My eyes fluttered open and I groaned, hugging a heavy arm closer to my chest and burying my head in someone's chest.
Wait.
JJ's eyes were closed still, and his mouth was slightly parted as he quietly snored. His bandana was miraculously still wrapped around his forehead. I tried to stand, but he pulled me against him in his sleep and shifted slightly, so I cursed.
"Vik," I whispered. I noticed Vik wasn't in the room, so I figured he may have been awake. A few of the other guests had left, but Simon, Harry, Josh, and Tobi were still asleep and sprawled out on various couches and on the floor.
Vik came in and widened his eyes when he saw me, quickly rushing over and helping me get away from JJ.
"I'm so sorry," He told me. "He does that a lot."
I turned pink but shook my head, suddenly feeling the banging headache that I'd been expecting. "Oh God, I was battered, wasn't I? I'm sure it's not his fault."
At that, he chuckled and led me into the kitchen. "Maybe a little. Ethan spent the rest of the night bragging about how you stuck your tongue down his throat."
That made me blush even more. "Oh, he doesn't think I, uh—"
"No, he knows you were drunk," He explained.
"Thank God," I put my head in my hands and he handed me pain medicine, which I graciously accepted. "Do you think I could get a ride home?"
"Of course. It may take a few minutes for me to get ready, though."
I nodded, picking my bag up from the counter and pulling out one of my books, finally being able to read at least a little bit while I waited.
He smiled and walked away, so I sat down on the carpet and leaned against the wall, opening my book and getting quite far before I heard a chuckle from the other side of the room.
My eyes snapped up and I met JJ's, which were still slightly closed as he had just woken up. He grabbed a pillow and hugged it to his chest, giving me a smug look before speaking in a low voice.
"You woke up not ten minutes ago and you're already reading?"
I closed my book and blushed, and clearly he noticed my embarrassment because he laughed.
"Shut up, Jid," Tobi mumbled from his spot on the floor. "Reading is for smart people. You wouldn't get it."
I smirked and raised an eyebrow, but JJ closed his eyes again and ignored me.
Asshole.
Vik came back in and smiled at me, so I stood and got ready to follow him out when JJ spoke again.
"Is your roommate hot?"
My heart stopped and a heavy feeling weighed on my chest. Of course she was. She brought a different guy home every night. She had the perfect face, the perfect hair, and she was everything I wasn't.
I clenched my fists and looked down at the ground before scoffing. "You know what, you two would be perfect for each other."
"Can I come meet her?"
I put my head in my hands and refused to get jealous. I'd spent all of my jealousy on every other guy she'd brought home. "If you want."
He jumped to his feet and smirked at me, knowing it bothered me that he'd asked about her.
"I'll give her a ride, Vik," He rested his muscular arm around my shoulder and grabbed his keys, leading me out of the large house before I could protest.
We drove in silence all the way to my flat, and I was confident she was going to rip off his clothes as soon as she saw him.
He followed behind me as I made my way up to my flat, shoving the key in and immediately being greeted by Jenna grabbing my hands.
"Cassie, give me your card, I want some Chinese—oh wow who's this?"
She pushed past me and quickly made her way over to JJ, who smirked down at her but not before he gave me a questioning look.
"I'm JJ," He let her cling to his arm and lead him into the living room, so I sighed and set my card down next to Jenna before making my way into the kitchen.
"Cassie! Be a dear and get JJ some water."
I clenched my fists and nearly punched a hole in the wall but muttered an 'okay' before pouring a glass of water and going into the living room.
"Cassie, you never told me you had friends," Jenna smiled at me before looking at JJ. "She doesn't get out much. She works and then she comes home and sits in her room."
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep quiet, but JJ tilted his head at her. "What about you?"
"Oh, I get out all the time."
"Do you have a job?" JJ asked her.
I snorted, but quickly coughed to try and cover it up.
"Well, I've been out of work for a while."
He narrowed his eyes, looking over at me with a weird look in his eyes. I just shrugged.
"So Cassie would work less if you actually had a job?" JJ asked bluntly. It was the first time he'd called me by my name.
I widened my eyes and shot him a look, trying to tell him to shut up.
"Oh, she's fine. She works because she likes to," Jenna grinned and I wanted nothing more than to throw something at her.
