Beautiful Broken Mess(93)
“You’re perfect,” he whispers.
Just as I try to think of a snarky comment, the sky begins to spin and I suddenly don’t feel as well as I did two minutes ago. I must have stood up too fast. I feel a clammy coldness engulf my skin. I push off of Jace and try to step as far away from him as possible. When I reach the opposite side of the large air-conditioning unit, my stomach heaves.
Jace is immediately behind me, scooping my hair out of my face and steadying me with one hand on my hip. Embarrassed, I remember one of my many reasons I’ve never had a drink. With my hair safely out of the disaster zone, he rubs my back gently.
Jace was right earlier. Who was going to help me when I reached this point? I’d be lying to myself if I thought Garrett or Mason would actually stand here and help me while I’m sick and humiliated.
Tears begin to squeeze out of my eyes and Jace soothes my discomfort.
“Shh, it’s okay. You’re not alone, I’m here,” he whispers. He doesn’t rush or condemn me. He waits patiently for the moment when my stomach is finally empty and my body begins to sag in exhaustion. Gently, he scoops me up into his arms and carries me away.
- Twenty -
JACE -
If someone had asked me a year ago if I would ever lie on the cold, hard tile of my bathroom floor for a girl, I would have laughed in their face. But here I am with my cheek squashed into the freezing stone and a little bit of my drool underneath. I push off the ground, wipe off my face, and rise to a sitting position.
I finally passed out last night after watching poor Audrey spend more than half the night hugging the toilet bowl. I’m almost positive that she’ll never be doing that again. After she apologized to me for the hundredth time, I rubbed her back, slipped down to the floor, and made a pillow out of my towel, while she laid her head on my chest.
The bathroom isn’t very big but I still do a quick search to confirm that she’s not in here. The sneaky escape artist strikes again, and I didn’t get a chance to apologize or make anything right with her before she took off. Her newfound friendship with the porcelain god didn’t exactly put her in the best position to have a serious talk.#p#分页标题#e#
Sluggishly, I make my way out to the kitchen, bypassing my bedroom altogether because I know she’s not here. I spot a bright green sticky-note affixed to the fridge when I round the counter. Sloppy handwriting is scribbled across the surface.
Here’s my number for next time. Sorry we had to skip out. I tried to wake you but you sleep like a damn rock and I sure as hell wasn’t about to carry your ass to bed, princess. – Lane
I pull my phone out of my jeans that I’m still wearing from last night and quickly call both Audrey and Lane’s numbers. Both go straight to voicemail. Typical.
If I want to graduate this year, I have to get my ass to class and beg for forgiveness for my missed days last week. I’m hoping the fact that I was so far ahead will help my case. I jump in and out of the shower quickly and rush over to the girls’ apartment because our fridge is empty as hell. I knock twice and let myself in. I find Em sitting on the couch, looking better than I’ve seen her in days. Chuck rushes up to my legs and sits at my feet like I taught him. Immediately, I begin walking around the apartment to look for her.
“She’s not here,” Em calls out.
“Then why is Chuck here?” I reach down and scratch him behind the ears.
“I forgot that I agreed to watch him while her and Lane went out of town,” she says, grabbing for her cereal bowl.
“They went out of town? Together?” I ask, trying to keep the uneasiness out of my voice.
“I thought you were going to make everything better last night?”
“That was the plan. Obviously things changed.”
“Last week, Audrey asked him if they could go check out New York to see if it was somewhere she’d want to move to...after graduation,” she adds timidly.
“Hell no. Hell no. Over my dead body,” I claim.
“I was hoping you’d say that. But since you’re in the same boat as I am and can’t afford to miss any more days of class, you’ll have to wait here for her to come back.” She smiles brightly as if that’s the best fucking news she’s heard all day.
“You’re happy about this?” I ask incredulously.
“Hell yeah, I want to see you grovel in person. Hearing it secondhand is never as fun,” she confides.
“You’re lucky I have to love you,” I tease.
“Hey, I have to make up for all those years I never had a brother.”
“Funny, I never actually wanted a sister.” And just like that we fall back into our normal banter and easy relationship. “Chuck’s gonna stay with me, okay?”