Teenage Fever // Jude Bellingham

13

"Look who decided to show up." I said with a teasing smile on my lips as I approached Jude who had just gotten out of his car and now walked up to my front door, where I had waited for him since he texted me.

We met halfway, him embracing me into a tight hug as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Jude, you're gonna mess up my hair." I mumbled into the fabric of his his black tee, causing him to let me go with a laugh.

His eyes immediately dropped down to the dress hugging my body, a grin making its way onto his lips.

"You look beautiful." He said, my cheeks heating up for the second time tonight. This time was different though, I was genuinely touched by his compliment because to me, it mattered.

"Thank you." I replied, "Don't get used to it." I joked, referring to the fact that this was, once again, something I usually didn't wear which is why this dress has been in my closet for that long without being worn even once.

"You're always beautiful to me, it doesn't matter what you're wearing." He explained, shrugging as if it was the most obvious and normal thing to say.

I felt butterflies fluttering around in my stomach, if he planned on acting like this the whole evening I might need another shot of tequila.

I warmly smiled up at him before intertwining his fingers with mine, tugging him towards the house.
"Come on, let's go inside."

"Wait." He spoke up, "I didn't give you your gift yet."

His arm, that I hadn't noticed he had hidden from me behind his back, came forward to reveal a small box in silver wrapping.

"But it's not my birthday yet." I argued, glancing on the time on my phone which read 23:07.

"It doesn't matter, I want you to open it now." He stated, handing me the box before I unwrapped it hesitantly.

A jewelry box came to view, a Vivienne Westwood jewelry box to be specific. I gasped, glancing up at Jude who had a satisfied smile on his face.

"Jude, you can't buy me stuff like that!" i scolded, but he just shrugged innocently.

"Open it."

I sighed to signal him that I still didn't think it was okay that he spent so much money on me, but obliged and opened the box to reveal a beautiful silver necklace with the iconic orb pendant.

My fingertips grazed over it as I stayed quiet, observing the piece of jewelry in awe. It was by far the prettiest necklace I had ever seen, not only because it was a designer one but also because it was from him which made it much more valuable for me.

"Do you like it?" Jude's voice ripped me out of my trance, curiously eyeing my features.

"I love it." I whispered, slinging my arms around his neck as I thanked him. "But don't ever buy me something that expensive again, got it?" I slapped his arm, making him laugh.

"Help me put it on?" I asked, turning around and gathering my hair with my hands to make my neck accessible.

I carefully handed him the necklace, feeling his knuckles graze the skin at the nape of my neck within seconds after, making goosebumps rise where he touched me.

I faced him again, standing on my tippy toes to readjust the cap he was sporting before grabbing his hand to lead him inside.

"Are you down for a drink?" I asked sheepishly, although I already knew the answer.

He shook his head as I had predicted, but I still dragged him to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I took out a capri sun and shoved it into his chest.

"Very funny." He rolled his eyes but couldn't suppress his smile. "I'll take whatever you're having just without the alcohol."

I shrugged, putting the small drink back into the fridge and turned around to access the kitchen island instead. I handed him my own cup so I could start mixing together the two juices.

"Why's that guy staring at you like that?" Jude suddenly asked, his brows furrowed as he gazed across the room. Following his vision, I made eye contact with Kelce who was indeed staring at me -or us- very intensively.

I sighed, handing Jude his cup as I took mine from his grasp. "Ignore him, he's just mad I didn't let him do a body shot on me."

Jude's eyes almost fell out of their sockets then, making me giggle at how shocked he looked.

"Him on you?" He asked again, reassuring if he had heard it right as I nodded. "He doesn't compare in the slightest. What made him think he had a chance?"

"I don't know, apparently sharing a art class is enough." I shrugged, both of us taking a sip of our drinks.

"Let me know if he ever tries something like that again." He mumbled, cautiously eyeing the guy who now had his arms around another girl but occasionally glanced over at me. "Is he seriously trying to make you jealous now?"

"That's actually pathetic." I said while also watching the scene unwind with a judgmental expression.

"Come on, let's see where Emma is." Jude placed his hand on my waist, bringing me in front of him to lead the way through the crowd.

Returning back to the couch, Emma was nowhere to be seen. Sera sat there, talking with a girl. I spotted Amelie playing beer pong outside.

"Sera," I yelled over the music, the auburn haired girl looking up at me confusedly, "where's Emma?"

"I don't know, her and Finn were just gone." She explained loudly, making me widen my eyes.

"That went fast." I said, making Sera laugh as I saw her eyes shift to Jude behind me.

"Is that him?"

"Yeah," I squeezed his hand I was holding, making him turn his head, "that's Sera." I told him and he nodded at her acknowledging with a small smile on his lips.

He then leaned down to my level, lips near to my ears so he didn't have to shout. "Tia, it's almost twelve."

"Right," I nodded at him appreciatively before turning back to Sera, "can you get Emma? It's my birthday in like ten minutes and I would appreciate it if she'd be there."

Sera nodded understandingly before getting up and disappearing into the crowd.

Jude and I went outside, joining Amelie who was already drunk. When I introduced her to Jude, the first thing she said was that he 'indeed was as fine as I had described it' , which obviously made him break out into a laughter but made me want to disappear.

"Come on, there's nothing to be ashamed about." He had said and had thrown a arm around my shoulder. "It's just common sense to think so."

"Your ego is honestly bigger than the trust my parents put into me and Tiago when they left." I had returned before I had shoved him lightly to hide my smile.

Now I was standing between Emma, who Sera had found literally two minutes before midnight, and Amelie who was using me as a sort of support as everyone around us started counting down the seconds until the clock would hit twelve.

I saw Jude stand next to Sera out of the corner of my eye, also close to us but with his head ducked down as he stared up at me with a smile on his lips when we finally reached the zero.