Bartenders are like therapists.

I sit back and rub my stomach, "Jade that was so good." The headache has subsided slightly, but the ache at the back of my head and body are still there. She stands up and grabs our plates, turning and placing them in the sink.

"Thanks." She turns and leans against the counter. "I'm going to go get dressed and we can leave." She tells me.

Uhh. "Where are we going?"

She smiles, "Since I took care of your ass, you're coming to the store with me." She walks out the kitchen, leaving me hanging. So apparently, I'm going shopping. She returns with my clothes and leaves me alone again. Alright then. I move into the leaving room and get dressed. I room around the small room, taking in the knick knacks. I'm not waiting long when Jade comes out wearing a camo t-shirt and some black jeans with rips in them, her hair still piled on her head, and wearing the glasses. I like those glasses. She's slipping on her sneakers when she catches me watching her, "What?"

I shrug, "You look nice."

That makes her smile, "Thanks stud."

I groan and throw my head back, "Can we forget that ever happened and drop the nickname?"

She laughs, "No way! That happened, and stud is your new nickname. Let's go." She opens the door and waits for me to move. I reluctantly move pass her and out into the small hallway, waiting for her. She locks her door and closes it behind her, we move down the stairs together and move towards the back door which opens to what I assume is the back of the bar.

"Is my car okay in the lot? It didn't get towed did it?" I pause in front of her car, "This isn't some ploy to nicely take me to the compound to pick it up?" She is at the driver's side of her car, her laugh is loud but I was serious.

"Wow, okay. You have a great imagination, and you're a bit paranoid huh?" She opens the car door, "Guess I can't blame you after what the slut did, but no, your car did not get towed, it's fine. Shut up and get in."

I shut up and get in. Jade drives the short trek to the store, and we both get out, walk into the store together. She grabs a cart and leads the way. I haven't done the grocery shopping in so long, Melissa always did it and as of lately, I've just been eating out or whatever the guys get I eat. I follow behind Jade as she pulls some items off the shelves. I'm not sure why I'm here, but oddly I'm not complaining, it's better than being at Vance's I suppose. I stroll up next to her, "Do you work tonight?"

"Yep, Saturdays are the best nights for tips."

I hum, "Makes sense."

"Yeah." She returns.

"You work every Saturday?" wondering if she ever does anything else with her weekend.

"For the most part, yeah. It helps pay for school."

"You're in school? What for?"

"Business management. I'll be taking over the bar when Drew decides to retire." She says grabbing a box of cereal.

"Drew is..."

"Drew is my uncle, but he raised me." She says it simply. I have so many questions but I don't think it's the right time to ask them. I trail behind her, just watching her shop. Her cart isn't very full when we make our way towards the registers. She begins placing items onto the conveyor belt, and I start to help her when my cell starts to ring. I pull it from my pocket, I expect it to be V, asking where I am but my realtor's name flashes across the screen, I quickly answer. "Hey Rachael, What's up?"

Jade's eyes connect with mine, her eyebrow arched. I cover the receiver and whisper, "Realtor." I know I don't have to tell her who Rachael is, but I felt I should considering I feel a loyalty to Jade, I have no idea why. Her taking care of me last night? I don't ponder on it long, as Rachael tells me there is a property that just listed with a reasonable price and we have to act fast. Shit, I don't have my car. "Send me the address." I tell her. We end the call and I look at Jade, "Do you mind coming with me to check out a house?"

"Sure." She shrugs. I grab the few bags from the bagging area while she pays and we walk out together. She bleeps her car and opens the trunk, and I place them inside. "What's the address?" I tell her the address.

"OH, I know where that is, I think it's a newer house." That's a plus and it doesn't take us long to get there. We're away from the town, but not real far, the homes are spaced apart perfectly. The house is near the end of the cul-de-sac. Jade turns into the driveway of a really nice vinyl and brick ranch home. Rachaels SUV is parked in front of a big two car garage, Jade parks on the other side. "Wow." She whispers, "This is really nice."

"Yeah." I agree. "Let's go see inside!" I get out quickly, walking behind her car and wait for Jade to get out. We walk the cement pathway to the front porch, where the current owners have Adirondack chairs. There's a screen door, but the main door is open. "Rachael?" I call out.

"Come in!" I hear her voice. I open the screen door for Jade, allowing her to go in first then follow behind her. We're standing in the living room, which is spacious and open, there's a archway into the the dining room. The click clacking of heals announce Rachael's approach. "This is so nice." Jade whispers. Rachael appears and greets me, "Victor! This JUST came onto the market, and it's exactly what you've been looking for!" she gushes then takes in Jade, "Hello." She reaches her hand out to her, "I'm Rachael, are you Victor's girlfriend?"

