Chapter 47: The Horsemen
*Jade's POV*

    Motherfucking fuck... 
    Why the hell is there a cinder block on my face? And who the damn put the fucking sun in my room?    
   
     I creak open my eyes, the ray of sunshine on my face causing me to immediately groan and roll over. I hear another groan, huskier and definitely not one of mine, that causes me to jolt straight up. Okay, I know I was drunk yesterday, but I really don't remember sleeping with somebody. I throw the sheets off my bed and turn back around. Nothing.
   
    "Good to see you're up." I jump at the voice and look straight ahead to see Steve on the couch in my room, his hair tousled as he rubs his eye and yawns.
   
    "Jarvis, turn the sun down." I say before addressing Steve. It immediately grows dimmer and I relax my eyes, releasing a yawn of my own. "What are you doing in here?" I ask towards the end of yawning.
   
    "I brought you to your room last night and I wanted to make sure you were okay." Steve explains standing up. "How do you feel?" He asks walking over to me as I get out of bed.
   
    "Like you just sucker punched me with your shield." I grumble.
He chuckles and says, "I'm sure Tony has just the remedy for that."

    "Yeah hold on just a sec." I walk past him to the bathroom.

    "Are you okay?" He asks behind me.

     "Yes, I'm not going to puke, just need to get this taste out of my mouth." I respond. I've never really been sick with a hangover, but damn this headache... I quickly brush my teeth and hair, before carelessly taking out my contacts and letting them wash down the drain. I scrummage through my stuff before remembering my glasses are in the side table drawer. I pad back out of the bathroom to see Steve sitting on my bed, like he was when he came in after my shower. I dismiss the thought from my head as I walk up to him. Without saying anything, I simply grab his left knee, pulling his legs out of the way, so I can open the drawer. I do so and grab my glasses, nudging the drawer closed with my thigh. "Come on, I need some coffee." I say gesturing Steve to stand. When he continues to stare at me, I push his shoulder and grab his hand to pull him up. "Come on bozo, I'm the hungover one remember?"

    He looks down at our hands and finally stands. "Right, um... sorry, you just, um, your glasses, you look um... I like your glasses." I look up at him confused.

    "Are you okay?" I ask standing on my toes to feel his forehead and cheeks.

    Before I can attest anything, he grabs my hands saying, "I'm fine. Let's get you that coffee."

    "Okay." I say. "Wait, one more thing." I stand on my toes again and run my fingers through his hair, fixing it. "I'm sure you don't want any jokes just as much as I don't. Just the thought of Tony's already making this bloody headache worse." I mumble focusing on his hair.

    "Umm..." He clears his throat. "Right. Thank you." I lean back down after his hair is satisfactory and push my glasses up while turning. I glance at the wall clock while walking out the door.

    6:42. What?! Why am I awake before 7 am? Especially hungover! I groan in annoyance as we enter the kitchen.

    "What?" Steve asks.

    "It's not even 7 and I'm awake." He chuckles at me, leaning against the counter.

     "Well you slept for 13 hours."

     "What? When did I fall asleep?" I ask grabbing a mug.

     "Around 5:30." He answers. I make a face at how embarrassing that is as I turn to the coffee maker. "Do you not remember?" He asks coming up next to me. I pour the coffee, thinking back to last night.

    "Um... I remember asking about what to do with Luc... And you're the only one who answered." I state, setting the coffee pot back in place. "Wait, this isn't the one that Thor-"

    "No, he has his own machine." Steve answers me. He also moves to the fridge and grabs the creamer for me. I nod, mumbling a thank you adding the creamer and handing it back to him.

    "Did anything happen after that?" I ask adding sugar.

    "Well after that, you wanted to go back to your room, but you couldn't really stand, so I was going to take you, but then Tony asked you why you didn't just come to talk to us. Why it was harder for you yesterday than normal."

    "Okay..." I say turning to face him.
    "What did I say?" I already know the answer. And I'm loathing drunk me with every bone in my body.

