Chapter 66: Chapter 66:

"Are you sleepy?" He asks me and I deny it but my eyes betray me again and he had to wake me.

I glance at the time on my watch and its half past eight. Its raining heavily outside and I shiver because of the cold. I should be in my room by now with my heater on by now. With my asthmatic condition, I shouldn't  be in the cold for a long time. I rub my hands lightly to ignite some heat but it doesn't help at all and I'm frightened I would have an attack.

"We need to go home! You are getting cold" Jake states firmly getting up and packing his stuff.

"No! We are not done with the project! Besides, who said I'm cold?"

"But its late" Jake retorts.

"I can write this! Besides, I am not allowed to walk in the rain"

Jake sighs and peels his grey hoodie off his body and throws it at me.

"What?" I ask

"Wear it" he instructs and I laugh.

"Its alright. I can't wear it"

"Just wear it Nikki! Stop being adamant"

I huff and slip the grey hoodie on.

A ghost of a smile appears on his face when he sees me wearing the hoodie but then it disappears into that wry expression.

"Okay so I drafted something" I tell him handing him the paper and then sneezed. He glowers at me before shifting his gaze to the paper to read whatever was on it.

Then another sneeze came and then another. Then I started to cough and sneeze even more making Jake shoot up from his seat. I couldn't breathe well now. My nostrils are blocked and am struggling for oxygen.

"What is it Nikki? Somebody help!" Jake yells and I struggle to breathe.

I point to my bag to signal Jake that my inhaler is in there. People have surrounded me now and someone tells Jake I'm having an asthma attack. I feel like my lungs are closing up and my chest feels tight. I don't know why I'm having this right now. I try to breathe but end up wheezing. The pain in my chest intensifies and I close my eyes as tears stream onto my face.

Many hands are touching my soft skin and I spot a woman digging  into my bag and she brings out my inhaler. She  puts it to my mouth.

"Suck it sweetie!" She says softly and I oblige even though I didn't know her. I wanted the pain to go! I wanted to breathe normally. Jake looks worried when I steal a glance at him.

"One more suck sweetie" the woman urges and I do it. Then the pain vanishes and my eyes are heavy.

"I think you should take her home" those were the last words I heard.

💚💚💚

I wake up and its still raining heavily outside plus its dark. I scan my surroundings and I'm not in my room. This room is different. I yawn and look at the time on my watch. It was exactly 13:46am in the morning. But where was I? Then the memories flooded in. Jake and I were at the diner or lemme say his former workplace doing the project and then I had an attack. It could be he brought me to his apartment. I look down at my clothing and I'm still in his grey hoodie. I get out of the bed. I can breathe normally now. I decide to look under the pillow to see if Helen's picture was still there but it wasn't and I didn't spot it anywhere. I shrug.

This is like another déjà vu situation. I walk out of the bedroom and head towards the hall. Jake sat there with head bent writing something vigorously. There were lots of books on the table which were opened and lots of papers both crumpled and straight. Some were even on the floor. He was in his shirt and jeans. His hair was messy but he didn't care, he was busy for our project. It warms my heart a bit and I smile.

"Jake" I call softly and he whirls his head up to look at me. I think I scared him.

"Are you okay? Can you breathe?" He asks concerned walking towards me. He stops right in front of me, our faces inches apart.

"Yes I can! Its better now" I reply with a grateful smile.

Jake smiles back

"I was so worried about you! I thought you were going to die! Your face was so red and..."

"I usually have those attacks. Its a part of me now. Since I was little"

"When did you realise  that you had it?"

"When I was seven"

"Sorry but why didn't you tell me you had that condition?"

"I just don't like telling people about it" I reply walking towards where the books and papers were.

"Does Aaron know?" Jake asks

"Yes he does and Alec too knows about it"

He nods and sits in the couch continuing with his work. The room is warm and I think his heater is on.

"So what were you doing?" I ask knowing very well he was doing the project but I wanted him to say it. I wanted to gain the pleasure of hearing it from him.

"The project" he said in a duh tone and continues to write.

"Mm...I see. So are you done?" I ask

"Almost" he replies without looking at me.

"Aaand done!" He announces and I'm astonished.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes I am! I have been writing this since 9 pm and now its two in the morning" Jake says with a shrug.

"Whoah! That's like..." I trail off counting my fingers "Five hours? What were you doing? And what the heck were you writing about?"

