"Say it again." I grinned, leaning on my elbows.

            Jack rolled his eyes, repeating the same sentence in French for the past five minutes. He got it right the first time, but seeing him get annoyed with me kept me entertained. And it was an excuse to hear him speak French. I love looking for excuses when it came to Jack obviously.

            After the fifth time, Jack caught on and threw a pillow at me. He groaned, clutching his side but he masked it with a laugh. Which probably didn't feel any better. I was worried because he wouldn't let me get help. My grandma would ask a lot of questions, but she wouldn't tell anyone.

            Or at least I don't think she would. I think if I explained everything, she would see why I care so much.

            "Do you need something for the pain?" I asked, pointing to his side.

            He shook his head and looked down at his book, "I'm not in pain."

            "Could've fooled me."

            He looked up from his book to glare at me, "Aren't we supposed to be studying?"

            I grinned again and lay down on Jack's bed, belly first, "You're supposed to be studying. I'm just here to supervise." I teased, taking the book from Jack's lap. "I honestly don't even think you need me anymore." I mumbled while flipping to the next page of the book.

            "No, I still need you. Trust me." He laughed lightly.

            I looked up from the book to meet his gaze, "We could be doing fun things instead of reading." I slammed the book closed and pushed it off the bed. I leaned on my elbows again and looked up at Jack.

            The corner of his mouth perked into a half grin, "What kind of fun did you have in mind?"

            "Come on." I jumped off the bed and leaned over to grab his hand.

            He got out of bed and I held on tighter to his hand as I dragged him down the stairs. "Should I be afraid of what your idea of fun is? I thought homework was your idea of fun..."

            "I'm very insulted, Jack." I turned my head over my shoulder to give him a smile. I dropped his hand and walked to the back door. I pushed open the French doors, and walked outside on the pool deck.

            Dimmed pool lights illuminated the pool and the little bit of light the moon was giving off.

            Oh god, what was I about to do?

            Something I'll regret most likely...there's been a lot of regret happening lately, but after I think about it, I'm always glad I did it. But I think this may be the exception. I wanted to do what Lindy told me.

            Live.

            But I didn't expect myself to do it this soon. And with Jack. I don't know what's gotten into me and I wasn't sure if I liked it. I liked myself in that moment. I did want to let loose for once and stop being afraid of living. I know this isn't what my mom would've wanted for me.

            Well, being half naked wouldn't be what she wanted.

            She would want me to live.

            "What did I tell you about swimming?" Jack asked as he stepped outside.

            I turned around to face him, slowly backing towards the pool, "Scared, McKinnon?" I teased. I reached for the hem of my shirt and didn't hesitate to pull it over my head.

            Jack's eyes widened and it made me smile.

            I left my shorts on and jumped into the pool. Bras are basically like bikini tops, so it didn't really faze me.

            When I surfaced, I spun around, seeing Jack still standing in the same position he was before I jumped in, "Who are you?" He asked slowly.

            I laughed and swam to the edge of the pool close to where he was standing, "A pain in the ass. Now get in before I have to go home." I playfully pouted and then pushed off the wall.

            I rose up in time to watch Jack pull his shirt over his head and rid himself of his sweatpants. He wore boxers underneath or else we would definitely be having some problems. Jack jumped in and surfaced in seconds. He pushed the hair back out of his face and gave me a smile. "In pain?"

            He shook his head, "Not so much."

            "Good." I swam backwards until my back pressed against the wall of the deep end. The part where Jack can't go. And he knew what I was doing by my grin.

            "Hilarious." He said, stopping at the middle. He looked down at his bracelet and back at me. "Still green." He swam a little closer, but didn't look down at his ankle. I kept an eye on the bracelet, the color of the light never changing.

            Jack stopped a few inches in front of me, the color of the light still green. "I thought you said you couldn't go this far."

            "Maybe I lied." He smirked.

            My mouth dropped open, "You little—"

            "I would hate to hear that word come out of your mouth."

