Spring Break Fever

Chapter 7: Jealousy

"Ready?" Peter asks, somewhat nervously hesitating his hands above her head.

"Wait a sec," she replies, sitting up slightly and pulling the scrunchy from her hair, before laying back down and saying, "Okay, now I'm ready."

He takes in a breath, before pushing his fingers through her hair. He's tense at first for some reason, this whole situation seeming weird and uncomfortable. But when she starts yelling out answers to Wheel of Fortune, he starts focusing on that more and playing along with her. So eventually, before even realizing it, they're both playing the game, and his back is relaxed against the headboard, and his thumbs are absentmindedly pressing into her temples. He looks at her while she watches the TV; smiling sometimes, frowning sometimes, yelling out answers. As hard as he tries, he can't look away from her.

About half an hour later, right as he's about to tell MJ his hands are tired and he's done rubbing her head, he looks down to see her already asleep. Her eyes are shut and her breathing is steady, and her arm is draped over his leg. He laughs a little and tries his hardest not to wake her as he reaches down, pulling the blanket up and over her curled up legs. And then he gulps, lightly using the backs of his fingers to trace along her jaw, her cheek, trying to ignore the quickening of his heartbeat as he feels her smooth, warm skin against his.

After realizing how weird that actually probably is, he moves his hand back and relaxes against the headboard again, now laying down himself. She shifts then in her sleep, letting out an unconscious sigh, before wrapping her arm around his leg, getting closer. He watches her for a while after that, just content seeing her slow, steady breath. And then, eventually, he falls asleep too.

They wake up to the sound of three extremely loud knocks on the door, followed by Abby yelling, "We need you guys to help us set up the party!"

MJ just groans and rolls over, and Peter sits up with a yawn, feeling an awful crick in his neck from sleeping mostly upright.

"Michelle? Peter? Seriously, guys, are you in there?" Jennifer now yells, and MJ groans again, before finally sitting up.

"We'll be out in five!" MJ yells out, before leaning over and rubbing her temples.

"Is your hangover any better?" Peter asks, rubbing his eyes and stretching.

"Yeah, mostly," she sighs, pulling her hair back again. "What time is it?"

"It's..." Peter starts, then looks at his phone. "Almost twelve thirty."

"Shit," MJ laughs, now setting her feet on the ground and standing up. She's still in her bra and underwear from last night, but he tries not to act like it bothers him. "That explains why I'm so hungry."

"Yeah, me too," Peter agrees, making his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

She pulls some shorts and a shirt on, and then right as he's coming out of the bathroom, she's going in. He gets dressed and attempts to fix his hair while she brushes her teeth, and then they're ready to go.

"Finally!" Jennifer laughs, walking up to them on the dock. Jordan's beside her—his arm casually over her shoulder—but Abby's nowhere in sight.

"Where's Abby?" MJ asks, looking around. Then Jennifer points down the dock, laughing as both MJ and Peter turn to look.

"She's over there heavily flirting with that cute snack bar boy," Jennifer laughs, sighing and shaking her head. "At least it's not one of our boyfriends this time though, right?"

"Yeah," MJ nods, laughing quietly. Peter looks down at the dock, trying to fight the fact that he's jealous that she's jealous.

And why exactly is he jealous? Maybe they've been faking this for too long.