The girls had taken my news exactly the opposite to how I'd assumed. Instead of being weirded out, they were all excited and happy, creating different scenarios aloud that all ended in Jason and I living a happily ever after.
"Maybe you guys will go on to be like Bonnie and Clyde," Savannah grins excitedly, flipping her fringe out of her eyes. She purses her lips and concentrates on Adison directing her towards Kyle's new place. "I mean, you both have the chemistry and the looks and-"
"And they're not criminals," Breanna cuts in. "I say they'll end up married in a white picket-fence house, with three children and a happy dog,"
"Girls," I try to interject but I'm ignored.
"No way!" Ella scoffs. "They'll become famous singers together before pronouncing their love, and then the world will go crazy for them both,"
"Nah," Adison laughs. "I think they'll date in secret, no paparazzi,"
"Not everybody dates in secret, Adison," Sav smirks, finally pulling up in front of the apartment complex where Kyle now lives.
"Shut up," Adie blushes and she's the first one to quickly exit the car and slam the door shut behind she. She avoids our eyes when we get out, her cheeks still a bright red.
"You girls know you can't mention anything," I say quietly as we enter the building and near Kyle's floor. "Jason doesn't-"
"Know he's adopted," Ella rolls her eyes. "Yeah, we know,"
"But that boy is still into you," Sav sings innocently. "Even if he does think you're cousins,"
"Yeah," Breanna scrunches her little nose up, her eyes widening slightly. "That's definitely an issue you're going to have to solve, Alicia,"
The girls remain silent and as Adison knocks on Kyle's front door, I find myself grumbling. Of course I have to figure something out, otherwise mine and Jason's apparently mended friendship will go crashing. I can't bare to think that we could ever be so distant from each other again. But then the memory of the incident in the restaurant rushes to the front of my brain and my heart aches a little. It already feels like things are changing, with the way he shut me out in front of Paris, and left with Paris, and basically chose Paris over me. And then of course, I'd gone ahead and slept with Tommy. I shake my head, sighing to myself. This time around, being friends with Jason is a lot more complicated.
"Are you okay?" Savannah squeezes my upper arm gently. "I know all the boys are here, so if seeing Jason is too much, then you and I can bunk,"
"Nah," I try to smile but it feels more like a grimace. I struggle to stop myself from slipping back into my complicated thoughts, instead shrugging my shoulders at Sav. "It's okay. We don't have to leave,"
Kyle finally opens the door and huffs. He's wrapped only in a towl, his hair wet and messy from the shower. "Sorry, the boys decided they wanted to start a fight over who had to answer the door," He rolls his eyes. "I heard them from the shower,"
Adison giggles and reaches on her tiptoes to plant a small kiss on the corner of Kyle's lips. "Boys will be boys,"
"Yeah, right, well come in," Kyle steps aside and all five of us girls push through. "It's not much, but it's home now,"
I feel my smile widen. "It's adorable,"
"Unlike you," Liam responds to my compliment from the couch, however when I look at him to retaliate his eyes are on Savannah. I shrug, my comeback falling from my tongue.
We enter the decent sized lounge room where Andrew, Liam, Ryan and Jason are all spread out on couches.
"Get comfy while I go change and grab some movies," Kyle says before rushing out of the room. Adison follows him.
I stand in the corner of the room and watch as everybody greets one another. I see Andrew grin and kiss Breanna for a split second before pulling her back to the couch and onto his lap. Her usually pale skin quickly turns red hot from embarrassment. Ella squeezes in between Ryan and Liam, leaning her head against Ryan's shoulder. Jason's gaze doesn't leave the television set.
"You okay?" Savannah whispers.
"I'm fine," I grin, taking ahold of her hand and pulling her over to everybody. "Hey, losers,"
"Hey, whore," Liam says. "Hi Savannah,"
I roll my eyes at Liam. "You're so immature,"
"Hey Lyssa," Andrew grins. "Did you enjoy the rest of your birthday?"
"It was..." I struggle with an appropriate word to describe my last few days. I plonk myself down on the carpet with Savannah, only a few inches from Jason's legs. "Definitely unforgettable,"
"Is that a good thing, or?" Ryan prompts.
"Let's just say I'd rather not talk about it," I say quietly.
"Didn't mummy and daddy get you everything you wanted?" Liam smirks.