    "Well, you said it was about your family. And how because you lost them, and hadn't had one for so long, that you didn't know how to handle your new one." Steve finally finishes. I continue nursing my coffee, not looking at him. "Jade?" He asks. I look up over the rim of the mug before swallowing and setting it down. I look up in his eyes and for a moment I can't pull myself away. So I don't.

    "Sorry you had to hear that." I say.

    "Sorry? Why? We consider you family too Jade." I furrow my eyebrows but quickly shake the expression away.
    "Anything else after that?" I ask, changing topics and picking up my mug again.
    "Well I carried you back to your room and when I sat you down, you kinda... um... pulled me down with you..." I almost choke on my coffee.
I turn around, feeling my face to be on fire. "Um... uh, er I-i..."

    "Jade it's okay." Steve places his hand on my shoulder.

    "Yeah, because it's totally acceptable for a grown women to pull a grown man onto a bed with her. Mhm." I rush out.

      "Really, it's not a big deal."

      "Are you sure? Cause I'd hate to unintentionally make you uncomfortable." I say finally turning around.

    He smirks. "Yes, I'm sure."
    "Okay... Anything after that?" I ask taking another sip of my coffee.

    "When you fell asleep I got something to eat and I was planning on leaving you for the night, but Tony kept making jokes about you getting sick..."

    "Oh..." I say setting my cup down. "Well thank you." I stand on my toes and wrap my arms around Steve's shoulders in a hug. He seems surprised at first - why is everyone always so surprised when I hug them? I kissed all of them in thanks, I'm a compassionate person! - but does return the gesture. "I don't think I've said that till now." I say, my cheek pressed to his shoulder.

    "It wasn't a problem, I'm just glad you're okay. You handle drinking much better than Tony."

    "What's much better than me? The answer, nothing." I release a sigh, pulling away from Steve. "Oh, did I interrupt something?" Tony enters the kitchen in a, thankfully, closed robe.
    "Not at all." I say picking up my cup.
    "Why the glasses poindexter?" Tony asks walking towards the coffee maker. "Oh right..." Tony says stopping right next to me. I set my cup down again, waiting for him to continue. "You're hungover!" Tony screams in my ear.

    "Oh my fuck..." I mumble holding my head and squeezing my eyes shut. I rub my temples as Tony cackles right beside me. I open my eyes slowly looking for something to bash Tony upside the head with. My head still throbbing, I lunge for the toaster and spin around, ready to haul it towards Tony. Unfortunately Steve stands in between us, taking the toaster from me with one hand and pulling me towards him with another.
"It wasn't gonna hurt him that bad..." I grumble resting my head on Steve's chest.

    "I know, and tell you what, if he's an ass again, I won't stop you." Steve says setting the toaster down on the counter behind me.

    "Good to know you'll always have my back." Tony says patting Steve on the shoulder before walking to the fridge. After he grabs an orange he slams the door shut, causing an ear shattering clatter. I cover my ears with my palms and press my head further into Steve, groaning. He rubs my back and I move my hands after a few seconds, right as the elevator dings. I turn my head slightly and see Clint walking out of the elevator, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He's in sweats and a t-shirt and his hair is still messy.

    "Woah, you two okay?" He asks upon seeing Steve and I.
    "Shhhh..." I say, holding a finger up to my lips. He nods, making an "O" with his lips and walks around Steve and I. He opens a cabinet and holds a small bottle towards me. I walk away from Steve, taking the bottle from Clint and grabbing my coffee. I down several of the pills with the rest of my coffee before handing the bottle back to Clint.
    I turn back to Steve saying, "I'm going back to my room."

    "Feel better sweetheart." Tony says as I pass him.
    "Thanks honey bunch, I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time you're hungover." I respond. I walk back to my room, planning on just sitting until the painkillers kick in. As I'm fixing the covers and preparing to lay back down, my phone buzzes. I sigh, turning to look at the side table, my phone, screen illuminated waiting for me. I sit down, grabbing my phone.
1 new message from Stella Aveline.
Huh? Really, I've only talked to the girl once, but she's friends with Lillian and Becca. Estelle Aveline is one of the Four Horsemen. Yeah, like the apocalypse, well not the historical one, that'd just be creepy. She and three other men make up the team of anti-heroes. Stella herself is Pestilence. One of her teammates - Death - is actually Jordan Parks.

