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

Chapter 36

a/n: listen to Fallin' All In You by Shawn Mendes / New Year's Day by Taylor Swift  while reading this and I will love you forever. That was my PSA. 

I wake up to the sound of chimes- a groan coming from next to me as Jase curses, and I can feel the muscles in his chest- the one I'm currently curled into- grow taut as he reaches backwards to turn off the alarm.

"Morning," I whisper, turning my head and realizing that we're still tangled in a woven tapestry of blankets and pillows and arms and legs and my hair, which seems to have spilled out of its bun overnight.

"Morning, Red," Jase says, but it's in a different way than a usual customary 'good morning'- his voice is soft and warm and I feel his fingertips lightly graze against my cheekbone before cupping my chin, forcing me to look up at him, at the deep blue eyes that are still dazzling, even with the faded dark circles underneath. The sky behind him is a brilliant burnt orange like it's been lit on fire, spreading to the ocean and making it hard to tell if I'm staring at water or a great lake of flames. I've barely ever been awake early enough for the sunrise, and when I have, I've never noticed it like this.

"So," I say, not even trying to hide the grin on my face as I look over at where he's lying next to me. "Last night."

I'm trying to stay awake as I talk, but with each word, my eyelids feel heavier and soon I close them again, moving myself even closer to Jase until I can practically feel his breath on the back of my neck, sending goosebumps down my spine. "Last night," he says back, his voice soft and his words slow. "Last night was... impulsive."

"Reckless."

"Stupid," he adds, his fingers running through a strand of my hair as I open my eyes for a second before closing them again, just long enough to see the dimpled grin on Jase's face. "But maybe we could... be stupid again sometime?"

"You know, that actually sounds really nice," I murmur against his chest, not bothering to open my eyes again. "But can we have maybe... five more minutes to sleep?"

"Five minutes. That can't hurt," I hear Jase say, and suddenly I can hear the exhaustion in his voice, too. We were up pretty late last night... but we need to get to school soon. We can't exactly sleep in.

But five minutes will be fine.

--

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit!"

I wake up to Jase cursing and the sun, staring me directly in the eyes as I groan, a dull ache throbbing through my forehead. "W-what's going on?" I manage to mutter, rolling over onto my side to see Jase get up, running a hand through his hair as he looks at his cell phone. "Red," he says, and though his voice is gentle and quiet, the insistence in it makes my head hurt all the same. "It's already 8:30. We have to go."

I groan, sitting up as the dull ache turns into throbbing pain. "What the hell?" I hear myself mutter, the words ragged and mumbly. This isn't quite the worst headache I've ever had (I mean, I just recovered from a concussion), but it... isn't great, either.

Jase gives me an amused smile. He certainly looks a hell of a lot better than I feel, but there are still slight dark circles under his eyes and his hair is messy, falling in clumps that either stick up or wave down over his face. It almost would make him look more attractive if my head wasn't pounding.

"How are you feeling?" Jase asks, a punchable smirk on his face. A kissable smirk on his face, really, I think as I look up at him.

Ha. And I did kiss it...

Holy shit. I KISSED JASE TURNER?

"I-uh-" I try to focus on something other than him, my gaze darting wildly around me to the sky, catching on the sun. Which apparently was a bad idea, since the throbbing pain in my head has just intensified, and the world around me seems to be spinning like a top. "Bright. Everything is very bright."