it's TOO slow, let me actually know! Reviews are also for feedback so I can see what works and what doesn't!

And um I know Peter remembering so much is a little far fetched, but I'm somewhat of a hopeless romantic and would like to think that Peter not knowing why Gen and LJ had a fallout, would always make him wonder, as well as be curious about what's happening with her because he personally has no problem with her, and is staying away only for Gen.

Tell me what you think, please! Reviews are so so so appreciated!