69And here's chapter thirteeeeen! Getting on a bit now, crikey. I have to say, I love Alice in this chapter (:
Thanks for all the reviews I got and the alerts I was added to. They keep me motivated and always make me wanna improve, so thanks a lot, guys :D
Hope you enjoy this. I enjoyed writing it.
Word Count: 1,825
"I was watching that!" Jay stated, turning round on the sofa and glaring at Greg.
"That show is a total waste of time," Greg muttered, changing the settings on the TV. "The Wii is a hundred times better."
"Mario Kart, please!" Jay practically squealed, sitting up and leaning to grab a console controller.
I laughed at their antics as I lay on the living room floor of their home. A book lay open in front of me, but I kept getting distracted far too often. These two were definitely not quiet company to keep.
Jay had been discharged on Wednesday afternoon; it was now Saturday. He had to go back for weekly check-ups, but the doctors had felt happy enough to let him go home. I'd spent every day at his house. Sometimes I'd worry that I was overstaying my welcome, but when I brought this up with Jay, he'd tell me to stop being silly, pull me into a hug and tell me that he'd hate it if I weren't around.
So, for the time being, I was practically living at Jay's. I'd sleep over every now and then, usually when Greg was out and about so I had a bed to sleep in; the thought of being away from Jay for too long made my stomach turn.
Okay, so I was perfectly aware that I might have been worrying a little too much, but I couldn't help it, no matter how hard I tried.
I was also glad to find that his Mom didn't mind me being here as often as I was. She'd said that as long as I was helping Jay and being good to him, I was able to stay for as long as I liked, which made me incredibly happy.
The boys were quickly becoming engrossed in their game, so I was finally able to focus back on my book. However, it wasn't long before a knock came from the front door. Guess who was made to answer it?
"Aliiice?" Greg began to plead, dragging my name out. "Could you get the door?" His eyes never left the TV screen, so I figured it was pointless trying to argue with him.
"What did your last slave die of?" I muttered as I made my way across the room, book still in hand.
"Ooh, it was an awful case of syphilis! Drove her insane, bless her. Serves her right for being such a tart, though," he rambled, acting completely serious.
Laughing to myself, I made my way to the door. When I tugged it open, however, my laughs ceased immediately and my temper began to sizzle.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I snarled, attempting to block the doorway from Gem as much as I possibly could.
"I could ask you the same thing," she retorted, giving me the dirtiest look she could possibly muster.
Ignoring her attempt to insult me, I asked, "What do you want?"
"To see Jay, obviously," she said, talking to me as though I was completely stupid. "Is that illegal?"
"It bloody well should be for a heartless cow like you," I snapped, injecting as much venom into my voice as possible.
Gem looked like she'd been slapped; her mouth had dropped open and her eyes were a little wider than normal. "You wanna say that again?" she growled, bristling slightly.
"I shouldn't have to, surely? I thought dogs had brilliant hearing."
The insult had hardly passed my lips before Gem lunged at me, her hands latching onto my hair like claws. She pulled and tugged as hard as she could; my hair felt as though it was close to parting ways with my scalp. I let out a surprised yelp and chucked my book at her before elbowing her in the stomach, causing her to let go of me.
"What are you doing?!" I shrieked, my hands covering my sore head.
"Teaching you a lesson! You can't talk to me like that!" she cried, gesturing wildly with her hands.
"Sorry, dear, but the truth hurts," I hissed, glaring at her as viciously as possible.
Gem went to lunge at me again, but stopped herself when Greg came into the hallway and said, "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"I want to see Jay," she said again through gritted teeth.
"Well, he doesn't want to see you, so piss off," he told her calmly.
"Why the hell not?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
Greg was about to reply, but I got there first and I was ready to totally rip the girl to shreds.
"Why not? Why not?! Because you turned out to be some conniving little whore and bedded some other guy behind his back!" She opened her mouth to shout something back at me, but I carried on, ignoring her. "You are the most ungrateful little tart I have ever been unfortunate enough to meet. You totally messed Jay around and you had no right to! Do you know how hard it is to sit and watch the guy you're crazy about get fucked over by some tramp like you? It kills me! And it hurts so much because I know for a fact I'd be a million times better for him!"
