Chapter 25: Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

“I swear to god, if you take that piece of cake, I will end you, Mark Welch!”

“Woof! Come get me, Flores!” Mark yells back to Brent, holding up a fork as if to say ‘back off, I have a weapon’ even though it is just a plastic fork.

“Don’t you dare!” Brent yells.

“Watch. Me.” Mark stabs the last piece of the chocolate cake and puts it into his mouth. The piece is two times bigger than his mouth and it flows out of his mouth in a horrendous way. But it’s funny so I giggle.

“You find this stuff funny?” Lee says from my side. He’s completely looking away from Mark, disgusted. Lee sighs. “That boy has no table manners, I swear.”

“I can hear you, Richardson,” Mark says, glaring at him. Cake is still smeared over his mouth and is dropping out of his mouth. It’s hilarious and I smile. Ever since Brent came home, Mark’s been wild and looser. I like that he’s able to be himself around us. I wish Lee could do the same. Even though out on the porch he was himself, I wish he could be more open around other people too.

“I’m still going to kill you!” Brent yells in rage and tackles Mark, who is still messy with cake all over his shirt now. “You can’t just steal the last cake piece that I bought!”

I double over laughing, grabbing my stomach. I look to see if Lee finds this funny and when I do, he has this intense look. He’s looking at me in this strange way. It feels like I’m going to throw up—the good kind of throwing up. Well, there’s no good way of throwing up but it feels like something warm is tickling the inside of my stomach. Lee just smiles with teeth and it’s so genuine and I haven’t seen it in so long that I find myself smiling back wide.

While Mark and Brent tackle each other, Lee slyly reaches for my hand under the table. He rubs the back of my hand, tracing lines. It drives me nuts. Even after kissing for some time on the porch outside, I still can’t get enough. Our twenty four hours begins now. Hours filled with endless kisses and hugs and no worries.

Just for a day though.

“I’m going to get washed up,” Mark says. I turn away from Lee and I’s hands and up at Mark. The playful demeanor is gone and he’s staring at Lee’s hand over mine. His eyebrows are drawn and he looks hurt. I don’t want to hurt Mark but I can’t let him think he has a chance with me and then be with Lee too. I need to tell him straight out that I like Lee—love him even.

“I’ll help,” I say, getting up. There’s no better chance to tell him that I’m kind-of-sort-of with Lee at the moment. Lee gives me a worried look and I smile to let him know I’m not going to do anything crazy.

Mark walks down to the bathroom down the hall and turns on the faucet silently. He takes off his shirt and puts it under the water. Normally, I would totally be swooning over his killer body but I feel like not even Channing Tatum would be as appealing to me anymore now that I know Lee actually has some sort of feelings for me. He hasn’t told me clearly enough how he feels for me, but the kisses say enough.

“What’re you smiling about?” Mark asks.

I realize I must look like an idiot, smiling at the ground. “Oh, hm? Nothing, nothing. Do you need help washing your shirt?”

“No, it’s okay.” He smiles but it doesn’t reach his entire face. “Can you just hand me some soap? Or do you have a washing machine?”

“Yeah, it’s next door.” I take his shirt. “You wash up, I’ll go put it in.”

Mark nods, but his eyes are bothered. I still need to talk to him.

After pushing the button to start the washing machine, I get up and crack my knuckles and turn around. Suddenly Mark’s there and I jump back, startled.

“Sorry,” he laughs, “didn’t mean to make you shit your pants.”

I glare. “Don’t worry, I didn’t.”

Mark takes a seat at a random chair in the room and I sit on a random crate on the floor. This is the perfect time to talk to him. I take a deep breath. I can do—

“What did you and Lee talk about outside?” Mark asks suddenly. He’s shirtless and his eyes look so vulnerable. His hand shakes a little and he uses his other hand to cover it. Mark is so sweet and he doesn’t deserve someone awful like me.

