Re: Caesars Palace

[Guest]

One of the Japanese body guards was trying to listen in on Seth's and Jake's conversation, as he tried to discretely move closer to them. Jake had made strangle motions at Seth when he caught the movement from the corner of his eye so he switched to Spanish.

"Tetas Seth, lo juro por Dios que voy a matar una vez que estemos en esta mierda y Tony se va a morir también! Te juro que es tan afortunado que en su habitación en este momento lo contrario me sacarlo y de la mano de mierda sobre él! Jake whispered to Seth, although he knew Seth had absolutely no idea what he was saying.

"I'm no doing it! They can have Tony! I don't care." Jake whispered as quietly as he could.

[Tiger-Lily]

Seth had been following the ringleader's suddenly gleaming eyes to Nova, who had padded back to Jake's room.

Wasn't Evelyn in there? She probably was...so that guy must have gone in there and gotten attacked and probably thought Nova was...guarding Tony.

Fuck.

Seth suddenly realized this situation was getting uglier as Ashton said out loud, "Look, just give him a few, okay? We'll let you know." He walked over to Jake and Seth.

"That guy keeps putting his hand inside his jacket like he's hiding a trucking gun," he muttered to them.

Seth glanced up at Jake. "Wasn't Nova in your room? That guy probably thought Red was Tony when he went in there. It could be a girly name. Would you rather he threatened us and then took her?"

The ringleader took this moment to walk around them so he could follow Nova.

[Guest]

Jake turned away for a moment, he didn't like that. He didn't like that Seth had to say that but he didn't want Evelyn getting hurt or worse because they were looking for Antonio, and he was probably under the bed of his room crying.

Jake sighed, he didn't want Antonio to get hurt either or end up dead if these guys found out that what Ashton had posted was just a joke. But right now that the fact that he was hiding just made him want to turn him over to the Japanese.


He let out an annoyed huff, and walked back out to the main room where they were all standing, "I'm sorry... its just. He passed so recently and I loved him..." Jake sniffled, and put his left hand over his mouth as he worked up some tears that brimmed his eyes. "I'm sorry its just the pain is so much." Jake lowered his head into his hands and began to cry.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke's eyes widened and his jaw dropped but he hastily clamped it closed and struggled not to look surprised as he exchanged an amused look with James. The ringleader paused and threw Jake a suspicious glance.

"Your dog is guarding that room," he pointed out stiffly. "Do not take us for fools. I know Tony is in there."

Seth tried not to panic. This wasn't good. At all.

[Guest]

Jake was at a loss for words, but he shot a glare back at Seth. Now he knew this guy wasn't stupid. But it was worth a shot, but given that the guy probably tried to grab Evelyn or something earlier when he had walked off was why Nova probably attacked him and was now guarding the door.

He really wanted to kill Antonio now, because now he was slowly beginning to realize that he could have well...told the truth and said that his wife Evelyn was in there sleeping but he couldn't since Antonio was his GAY LOVER! He wanted to strangle both Seth and Antonio so badly right now.

"He doesn't like strangers roaming around here." Jake said.

[Tiger-Lily]

"Look, Tony is DEAD," Seth interrupted when the ringleader scoffed.

His sinister look suddenly vanished and he spoke coldly. "We had a deal. We paid the money. We will take Tony ourselves." He gestured to the guards and then shoved past Jake and Seth toward the hallway.

Seth shot Jake a glance, thinking furiously. This was bad. Very bad. "Improvise!" he muttered.

"He was trying not to tell you," Luke intervened suddenly, somehow standing right in front of the ringleader. He'd been so quietly, no one had heard him move. He had a peculiar,innocent expression on his face.

He stuck his hands into his pockets and said, "Look, that band on the guy's finger, it's not for Tony. And Tony isn't back there. Jake's wife is. That's why he got all angry and defensive, because he thought you were gonna hurt her." Luke's tone was pleasant and earnest. The Jap stared down at him, an eyebrow lifted and Luke kept eye contact, widening his eyes earnestly.

"Look, Ashton," Luke pointed over at him, "Was the one who posted the ad, I think?"

Ashton found his voice and nodded and the Jap fronwed at him.

