Song: late night vibe playlist by Mildridge III

Ambrose roughly dragged the towel through his black hair until it hung over his eyes, damp and soft. He dabbed his chest then tied the towel around his waist before stepping out of the small bathroom. Steam blew out into the cold apartment. He absentmindedly scratched his stomach and followed the source of the quiet whispering.

Peeking into Cameron's room, he found the kid dozing off in his twin bed. Decked out in Iron Man blankets and pillows (it was a new phase of his) with a single panda stuffed animal. Jill's small body was curled around his. She read the last few words of the chapter from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe aloud. When she finished she slid the bookmark back in between the old pages and placed it on the nightstand.

Their eyes met and Ambrose smiled, motioning for her to follow him. Jill couldn't help but let her eyes fall to admire his defined abs and the dark happy trail leading downwards. Her stupid heart pitter pattered. It wasn't fair, really. Why couldn't her best friend have grown up to be someone ugly? Why did he have to look like a marble sculpture? Complete with sinfully crafted back muscles and a broad chest that looked like it would be comfy to lay on. It was almost unfair, really.

They entered Ambrose's room and Jill watched while he rifled through his drawers then pulled out sweatpants and a shirt. "So we don't wake up Cameron going through your stuff," he explained, handing the clothes to her.

"He's still that light of a sleeper?" she asked. The bundle of clothes smelled like lavender and vanilla bean. It was the same brand he'd been using three years ago. The only detergent that Cameron didn't complain about annoying his sensitive nose. "Would've thought he'd grown out of that by now."

Ambrose shrugged. "Depends. If it's just talking then he might not wake up. But if you're moving stuff around and it makes noise, he'll get up to look for the source."

"Hopefully Vincent has thicker walls."

Ambrose snorted, slipping on red, plaid pajama bottoms underneath the towel. He tossed the towel into the white hamper and rubbed his eyes. Wearing contacts all day always irritated him but it wasn't like he had much of a choice given his current line of work.

He slipped on his thick glasses and Jill cursed him to hell and back. She was so weak. So, so weak considering the man she'd left had truly let himself go. At 37 he could easily pass for someone in his late forties with the poor condition his body was in. Sex with Noah was always so nauseating with his beer belly pressing against her stomach. Caging her in a position she found herself having to dissociate from just to endure the whole ordeal. Duty sex. Something she never knew was a thing until she fell into a rabbit hole on Reddit carved out for sad marriages.

Not to mention she hadn't had a decent orgasm since she was eighteen while Noah always made sure to get his in the end. The woes of women and obsolete orgasms, right? Jill could hardly believe that this was her life at 26 years old.

Boy had she fucked up by not listening to all the warnings she'd been fed in the past.

"Jilly?" Jill jumped, startled by the gentle touch on her elbow. When she looked up Ambrose was wearing a faded black shirt and his hooded eyes had a hint of concern. "You good?"

She nodded, tightening her grip on the clothes. "Yup. Just thinking. Sorry."

"No need to apologize." Ambrose led her to the bathroom and flicked on the lights. "You can use my stuff tonight and tomorrow you can move things around to fit your shit."

Jill picked up the black bottle, wet from Ambrose's shower. She could smell the strong eucalyptus aroma without even opening it. "Ah, high school," she said, teasing smile and all.

Ambrose rolled his eyes. The corner of his mouth twitched as he forced his lips into a straight line. "Take a shower. I'll get the tea ready."

"Mint?"

"Like I have anything else."

While Jill showered Ambrose busied himself with heating up water in the kettle. He placed a bag of mint tea in two identical white mugs. The sharp scent filled the air when he poured the boiling water in and added a spoonful of sugar to each cup. Placing Jill's drink on the coffee table in the living room, Ambrose took a seat on the worn out brown couch. The fabric was stiff and scratchy. A pillow and folded blanket were tucked away in the corner.

Vincent had offered for her to come over earlier now that she'd left Noah. But one look at Cameron's dimming eyes was enough for her to kindly reject the proposal and choose to stay. The three of them would join Vincent by the end of next month, once the shop was closed. Until then Jill would be staying here and Ambrose would be sleeping on the couch.

