Bad Habits | Herophine #1

VIII

-Sass & Sunsets-

I gracefully walked out of the water, heading for my blanket, first drying off, I sat carefully on it and poured some water over my feet afterward to prevent wet/dry sand from getting onto my space, if there was one thing I didn't favor about the beach,it was sand for sure. Elijah and Hailey went off to make sandcastles a few feet away from where they were set up, I sat with my knees to my chest as I applied a sunscreen with an SPF of thirty on myself, I watched a shirtless, swimming trunk wearing Jax, get out of the water a few minutes after myself and walk toward his spot, there's no need for me to mention he looked good wet, I'm pretty sure the angel and devil duo on each of my shoulders was convinced that there was no type of look he couldn't pull off, Jax was carved by the Gods, I was convinced, however I couldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing I was checking him out.

I slid my sunglasses on, as well as my headphones in my ears deciding to ignore him in peace, boy, was I ever wrong thinking he'd let me at least enjoy my music. Once he got to his own blanket he purposely blared the song on his speakers, I rolled my eyes behind my sunglasses realizing it was a Guns N' Roses song, which completely drowned out any type noise coming from my meek wired headphones I might add. I glanced back at him over the rim of my glasses only to find him smirking and doing that play thing with his tongue between his teeth, my stomach flipped but I took off my headphones reluctantly.

"Annoying much?" I shot him a death stare, his smirk remaining intact, he finally lowered the volume to Don't Cry, the rock ballad being barely a whisper but still audible. "I'm sorry I haven't texted you." He began. "I've been going through heavy stuff along with my sister, Hailey's just much better at hiding it is all." He nodded over to Hailey who was quite the bucket of sunshine next to Elijah and their sideways sandcastle. "I'm also sorry for not greeting you properly when you got here, it was wrong, but I had to play the big brother card." His jaw clenched and I felt a sudden urge to kiss it. "It's fine Jax, you don't owe me any explanations, I haven't asked for them, we're good despite your rudeness."

I gave him a smile to join my sass to confirm we were actually okay. "You've got the best smile I've ever seen." He complimented, I thought it was the beers I made sure to point that out as I giggled. "Take it easy there champ, or you'll be the one passing out in my arms instead." I roasted. "It's not the beer, I mean it." His tone was serious, I looked at him and I saw it in his eyes, "Well, thank you, as long as my smile doesn't describe half of the female population in LA, I can live with that..." I shot back teasing shyly, Hailey's squeals broke our gaze and laughter, Elijah was chasing her on the beach and my heart got swollen, "Is he really a good guy?" Jax asked me as I placed my sunglasses atop my head. "The best you'll ever come across on in this whole world." I responded, watching as Hailey tackled Elijah and they made out on the sand. "Oi! Keep it PG, yeah?!" Jax shouted as Hailey flipped him off and continued kissing Elijah, the way she straddled him, made me feel left out, like maybe I should straddle Jax and we'll be even, but there was also a feeling there I didn't quite understand.

After an entire afternoon of sun, music, beer and watching Elijah dote on Hailey, I successfully got my tan and we watched the sunset from where we lay, me alone on my blanket, Hailey on Elijah's chest, Jax sprawled on his, the shades of orange, red and yellow coated the sky, as if River had painted them herself with her brush, I took my phone out of my bag and snapped a picture of it. I sighed as I laid on my back, I took a look around at how quiet this part of the beach was, I think it mostly had to do with the fact that this was in a way the couple's side of Malibu beach.

"Alright, who's riding with who?" Elijah asked after the sun was down and the only light was a nearby bonfire, but what that really meant was, I had to ride with Jax and let Eli borrow my car so that he can be alone with Hailey, my guts churned. "We'll all meet at Rooted." He proposed. I widened my eyes. "Eli I don't have enough gas to make it to Rooted." I protested. "Oh there was a gas station not too far from the beach when we were driving over." Hailey contributed, I screamed internally. "Thanks Hailey..." I smiled but my eyes yelled murder. "I'll fill your tank." Elijah offered. "Guess you're coming with me then..." Jax said a bit too enthusiastic, I shook my blanket agitating all the sand onto him before neatly folding it and placing it into my beach bag, Elijah almost laughed knowing I was livid, I gave him homicide eyes as he made his way to my Kia.

Once in his car I calmed down and caressed the panels of the Mustang along with the dashboard in front of me. "Careful there, you might give her an orgasm." Jax teased making me pull my hand back as if the car actually felt anything. "I'm sorry, I love vintage cars, it's the only reason why I'm not jumping out of this car, it's not every day a gal gets to ride a 'Stang you know." He nodded, impressed. "You like old cars but you drive a 2019 Kia Soul, makes sense." I punched his arm as hard as I could, which apparently wasn't hard enough, because he laughed. "Hey!" he retorted.

"If I could afford one I'd probably be driving a 1966 Ford Thunderbird." I sighed, closing my eyes and picturing myself behind the wheel of one of my favorite cars. "The car from Thelma and Louise, nice choice..." He stated making me look at him. "You're not the only one who knows old cars, Faith." He winked, if my interest was a sixty, it spiked to about eighty-five now, we riddled each other with questions and he revealed that his father was Lars Beckett. Yep, the same guy my sister, River and I were watching on TV about being part of a scam, I realized why he hadn't texted, according to the news that day his home was raided for evidence and a ton of other shit, just to see if his father had any implications in the case. He must've felt so hopeless watching his things being carried away by officials, which is what they displayed, my heart wrinkled like a ball of notebook paper. He didn't go too in depth about his problems, not when most of them, the essential ones were all over the six o'clock news, it was visibly affecting him though.

I quickly changed the subject wanting to help with keeping his mind off it. "What do you miss most about the UK?" I asked, I didn't know I was opening a can of worms. "I've been waiting for someone to ask me that for ages, Let's see here..." He listed everything from alcohol, to food, to clothing brands, to fast food joints and I finally found out what a crumpet was. "Crumpets are a sort of griddle cake, you guys might call them English muffins but they are so different. I miss those, you can't get those here..." He reminisced, I was delighted at how well he spoke about this country, despite having to relocate forcefully. "Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things in America I wouldn't trade for the world." We pulled up alongside the curb Rooted was on, when he looked at me and with a sideways smile admitted. "Meeting you is one of them." He winked before leaving me gasping for air mentally in the car.

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A/N: Oop! Things are coming along for Faith & Jax, How do you guys feel about Elijah and Hailey dating?

I'd love to thank my amazing friend goldenxflicker for choosing the title to this chapter.

Hope you Enjoyed the read! xoxo