“You saw that?” He nods. “Nothing really.” That’s kind of true. It was more making out than talking. “Just about how shitty everything’s been, you know? And how he wants to be here for me and about our relationship.”

“I’m here for you, too, you know that, right?” he asks, his lips pressed into a line. “I’ll always be here for you, Ivory.”

“I know, Mark,” I say, smiling the best I can.

“I…I saw you two kissing…before I told you guys to come inside,” he confesses. He shuts his eyes tight like it hurts to even imagine it. My heart wenches for him. “Are—are you guys back together now?”

I stare at my nails. “I-I guess.”  This is harder than I thought.

“Why?” he whispers. “Why, Ivory? He hurt you. He got engaged to another girl! How could you just fall back into him? He’s not even that nice most the damn time.” He crosses his arms, frustrated. “I…I just don’t want to see you getting all happy and then finding out he’s a jerk again.”

“Mark, I know you’re worried for me. But I like him. I really do.” How do I explain this whole scenario without telling Mark about the entire fake-relationship in the beginning? “He’s a jerk but he’s my jerk. I know he has a fiance. We’re going to work it out soon. If I get hurt again, it’ll be my fault. Not yours.”

He gets up and runs both his hands through his hair. “I don’t know what you see in him. Is it the money? Is it his fame? I have all that too.”

“I-I don’t know what it is,” I tell him honestly. “I just like who I like. He just draws me to him, like a moth to a flame. I’ll follow even if I get burned.” I laugh sadly. The washing machine beeps and I stand up. “I’m a stupid moth, okay?”

“You’re not stupid, Ivory,” he whispers. “You just… You’re just blinded. You don’t know the real Lee. I’ve known him for a while. He’s not that great, trust me.”

“People can change, Mark,” I say. “He’s really nice, he’s just protective of himself and doesn’t let a lot of people in. I don’t know why just yet.” I put his shirt in the dryer and turn the button on. It’ll take five to ten minutes to dry.

“I’m nice too, Ivory.” I look away from the dryer just in time to see how close he is to me suddenly. He’s basically pressed up against me. His thumb moves away a strand of my hair. I put my hands on his shoulders, ready to push him away. I need him to get the message. “Wait, just hear me out. I know I haven’t flat out told you my feelings. But I’m sure you can see it—feel it. I don’t just do all these things for anyone else, Ivory. The minute you accidentally got into my car, I knew. I knew you were—”

“Ivory?”

Shit.

Lee stands in the doorway in his casual white office shirt and black pants. His face—his face, oh my god. He looks broken. His eyebrows are scrunched up together and his mouth is open. His eyes show complete sadness but he quickly composes his face and he’s back to the pokerface.

I back away from Mark immediately. Mark sees what Lee thinks. “Please think about what I said, Ivory,” Mark says. “I’m not finished yet. Another time.” He kisses my cheek and leaves, casually pushing Lee’s shoulder. HE KISSED ME. In front of Lee!

I can already tell how bad it must’ve looked. Shirtless Mark, my hands on his shoulders, his hand in my hair. “Lee,” I start, “It’s not what it—”

“Your friend’s here.” And then he’s gone.

I follow him out, trying to grab his hand. “Lee,” I plead. He shakes my hand off of him, giving me the cold shoulder. I want to shoot myself. I should’ve pushed Mark away earlier, damn it! After all the confessions Lee made on the porch, he probably thinks I don’t take him seriously and I just mess around with boys. He opened up for me a little bit and I ruined it.

Don’t give up yet, I tell myself. I did not just go through a ton of shit just to lose Lee for all the wrong reasons. I pull a brave face and walk to see who the friend is.

“Ivory!” the voice squeals. I’m suddenly hugged tight. I see a blur of red highlights. None of my friends have highlights though. The person backs away and I see it’s Candy.

“Oh my god, Candy!” I squeal just as equally loud. I hug her tight. “I haven’t seen you in forever! Well, it’s been a week but that’s too long!” I pull back. “Oh my god, you got highlights? They look great. You look mega hot.”

