I awoke Tuesday morning in sweats. Today was the day that Cleo would find out if she was truly pregnant. It had still been a shock to us that she might even be pregnant. She had made an appointment late in the day, mostly because she didn't want to skip any school; if she was pregnant, she would need to save some absence days for later.

Since Friday night, Cleo's barely gotten any sleep. She kept walking up in the middle of night and either cleaning or cooking; I think she's nervous for her doctor's appointment. I wish there was something I could do to help her, but we couldn't do anything until we knew for sure. 

After storming off Saturday, Jared eventually came back that night. That is, of course, after he punched Theodore. Jared came to the house at midnight, and, when I opened the door, the first thing I noticed were his bloody knuckles. 

"Jared, what did you do now?" I accused, seriously worrying what he had managed to get himself into within a few hours. 

"What do you think?" He snarked. Jared sat down on the pavement in front of the door. I closed the front door and sat down next to him. I looked up at the sky as the stars shinned so bright; the sky was always so effortlessly beautiful. 

"I think I broke Theodore's nose," Jared added, as he wiped his nose with his hand. 

"Jared, why did you hit him?"

"She's my sister, what was I suppose to do?" Pain was evident in his voice. I wanted to make him feel better, but I just didn't know how. 

"Why didn't you tell me she was your sister?" I selfishly asked. I was still in utter shock that they didn't tell me this. How could they keep such a secret from me?

"It's complicated," his voice was dismission, warning me to drop it. So I had. He'd tell me when he's ready, I suppose.

"She's going to be okay, Jared. It's Cleo. She's one of the toughest people I know," I asserted. I took Jared's hand in mine, looking at the damage he had done to it. The blood had been dripping down his hand. I went back inside and took some paper towel before I came outside and wrapped his hand with it. Holding his hand in mine, we sat in silence as we stared into the starry sky. 

After spending a while together outside that night, Jared eventually went back inside and talked it out with Cleo. I had decided to stay out of it; much like Lucas and Jared, this was now Jared and Cleo's mess. They were family, so they would figure it out. 

God, I still can't believe they didn't tell me they were related. I feel so guilty now knowing all the things I did and almost did with Jared. The things I really shouldn't have done. 

I hastily got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to shower. I normally showered at night, but I was seriously sweating so I needed a good shower. Afterwards, I got dressed and headed to school; life goes on, right?

When I came back home from school that day, I didn't feel like doing my homework. I needed a distraction from everything that had been going on. I headed back into my room and looked around at what I could do. 

Cleaning? No. I hated cleaning. Rearranging my room? I looked at my bedroom: the color of the room was a light pink, which I loved; once you entered passed the door to my room, you were presented by a bed in the middle, the closet to the right of it, and a dresser and television in front of the bed. I turned towards my closet and looked at it, intently. Maybe I could clean up my closest?

I moved towards my closet and began to rearrange the contents within. Okay, I'll hang all the dresses on the left, the pants in the middle, and shirts and sweaters on the right. This wouldn't be too bad. I took hold of a bunch of clothes on hooks and threw them onto my bed.

After around twenty minutes of intensively reorganization, I heard a knock at my door. Cleo was back? She wasn't suppose to be back till later tonight. 

"You left your front door open," Jared said, as he opened my door. Of course. Jared should seriously start paying rent if he's going to hang out here this much.

"Jared," I said, not even surprised he was there. He was always here. "Seriously, you should call before you come here. You have my number."

"Nah," he added, looking around at my room. "I enjoy the element of surprise." He snickered.

Clearly. I rolled my eyes amusingly, turning my attention back to my closet. I was almost done cleaning up my closet; I just wasn't sure where to put my shorts.

"So, whatcha doing?" Jared laid himself down on my bed, his hand placed on his head, as he stared at what I was doing. He was certainly in a better mood than he was Saturday, which was great! I didn't want to see him in agony. It's enough that I have to see Cleo in torment.

"Reorganizing my closet."

"Mhm, I see. Wanna do something tonight?" Jared proposed, as he moved around the clothes that were on my bed so that he could get a better view of me.

"Like... on a date?" I asked, curiously, looking at him. Did he want to go out with me?

"Do you want it to be a date?" Jared inquired, with a beautiful grin on his face. 

My stomach filled with butterflies as I thought of his question, and I grinned cheerfully. Maybe I did want it to be a date. Though, I can't imagine ever having a normal date with Jared; he's ridiculous. 

Wait, no! I'm dating Lucas!

