*finally :D* sorry guys- school is hard and depression is weird
Chapter 4.
The wine was long gone and the movie credits were rolling. Your eyelids were heavy, but you had a content smile on your face. Jade had flipped onto her stomach with her head towards the TV.
"Your feet are on my pillow," you mumble sleepily.
"Sounds like a personal problem to me."
She sounded muffled, so you lean forward. You laugh softly seeing that she had her head buried in her arm.
You tap your feet into her side, "How far is your apartment?"
She lifted her head, glancing at the clock that read 2:23AM, and then laid back down. "Mmmmmmmm. It's looking like you're stuck with me for the night, Vega.
You scrunch up your nose in mock disgust, "Gross."
She peaks up just long enough to glare at you. You lower yourself down next to her and proceed to gently poke her side repeatedly, the alcohol having subdued the little voice in your head that would have normally told you to stop.
"I'll grab you some pajamas if you want?" you offer lightly in between pokes.
Jade is visibly fighting the tickle that seems to be coming from the action, and before you get a chance to go in for another jab, her hand jets out and grabs your wrist.
She's wide-eyed with annoyance, "Dude, you're on thin ice."
Your shit eating grin should have been warning enough but she was too sleepy and intoxicated to see your other hand coming.
It sparked a war.
You were both nothing but hands, fervently searching for unguarded flesh to land a jab. The laughter was out of control and under any other circumstances you would have been concerned about being too loud, but you were having too much fun to care.
She made the mistake of trying to get her hair out of her eyes, exposing prime tickling real estate.
Launching yourself over, you land partially on her while reaching up to pin her arm down. Right as you were about to go in for the kill, you look at her face and see the active blush on her features.
It makes you pause. All of a sudden you're aware of the heat, and the pressure, and the heavy breathing. You're basically straddling her with your legs, and you've got one of her arms pinned above her head and you're just staring down at her. Almost instinctively you glance down to her lips that were parted ever so slightly.
The next few breaths passed in silence.
Jade swallows slowly, "I think it's best that I go."
The words jolt through you, echoing in your ears. It's enough to bring you back to the moment, and you realize you have started to get closer to her face.
Scrambling to get off of her you stumble over your words, "Oh, fuck. Sorry, um, I was- that was- the- not, uh. I wasn't- I'm not, You don't hav-e to…go."
You were deflated. It hadn't been like that. You hadn't meant to get stuck in the rabbit hole your alcohol brain had gone down.
Jade seemed to have sobered up significantly, her features back to the normal cool appearance, and her body language was much more reserved.
She saw the thoughts racing in your head, "Tori, it's fine, I just think I need to get back. It's late and your bed is barely big enough for you let alone two people." She sighed softly, smiling for some reassurance before adding, "If you had a couch I'd think about it."
You relaxed your shoulders slightly, "I am sorry…"
She shook her head, "For what? Winners don't apologize, and you won fair and square. I lost, but tickling isn't my strong suit."
You frown. It was like she was trying to avoid acknowledging the situation had even happened.
She made her way to the edge and stood up, patting your leg awkwardly as she passed you before she grabbed her bag, and made her way to the door. "I'll talk to you later, Tori."
"Let me know when you make it?" you said watching her- still frowning.
"Sure, yeah. It's only like a 4 minute drive, I'll be fine." She smiled curtly before opening the door and stepping through and closing it behind her. "Lock the door," her head popping back through right before it closed,"and the balcony too. Goodnight."
You watched her go, nodding in acknowledgement at her requests. There was a strange coldness in the air you didn't like. Taking a deep breath, you get up and lock the doors. Replaying the prior moments in your head, lots of questions come to mind.
After turning off the lights, you sit back in bed and decide to sleep off the alcohol cloud that's taken over your brain. Curling up, you hear the ping of our phone. Jades smiling face contact photo sat contradictory next to the one word message.
[Home.]
You try to shake off the weird vibe and reply normally.
[Ok good- goodnight:)]
*read 2:50*
The unsettled feeling threatened to keep you awake, but the warm blankets and alcohol lended a hand to the black void that soon overtook your consciousness.
—-
Three days have passed and that was the last exchange you had with the black haired girl. She had left you on read every time, but hadn't responded to any of your messages or answered a single one of your calls.
The morning after the incident you had been able to think back onto it. There had definitely been part of you that had wanted whatever it had been, but sober you knew that it was more of an accident. Especially now, knowing that you had freaked her out bad enough to make her ghost you.
There was a lot of anger and sadness, but mostly you were hurt. She could have handled it a million other ways, but for her to just disappear on you was uncalled for in your opinion.
So, maybe you didn't handle it as well as you should have when you accidentally walked into the library to print your report. You saw her and then watched her see you only to turn on a dime to get away from you. Or maybe you were justified in your response.
*flashback*
The look of surprise on Jade's face when she saw you ALMOST matched the surprise on your face when she turned and tried to walk away.
