Caught In Your Chaos ✓

Chapter Seventy-Nine

A wave of nausea pulled me out of my warm relaxing slumber and had me stumbling across the room. I burst into the bathroom and retched myself with such force that my throat burnt. I knelt on the floor, taking support of the bathtub. The recollection of my whereabouts and the events of the previous night came next. My head was still pounding like someone hammered my skull with a sledgehammer.

I remembered how I clung to Jake back from the club till I finally drowned in my sleep. That shouldn't have happened, not after the embarrassing resignation he had put me through. Why I had to always end up crossing paths with him? Jake was like a shadow man out of my fantasy novel. The character who ends up being your fate.

The sound of toilet flushing had me shudder out of my reverie. It wasn't Jake, and I couldn't be more thankful for that. It was Jess. She reached over me and stroked a strand of hair from my forehead. My cheeks heated with the memory of me behaving like a brat when she came to comfort me earlier that week. "You should never take eyes off your drinks at any time when you are in a club." She handed me a towel.

"Yeah, I learned it the hard way." I laughed hoarsely.

"You did." She helped me back to the room. My eyes instantly traveled the length of the empty bedroom. "In case you are wondering, Jake fights tonight. He left for the gym, but I'm here if you need anything."

"I think I need a bath and something fresh to wear. I can't wear my dress back to the dorm."

"Have you seen the weather outside? I suggest we hit the road after the rain stops. Can't you wear something from your boyfriend's wardrobe?" She gave me a frown pointing towards Jake's dresser. "Borrow his oversized hoodie or something."

"He's not my boyfriend," I protested, wanting to throw up again with the uneasiness creeping into me.

"Yeah, and I'm not a sucker for BTS," she rolled her eyes shuffling towards the door. "Stop this unnecessary angst already, both of you. I can't handle two angsty teenagers at a time. Give me a break. Anyways, I was messing with you. I've got your clothes, but I left them in my car. Let me get them for you while you take a shower."

Once she was out of the room, I looked at the dresser and contemplated her words. Fuck it! I need to take a shower and jump back to sleep. I could decide other things later on when I wasn't carrying an overbearing hangover.

My black dress was in one of the safe corners of his wardrobe, along with his t-shirts. He had cleaned it up for me. When did he get time to do that? I placed it back and pulled out a fluffy white bathrobe hanging inside. It smelled of detergent and eau de toilette, a faint fragrance of Jake's scent too. That sealed the deal for me.

I stepped into the shower, and the hot water washed away some of my dizziness. I leaned my back against the wall and tried making sense of all of Jake's actions. One moment I felt we were closer, and the next moment he was miles away from me. I spent a nice amount of time showering away the haze that surrounded my mind.

After drying myself, I put on the bathrobe with a soothing smell lingering in the fabric and stepped out of the bathroom. I found my bag on the bed. While I was pulling out my clothes, my eyes fell on the yellow piece of paper attached to the bedside lamp. Did Jake leave me a note?

I sat on the bed and pulled out the sticky note. It was in Jake's handwriting.

I'm sorry, Amy, but I had to leave. Please take the painkillers to help with the headache. I've made some scrambled eggs for breakfast. I was short on groceries. *sad smiley*

Things like that made me realize how much Jake's gesture made me feel so strongly about him. I folded the note in half and downed the aspirin he had left on the nightstand. Maybe, it wasn't all dark skies, there were still streaks of silver lining peeking through the darkness, and that was enough for me to keep hoping for us.