    Free today? Great! Care to grab coffee at Café Grumpy? See you at 9!

    Well I won't turn down a coffee date. I set my phone down, asking Jarvis to play music and begin to change, hopping in the shower. After an hour long shower, I finally feel clean and my headache has diminished. I change into black skinny jeans and a grey sweater, replacing my glasses as I walk out of the bathroom. I grab a pair of socks and my tan work boots, slipping them on before double checking my phone. After I respond, Stella sent me an address, which I'm assuming is for the café. I blow dry my hair and add a touch of makeup, you know, counter act being hungover, and after I find myself suitable, I walk out of my room.

    When I exit the hallway, everyone is mulling about in their pajamas, eating breakfast either in the kitchen or sitting area. "Where are you off to?" Clint asks upon seeing me, causing everyone's attention to direct to me. I almost laugh as Steve closes his newspaper like the proper old man he is.

    "Stella wants to grab breakfast." I say.

    "Stella, as in Jordan Parks, CEO of Parkcorp's, assistant?" Natasha asks.
Ignoring Tony's grumbling at the mention of Jordan, I answer. "The one and only, I'm meeting her in 20 minutes."
    "Where?" Peter asks walking up and standing next to me.
I show him my phone as it searches the address Stella sent me. "Café Grumpy." I say once it's loaded. Everyone gives their own nod or okay and returns to what they were doing.

    As I'm looking at the directions, Peter wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me to him in a side hug saying, "How are you feeling?"
    "Much better." I say flashing a smile to Steve as he glances at Peter and I.

    "Are you sure, head, body, everything's okay?" He asks.
    "Yeah I'm sure."
    "Okay four-eyes." He adds, pushing my glasses up.
    I smile brushing his hand away. "Not all of us are super human, bug boy." I joke.
    "I know, I know. Okay, you should get going, have fun." Peter says.
    "Thank you, Tigré." I say before kissing his cheek, cupping his other one with my left hand and then wrapping my arms around his neck in a hug. He returns it before we both let go and I walk to the elevator and he goes to the couch. As the doors are closing I catch Steve... glaring?... at Peter. Maybe it's something Clint is watching. Whatever, I'm sure it's nothing.

***

    "Iced vanilla chai tea please." I say to the barista behind the counter. I arrived at the café a little early and didn't see Stella, so I decided to order.
    "Anything else?" The girl with a pixie cut asks.
    "That's it."
    "$3.75." I hand her the money and take a seat at a table, waiting. Ten minutes later, my drink in hand and Stella still hasn't arrived. Then my phone buzzes.

    Okay I know this is asking a lot, but could you grab me a medium caramel macchiato and then head to Parkcorp Tower?

    No problem.

    I order Stella's coffee and head outside. I can see the tower from where I am and begin walking.

    As I enter the building I hear a booming crash come from behind the receptionist desk. Thankfully my headache is gone. There's no one behind the desk so I walk around it and see a monitor with an empty room on screen. I look at the screen in confusion but am quickly distracted by a distraught Stella exiting the elevator.
    "Do I even need to explain why I couldn't meet at the café?" She asks approaching me.
    "Not at all." I say handing her the cup. "That crash, sure, but it's all good."
    "Oh Jordan threw the couch." She states in the most nonchalant tone ever. I quirk my eyebrows at her as she waves me to the elevator. "Why don't you come up and see for yourself."
    The elevator doors slide open and Stella casually walks out, heels clicking, as she idly sips her coffee. I immediately see the overturned couch she mentioned as well as a coffee table propped up against the far wall and several cushions and chairs strewn across the room. Food occupies the floor, all over and I step out of the elevator. As I stand in confusion in front of the lift, Stella takes a seat on the other side of the room with her teammate Lucas.