"Really!?" You said loudly, causing an abrupt pause in the hustle of movement around you in the quiet building.
Jade ducked her head, wincing at the bite in your voice. She turned to you, her face making it evident that she had been apprehensive about the encounter.
"Tori! Heeey, didn't see you there." She chuckled nervously while walking closer to you.
You felt the rage bubbling inside of you, "Oh, so we are lying now, too?" your voice loud enough to get more eyes on you both
She flashed you a warning look, "Tori, look-"
You raised your hands up, promptly cutting her off. You lowered your voice, speaking only to her, "No, I get it. You couldn't have made yourself any more clear than you have already, so save your words." You turned and started walking away, but after about two steps you turned back to her.
"Nothing even happened. Everything was just an accident that I could have easily blamed on the alcohol, or you could have handled literally any other way than this. My mistake was thinking that you were any better than the old you, but I guess you're still the same cold hearted bitch you were back then."
It felt good to get off your chest, even if the look of hurt that crossed Jades face made you second guess yourself for a moment. You turned away before you let yourself apologize because whether your words hurt her or not, it doesn't take away that you were hurt, too.
*flashforward*
That was a little more than a week ago, and you had quit trying to talk to her, nor had she made an effort to contact you. Which meant you were left with a hollow sense of deja vu.
The numb feeling that had followed you around all week was in full force as you walked around the grocery store. You hadn't had the energy to make a list, so you were walking up and down the aisles and putting anything remotely appetizing into the buggie. You haven't really felt like eating much though, so it was slim pickings.
You were zoned out looking at the cereal when you heard the one sided argument start on the aisle over. She was obviously talking on the phone, and it was a heated conversation for sure, one that required plenty of colorful profanities apparently.
"-more that two weeks, Jerry…..You're just being an asshole about it…..NO I will NOT opt for that because it's STUPID, just like YOU….Oh, because that worked so well for you last time….Jerry….I will- No don't you hang up on m- JERRY…" This was followed by an obnoxiously loud yell of frustration followed by a string of more curse words.
The strange mixture of concern and curiosity about the conversation passed as you grabbed a box of fruit loops.
You had all but forgotten about it as you started walking to the end of the aisle, but then the same person started talking again.
"I just need another extension or something, please…Jerry…Please…I'm sorry for the- no I know that….Ok but-...No….It's just mid semester, everywhere is full!...Jerry, C'mon it was just the one time….FINE, BE LIKE THAT!"
You reached the end of the cereal aisle, looking up to see if coffee was on the sign for the next one over. Just as you turn your cart and look down, you see her. The voice matching to the person suddenly clicks you out of the daze you had been in. Frozen like a deer in headlights, you make eye contact.
You can tell she has had a rough few days, her dark circles pairing well with the wrinkled t-shirt she was in. She had a vice grip on the phone in one hand and a can of coffee in the other.
She drops them both to her sides and after a moment offers you half a smile, "Hey, Tori."
You take a second longer to decide to respond or not, opting for a slight nod. She's holding the same coffee that you were going for.
Clearing your throat you manage to gesture to the coffee, "Mind if I grab one from behind you?"
She looks to the shelves and shakes her head, moving out of the way. You walk over and get the red can of columbian roast and then put it in next to the cereal in your cart.
You pause with your back turned to her, shaking your head at yourself as you try to convince yourself not to talk.
"Landlord issues?" you ask her, wincing at how raspy it sounded coming out.
Looking at her, you meet eyes again. "Yeah, Jerry. He's a real piece." She smiled awkwardly, "He gave me two weeks more than two weeks ago. A real bastard for sticking to his word, but he's been more lenient than I expected him to be. He changes the locks tomorrow though."
She looked tired, and maybe even a little defeated. You clench your jaw suddenly feeling a little guilty. You knew she had all this stress going on, but it hadn't fully clicked until just now that your timing probably hadn't been the best all things considered.
"Still haven't found a place then?" you ask.
She sighed and shook her head, "It was harder than I anticipated. I ended up having to just get a storage unit, and I'll have to find a motel until I get the rest figured out. Just sucks, but I did it to myself so I can't complain much."
You watch her for a moment, yelling at yourself to keep quiet but you can't help it, "I offered once and you said not to worry, but I am me so my offer still stands if you need a place to crash. You can bring an air mattress or something, and I'll, I don't know, be on my best behavior or something."
She watches you apprehensively, waiting for the punchline of the joke or for you to yell sike.
Shrugging, you add, "Just think about it and let me know," before turning the buggie around to walk away.
"If you're serious, then yes," she called out a little louder after a few steps.
You look back at her and nod, "Ok. Just text me, I should be there."
"Thank you," she said in a whisper, but you could see the weight leave her shoulders.
Forcing a smile, you turn and start walking, resonating on what you've just done.