"Liam!" Savanna elbows his leg. "Don't be so nasty,"
"I'm playing," He scowls.
Savannah scoffs. "Well play nice!"
"So it's either The Ring 2, or Stephan King's 'It'," Kyle finally re-enters the lounge, Adison clutching his hand. I notice her slight blush and her swollen lips and I smirk.
"I haven't seen the first ring movie," Ella pouts. "So it makes no sense to watch the second one,"
"Okay," Kyle shrugs. "'It' it is,"
It isn't until the lights are off and everyone around me has wrapped themselves in blankets that I whisper into the darkness, "I fucking hate clowns,"
I hear everyone around me try to refrain their laughter, but it doesn't work very well.
"Really?" Liam bursts out into a chuckling fit. "Of all things, clowns?"
"Yes," I scowl. "They paint their faces white, wear big-ass noses and have red Afro hair. Not to mention they have creepy laughs,"
"Don't be a sook," Liam says, and I assume he rolls his eyes by the tone of his voice.
"I'm not a sook!" I protest quickly.
"Oh God," Savannah groans. "Not tonight, you two,"
"He started it!" I exclaim as Savannah stands up. "Where are you going?"
"To look for a blanket,"
"You can sit on me," Liam wiggles his eyebrows and Savannah blushes.
"Don't mind us," Ella says sarcastically. When Liam thinks nobody is watching he pulls Savannah onto his lap. "We would all prefer to listen to you three bicker rather than actually watch the movie,"
"Yeah!" Andrew snaps. "Shut up! Georgie's going to lose his balloon here,"
"Don't ruin it!" Adison squeals. "I've never seen this before,"
"Me neither," I mutter. "I'm thinking I might skip this one out-"
"What?" Savannah raises her eyebrow. "I don't think so!"
"I don't really want to watch it and-" I pause, looking around at all of my friends. An uneasy feeling settles in the pit of my stomach when I realize that Breanna has Andrew. Savannah has Liam. Adison has Kyle and Ella has Ryan. A sudden sense of loneliness washes over me. "I'm just gonna go home-"
"No," Jason says quickly. "Sit down, shut up, and watch the fucking movie,"
An awkward silence surrounds everybody and I bite my lip before turning back to the television. My eyes tear up and I try my hardest to hide it.
"Dude," I hear Liam say quietly, his voice carrying his shock. "That was harsh,"
If Jason replies I don't hear it.
"Kyle do you mind if I grab a drink?" I whisper quietly.
"Of course not, Alicia," He says gently.
I exit the lounge room quickly and easily find the kitchen. I shake my head and press my palm into my forehead; this whole night so far has just been awkward.
I help myself to a can of coke from the fridge and jump up onto the kitchen bench. I don't know why I even agreed to come here, knowing that all of the boys were here and I'd be in the same room as Jason.
Right now I really regret sleeping with Tommy, which makes me so mad because I shouldn't. I'm old enough to fool around if I want to, and I enjoyed it, like a lot. But seeing Jason so angry and hurt over it upsets me. Then again, he'd hurt me by choosing Paris, and by letting her humiliate me without sticking up for me whatsoever.
I sigh and drop my head into my hands. When did things become so messy? This whole friendship so far has proved to be drama and headaches, and now signing to Universal together complicates things even further. How can we be a team, a two-man singing sensation when we both fight like this? Our friendship just isn't stable enough.
"Alicia," Jason's deep voice scares me.
I look up too quickly and end up hitting the top of my head on one of the cupboards above me. I clutch my head and moan in pain. "Ow,"
"Shit," Jason rushes over to me and his hands hover on either side of me, hesitating on whether or not he should touch me. His eyebrows pull together and he frowns. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I snap. I continue to hold my head and avoid looking at his face, because I don't know how I'll react when I see his eyes. It's silent for a few long moments.
"Alicia, we should talk," He finally says. It's silent again before he groans. "Look at me,"
"No," I say quickly. He steps closer to me and forces my legs apart, before quickly filling the empty space. I feel goosebumps erupt along my arms and legs and the hair on the back of my neck stands up. I close my eyes. "Jason, go away,"
"No," He snaps harshly. "Open your fucking eyes, Alicia,"
I squeeze my eyes tightly before finally opening them. His closeness doesn't surprise me, and due to the close proximity it's near impossible not to meet his eyes. Slowly, the hardness in them fades until his face is blank. I glare at him. "Well? What do you want to talk about?"