"Tony is his twin brother. They had a whole bond because Tony had some weird psychic thingy going on, you know how it is completely unexplainable. And this morning, we found him dead in his bedroom. Jake and Tony have been friends since they were kids, so he's very emotional right now."

The Jap's reply was. "So Ashton is also psychic, yes?"

Ashton pealed in fright. "N-no! Tony had the psychic thing, so I could communicate, uh, with him," eh made up on the spot. God, this was unbelievably stupid but sounded a lot better coming from Luke's mouth.

"Look," Ashton said, "We'll give you a full refund, but we had to, uh...."

"Use the money for a funeral," Seth piped up. The Jap looked somewhat suspicious, still. Seth nudged Jake hastily. "Look, Jake can prove it. Go get her."

Luke flinched, throwing James a half-glance.

***

Evelyn had noticed her disheveled appearance in the large, well-lit bathroom mirror. Her lips and the area around her mouth was raw. Her mascara was luckily waterproof but her eyeshadow was wiped off. Luckily she hadn't worn much dark makeup so she didn't look like a zombie bride.

Bride? Hahaha, she thought bitterly.

She washed her face clean and then noticed a dark spot on her neck. No, two of them, and at first she wondered if some vampire had come dramatically snacking in the middle of the night. And then she realized they were both irregularly placed hickeys.

Lovely.

She ignored the painful contraction inside her chest and pushed her damp hair back off her face as she returned to Jake's room. She rolled up the legs of his sweatpants and stuffed the hems into her booties so they looked like cargo pants now. His short-sleeved shirt was too large on her but she figured it looked pretty okay. Boots totally made every outfit look way more put together.

Funny, she recollected. The last time she'd worn these boots, Jake had come sneaking into her room and more or less sexually assaulted her. She had also been wearing a dark pink dress. Clearly something about red being seductive had been true. Either that, or Jake had issues.

She walked to his bedroom's dressing table and riffled around for a comb. It wouldn't shock her if he hadn't brought one. Jake and combs really didn't mix. His hair was more run-hands-through-glam.

She found one though, and ran it through her hair, before starting to French-braid hr hair back out of her face, using the large bedroom mirror as a guide since she was doing it with her hands. She could hear distant voices outside, but she really had no wish to go out there just yet.

So it wasn't a big deal to these boys. They slept around like most people bought groceries. But everyone here knew she had been a virgin up until last night. There was just something incredibly awkward about going out there right now. Especially since James would be there and she recalled now, that he had drunkenly asked her to marry him.

And she had turned him down. But she had agreed to marry Jake?!

She gritted her teeth, annoyed and confused with herself, as she worked on her braid, frowning at the mirror with more sadness than annoyance. She'd wanted to be friends with him, God damn it! Why couldn't her stupid drunken self not ignore the messed-up feelings involved? And really, her drunken self should be even more anti-marriage than her sober self because she really did believe marriage was stupid. So why had she agreed? With Jake of all people?!

[Guest]

James just raised an eyebrow, he wondered if Evelyn would even agree to come out here. He was sure she was awake by now, and aware of what had gone on just previous night if she would even agree to come out and help them out. So he just shrugged.

Jake just swallowed really hard, and nodded slowly going back to his room, he tried the door but it was obvious that she had locked it.

He reached into his pocket where he had the key, and unlocked the door. Walking in slowly and closing the door behind him.

"Evelyn?" He called out to her, and spotted her standing in front of the mirror, wearing a frown as she did her hair. Jake approached her, but kept his distance. He noted that she was wearing his clothes and couldn't help but crack a small smile, he always liked how she looked in his clothes.

Even the plaid shirt she was wearing, it was the shirt he had worn when he took her to meet his parents the first time they started their whole fake thing, and then he felt his stomach drop at the thought of his parents, they probably wouldn't be too happy to see him. But he pushed that thought aside.

"Hey um listen I don't have much time to explain this but... " Jake took another deep breath he knew she wouldn't agree to this, "But listen... Ashton that idiot last night he accidentally sold Tony on eBay. And Tony is in his room crying, and these three hulking Japanese guys are downstairs trying to get Tony out of here but we told their boss that Tony died, and that we used the money that they paid Ash with to pay for Tony's funeral. Because we had lied first saying that he was my gay lover... and that's besides the point." Jake paused for a second to breathe and continued his story, "Anyway that guy he almost came in here to kidnap you or whatever and Nova attacked him and he's convinced you're Tony but we need you to come down there because Luke said I beat up those guys to keep them from hurting you since you're my wife." Jake finished his story quietly.