"Remember when you were shorter than me?" Ambrose sputtered into his hot tea, eyes crinkling as he took in the image before him. The black shirt Jill wore ended at her knees and the sweatpants were so baggy that they dragged over her feet. She had to hold the waistband while she walked. Her long hair was damp and she looked hilarious as she awkwardly shuffled towards him. "If I'm not as tall as you in the next life then this whole thing is rigged, I tell you. Rigged."

Jill landed next to him with a small oomph, curling in on herself and looking even smaller in his clothes. She hummed, blowing on the hot tea and drinking slowly. She loved mint tea.

Mint tea reminded her of Ambrose's dad and his crooked glasses while he graded papers. Mint tea was for rainy mornings. When he brought hot tea or cocoa for students that preferred something sweeter. Mint tea was for long talks about essays she struggled to write and books she failed to understand.

Mint tea represented family.

Jill grew up as the middle child of a forgotten gaggle of eight kids. Her parents were decent people. They weren't abusive or anything of the sort. They just simply didn't have time for her. What with their Catholic morals, no abortion or birth control, their family was always big.

The older siblings became parents way too young. The younger siblings got all the attention. Siblings four and five, Jill and Kelly, were often pushed to the side. Kelly acted out for attention but Jill simply found herself a new family to love her.

The Montgomery's and the Lodovico's were neighbors turned beloved relatives. She followed their sons around wherever they went. Eventually, after all her pestering, they dragged her everywhere without a second thought.

Ambrose's dad raised her with mint tea and books she felt too dumb to comprehend. The classics, of course. After all, what else could you expect from an AP English teacher?

Ambrose and Vincent's moms taught her how to cook. How to clean. How to cross her ankles when she wore a dress or a skirt so as not to flash anyone. They taught her how to style her hair and how to apply makeup. And when that horrid splash of womanhood visited her one day while she was out playing with the boys. They were the ones to take care of her.

They were the ones that had her take a warm shower and get her fresh clothes. They were the ones that taught her how to use a pad at the tender age of ten. Her own mother hadn't even known she'd gotten her period until she turned fifteen and started using tampons. And that, Jesus Christ, that started a whole new issue in her household about virginity.

Jill's family gave her a bed to sleep in but the Montgomery's and the Lodovico's gave her love. Nurtured her dreams and indulged her teenage rants. They filled her head with possibilities of flying and touching the sky.

Then she'd let them all down by falling for the first guy to show her a morsel of romantic attention.

Jill was seventeen then. A senior in high school working after school at a local cafe. That's when she'd met him. Tall, grande caramel macchiato, blended, and no whipped cream. Noah Hawthorne came into her life when he was 27 years old and working at a bank.

He knew all the right words to say to get her blushing like a fool. He was smart and kind. He made her heart race every time that bell on the door rang and he sauntered in with his dashing smile and green eyes.

She fell in love and gave him her heart. Then, after a few months of pestering, she gave him her body. It hurt. It didn't feel good and when she bled, she worried that something was wrong but Noah assured her it was fine. She was a virgin after all, right? That was normal. That was ok.

So Jill thought that too and, for a while, everything was ok.

Until she woke up sick and started the morning by puking.

She wanted to be a mother but not at seventeen. She had plans with Vincent and Ambrose. They were going to graduate then go to the University of Washington. Spread their wings, move far away from home, and become adults together. But as she stared at that positive sign after buying a pregnancy test from the judgy cashier, Jill cried. She felt her dreams slipping away.

She didn't know what to do and she panicked. And when she panicked she ran to Ambrose. But when Ambrose found out that meant Vincent found out too. With Vincent's big mouth that meant everyone found out and soon both families knew Jill was pregnant. Oh, and that she was running around with an older man that was ten years her senior.

That had been the first time Ambrose gave Noah a black eye.

Jill didn't want to keep it and so she had made plans to have it terminated before it was too late. She had their love and support. That was all she really needed.

Her mistake was telling Noah about the planned abortion beforehand.

