Awkward Author's Note: I never pictured I would ever write even a one shot for Thirteen Reasons Why, I read the book years ago, and I fell in love with the show but that kind of drama is not my style, which is why this one shot is so surprising. I hope you all enjoy it.
And I'm Thinking Damn... "If These Walls Could Talk"
Hands in the air, bottles in most as bass dropped out of the song that boomed through the speakers. Jacqueline had found the friendly smile of Kat a comforting sight most of that night, at least she wasn't the only girl indulging in to much to drink at this house party.
She felt the soft touch of rough callused fingers on her exposed side where her shirt had rode up while dancing, moments later she found the feeling of a larger body behind her, never fully realizing the form behind her as she felt the mass pulling her closer, their bodies touching, those finger running from her side down lower to her upper thigh and back up to her side.
The thing she did notice though was as she brought her bottle back to her lips that the liquid courage was draining quickly. She looked back at Kat who seemed to reach out to her, grabbing hold of her hand and pulling her away from the rough finger tips and towards her. Jacey found herself stumbling as she attempted to follow the girl who was giggling like a crazed mental patient.
"Kat... I need another beer..." Jacey found herself pouting as the other girl stumbled past the kitchen in Bryce's pool house and out towards the warm night air. "Kat~" she cooed as the other girl still held tightly onto her wrist. "Where are we going?" She asked in almost a whisper, giggling at herself as she did.
"We are going on an adventure. I was not going to leave you in there and my friend said she is coming." Kat had stopped allowing the two girls to crash into one another laughing as she explained. "You know Hannah, she finally agreed to come." Kat whispered back as the two stood out next to the pool trying to make their way out to the driveway to find Hannah.
"Kat!" Justin's voice filled their ears and laughter again began to erupt between the two girls. "Where are you going?" He asked as he caught hold of his girlfriend, allowing for the first time for Jacey's wrist to be relinquished from her grip.
"To find Hannah she said," Kat said stumbling away from him to pull her phone out of her pocket. "For fuck's sake." She muttered as she tried to unlock it multiple times before she eventually succeeded. "She said she was going to stop by." She said showing Justin the phone who just laughed at her drunken antics.
Justin took the phone from her hand, with a fair amount of protest from the owner. "I don't think you need this for a while, also it says she is at work and wont be able to stop by." He said as he held Kat back as she struggled for her phone. "I'm holding onto this so you don't drunk dial your parents, okay?" He asked her as she began to pout about not being given what she wanted which was her phone.
"Fine." She said with a large pouty lip that Justin just seemed to smile at, Jacey began to feel like a third wheel, it was then that she began to see the night much clearer. As she tried to escape the awkward situation with the couple, she tripped which lead her to stumble, and before she knew it the cold water of the pool engulfed her body.
She wasn't sure why her lungs let out the shriek beneath the water but as she resurfaced she found herself coughing at the water she had accidentally inhaled. "Fuck!" She cried as she ran her hands through her hair pushing it out of her face, she heard the echos of laughter and the one concerned voice of Kat off to the side, but she felt like they were all so distant and she was alone in a spot light that let time freeze around her.
She began to wade through the water towards the ladder to climb out of the water but instead was distracted by the sound of splashed in the water as others joined her in the cold pool. She continued on her mission to find the way out of the pool. She pulled herself up the ladder as she met the owner of the house holding a towel for her. "Shit, Jacey if you wanted to get wet there are other ways to do it." She heard him say as she snatched the towel from his hand wrapping it around her body. She tried to gather her thoughts she used a corner of the towel to wipe her face. "Sorry, I'm just kidding I promise." Bryce said laughing as she had the towel draped around her shoulders. "You should be happy, you started the trend." He said nodding over her shoulder to the mass of bodies now playing in the cold water she had just climbed out of.
"Maybe I would be if I wasn't standing here freezing." She said simply pulling the towel closer to her, trying her best use the towel to bring warmth back to her core. "Looks like they also had the sense to not wear their jeans in the pool." She stated as she watched a girl pull off her pants and shirt and jump in, in just her underwear.
"How about we go in and you can borrow something to put on while I put your stuff in the dryer." His voice made it sound like the perfect plan, and within seconds she found herself nodding and being lead with a touch on the small of her back towards the house.
It was dark in the house, in the few times Jacey had found herself a guest at Bryce's house she had never seen his parents there, occasionally a pool boy or a maid, but never the owners of the home, Kat said it was best just not to bring it up, that they were good people just extremely busy with work. She allowed him to lead the way, through the house and to a flight of stairs, he paused at the stairs and waited for her, reaching out to grab her hand taking it delicately, his course calloused fingers weaving with her soft delicate ones. She knew it was probably a bad idea, but she found herself following him up the steps though a feeling in the pit of her stomach seemed to be slowing her down as she ascended the stairs with him.
