- ̗̀ LEMONADE MOUTH.

            AT time she hated that he knew her so well, but a sombre smile was all she could give at first with his reply that was bitterly truthful. ‘ it’s not like i’m going to cry. ’ she called after him, closing the door gently behind her. a warm smile curved her lips, but quickly dropped at the suggestion. marin had planned to stay alone, wallow in her stupidity. she’d dedicated herself to a night of self-pity and sex and the city reruns with a tub of ice cream, but she couldn’t do that in front of him. orion had seen her in many a compromising position and he’d never been a fan of drew. putting her misery on him with the failed relationship seemed unfair. ‘ ri, i’m trying to spare you. i know you hate her. you should be happy we’re not together anymore. ’

           ‘ NO one said i had to. i didn’t do it because i had to. but fine, if you want to go back, be my guest. i don’t fucking care anymore. ’ dark eyes narrowed and nico found solace in his drink rather than her company. ‘ what the fuck ever, bailey. don’t lie. ’

            ‘ I KNOW. i’m actually the best, aren’t i? ’ he mocked, pulling back to search her features for any lingering hesitation. his thumbs brushed over her cheeks, smile too fond in a telling way that let out three words he wouldn’t dare speak or even think to. ‘ good thing you’re never going to have to find out, huh? ’ a kiss to her nose sealed that, making it finite before he put some distance between their bodies with a laugh as she went on. lacey, as weird as it was, held the title of his best friend. she balanced him, motivated him, brought him down when he was too high, and whether she knew it or not, she gave him something he’d never had before: love. she cared more about him than his own mother. ‘ yeah, yeah. ease up on the mushy shit, lace. i’m gonna start thinking you’re in love with me or something. ’ as she went on, he couldn’t help but laugh. ‘ damn, you’re that thirsty for my dick aren’t you? we can if you want, but i can’t promise i’ll be quick so you’re going to have to be okay with potentially being late. ’

            ‘ ARE you fucking serious? ’ micah’s patient - to a point. he can handle more than most, but this is his breaking point. she was rude and she was entitled and while he hadn’t wanted to cause a scene, but she was taking advantage of his position and there were few things micah would not tolerable, but this was one. jaw setting, he reached out and placed a solid grip around her thin wrist. if it bruised, he’d likely have to answer, but this was better.’ fuck this. we’re going, ciara. i don’t care. i’m not losing my job because you’re a selfish bitch. ’

celine was passion; she was fire and tumultuous agony and she was, for all intents and purposes, the love of ezekiel’s life. she was also the most consistent pain he’d ever experienced. her wild personality drove a wedge in their marriage and that, zeke rationalised, was why he’d started to step out. he needed something else, some fantasy to distract his mind from the unpredictable wife he had waiting at home with two children. it only made guilt rise and catch in his throat, but it was quickly forced back down as he walked through the hotel lobby towards the bar because this was for his own sanity. or so he claimed. tongue running over his lips, dark eyes combing over the dimly lit area, zeke searched for any girl who might fit the vague description he had for clothes and physical appearance, no name given and only a general idea that could fit anyone. his gaze stuck on a girl, alone, looking as if she were waiting for someone if he wasn’t reading her body language wrong. it was the only thing that set her apart from others who were alone looking physically much the same as she. hoping he’d made the right choice, a bravado of boldness making his walk more of a swagger fused strut, he approached the girl and smiled. ‘ is this seat taken? ’

           KNOWING just how to piss her off, omari was left confident as she brushed the rest of his words off. self-satisfied smirk, he didn’t miss a beat in rolling his eyes at her frown, pressing right into her space still just to hurt her. ‘ that’s my girl. ’ fond, soft, his tone changed as her smile spread. thumbs brushed over the apples of her cheeks, he nodded slowly taking in her words. ‘ i’m always gonna rag on you. because you need to be taken down a bit. you got a ego the size of fucking nova scotia. ya head all ready big enough, need to deflate it a bit. then we can address that five head of yours. ’ he laughed. ‘ you got two hours. i’m sure you can do something. ’

           ‘ YOU know, most people would thank me. ’ nico pointed out with a slight edge in his tone. ‘ i gave you space. i let you do your thing. i got you out of that shitty place. i never forced you to do anything, but you still want to be mad at me because i what? fucked people when we weren’t ever together? ’

           PARTY-BREAKER? he was being responsible which was more than he could say for her. ‘ listen, ciara, i’m not trying to get fired, in trouble, suspended, or worse: killed by your dad. we’re not supposed to be here. ’ he stressed, grimacing more than readily at her drunken laughs. alcohol clung to her breath and she was all ready too loose in posture for his liking. if he brought her back like this, he’d still get an earful. ‘ i will literally give you anything you want if you just come with me. ’ short of bodily removing her from the club, he didn’t know what else to do. dragging her off, though, would only bring prying eyes. ‘ anything. name it. just please come on and drink water. ’ this was his first serious job. he’d had smaller things before, but h’d worked his ass off for this and micah would be damned if some unwanted babysitting job set him back.

