"Jace," I poke his arm. "Jaaace," I moan, still poking him until he groans a 'what'. "I'm dying."

"Shut up."

"Why are you being nasty? I'm dying."

He pulls the covers over his head and I yank them back. "There's water under my fucking bed."

"Can you-"

"No."

Ugh. I sit up, feeling heavy and terrible. I hate hangovers. My mouth is dryer than the fucking Sahara.

I haven't seen Jace sleep in a long time and he looks so damn beautiful. I have to admit that. He looks so peaceful and innocent... it's a shame I need to ruin that.

I sit on top of him like I did last night, my ass positioned on his crotch. His eyes snap open and suddenly he's wide awake.

"Where are they?" I lean down, my hand searching for anything under his bed.

Jace reaches under while still looking at my body and lifts up a bottle of water.

"Thanks." I get off of him – as much as I was enjoying sitting on him – and drink from the bottle until i'm satisfied. "Keeping a stash of water bottles under your bed is a good idea. Probably healthier than my stash of vodka."

He doesn't say anything while I put my clothes back on and check my phone, seeing a message from Alex.

Alex Where are u???

I text him back that i'll be home soon, then read my other texts.

Brooke Did u hear about Jace fighting a college guy last night? It looked insane

Oh yes, the events of last night. As if reading my mind, Jace speaks:

"How's your leg?"

I extend my leg out, examining the cut that's peeking out from the plaster. "Doesn't hurt." I look at him, noticing the huge bags under his eyes. "How did you sleep?"

"I didn't until about an hour ago."

"Why?"

"Blue balls, kiddo. Thanks for that."

"Oops."

"I need more sleep."

"I need food. Wanna go to mcdonalds or something?"

"At 10am?"

"It's never too early for mcdonald's when you're hungover."

"Well i'm not, thanks to you."

"That's a good thing. You don't have to go through this pain."

"There's pain killers in that drawer."

I look over at the bedside table and open the small drawer, gasping when I see like thirty packets of pain killers and also condoms. "Jesus."

"Most are empty – I always forget to throw them out."

"I hope you're not talking about the condoms being the thing you forget to throw out."

Ignoring the bad feeling I get from seeing the condoms in there, I take two pills then close the drawer.

"Can you take me home now?"

He sighs, sitting up. "Sure." He pulls on a hoodie and picks up his keys and a packet of cigarettes and a lighter, putting them into his pocket.

"Yasmin!" Alice runs over to me when Jace and I go into the living room.

"Heyyy, Alice," I hug her. "How's wonderland?"

"Stoppp, I told you i'm from Hollywood Arts high school now."

"Okay, fine," I sigh then smile and she smiles too.

"Jace, you didn't tell us Yasmin was coming," Danielle – Jace's Mom – says, coming in with her boyfriend Neil. "How are you, sweetie?" She hugs me. "You get more and more beautiful as you get older."

"Mom, please don't start-"

"I'm not doing anything," she defends herself, looking at Jace. He's only butthurt because his Mom likes me more than him.

"What happened?" Alice asks, pointing to the cut on my leg.

I kneel down, ready to make a show. "Jace is so mean; he pushed me and I fell!"

Alice gasps.

"You did what?" Danielle scolds Jace who raises his hands in surrender.

"I didn't mean for her to fall."

"Why would you push her?"

"She pushed me first."

I laugh, "It's okay; it was just my clumsiness."

"And I'm guessing Jace got you drunk?" Neil asks.

"You guys have no idea what she's really like," Jace says.

"Don't say things like that," Danielle says. "Yasmin is a lovely girl. You're the bad influence."

"Yeah," Alice agrees.

"Sure, okay. I'm goin' to smoke."

Danielle shakes her head in disapproval while he walks away. "I've told him a million times to stop smoking," she says to me and we sit down on the couch beside Neil.

"Me too."

"I think it's great that you don't smoke even though everyone around you does. That must be hard."

"Not really; the taste and smell puts me off."

"The taste? I thought you hadn't tried it before?"

"I haven't-" I mean I've tasted it while my tongue is in a smokers mouth. "I'm just... assuming how it tastes."

"Oh," Danielle nods and the smile returns to her face. "Alice and I miss you a lot; you should come by more."

"Yeah! Why don't you, Yasmin?" Alice asks.

"Um, well-" shit.

"Yasmin, lets go!" Jace shouts.

After saying bye to them, I go outside just as Jace drops his cigarette and goes to his car.

"You have perfect timing."

"Alice is not gonna stop talking about you after this."