Jade takes her hand, "Oh, uh, no. We're friends." She stutters a bit, which I find really funny. I show her my dick and she acts like it's nothing. Fuck. That shouldn't bother me as much as it does.

"Oh I'm sorry." Rachael apologizes but moves on, "Let's have a look shall we?" Rachael takes us through the immaculate house, it's simple yet spacious. "The bedrooms are down that hall, there are three." She points towards the hallway just after the living room, to the left. The dining room opens to the spacious kitchen, with cherry wood cabinet and black granite counter tops, there's an island with stools placed in front. "The garage connects to the kitchen, which is great for grocery shopping. You have a large pantry right here, she opens a door near the garage door, then opens the garage door. I peek inside, noticing the amount of space inside. The current owners have a nice workshop set up. I nod my approval. I follow Rachael back into the house and she leads us towards the bedrooms, "A full bathroom here on the right." She opens the door to show a nice updated bathroom, "The first bedroom on the left," she opens the door to a small bedroom, second bedroom she crosses the hall to the left and opens another door, a slightly bigger room, then directly across that bedroom is the master. "Walk in closet and a private bathroom." Rachael leads me to the bathroom and closet set up. Jade steps into the large tub, "Oh I am so jealous." She lays down.

"Jacuzzi tub." Rachael gushes. "It's definitely a must have!"

I shrug and Jade gives me the finger, "I'll just have to come over."

"Sure." I say opening the closet door just inside the bathroom. It's large and looks like it has a hers and his side. My stuff will literally take up a quarter of this.

"I saved the best for last." Rachael announces, let's go check out the backyard! She leads us out the room, down the hall, pass the dinning room, into the kitchen and towards sliding glass doors. Rachael slides the doors open and we step onto a massive white deck. There's a built in grill to the right, any man's dream. A set of outdoor couches butt against the house, to the left is a hot tub built into the deck so all you need to do is step in, and then an above ground pool maybe twenty feet away takes up the left side of the yard. The yard is fenced in with plenty of room.

"Do you need a roommate?" Jade jokes, "Damn."

"I may." I muse.

"This is a dream come true!" Rachael announces, "The current owners are looking for a fast sale, the husband got a job offer in another state and they are relocating."

"If you don't pounce on this, I'm gonna smack you upside the head." Jade says making me laugh.

"Then I have to deal with your ass all the time?" I joke, "No thanks."

"Hey! I am a great companion!" She places her hands on her hips.

I turn to Rachael, "Let's place an offer."

Jade claps with excitement and my gut clenches a little. I like seeing her happy, and I'm not sure how I feel about these feelings. I quickly walk inside with Rachael where we discuss things, and I sign some papers for an offer. "Fantastic! I will get this faxed over as soon as possible." I zone out at the sight just outside the window where we sit at the island, Jade is sitting at the edge of the pool with her feet dangling in the water. My heart skips a beat, and I rub at my chest. I can't fucking deal with this. "Great!" I say loudly, cutting off whatever Rachael was saying, "We gotta get going." I stand move outside, "C'mon Jade." She jumps up and grabs her shoes. We say our goodbyes to Rachael as she does whatever she needs to do, "I'll be in touch!" She yells out as we move towards the front door.

"This is exciting!"

"Yeah." I answer.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

"Nothing."

"Okkaayy."

We both get into her car and she reserves out of the driveway, "If you're nervous, don't be." She starts to say, "If it's meant to be, it'll be." She says simply. I don't respond and we're quiet the rest of the way. Jade pulls into the back of the bar and parks, I get out and move to her trunk unlocking it and grabbing the bags. I follow Jade up to her apartment and place the bags on her table.

I take a deep breath, "Thank you for coming with, for taking care of me last night, for helping me this morning. I appreciate that a lot. I'm gonna get going." I tell her.

"Sure." she shrugs, "You know where to find me if you wanna hang out." She offers, "Bartenders are like therapists." She smiles.

"Thanks." I tell her and leave. After last night, I knew I was going to cut back on the drinking but I need to get some steam out, so I'll be going to another bar tonight for something other than the drinks.

Another update? Within 24 hours? SAY WHAT?

Okay..so this is super super rough draft. I have to get ready for work, but I wanted to post this, my bestie hasn't even read it yet though I did send it to her. She usually gives me her honest opinion and I wait for it until I post...SO I hope it's okay, makes sense, and you enjoy it. Please feel free to point anything out.

I am loving their growing friendship, that I hope I'm portraying it well.

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