"No, I can't go on a date. I'm with Lucas, remember?" Jared eye rolled at the sound of his name. I still didn't get it; but, I couldn't ask him what happened. I made such a big deal about Jared respecting my choices, and I feel like asking him what happened would just derail everything I was hoping to accomplish. 

"Right," he emphasized. "But we should still do something tonight." 

"I don't know." In all honesty, I had kind-of hoped to stay in tonight and wait for Cleo. Today was the day where the rest of her fate was basically finalized, so it's a lot of pressure. 

"Come on, what do you like to do? Wanna go hiking?" Jared eagerly asked. A goofy smile was present on his face. It gave him a nice look. 

"Ew, no." I added. I could barely run, and he wants to make me walk such a long distance? No way.

"Hmmmm. How about tennis?"

"No. I have a terrible backhand," I confessed. I liked playing tennis, but I was the worst. I spent two years of high school playing it, and I was still the worst player on the team.

"What about swimming?" He questioned. Jared clearly wasn't going to let his go until I found something to do with him. I admired his persistence, even though it always annoyed me. 

"That's not a bad idea. I love swimming. But, I don't know any open pools around her-" 

Before I could even finish my sentence, I heard Jared speaking on the phone:

"Hi, Larry. Hey it's Jared. Listen, can I rent out the pool for the night...No, it'll be for me and a friend...Yeah, that's fine...Great, thanks Larry." Jared hung up and turned his attention back to me. 

"Alright, let's go!" He dramatically hopped off my bed and moved towards the door. 

"Wait, I need to get dressed! And you don't have a bathing suit." I blurted.

"Why would I need a bathing suit? I'm swimming in my boxers." Jared answered, honestly. I looked at him in disbelief -- in his boxers?

"What?" He laughed. "Free country and whatnot. Or, hold up. Are you trying to get me to wear something more revealing?"

"What, no." I affirmed. Let's be honest, boxers were revealing enough.

"Cause all you gotta do is ask if you're trying to see something, Val. Remember, I still owe you a favor," Jared beamed, giving me amused expression, as though I might take him up on that offer.

"Get out of here, Jared. Let me get dressed." Jared smirked before he turned around and walked out of my room.

I headed back to my closet and looked for a suitable suit to wear. Should I wear an actual swim suit -- like a swimmer's suit -- or a bikini? After some contemplation, I decided to wear my cute pink bikini. I grabbed a shirt and shorts to put over it and headed out to Jared.

When we arrived at the location, we headed inside to find one of the most amazing pools I had ever seen. I used to swim competitively for my high school, and, as a result, I've seen countless amounts of pools, but this one had to be my favorite.

It was a large pool, taking up almost the entire room, with a side staircase that led into the pool. The lights in the room were dimmed, but the pool was lighted up. It was so cool.

"Whoa," I said.

"Whoa, indeed." Jared said, in a fancy British accent.

Jared began to take his clothes off next to me; he slipped off his pants, and hastily took his shirt off. Damn. Jared wasn't ripped, but the outline of his abs were visible. His body was almost like a sculpture; one of those ancient Greek sculptures you can find in a museum: chiseled to perfection. 

"M'lady, after you." He gestured towards the staircase that led into the pool. I quickly undressed and headed for the staircase. 

I slowly walked in, carefully paying attention to each step so that I wouldn't slip, and embraced the cold water that surrounded me.

I looked back at Jared who was struggling to get in. After each step he took, he would shake his body dramatically because of the cold water. 

I laughed. "Jared, get in!"

"Hold on, woman, this is cold!" I moved closer towards him and splashed some water on him. He opened his mouth in shock as the water hit his body. I giggled, knowing I was able to mess with him.

"Oh hell no you just didn't." He said as he jumped in the pool, skipping a bunch of steps, and started swimming towards me.

"Oh, shit," I said as I ducked under the water and swam away from his grab. I reached the other side of the pool and saw that Jared had stayed put in the shallower end.

"I'll get you, eventually," he warned me.

"Good luck," I stuck out my tongue and refused to move from my position. I loved swimming; this was one of those activities that always calmed me down. I slowly swam back towards him and relaxed myself in the water.

"How'd you swim away so fast?" Jared asked.

"I used to swim."

"Huh, go figure. Was it fun?"

"Totally, you should try it." I encouraged.

"Me?" Jared asked, looking back and forth in shock that I could ever suggest such a thing to him.

"Yeah! Swim a lap."

"For real?" Jared asked as he moved towards the end of the lane. "Swim what?"

"Just try freestyle," I proposed.

