ivy ; malachi barton

chapter sixteen ; i can fix him (no really i can)

"he had a halo of the highest grade, he just hadn't met me yet." i can fix him (no really i can); taylor swift.

evelyn

I had a hollow feeling in my stomach.

It was our last week in Vancouver; we weren't staying long, because we only had a few scenes to film for Zombies 4. Malachi and I had wiped the slate clean after our late night conversation all that time ago, and we hadn't argued since.

That didn't mean things hadn't been awkward as fuck between us.

Every time I looked at the boy, I felt an overwhelming feeling of sadness. I couldn't forget his drink confession, whether they were his true feelings or a secret jab at me. No matter how hard I'd tried to rid the thought from my mind, I couldn't ignore it. Could we have been something? If it didn't complicate things; if we weren't complicated already?

I stayed up late thinking about it. I couldn't help it. Every time I would talk to Brady on the phone, I would feel guilty, as I didn't drift off thinking about his freckled face and dark hair anymore. Instead, all I saw were dark, warm eyes and olive tan skin.

Then, I would remind myself that Brady and I weren't technically together, so I wasn't doing anything wrong.

You know you're fucked when you're relying on technicalities to prove your innocence.

It was a Saturday, and Sway, Meg and I had gone out to get lunch. I'd grown incredibly close with the two girls after the short time we'd spent together; I was starting to think I'd found my second family among this cast.

"Oh my god, I'm getting the chicken tacos." Sway announced as soon as she was passed the menu. Her mouth watered at the mere sight of the ingredients, and Meg and I laughed at her.

But behind my laugh was a sickly feeling. Malachi had grown distant with me over the last couple days. Between the time we made up and now, we had become somewhat 'friends'. We spent a large amount of time together, filming content and mucking around. While there were underlying, unresolved feelings there, we had learnt to enjoy each other's company.

But he had said a total of two words to me in the last forty-eight hours.

"Fuck, I'm tired." I groaned, rubbing my eyes. "I was up so late last night writing a new song."

"Oh, that's what you were doing. I wondered why the light was still on at three AM." Sway tutted, smiling happily at me.

"Please play it for us when we get back. I want to be the first to hear your new hit." Meg pleaded, pressing her palms together in a praying manner. I giggled at her, shaking my head.

"Of course, M. You'll always be the first." I blew the girl a kiss, which she caught and held to her heart. Sometimes it got away from me how successful I had become in the last few years - for an almost seventeen year old, I had done incredible professionally.

Both of the girls sitting in front of me knew who I was before I even knew them. They were fans, even. It was crazy how two people that seemed so beyond me, viewed me as a person to look up to.

We ordered our food and drinks, merely talking and giggling amongst ourselves while we waited. Whilst Sway was half way through a riveting story, my phone began vibrating. I switched it on silent, ignoring the call as Sway was still speaking.

"You can get that." She politely said, to which I declined.

"No, continue. I wanna find out how you finally got home." I beamed, leaning my chin in my hands. Meg laughed, laying her head on my shoulder affectionately while we urged the girl to continue.