    Lucas.

    He's the asshole who beat me at chess. Oh, and look what he's playing.
   
    "Stella!" A voice shouts. "Will you please tell your friend to get off the field?" I've determined that it is coming from underneath the upside down couch.

    "Hey!" Another voice sounds causing me to whip around in that direction. "Wait! We know her." A head pops out from behind the wall. I shouldn't be shocked, but a chorus runs through me as War looks at me, still hiding behind the wall. With a silver cauldron on his head like a helmet, Chase Ramiro saunters forward to me. "My lady." He says  bowing in front of me.
    "So that's it? But I just got the apples!" The voice coming from the couch is put to the body as Jordan Parks crawls out from under it.
    "What do you care, I was winning anyway." Chase retorts before turning back to me. Before I can respond to any of this, a rich, red apple is chucked towards Chase and I.

    Although I easily catch it before it comes into contact with anything.
"Okay I'm not even sure I care to know what's going on, but I'd prefer it if you didn't hurl fruit at me." I say turning to Jordan.
    "It wasn't at you, you just got in the way of Chase." Jordan says. He has a cookie sheet strapped to his chest and is wearing oven mits.
    "Well in that case," I say stepping aside and handing the apple to Chase, "fire away." Both draw back, ready to chuck an apple at the other, but Lucas cuts them off.
    "I implore neither of you to continue with this barbaric brawling using nourishment ammunition."
I stare at Lucas, both Chase and Jordan doing so as well - although I'm sure they're just trying to decipher what he said - as he continues playing his chess game against... No one?
"Incase you were wondering Ms. Leiton, they were having a-"

    "A food fight. Yeah I got it." I cut Lucas off finishing his sentence. I walk to the table Lucas and Stella occupy, Chase and Jordan removing their... armor, and following suit.
   
    "So what's with the glasses? Don't remember you having them last time we met." Jordan asks.
    "Got really drunk last night; didn't care for contacts." I say sitting across from Lucas on the other side of the board. He glances up from it at me and exhales.
    "I'll have you know I'm not looking for a partner. Quite frankly, Aidan is the only who gives me a challenge."
    I smirk saying, "Aidan? Mind if I take over?"
"Course not, Ms. Leiton." A disembodied voice with an Australian accent says. Aidan is the Horseman's AI, like Jarvis.
    I study the chessboard, my brows furrowing and my lips pursing in concentration. I see Lucas lean back, a cocky smirk plastered on his face as he folds his arms. As I continue thinking, Jordan and Chase begin a somewhat sports broadcaster commentary, Stella chuckles in the background.
    "And here we have Jade Leiton taking on the worthiest of opponents, Lucius Davids." Chase says.
    "In the most boring game, if you can call it that, ever." Jordan adds, sounding like a movie trailer voice over. After another minute of me staring at the board, I finally make my move. Thanks to Aidan, the only things I had to do was move his horse and...
    "Boom! Check-frickin-mate, ya snobbish jackass!" I say, or scream, standing up. "Oh and it's Sawyer now. Jade Sawyer."
    Lucas rolls his eyes, but after taking a glance at the board, he leans forward. His eyes dart all over the pieces before he starts shifting his king around. I take on the look he had, crossing my arms and smiling smugly at him.
    "Preposterous..." Lucas mumbles. Chase and Jordan though stand behind me, jaws dropped. Stella on the other hand laughs her head off. When Lucas leans back in his chair with the most defeated look ever and breathes out, "She beat me." That's when my smirk turns into a full fledged grin. That's also when Chase and Jordan break out, hollering whoops and cheers. Unexpectedly though, Chase dips under me, picking me up and propping me on his shoulder.
    "The day has come, who'd have thought that King Luey has fallen." Jordan celebrates.
    "Alright, alright, put the girl down. She doesn't need to think we're all crazy." Stella says.
    Chase lowers me down, his hands on my hips. "Aren't we though?" He asks, smirking.
    "Don't worry, I've seen my fair share of crazy." I say. I look back at Lucas as he continues to stare at the board. "Close your mouth Lukey, might catch flies." I say lifting his chin up. He swats my hand away, standing up.
    "One meaningless game, congratulations. And its Lucas."
    "So Stella," I say taking a sip of my chai, ignoring Lucas, " What's up?"

