Please enjoy this fluffball of a story!

Quick side note: It's never specified how old Cammie and her friends are, but they've definitely graduated from high school. So, they can either be college-aged, or they can have graduated from college, as well. Whichever you prefer (:


Cammie's phone dings with an incoming snapchat. She opens it up and sees it's from Zach—a picture of Bex and Liz hanging onto him with a shirtless Grant in the background. Across the screen, he's typed Get here. Now.

She takes a quick selfie and captions it with Oh, shoot. I completely forgot! Guess you're on your own.

His immediate response is Nice try. You're out front. Get out here, please.

Cammie grins. Of course he knows the front yard of her parents' house well enough to recognize it in a snapchat. She puts her phone away, finally enters the house, and navigates her way through the noise.

Rachel and Joe's 4th of July parties are legendary in Roseville, which is why everyone in town always shows up. It used to just be Cammie and her friends that got to enjoy Joe's delicious barbeque and the perfect viewing of Roseville's firework show from their backyard. But now, the whole town's invited, and it's turned into a bigger spectacle than the annual fall harvest dance. No one even thinks of it as the 4th of July anymore—it's the Morgan-Solomon's Annual Independence Day Bash.

Cammie stops to say hi to her mom and Joe, and then heads out back to where she knows Zach and the rest of her friends are. She's immediately greeted by Liz, who slings an arm around Cammie's shoulders and presses a sloppy, wet kiss to her check.

"You made it," Liz grins blissfully.

"Liz, how much have you had to drink?" Cammie laughs, bearing a lot of her friend's weight as Liz continues hugging her.

"Like, two bottles. Three, tops," Liz replies wistfully. Cammie looks to Zach over Liz's shoulder, who mouths, "Five," and they share a smile as they suppress their laughter.

Liz lets go and drags Cammie over to the drinks table where she cheerfully demands that Cammie try Macey's "special punch." As she goes, Cammie notices Grant pull Zach away and they head into the house. She wonders what that's about, but Macey is pouring her a drink so she can't go investigate like she wants.

Finally, a few minutes later after she announces having to pee, Cammie's able to escape inside the house. She hears Grant and Zach speaking in hushed tones from the kitchen, and she wonders what they must be gossiping about.

"Come on, man. This is ridiculous," Grant was saying.

"Grant, drop it. I know what I'm doing," Zach snaps. It almost sounds like they're arguing. Cammie never knew Grant and Zach argued over anything.

"If you get it off your chest, you'll feel better," Grant assures him.

"No," Zach replies flatly.

"If you don't tell her, I will," Grant retorts.

Tell who, what? She wonders. And why is it so important to both of them?

"No one's telling her, because it's not a big deal," Zach stresses.

"Dude, it's been, like, six years," Grant tells him. "Either you tell her, or it's time to move on."

Move on? As in, move on from someone? Cammie hadn't even known Zach was into someone, which kind of offends her because they're supposed to be best friends. If Grant knows about his feelings for someone, then why doesn't she?

The backdoor opens, and before Tina and Eva can walk in and catch her snooping, Cammie shakes off the weird feeling and enters the kitchen like she hadn't heard a thing.

Grant sees her first and smiles at her, all conversation between him and Zach dying in a fraction of a second. Zach turns around when he notices Grant, and he looks surprised to see her. Or is that worry she sees on his face?

"Everything okay?" she asks them, and she notices how stiff Zach has gone.

"Fine," he says sourly, glancing back at Grant before leaving abruptly.

Cammie's taken aback by his attitude, and she looks to Grant for some kind of explanation. But he just shrugs and follows Zach outside.

She heads back to the group, too, hoping to catch a word with Zach about what was going on. Except that he's not with the others. He's across the yard, talking to DeeDee. Which wouldn't be such a big deal, if Cammie didn't recognize the look on Zach's face as he leans in closer to say something privately to DeeDee. He's flirting, she realizes, and she wonders if this is what Grant had been talking about—that Zach has a crush on DeeDee.

Cammie's surprised, especially since she never knew he had a thing for DeeDee.

She doesn't know why, but the thought really bothers her.


The afternoon continues on, and Zach's been absent for most of it. But Cammie pretends like she doesn't care, and she only sneaks glances at him when she knows no one's looking.

She doesn't know why she cares so much. She's never cared this much when Zach's been interested in someone before. Although, now that she thinks about it, she can't remember a time when he was really into someone. Has he secretly had such a huge crush on DeeDee for—how long did Grant say it's been? Six years?—that he's never even tried to date someone else? That just makes Cammie feel even weirder.

"So," Bex says as she walks up to Cammie (who was definitely not staring at Zach and DeeDee), "are you waiting for the next lunar eclipse to make your move, or are you just being dumb?"

"Sorry?" Cammie asks. "I didn't realize you were waiting for me to make a move. I mean, you're hot, don't get me wrong, but—"

"I meant with Zach, idiot," Bex snorts.

"With Zach?" Cammie asks, wide-eyed. "Why would I make a move on Zach?"

"Why would you make a move on me?" Bex counters.

"We're just friends."

