Barely Legal (Julian Casablancas)

.::Chapter Forty-Nine||Evil::.

        Julian told Janae he was coming over—there was something he needed to ask her. Which was exactly why he was seeing red when he got to the door of her apartment.

The beat of the bass drowned out the muffled sound of voices coming from inside. He hadn't meant to avoid her for the entirety of the week, but he couldn't tell her where he had gone; or what he was doing.

Between trying to get a job and telling his parents the news, he simply didn't have time for much else, including rehearsals with the band.

        "Hey!" Tiffany yelled over the music. Her smile faded when seeing Julian wasn't nearly as happy to see her. He stood from his slouch, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his black leather jacket. He hadn't seen Tiffany since December, since he was away when she had came back from her modeling campaign in Miami.

"The fuck's Jay?"

"Bedroom. I don't know what's up with her—she seriously just invited a bunch of people here and then went to her room."

Julian's brows meshed; a borderline grimace curling his lips up as he looked to Tiffany in utter disbelief. "This ain't your doin'?"

"What?!"

"Jay threw this party?!"

Tiffany nodded, and for the first time Julian had ever seen, she looked nervous. "Go easy on her, she's...  unstable." Tiffany patted Julian's arm before making her way through the crowd to find Albert.

         If he wasn't pissed before, he certainly was now. Not only had Janae intentionally ignored his request they speak privately, she went on to invite the whole fucking block over.

He found himself squeezing the small box in his pocket, contemplating the answers to the questions his mother had asked him.

Was this really what he wanted?

Would Janae act like a scorned lover with a petty vendetta because of his unexpected absence?

This wasn't just Janae's life, or his life—it was a whole other new life they probably weren't ready to take on—he certainly wasn't sure if he was capable of taking it on, but he was certain he was going to try his best.

        Julian knocked on Janae's door, waiting impatiently for a response. He went ahead and turned the knob, finding that the door was locked.

He sighed heavily through his nose in frustration. He wasn't about to try and beat the door down this time or even unlock it—he was going to wait for Janae to answer.

"Jay, it's me...open the door." Julian said, his palms beginning to sweat.

        The door swung open, revealing a tired eyed Janae. Her brown hair was piled up in a messy bun with loose wisps framing her face. Although it had only been a week, and despite wearing sweat pants and an oversized sweater, it was obvious she'd lost weight. Julian could see her clavicle was more pronounced, noticing her breasts had even gone down in size.

        "What are you doing here?" Janae spoke without much expression; her lips barely moving with her words.

"I told you I was coming in Saturday."

"When did you tell me that?" Janae seemed thoroughly confused.

        Julian pushed past her, closing the door behind him with his hand on her shoulder. He gripped the tops of her arms while biting down on his bottom lip, guiding her toward the light of the lamp next to the bed.