“Thanks, Iv,” she says, blushing. “You look not so bad yourself.” Then she comes close and whispers, “And your brother, holy shit! He’s ten times more hotter than when he graduated high school! You think you can set me up with him? I’ve been crushing on him forever and—”

“Okay, too much information,” I giggle. Candy’s always had this huge crush on Brent since she’s known me. Maybe I could pull a few strings to help my best friend. “Maybe later, but we have so much to catch up on now!”

“Damn straight!” she says, pulling me over to the kitchen where everyone was. I see Lee and feel a pang when he turns away from my gaze. I see him wipe his eye as if he’s itching it. It hurts so much to know that I’m the reason he’s upset. I want to apologize but not in front of everyone. I’ll have to find a chance later so I just put on a big smile because my best friend in the whole world is here.

We sit down at the table where the cake is—was. Now all there’s left are crumbs and a huge mess. It was a huge cake and yet we finished it. Boys.

“Aw, I missed the cake!” Candy frowns.

“It’s okay, it was chocolate anyways,” I say. She hates chocolate cake. It either has to be strawberry or cheese cake.

She scrunches her face. “Glad I missed it then.” She reaches over the chair and pulls out a present. “I got you something.” Candy pushes the package over. It’s wrapped in mini santa wrapping paper. “Only had Christmas wrapping paper, sorry.”

“You didn’t have to!” I say even though I want to tear the paper apart and see what she got me. I hear Mark laughing at my enthusiasm and I want to smile back but I’m a little mad that he even did what he did in front of Lee.  Lee is still ignoring me and Brent just stands there, smiling. “What is it?”

“You’ll see,” she replies. “Just open it.”

I don’t need to be told twice as I rip the wrapping paper open.  It  is a bright pink box. The suspense is killing me. What could’ve Candy gotten me? I  lift the box open, already grinning, knowing I will love it.

A complete awkward silence takes over the room.

I stare at the present, my mouth wide open and my eyes even wider. Because right there in the perfectly padded box are sets of lace, intimate lingerie. There are sexy colors like black and red and— I can’t believe she had done that to me! She should’ve at least told me to open it in private but knowing Candy, she probably is loving seeing  me embarrassed.

I awkwardly mumble, “Uh, um,” as I struggle to put the top back on, which for some reason seems to not fit to the box anymore. Finally, I press it hard and it shuts close. I look up at the boys in the room, my cheeks the color of Candy’s highlights. Brent’s eyes are wide and Mark’s face looks shocked. Even Lee, who’s ignoring me still, looks somewhat affected. His ears are red. “Candy!”

“What?” she asks, grinning like I didn’t just open intimate lingerie in front of three grown men, one of them my brother. “Aren’t they all so cute?”

“Candy! You little—”

“Hey! You’re nineteen now—I still don’t get how you failed third grade—and you need some lingerie for when  you meet the one, you know?” she says. “Or maybe just for when you want to have a good time.”

I clap my hand over her mouth. I look over at my brother, who’s in the same position and facial expression as to when I opened the box. I hope he doesn’t get a seizure from all of this—my overprotective brother seeing a box of lingerie from my best friend who said to use it when “I want to have a good time.” I am so done for.

“W-Who wants some dessert?” I ask everyone awkwardly, throwing in a smile like that just didn’t even happen because I honestly want to crawl into a hole and die.

Candy excitedly raises her hand and says, “Mmmf!” I let go of her mouth, sure that ice cream will distract her before she says anything else stupid. “Me, me!”

I look to Brent. “Uh, Brent, can you get the ice cream? I’ll go to the dining room and get everything ready with Candy.” The three boys stay shocked, dazed. “Guys? Hello?” I snap my fingers and Brent suddenly shakes awake and mumbles a “yeah” before dazedly walking towards the fridge. I grab Candy and head to the dining room.