"You and me? Or you and Zach?"

"Both."

"Mmm," Bex muses with a smirk in Cammie's direction. "Are you, though?"

"Seriously?" Cammie huffs. "Are you suggesting that I hit on Zach?"

"Finally, she gets it!"

"Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you love him?" Bex shrugs and takes a sip of her drink.

Cammie shoots her friend a worried look, because obviously she's talking crazy. "Are you feeling okay?"

Bex drops the teasing and rolls her eyes. "Oh, come on, Cammie. It's obvious you guys are into each other. You two have practically been in love since the day you met."

Cammie rolls her eyes, because not only is it a ridiculous idea that she's been secretly in love with Zach for six years, but because he can't be in love with her when he's barely even spoken to her since she's arrived at the party. "I don't know if you've noticed, Bex, but he's been ignoring me all afternoon. Clearly, he's into DeeDee." She mutters that last part, and a flare of something she assumes is annoyance surges through her.

"Careful, Cammie. That sounded a lot like jealousy," Bex notes with raised brows.

Cammie glares at her, unamused. She doesn't argue, though, because she thinks Bex might be right—it does feel a lot like jealousy. Which is stupid because she has no right to be jealous.

"All I'm saying," Bex starts and she lifts her hands up defensively, "is that he's never shown any interest in DeeDee before. So either he's moving on from his feelings for you, or he's trying to make you jealous."

Moving on. There are those words again, but this time they kind of make Cammie's heart drop. She doesn't want Zach to move on from her.

The thought shocks Cammie, but she doesn't want Bex to know that she's right—that maybe she does have feelings for Zach. "We're just friends," she demands, because even if she does like Zach, there's no way she's telling anyone about it now. Bex doesn't look convinced, but she drops it anyway and goes back to Grant, Jonas, and Liz.

Leaving Cammie to watch Zach flirt with DeeDee and sulk alone.


Macey and Abby win their third game of beer pong, and Macey—joyfully drunk—shouts to Cammie that it's her turn.

"Grab Zach and get your butts over here!" she laughs, and Abby whoops in excitement.

Despite not wanting to play against the competitive duo of Macey and Aunt Abby, Cammie's actually kind of excited. Zach and her are always beer pong partners, so this gives her a reason to finally steal him away from DeeDee.

She finds them at the picnic table, sharing a plate of Joe's special barbeque shredded-chicken, laughing and sitting rather close. It's irritating, because that chicken used to be reserved for her friends only and now DeeDee's sharing some with her Zach, but Cammie ignores it and tries for a friendly tone when she calls Zach's name.

"Hey, Zach! We've been challenged to a game of beer pong. Try to actually make some cups this time. My back hurts from always carrying the team," she teases, and yes, she's aware that she's basically flirting with her best friend.

Zach looks away from his conversation with DeeDee, and his eyes turn bored when they settle on her. "Grant's better at beer pong than I am. Why don't you ask him?"

Cammie's stunned into silence. "But… you and I are always partners," she says dumbly, and she feels this burning anger inside of her that DeeDee's witnessing the whole thing.

Zach shrugs. "I'm not really in the mood right now."

"Maybe you guys can play later?" DeeDee offers, and Cammie's sure she means well by it, but that doesn't stop the humiliation from burning her cheeks.

When Zach turns to DeeDee, he smiles. Smiles! "Or maybe we can," he says with a wink. "I'll show you a few tricks I've learned."

"You mean that I've taught you," Cammie corrects him. Forget embarrassed, now she's actually offended. Even if she hadn't just realized she has feelings for Zach, they're still best friends, and he's treating her like she's an annoying little fly that just won't go away.

Zach looks at her again, and he must see the hurt and irritation on her face because he actually looks somewhat guilty. He opens his mouth, but Macey cuts him off with a boisterous taunt and begins to count down the seconds until Cammie and Zach are supposedly disqualified.

"Fine," Cammie huffs when it's clear Zach isn't going to join her. "I'll go find Grant."

And yes, Grant is a better pong partner than Zach, but they still lose, and Cammie doesn't have nearly as much fun as she normally does.

The sky is now starting to darken, but it'll still be a good hour or two before the fireworks go off, and Cammie doesn't think she can last another two hours of watching Zach flirt with DeeDee instead of her. She tells Grant that she's heading out, but he refuses to let her leave. He somehow convinces her to stay, though he settles for allowing her to hide out in her old bedroom for the rest of the night.

"Hey, Cammie?" he says before she goes. He gives her this look, his face twisted with guilt. "I'm really sorry," he tells her, and she knows that he must know about her stupid crush on Zach.

"Forget it, Grant," she says because she really doesn't want to talk about it, and she heads inside to disappear from the party.

Once in her room, she finally feels the weight of her sadness. The noise from the party downstairs doesn't help, and it only reminds her that she's all alone during her favorite holiday, and she feels a tear run down her cheek. She doesn't even know why she's crying, because Zach's been her best friend for years and that isn't going to change just because he wants to date DeeDee.