"You sure I shouldn't try the breaststroke?" He winked at me. Gross. I swear, Jared is such a child sometimes. 

"Oh my god, Jared. I swear, you're like a horned up teenager. Grow up." I uttered. 

"I'm definitely one of those, though." He smirkered before he began to swim in the lane. Very slowly, I might add. It was actually kind-of funny to see how bad he was. Jared may be fit, but he did not have the stamina to swim. 

As I watched him swim towards the other end of the lane, I couldn't help but giggle. Jared was trying so hard to swim well, but it was just not working out for him; he was going at an extremely slow speed, mostly because his technique was awful. But, to be honest, this is how he probably saw me running -- when I ran towards me after the pharmacy. I sucked at running. 

I swam towards the edge of the pool and pulled my body out of the water. Then, I flipped around and sat on the back down on the floor, placing my feet into the the pool. Jared moved towards me in the water when he finished swimming. When he got closer to me, he placed his hands on my knees and then his head on his hands. It was sweet; he was laying on my knees.

I took my hand and ruffled it through his wet hair. He closed his eyes as I played with his hair. His hair was so beautiful. I loved ruffling my hands through it. I remember doing that the night I slept over Jared's. 

When he opened his eyes, he stared at me attentively. Curiosity filled my mind as I looked back into his hazel eyes; wow, he was truly one of the most gorgeous people I've ever knew. But, I was wondering why he and Cleo haven't told me they were related. Why couldn't they tell me? I had to ask again. 

"Jared?" I questioned. 

"Yeah," he asked.

"Why didn't you or Cleo tell me you were related?"

Jared took a deep breath before he began, "I asked Cleo not to tell anyone that we were related when we both decided to come to school here-"

"Why?" I interrupted him as I moved slightly, placing my palms on the floor to carry my weight. Was he ashamed to be related to Cleo or something?

"Because I was adopted." Jared said. Oh. That's why Jared had been hesitate to tell me this. Oh no, maybe I shouldn't have pushed him to tell me. 

"When I was seven years old, my biological father left my mom and me. My mother quickly turned to alcohol as a source of outlet, but...it just wasn't good after that. She couldn't stop drinking; she became addicted to the point where she lost her job, her friends, and everything in her life, including me. Eventually, but not quickly enough, Social Services took me away."

I looked at Jared, sadly, studying the frown on his face. It hurt me to know that Jared had suffered so much; that his life hadn't been good.

"Jared, I'm so sorry I pushed you to tell me. I had no idea."

"No, it's okay. I wanted to tell you." He smiled, sincerely. "But that's also why I'm hesitate to turn to alcohol, because it can...ruin your life, if you let it."

Wow. I was speechless. This explained so much...

"But," he added more cheerfully, "luckily, I was adopted by an amazing family and I gained a sister."

I still couldn't find any words to say...I thought my life was bad, with my father, but here was Jared. Poor Jared.

"But the real question to ask is, are you ticklish?" 

"What?" I asked, moments before Jared moved his hands from my knees and under my toes. He began to tickle me and I broke out in laughter, almost like a crazy psycho; I'm extremely ticklish. The tickle was so intense that I ended up dropping myself back into the pool.

"Got you," Jared breathed as he looked at me. He was close -- too close, yet I wanted him to be closer. Jared's hands were against the pool wall, placing me perfectly within his hold -- there was no escape, but...I didn't want one. And his gaze never left my eyes. His hazel eyes were almost like magnets, pulling me into them; I couldn't look away. 

He pressed his body into mine, sending quivers through me. All of the sudden, my body felt hot, even though the water was freezing cold. Jared began to slowly move his face closer to mine -- almost as though he was taunting me, or maybe tempting me? Either way, it was working.

"Kiss me," I whispered. The words escaped my lips before I could even understand why they had. This wasn't what I wanted to do: I didn't want to be the friend who kissed my best friend's brother. But everything single reason why I shouldn't have been with Jared rushed out of my head as he stood there, inches -- no, centimeters -- away from my face. His body against mine, fitting ever so perfectly. None of this made any sense, but, at the same time, it made perfect sense.

"Are you sure?" He marveled, simply refusing to touch my lips even though he was so close to them.

"Yeah," I mused, my lips colliding into his. 

_________________________________________

LET'S GOOOOOOOO! Val and Jared are kissing ;)

How do you think this will end, guys?

Do you think this will make Val finally see Jared as more than a friend? Or do you think she'll be concerned about Lucas?

Vote if you liked the chapter :p