#jmm3

It was becoming unbearable, no matter how much you wanted it, each alcohol-flavored kiss hurt more than any rejection you could imagine.

It wasn't that you didn't want to kiss him, of course you did, there wasn't a moment when you didn't make that clear to him, but it seemed that he only had eyes for you when alcohol took hold of him.

At first, you thought he was preparing himself and making sure the feeling was mutual, but always, without exception, the next morning he acted as if nothing had happened, as if it were normal to kiss your best friend like that every time you went out partying, and you were fed up with his shitty attitude.

That's why, on the night you went out to celebrate his latest victory, you decided to tell him how you felt once and for all.

You decided to go to the party with Gabriel, who was with his girlfriend, and he told you that Pepe had left almost an hour ago, but you didn't think much of it; after all, it was normal for him to want to go out with his team after that race.

“You look gorgeous,” Isabella said as you both stepped out of the elevator while Gabriel went to get his car outside the hotel.

“Look who's talking, you left me breathless,” you replied, gently shaking your head at her words.

The music reached your ears from outside, and although you had already congratulated Pepe as soon as he got out of the car, you just wanted to see him again to congratulate him on his great performance on the track.

But as soon as you entered, you stopped dead in your tracks, seeing the boy in the distance with an unknown blonde who did not seem to be part of his group of friends, who was very interested in the conversation, or rather in him, because she did not seem to be able to take her hands off Pepe.

You felt a slight pain in your chest at the scene unfolding before you at that moment, but as soon as Pepe's gaze moved in your direction, you slipped into the crowd to lose sight of him.

That's how you accidentally bumped into Franco, who made sure you didn't fall to the ground and also gave you his freshly bought drink when he saw you were empty-handed.

“I was already wondering where you were,” he said with that smile of his, leaning in to whisper in your ear.

“Am I that obvious?”

“I like it better that way. That way I know where to find you.” He laughed softly before stepping back to let you see him wink at you.

That was what caught Pepe's attention almost instantly. After trying in the kindest way possible, he had managed to get that blonde to leave him alone, since he knew you would be coming soon, but when he realized it, you were already with Franco.

He quickly walked over to where you were standing, hugging you from behind and wrapping his arms around your waist before kissing your cheek. You knew exactly who he was, but you couldn't tell if it was because of his gesture or because the smell coming from his mouth was that of his favorite drink when he went out partying.

“You came,” he said, turning his full attention to you to force Franco to leave the conversation.

“Of course, I wouldn't miss it.”

Usually, you would have leaned against him, resting your back against his chest, but this time you stayed where you were, which, even with a few drinks under his belt, surprised your best friend.

“Let me get you a drink,” he suggested, leaning on your shoulder, seeking more contact with you, since you always used to give it to him and he didn't understand why it was suddenly different.

“I already have one, thank you,” you replied, gently pushing his arms away from your body and looking at Franco with a smile to thank him for the small gift.

He frowned, because why the hell were you being so weird now? Why weren’t you close to him as always, praising him for his performance until all he could do was giggle at the attention? And why the hell were you choosing Franco instead of him?

At least Franco noticed what was going on, because after kissing your cheek and wishing you a good time he went back to his friends.

“What do you see in him?” You huffed and left his side, you didn’t want to fight right now

That didn’t seem to matter to Pepe, because he quickly followed you trying to get something out of you.

“Leave it, you’re being a child” You muttered sitting down, sipping on your drink with your gaze on the dance floor.

You always moved to the side, to leave enough room just for him to fit beside you, but this time he just had to stand there while you tried to not think about him.

“I’m just saying, you could do better” He bent down, leaning closer to you, hoping to get your gaze back on him as it always was.

“I think he’s already an upgrade”

He knew who you were talking about, he had been working his ass off so he could have your whole attention all of the time, despite knowing that you were far too great for none else to not fall for you too.

“This was supposed to be my night, and I’m not letting that womanizer ruining it for me, you should be with me”

His face found your neck, his lips tried to get onto your skin before you pulled him away, getting a frown from him.

“You stink of vodka” Was everything you could get yourself to say.

“Because I’ve been drinking duh” He chuckled before stealing a little peck for you

That was usually the only thing you needed before pulling him closer for a decent make out session, but this time you actually tried to not react.

“Now are you going to stop playing hard to get and let me sit and you can sit on my lap” Pepe wet his lips looking at you, his hand going to curl one string of your hair “Come on pleasee”

“No thanks, I’m good”

He was taken aback again, but this time something clicked inside him and made him realise that he wasn’t going to get anything that night

“What the fuck is with you tonight?” His glass got onto the table so he could go grab you “Let’s go outside, we need to talk”

“I just don’t like anymore whatever we are doing here” That was probably the first honest thing that you said in the whole night “And I’ll stay here thanks”

Your drink went up to meet your lips again, but Pepe’s hand on your wrist, which was threatening to tighten, stopped you from getting a second sip.

“Let’s go talk, you’re not telling me something and I want to talk”

The first thing you did was making him let go of you, getting him slightly away from you so you could get up.

“Y/n come on, it’s my night, you have to come”

Going outside any party only meant one thing when Pepe was drunk, and you wanted to avoid it at all cost, so you made yourself clear.

“If we are only going to be talking then okay, perfect, i’ll go”

Pepe smiled like he just won that battle, and you were too tired to take that smirk out of his face, and the sweet smile that replaced it as he offered his hand almost made you forget about it.

You took his hand on yours to get him out of the bar to an alley that was next to it, looking for a bit of privacy.

“What are you supposed to be doing? Why are you treating me like this? You were supposed to be celebrating with me!”