He stares into my eyes for what feels like forever until he sighs. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for the way I've been acting, but you can't just go off and sleep with everybody-"
"Are you serious?" I laugh manically. "Are you for fucking real? You want to start this little talk off with who I'm sleeping with?"
He narrows his eyes. "Well where do you want to start?"
"How about with the fact that on our little 'cousin date', you completely left me to feel the wrath of Paris-"
"Alicia, I'm sorry," He says quickly.
"And then when I defend myself, you finally decide to speak, but oh, no, it's not to defend me," I spit out nastily. "It's to scold me!"
"Alicia, calm down," He tries to speak again but I cut him off.
"And then Paris tries to hit me, and still, you get mad at me!" I exclaim in disbelief. "And as if all of that isn't bad enough, you go home with her!"
"You didn't exactly give me a chance to choose, did you?" He snaps. "You left!"
"Because you didn't defend me!" I argue, pushing his hard chest away from me. "You let her belittle me in front of the whole restaurant, and made her think it was okay she did it by siding with her!"
"I didn't side with anyone, Alicia!" He yells as I slip off the counter. "I didn't want you to stoop down to her level!"
"I wasn't 'stooping down to her level'," I scowl. "I wasn't going to stand there and incur the brunt of her attitude for no reason whatsoever!"
"She was just jealous," He sighs, his hand holding his forehead in stress.
"That doesn't give her the right to be a fucking bitch," I point out. "And after everything we've been through, I really expected you'd stick up for me,"
"I'm sorry, I should have defended you, you're right," He says. "But I was stressed out, okay? And I needed to speak to her-"
"That's my next point," I narrow my eyes and step closer to him until his back is against the bench. "What was so damn important that caused all of this in the first place? What in the world was more important than us hanging out that you'd ditch me for?"
"Paris- We... Well I mean..." He says slowly, his voice thick with sudden anxiety. "I slept with her a three weeks ago,"
My stomach instantly drops and jealously swirls within every inch of my being. "What?"
"I kind of maybe slept with her," He scratches the back of his head. "And that's not the worst of it..."
"What could be worse than that?" I ask darkly.
"She's pregnant," He says and I feel my eyes widen. "But she's Paris, I'm not the only person she's slept with, and that day-"
"You got Paris pregnant?" I squeak. My heart beat continues to increase and I take quick breaths.
"No, let me fucking explain!" He shouts, his cheeks heating up not from embarrassment but from anger. "That day she found out the results, and I'd forgotten I was supposed to meet her. It was pure coincidence that we ran into her,"
"You didn't look or act like someone who was potentially going to be a dad," I grunt, turning away from him.
"Because I knew even before the test came back that it wasn't going to be mine! She's two months pregnant, and before two weeks ago I'd never touched her!" He exclaims. "Don't you get it? She was already pregnant when I slept with her,"
"Ew," I say before I can stop myself, turning back around to face him.
"Tell me about it," He shudders. "And although that doesn't excuse the fact that I didn't stand up for you, I'm still sorry, okay?"
"You should have told me," I say quietly, shaking my head.
"I know," He whispers, stepping closer to me. "I just didn't really want you to know..."
"That you were potentially going to be a dad?" I try to keep my voice light, but my next words come out bitter. "Or that you'd slept with Paris of all people?"
He scratches the back of his neck again, wincing. "The latter,"
I stay silent as I watch him watch me.
"And now about you sleeping with..." He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. "Who was it? Was it Penn again?" He opens his eyes. "He told me that it was a one time thing-"
"It was," I interrupt him quickly. "A one time thing, I mean. Penn means no harm,"
"He slept with you," He says slowly. "That's harm in itself. This time... Who was it?"
"Don't get angry," I blurt out.
"Just tell me," He says sharply.
"Tommy," I whisper, closing my eyes.
"Tommy? Really?" He asks, his voice broken. "Of all people, you sleep with the one person I ask you not to go near?"
"You're not my dad," I enunciate each word slowly, anger seeping back into my pores. "So stop acting like it,"
"And you're not a whore, yet you're acting like it!" He retaliates.
"Just stop it, Jason," I whisper, my eyes watering for the second time tonight within the time frame of only half an hour. "I'm sick of fighting with you, I'm so damn sick of it! We're going around in circles,"
"Fine," He grunts, taking my hand in his and pulling me up flush against his body. His left hand comes up and rests against my right cheek, his eyes searching mine.