Before she could even make her own choice he had shown up at her house with the biggest engagement ring she'd ever seen. Then everything really came out. Jill would never forget the look on her parents' faces when they found out about her sins. Premarital sex with the attempt to murder her baby. Their disappointment crushed her harder than them ignoring her ever did.

When Jill turned eighteen she graduated and then she got married. She didn't remember much of her wedding day besides a falling cake and walking down the aisle with her father. She recalled him giving her away and even then Jill found that odd. How could he give her away if she was never his to own? She may have carried his last name but she didn't carry him in her heart. So why did he have the right?

When Jill imagined herself walking down the aisle, she always saw someone else with her. He had crooked glasses and smelled like mint tea. He did not have cherry breath and calloused hands.

The boys went away without her and Jill stayed at home with Noah. She didn't go to school and she didn't work because Noah said she didn't have to. He loved her. He would take care of her no matter what.

Then she had a late miscarriage and, to be honest, Jill didn't remember much after that. It was as if everything from the age of eighteen to nineteen was a blur. The fog only cleared when Ambrose's mom announced she was pregnant with a late in life baby. Cameron. And Jill suddenly found the will to live again.

She had more freedom back then and so she took care of the pregnant woman everyday. She kept the boys updated while they were away and she was even there when Cameron was delivered. Jill could remember no greater joy in life than seeing Cameron's eyes open for the first time.

The accident happened when Ambrose's dad was on the way to the hospital. Serafina was wrecked, no longer resembling the motorcycle they all loved so much. Ambrose's dad had too many injuries to list and the rich kid responsible? Barely even a scratch.

He killed a man that day and walked away with a slap on the wrist because daddy had a fat bank account and connections.

Mint tea became Ambrose afterwards, when he came home and didn't return to college. Mint tea became long nights nursing a newborn baby and caring for a ghost of a mother. Mint tea became kicking said woman out after Jill saw her standing over Cameron's crib with scissors.

Mint tea represented fatherhood. Motherhood. Growing up.

Jealousy.

Jill drained the rest of the tea with a deep sigh. She didn't want to think about the bruises she tried to hide as she helped raise Cameron. She didn't want to remember all the times Ambrose fought her battles. Only for her to go back to Noah because he said he loved her.

The baby she lost when Cameron was four? That was no accident.

Noah was convinced that the child wasn't his. Jill had laughed because he'd been the only man to give her disappointing sex year after year. When she woke up her right eye was swollen shut, black and blue. She couldn't chew for days and her body was so battered that Noah had to carry her everywhere for weeks to come.

Then Noah cut everyone off and she lost the will to live for some time.

Ambrose returned with more tea and Jill started drinking it immediately. She chased away the bad memories by burning her tongue and drowning in Ambrose's too big clothes.

"What's going on in there?" he asked, tapping her forehead gently. His fingers ruffled her hair and Jill closed her eyes, welcoming the soft touch. "Jilly?"

"I'm thinking about how disappointing my life has been until now." She opened her eyes and turned sideways so that her body was facing him. "I'm thinking about how much time I've wasted. Time that I'll never get back."

Ambrose's fingers stilled. He placed his cup between his legs, manspreading even further to avoid the heat. "Well, isn't that depressing."

Jill snorted, wiping away the tears she didn't even realize she'd been crying. "Sorry."

"I'm kidding, Jilly," Ambrose said softly. His heavy timber was as warm as the hearth and safe like a hug. She liked that about his voice. The way it softened when he addressed someone he cared about. Then hardened towards everyone else. "I just don't really know what to say to that."

"You could call me an idiot."

"Nah, you already know that. No need to rub it in."

Jill scoffed, slapping a hand over her mouth to muffle her laugh. She kicked Ambrose but that tree of a man didn't even move. He just watched her with his hooded ocean eyes, shoulders shaking in silent laughter.

Jill set her empty cup down on the coffee table and laced her fingers together. "So."

"So."

"Cam Cam."

Ambrose tilted his head to the side. "What about him?"

