I woke up feeling horrible. My head throbbed. Muscles I didn’t know I had hurt. Opening my eyes was like opening the flood gates to pain. I groaned and buried myself under the pillow and blankets in the hope that it would all go away. A weight next to me on the bed moved and shifted on top of me. It took me far longer than it should have to register that the weight was Jake. He had rested his arm over the small of my back, put his leg over mine, and buried his face into the small space between my head and shoulder. I turned my head just enough so I could see him with one eye.

“Tell me you share my pain,” I groaned.

“No, I just hate mornings,” he grumbled without opening his eyes. “If your head hurts, I left water and paracetamol on the table next to you. You should take it now.”

“I can’t, you’re on top of me,” I pointed out.

Jake squeezed me tight, “You’ll just have to take it like this. I’m not ready to let go.”

I laughed, then tried my best to wiggle around to lift myself up just enough to drink from the glass of water, then took the two pills waiting for me and washed them down. As soon as I was done, I plopped back down on the pillow and Jake pulled me tightly to him with my back pressed against his chest. His head rested against mine.

“No more escape for you,” he mumbled.

“Jake,” I patted his arm. “I have bad news. I need to go pee.”

“Just pee here,” he responded nonchalantly. “I don’t care.”

“Eww, no!” I balked. “Let me up!”

Jake groaned and begrudgingly let go of me. I quickly got up before he could change his mind. As I walked to the other side of the room, I glanced back at him lying on his back. His hair was dishevelled with his hand across his eyes trying to block out the light and the blanket lightly draped over his lower half. I tried my hardest to burn that perfect image of him into my head before I could no longer resist nature’s call. By the time I had gotten back out of the bathroom, he was on his side checking his phone.

Something through the open doorway caught my eye. Curiously, I walked past Jake to the doorway to check the main living space of the penthouse. When I saw the state of the place, I was in absolute shock.

“What the hell happened!?” I exclaimed. “It looks like a bomb went off.”

“That’s because a bomb did go off,” Jake mused. “A paint bomb. Don’t you remember?”

“Um, no, not really,” I admitted nervously. 

“What, after all that you don’t even remember it!?” Jake put down his phone and looked at me in disbelief. “I put great effort into making that bomb! I even added sparkles for you!"

“Uh, I remember us breaking in and us using the hot tub… and… not much else,” I scratched my head in embarrassment.

“Hmph, it was one of my best works,” he frowned. “Well, your reaction at the time was worth it.”

“There is literally paint everywhere!” I eyed all the room’s nooks and crannies. “How did we not get hit by it?”

“We took cover behind the sofa. It’s not like we were completely unscathed though, but that’s what showers are for,” he shrugged.

I noticed the wall mounted TV on the floor leaning against the media bench. “And that explosion knocked the TV off the wall?” I questioned.

“No, you did that,” he laughed.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“You were looking for an HDMI port and even though I told you it was bolted to the wall, you kept pulling on the TV until you literally tore it off the wall,” he recounted with great amusement.

“Actually, that does sound like something I would do,” I laughed. “Oh, but what stinks?”

“Hmm, we never did clean up your vomit,” Jake winced.

I paused for a moment as a very hazy memory of vomiting came back to me, “Didn’t I vomit in that ugly, artisan urn over there?”

“Yes, you did. You threw sparkles into the air and spun around so much you made yourself throw up,” Jake climbed out of the bed and joined me in the doorway. “I think its best we just dispose of it.”

“I agree,” I nodded.

Jake kissed my lips briefly, but sensually. Then he went past me to pick up the urn and took it outside on the balcony while still butt naked. His absolute lack of concern made me giggle until I saw him throw the urn over the balcony.

“Jake! We’re like a hundred floors up!” I called out to him.

“Yeah so?” he closed the door behind him unfazed.

“You might have hit someone!” I stressed.

“There was no one down there,” he rolled his eyes and walked up to me. “You worry too much,” he muttered as he pressed me against the wall and kissed me heatedly.

I forced him off me, “You checked!?”

“Yes, I fucking looked first! It’s just the roof of the shopping mall below us, ok? No one got hurt!” he glared at me for not trusting him.

“That wouldn’t have just hurt, it would’ve killed!” I argued. “Don’t do shit like that!”

“Here I was hoping for some lazy morning sex, but your conscience really destroyed the mood,” he frowned at me. “I think I prefer you drunk.”

“Excuse me? Did you just say you prefer me dumb and senseless?” I would’ve stepped back if my back wasn’t already up against the wall. "So I can't remember every stupid thing you do!?"

“I didn’t say that,” he scrunched his face. “I meant I preferred it when you weren't overthinking everything and actually fucking trusted me.”

“I trust you, Jake!” I insisted. “But you literally just walked up to the edge and threw the urn off in one fell swoop as if that there would be no consequences from pulling shit like that! Kind of like interrupting a parole hearing and nearly getting me arrested because you couldn’t ignore a challenge!”