"Are you jealous?" I smirk, pulling my seatbelt on while Jace starts the car.

"I don't get jealous."

I can sense his bad mood because of his tiredness, so I keep the conversation safe so we don't end up in a huge argument like we always do. "So, do you really wanna get drunk tonight?"

"Already thinking about drinking again?"

"Best cure for a hangover is to get drunk again."

"I guess. And yeah. Where? I'm not drinking in the streets like a freaking gangbanger."

"Was that an indirect hit at Val and I?"

"Sure was."

"Parties get lame. Getting drunk in the streets makes you a lot of new friends."

"Yeah, uneducated morons who spend every day in those alleyways doing drugs."

I roll my eyes. "We can drink at my place then go out after, okay?"

"Yeah and you can introduce me to some of your drug dealer friends."

"Coming from the guy who does drugs."

"Rarely."

"You used to do it like every weekend."

"Used to."

Jace drives up the driveway of my house and I spot Santiago on the porch smoking. Great.

"See you later, kiddo." Jace looks out the window at Santi who is eyeing us up.

I sigh, unbuckling my seatbelt. "Bye," getting out, I close the door and Jace drives off.

"Should I even ask, or are you not gonna give me an answer?" Santiago says, tilting his head.

I ignore him and walk straight inside, wanting to turn around and walk straight back out when I see Alex and Amelia in the living room.

"No no no," Amelia holds her hand up when Alex is about to speak, "Let me do it." She clears her throat, trying to do Alex's mad face. "Young lady, where have you been?"

"I stayed at a guys house. No big deal."

"What guy?" she crosses her arms.

"A random guy-"

"A random guy?" Alex cuts in.

"He's not random anymore..." I hate lying, but in this situation, lying will cause less harm than telling him I was with Jace.

"I'm gonna be sick." He looks down at my leg, narrowing his eyes. "What happened?"

"I fell," I shrug, "I was drunk. It happens."

"I know when you're lying."

"Trust me, you don't."

"What's that's supposed to mean?"

Amelia puts her hand on his neck, smiling. "You're adorable when you get all protective."

Now I'm gonna be sick.

"I'm not done talkin' to you!" Alex shouts when I run up the stairs.

"I am very much done!"

Once I've took a shower, brushed my teeth and threw on leggings and a hoodie, I go downstairs and start cooking sausages and bacon while trying to avoid Alex's questions. I put the sausages and bacon into two rolls and take them upstairs to Val's room. We both love to get fat on mornings like these.

"Uh, fuck me, man."

"Are you just waking up now?" I sit down on his bed and take a bite from one of the rolls.

He puts his hand over his eyes and moans. "Just kill me."

"I brought food."

"Put it in my mouth."

He keeps his eyes closed, so I take out one of the sausages and put it deep into his mouth until he gags and opens his eyes.

I laugh, "Just giving you practise for the next time you say 'put it in my mouth'."

He doesn't smile or react, he just takes the roll from me and starts eating. Val isn't himself during or after he does drugs.

"Santiago, hit me with the Tylenol."

I turn around, watching Santi get bottles of painkillers from his bedside drawer. He takes a few out and throws them straight at Val's face.

"Muchos gracias."

"If Alex asks, it wasn't Jace dropping me off," I say.

"I'm telling him."

"What? Why would you do that?"

"Snake," Val says through a mouthful of food.

"Because you're being so stupid. Why would you sleep with him after all the shit he's done?"

"I didn't sleep with him – I mean I slept beside him but we didn't do it."

"Poor Jace," Val says.

Santiago gives him a look. "Dude."

"Where are you going?" I ask when Santi starts tying the laces on his sneakers.

"Out."

"With?"

"His novia," Val answers.

"Mi amigo," Santi corrects.

"You mean amiga."

"How do I not know about this?" Since when does Santiago hang out with girls?

"There's nothing to know. Val's just... Val." He walks straight out.

"I'm taking that as a compliment," he smiles and turns around in bed and closes his eyes. While doing so, I get a whiff of his scent. He has a gift of smelling amazing, as if he sprays cologne on himself every five minutes. Guys who smell good immediately become way more attractive, and this is apparently his natural scent. No wonder girls love him.

"How have you just woke up and already smell like you just sprayed a hundred dollar bottle of cologne all over yourself?"

+++

"Don't care if ya know me, taste my lips and blow me."

"What?"

Val freezes while pouring popcorn into the bowl. "What? It's a song."

"Right."

"Guess who's here," Montana says, coming into the kitchen.

"We know you're here-"

"Not me," she rolls her eyes at Val. "Wes."