Bryce pulled her along towards a door that he opened to allow them both entry. "I'm sure if you pull the string as tight you can wear a pair of my basketball shorts, but they are still going to be pretty big." He said as he let go of her hand and flipped on the light switch illuminating the room, it was clearly his bedroom but she didn't know why she would expect to be anywhere else. He crossed to his dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts and a tee shirt, showing her both as she walked further into the room towards the center, he had a large bed that sat towards the middle of his room, a workout bench was to the back and she assumed the two doors were a closet and perhaps a bathroom. "Why don't you take those off, your getting the floor wet." He said as he approached her and handed her the clothes as she still clung to the towel with all her might.
"Where's the bathroom?" She asked as Bryce nodded towards the door she assumed would be the bathroom.
She smiled at him before slipping away from him and to the bathroom, firmly shutting the door behind her and locking it. She pulled the wet shirt over her head and found herself in a moment of debate if she wanted to take off her bra as well, though it was wet she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to put just a flimsy shirt over her chest. The uncomfortable wetness won as she unclasp the bra and pulled it off her shoulders. She pulled the shirt on over her head before she removed her jeans. She looked around the bathroom and saw a hair dryer and smirked to herself. She was at least slightly resourceful as she plugged it in and pulled her underwear off and began to use the hair dryer to quickly dry the thin cotton. It didn't take very long before she pulled on the warm cotton followed by Bryce's over-sized shorts, pulling the string as tight as she could. She then turned the hair dryer to her hair taking it from sopping to just damp, before pulling it into a loose messy ponytail.
She looked at herself in the mirror, she looked like a mess compared to her earlier appearance though she found herself doubting that slightly with how buzzed she had been. The baggy shorts that almost fell off her hips even at their tightest setting left a lot to be desired compared to her tight jeans, and she wasn't even going to comment on how loose the shirt was. She gathered her damp clothes before unlocking the bathroom door and walking out, she wasn't sure if she expected Bryce to leave her in his room and return to his party but the fact he was sitting on his workbench texting on his phone almost made her jump in surprise.
"Damn," he said almost laughing as he looked up. "You should definitely wear my clothes more often." He said making her face rush with color as he stood up. "Come on, lets get that wet shit in the dryer and grab a beer while we wait on them to dry." He said crossing through his room, Jacey following him like a lost puppy in his large home as they made their way back down to the main level and down into a hallway in the back to a small room that had the washing machine and dryer. He smiled at her and took the clothes from her hands and pulled open the dryer and tossed them in before examining the the many options on the top of the dryer. "I've never actually used this thing." He admitted as she found herself smiling at him and coming up to his side and setting it to a warm setting and selecting twenty minutes timed drying cycle.
She hadn't noticed her shoulder brush against his as she selected the cycle but she did notice that as it kicked on he moved to where he was behind her pulling the hair in her ponytail to the side as he ran his lips along her neck. "Bryce..." She breathed his name like it was a dirty word as he moved his lips up towards her ear, feeling his hot breath setting off every nerve in her skin.
He brought his hand to her side, pushing up his shirt on her until he found her soft skin just above the waistband of the shorts. "We do have twenty minutes." He breathed in her ear as she recognized the touch on her side as the one from the dance floor earlier. He lips kissed along her neck before bringing his lips back to her ear. "What do you say, Jayce?" He asked as he gave her space to turn around to face him. In those moments, Jayce wasn't sure what to think or focus on, the fact that she knew Bryce to be a playboy or the fact that in this small room with alcohol still running through her veins she could forget all about that and enjoy the moment. She turned around to answer him, but before she even got a word out he grabbed her face and pulled her lips up to his roughly using his other hand to wrap tightly around her waist and pull her body to his. The way his lips crashed into hers was electric, his massive body almost engulfing her smaller form. His tongue darted across her lower lip asking for permission to enter her mouth but before she could give it she pressed against his chest, pushing him away slightly, he brought his lips away from hers nd back down to her, trailing down peppering sweet nips along her skin.
She found herself breathing his name, something in her head was telling her to put a stop to this, but the way her body felt it was something that she didn't want to stop. "Bryce... Bryce, we should..." Each attempt at speaking up were silenced by his lips, it was when her on her third attempt that he finally pulled away from her, giving her a bit of space, but leaving his calloused fingers on her soft skin on her side. "Bryce, we should get back to the party, what would people think?" She asked as she caught her breath.
His smirk was enough to tell her what people would think before he even spoke. "Who gives a shit about what any of those drunk idiots think?" The way his body still loomed over hers, began to make her feel uneasy.
"Kat's going to wonder where I went." She said as he brought her lips to hers once more this time for just a quick brush of the lips, before pulling back away.
"Kat's with Justin she probably hasn't even noticed." He smirked at her, but something told her the situation still was not right.
"I think I'd like that beer." She said as he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips before pulling back.
"Fine, but you owe me at least one more dance for being such a tease." He smirked at her, pulling away but keeping his hand firmly clasped to her side as he lead her out of the room and back out to the party. In his mind, Jayce had earned the honor of being his arm candy, in her mind she had found her way out of a house with a boy whose determination to keep her close began to make her uneasy, back to an open area surrounded by people.