            "You don't know what I was going to say." I crossed my arms over my chest.

            Jack shrugged, "I know it's something you wouldn't say. So it must be pretty bad."

            "You don't know me." I countered; letting my arms fall to my sides.

            Jack swam closer, bracing himself against the wall. He caged me in, his chest against mine. The skin-on-skin contact was not helping my situation. "But I do, Juliet." I wish he wouldn't say my name right now. "I know that you once cried in the first grade because you accidentally said the word hell. I can't imagine what you would do if I let you finish that sentence."

            "Well, for one, it would have made me feel a lot better."

            "Then go ahead. Call me every name in the book."

            "Fine." I was going to enjoy this, "Where do I even start? First, you're a jackass, a jerk, an idiot, egotistical, arrogant, a little fu—"

            And he kissed me.

            It was different than the last one. I had the chance to enjoy the feel of his lips against mine before I decided that it was indeed stupid and I needed to push him away. But that feeling never came.

            Not yet, anyway.

            I lifted my arms, snaking them around his neck. My hands brushed over the back of his neck, sinking into his hair.

            He kissed me fiercely and there wasn't any feeling like it. His hands rested against my hips, his fingers slowly curling against the bare skin. He attempted to pull me closer, but it wasn't possible.

            Nothing existed for a moment. I always made fun of moments like this because I didn't think they could happen. It was something I always thought was overrated and unrealistic. My mind was changed quickly.

            I didn't want to, but I pulled away to catch my breath. "I told you not to do that again." I breathed.

            His eyes flicked up to meet mine, his breath faintly hitting my lips, "You talk too much."

            He didn't let go of me like I expected him to and I was glad. I was afraid my knees would give out if he decided to let me go. I dropped my head and let out another shaky breath, "I can't..."

            Jack placed a finger under my chin, lifting my face to level with his, "I know."

            But that didn't stop him from kissing me again. It was small and quick. But I still felt it envelope me. "This friends thing," Jack started as he leaned his forehead against mine. "It's not working is it?"

            I managed to laugh, "You knew it wouldn't." Part of me knew it wouldn't work also, but I wanted to be wrong. I really wanted be friends with Jack. I guess we both knew it wouldn't work out. "We didn't even try." I added and leaned my head back so I can look into his eyes.

            "In my defense, I couldn't be friends with you."

            "Why?" I asked in a small voice.

            He caressed my face in his hands gently, "Because I want to kiss you every time I see you."

            My breath hitched in my throat because I think the same thing, just never acted on it because that's what's best. I shook out of his grasp and ducked under his arm to get free. I swam to the shallow end of the pool and got out. I know Jack was behind me, but he struggled because of his side.

            I didn't wait for him. I grabbed my shirt from the ground and threw it on as I walked inside the house. "Where are you going?" I heard Jack's voice behind me, but I kept walking. "Juliet!" Jack's voice was getting closer and it wasn't until I was about to reach the door, Jack grabbed my arm.

            "I have to go." I said as I turned around to face him.

            He took a step back, "Why are you acting like this? I thought—"

            "I'm sorry." I said softly, "I don't know what I'm doing anymore." And it was the truth. I didn't know why I was doing half the things I was doing. It's nothing I would have done before. And I liked it. I liked the way I was acting even if I shouldn't be acting in a certain way. "This is all happening way too fast." I mumbled, "I do really like you, and I'm not going to lie, it scares me."    

            Jack took a hesitant step towards me, "Why does that scare you?"

            "Because of how fast it's happening." I said truthfully, "And...there's no guarantee you'll be here in a month. I don't want...I don't want to get close to you just to lose you."

            He didn't say anything, but his face said everything.

            "I'll be back tomorrow to help you." I still spoke softly, too afraid my voice would start shaking and then I would start crying.

            When he didn't say anything, I left.

            I walked back to my house and the warm feeling I had was gone. I didn't want to leave, but I had to. If I stayed any longer, there's no telling what I would've done. I needed to control myself and I was doing a horrible job at it. I told Jack the truth and he had nothing to say. I'm not sure what he would've said. I was curious about what he was thinking, if he was at all.

