Morning didn't come until the afternoon. At first, Drake woke up relaxed, grateful to be back in his own bed. Then came the hangover, and with the hangover, the previous day's memories. He groaned, slamming his pillow over his head to block out the sun. Everything screamed at him. His body fought him, insisting on staying in bed to protect his sensitive senses. He was disinclined to do anything opposite what his flesh wanted.

His stomach had other plans. He was hungry. Drake gritted his teeth, weighing his options. Was it really worth trekking out into the main area of the house just to satisfy his stomach's complaints?

Another growl assured him that yes, yes it was.

Keeping his moans to a minimum, Drake pushed the blankets off his body. Still in yesterday's clothes, he stumbled across the room, savoring the cool metal of his doorknob on his hand as he twisted open his door.

Blinding sunlight slapped him in the face. He kept his head down, shuffling across the house. The fridge would be too bright at this point in the morning, but he needed to eat something. "Raw toast…" he whispered, reaching for the loaf of bread sitting under the window. He opened the plastic and took the first slice, shoving it into his mouth. It needed butter. Swallowing the half that had been in his mouth, he opted to butter the rest of the bread while making himself a cup of coffee. What he really wanted was a good shower, but that wasn't about to happen until he could bleach the entire thing out. In his state, adding the scent of bleach would the closest thing to a disaster he could think of. He shuddered at just the thought of it, and the reason why he had to do it in the first place.

Several choice curse words fell very quietly from his tired self.

He turned off the coffee machine before its beeps could puncture his ears. He left it black, filling his favorite mug with it. The scent alone helped wake him up. Drake grabbed another slice of bread, and two Tylenol to kill the pain. He wished the pills had the ability to kill the memory of Noel.

Everywhere he looked, he could practically see her with Blake. He had to wonder if his couch was tainted, or his floor, or even his room. It was bad enough the shower was poisoned. Where else had they been together? What had he done wrong?

When did he stop being enough for her?

He couldn't keep the thoughts at bay. Drake was sure Noel had been in love with him. He had loved her, as well. They had been happy. The whole thing was so out of the blue. Drake was boggled. Had he done something to her? What had made her lose interest? What had changed between them?

He pondered himself into misery. A second cup of coffee chased the first. He wandered over to the couch to stretch out. The coffee mug clinked against the wooden end table as he set it down. Grateful he had the night off, he settled in for a nap. He was snoring in minutes.

X

Drake was still sleeping when Jade arrived home later that evening. Her dog waited desperately for her at the door, begging for a walk. Drake hadn't woken up despite Shark's best attempts. A cold nose to the hand did nothing. Neither did his best bark, or a little nibble on his hand. Shark nearly ran Jade over as soon as the front door had opened, frantic for a little time outside.

Upon her return, Jade stepped directly in front of Drake. Her arms crossed over her chest as she fixed him with her deadliest of glares.

The change in the atmosphere woke finally woke him. "Ah!" he gasped, flinching. Once he recognized Jade, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh."

"You're really something, you know that?" she said coolly. Ice dripped from her voice.

Confused, Drake looked back up at her. His hair stuck up in all directions, inches off of his head. He reminded Jade of an electrified cat. "What?"

"Your antics last night nearly made me late for work. And, poor Shark should have pissed on your face. Thanks for ignoring him all day."

Drake ducked as she catapulted a pillow at his head. "Hey! I'm sorry. I haven't been awake much today."

"Yeah, I can see that." She snapped. "You buying dinner, Sleeping Beauty, or is one of us going to have to cook?"

"I don't care." Drake fell back into the couch, relishing the way it welcomed his body. "Do whatever you want. I'm not hungry."

Jade's eyes flitted from Drake to the still open half-eaten loaf of bread, and back again. She turned around again, with an expression Drake couldn't quite read. "You know what," she said in a tone that would have been able to be described as sweet on anyone else. "Why don't I get dinner tonight? You did just get back from another set of shows, after all."

"No, thanks." Drake fought to stay awake. He reached for his cold coffee, eager for the caffeine rush. "I don't feel like being poisoned."

Jade rolled her eyes. "You're a dick."

"You're a-"

"Just shut up." She pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a moment to compose herself. "I'm not going to poison you. At least, not tonight. So relax. I'll get us some Mexican food. Does that sound good?"