But she doesn't want him to date anyone other than herself, and she figures that's why she's so upset—their friendship will never be the same because she was stupid and fell in love with her best friend. Sure, she's mad at the way Zach treated her and she's partially crying due to that, but this whole mess is her fault. The part that sucks the most is that she realized her feelings too late. Maybe if she'd known sooner, then she could've stepped in before Grant convinced Zach to make a move, and maybe she could've convinced him herself that they were right for each other.

But no, not only is she stupid for falling in love with Zach, but she's a huge idiot for only realizing it after he was already into someone else.

Twenty minutes later, she gets a text from Macey asking where she is, and she responds that she isn't feeling well so she's in her room.

Zach's asking for you. is what Macey sends back.

Cammie replies He'll be fine. He has DeeDee. She doesn't know what compels her to say it, but it's sent and she can't take it back, so now Macey probably knows that she's not really sick, but rather jealous and bitter.

Macey doesn't reply, which is fine because Cammie doesn't want to talk about it anyway.

A few minutes later, there's a knock at the door.

"Macey, I'm not in the mood," Cammie shouts. She just wants to be left alone during the most magical part of the night while her best friend who she's in love with is falling in love with some other girl under the fireworks. Is that so bad?

"It's me," she hears Zach's muffled voice through the door. She sits up, wiping her eyes. It's too late to pretend she's okay since she just snapped at him, but she doesn't want him to know that she's been crying.

"Come in," she says, because she knows if she doesn't, Zach will know something is seriously wrong.

Zach opens the door slowly, his eyes taking in her messy hair and blotchy face.

"What do you want?" she asks.

"What are you doing up here?"

She shrugs. "I'm not feeling well." It's not entirely a lie.

Zach walks over and sits down on the bed beside her. She shifts a little, her gaze locked firmly on her blankets. "You've been crying," he says softly, concerned, and her stupid heart melts because he still cares about her.

"No I haven't," Cammie argues, though she sniffles as she does.

"Cammie." He's pleading with her, begging her to open up to him. But she can't. Not when it's her own dumb fault for loving him while he's into someone else.

"Just go, Zach," she tells him. "You don't want to miss the stupid fireworks."

Zach's quiet for a moment, and his fingers pick at the fuzz on her blanket. "Bex told me that you were upset because I was flirting with DeeDee," he informs her.

"Bex should mind her own business," she snaps, but not because she's mad at him. She's just annoyed because if Bex knows, that means Macey told her, which means she probably told everyone else, too. Hasn't she been humiliated enough?

"So you are upset about that?" Zach asks, surprised. Like he hadn't really believed it when Bex told him.

"No," Cammie lies, and she tries to shrug carelessly but she's pretty sure it's not convincing. "Why would I be upset? You can flirt with whoever you want. I don't care."

"I wasn't—"

He stops with a huff. There's a silence, and then Cammie hears him take a breath.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," he tells her. "I was flirting with DeeDee so everyone would stop thinking I was in love with you."

"That's the dumbest thing you've ever said," Cammie mutters and wipes her nose on the back of her hand. "Why would everyone think that?"

"Because I am."

She finally looks at him, unsure if she's heard him correctly or if it'd been wishful thinking.

He visibly swallows, so it's obvious he's nervous, but he doesn't look away from her eyes. "I'm in love with you," he confirms.

"But what about DeeDee?" she wonders, because if he was truly in love with her, then he wouldn't have spent the entire night ignoring her to flirt with someone else. Right?

Zach shakes his head like he's ashamed and runs a hand through his hair. "Everyone's been pressuring me lately to tell you how I feel, and Grant was making such a big deal about it earlier, and I guess I just wanted to prove to everyone that it wasn't a big deal. That I wasn't hopelessly in love with you." He breathes out a laugh, like he finds the whole thing absurd.

"Our friends are the worst," Cammie tells him.

He nods in agreement and says, "But they were right. I should've just told you. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry for loving me?"

"Well, no." Zach looks at her. "Should I be?"

Cammie grins. "No. Because then I'd have to be sorry, too."

"For what?"

"For loving you," she confesses. Her smile widens. "I'm in love with you, too."

Zach smiles back and he leans in, meeting her lips with his, and Cammie melts into him. Who knew kissing her best friend could feel so right? They make out on her bed until the noise downstairs disappears and they realize everyone must've gone outside.

"Come on," Zach smiles down at her. "We don't want to miss the stupid fireworks."

They head outside smiling like huge dorks, and they're greeted with smug smirks from all of their friends.

Bex taunts them by clinking her beer bottle like people do at weddings, and Zach smirks at Cammie before taking her into his arms, dipping her, and pressing his lips to hers right there in front of everyone.

"I love you, Cammie."

"I love you, too."

Their friends whoop like idiots, which makes them both laugh, and then there's more than just the 4th of July fireworks exploding as their lips meet again.


(it's a tad late but) Happy 4th of July my American friends! (:

Also, I know it's super annoying when there's drama that could've easily been prevented with just some communication... but sometimes you just gotta lean into the tropes and make a fluffy, cliché fanfic out of it lol. Hope you liked it and all of its cheesy glory.