            I quietly walked up to my room and noticed a small light spilling from under the door. I don't remember leaving it on. I placed my hand on the handle and slowly opened my door. I breathed a sigh of relief to see James in my bed. He was asleep, so I had no idea how long he's been in here.

            I walked to the other side of my bed and laid down, wet clothes and all. I poked James's shoulder until he woke up. He was lying on his back, an arm folded under his head. He must have been here for a while. He did finally wake up and slowly turned his head in my direction, "You're finally home." He smiled lazily. He looked back up at the ceiling.

            "What are you doing in my bed?"

            He let out a long breath, "Waiting for you to get back."

            "It looks like you're sleeping to me."

            He looked at me again, a sleepy smile playing on his lips, "I obviously fell asleep waiting for you."  

            "And why were you waiting for me?"

            He shrugged, "Just haven't seen you all day. Thought I would be nice and check on you."

            "Meredith already thinks there's something going on."

            James's smile turned into a grin and he wiggled his eyebrows, "Don't take it personal. Apparently I suck at having girls as friends because I always end up—"

            "That won't happen here, don't worry about that."

            "Because of Jack."

            When I didn't answer, James nodded. "And that's completely okay. You're the first girl I actually want to be friends with and stay friends. I don't want to screw that up."

            "I'm going to pretend I'm not offended."  

James laughed and ran a hand over his face, "Not like that, I swear." His laugh faltered a bit, "We don't like each other like that. I mean, yeah, I find you attractive. I think any guy would be crazy not to. I just like having you as a friend than anything more than that."

            I smiled at him as I felt my cheeks burn from blushing, "I like being your friend, too. So it should definitely stay that way."

James and I stayed up talking for a bit. I told him about Jack and basically just poured my heart out. I did end up crying, which was embarrassing. And James didn't know what to do when I started crying. I'm pretty sure he gathered me in his arms and let me cry until I fell asleep.

Crying over a boy sounds cliché. But it wasn't just over Jack. It was over myself also. Talking to Jack got me thinking about my parents and how things could've been different. I'm happy where I'm at, and like I said, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.     

I woke up in the same position I fell asleep in. Wrapped in James's arms. Instead of moving, I snuggled slightly closer. I let out a content sigh. Even though I'm sure you shouldn't cuddle someone like this that you think if as a brother, I couldn't help it. Something about it made me weirdly happy.

James started to stir and I knew he was starting to wake up. He squeezed me gently before unwrapping himself from me and stretching out his arms. Just about that time, my bedroom door flew open. Lindy's sarcastic smile was plastered against her lips as she stepped into my room, "And what do we have here?" She plopped down at the edge of my bed and looked at James. "Who are you? And why are you in my best friends bed?"

James just laughed and stood up, "I'll go find Mere." He ran his hands through his bed hair, but it oddly suited him. James walked out, closing the door behind him.

            I turned my attention to Lindy, "Good morning to you, too."

            "That's James? The other half of the evil twin?"

            I nodded and pushed myself up in bed, "Except not so evil anymore."

            "It seems you and James were quite cozy."

            "It's not like that at all. We were just talking and we fell asleep."

            She shrugged her shoulders, "He clearly likes you."

            I let out a shaky breath, trying to choose my next words carefully, "I like someone else."

            And she knew that. "I understand. But, I am here to kidnap my gorgeous best friend because I haven't seen you all week." She pushed out her bottom lip.

            "Fine." I threw my blankets off my body, "I'll meet you downstairs in a few." 

            "Can't wait."

            I think I could probably use a few extra hours of sleep.

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I'll probably do Jack's point of view in a couple of chapters. I already have the next one written, and started the next, sooooo Jack's point of view will have to wait for at least two more chapters, hahaha.

Hope you liked this one! Let me know what you think, hopefully it's not too bad, lol.

You guys are the BEST! :)