Drake nodded meekly.

"Besides, it's not like it's going to go off with someone else. It'll be your dinner, and no one else's."

Her words brought his anger to the surface. She was toying with him, in the way a cat toys with its prey just before it murders it. Drake caught her sneer. He realized immediately her little acts of 'kindness' were mere tools meant to add to his pain.

"So, what'll it be?" Her cold eyes made her smile all the more chilling. "Burrito? Quesadilla? Chimichangas? Enchiladas? Or do you think if you order something tasty enough, someone else is just going to come along and snatch it right out from underneath your nose? Someone who just can't resist Mexican?"

"You'll have to forgive me - I'm having one of those days when my middle finger is doing all the talking." Drake hissed viciously. Pushing himself off of the couch, he made his exit. "Isn't about damn time you moved out of here?"

Jade fell silent. Drake's pain was certainly something she could enjoy, but somehow, it wasn't as satisfying as she had imagined. She pulled out her phone to order dinner anyway, as a gesture of a temporary truce, one that would only last until she could figure out whatever was wrong with this situation. Instead, she opened up Blake's Instagram page. His and Noel's kissing faces nearly made her lose her appetite.

"Best thing to ever happen to me," the caption read. "My whole heart belongs to you, Songbird. Forever and always."

The sappiness was disgusting. Jade closed the app to place her order. Delivery would be inside the hour.

She knocked twice on Drake's door, increasing his headache. "I'm coming in."

"What is your problem?" Drake growled. "Get the hell away from me."

"You're right." She had to force her next words out. Apologizing never came easily to her. "I was out of line."

"You've been out of line since the day you came to interview and decided you were living here." Drake pointed out. "I haven't really expected anything else."

"Fair enough."

"You need to tell me why the hell you hate me so much. Anyone else would be like, 'Drake, I see you and your girlfriend broke up. Let's go get drunk and get you back on your feet.' Not, 'Hey, let's see how many ways I can use this to torture my room mate.'"

"What even happened between you two? You seemed fine. Not that I care. Because I don't. You guys were kind of gross, honestly. Embarrassingly so."

Drake's worst glare could nearly rival Jade's own. "Like I'd tell you."

Jade waited a moment before revealing a piece of her own past. "Beck dumped me once because we fought too much."

"So?"

"Ugh. You make things so hard. I tell you something, you tell me something. Isn't that how conversation works? Or did she take your brain when she walked out with your heart?"

Jade had her suspicions about exactly what had happened between Drake and Noel, but she wanted to hear it from him. Of course, she could be wrong. Her main guess was that Noel had gotten sick of how stupid Drake was and had simply moved on. Jade couldn't imagine anyone staying with the musician for long. It seemed more than likely Noel had just gotten bored and gone on with her life. However, things had moved awfully quickly, giving Jade quite the hunch about the breakup.

"Seriously? Just get out of here."

"Fine. Can't say I didn't try." Jade got up off of Drake's bed, leaving him to sit on the edge alone. "Maybe you should go have a pity party with your brother Josh. He's the only one who's actually pathetic enough to listen to your dumb problems."

"That's it." Drake stood up, absolutely finished with Jade. "Get out. I don't just mean this room. Take your things, and find someplace else to live. Tonight."

Taken aback, Jade turned. "You're kicking me out?"

"Do I need to repeat myself?" He envisioned grabbing Jade and tossing her out of his bedroom window. He could put up with her no longer. 'Done' didn't even begin to describe it. "Get yourself a new place to live. Don't expect a good reference from me."

Stunned, Jade prepared herself to fight back. Drake was deathly serious, but Jade had nowhere else to go. She wasn't about to sleep in her car. If all she got were a few extra days to find a place, that would be enough. "I'll make you a deal."

"Can't guarantee I'll accept."

Jade drew up terms as quickly as she could. Before she could voice them, Drake's phone rang. He grabbed it off of his bed, paling when he read the name on the screen.

"Noel?"

The phone kept ringing. Drake stared at it until it went silent in his hand. "Wow."

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure you would know what that looks like." He pocketed his phone, running a hand through his wild hair. "I can't take any more today. I need a beer."