"He asked if I would come with you guys to drop him off tomorrow," Jill replied. A sudden urge to make herself smaller struck her when Ambrose didn't break eye contact. She brought her knees up to her chest. The thick fabric of the sweatpants bunched around her feet like socks. When she shifted they slipped from her waist a little. "Is that ok?"

"Of course," he replied instantly, placing his cup next to hers and sinking into the couch. "I wake him up at 7:30 and he takes a quick shower. Lately he's started picking out his own outfits. Breakfast is at 7:45 then we're out the door by 8:15. We usually get there around 8:40 for drop off. School starts at nine and then I go pick him up at 3:30."

Jill smiled, eager to see Cameron running into the school with his little backpack. "I'll make breakfast."

"You don't have to."

"I want to," Jill said, coming out of her shell enough to let the barrier of her knees come down. "I can pick him afterwards too. That way you don't have to leave work."

Ambrose shook his head and Jill's heart ached at the adamant refusal.

"Calm down," he said, noticing the flash of heartbreak that crossed her colorful face. "They only let Cameron go with me and Vincent. If it's just you, Mrs. Black won't let him go. There was an incident in the past. Now they're more careful with the kids that don't ride buses and who they release them to."

"Oh." Jill let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Ok. Then we'll pick him up together."

Ambrose watched as she fiddled with the fabric of his old shirt, bunching it up and twisting it. He nudged her with his knee and asked, "What is it?"

"May I use the car? I wanted to go shopping but since Noah—"

Ambrose's fingers brushed hers and she stopped talking. "Do you remember where the extra keys are?"

"In your nightstand, right? The first drawer."

Ambrose nodded. "Use the car when I'm at work. The tank is full."

Jill's shoulders sagged, relieved, and she mumbled a faint, "Thank you."

"You don't need to ask for permission," Ambrose said firmly, catching her eye even as she tried to avoid his gaze. "If you want to do something, then do it. If you want to go somewhere, then go. I'm not here to be your dictator, Jilly. Do you understand?"

Jill's stomach churned. She nodded, unable to maintain eye contact with Ambrose's intense stare. It was all so much. The events of the day and Ambrose's kindness. Vincent's crazy, carefree nature and Cameron. The way he still looked at her like she hung all the stars in the night sky had her heart soaring.

It also left her in shambles.

Jill got away but she still felt so lost. A little voice in the back of her mind questioned every little act of kindness. Her insecurities were waiting for the shoe to drop and she'd wake up from this dream to find herself locked in a cage. She looked for the "catch" and when she found none she always circled back to self doubt and confusion.

"It's late," Ambrose murmured, getting up to wash the dishes. "Why don't we go to sleep?"

Jill nodded and silently entered Ambrose's bedroom. In the darkness she paused, caught between closing the door and locking it. Or keeping it open so that she could breathe.

Her gaze landed on Ambrose as he came back to the living room and began unfolding his blanket. If she laid her head down, from this angle, she'd have the perfect view of the couch. So she left the door open and scrambled under the covers with a hand on her throat.

Squeezing, squeezing, squeezing.

She glanced to the side and found Ambrose laying down. The gray blanket was bunched around his waist. The lamp over his shoulder illuminated his sharp features. Their eyes met.

Are you ok?

Jill brought the blankets up to her chin. She nodded, answering the question his expressive eyes asked. Ambrose turned to extinguish the warm light from the lamp then paused. After a moment he turned back around and laid down, using one arm to prop his head up, and closed his eyes.

Jill breathed. Minutes crawled by. When it became clear that Noah wasn't going to bust in and drag her out by her hair, she took one last look at Ambrose. Then she found the courage to close her eyes and allow a heavy sleep to claim her.

Ambrose opened his eyes a fraction, peeking once he felt like Jill wasn't watching him anymore. He noticed the steady rise and fall of her chest. Then he turned off the lamp now that she no longer needed it to feel safe. Ambrose fell asleep, content, and dreamed of better days full of mint tea and classic books.

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QOTD: What are your thoughts on our Jilly now that we've gotten the full story about her and Noah plus the bond she shares with the boys? Do you think her and Ambrose can make this living situation work despite her little "crush" on him?