    "Just thought we could talk." She says walking back over to where the couch is, gesturing it to be flipped the right way. Chase and Jordan immediately walk over to fix it, Lucas trailing behind them. After the boys turn the couch right side up, Stella daintily sits on it waving me over to join her.
    "That's it, just wanted to talk?" I asked, walking to the couch and sitting down. Meanwhile Chase and Jordan pick up the coffee table and set it down in front of the couch. Lucas sits next to Stella, Chase next to me and Jordan on the table, facing all of us.
    "Yeah, we've really only met once before, so why not?"
    "So," Chase says, "let's gossip."
    "Excuse me?" I respond.
    "What's new with Viper, Jade Sawyer."
    "Why don't we start with the name change." Jordan says.
    "Okay, well, Sawyer Is my actual name. Leiton was my grandmother's maiden name and I used it to make tracking me harder." I explained. "But now that I'm a 'good guy,'" I say using air quotes, " it's not really needed."
    "This is not gossip." Chase moans, slumping into the couch. I looked down at him perplexed.
    "Aren't you ex-military?"
    "Yep and from what I hear, you like a man in uniform. Especially veterans." He says popping back up and wiggling his eyebrows. I look at him confused before turning to Stella with the same look.
    Before she answers Lucas opens his mouth. Again. "He means your affiliation was Captain Rogers."

    "H-how the fuck do you know about that?"  I stutter.
    "Becca never shut up about it." Stella answers.
    "So what exactly is your affiliation with the Star-Spangled man with a plan?" Chase asks scooting closer to me. Normally, this would make me uncomfortable, but that's clearly what he wants. So I decrease any space left between us, scooting even closer.

    "Well..." I begin finalizing my thoughts and how I want this to go, "He's definitely no longer a virgin and now he has the mouth to match his soldier and Brooklyn status." Chase wasn't phased by my hand resting on his thigh or my breath hitting his cheek, but that. Yeah that did something. His smirk is wiped clean from his face and his mouth gaping open.
    "R-really?" He stutters.
    "Mhm. Oh, every night... You should see the things I've done to him. That he's done to me." I say, fanning myself. Chase clears his throat and out of the corner of my eye, I can see Jordan with a similar expression to  Chases. I hold myself together for just a second longer before completely exploding with laughter. I look around at Luke and Stella, seeing they're just as shocked as Jordan and Chase.
    "Lucas, Stella, I don't understand this!" Jordan says frantically pointing at me. Stella's expression forms into a smile as I continue laughing.
    "She's joking guys."  Stella says joining me and my laughter. Chase looks between Stella and I before pouting like a puppy and folding his arms.
    "Oh come on Chase, like me and the moral compass would ever be together." I say patting his shoulder.
    "Well I give you props on your acting skills." Stella says.
    "Why thank you, and besides guys, I already have something with someone else." I say.
    "Peter?" Jordan asks eagerly.
    "What- no." I respond. He physically deflates after that.
    "Well who is it then?" Stella asks.
    "An old friend of mine, his name is Luc." I answer.
    "Like..." Chase asks pointing towards Lucas.
     "No, he and I... grew up together. He spells his name L-U-C." I say. "He actually works for you." I state pointing at Jordan.
    "He does...?" Jordan asks
    "Yeah, pretty high up too."
    Stella's already pulled out her phone, asking, "Full name, please."