You leaned on the wall looking up at him, letting him have his little moment before talking

“I just- don’t want to be a little toy you can play with whenever you are drunk, I’m tired”

“What? I’m not with you only when I’m drunk! I could be with anyone, but I choose you” He rested himself next to you with a snort

“Oh I’m so lucky that you literally run from me every time I want to talk about my feelings then” You knew that he lied every single one of those times when he told you he was suddenly busy to talk.

“That’s not true, I’m just busy, you know how this is! You are the one acting like a child now”

You were close to your breaking point, and it looked like he didn’t notice, because he said something that should’ve made you explode.

“There’s nothing to talk about, we’re not going to talk about it”

Pepe didn't even expect a reaction from you, and even if he did you wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. You still felt something break inside you.

“You know what? You're right, there's nothing to talk about, I'm going back to the hotel, I'm tired”

You walked past him to the front of the bar, luckily catching a taxi that was passing by, leaving there with his words in his mouth.

Luckily the hotel was just a few minutes from the club, so you barely had time to check your phone before you were already wiping off your makeup and laying on your bed trying to forget everything that just happened.

On the other side, Pepe returned to the party, going immediately to get himself another drink, having to deal with everyone asking about you.

He was about to take a sip of his new drink when a certain song got to him, your song, the one you two would always scream to each other at parties. Suddenly every drop of alcohol in his vains disappeared, and he realised how bad he fucked up.

Everyone heard an excuse from him as he left his own party, getting into his car to make sure that he got to you as soon as possible.

You were close to sleeping, still in the dress you chose for the party when you heard knocks on the door.

“Y/n, please” The tone in his voice was different, but you were too pissed to notice

“I’m not in the mood for your shit, go throw it to some other girl”

Your face was pressed into a pillow, which muffled your voice even more

“I’m not going to say anything else stupid” He replied, his voice soft, almost begging “Please, I know i fucked up”

You rolled onto your bed until you were facing up, your gaze now on the door.

“More than enough for a single night” Making a joke was your last attempt to calm yourself down and not open the door to punch him.

He sat leaning on your door, he was not going to leave until at least he had the chance to look at your face and talk to you.

“I was stupid… I do like you, a lot, let's talk” You felt your heart shrink at his words, why the fuck would he do that to you? That wasn't fair come on

“How drunk are you right now?” As you talked to got up from your bed, letting his answer be the key to your next movement

“Cero, nothing, I don't have any alcohol left in me”

With that you opened the door, which clearly got him by surprise, making him end up on the floor, looking up at you.

“You were a complete dick tonight, you know that?”

“I- I thought that alcohol was making me braver and letting me do things I wasn't able to do without it, but it just made me act like an idiot”

Not for a moment did he thought about moving, not until you said otherwise 

“I'm sorry”

“You understand that that is not enough anymore right?”

He nodded while his gaze never left your figure, he knew he fucked up, big time actually and he would completely get it if you decided to just ignore him, but you deserved an actual conversation.

“Get in” You offered him your hand to help him get up, you didn’t want to have that kind of conversation where everyone could hear it.

“I mean it, I mean it when I say that I’m sorry, I thought that doing stuff after drinking was helping me to be brave about what I feel, but then I don’t know how to react to everything the morning after”

“Then why would you do stuff that you can’t face when you’re sober?” 

The way your voice sounded was still a tone he wasn’t used to, but he didn’t have any right to say something about it.

“I- I’m just not used to talking about my feelings, and I guess I’ve never learnt how to talk about them”

Your feelings were getting even more confusing by each second, because even though you were trying to be understanding with him it still pissed you that he wasn’t taking any accountability.

Until he talked again.

“And I know this is just a me problem, and you shouldn’t pay for my confused brain, but i thought that maybe if I gave myself time with you, I could- I don’t know, find a way or something”

“Do you know that all of this could be avoided if you just said this to me?”

“What? No, would've got mad at me”

“For communicating your feelings? Why would I do that?”

“Because I like you, but it’s confusing and I'm quite sure it’s not what was confusing for you and you’d get bored of me”

The moment he started rambling you got up on the bed and grabbed his face to catch his attention and make him shut up.

“I like you too, I also adore you as a friend, and that should be enough for you to know that I’m not leaving, I’ve waited years, I can wait a couple of months more”

“You sure you actually like me?”

“Of course I do, dumbass” You reassured him, and even though you tried to be the strong one, his little puppy eyes were melting you.

“How wrong would it be if I kissed you right now?”

You should say no, you know that.

But having him this close, being his normal self, not smelling like way too expensive vodka, was very tempting.

“Depends if you ignore me tomorrow” 

“I'll take you out tomorrow”

His eyes travelled lower to my lips, a silent plea for you to let him do what he was asking for.

“Please” 

That was the last straw, you pulled him into a kiss, but for the first time it didn't get heated after a few seconds, it was better. 

It had feelings

You had to be the one to pull away, and you could swear that Pepe's lips tried to follow yours for a second. 

“Thank you”

He would swear that he wasn't thanking you for the kiss, but he wouldn't have an answer if you asked, so he was very grateful you didn't do so

“You should go to sleep it's late, you can pr stuff tomorrow”

“Can I-?”

“Yes you can, it's not the first time we share a bed. Get some sporting pants from my bag, I’m tired”

Pepe stood there smiling like a fool at how perfectly you dealt with everything, but when you looked at him again it didn’t take him long to do exactly what you told him, noticing a pair of his own pants on your bag

He threw himself next to you, hiding his face in your neck while his hand moved around your waist

“Sleep well”

“You too, love you” That was the last thing that could have been heard in the room before you both fell asleep.