36 -Jessica

Jessica

I dabbed the last layer of concealer on Matthew's black eye. "I still think they're going to know."

"I doubt that."

I cast him a glare. "You're just being nice."

His lips curled. "I told you we don't need to hide this. It's not like I'm going to get grounded."

"Well, the least I can do is make it less obvious. Your mom wouldn't be happy to see his sweet sweet boy's sweet sweet boys getting bruised,"

He chuckles. "You know—now that I think about it—my mother does call me a sweet sweet boy. She also calls my face a sweet sweet face."

"I know. You'd be surprised how much your mom talks about your sweet sweet face."

He laughs softly. "Right."

I laughed along. "I can't believe you think I'm kidding."

He paused, brows adorably creased together. "Wait, you're not?"

I shake my head slowly. "Wo, you really have no idea, have you? Your dad is no different, too."

Matthew's smile slipped. "Wait, what?"

I bit back a laugh. "I'll take that as a yes."

He stares at him as if urging me to go on.

"Your dad always takes Andrei with him when he goes golfing with Nathan's dad, right? A few months ago, Andrei invited me because he gets bored out of his mind. So, he figured he needed a drinking buddy. And then—well the rest is history."

"But what does he say about me?" he asks, almost sounding like an impatient child.

I chuckled. "I don't remember."

He gives me a look.

"What? Andrei and I are drunk half the time." I cocked my head to one side and pretended that I was thinking. "No, I remember a few things."

His eyes rounded in alarm.

I laugh. "Don't worry. They were all good things about you. Trust me, they were funny and sweet."

Matthew's ears turned red.

"Wait," I paused and stared at his now beet-root red face, "are you... embarrassed?"

His face turned even redder. And I think it was the most adorable thing I have ever seen.

He shot me a deadpan look. "Am I right to assume that you know I was obsessed with SpongeBob when I was four?"

"Oh, really?" I gaped at him. "No, they didn't tell me about that."

"Wait, what?"

"Honestly, they didn't." I winked. "Good to know, though."

Matthew suddenly looked like he wanted to bury himself alive.

"Come on, it's no big deal."

He was about to say something, but my phone rang. I slid my phone out of the back pocket of my pants and stared at Audrey's name on the screen.

A knot formed in my stomach. Still, I managed to plaster on a smile and answered the video call. "Hey there, honeymooners."

Audrey and Vren appeared on the screen. They were both in bed, but I could hear waves crashing in the background.

"Hi, how's everything?" Audrey's voice came in smooth as silver. "Mom said Miles is still asleep. You can probably drive by their place before lunchtime."

"Oh, okay," I chirped, although I can tell that it wasn't just about that.

She squinted a little. "Oh, good. You're with Matty."

"Yeah, why?"

Matthew gestured at the bar stool next to him, and I accepted the invitation.

I propped my phone against the fruit bowl, so we were both within camera range. "What's up?"

Audrey rubbed her eyes, probably feeling sleepy. "Okay, I'm going to keep this short."

"Guys, you're going to be off the hook in three days," Vren says excitedly.

She glared at him for stealing her thunder. "Yeah. My parents are going to stay with us for a week. It's going to be pretty awkward, so it's crucial that we come home to work on some arrangements," she emphasized the word 'crucial.' I know her well enough that she was justifying the end of their vacation to her husband.

However, my mind is on something else.

This is it.

The moment when I thought I'd feel so fucking relieved.

I'd feel so excited I'd probably pack my suitcase in a heartbeat.

Right now, I don't feel like feeling all of that. It's not that I don't want to leave or that I still have no place to stay because my apartment got toasted.

I guess getting my old life back doesn't have a nice ring to it anymore.

"Jessica?"

I blinked.

I may have zoned out for a sec, but I recovered with a fake squeal. "That's so great! I can't wait. I really missed you guys so much."

Half of what I just said is true. I really miss having Audrey and Vren around. They're my best friends.

"Okay, good. I'm glad we're done with that. I want to ask Matthew why he's wearing makeup."

"Huh?" I gulped.

Matthew and I exchanged looks.

Vren chuckled on the other line. "My, my, my. What have you guys been up to lately?"

