this is the start | gilinsky

Chapter Twenty-Three

    "I've never heard snoring that bad before." I complain to myself as soon as I wake up the next morning. Strong arms are wrapped around my body, so I struggle to push myself off of Sammy's living room couch. 

    When I finally reign free I turn around and take in the sight. Gilinsky's mouth is parted open and his nostrils flare every time he takes a breath. I smile. He looks so peaceful and young. It's kinda cute; then he snores and I cringe. 

    "He only snores that bad when he has a hangover." I hear Sammy's voice enter the room. I nod my head and silently thank God. 

    "Good to know." I say before looking away from sleeping Jack. It'd be a little creepy to keep staring since I knew Sam was in the room watching me. He's holding a white mug and he has bed head, "Nice look..." I tease. He grins and nods his head at me. 

     Looking down at my messy clothes I laugh. My hair probably looks worse. I realize that I'm still in the clothes I was wearing last night and a flood of memories flash back at me. Jack and I kissed. After all this time of me fussing over him, I finally made the move. I was the one who kissed him, and he kissed back. My stomach erupts with butterflies and my heart flutters insanely.

    I just have to remember the fact that him being drunk and emotional could've been what effected his reaction towards me, but after everything that Johnson told me a few hours before that made me think it was more than that.

    A silence falls between me and Sam but I can't tell if it's an awkward one. Before I can decipher whether I should just say something or keep my mouth shut, I hear a low groan come from Gilinsky. My head snaps back towards the sound. 

    "Oh, shit." He whispers. His eyes are still closed tight but he starts to roll his body up off of the couch. 

    "You good, bro?" Sammy questions, placing his mug on the coffee table.

    "I'll go get him some water." I say quietly.

    "Wait! Was that Mar?" Jack's voice is raspy as hell and it makes me want to scream.

    "Yeah, man, she'll be right back," Sammy tells him, "She's just getting you a drink." I nod my head then dance into the kitchen.

    All I can think about while searching for a water bottle in Sammy's fridge is if Jack remembers anything from last night. I know when I got drunk I didn't remember anything, but Mallory could recall bits and pieces. Maybe it just depends on if you're used to it or not, and I'm pretty sure Jack is used to it. 

    I come back holding a bottle of water with these thoughts still invading my head. Sammy's no longer in the room. Jack has moved from the couch to the floor. I get fidgety at the idea of being alone with Jack. No matter how many times I come in to contact with him I'll still always feel alert when he's near. I guess that's how crushs work.

    “How are you feeling?” I ask while kneeling down to reach his height from the ground. His eyes still closed tight, he reaches for the water and I let him have it. 

    “Headache,” He mumbles before taking a sip. 

    “I know how that feels.” I joke. He tries a laugh but ends up wincing in pain. 

    I want to ask him if he knows what we did. I want to ask him if he remembers how good his lips felt against mine, but I know I can’t drop all of that on him right now so I keep my mouth shut. 

    I watch as he downs the whole bottle in just a few minutes, only stopping to take a few deep breaths in between slurps. 

    “Well weren’t you thirsty.” I tease. This time he can bare a laugh. 

    “Thank you.” His voice is low and I want to kiss him again. What is wrong with me? Every time I see him I just want to kiss him over and over again. I can’t help but wonder if he feels the same, especially after last night.

     Dammit, last night. I wish I knew if he remembered. Just as I’m about to open my mouth to speak again my phone buzzes. Before the sound can cause Jack to groan I whip it out of my pocket to see a text from Dad. 

Mallory told me you were staying over at Sam’s with Jack…is everything okay?

    My eyes widen and I hold back a choke. Does he know what happened between us? I’m happy Mal didn’t lie to Dad about where I was, but I’m also kind of nervous that he knows. 

Yeah, Dad, everything’s fine. Thanks for checking up on me. I’ll be home soon, love you. 

Love you too, thanks for taking care of him :)

No problem

    Just to be nice, I send him a smiley face back before returning my phone to my pocket. When I give my attention back to Jack, I see he’s grinning. 

    “What?” I grin back.

    “I remember…” He whispers into my ear. A memory comes floating back to me and I see my drunk-self overreacting to the feeling of Jack’s breath in my ear. Instead of blushing, I giggle excitedly. He remembers, I don’t even know how he knew that I wanted to know but he remembers and that’s all I needed to hear. 

    The only thing I can think of to say is, “Good.” 

   It’s weird because even though I’m glad this means he’s over Leigh and has (maybe, sorta, I don’t know yet) moved on to me, I still feel like it’s a longshot to say that he’s completely forgotten about her, but I’m strangely okay with that.

    “Want me to prove it?” He asks lazily. This time I blush and he says, “I take that as a yes,” before kissing me exactly how we kissed last night.

    I could get used to this.

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yay! I updated twice in one school day! haha I hope you enoyed that chapter thank you for reading! I'm not sure when chapter twenty-four is going to be posted but it will be soon! leave your suggestions or advice in the comments and also don't forget to vote if you'd like! much love - gilinskyshigh