FRAT BOY - Jaele

Sunrise

It was a warm, breezy Saturday in Autumn. The trees shivered as the morning brisk swept through the peaceful campus. 

A group of Sigma boys bustled downstairs with large garbage bags, picking up trash and discarding the remnants of their night before: crumpled red solo cups, beer cans and the occasional puddle of vomit. The rest of SAE leadership were exempt from partaking in that chore. 

Austin also allowed for Jace and Noah to be exempt, as they spent half of their night collecting funds for the fraternity. 

The SAE brothers thought that it was condescending of Austin, to say the least. Many of them were quickly realizing that the words "team effort" meant nothing if you were favored among the Chapter President. Some of them even tried to befriend him for the benefit of this special treatment, but they were not availed. 

Though the house was loud and filled with rambunctious scrambling, the activity of downstairs did not reflect the scene upstairs. 

Chirping tree birds graced Jace and Riele with their morning presence and the sun's bright rays poked through the curtains, brightening up the bedroom with every slow minute that passed. 

The two stirred cozily in the billowing waves of their cream-colored bed sheets. 

"Riele, wake up.", crooned Jace. His voice was low and throaty and his fingers prodded the soft skin on her shoulder.

"Good morning", replied Riele in a groggy voice. She kept her eyes closed to block out the sun.  

"I'm glad you didn't leave me in the middle of the night."

"I'm glad you didn't kick me out, frat boy." 

"Nah, I would never do that to you."

Jace bent his head down and placed a saliva stained kiss on Riele's lips.

"I'm still getting used to that.", Riele smiled and craned her neck to give him a smooch back.

There was a flash of angst in his round coffee-colored eyes that Riele recognized. She wondered if she was ready to discuss the night before, or perhaps it was too soon. They had just woken up after all. It was too early in the morning for her brain to comprehend everything that happened and she didn't want to scare him off with questions. She fought her heart not to skip a beat when he broke the silence.

"How're you feelin'?"

"Oh.. I'm fine. I'm kinda sore, but I can just take a hot bath when I get back to the Delta Gamma house." Riele reached to the floor and scooped up her strewn bra by its cups, sitting up in bed to put it on. 

There was an exquisite silence that held in the air between them. It was a peaceful silence, a quiet harmony of the two.

 Jace slid behind her to help fasten it. 

"Thanks.", Riele smiled and glanced back at her friend. She ran her fingers through his scruffy hair with affection. He snaked his arms around her midsection and placed butterfly kisses against her neck, sucking firmly on her warm skin. 

"Are you gonna be okay?", he questioned quietly against her skin.

"Yeah. I'm sure the soreness goes away after a while.", Riele tilted her head to allow Jace better access to her neck.

He leaned his head against hers and stared at the doorway. 

"Nah. I mean - we didn't use protection last night.", Jace whispered.

Riele sighed, slightly annoyed. It wasn't Jace's fault. It was the one and only thought that she was desperately trying to avoid thinking about this morning's fault.