Jake laughs.

"I'll admit I played video games for a while before starting all this shit but I took long enough" he replies handing me the sheet of paper to read the essay whiles he picked the rubbish around and dumped them into his trashcan.

"You still wrote about Paris?" I ask surprised after reading the first paragraph. I was a very fast reader.

"That was what you wanted right? And that was what I chose" he says with a smirk making me smile.

I continue to read the script and I love it. It had so many details to it and I stopped to ask Jake if he had lived there before but he said no claiming that he did a lot of research so I kept on reading and I knew Mr Cartwright would love this essay.

"I prepared some hot caramel macchiato for the two of us just to heat us up in this cold weather" Jake tells me laying two mugs on the table in the hall.

"Thanks" I say and grab the mug. It had a design of a Rosetta but it wasn't done properly. I still liked it nonetheless. I took a sip and it tastes great. I close my eyes and open it again.

"Its good!" I tell him and he just looks at me.

I read the last paragraph of the essay and then hand the script to him

"Its interesting! Good work Jake! Mr Cartwright will love it"

"I am a perfectionist" he brags and I roll my eyes

"Oh please! You couldn't draw the Rosetta on my drink well"

"That's because it slipped a bit"

"So that means you aren't a perfectionist"

"I am"

"You are not!"

He growls and sips his drink.

"Nikki I....." Jake trails off.

"What?"

"I just wanna apologise for our last encounter before this project brought us together again"

I swallow the drink I just gulped and look at him.

"I said some hurtful things but you also hurt me you know? When you said Aaron is better than me. And I shouldn't have left you to go like that but I was so angry"

I scoot closer to him placing my empty mug on the table.

"I'm sorry too. Its just that, you are so mysterious sometimes"

"Yeah I know! Sometimes I don't even know who I am" Jake spits miserably. "And what I said about Helen that day, is false. I had her picture under my pillow because she should have been celebrating her eighteenth birthday on that day. I just wanted to remember her but I swear to you that my heart belongs to you"

My heart melts

"After that day, I felt alone. I felt like I lost something in my life." He states tears filling his eyes

"But my ego was too big. I couldn't call and apologise"

He looks sincere but he is weird sometimes. I just cannot trust him.

"But I still lost you, you are with Aaron now. It hurts but I cannot do anything about it"

I'm still tongue tied.

"Since when did you start loving me?" I ask him and he chuckles.

"The first day I met you, at the mall. Love at first sight they say! I wanted to know you! You were like a magnet. All the guys were talking about you"

I blush and giggle at what he just said.

"What about you? When did you start loving me?" Jake asks.

"That same day" I reply and he smiles.

"Jake, are you being sincere?"

"Yes I am."

I could see all the sincerity brimmed in his grey irises and I have no doubts.

"I..uh.....I" I stutter out not knowing what to say exactly and Jake smiles softly at me.

"You need to go and sleep" He told me.

"I already did! You need to sleep"

"No I can't! I took too much caffeine already" he says

"Then let's talk." I suggest scooting closer to him.

"We are talking" he says obviously

I smile at him and he returns it.

"I don't know what to do now! Its gonna be difficult choosing between you and Aaron"

"Just take your time and make the right choice"

I nod sighing deeply playing with my fingers. Then I asked the first question that popped into my mind.

"Why are you still living here? Why don't you want to go to your father's house?"

He chuckles slightly.

"I just have my privacy here! I would love to live there but I prefer this place"

"Don't you wanna live with your brothers? Lucas and Thomas hardly know you and I'm sure they want to know more about you. And you and Alec can be closer. Your stepmother would be glad and your dad will finally feel secure that you are under his roof and under his protection"

"I would have loved to spend more time with my little brothers though but I usually visit them. My stepmother also appreciates my visits and my dad is okay with where I stay. He even wanted body guards to follow me but I declined it telling him that I can protect myself"

"Well that is nice"

"Yeah."

"Why don't we have some Karaoke?" I suggest suddenly.

Jake laughs.

"I'm sorry but I don't have a good voice. I sound like a toad croaking when I sing"

I laugh at his comment.

"Come on! It will be fun" I say grabbing my satchel and looking through it for my iPhone. I finally bring it out and look through my playlists.

"Nikki! We might disturb our sleeping neighbours" he continues to protest.

"It wouldn't be so loud! Just sing undertone"

He huffs making me smile.

