Love to Hate You

Chapter 5

EZRA'S POV
Jasper falls asleep. His breathing slows. He looks peaceful. I can't believe he's in my bed again. Thought that would never happen twice but here he is, drunk and asleep again. Will he wake up freaked out like the last time?? I just stare at his beautiful face. Eventually, I decide to stop being a creep and close my eyes.
Jasper starts mumbling incoherently in his sleep. I open my eyes.
"Jasper, are you ok??" I whisper. He doesn't respond. He just scoots closer and rests his head on my chest. I hold my breath and make no sudden movements. He's going to hate me in the morning. With that thought in mind, I gently move his head to the pillow. I let out the breath I was holding.
"You're going to drive me crazy." I said to his sleeping form. I smile to myself as I close my eyes. Hours go by and I'm awakened by Jasper nudging me.
"Ezra." He calls my name out. I ignore it.
"Ezra, wake up!!" I groan but open my eyes. He's sitting next to me, with his face all serious.
"How does this keep on happening?!" He gestures wildly with his hands between us.
"Alcohol. That's how." I said. He scoffs and gets up to put his shoes back on.
"Nothing happened. You called me all drunk and came over. I put you down to sleep. That's it. The end." I explained. He stops what he is doing and turns to face me.
"Nothing happened??"
"Did you want something to happen??" I smirk. He makes a face.
"No!!" He says defensively. I get up and stretch my tired body. I catch him looking at me. I like his eyes on me but I grab a shirt out of my drawer and put it on. I don't want to make him uncomfortable.
"Hungry?? We can go grab a bite to eat." I said in attempt to keep him with me longer.
"I'm going to need something to absorb the alcohol I consumed."
That makes me smile. I get to spend a little more time with him. If he wasn't standing right in front of me, I might've done a little happy dance. We head out and end up at a diner. I order pancakes and he gets the same thing.
"Tell me about yourself." I said. I shamelessly look into his blue eyes. He squirms under my gaze and I can tell he's nervous.
"Um, there's not much to tell." He said. I raise an eyebrow.
"Bullshit. I don't believe that for a second."
Jasper rolls his eyes.
"Fine. I'm 27. I'm a Leo. My favorite color is green. I have one sister. I don't talk to my parents. I never went to college. I have zero tattoos and I live up to my reputation." He said all in one breath. I smile. Now we're getting somewhere.
"I'm 28. I don't know my zodiac. My favorite color is black but recently I've been obsessed with blue. I don't have any siblings. I have a degree in computer science but that didn't interest me at all. So, I tried culinary school instead. I have too many tattoos to count and I don't think I have a reputation to uphold. Oh and I'm gay."
"How don't you know your zodiac?? You can literally google it." He said. I laugh.
"That's all you grasped out of everything I told you??" I asked, amused. He pulls his phone out.
"When is your birthday??"
"January 1st." I reply. His head snaps up and his eyes widen in disbelief.
"You're a new year's baby?!" He nearly shouts. I hate it when people call me that.
"Yes but don't call me that. It's not a big deal." Just as Jasper was going to say something the waitress came over with our food. It smelled good. We thank the waitress and she walks away.
"You're a Capricorn." He finally said. I'm not sure what that means. I've never been one to obsess over my zodiac but Jasper is interested in them and I'm interested in Jasper.
"When is your birthday, Jas??"
"August 8th." He said with a mouthful of pancakes. I make mental note of his birthday and dig into my food. The whole time we ate and talked. Made a few jokes and he laughed. I was shocked at first but then I decided that that was my favorite sound ever and I had to hear it again. It was a great fucking morning but then it came to an end and he had to go home.
JASPERS POV
I'd like to think that I know myself inside and out but it turns out that I don't know a lot about myself. That scares me. I don't like being scared so I turn to alcohol and party my worries away. Why am I talking about this all of a sudden?? Because I enjoy Ezra's company a little too much and that worries me. In fact, I am full on panicking. Today I am skipping the alcohol and heading to the gym. As I enter the building, I can see random people working out. I walk over to the weights. I plug in my earphones and play music on my phone. I grab the dumbbells and start lifting them. I'm in the zone. Nothing can stop me. The heavier they are, the better I feel. I let go the dumbbells and grab my water bottle. I let the cool liquid flow down my throat. I walk over to the treadmills. I start off slow then proceed into a light jog until I'm running as fast as I can. My music is interrupted by a call. I answer without looking because I'm still running on the treadmill.
"Hello??" I pant.
"Hey, Jas. Are you ok?? You sound out of breath." Ezra replies. At the sound of his voice, I trip over my foot and had to catch myself before falling off the machine. I immediately turn it off and try to catch my breath.