    "Luc Tristan Levett."
    "It seems Mr. Levett is Parkcorp's SEO consultant." Stella says after several seconds. She turns her phone to show Jordan.
    "Oh! The French guy!" Jordan proclaims.
    "Yeah," I say chuckling. "The French guy."
    "So what is this something? I fully approve by the way, just look at how much he makes." Stella says showing me her phone, but I hold my hand in front of it.
    "I don't care. We both, grew up, not having a lot and we both turned it around. That's all I care about." Stella holds up both hands, nodding and locking her phone.
    "That might be the case Jade, but it's in your best interest to be aware of your partner's financial stability." Lucas says.
    "He's an SEO," I respond, "I think he's financially stable."
    "Okay whatever, what's going on with him?" Stella asks eagerly.
    "Not a lot..." I say, confused as to why they're so interested.
    "Oh come on, nothing's happened to us lately and Lucas is too much TV rots your brain." Jordan pushes.
    "He won't even let me catch up on The Bachelor." Chase page.
    Ignoring Chase I continue. " We have something when we were teenagers and I guess we're trying to get it back."
    "What happened?" Lucas asks. 
    "Well, you've read my SHIELD file, yes?" They all nod. "He was in HYDRA With me, and escaped a year before I did. The last time I seen him was when I was 18 now I'm 24 and well, us getting back together is a lot harder than I think it should be." I admit.

    "What do you mean?" Stella asks.
    "We're so different now. Look at him, he goes to college and get a degree, I become a criminal. He did something with his life and I am still living 2. Sure one's as a SHIELD Agent, but... He's made changes, what have I done?" I look down at my hands in my lap and see Chase grab them and his.
"What haven't you done?" He asks. I 4 ohm eyebrows, something I never would have thought to be caused by Chase. He continues. "You're Jade fucking Sawyer. When the world handed you a pile of shit, you threw it right back."
"Chase's right." Jordan adds. " Your life was torn to pieces and look how well you've sewn it back together." I look at them both before putting them into a hug. After several seconds, I feel Stella on my back, joining the house as well. We also apart and look at Lucas. He rolls his eyes again before standing.
"And Jade, it is ridiculous for you to think any of that. Any man would be lucky to have you, and your life, from what I've heard, was plummeting toward disaster but you turned it around and now are only ascending."
I think everyone's jaw dangling at this point.
"At least that is what Stella says." He finishes before walking away.
"Oh come on Luscious!"  Chase shouts after him. Before Lucas reaches the elevator, Chase untangles himself from our group hug, runs and tackles Lucas to the ground. Stella and I began laughing while Jordan stands to join the dog pile.
"Well that was almost a heartfelt moment." Stella says as we both stand.
"Yeah, I was starting to feel we could have our own drama sitcom." I say. Stella and I laugh as we walk around the couch.
"Alright you three, no one wants to see this." Stella says to the three grown men rolling around on the floor.
"Speak for yourself." I said pushing up my glasses. Chase looks at me while laying on Lucas before he lunges for my legs. I let out a shriek as I crumple to the floor.
"Come on, master assassin."  Jordan teases as I roll over to face him while grabbing Chase's cheeks in one hand.
"Wouldn't want to hurt this pretty face." Chase grins at me, still pinning Lucas to the ground. Lucas rolls his eyes, releasing a grunt when Chase pushes himself off the ground.
"Children." Lucas says, straightening his shirt and sulking off.
"Bye Lukey-poo!" I shout after him, still laying on the floor with Jordan. Jordan laughs, standing up and brushing off his pants.
Chase offers me a hand up and I gladly take and fall into him as he's pulling me up. It doesn't help that my phones goes off right as he's holding me up.
I'm gonna love ya until you hate me, now I'm gonna show ya what's really crazy, you should have known better, than to mess with me harder, I'm gonna love ya, I'm gon-
"Hey Nat! What's up?" I scramble still in Chase's embrace. He, Jordan and Stella all chuckle as I talk to Black Widow. What? I couldn't resist.
"Time to head back to the tower. You have a date tomorrow."
Chase frowns, like a sad puppy, hearing what Natasha says. I mimic his frown while responding to Natasha.