[Tiger-Lily]

"So," Seth was saying, in the bleak silence Jake left behind, "I've seen you somewhere."

The ringleader looked confused. "Me?"

Seth nodded sagely. "Yeaahh, errmm, let me remember...." He screwed up his face like he was tackling an indigestion problem and closed his eyes.

The guy cocked an eyebrow and tapped a foot, clearly impatient.

Seth's eyes snapped open and he grinned excitedly. "Oh my GOD! You're the villain dude from Tokyo Drift!"

The ringleader's face darkened. Ashton nudged Seth hastily.

Seth blinked. "No? OH! OH! OH!" He grinned widely. "You were the extra in that scene with those hooker-type girls! Were you the red skirt or the blue?"

There was an ominous silence.

***

Evelyn turned her head and shot Jake a disbelieving look, almost missing his last word. She continued braiding her hair and tried to sort out the crazy situation. Ashton sold Antoni? To the Japanese? Wasn't Ashton the voice of reason here?!

"You - you want me to...go out there?" she deduced at last. She bit her lip and lowered her hands, looking down at them as she clasped them together to hide the fact that they were suddenly shaking. "I...I - Jake, I..." Her stomach twisted nervously as she looked up at him. "There's no alternative?"

[Guest]

James' eyes widened and he looked behind him to Ashlee who seemed to be muttering a prayer to herself.

Only Seth would say something offensive to these men that would wind up in the immediate death of everyone in this room.

***

"Please Evelyn I know this is hard for you and I know that you don't wanna go out there. Its just... I left those men down there with Seth and he's bound to say something and Ashlee, and Luke and the others are down there! They may die! If we don't go down there they're gonna take Tony to Cuba, and they'll kill him there!" Jake pleaded with her, he knew this was a long shot but they needed those guys out of here.

[Tiger-Lily]

Evelyn flinched inside. Oh hell. She didn't want to even think about the whole stupid marriage thing.

What could she do though? "Okay," she relented quietly, shoulders dropping. She cast a glance at the weddign dress she had so far successfully ignored and her heartbeat quickened in panic. She looked away, back up at Jake, but couldn't really bring herself to meet his eyes.

[Guest]

"Okay um... we don't have a lot of time come on." Jake said grabbing her hand and ignoring the sensation he felt as he led her out the door to the living room where everyone was standing.

"Um sir, this is my wife Evelyn." Jake felt so weird saying that out loud, "Please don't hurt us, we're all just grieving over the loss of Tony and I'm sorry about how we reacted."

[Tiger-Lily]

"Sir?" Seth mouthed silently at Jake behind the guy's back. But Seth clamped his lips together firmly because his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter now.

It just sounded so...weird. Jake had seemed odd when he introduced Evelyn as his girlfriend to people (when it had been an act) and now apparently she was his wife but how much of an act was that? Because Seth recalled last night clearly and he remembered Jake and Evelyn being very....genuinely newlyweds. They were drunk yeah, but had been behaving really weirdly. It was disturbing but Seth really, really, wanted to laugh right now.

Ashton elbowed him again, harder.

Seth inhaled sharply and just smirked at Jake behind the Jap's back.

Evelyn's face was flushed slightly and she drew back behind Jake a little when everyone turned around to look at her. She could tell Luke looked worried more than anything and she firmly avoided his gaze, steeling herself and holding her head up as the Jap head honcho, a short man with two gigantic bodyguards, turned to shoot her a curious look. His eyebrows furrowed and Evelyn edged further behind Jake in reflex, fingesrs tighening on his hand, still feeling more than a little vulnerable.

The Jap man turned away and glared at Ashton. "I want my refund."

Ashton's shoulders sagged as he breathed out in relief. Evelyn's wide-eyed, innocent appearance was enough proof she wasn't exactly a great mystic being.

