Stay With Me (Merome)

Chapter 21

Mitch's POV

We ended up not streaming.

Not because the hospital didn't like the idea.

Not because we never got around to asking them.

Not because Merome was now circulating like wildfire.

Not because Jerome or I got cold feet at the idea of kissing and announcing Merome, though Jerome did seem to mirror my slight hesitation.

I. Blame. The. Weather.

We'd gone ahead on the idea to talk to Lia. Not to delete the tweet though that was a part of it, but I guess we all wanted to know where we stood.

I drove over there with Jerome. He turned to me in his seat, then opened his mouth. "How do you think she'll react?"

"Hopefully she won't be the crazed bitch you all see her as."

"Come on, we had good reason!" Jerome argued. "Hey, excuse me for wanting to believe my ex isn't some insane person out to get me. My boyfriend probably already is, so I don't need to add her to the list as well."

"Oh haha Mitch, but seriously. If she's willing to defy the almightly Ashley, her now new BFF, then what will it mean for me, and you? You're the one that got away, and I'm the one who you've been kissing."

"You know, I'm still questioning how she knew Merome is real." I blushed at this. "I think I know."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"Uh, I said we kissed. To her face." Jerome looked at me in astonishment and I blushed. "Hey, I was kinda angry, okay? Plus, the main reason I was there was to tell her about that, and I guess she deduced what had happened after." I defended myself, but Jerome raised his hands innocently. "I said nothing." I grinned at him and he dropped his hands slowly. "So what will you do?" Jerome finally asked, and I thought for a minute. "Talk to her."

"More like beg her to take you back."

"Jerome!"

"What? Calling it like I see it." He smirked teasingly and I frowned. "Hey, if you'd like me to go..." I drawled, and Jerome instantly threw on his best worried face. "Oh no, I was kidding, you know that, right Mitch?" I looked at him as he looked at me in surprise, then smirked. "Okay, let's just quit while we're ahead." I told Jerome, pulling up to her place.

We knocked on the door loudly, and Lia answered it, then gave a start of surprise. "Mitch!" She gasped, and then her voice became flat. "Jerome." She muttered curtly. "I'll be blunt. Delete the tweet. I don't care how funny you thought that was. It isn't amusing to us." Lia looked at me in surprise, then shook her head. "I refuse."

"Seriously. Is this revenge for me breaking up with you?" I exploded, and Lia shook her head stoutly. "I refuse to delete it. Anyway, if it's gone now, won't it seem more suspicious?" She queried, and I had to admit she had a point, but I couldn't let her win. "Yeah? You've already started the fire Lia, don't tell me leaving it there isn't inviting more people to see it burn us."

"If you're already burnt, then you may wait to become ashes before you rise again." She mimicked, then started pushing the door. "Don't think you get off so easily." I warned her, mentally resolving to come over again. She just lightly chuckled. "Oh Mitch, if only that were true." She shut the door, and Jerome finally talked. "Well, that was fun!" He quipped, and I threw a dirty look at him. "Thanks for the back-up there."

"Hey, I didn't have anything helpful to add to that."

"Yeah, but you could have tried! She's now going to think she won, and we can't have that!" I screeched, and Jerome shrugged. "There's other ways to win." I started a furious retort, then bit it back as the wheel started to play up. "Uh. Jerome." I said quickly, trying not to alarm him.

We slid down the straight road, the steering wheel completely frozen. I tried not to panic, but as I pressed on the breaks, we skidded faster than ever. "Jerome. I can't do anything."

"Of course you can!" He screeched as a sharp bend in the road approached. I tried to turn again, but when I failed, my hands flew to my head as the car started to skid in circles, off the road, and into a tree.

Slowly, I dropped my arms. Hey. I was okay. The car hadn't crashed on my side. Instead, it had crashed on... Jerome. I looked at him. His window was smashed, shards of glass scattered around him as his head tilted towards the door, and his eyes were closed. "Oh shit." I breathed as I scrabbled for my seatbelt. His door was against the tree, the metal having bent during the impact. Had it hurt him? "Come on Jerome, tell me you're okay!" I muttered, shaking him. After what felt like infinities, he opened his mouth. "Remember you can always crash into something if all else fails." He whispered cheekily, before blacking out again.

Based off my real life experience! Except it was different as well. Not so bad, everyone was conscious, we only tore off a wheel, no tree, ect. So very loosely based off it.

Also, slightly random request, but can we get a few more votes for chapter 10? I'd love to be able to get the votes averaged out on that chapter :)

Amber

A/N: Sorry for the spam, the chapter wasn't publishing because it is a huge butt, and also, thanks everyone for over 5k reads!