twenty three

I pushed myself off the counter and walked over. "How'd you know I was here?" I asked.

"I was at Joy's, and I saw you walking in."

"Jade and I are done, done," I mumbled.

"Are you sure?" I nodded.

"I wanted to hurt her," I said, and she wrapped her arms around me.

"I love you so much, and I'm so sorry." She said.

"It's ok," I mumbled.

"I'm having a party tonight, come?" She asked. "You're invited, too." She said, looking towards E.

"Uh-." I glanced back at E.

"We're free." She said; I smiled towards Cece, and she hugged me again.

"Good, be upstairs around 9." I nodded. "Bye."

"Bye." I smiled. She left, and I closed the door; E wrapped her arms around me tightly and kissed my head. I looked up at her, and she leaned down, slowly kissing my lips. I kissed back, and she ran her fingers through my hair. She pulled me towards her couch and sat down. I landed on her lap, and she wrapped her arms around me tightly as she kissed my lips. I kissed down her neck, and she shivered.

"Stop." She said just above a whisper. I looked down at her and ran my hands through her hair; she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed it.

"Why?" I asked.

"We're not doing this yet."

"When?" I asked.

"Not yet." I sighed, and she smiled.

"Inpatient?" I nodded.

"I've never wanted something so much in my life."

"I can say the same thing about you." She ran her fingers down my throat. "In more than one way." She said.

"E."

"No, be good." She pulled my head to her chest, and I laid down, realizing how tired I was.

"What?" A girl with waist-length blonde hair giggled.

"Come here." A brunet smiled, taking her hand. "I got you flowers."

"Chrysanthemums, my favourite." The blonde smiled.

"I know they are. Last year when you told me that I planted some... I cut these this morning."

"Hannah." The blonde smiled. Hannah passed her the bundle, and something fell to the ground.

"Grace, you dropped something." Hannah got down on one knee, grabbed what was in the grass, and held it up. "Grace Lancaster, will you marry me?"

"Hannah." She slapped her hand over her mouth as she started to cry, and she nodded.

"Yeah?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah, yes." Grace nodded, and Hannah stood up, hugging her tightly and kissing her head.

"Viv." I felt a kiss on my head. "Viv, wake up."

"No," I mumbled.

"It's twenty minutes to nine." I opened my eyes and looked at her for a second.

"Was that us?" I asked, and she nodded.

"Do you want to change?" She asked; I nodded but didn't move. "You would have to get off me for you to do that." She said, and I shook my head no. "Come on, baby girl." My stomach flipped. I pushed myself up, and she took my hand, leading me into her bedroom. She opened her closet and eyed up her clothes; she looked through a few things until she found what she was looking for. She tossed it on her bed and dug through a basket of clothes. "These are the smallest jeans I own."

I knocked on the door, nervous and jumped, when I felt E take my hand in hers; she brought it up to her lips and kissed it just as the door opened. "Hey-" Joy was smiling, but then it faded. "Oh- cece. Your friend is here." She went inside, and I caught the door before it closed; I looked up at E, who was hiding a smile. Did you do that to make her mad?

"Partly." She whispered.

"Viv!" Cece flung her arms around me. I draped one around her, and she kissed my cheek. "I missed you."

"Your drunk already." I laughed.

"Little bit." She smiled, then giggled and wrapped her arms around E.