"What are you doing?" I blush due to the lack of space between us.
His hand continues to caress my face as he shakes his head gently. "I'm sorry for being so angry and bitter and mean and for not sticking up for you," He rushes out. His eyes fill with pain as his right hand squeezes my hip. "But please, please, don't sleep with anybody,"
"Jason, do you expect me to never have sex? Ever?" I ask gently.
Although I know how tough it must be for him, he thinks we're related, so how does he assume I'll ever find pleasure, or love, if I just stop having sex?
"I'll buy you a fucking dildo," He growls and suddenly nuzzles his nose into the side of my neck.
"Stop!" I burst out giggling. "That tickles!"
"Say you won't hook up with anybody," He demands as he begins tickling my stomach, too.
"No!" I gasp, my eyes filling with fresh tears, this time from the pain of being mercilessly tickled. "You want me to be a prude? I'm allowed to hook up with people!"
"Fine," His voice is deep as he whispers into my ear again. The coolness of his breath makes me shiver. "But you can't sleep with anybody!"
"Ew!" I squeal as he licks below my ear.
"Say it, otherwise next time it's a wet willie!" He threatens as he finally stops tickling my stomach.
"Okay!" I choke out, laughter still falling from my lips. "Okay, I promise not to sleep with anyone,"
And I mean it. I'd do anything for Jason, and that scares me.
"Good girl," He chuckles, pulling away from me completely. He takes my hand in his though, and begins leading me out of the kitchen. "Now let's go and watch this movie,"
"Yay," I say under my breath, the word thick with sarcasm. "Clowns,"
&~
When the movie finally ends Kyle and Jason leave to go and get some pizzas. The rest of us lounge around, the television on quietly in the background.
"So I don't mean to ruin your sudden good mood," Liam looks at me, trying to stop himself from smirking. "But you do know that everyone heard everything that went down in the kitchen, right?"
A blush rises on my face and I groan. I hadn't even considered our friends who were sitting in the next room over. "Well I do now,"
He has a laughing fit and I glare at him.
"It was kind of entertaining to listen to," Savannah admits sheepishly. "Although my opinion is, if you're not going to sleep with anyone because he doesn't want you to, then he shouldn't either,"
"Preach it, sister!" Adison says. "It should be equal,"
"I can't believe he could have been the one to get this Paris girl pregnant," Ryan shakes his head.
"Narrowly avoided, thank God," Ella chuckles. "She is an absolute nightmare,"
"I'm not just going to tell him he can't sleep with girls," I finally say, rolling my eyes. I shove salt and vinegar chips into my mouth before continuing. "I mean, what kind of claim do I have over him to demand that?"
"Well he demands it of you," Liam scoffs.
"Exactly," Andrew agrees. "His whole protective cousin thing is getting old now,"
"Tell me about it," Liam laughs. "If I have to hear him speak about you one more time, I think I might just explode,"
"He speaks about me?" I squeak, my cheeks heating even more. "What does he say?"
"What does it matter?" Liam sighs. "I think he's the reason why I hate you, I know more about you than I do my own sister,"
"You have a sister?" Savannah asks as she spins around in his lap. She grins. "What's her name?"
"Paige," He says. "She's six,"
"That's so cute," Savannah coos before her eyes narrow. "But Jason droning on about Alicia isn't a valid enough reason to be so mean to her,"
"Now preach that!" I exclaim, grinning at Liam. "It's not my fault he talks about me,"
"Shut up," He pokes his tongue out. "And Savannah you need to stop wiggling around so much,"
Savannah lifts her eyebrows lazily. "You're the one who offered to be my seat, deal with it,"
Ella starts giggling as Liam groans. We watch as he grips Savannah's lips and picks her up slightly before harshly pulling her back down. "Do you see what I'm talking about now?" He asks gruffly.
"Ew!" I scream and throw chips at him. "That's disgusting!"
"Oh my Gosh," Breanna squeals, covering her eyes. "Virgin in the room, guys, please!"
Andrew starts laughing and pecks Bre's cheek. "You're so adorable,"
The front door suddenly opens. "Pizza's here!" Kyle exclaims.
