Three is better than one.

Chapter13: I Won't Let Go

*Priya’s POV*

I felt the bright rays of sunshine disturb my peaceful slumber. I fluttered my eyes open, only to see someone’s strong chest, breathing. I wasn’t very sure what was happening, I sat up on the large bed that I had been resting on and began to scan the room with my tired eyes. There was a large canopy above the massive bed and a beautifully carved closet and mirror. This absolutely did not look like my room at all. I turned to my left to see Jeremy, fast asleep beside me. I was beyond shocked! Feelings of confusion and worry clouded my mind. Where am I? What happened last night? Why is Jeremy sleeping beside me? Why am I here? What will my parents do if they find out about this? I had no idea what was going on, but I knew that I needed some answers.

I threw a strong punch at his arm. He slowly began to regain consciousness from his deep sleep and looked at me strangely.

“What the heck was that for?” he questioned me, in his morning voice.

“What. Happened.” I demanded an answer, as I intensely looked him in the eye.

“I’ll explain.” He sighed, as he got up and ruffled his messy blonde hair.

*Author’s POV*

“So basically, you’re here at my house. You called me last night to pick you up from a night club downtown,” he began, “ I didn’t know your address, and you fell asleep so I had no choice but to bring you here to my house. It was really late, so I somehow fell asleep beside you while I was helping you freshen up.” He explained.

“Oh…I guess that makes sense. Nothing else happened right?” she re-assured.

“Yeah, that’s it. But bottom line, you owe me another favor again, don’t you?” he teased.

“I guess so…thanks by the way.” She said, averting her eyes away from him.

Things fell silent; Jeremy badly wanted to know why she was crying last night. He wanted to know what happened to her before he came. They sat there awkwardly on the mattress, just staring at each other.

“Hey…can I ask you something?” he asked shyly, finally breaking the silence.

“Um…yeah, okay.”

“Why were you crying last night? What happened?” he questioned, caringly.

She almost forgot about all that happened last night. But as soon as Jeremy mentioned it, the pain came back and tears began to well in her eyes. She couldn’t control her tears, her heart hurt so badly. She buried her face in her hands and began to sob uncontrollably, completely forgetting about Jeremy’s presence.

He was confused, he felt like it was his own fault that she was crying right now. He had never been in such a situation before, but something told him that he needed to comfort her. It was clear that she needed someone right now.

He approached her awkwardly, and wrapped his strong arms around her shoulders. His comforting hug helped in some way, but she continued to cry. She unconsciously nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck and cried in his arms. After about a minute, she suddenly realized what she was doing; she became embarrassed and tried to release herself from his grasp but failed.

“I won’t let go until you stop crying.” He said seriously, and hugged her even tighter. “I won’t let go.”

The crying made her body weak, she couldn’t fight back. She simply gave into his command and continued to cry in his arms. He sat there, comforting her for almost an hour, holding her in his arms.  After a long while, she finally stopped crying and he let go.

“So tell me what happened.” He said as he looked into her red, puffy eyes.

She sniffled and cleared her voice before finally speaking, “Jack…Jack was with some girl at the club last night…” she said, trying to hold back the tears, “and…and he…was grinding her… right in front of me.” It hurt her even more just to say it out loud. “I-I can’t believe he did that. I can’t believe I was fooled like that.” She said abruptly.

Jeremy was already furious; he clenched his fist to hold back the anger and pay attention to the matter at hand.

He gulped, “Why were you at the club in the first place?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“He told me to meet him there…” she said, shedding one tear.

Jeremy knew that Jack wanted to take her seriously; he wouldn’t shut up about how much he liked her just earlier in the day, when they were on the phone together during his drive home from his date with Priya. He was angered that Jack would do such a thing, despite all the great things he said. Why would he pull such an asshole move? Jeremy wanted to punch him straight in the face for doing this. Priya was a good friend of his and Jack couldn’t just make her cry without real reason. But despite his feelings of anger, he knew that he had to be there for her; she was still devastated.

“You know what?” he said cheerfully, trying to brighten her mood.

“What?” she said and sniffled.

“You and me are gonna go watch a movie together.” He said smiling, “Just like last time.”

“B-but I look like a mess…” she said as she stared at the large mirror across her.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, grinning mischievously, and whistled his fingers loudly.

She was shocked by the sudden noise, also by the seven or so maids that rushed into the room, urgently but swiftly.

“Please fix her appearance,” he said politely, “Bring her to my car outside, I’ll be there by the time you’re done.” He smiled brightly as he got up and began to leave the room.

“W-w-what?!?” she exclaimed, as the maids began to get to brush and comb her tangled hair.

“See ya.” He said smiling, as the door began to close, leaving Priya desperate but with no more tears.

…

Jack had finally woken up after an intoxicated sleep but with a hangover. He grudgingly made his way to the mini fridge in his room to grab a ginger ale in order to ease his painful headache. He gulped it down thirstily, trying to wash out the taste of alcohol in his mouth from last night. Rubbing his head, he tried to forget about the painful look on Priya’s teary face in the club. He knew what he did was selfish, he knew it was cowardly and he knew he was an asshole but he also knew that there was a chance that their relationship could end badly, just the way that it did with his parents. However, the image of her teary eyes re-appeared in his mind…he suddenly felt just as devastated as she was.