“They had ejected you!” he argued. “There were no more cards to be played to keep that jackass in prison! So yes, I lost my shit. They were buying his disgusting remorse act!”

“And what, you were going to release the prisoners if they didn’t let me go?” I questioned his logic. “I really fail to see how a prison riot was going to ensure my safety!”

Jake was about to say something but stopped himself and shook his head while he reconsidered what he was going to say, “I wasn’t going to release the prisoners. That’s not what I said.”

“You said you hacked the cell system and you were going to make them riot if I wasn’t allowed to leave,” I recalled.

“Yes, but I didn’t hack the locks. As if they’d put the lock control on the smart hub,” he laughed.

“You bluffed?” I asked in disbelief.

He tilted his head back and forth, “Not exactly. I had control of the environment system for the cells. I was just going to make the inmates sweat a little to rile them up.”

“Wait, what?” I didn’t understand what he was saying.

“I had control of the thermostat,” he shrugged. “I figured turning the prison into a sauna would bring about enough chaos to intimidate Alan.”

I stared speechless until I burst out laughing. “Your big threat was to turn off the air conditioning?”

“You really thought I was going to release the prisoners?” he frowned. “I do enjoy a good round of chaos and anarchy as much as the next Anon, but I wouldn’t release a bunch of convicted murderers and rapists, especially with you there.”

“You were very convincing!” I stressed.

“Well, I suppose it is easier to sell a bluff if even my woman falls for it,” he chortled.

“Why do you keep calling me your woman?” I frowned. “Just call me your girlfriend.”

“It’s not really accurate though, is it? You’re so much more than a girl and so much more than a friend,” he argued. “But if you insist, I can call you that.”

My heart skipped a beat, “Maybe woman’s not so bad.”

Jake looked away, “I wonder if there’s any food in the freezer. Or is that just wishful thinking on my part?”

“Only one way to find out,” I smiled.

Jake left me to go search for food while I took a deep breath to recenter myself, then followed him to the kitchen.

“A full box of waffles!” he exclaimed and pulled the box out to show me. “Who would’ve thought!”

“It’s like they were put there just for us,” I giggled.

“Go find some syrup! I’ll toast these up,” Jake motioned to the walk-in pantry.

I stepped into the pantry and found the syrup right away on the open shelf, but there was so much in there that I peeked around to see what else I could find. There were a lot of different types of ingredients, but no instant meals. I probably could scrap together basic meals, but without fresh vegetables and protein it would feel rather lacking, so at some point we’d have to risk leaving the penthouse to supplement what we had.

“I didn’t think finding syrup would take that long,” Jake stuck his head into the pantry.

“I found it, I was just seeing what else we have,” I explained.

“There’s pasta and rice so that’s a good start,” he gestured.

“Yes, but without vegetables and protein, it’s not going to do much for us. We’ll need to do some shopping,” I explained.

“Or we just arrange for delivery,” he responded as if he was stating the obvious. “We can’t be coming and going as much as we please, MC. If we do, we risk the other tenants asking questions.”

“So we’re just going to stay here until we can’t anymore?” I asked.

“That’s pretty much the story of my life,” he shrugged. “At least we’ve got hot water and waffles!”

“Until we eat them all,” I laughed.

“There’s always the fully stocked wine fridge to keep us going a little longer,” he grinned. “Oh, the toaster has popped!”

Jake eagerly left me to fetch the waffles from the toaster. Stepping out of the pantry, I noticed he had set up two plates with cutlery at the bench for us with glasses full of water. He pulled the waffles out with his bare fingers and tossed them onto the plates quickly as they were very hot. I walked around the bench and sat down on a stool by the plates. Opening the nozzle on the syrup, I squeezed some out onto my waffle then put the bottle down. As some syrup dripped down the side, I wiped up the excess with my finger and sucked it clean, which must’ve been a bit difficult for Jake to watch. He sat down, poured out his syrup and wiped the excess with his finger as well, but then he held his finger tip up to my mouth instead of his. I smirked and sucked it clean for him, then started to eat my breakfast as if nothing happened. Out of nowhere he put a couple of fingers underneath my chin and urged me to look towards him. Suddenly he leaned close as if he was going to kiss me, but instead he licked the corner of my mouth.

“You had some syrup there,” he teased and shoved waffle into his mouth.

I dunked my finger into the extra syrup on my plate and smeared it across his neck. He grabbed my wrist and raised his eyebrow in amusement.

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," he warned me. "The urge to tie you down to this bench and cover you in syrup is quickly eating away at my self-control."

I stood up and leaned over to lick and suck the syrup off his neck. He moaned in response, his breathing becoming uneven. 

“Something tells me we’re done with breakfast,” I bit my lip seductively as I pulled away.

“On the contrary,” he grinned. “I haven't even started yet.”