Candy lets go and starts doubling in laughter as soon as we’re out of the kitchen. She falls to the ground, clutching her stomach. “Oh my god! You should’ve seen your face! You should’ve seen their faces!” She rolls over still howling. “I can’t even.”

“Candy! That was so embarrassing! I am going to kill you, I swear!” I say, crossing my arms. My cheeks are red and I know I’m too embarrassed to be angry.

“You love me,” she says as she continues laughing. “That was too funny!” After minutes of continuous laughter and how I should’ve seen their faces, she gets up, still smiling in a mischievous way. “Happy birthday, babe!”

“Thanks,” I say in a sarcastic monotone. “That was the best present ever.”

“I know!” she says, laughing again.

“How’d you even remember my birthday? Or get here?”

“I’m your best friend, of course I’d remember!” she says, making a fake hurt face. “Brent invited me over saying we were celebrating and well, Brent Flores doesn’t just call you up everyday, so of course, I had to go!”

“I bet you just came here for him.”

She grins sheepishly. “Maybe.” Taking a seat at the dining table, she pats a seat next to her. “So, tell me. Which one of those hot boys are you dating? I think this is the first time I’ve been in the same house—hell, same room, as such Greek gods. And they’re rich!”

“Uh, well, I’m not dating them but I’m kind-of-maybe with Lee,” I tell her. I have so much to tell her. About Lee, about Mark, about Madam Jin. But not tonight. I actually feel happy for once since my mother got into that accident and I don’t want to take a chance ruining that. “But it’s not confirmed yet.”

“Oh my god, really? Are you really-really dating or is it still fake?”

“I…I think I feel something real.”

She smiles and swoons. Candy hugs me tight and pulls back. “You lucky girl! I’m so glad you finally found someone after that scum, Peter. And if you’re taking Lee, can I have the other one? He looks equally like a Greek god.”

I laugh. “So you’re over my brother now?”

“Never!” she says at the moment my brother walks into the room. Candy blushes as Brent gives her a cone of ice cream and one for me. She leans in and whispers, “You don’t think he heard that, right?”

Smirking, I whisper back, “Maybe,” just to mess with her.

“It’s been a while, Candy,” Brent says, smiling. Woah, since when did Brent actually acknowledge any of my friends? Candy seems just as surprised before she regains her mojo and her dreamy heart eyes.

“I know. How’s college?” she asks him, knowing Brent likes to talk about himself.

He answers but I’m busy staring as Lee walks into the room, Mark behind him. Lee sits as far as possible from me on the opposite side of the dining table and Mark plops down to a seat next to me. I frown, knowing I can’t amend anything until we’re alone.

“Speaking of that scum, Peter, he’s coming to the party tomorrow, Ivory,” Candy says, facing me. “I heard his friends talking about it in school today.”

I had been staying home from school since Mom’s accident. I don’t want to be stuck in the middle of some boring class I could care less about if—when Mom wakes up. But wait a minute, what is Candy talking about?

“What?” I ask her. “What party?” Brent suddenly scratches the back of his neck. “Brent,” I say in a warning voice. “What are you planning?”

“Uh,” he says in this dumb voice. “You know I like parties and stuff and I thought that maybe to celebrate your birthday and to help you keep off some stress, I’m throwing your birthday bash tomorrow night.” He grins. “Don’t kill me, please.”

“Brent!” I yell. “We can’t have a party. What about mom and—”

“This is what I’m talking about, Ivory. You should want a party. You’re turning nineteen, damn it. You shouldn’t have to be worrying about all these things. When I was nineteen, I took a midnight drive with all my friends and we toilet-papered people’s houses that we hated. I didn’t spend it worrying. You only turn nineteen once and I don’t want you to worry.”

“Brent—”

“Ivory, let me just fix it all up. I have all the food and party decorations already. I can DJ the party and all you need to do is have fun. Okay?”

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. Brent’s not going to budge, he’s stubborn as a mule. I do want to relax, take a day off. I should enjoy my birthday. It only happens once a year and there’s Lee and Mark here. And I still need to fix things with Lee so we can spend our twenty four hours happily.

