Rocked (Rock & Romance II.)

Chapter 19. - Late Night Confessions

A/N: And here we are! A wonderful friend of mine showed me how to change hair color on people, so I tried it out on the beauty that I imagine as 'Gia'. Excuse the horrible photoshop job... This chapter is dedicated to _Luna_CocoD_ ! Thank you for being a loyal, patient fan of the story!

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It took me a little while to pull myself together before I felt ready to rejoin the crowd downstairs. No matter how many times I washed my mouth, I couldn't seem to get his taste off my tongue.

And the worst part?! I was nowhere near angry about it.

In fact, the subtle reminders of Ash on my body grounded me, while I was surrounded by a garden full of pretentious people.

"You missed the countdown." Jesse's voice came from next to me. He handed me a cup of something.

I frowned, looking at the suspicious liquid at the bottom of a red solo cup. "I thought this was a classy party."

My comment earned a chuckle from him. "And what gave you that impression?!"

I shrugged. "That your band has more money than the whole population of a couple continents combined." I took a sip anyway, instantly regretting it that decision. The bitter liquid made my lips quirk down and my lids shut tightly. "Fucks sakes!" I gasped.

"It started out as a Jager bomb, but someone added beer into the mix," Jesse explained, very helpfully. "Only the first one tastes weird."

Judging by the way his eyes kept glazing over every time he tried to focus them on me, I guessed he had a couple. "I don't doubt that..." I said, shaking my head. "But you know what's one thing even more disgusting than this?!" I held up the cup, and when he shook his head, I added. "The same concoction when it comes back up in an hour."

Jesse scrunched up his nose, imagining the scenario I was painting. "You sure know how to shit on someone's parade."

I bit down on my lip to keep my smile in. In my book, that was almost a compliment.

So it made sense that his next question wiped that confident grin right off my face. "Where's Ash?"

"How should I know?" I did my best to sound casual like I wasn't just completely taken apart by said brother about fifteen minutes ago in the upstairs bathroom. My heart beat loudly in my chest as I waited for his response.

"Erm... You went upstairs to check on him?" He asked, his voice sounding dubious.

"Oh!" I nodded, as if I suddenly remembered that I did, in fact, had a little run-in with him. "He seemed fine. I think he left."

Jesse popped his lips, his brows raised so high they nearly got stuck in his hairline. "Here's the funny thing, though-" He paused, just for dramatic effect. "He missed the countdown too."

This time, there was no dancing around the suspicion in his voice as he nearly stared a hole in the side of my head while sizing up my reaction. "What are you hinting at?" I turned to him, meeting his curious gaze head-on.

Jesse huffed but took a step back. "If anyone would've told me... I would've laughed in their face. I would've said, 'there's no way!'..." He rambled on in an intoxicated rant, clearly talking to himself. "And yet! Here we are!"

I took the drink from his hand and placed it on the nearest table. "I think you've had enough for tonight. Are you spending the night, or do you have a ride waiting by? Your kind probably doesn't Uber much..."

"She didn't come."

I paused and glanced up at him. "Who?"

"Vivi. I didn't even get a new year's kiss, Ginger!" Jesse whined, his drunkenness reaching a whole new level as he threw his thick arm around my shoulder, forcing me to support some of his weight. And while Jesse was nowhere near as bulky as his brother, he was no little boy.