Call it Fate, Call it Karma

Noon

I was lucky I decided not to sleep in the next morning, because there was a knock at the door. I put my coffee down with a sigh and trudged over to it to open it. Behind the door stood Fab and Niko, looking quite rough. Fab's mop of usually bouncy curls was flattened on one side and practically shining with grease on the other, looking like he fell asleep on a pizza box, and the dark circles under Nikolai's eyes told me he didn't get very much sleep at all.

"Good morning." I said as I skeptically stared them down. "What brings you two here so early?" I asked in a sarcastic tone, as it was almost noon.

"We crashed at Ryan's and since he lives close, we figured we'd drop in." Fab said. "What's for breakfast?"

I shook my head, stepping aside to let them in. "Unbelievable."

"Where are the others?" Nikolai asked, taking a seat beside me on the couch.

"Bed." I replied, picking up my coffee with a smirk. "It was a late night."

"What's this?" asked Fab, picking up a polaroid photo of Nick from the counter. "Oh wow!" He started to laugh. "This is gold!"

"Show me!" Nikolai jumped up and ran over. He caught a glance of the polaroid and started laughing too.

"He deserved it." I said nonchalantly as I turned the TV on.

"Who deserved what?" Nick asked as he walked out of Albert's room, stretching his arms above his head.

I turned to look at him laughed, spying the smudged marker on his forehead.

"Apparently you deserved the marker treatment!" Fab teasingly waved the photo in Nick's face.

"Oh, no." Nick screwed up his face in horror as he snatched it to look at it. "Why exactly did I deserve this? I can't remember shit." He squinted at the photo. "Jade, is that you pinning me down?" He licked his hand and began to rub his forehead vigorously.

I shrugged. "You tried to run." I then took a large gulp of my coffee as I thought of a way to dodge his first question. "I'm gonna go see if Jules is okay. I advise someone does the same with Albert." As I began to leave the room, I turned around to see Fab moping in the kitchen. "And Fabrizio, feel free to make everyone pancakes!"

"Hell yeah!" he cheered.

I walked into my bedroom quietly and closed the door behind me as loud conversation started up between the guys. I sat on the edge of the bed, causing Julian to stir, fluttering his eyelids as the midday sun shone through the curtains.

I smiled down at him as he rolled over to face me. "Good afternoon."

"Ah, fuck," he groaned. "...what...what time is it?"

"Almost twelve."

He sat up at light speed, making himself dizzy, but ignored that as he pushed off the covers and his eyes darted around the room, eventually landing on me, and he frowned.

"What's wrong, Jules?"

"I said I'd take you out today!" he exclaimed frantically. "I'm so sorry, Jade!"

"Hey, calm down!" I crawled over to him. "I didn't really take you seriously anyway. You were pretty wasted and I doubted you'd remember saying it." I said with a light chuckle. "No hopes were raised, so no harm done."

"No." He shook his head, obviously disappointed in himself. "I really am sorry."

I rested my head on his shoulder with a content sigh. "Well...there's still time."

He kissed the top of my head once he'd calmed down. "You're right! I'll just get dressed and we'll go."

"No, no...let's stay here for a bit first." I closed my eyes, leaning more into his shoulder. "There's no rush."

"You're still tired, aren't you?" Julian said as he snaked an arm around my waist to pull me closer. "I'm sorry I kept you up."

"If you apologise one more time, you'll be getting the marker treatment." I sighed into his chest.

"Okay, sorr-uhh, I mean, yeah...cool."

I don't know exactly what it was, but whenever Julian held me I just felt incredibly relaxed and safe. That time, so much so, that I'd already began to drift off to sleep.

"You smell good." I managed to mumble in my half-asleep state.

"What? I haven't showered in like, two days, and on top of that, I'm sweaty and hungover." Julian laughed.

"You smell like you."

"Like...me? Please elaborate."

"Goodnight."

"No, wait. Are you saying I stink all the time?"

I opened my eyes just to roll them. "No! Shut the fuck up, I'm just very attracted to you, okay?!"

"And that confirms my theory on you being really mean when you're sleepy." he said. "And what is this 'me' smell you're talking about then?"

I didn't answer, pretty much drifting off again at that point.

"I'm just kidding," he whispered, gently playing with my hair. "...I know what you mean, but you're a weirdo when you're tired, too."

Suddenly, the door swung open and there stood Fab with a plate in his hand. "Pancakes are done! Oh..." He gasped at the sight of me, rudely awoken, in Julian's arms. "S-Sorry!" He then began to awkwardly back away out of the room.

"Goddamnit." I sighed. "Well, I'm wide awake now."

"I'll kick his ass."

I ignored his comment as I pulled away from him to get out of bed. "Will we ever get to be alone together for more than five minutes in this fucking apartment?!"

"Probably not," Julian said. "...that's why I'm taking you out."