"He fell down the stairs."

"I ran into a pole."

Vren and Audrey busted a laugh.

"A little tip, guys: when you're going to lie about something, make sure that you're telling the same lie, Vren says between fits of laughter.

"I wasn't even sure he was wearing makeup." Audrey turned to her husband, holding her belly while laughing her guts out.

I facepalmed. "We're terrible. Just terrible."

Matthew elbowed my shoulder. "Hey, at least we tried."

"Wow, you guys really bonded, huh?" Vren finally recovered from his laughter and handed Audrey a napkin because she had tears from laughing so hard. "What happened? The truth this time."

"Long story short: Matthew punched a guy."

"What? Matthew punched a guy?" Audrey and Vren say in unison.

"Yeah," I look over to Matthew to ask if I could continue, "It wasn't like we started a brawl at the club, right?"

He nods in agreement.

Audrey gasps. "Matty, you went into a club?"

"Wow. I need a moment to take this all in." Vren squeezed his eyes shut. "I can't picture my sweet little brother stepping inside a club and getting into a brawl."

"Vren, it wasn't a brawl." Matthew firmly shakes his head.

I sighed and glanced at his black eye. "I did a botched job covering it up."

"Trust me, Jess. You're not losing your touch. A black eye that bad isn't coverable by makeup." Audrey brings her phone closer to her face as if to take a closer look at Matthew's eye. "At least it won't be too obvious if you wear sunglasses."

I groaned. "That's not a helpful suggestion, Audrey."

She held back a laugh but failed to do so. "Oh my, God. I can't unsee this. What in the world happened at the club?"

"Fun. Fun is what happened at the club." I shrugged.

She purses her lips thoughtfully. "You mean to tell me Matty got into a fight because he was having fun? Is that right, Matty?"

"Yeah, well," Matthew rubbed the back of his neck.

"Okay, fine. Some guy tried to slut-shame me at the club and Matthew made him feel sorry for what he did."

Her smile dropped. A dark frown took place on her face. "What? Who the fuck slut-shamed you at the club?"

"Whoa. I know you'd say that. It's just a couple of mean things," I say to calm her down. Because now my bestie looks like she is ready to kill Alistair.

"Who?" She cast me a stern look.

I sighed hopelessly. "You know, the jerk from my childhood."

Her eyes turned into angry slits. "Good thing, I'd be back in three days."

"Audrey, it wasn't a big deal." I tried to keep the panic in my voice. A few months back, Alistair called me a slut at one of our hangouts.

Audrey was furious.

Alistair was supposed to be number seven in a magazine's top 10 successful young businessmen, but Audrey pulled some strings to get him crossed off the list.

I gulped. I love Audrey, but my pride isn't worth stressing her baby over.

"What happened to the other guy, Matty? Vren interrupted. He really did take a while to take in the fact that his sweet little brother has a black eye.

"Jess messed up his face." Matthew taps my back and he actually looked really proud.

I snorted. "Matthew stunned him with the first punch."

"Wow, my little brother," he nods, "finally breaking out of his shell. Clubbing. Starting a brawl. Living his life."

"Vren, for the last time, it wasn't a brawl." Matthew frowned at him.

"I can't wait to tell dad you started a brawl." Vren actually clapped his hands in excitement. "Or I'd tell everybody. I'm so proud I probably tell everybody Matty got into a brawl."

"Vren, Matty said it wasn't a brawl." Audrey giggled. She rubbed her eyes again then yawned delicately behind her hand.

Vren lovingly kissed the side of her head. "Bedtime, sweetheart." He turned to us with a grin. "We'll see guys soon."

"Okay. In three days," I murmured.

"Oh, and Matthew. Not a brawl." He winked before dropping the call.

Matthew let out a deep sigh.

I turned all the way to him.

He met my eyes. "He's going to tell everyone it's a brawl."

Hey, guys! Wow, I can't believe I just finished a chapter!!! I MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!! I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Wow, I thought I was losing my touch. It feels like it's been years since I've written a story. Anywaysss, guess whose birthday it is tomorrow??? We all have different time zones, so I'm just going to say it: February 28!

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