           SHRUGGING, nonchalant and unfocused, the male kept his groggy gaze on nothing at all rather than the pretty girl before him. any other would be mad, but yusef found himself still just fascinated with the idea of this more than he could be upset. people played him, used him, abused him; this was nothing new. ‘ other day? so what you doin’ on those in between days? ’ half joking, half curious, he let the question hang in the air with no real obligation to have her answer. ‘ just got me thinking. nothing important. why, you scared? i’m not gonna do nothing to you. if i wanted to, i would have by now. ’

          ‘ seriously? ’ he grit out, trying to school himself without coming off too strong. ‘ i said we need to set rules. and we need to talk about what you’re going to do. you can’t sit around all day every day just laying around and spending money you didn’t earn. you’re out of high school, you need to start... thinking about what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. ’ he sounded like the echo of his father, mimicking words that had been spat at him years ago. ‘ first things first, i nee dyou to actually take care of coco rather than, you know, just playing with her. have you brushed her or addressed her teeth, nails, given her any real attention today besides letting her lay with you while i was out? ’

            BITING her lip, marin gave a careless shrug. downplaying the situation felt easier than trying to talk about it. for more years than she wanted to count, drew was everything. from high school to now, she’d stayed true to one person and one person alone. barely even glancing in the direction of another, never accepting a date offer, waiting patiently as the woman she loved toured the world and fucked, sucked, bit, licked, and whatever else to anyone else, marin had stayed faithful. more than that, she’d stayed optimistic that one day drew was going to grow up and just want her back. now, the blonde realised how stupid that had been. ‘ i’m fine, ri. ’ she gave the male a gentle smile, happy that her best friend could be herre for her with her favourite things: flowers and alcohol. ‘ you’re so good to me, but really, i’m fine. i promise. ’

           morning’s light ( or maybe it was afternoon ) crept into the nearly pitch black room through slivers of space between drawn curtains, but that was not what woke the sleeping beast. between spending her time between jamie and amy and school, maca was tired. sleep was a sweet piece of death that came to her for hours at a time on days when she could relax alone, but the incessant knocking and a loud, annoyingly familiar voice, had the brunette pulled from her soporific wonderworld. groaning, the med student pulled herself from bed and trudged the endless trek to her front door to glare at none other than her best friend. ‘ what the actual fuck, drew? ’ trying to keep up with the blonde’s rambling, still pulling herself from sleep, maca wanted to cry. leaving the door open, the small brunette fell back on her couch, eyes closing as she let drew’s voice fill the earlier dead space in her apartment. ‘ so you came over here, woke me up, and all because.... your girlfriend dumped you? oh, wait, no that would imply you two were ever together. i don’t see the issue. isn’t this what you wanted? ’ 

           ‘ I’M just feeling really stupid. ’ the small blonde sighed, fingers balling in her lap, bony knuckles pressed to pale exposed thighs as sia avoided looking at zaiden. lips twisting to a grimace, the young mother-to-be could only focus on the aching loneliness that filled the particularly adrian shaped hollowness within her soul. four days. she’d not seen from him, heard from him, and if anyone had asked her years ago if she could imagine sitting pregnant and alone in an empty apartment with only two friends to her name in a city she still barely knew how to navigate, the haughty socialite would have laughed. adding in her brother’s less than impressive best friend only made for a highly unbelievable fabrication of the intricate mind that she could only find laughable. instead of being some sick fantasy that she’d never dream out, elysia talbott found it her reality. further more she found herself desperate for attention wherever she could get it, often left to her own devices more than she’d like to admit, and that was the reasoning that she used as she waddled over the lanky male and rose to her tip toes. swollen ankles, swollen feet, swollen belly, she was too round and too sore in every place, but she managed to bump her rounded stomach against his flat abdomen and wrap her still thin arms around him loosely in a needed hug. ‘ thanks for listening to me. i know i’m annoying you with all this, but it’s really nice you’ll listen. ’

          JAW SETTING, HE shakes his head and puts more distance between their bodies, arm jerking back to break her hold on his wrist. ‘ well you seem to do a lot of things you don’t mean, so what’s saying something you don’t mean? ’ maybe, at some point in time, a vain part of him could lie and say they were friends; that she cared about him and they meant something to each other. any hope that this was true was crushed tonight the minute her lips met his. ‘ you tried to fucking leave, don’t play this shit with me. you’re here because i made you stop, not because you’re some valiant fucking person. honestly? you’re a shitty person. i don’t even know why i spent so long pining after you. raoul was right to leave you, you’re fucking horrible, lena. ’ he was hurt and she could keep her apologies. the only thing rafael wanted to hear was that she was leaving.

           ‘ charlotte, if you’re going to live here,’ he started tersely, ‘we’re going to need to set some rules because i cannot fucking deal with this anymore. ’ to say he was a neat freak might have been an understatement. q was damn near obsessive with keeping things exactly as he wanted and making sure his home was spotless. teenage girls? they didn’t have the same concern.

          ‘ CAN YOU PLEASE, for five minutes, work with me here? ’ the thunderous bass might be drowning out his voice, micah can’t tell, but his eyes are still adjusting in the dim lighting and he’s having a hard time keeping attention on himself let alone getting the blonde’s. this hadn’t quite been what he’d expected. perhaps he’d been too hopeful, too wide eyed, read too many books and had a fantasy in his mind despite having the skill set to make it into the secret service. for micah, this wasn’t a joke, but it was the chance at a new adventure. new town, new people, new job. he had nothing holding him back from this and what seemed more fitting than serving his country? babysitting the president’s party girl daughter, however, wasn’t exactly the heroic work he’d been expected to be doled out. ‘ seriously, i’m going to be in so much trouble because of this. we’re supposed to be at a dinner with the ambassador of kazakhstan right now. not letting you twerk all over guys who look like they spent their entire tax refund on this night. ’