We all spread out on the floor with the pizza in between us. It's chaos as the boys lunge for the food, piling their plates up to the point where they're fit for kings.
"You guys are pigs," Adison says, shoving a meat lovers piece into her mouth.
"I'm not sure eight boxes is enough," Liam worries. "Savannah! I wanted the last slice of margarita!"
"Fight me for it," She challenges, smirking.
Before anyone can say anything, Liam has Savannah pinned down onto the floor, the pizza snatched from her hand. He tosses it onto his plate before turning back to face her, his eyes wild. "You turn me on," He says simply before leaning down and pushing his lips to hers.
"Hey, hey!" Kyle says quickly. "There's spare rooms, you know!"
"Don't offer them a room!" I scoff. I throw ham at Savannah and Liam and they finally break the kiss. Savannah looks at me, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed. "Cut that out, Sav!"
Savannah awkwardly pushes Liam off of her and returns to her sitting position. "I just wanted the pizza, sheesh,"
"Sex-crazed player," I grumble at Liam. "Don't play her,"
"I'm not playing her!" He says defensively. "I'm allowed to kiss her,"
"No, you're allowed to ask her for her permission to kiss her," I say slowly. "Not just kiss her. Don't you know you can make a girl weak doing things like that?"
"Thanks for the tip," He grins.
"You're impossible," I sigh, trying to keep the smile from my face.
"You love me really, Alicia," He moves closer to me, his eyes bright. "I know you're just jealous I slept with Savannah and not you,"
"Ew!" I jump up and move to sit beside Jason. "Everyone in this room knows that is definitely not true,"
"She's right," Ryan grins. "I barely know her and I can see she detests you,"
"We're preaching that, too," Savannah grins and Liam laughs.
"I don't get it," Kyle mumbles.
"Because you weren't here earlier," Adison pokes his cheek. "It's an inside joke, babe,"
"You guys have your performance with Karmin coming up soon, don't you?" Ryan asks Jason and I.
"Yeah," I grin. "It's on the eighteenth, so it's next week,"
"What do you have to do?" Adison asks.
"Well we have a meeting with Dennis a few days before that, and on the phone he said he'd be introducing us to stylists, coaches, and all that stuff," I explain. "And I think we're basically going to cover the simple things like the name, the image, the style, etc.,"
"Cool," Breanna smiles. "It's so amazing how you both get to do it, and together, too,"
"Yeah," I turn my head around to grin at Jason. "It is pretty amazing, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Jason says as he smiles back at me. He moves forward and outstretches his legs on either side of me. I wiggle backwards until I'm leant against his chest, my head resting in the crook of his neck. "And it's all thanks to you,"
"Ew, stop being all cute and shit," Liam says, scrunching his eyebrows up. "Time for another horror movie!"
&~
Everyone ended up crashing last night at Kyle's, and after a few morning feuds and breakfast, we all say goodbye and leave. I end up going to Jason's house with him.
"Mom, dad," Jason calls out into the houses after opening the front door. "I'm home!"
"In the kitchen," We hear Stefanie call. She looks up as we enter, a smile slipping onto her face. "Hey you two,"
"Hey, Aunty," I grin and kiss her cheek. "Where's Jacob?"
"He's downstairs in the basement sorting through all of his old stuff," She huffs. I watch as she turns the frying pan down, leaving the eggs to cook on low. "And it's about bloody time, I've been asking him to do it for nearly two months now,"
"Goofball," I chuckle. "I'm gonna go and see him,"
When I near the basement I hear lots of banging and excessive swearing. "Uncle Jake?"
"Alicia?" He asks, quickly standing and spinning around from his position in the back corner. "Oh hey,"
"Oh hey yourself," I laugh. "What the hell is with all the noise?"
"I'm cleaning," He says quickly. I look around at all of the boxes and random stuff lying around, the would-be large space completely filled up with junk. When I look back at him he shrugs. "Well I'm meant to be," He grins sheepishly. "I just keep finding all of this old, cool stuff,"
"You're a hoarder," I accuse, slipping further into the room.
"Shut up," He mutters. "Did you come down here just to tell me that? Well I already knew,"
"No," I roll my eyes. I feel my cheeks go red and I fumble with my fingers.
"What's wrong, Alicia?" He asks seriously, stepping closer to me.
I bite my lip and close my eyes tightly. "Uncle Jake, I think we need to have a serious talk about Jason,"