Chapter 3

I roll over and bury my head in the pillow to prevent the sun from blinding me. As my head starts to sink into the pillow again, I notice that the pillow is very unfamiliar. Its too soft and the blanket covering me is a very lavish comforter instead of my throw. I snap my eyes open and lift my head to see a young man sleeping right next to me. Without thinking I lift my legs and kick him off the bed, cringing as I hear the thump of his body hitting the ground. I sit up and peer over the edge of the bed to see him glaring at me. He pushes himself off the ground and stands up giving me a full view of his drool worthy abs. I break out of my trance and meet his gaze, there's a tiny smirk on his face and he tilts his head as he says,

"Like what you see?" I roll my eyes at his cockiness and mutter,

"That's so cliche."

As soon as my feet hit the ground, I feel cool air hit my legs and realize that I only have a t-shirt on which goes up to my thighs. I hear my heartbeat in my ears as I try to recall last night but the only thing I can remember is snippets of dark eyes, hands on my body and me, drinking a lot. Tears start brimming in my eyes but I blink them back and look up at the man in front of me. The smirk has fallen off his face and now he checks me out as his eyes trail down my body. Ugh I'm honestly so dumb, I knew going to the club alone was a bad idea, mostly cause I'm a virgin. As an afterthought, a tiny voice in the back of my mind say, At least it was with a hot guy, I mean check out those abs. I shake my head at the thought and bend down to pick up my heels. I feel his gaze on me as I walk over to the chair where my dress is resting. I pull his shirt over my head and slip my dress over me. When I turn around and meet his eyes, the intensity in them throws me off and I find myself staring back at him with the same intensity. He slowly walks up to me, leans down close to my ear and in a husky voice, he asks,

"Are you trying to get fucked?" My breath hitches and I reply breathlessly,

"It's not like it's your first time seeing me," He must see something on my face because he takes a step back and states,

"You think I fucked you last night?" When I don't reply, he continues. "Damn, you don't remember anything? How much did you have to drink?" At that I shrug and reply,

"I don't know, I stopped counting after 5 shots." He takes a step closer, causing me to take a step back and hit the wall, but that doesn't stop him as he comes even closer until we're breathing the same air. The proximity makes me aware of his half naked state. He tilts my head up with two fingers and makes me look into his eyes.

"What's your name?" My mouth parts open in surprise and I reply,

"Cyn, what about you?" He tilts his head and narrows his eyes before replying,

"Interesting name. You wanna know my name? It's Jaxon. Jaxon Black." I release a gasp as I figure out who I woke up in bed with today. Jaxon Black, the notorious owner of Crown Black, and the infamous gangleader of the Black Bloods. Jaxon gives me a moment to let it sink in before continuing. "Yes. I am the Jaxon Black." My eyes don't leave his face as he adds, "You wanna know what happened last night, Cyn? We came home together, made out for a bit. I gave you a change of clothes cause you spilled you drink on your dress and then you passed out before I could take things any further." Before I have a chance to say anything, Jaxon turns around and walks over to the washroom. I watch his muscled back leave my sight before I quickly grab my phone off the side table and leave his apartment. I close the door behind me and then lean on it to let out a few held in breaths. I slowly make my way down the stairs to the front door. As soon as I step out, I notice that Jaxon's apartment is situated right above Crown Black. My heart skips a beat as I meet Jaxon's eyes from his window and I turn around and start walking home. As I pass by the store where I bought my dress from, I flag a cab. Throughout my entire car ride home, I can't seem to get Jaxon's dark eyes out of my mind.

---

The first thing I notice as we pull up at my drive way is that Hayley's car is in my driveway. I take a deep breath in and open the door haping that I won't encounter anyone as I make my way to my room. However, as I climb the stairs, I hear Hayley call my name softly. I turn around and see ot only Hayley, but my mom and brother there too. I can see the sadness in my mom's eyes as she see's my dress. The same look is mirrored in Hayley's eyes. I let out a sigh before turning back around and running up to my room. I enter the washroom and look at myself in the mirror. There is a huge stain right in the middle of my dress, my hair is still a mess even though I had tried to comb it in the car and there are huge eye bags under my eyes. I splash water on my face and as I get closer to the mirror, I see a dark mark on my neck. My eyes widen as I run my fingers over it. Damn, he gave me a hickey. I guess now I know why the cab driver was giving me the weird look. I strip my clothes and jump into the shower. The warm water trickles down my back causing me to relax and finally let down my mask as a tear rolls down my face. I wipe the tear and then scrub away the smell of wine off me.

Just as I step out of the washroom, there's a knock on my door. I throw on a shirt and pull on some pants before opening the door to find Hayley standing across from me. I call her inside and she sits awkwardly at the edge of my bed.

"I came here to apologize on behalf of both myself and Blake. Saying those stuff and then leaving you like that when we knew you needed us the most at these dark times, it was wrong." She starts but before she can continue, I interrupt.

"There's no need to apologize, you guys were right. I need to get out of this hole known as my room, which is why I went out last night and partied a bit. I know that its a bit unusal for me but its what Jenn would have wanted for me, right? And by the way, if Blake wanted to apologize, he should've come himself." I turn around and walk out of the room. I hear her footsteps run up behind me and just as I get to the stairs, she grabs my shoulder and turns me around.

"When Blake said that last night, he meant spending more time with us, not getting drunk and trying to forget about whats happening around you. What's going on, Thea? Why are you shutting us out?" Hayley hands fall off my shoulders and catch my hands instead. "I'll always be here for you. Talk to me, Cynthea...Please." I look down at our joined hands and reply,

"I know, Hayley. Trust me, I know, Hayley. But...it's just Jenn's death, I see her everywhere. And being around you guys reminds me of her the most. I can't look at us without remembering that there was one more of us, that I had a sister and now she's gone." Hayley squeezes my hand, her gaze lifts from our hands and with tears in her eyes, she says heartbreakingly,

"I'm your sister too, and I'm still alive, and believe it or not, I need you." I nod my head and pull her into a hug. With her voice cracking and tears streaming down her face, Hayley continues, "I know that I didn't know her for as long as you did, but God, it hurts, it hurts so much and I miss her. I miss her beautiful smile, I miss her corny jokes, I miss her and Blakes stupid arguments and I even miss her awful memory. Jenn was a sister to me too." We stand in the hallway, holding onto each other like our life depends on it until we both are able to finally stop our tears from falling. While we held onto each other, I realized that she's right, Jenn was both of our sister and Hayley felt the same amount of pain as me. I take a step back and my eyes find her face, her eyes are rimmed with red, and there are dried tears on her face. I know that my face reflects hers.

"You're right, Hayley, I am your sister, and you are mine, which is why we need to stick together and get through this together. I 'm sorry that I tried pushing both you and Blake out of my life, and I just want to say thank you for not ever giving up one me." As I look into her eyes, I feel a weight lift off my shoulders and I smile