"What's up, E?? I'm...just at...the...gym." I said between breaths. My heart racing for a completely different reason now.
"Oh. I was just wondering if you wanted to grab some pizza and hang out at my place??"
"Um, sure. I'll bring over some beers."
So much for no alcohol today. There's no way I can be around the guy without being under the influence of alcohol. My nerves would never let me relax.
"Cool. I'll see you soon then."
"Um, y-yeah. B-Bye." I stutter, making him chuckle before hanging up. I curse myself for being stupid. I quickly head out to my car and drive home. I strip out of my clothes and toss them into the laundry basket. I walk into the bathroom and turn on the shower. I look at myself in the mirror.
"Keep it together, Jasper. It's just pizza. What could go wrong??" I tell myself. I take a deep breath then walk into the shower. I lather myself with soap, while my mind is racing with thoughts. There's nothing to worry about. I definitely know myself. I just finally have a best friend and don't know how to feel because I've never had a best friend before. I mean I've always been pretty popular ever since high school and I've had plenty of people to call my friend throughout the years but I've never had a best friend. That explains everything. I quickly rinse off and turn off the water. I step out of the shower and dry myself with my towel. I spend way too long trying to decide what to wear. I choose a simple black shirt and jeans. When that's out of the way, I grabbed my phone, keys and wallet. Drove to the store to buy two cases of beer. Now I'm staring at Ezra's apartment door, debating on when I should knock but unfortunately, he opens the door and caught me just standing there.
He smirks and crosses his arms in front of his chest.
"Were you going to stand out here all day??" He said, amusement in his tone. I instantly frown. "Shut up." I walk passed him and make my way to his couch. I place the cases of beer on the table. Ezra closes the door and walks to his kitchen. He comes out with two plates of pizza. He hands one to me.
"You know, you should dry your hair before leaving your house." He randomly said. I furrow my brows. I had completely forgotten about my hair. Now I'm aware of my wet curls.
"People don't get sick from going outside with wet hair. That's a myth." I said, then took a bite of pizza. An explosion of flavor erupts in my mouth. Damn. This is good. Ezra sits next to me with a smile on his face. I never really noticed how nice his smile is.
"That's not what my mom told me all of my life."
"I bet being an only child was lots of fun." I said sarcastically. I open up the box of beers and drink one.
"It had it's moments." He said between bites.
"Where did you get this pizza?? It's freaking awesome."
"I made it." I instantly stopped chewing and look at him surprised. I know he told me he went to culinary school but I didn't expect that he would cook for me. I finish chewing and swallow my food.
"I thought you were going to buy some pizza."
"I was going to buy some pizza but then I decided to make it instead. Put my skills to work." He said. I decide that Ezra can cook for me forever. This is the best thing I've eaten like ever. I won't tell him that though. No, I would die of embarrassment saying that out loud.
"You've got some serious skills. Why aren't you working at a restaurant or something??"
He puts his plate down on the table with a smile. Then leans back and faces me.
"I don't like being stuck on one thing. I want to learn to do a lot of things and keep growing."
"Why do you bartend??" I asked, while grabbing another beer.
"It's not about the money for me. It's about the experience and the people I meet." He said, his eyes intensely looking into mine. I look away and drink my beer.
"I meet all kinds of people everyday. I end up with way too many phone numbers by the end of my shift. So, I know what you mean."
Ezra whole demeanor changes after what I said but he tries to mask it well.
"I get more numbers than you do. I just throw them away." He smirks. I roll my eyes and move on to my third beer. At this point, I'm just chugging them down. Ezra stops me on my sixth beer. I ignore him and continue to drink. Our conversation continues with him keeping a close eye on me. On my tenth beer, I'm starting to feel relaxed and obviously very drunk but I don't stop at my tenth. No. I push on to my twelfth. Now I'm sloppy and babbling nonsense. Absolutely embarrassing myself. Ezra is calm. Just observing me be an idiot. Laughing at my lame jokes. I lay my head on his lap. I don't think he was expecting that because he tenses up for a few seconds. He slowly lifts his hand and plays with my hair. It feels so nice. My eyes get heavy. He's got that look on his face again. Like he's in love with me. I shut my eyes and pretend that I don't notice.
"Why do you drink so much??" He whispers, his fingers deep in my hair.
"To forget." I whispered back, trying to hold back the tears.
"Forget what??"
"Everything."
He's silent after that. So, I break the silence.
"You're my best friend, E."
I don't know if he replied or anything after that because I fall asleep.