If there was a time to start playing nice, this was it. Jade needed time on her side, time to find a place. She had some savings built up, and a nice, fat check from her last film. If she could buy a little time, she would have a good place lined up in next to no time. She just needed to finagle her way back to Drake's good side, if only for a bit.

"Let's go to the bar." She plastered a smile on her face, as if the idea wasn't making her sick to her stomach. She hated bars. Going somewhere she loathed with someone she despised wasn't going to be fun. But, she was an actress. She could fake her way through it. "I'll buy you a drink. Or two drinks. Just … don't get smashed on me. Last night was entertaining, but I don't want to do it again."

"What happened last night?"

"You were that drunk? You don't remember?" He shook his head. Jade wasn't surprised. "You threw out all of Noel's stuff. You made me help you."

"Oh. Thanks."

She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Eh. Don't expect it to happen again."

"I don't."

Right. Thin ice. Assuming there was any ice under her at all. "So, you want a free beer or not?"

"Fine. Let's go." Drake reached for his jacket as someone knocked on the front door.

"I'll get that. It's dinner."

"You actually ordered it?"

"I said I would, didn't I?"

X

Wednesday put a thin crowd in the bar, making it easier for Jade to be there. It helped that slimy drunk men weren't bumping up against her every fifteen seconds. She sipped her own drink slowly, waiting until Drake had had just enough to get chatty.

The new alcohol hit his system rather quickly, helping ease his hangover- or at least helping him to forget it. He started babbling about unrelated things, quickly losing Jade's interest. She scrolled through her phone, flipping through Instagram photo by photo.

"So proud of my rock star! Check out his music on iTunes!" Yet another photo of Blake and Noel. "Unfollowed." Jade muttered, clicking the button with her thumb.

"You say something?"

"Uh, no."

"You're looking at Noel." Drake said flatly, his expression sour. "Why are you looking at Noel?"

"Just unfollowing. Her photos are spamming my feed. It's even worse than when she was with you."

Drake took another long drink. "I wish she and Blake would move to Antarctica and go piss off some penguins and then maybe freeze to death."

Jade stifled a laugh. "I like you better like this."

"Drunk?"

"Yeah."

"At least you're honest." Intoxication brought out a philosophical side in Drake Parker, it seemed. He swiveled in his chair, facing Jade. "See, you may suck, and you may hate my guts, but at least you're honest about it. You're not going to pull a bitch move where you love me one minute, and the next you don't. You're always a bitch, so it's no surprise."

"I don't like you like this anymore. I'm leaving." Jade put her drink back down as she gathered her things. Drake furiously shook his head, gently grabbing her arm to stall her.

"No, listen. It's like- okay. You're always like, really mean. But you're honest about it. I know exactly how you feel about me. Noel- she said she loved me. She said she did. But she wasn't honest. Because I came home, and she was in the shower with Blake. You're reliable. Why can't more people be like you, Jade? You're awesome because you honestly hate me and that's never going to change. Even though I don't know why. ...Wait a sec."

As Drake tried to figure out the pieces of what he had just said, Jade's expression curled into something equally sinister and delighted. "Noel cheated on you? With Blake? Oh my god, that's the best revenge ever. I couldn't have planned it better myself!"

"Now you're drunk." Completely oblivious, Drake reached for his phone. "See, I never dated you. So you don't need to get revenge on me. Silly Jade. Silly drunk Jade."

Drake fiddled with his phone, trying to get it to work. He couldn't quite remember his password. He punched at it with his fingers, attempting to make it open up. It slipped from his grip, plummeting to the floor. It bounced across the room, landing under the table next to theirs. Jade slid out of her chair to retrieve it. Somehow, Drake had managed to bypass the password lock. The screen lit up, shining brightly into the darkness of the bar. Jade caught sight of the notification waiting to be attended to. She had to read it twice to be sure it wasn't some kind of a mistake.

Without a word, she silenced Drake's phone. Slipping it into her pocket, she returned to her seat. The weight of it bumped against her skin through the fabric. "Try over there." She suggested, directing him away as he combed the area for his device. "Maybe someone kicked it."

She checked his screen again when she knew he wasn't looking. The notification hadn't changed.

One New Voicemail From: Carly.