The Second || 𝘩.𝘴.

『15』| 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙽𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝙿𝙸𝚃

"What?" Confusion laced my tone of speak.

"About you and Clem."

"You're always clueless."

"Well. Accepted. Geez." He replied, bruised by my blunt retaliation.

"Smoothie. Or I lose my identity." Ivy spoke in irritation. "I need my juice!"

"What's so good in the juice anyway?" Ace teased, as she groaned loudly, her fingers going to the roots of her dark brown hair.

"You know what, I'm not going to explain myself to you." Ivy flatly replied. "Harlow's is the epitome of culture, like you would've known that."

"None of us knew that, Ivy." Vera was quick to deny for Ace.

"Culture's this, you see." Ace tried to explain. "It's all around us. What's a smoothie shack got that these streets don't?"

Ivy was caught in silence for a moment, before she sighed. "My strawberry matcha. Come on please! It's a block away."

"Harry." Max stated with annoyance.

"Fine. Fine. We'll get your strawberry matcha." Harry told her, as I held back a snicker at the way strawberry matcha was said. "But if you don't talk Starlight in the next twenty four hours, you'll never see Harlow's again."

"Strawberry matcha, huh? Where's my matching purse?" I joked, as Ivy rolled her eyes.

Ace chuckled while Vera heartily laughed.

"Those are only on Wednesdays."

"Fuck, she wasn't kidding." I continued to screw around, no cap.

[[ VERA. ]]

Two days later, midnight roared, swallowing me into the nightlife. Meanwhile, Ace was pleading Max to drive the mystery machine, and with just a little more conviction, he finally let him get behind the wheel.

Just as Ace would, he switched the gears and found the speed to be flight. The mystery machine sped and weaved through lane after lane, on the open Vegas road.

I shrilled, when we went even faster, Ivy cursing and holding onto Harry for dear life when Ace had taken a sharp turn and built up adequate velocity.

"I love you, Vera," Max said, cupping my face in his hands as my eyes met his.

"We're going to die if he doesn't slow down," I spoke over the sound of lively conversation filling the mystery machine and the bustling city just a window away.

"I love you."

"I—"

Before I could say what I was going to say, his lips met mine tenderly, as I heavily kissed him back with just as much force, skin to skin, nose to nose, and thigh to thigh. I'm straddling his waist without a single care until Carmen lets out a drunken holler from the backseat.

"Hey, buddy." I peered over Max's shoulder as my fingers snaked around the nape of his neck.

"Hi. I'm right here." Carmen said. "At least there was a door last time, you know? Like what is going on here?"