Living With The Bad Boy [COMPLETE][VERSION ONE]

Chapter 18

Sienna

This time I wake up slower, more relaxedly. My eyes flutter softly open, and I can barely remember where I am, but for some reason, it isn't scary. Jase and I are wrapped around each other, my head resting on his shoulder until I move it, the back of our hands touching, our arms wrapped around each other. He's asleep, and I don't mean to, I really don't, but I catch a glimpse at his gorgeous features- the small crease in his forehead, the single dimple etched into his left cheek, like someone forgot to draw the other one. The soft, messy brown waves of hair falling over his forehead...

Wait a second. Why am I staring at Jase Turner's face? Why are we entangled, a crisscross of arms and legs together?

Why is Jase here in the first place?
I'm saved from that thought, thankfully, by the sound of the door creaking open. "...worry about it. She's going to wake up soon and it'll all be-" Lizbeth and my mother stop in their tracks when they see me awake, my head up and off the pillow.

"Sienna!" I don't think my mom even notices Jase lying next to me, and thank god for that. "I can't believe you're awake!" She runs over, crushing me in a hug that kind of hurts, but it's alright. I'm glad to see her, too. There are times in your life where you just need your mom, and right now is one of them.

When she finally lets me go from her embrace, her hands still on my shoulders, she looks me up and down, like she's not sure I'm really here. "How are you feeling? When did you wake up? Has the doctor seen you yet? Are you-"

I'm saved from answering her barrage of questions by Jase. He sits up, pushing back his hair from his face. I'm not sure why he bothers. The hair just falls back over his forehead again. Adorably.

Why did I just think that?

"Damn, I didn't know there was going to be a party. You guys should've invited me."

Lizbeth rolls her eyes. "Jase, why don't we give Sienna and her mom some time together?"

Jase stretches, turning and stepping off the bed. His fingertips graze mine for a last time before he and his mom leaves. I'm sure it's an accident, but the touch sends shivers through me. I really shouldn't be feeling like this. Especially with Jase. Especially while I'm sort-of dating Noah. "No problem," he says, looking back at me with a little smile that makes my heartbeat quicken before he and Lizbeth step out of the room.

My mother is... concerned, to say the least, about me. She insists on finding my doctor and spends way too long asking him all about second-degree burns and the long-term effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. And also the concussion I apparently sustained? Somehow I have no recollection of that at all.

Which, as Dr. Chase tells me, is the entire problem. Due to a mix of the blunt force trauma from hitting my head, the carbon monoxide poisoning, and the acute stress from the experience... I now have amnesia.

Sort of.

Basically, I can't remember anything about the fire. My last memory is of walking past Jase and into the school. After that... it's all a blank slate.

However, it is nice to get some of my mother's undivided attention. I haven't seen her as much lately, and the absence of evenings spent cooking together, me ranting about my classes in between bites of the curry still simmering on the stove. Everything at Turner Manor (no, I'm not joking, that's legitimately the name of their house) is so much nicer and easier, but I still miss the way things used to be.

But for some reason, only a little bit.

When Lizbeth comes back in and finally drags my mother out of the room, I don't refuse, though. She looks like she's aged overnight, the slight wrinkles on her forehead and around her mouth becoming more pronounced from stress. She needs to relax. Get some coffee and finally think about herself instead of me. Because I'm fine.