“Okay,” I say, giving up.

Brent whoops and fist bumps the air. “Hell yeah!”

Candy bats her eyes and giggles at Brent’s little action of happiness.

❧

I pick up the plates from the dining room. All the ice-cream has been eaten and Candy is getting ready to leave by the door. I leave the plates in the sink and go to her.

She’s putting on her coat when I get to her. Smiling, she hugs me tight. “Happy birthday, girl. You deserve the best,” she says in a serious matter. “Your mom will be fine, I promise.”

We pull back and I smile sadly. “I hope so.”

Brent, Mark, and Lee appear to say goodbye. “I’ll see you all tomorrow then,” she tells everyone. She waves and adds, “Let’s get our party on!”

Mark grins and offers his hand. “Nice meeting you, Candy.”

She enthusiastically shakes his hand, probably swooning on the inside. “It was great meeting you, too, Mark. I hope to see you tomorrow!”

He grins and then Lee comes up and smiles the best he can. I can see that he’s still upset and it sends my stomach flipping over. “Pleasure to see you.” Lee grabs her hand and kisses it. “Be safe on your way home.”

Candy blushes and her eyes look like they’re going to fall out. I chuckle softly as she basically freaks out. “Yeah,” Candy says. “Pleasure’s all mine.” And I know she means it.

Brent comes up to her and gives her a big hug. This time, I’m surprised. Brent hugging Candy? Brent’s treated me and my friends like a bunch of elementary kids all our lives—locking us out of his room, always finding ways to avoid my friends when they come over, calling us names. But to see him actually voluntarily hug my best friend is like seeing aliens fall out of the sky.

Then, I know something’s going to happen between them.

Brent says, “Thanks for stopping by, Candy.”

Candy somehow stays calm and smiles at him. “Yeah, sure.”

Their words are so simple. Just a couple words each, and yet, I can feel the difference in the atmosphere—the feelings behind the words. I smile. It looks as if I won’t need to do anything to help her out with Brent.

We all say goodbye once more and then Candy hops out the door into the warm night. Her car zooms away and we close the door.

“Well, Mark, Lee and I are gonna go sleep in my lair,” Brent announces.

I roll my eyes. “For the billionth time, Brent, it is not your lair. It’s the basement but you just threw a bed and some couches down there and all your stupid video games.”

“Whatever, Ivory,” Brent says. Here’s the brother I’ve grown to love and hate. “You’re just jealous because it’s twice as big as any bedroom you’ve had.”

“Yeah, totally,” I say in a monotone. Mark laughs and I smile. Lee doesn’t say a word, doesn’t even look me in the eye, or say goodnight as he leaves to go down the stairs leading to Brent’s so-called lair. I frown and say, “Goodnight.”

There’s no response.

Brent and Mark awkwardly look at anywhere else but me and then Brent grabs Mark’s arm. “Well, we’re going to go now! Goodnight, Ivory!” Brent says, giving me a kiss on the cheek before dragging Mark down the stairs as well. They close the door and then I’m alone again.

I try not to cry at Lee’s complete attitude and hatred for me. This isn’t how I wanted to spend our little time together. The hours are precious and it’s started off with him seeing me in an inappropriate manner with Mark. I think the worst part is that I didn’t even get a chance to explain. Lee didn’t even let me clarify the situation. And it hurts.

Forcing myself to walk, I go to bed. The clock on my nightstand reads 11:30PM and I get under the covers and stare at the walls of my room. When I next check the clock, it’s 2:03AM. I can’t sleep. I don’t like it that I’ve messed up.

I’m about to get up when I hear a creak in the floorboards. The floorboards don’t make a noise unless someone steps on them. It’s two in the morning, nobody is awake. Scared, I throw the covers over my head, hoping somehow these blankets will protect me or magically transport me somewhere else.

I hear my door creak open and then close. This is the end.

