(song: "The Feeling" - Justin Bieber ft. Hasley)

"Don't worry, my dad isn't going to be here," I told him.

     We were in my house. My home wasn't much to look at. It was your typical, small one-story Nevada style home. The dining-room table was covered with mail—mostly bills—and it was clear we never ate meals together. There was still a pile of dirty clothes by the washer machine. Yeah, we weren't good at chores either. I knew how it must have looked to him, but I wasn't ashamed of how small and luster-lacking my life was compared to Patrick's.

     "Where is he?" Patrick asked carefully while he examined the living-room.

     Joe's beat-up bar for locals is where my father was. His usual practice was to send me a text telling me to order a pizza and not to wait up for him.

     "Just not here," I said. I clearly wasn't wanting to dive into my daddy issues.

     I took Patrick back into my bedroom. My room was tiny, gray-painted and it wasn't decorated like a typical teenagers room. It was minimalist with a desk, a laptop, a lamp, a chair, a bed and a dresser. Other than the clothes on my floor, my room—unlike the rest of the house—was clean.

     "Oh," he voiced with clear disappointment at the state of my room. I think he expected frills and discarded pink panties.

     I smiled. "Not what you expected from a girls room right?"

     "Yeah. It kind of reminds me a little of a motel room. Like a place someones staying temporarily. You know, not really lived in." Patrick observed.

     It was a good observation. I never really thought of it that way.

     I opened up my closet door and started to go through a few outfits. I pulled out a few shirts, jeans and things I thought would look good on Patrick and tossed them onto the bed.

     I nodded towards the clothing. "Put those on in the bathroom."

     Patrick stared at me with confusion. "Why are there guys clothes in your closet? Are these Chuck's?"

     "Some are, the rest were my brother's." I also wasn't going to explain the situation about my brother if Patrick were to ask me.

     "Why are Chuck's clothes here at your house?" He seemed a little put off.

     I was not going to let him judge me. "Are you serious? I think it's pretty obvious why. Don't act like you don't have a few things of Valentina's in your sock drawer."

     "I never slept with Valentina," he said without hesitation.

     "Wait, so basically, you're—"

     "A virgin? Yes." His eyes made contact with mine. He didn't seem flustered about this fact at all.

     "Oh."

     Well, now I felt like the biggest slut on the face of the planet. Patrick—the most desirable guy at our school—was a virgin. "Well, that's cool. There's nothing wrong with that."

     Patrick smiled like he didn't really believe me. "Don't misunderstand. It's not that I wouldn't have been open to it, it's just Valentina wanted to wait until marriage. I respected that."

     If I had told Chuck that I wanted to wait until marriage he'd have left me day one.

     "So, you dated Valentina a whole year and never pushed for sex? Like at all?" I was really astounded. Patrick could get with anyone and get anything he wanted. He would never even have to work for it. Women threw themselves towards him all the time.

     He shook his head and looked visibly troubled by the idea. "No one should be pushed to do something like that. It's a choice, a consensual choice between two people who understand themselves and the consequences. I cared about Valentina, so I cared about her choice."

     Okay, so that was the most mature thing I'd ever heard come out of a teenage boys mouth. I felt a little twisted for finding his maturity on the topic insanely hot.

     I picked up the clothes and forced them into Patrick's arms. "Change so we can go."

     Patrick leaned towards me with his adorable smirk. "Okay, but only because you asked me so nicely to get undressed for you."

     Still insanely hot.

     I pushed him out of my room. "Change!" I commanded him.

     While he was busy in the bathroom, I took the time to change my own clothes. I put on my black, tiny shorts with the silver buttons and my gray top with the black polka-dots that showed off the skin of my belly and back. A few of my tattoos were partly visible in this outfit. I let down my hair—all of it—and it fell in a wild swirl around my shoulders. I pressed some lipstick onto my lips and I was finished.

     When Patrick returned he stood in the doorway. He looked so much better in Chuck's clothes than Chuck had. He had on those fade-washed gray jeans with a few rips, a white shirt that showed off the hints of his toned body beneath it and even though the clothes were so simple he just made them look good. He looked so. . . wow.

     "Wow," Patrick said and for a moment I thought he read my thoughts until I realized he was staring at me. "You are beautiful."

     I'd never been called beautiful. Chuck had a lot more colorful language for describing me.

     "Thanks," I told him. I still wasn't used to such sweet compliments.

     I grabbed a jean jacket for Patrick, and a leather jacket for myself. "We need to go, it's getting late."

     "Where are we going?" He asked as I was once again pulling him by the wrist.

     I tossed him one of my flirty smiles. He'd find out soon enough.

Music played through the speakers inside of Patrick's black sports car. I had the passenger seat pushed back enough so I could put my bare feet up on the dash. We were heading into the downtown part of Las Vegas and I was Patrick's GPS. We sang as loud as we could with the melodies and occasionally I'd roll the window down to let the wind tangle my hair.

     The sun started setting. I could feel the last remains of it's warm glow on my skin. It was beautiful. This was living.

     I stole a glance at Patrick to see that he kept stealing looks in my direction too.

     "I see you, staring at me. Keep your eyes on the road," I warned him. I didn't play around when it came to driving.

     "Sorry," he said, but I could tell he wasn't that sorry because he still kept stealing glances. "You know, Monday when we go to school, we're going to have to face everyone who saw the photos. All my friends have already been texting me like crazy about it and my little sister told my parents."

     I winced. I still felt bad about the photos. "Tell me what you want me to say to people and I will."

     "No one knew that Valentina and I were broken up, so everyone thinks I cheated on her with you and that's why she left me. My mother demanded that today I go to Valentina's house and apologize, beg her to take me back. They wouldn't even listen to me when I told her that I didn't cheat on Valentina."

     I felt worse by the minute. "Valentina knows the truth, she can tell your mother that it was her choice."

     Patrick didn't appear particularly bothered as much as I expected him to be. "This kind of rumor doesn't hurt Valentina. It makes her look like the victim."

     "Rich people problems obviously." I pointed towards the roads for him to turn on in between conversation. "I never should have kissed you. It was really stupid of me and I wish I could take it back."

     "I kissed you back," he reminded me. "I'm just warning you that some kids at school might start giving you a hard time because of that."

     If anyone messed with me, they were in for it. "I can handle it."

     "I know," he said warmly.

     I withdrew my feet from the dash and tried to put on my heels. "We're here, Patrick."

     We parked the car in a paid parking-lot across from a large venue that was fenced off. There was a stage with a band setting up to perform a few sets. Big bright lights, loud music, people laughing and waiting in lines. Rows of blue portable toilets and a ton of glow-light vendors.

     He peered out the window several times to try and discern where exactly we were. "What is this place?"

     I withdrew two V.I.P passes. One had been Chuck's, but now it'd be for Patrick.

     "This is your first rave."

Chapter Notes:

Random stuff I wonder about: I love outdoor concerts. They are my fav.

The chapters will change as I make edits! But that's part of the fun!

If you liked this chapter, or didn't, leave a comment below! If you liked it, please vote. THANK YOU!!