"Then you will start" Jake spits

"No problem" I reply.

I finally settle on Chandelier by Sia. I always find it difficult singing this song when I get to the chorus but I was willing to give it a shot. I play it and Jake looks at me.

🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼

Party girls don't get hurt

Can't feel anything... when will I learn?

I  push it down, push it down

I'm the one for a Good times call

Phones blowing up ringing my doorbell

I feel the love, feel the love

123 123 drink

123 123 drink

123 123 drink

Throw em back, till I lose count

Chorus 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎵🎵🎵

I'm gonna  swing from the chandelier

From the chandelier,

I'm gonna feel like tomorrow doesn't exist. Like it doesn't exist

I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night...

I stop when I hear Jake laugh. I guess I sounded like a screaming goat which was was being cut in the neck and I  blush cause I know I always sound like that maybe even worse. He finally stops laughing when he sees my red face.

"Sorry" he says clearing his throat.

"Continue" he says seriously now.

"No! I know I sound horrible"

"You sounded great at the beginning but then getting to the chorus, it got a little bit croaky and weird" he says laughing a bit.

"But then you have a great voice"

"Don't flatter me! You are just saying it to make me feel good"

"No I'm serious! I loved it! You sounded amazing!"

"Are you sure?" I ask with a smile playing about my lips

"Yes I am sure"

"Thanks" I reply blushing.

"I guess its my turn now." Jake says

I smile. "Yes! I really want to hear you sing"

Jake groans grabbing his own phone looking through his playlists. Then the song begins and I recognize it as Justin Beiber's song, Intentions.

Intentions / Justin Beiber

🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼🎤🎤

Picture-perfect, you don't need no filter

Gorgeous, make 'em drop dead, you a killer

Shower you with all my attention Yeah, these are my only intentions Stay in the kitchen, cooking up, cut your own bread

Heart full of equity, you're an asset Make sure that you don't need no mentions

Yeah, these are my only intentions Shout out to your mom and dad for making you

Standing ovation, they did a great job raising you

When I create, you're my muse

The kind of smile that makes the news 🎼🎼🎼🎼

Can't nobody throw shade on your name in these streets

Triple threat, you a boss, you a bae, you a beast

You make it easy to choose You got a mean touch I can't refuse (no, I can't refuse it)

Picture-perfect, you don't need no filter

Gorgeous, make 'em drop dead, you a killer

Shower you with all my attention Yeah, these are my only intentions Stay in the kitchen, cooking up, cut your own bread

Heart full of equity, you're an asset Make sure that you don't need no mentions

Yeah, these are my only intentions Already passed, you don't need no approval

Good everywhere, don't worry 'bout no refusal

Second to none, you got the upper hand now

Don't need a sponsor, no, you're the brand now

You're my rock, my Colorado Got that ring, just like Toronto Love you now, a little more tomorrow

That's how I feel Act like you know that you are

🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶

Picture-perfect, you don't need no filter

Gorgeous, make 'em drop dead, you a killer 🎼🎼🎼🎼

Shower you with all my attention Yeah, these are my only intentions

Stay in the kitchen, cooking up, cut your own bread (whip it)

Heart full of equity, you're an asset (asset)

Make sure that you don't need no mentions (yeah, yeah)

Yeah, these are my only intentions (Quavo)🎶🎶🎶

No cap, no pretending You don't need mentions (no cap)

Got them saying "goals", they don't wanna be independent

Tell them to mind your business

We in our feelings It's fifty-fifty percentage (fifty)

Attention, we need commitment We gotta both admit it (both) It's funny we both listen (both)

It's a blessing 'cause we both get it (both)

You the best thing and I don't need a witness (best thing)

I'ma find me a ring and pray it's perfect fitted (perfect)

Picture-perfect, you don't need no filter (no filter)

Gorgeous, make 'em drop dead, you a killer (oh)

Shower you with all my attention (I will)

Yeah, these are my only intentions (yeah)

Stay in the kitchen, cooking up, cut your own bread (you do)

Heart full of equity, you're an asset (uh huh)

Make sure that you don't need no mentions (no mentions)

Yeah, these are my only intentions (only intentions) (That's all I plan to do, ooh)

🎼🎼🎼🎼

Okay  so who is as happy as I am right now? Jake and Nikki are baaaack together!!!😂!💃woo hoo! I hope they do not break up again😑. Well let's  find out!

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