For a while I don’t hear anything. Why don’t I hear anything? Was all of that just the wind? I don’t remember leaving any windows open though.

Slowly and carefully, I lift the covers and see the back of a figure—someone. I’m about to scream because I’m going to die but the person turns around and puts a hand over my mouth. I almost shit myself.

“It’s me, it’s me.”

I kick my legs, trying to kick the balls of the attacker.

“Ivory, it’s me, Lee.”

My kicks reside and I open my eyes. It is Lee. He stands there, panicked, afraid that I’ll scream and then Brent will find us and kick his ass again. He lets go of my mouth.

“Lee?” I whisper-shout. “What in the world are you doing here? You do know it’s, like, two in the morning, right?”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” he says. He takes a seat at the edge of my bed, hands by his side, and looks at the ground of my room. “I… I had to talk to you. And then, I guess, I just got here. I saw you sleeping and finally realized maybe it wasn’t such a good idea at two in the morning.”

“You think?” I glare at him in the dark.

Lee looks at me and smiles. “Move over.”

“Move over?”

“Yes, as in move that butt of yours to the other side so I can—”

“I know what it means, thank you very much,” I say, scooching over so I’m pressed up against the wall next to my bed. Lee waits and then plops down next to me, pulling the blanket over himself. Our legs touch and I feel the weird feeling in my stomach again. We sit, shoulders touching, against the bed stand. “So, are you still mad at me?”

I don’t look at him. I’m too scared for the answer. I play with my fingers, bending them and then picking at my nails.

“No.”

My head turns involuntarily at him. “No?”

“I was never mad.”

I laugh at that. “You were never mad? So you were just ignoring me because you felt like it?” I don’t mean to sound so accusing and mean, I just want to fix us.

He sends me the look. “I was never mad. Really. I just”—he runs his hand through his hair—“I don’t understand. I told you I liked you. I told you I wanted to spend a day with you, being one of those sappy couples. I sounded like a stupid loser in front of you. I kissed you…and you kissed me back. But then you were with Mark. I just… don’t understand.”

I look back down at my hands. “First of all, you never told me you liked me.” I must’ve sounded so bratty and clingy but it’s true, he never did tell me his feelings. “And yes, I did kiss you back. Now, wouldn’t you think it was strange that I obviously returned your feelings and then ran off to Mark?”

“You tell me,” he replies. “That’s why I’m confused.”

“You didn’t even let me explain when you saw us.”

“I know,” he says, his voice dropping down a notch. “I…I jumped to conclusions and then just—I’m sorry. But that’s why I couldn’t sleep. I thought of how I was such an idiot and how unfair I was being. I couldn’t peacefully rest without talking to you first.”

“I couldn’t sleep either.” I smile and hope the dark covers up the blush that’s running across my face, knowing that Lee couldn’t sleep because of me of all people.

“Really?” Lee’s eyes twinkle when I look at them. Or maybe it’s just the moon reflecting off in his eyes. They’re beautiful either way.

“Really.”

Lee reaches over and puts his right arm over me, pushing me into his chest. I don’t have a problem with this at all. I curl up against Lee, our legs tangled. He’s wearing one of my brother’s old soccer jerseys and he looks so good in it. His other arm reaches over and his fingers intertwine with mine. The warm tingly feeling jolts through my whole body.

“I hate to ask this,” Lee whispers, drawing circles on my shoulder. “But, you and Mark…nothing really happened, right? I do trust you, but everyone’s insecure sometimes.”

Normally, I would flip out but this is Lee. Confident, never-looks-back Lee is afraid and insecure of what? Losing me? This is a big deal to me. “No,” I whisper softly back. “Nothing happened. I tried telling him that there’s only you for me. Only you.”

I feel Lee smiling in my hair. “Only me?” he asks.

“Always.”

“Okay.”