By the time I'd finished my rant, I was practically screaming. No one said anything – I got the impression everyone was somewhat shell-shocked by my outburst. The TV had gone silent, too, so I assumed Jay had paused the game…meaning he'd have heard everything I'd just said. Fabulous.
Gem opened her mouth a couple of times, trying to find something to say. Finally she said, "Fine. I think I'll go." She said it quietly and subdued enough, but I hadn't calmed down yet.
"You should never have fucking turned up!" I screeched, moving towards her and forcing her out of the door.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to face Greg.
"Leave this to me. Go upstairs and calm down," he instructed, nudging me towards the stairs.
Breathing deeply, I shot up the stairs and sat down on the edge of the bath in the bathroom, which was directly opposite the stairs. Holding my head in my hands, I looked at the floor, my right leg jigging constantly. I was still utterly fuming, not to mention I was worried I'd said too much when I'd had my rant at Gem. I wasn't bothered about Jay having heard what I'd said – I just wished he hadn't heard it in that way. Embarrassment started to kick in and I started to panic about going back downstairs.
The front door closed. A moment of silence and then a hushed conversation. Footsteps started to pound up the stairs and I knew they'd head straight for the bathroom. I only looked up when I heard the door open. No one actually entered the room, though.
Jay leant against the door frame, frowning thoughtfully. "Did you mean it?" he asked. "Everything you just said?"
There was no point in being quiet and shy about it, now. "Every word."
I don't know why, but I half expected him to turn away and leave, to avoid the bathroom at all costs until I'd left. So I was ever so slightly surprised when he came over and knelt down in front of me, lifting my head up to look him in the eye with his index finger.
"Good. 'Cause I'm crazy about you, too. I have been for ages. As for why I didn't say something sooner, I don't know…" He trailed off and continued to just look at me.
My mouth was open ever so slightly. I didn't know what to say. It was like my mind had gone completely blank; no words were forming at all. So, considering actions tend to speak louder than words, I grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled him towards me and kissed him. Maybe a little too forcefully, but he didn't complain and he didn't pull away.
It took him a second or two to get over the surprise, but he eventually started to kiss me back. His hands went round my waist and pulled me towards him, causing me to slip off the side of the bath and onto my knees, just like he was.
My hands ended up tangled in his hair and he tugged on my waist again, eliminating all of the space that had been left between us. He ran his tongue along my bottom lip and I opened my mouth a little, deepening the kiss.
It was like when we kissed back in the forest, but a hundred times better because we weren't doing anything wrong this time. There was no Gem involved now, no one but me and Jay, and that was just the way I liked it. There was no reason to stop and I'd have happily stayed exactly the way we were for hours.
After five minutes of solid kissing and a little groping, we pulled apart, breathing heavily. We leant our foreheads together and looked at each other for a moment; then we started grinning and giggling to ourselves.
"My knees hurt," I said through the giggles.
"Your knees hurt? Think of mine! I've been down here longer than you have," Jay pointed out, tickling my ribs and making me double over and squeal.
In an attempt to stop being tickled, I curled into a ball and fell to the floor. Naturally, I pulled Jay down with me. He fell on top of me and our laughter came to an abrupt halt as we gazed at each other. He leaned down and kissed me again, gently this time, and then pulled away; he looked as though he was trying to force himself to say something.
"Alice?" he said quietly, brushing the odd strand of hair off of my face.
"Mmhm?" I mumbled questioningly, closing my eyes as he stroked my forehead with his fingers.
He took a deep breath. I kept my eyes closed. "Will you be my girl?"
There they were. The words that had just made my millennium.
I opened my eyes slowly and attempted to bite back the huge smile that broke out over my face, but I didn't succeed. I was grinning like a Cheshire cat, not daring to fully believe Jay had just asked me out. But he was still looking at me with an inquisitive expression on his face, so I assumed he wasn't pulling my leg.
"I thought you'd never ask."
Tugging on his shirt again, I pulled him towards me and his grin matched my own. After a short kiss, I hugged him and buried my face in the crook of his neck, taking in the scent of whatever cologne he'd put on that morning.
Still grinning, I kissed his neck and closed my eyes.
It was official: I was the happiest girl in the world.