"Well, you two have fun in here," I spoke quietly as I stood to my feet. "I'll be in my room. Don't bother saying goodbye or anything, JJ, just leave when you feel like it. Jenna, please don't spend too much on takeout like last time."
She just nodded, so I took that as my cue to storm away.
I plopped down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling, hating myself for not being more stern with Jenna. Hating myself for not forcing her to get a job.
Don't get me wrong. There were times she was nice. There were times when she'd give me advice on what to wear when I wanted to impress people, mainly in the spring since it was far too cold in the winter to wear tight clothes.
But there were also times when I hated her guts.
"Cass!" Jenna called. I groaned.
"What?"
"What do you want to eat?"
Shit. JJ was there. But I didn't want to spend more money than I had to, so I sighed.
"I'm just gonna eat here, Jen," I said quietly.
She was quiet for a minute. "Your friend says he'll pay."
I blushed, and I was glad my door was closed so they couldn't see. I rubbed my wrist nervously and bit my lip.
"Cass? You there?"
"Uh, yeah," I sighed and laid back down. "Tell him thanks, but I'm fine."
I pulled out my phone and earbuds, putting them both in my ears to drown out whatever conversation they were having in there. The music played loudly and I closed my eyes, relaxing as I fell back into my rhythm. I didn't need to read to escape my world.
I turned on my side to face the wall, so I didn't even notice when someone came into my room until they turned me to face them.
JJ pulled my earbuds out of my ears and sat down on the bed next to me, holding a tub of Chinese food.
"Hey, I was listening to that," I stated.
"Here you go," He held out the food and chopsticks to me so I sat up, not wanting to be rude despite the fact that he was a jerk to me, so I took it.
"I don't need any more proof that you're rich," I still opened the food and immediately started eating it, closing my eyes at how good it was. "Why're you in here, anyway?"
"Your roommate had to leave," He shrugged, looking away from me and at the wall as I ate. "So, you're her slave?"
I froze and quickly swallowed before glaring at him.
"No, I'm not. I'm just a nice person," I spat. "And that's none of your business."
"There's a difference between being nice and getting walked on."
"Oh yeah? And what would you know about that?"
"More than you'd think, Bookworm."
I licked my lips to clean off the sauce. "Why do you call me that?"
"Well, it was between that or 'Mouse'."
I scoffed. "Because I'm small?"
He chuckled. "I thought it was clever."
I shrugged. "I don't care what you call me, as long as it's not 'slave'."
"You have a deal."
I fidgeted with the sleeves of my sweater and looked away from him.
"The boys would love it if you came to film with us today," He gestured to my food that I'd set down. "You're not done yet."
I glared at him but continued eating. "You know, if you keep telling me what to do I'm either going to end up poor, fat, or both."
"Well, you're already one of those things."
My mouth dropped open and I whacked him with my pillow. "For your sake, I hope you're not calling me fat."
"I box, I can handle myself," He chuckled. "But no, I wasn't calling you fat. Just wanted to see your reaction."
So he was a boxer. No wonder his muscles were so defined.
"What do you mean by film?" I asked him as I finished eating. "Are you guys rich from making movies?"
He shook his head. "Better."
*****
I had already been way too social in the past couple of days, but JJ had somehow managed to convince me to leave my flat and come with him. And by convinced, I mean he literally threw me over his shoulder and kidnapped me.
"Hey! Fancy seeing you here," Simon came up to JJ and I, and my mood was slightly lifted at the smile on his face. "We're recording for an hour or so, but then we can all hang out or something."
I bit my lip and nodded, instinctively reaching for my bag but cursing when I remembered JJ had snatched it from me and thrown it on my bed before we left.
"What is it that you guys are filming?" I asked Simon nervously.
"We're doing a Tinder in real life video for our channel," Simon explained. "You can sit back there and watch if you'd like."
I nodded, but pulled out my wallet. "Is there a vending machine or something here that I can buy a soda or something?"
"Right over there," Simon gestured to the back of the room and I nodded, starting to walk away but not before a hand rested on my shoulder.
"Here," JJ handed me a bill and I rolled my eyes.
"I don't need your charity."
"I was just going to ask you to buy me one, too. Not everything's about you, Bookworm."
I turned red from embarrassment and turned away from him, striding over to the vending machine and cursing to myself. Why was he so annoying?
Like I said, sorry if it's boring without media and stuff.