And then he kisses my forehead and wraps both arms around me and we start talking about the most stupidest things—our favorite colors, our favorite foods, everything. Bad memories to good to embarrassing. Our favorite places and places we’ve never seen but would like to. Lee’s been to more places than me, but he promises he’ll take me anywhere one day. I know it’ll never happen because our relationship—this sweet moment of endless talking and kissing—it’ll be over in a couple of hours. I don’t care. I will live in this moment because there’s no use wondering about the future when you know what’s happening in your present.

That’s Lee. Right now, he’s here with me and that’s all that’ll ever matter.

And maybe in a couple of years or days or weeks, I’ll look back and be grateful that I got to spend at least twenty four hours loving him with all my heart.

“Favorite novel?” he asks me.

We’ve somehow ended up laying on our backs, Lee’s arms still around me and one of his legs over both of mine. My eyes are starting to droop but I don’t want to sleep.

I turn to my side to face him, adjusting so that our bodies are tangled with each other. If someone would have told me months ago that this is how I’d be spending my birthday, in the arms of Lee Richardson, I would’ve laughed and then walked away. But here I am, staring at his blue, blue eyes and his infectious lazy smile. He’s slowly falling asleep too. It’s a competition to see who’ll fall asleep first.

“The Twilight saga,” I answer, my voice getting slower and slower.

“Really?” he asks. His eyes close but he grins.

“Yeah,” I reply. “Everybody just enjoys hating on it because they’re all anti-mainstream but it’s actually well written and has some cute parts. The characters—cough, Bella—are a little undeveloped but every book has flaws.”

He laughs as he pries his eyes open again. “Wow, never would’ve thought.”

I punch his chest weakly. Sleep is taking over my body. “Shut up. And yours?”

“The Great Gatsby,” Lee answers.

“No way.”

“I don’t really have much time for books with work and all, but when I was in high school, it was probably the only book I enjoyed reading,” he says.

“That was a great book,” I agree. “Have you seen the movie?”

“No.”

“Maybe tomorrow, I’ll show you. I have the DVD,” I offer.

“You mean, today.” Lee stretches and looks at the time. “It’s already four in the morning. Maybe we should get some sleep if you want to spend the entire day together.”

I don’t want to stop talking to him, ever. But I know if I don’t go to sleep now I’ll wake up at noon and I don’t want to waste any time on our one day extravaganza. “Okay, we should sleep, now.” Lee snuggles closer to me and rests his head on top of my hair. “Wait, you’re not leaving?”

“No,” he replies, throwing his leg over mine.

“My brother’s going to kick your ass.”

“It’ll be worth it,” Lee says, sighing into my hair. “Hey, Ivory?”

“Yeah?” I mumble into his chest.

“You know how you said I never told you I liked you?” he asks. I’m too tired to answer so I nod. “I like you, stupid.”

I’m so tired I don’t know what he just said, so I reply with, “Yeah.”

I hear him chuckling and the sound vibrates through his whole body. If I was conscious, I’d kick him in the balls because his laugh is so loud it probably woke up my brother. Nobody comes and Lee justs sighs contently.

“Can you even hear what I’m saying?”

“Yeah,” I mumble again.

“Do you think I should dye my hair green?”

“Yeah.”

Lee laughs once more, softer this time. He pulls back and kisses me on my lips. “I really like you, Ivory Flores.” My eyes are already shut. “I’m going to regret this one day.”

“Yeah.”

He goes back to hugging me tightly and I can feel him breathing softer and softer. I would replay this night over and over if I could. The last thing he says incoherently before he dozes off is, “Maybe one day you could wear that lingerie for me.”

“Yeah.”

Another update, let's go! Due to my insanely long absense, I will try to upload frequently. I might miss a few deadlines but I'm not going to give up this story. Thank you so much for the feedback in the last chapter. I loved reading all the comments, and trust me, I read all of them. They're so hilarious and heart-warming. I was sure that I had lost all my fans, but thank you for getting this story back to Teen Fiction #3 and Humor #3. I am insanely happy and thankful. Love you all,

xoxo.