Starting Over

25. Who's This?

"When are you going to visit?" He asks.

"I've been busy, trying to catch up on school work, why don't you come up for the weekend? I'm having Miki and Emma over and their boyfriends." I suggest.

"Alright, I'll think about,"

"No, you're not thinking you're doing, see you on Friday. Goodnight Jeremy. Love you."

"Goodnight, love you too," Jeremy replies ending the call.

I sigh as I get comfortable in my bed. I start scrolling through Facebook when Jackson hops out of the bathroom, holding just a towel around his waist.

DAMN!!

"Is everything okay?" Jackson asks, looking into the shelf I've given him before he moves in when schools finished.

"Um Yeah, I just haven't seen Jeremy in a while. Is it okay if he comes this weekend too?"

"Yeah, of course. It's your house, you don't need to ask me." He says as he turns around with a pile of clothes in his hands.

"Can you get dressed so we can go to bed?" I say sweetly, batting my eyelashes.

"What? I can't go to bed like this?" He smirks.

"Only in your dreams, babe." He huffs his way into the bathroom to get dressed. He walks out with just grey sweats pants on at the brim of his waistline and his signature smirk. My eyes lock on his V-line.

"You know I can take my pants off if you ask," what the...

"Um, huh, Yeah okay, woah NO don't do that." extreme heat levels rise up neck and face and right now if I had a mirror in front of me I'd compare myself to a tomato.

"Blossom, you make me laugh."

"Oh, I'm glad my humiliation trait is ticked off your 'what I find attractive in girls' list, now hurry up I want to sleep," I say, rolling over so I'm not facing him.

"Aw did I make you angry?" he asks as I feel a dip in the bed beside me. I reach over to turn my lamp off, when I do, my side of the room goes dark.

"Babe I'm sorry, I was only joking." I close my eyes and ignore him.

"Elle, can you please turn around, I'm sorry." He's so convincing... but no I'm not playing his game.

"You know I love you right?" I can just imagine the smirk on his face right now.

"Come on, turn around, please." He begs, placing a hand on my shoulder, shaking it a little. If I don't turn around I ain't getting any sleep.

I turn around and glare at him.

"I'm so-..." I cut him off.

"No look, I'm sorry. I just get upset because I hate that I'm making you wait for me. You deserve someone that is ready to give you everything that I can't give you." I say looking down as I fiddle with the corner of my pillow.

Jackson tilts my head up with his index finger.

"No, you shouldn't be upset, you wanna know why, because you have given me more than anyone could ever give possible. I hate that you had to go through what you went through and when I see you upset about it, it makes me want to find the guy that did it and kill him but I know that if I do, I'll lose someone I cannot afford to lose." I have somehow gotten so close to Jackson, it's like we are one. With my head in his chest, listening to his heartbeat, Jackson strokes my hair and kisses the top of my head every so often. I hold onto his shirt like it's the only thing keeping me sane.

"I love you so much"

"I love you too, Blossom. Don't ever be sorry because waiting gets me excited." I can feel his mouth forming a smirk on the top of my head.

"Jackson! What did we just talk about?" I yell while laughing because I can never be angry at him.

"I'm joking, baby, I'm joking."

***

"What's cooking good looking?" Jackson says from behind when I feel his arms snake around my waist and his soft lips at my neck.

"I'm preparing the food for the barbeque for tonight," I answer as he leaves softs kisses on my neck.

"Well you need to stop because someone is already here, actually people are already here." I stop pouring spices onto the chicken in confusion.

"What do you mean people are here already, I thought it was just Jeremy coming earlier than the rest?" I ask.

"Yeah, me too." He says as the doorbell rings. Jackson lets go of me to get the door as I turn to the sink to wash my hands, I grab a tea towel to dry my hands while I walk to the door.

Jackson opens the door and I see Jeremy but then a blonde head pops out. When I recognise who it is I just run to her and jump into a hug.

"OH MY GOSH, EMMA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" I yell. Ever since I left we've only kept contact via texting, so seeing her is such a surprise.

"Well...Your brother and I are actually dating..." She replies as we pull away from each other.

"Yeah, we didn't want to tell you over the phone because we didn't know how you'd react or if you'd take it seriously," Jeremy buds in.

"OMG, no way! I'm happy for you guys." I exclaim, jumping into a group hug. "Wait so how long has this been going on for?" I ask curiously.

"A bit after you moved. Actually, that night that you came into my bedroom to tell me dinner was ready and I was on the phone, yeah well, I was on the phone with Emma." He explains like he is trying to cover something.

"Annnd..." I say, making him go on with what he is trying to say.

"And we were just close during school, We're surprised you didn't point it out. But yeah, we thought, why not?"

"Who cares? I'm just glad it's you," I say gesturing to Emma, "Then some slut. Anyway, Emma, this is Jackson my boyfriend and Jackson this Emma of my closest friends from my old school." They send each other hello before I gesture for them to come inside, "I'll take you upstairs to your room that you'll have when you sleepover and when you move in when schools finished. Oh and Emma you are more than welcome to stay with Jeremy anytime and even if you have had enough of him you can come and stay with us for as long as you want." I ramble as I walk my way upstairs with Emma and Jeremy behind me, though I'm not exactly sure where Jackson hopped off to.

"Tsk, hey! Emma is never going to get sick of me," he says proudly.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself alright Jeremy," I say as I stop in front of their room. "There you go, Jackson and I will be downstairs if you need anything."

"Thanks, Elle," Jeremy nods as I head for the stairs to continue preparing for tonight's dinner.

"BLOSSOM, I NEED HELP!" Jackson yells from downstairs. I roll my eyes as I jog down the stairs and walk into the living room where I'm assuming he is. When I find him, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Jackson, How in the name of Jesus did you get yourself into a pickle like that, huh?"

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