"30 hours before I actually have to be ready? Don't you think that's cutting it a bit short Romanoff?" I, of course, say sarcastically. Chase's frown turns into a smirk.
"Last I checked you don't have anything for an event like this. You need a dress, shoes, not to mention a mask, and-"
"Okay!" I cut her off, "I get it. I'm having a pretty terrible time anyway, so I'll be back soon." I grin at Chase and then Jordan who dramatically fains physical pain at my words.
"I'm sure a man like Jordan Parks is just absolutely draining."
Chase laughs, hearing Natasha's sarcastic drawl, pulling me into a closer hug. I return it as I continue on the phone. "Mortifying, really. See you in 20." I hang up and pull away from Chase as I slip my phone in my back pocket. "Well it seems I have to go play Barbie for Lord knows how long now."
"What's going on?" Stella asks.
"Special masquerade mission tomorrow, and I'm the one getting close to the target." I explain.
"How close?" Chase asks.
"Well last time, I had been talking to this guy for not 15 minutes and his tongue was down my throat like that." I say snapping. "So who knows what'll happen the second time 'round."  Chase's eyes widen and his fists clench. I raise my eyebrows in confusion as Jordan gives a slight laugh.
"Come on bud, we've talked about this, no interdimensional dating!" Jordan chastises Chase. Chase immediately loosens up, rubbing the back of his neck, Stella giggling in the background at the two.
"I just think it's fucked up is all. No one should treat a women as sweet and smart and nice smelling as Jade." Chase fumbles looking at the ground. Now Stella has completely lost it.
"Oh, Chase, I'm flattered, but unfortunately I agree with Jordan. Although I so wouldn't mind all that." I gesture up and down Chase. Chase blushes, something surprisingly comical about this beefcake of man becoming flustered over little ol' me has me containing laughter. I clear my throat as I see Chase clam up more, especially with Jordan and Stella becoming hysterical behind him. "Don't worry." I say stepping up to him. "I'm sure those ocean blue eyes of yours will catch a very lucky girl someday." He grins at me and I kiss his cheek before stepping up to Jordan and Stella. "And you two! Fuck off!" They both immediately shut up.
Jordan releases a cough as a cover to one last chuckle as he pulls me into a hug. "Bye Jade."
"Lovely to see you Mr. Parks." I say as we release from the hug.
Stella then clicks up to me in her stupid heels, making her taller than me. "Have fun at that masquerade, but Chase is right. Don't let this target or whatever be a dick to you." She reminds me as we hug each other.
"Hey, my self respect may be in shreds, but it's still there." As I turn back around, I see Lucas has returned, where he went for 10 minutes, who the hell cares, but he's about to leave again when I'm facing him. I smirk, running up to him and jumping on his back, causing him to stumble slightly. The others laugh as Lucas makes a noise of shock, something manlier than a shriek, but not quite a grunt... "Bye Lucas." I say sweetly, giving him a big smooch on the cheek. And guess what.
He actually smiles. Laughs even.
I hop off his back as he says, "Goodbye Jade."
I wave to the other three, stepping into the elevator and as the doors are closing I blow Chase a kiss.
The elevator doors close and I'm brought back to the real world. Tomorrow I have to get close to Edgar Lascombe. Tomorrow I am retrieving information on the people who ruined my life.

A/N: Believe me, I'm ashamed. I'm so incredibly disappointed in myself. I just... I'm sorry, I'm awful. I don't have anything else to say about my terribleness. Anyway, let's get on about the chapter. 

I hope you all like it! This was surprisingly difficult for me, but I think it's satisfactory. And in case y'all don't know, Stella, Chase, Jordan and Lucas are NOT my characters. They belong to @Marvel_Mockingjays who also writes Lillian and Becca. The Horsemen are from Conquering An Untamed Flame and it is a Fantastic Four fic if you didn't guess it. Tara is a phenomenal writer so everyone should definitely check out all of her stories! Especially when Jade pops up in them from time to time! 

Also, the gif attached may or may not be how I was imagining Steve smirking at Jade when they were in the kitchen. Speaking of which, what did you guys think of that? 

I think that's it for now. I really am trying to get better at updating! Hopefully now that the PSAT's are over, I can focus on Viper a little more. And I hope you all are excited for the next chapter!!! It's a doozy. 

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