"Yas doesn't care; she's going out with her boyfriend tonight."

"Would you stop calling him that? Friends of the opposite sex can sleep in the same bed together. You should know." I look at Montana then back at him to see his nostrils flaring and his cheeks going red, but he quickly recovers and smiles.

"Guess you're right."

"Why am I always brought into arguments?"

"Who's arguing?" Max asks, coming in with Wesley behind him. Ugh lord.

"I'm just once again being used against Valentino."

"Awww," Max pretends to feel sorry for her then pushes his body into hers and she goes back into Val. He holds her up while shooting an annoyed glare at Max, keeping his hands on her waist for a moment. They look so freaking adorable together – until they open their mouths.

"Are you not gonna kill him for that? You used to get so pissed at me for just nudging you."

"That was a few months ago... new year new me," she shrugs, obviously making fun of the saying.

"Yasmin, can I talk to you? Alone?"

I look at Wes, shocked for a moment until my wide eyes eventually narrow. Max looks between us and laughs cluelessly.

"Why?"

"She's helping me get with someone," Wes lies. "And I don't want to tell anyone who."

"Well, maybe you're better just staying away from her," I say, seeing Val put popcorn in his mouth from the corner of my eye.

"I don't want to do that. I actually like her a lot."

"You have a bad way of showing it."

Montana clears her throat just as Wes is about to say something else. "Maybe you should just go talk to him before the whole world figures out who you're talking about."

I sigh, walking in front of Wesley and into the dining area. He follows me, closing the door behind him.

"We had a stupid fight. Can we just put it behind us?"

"Fine. Let's just go back to being normal friends. No more inconveniences."

"If that's what you want."

"It is."

"Okay... Do you wanna hang out tonight? As friends."

"I have plans."

"Cancel them; just tonight."

"No, I can't-"

"Please," he steps closer, putting his hand on my cheek. "Who would you rather be with tonight instead of me?"

"You're not acting like a friend," I take his hand away.

"Let's just watch movies and shit. I'll let you choose what we watch."

"Wesley-" I sigh, not wanting to cancel on Jace. I've been looking forward to seeing him again. We always have so much fun when we drink together, except from the usual arguments.

Maybe this is just a sign that I shouldn't see him tonight. Yes, I'm one of those people who believe in fate and all that shit. I believe every little thing happens for a reason. Maybe Wes showing up and stopping me from going out is supposed to happen. Maybe if we were drunk together, things would go further than they did last night. It's probably for the best.

"Okay, fine. But we're watching The Hunger Games and Divergent series from the start."

"Of course, ma'am." He smirks and starts walking backwards into the kitchen. I take my phone from the waistband of my leggings and think of what to tell Jace.

Me  something came up. rain check?

Jace  Whatever. Was tired anyway.

You know when you know a person so well that when they send a text you know when there's something up with them? Well that's the vibe I'm getting right now.

He's either mad at me for cancelling, or he's just moody and tired. It's probably the second one because he's still annoyed at me for keeping him up all night.

"I'm not watching all those movies. I've seen them like a million times," Max complains, leaving the kitchen with everyone.

"Then do something else," Wes says.

"Why are you watching them with her?"

"I owe her," he shrugs, lying again.

"You're not going out with Jace?" Val asks, standing beside me.

"Jace?" Wesley scoffs.

"No..." I try to think of something else to say but everyone's eyes are on me and my mind goes blank, so I leave it at no.

"Why am I hearing Jace's name?" Alex says while coming downstairs. Sweet Jesus.

"Yasmin was gonna go out with him tonight but is hanging with Wes instead," Max completely spills as if it means nothing.

"Interesting."

"God, why is this such a big deal? You all need to get over yourselves because Jace is my friend just like Wesley is my friend and I can choose which friend I want to be with on what day," I snap and Alex smiles.

"No ones making it a big deal, Yas." He makes his way to the door, stopping beside me. "You better be careful you don't get into a friend triangle. And Wes, don't talk about my friend when he's not here."

"I freaking love coming here. It's so much entertainment," Montana says when Alex leaves.

Wesley and I spend the night in my room, watching the movies I choose and eating a shit ton of food. It feels like how things used to be before it got awkward, and it's amazing. This guy is who I slowly fell for over the years of knowing him.

+++

it's my bday today hehe

so i'm finally getting into this book and i'm exciteddddddd

who's your fave character?

btw the alexia moments are coming incase you're having withdrawal symptoms

teaser: jace finds out the reason yasmin cancelled their plans

vote, comment, follow

ly
-e