[Guest]

Jacob really wanted to go into Antonio's room and just throw him at the Japanese guys. But its not like these guys were freaking out over paying them ten bucks, this was fifty grand so he could see their stubbornness. But still they appeared to be wealthy and that fifty grand from their bank account would hardly make a damned dent.

But what were they gonna do? There was only so much gambling/counting cards any of them could do before they got caught, and if they did they would be majorly screwed. Plus Jake was practically broke because of all the money he blew last night.

Jake sighed, "Listen, we will get you your money by ten tonight okay? We just don't have it right now." Jake said hoping that they could use the rest of the day to figure something out.

The ringleader let out a very long annoyed sigh and walked up to Jake, "I get my money at ten tonight, not a second later. If you do not have the money. You can kiss your wife goodbye." The man threatened Jake, he then spoke in Japanese to his henchmen and the three of them exited the suite slamming the door behind them.

[Tiger-Lily]

Evelyn sucked in a sharp breath, hand now gripping Jake's so hard, she was probably leaving welts in his skin. Seth's smile faded and his eyes widened. Ashton's jaw dropped in horror.

What had he done?!

"Did he just...?" Luke began, sounding incredulous. "'He didn't....just threaten Evelyn?" Nova gave a soft whine and rubbed his head against Jake's leg.

[Guest]

Ashlee finally came out from behind James her eyes wide, in horror. How could that man even do that? Evelyn hadn't even done anything! Ashlee exchanged shocked looks with James.

He couldn't believe that he would say that! But he saw what those guys did to Jake! And James had had the honor of being beaten up by Jake before. If those two guys could hurt him like that, it wouldn't take much for them to hurt or even worse kill Evelyn.

Jake had clenched his hand into a fist, it shook with anger his knuckles turning white. If there was anyone he wanted to kill right now it was Antonio! Why was he hiding in his room!? Why hadn't he come out! Maybe they could have struck some sort of deal with the man but now they had just threatened Evelyn's life, or possibly his? He wasn't sure he couldn't tell they weren't clear!

But if it was Evelyn's, Antonio was definitely gonna have hell to pay! Jake was furious with him. So furious that he had to even get Evelyn involved in this at all! After everything she already had to go through, she now had to worry about her own life being ended because of this!

Jake stormed to the twins room and tried to open the door and began pounding on it like a mad man, "TONY OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!" Jake shouted.

Antonio had gotten up from his spot, Jake had sounded really angry. Actually he had sounded really pissed the entire time he heard those Japanese men out here. He watched the door afraid to answer it, he wasn't sure how they were going to react to him hiding like this. But judging by Jake's voice he sounded furious.

"GOD DAMN IT ANTONIO OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR OR SO HELP ME I'LL--" Jake pounded on the door until he stopped, he knew he wasn't going to since he knew Antonio was now afraid of being met by the wrath of Jacob.

Jacob stepped back away from the door, he was so livid that he kicked in the damn door. Antonio's face had paled at the sight of Jake, and he sort of froze in his spot. Jacob had stormed in there and picked up Antonio by the collar of his shirt and brought him out to the living room and slammed him hard against the wall.

"DO YOU REALIZE WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED?! Huh?! DO YOU!?? WHY THE FUCK WERE YOU HIDING IN YOUR ROOM LIKE A GODDAMNED COWARD!? HUH!? BE A FUCKING MAN! COME OUT HERE AND FACE YOUR GOD DAMNED ENEMIES! Jake yelled, Antonio had been shaking in Jake's grip.

"Those men! Those damn men who came here for you! They just threatened to kill Evelyn if we don't raise the money they paid to buy you! You are so fucking lucky I didn't come in there and just hand you over to them! Now you're gonna fucking help us get this damned money back because I swear to fucking god Tony if you don't I'm gonna dismember you and paint these damned white walls red with your fucking blood! Do you hear me?!" Jake promised, he was so angry he couldn't see straight.

Antonio nodded quickly and Jake let him drop to the ground, he needed to get away from him before he killed him. He stomped off towards his room slamming his door forcefully.

[Tiger-Lily]

Everyone else had pretty much frozen to their spots in shock and surprise as they listened to Jake bash in Antonio's door and nwo their altercation.

Seth blew out his breath, starting to pace the room like a caged animal as he ran his hands through his hair. They needed to raise that damn money. Usually Seth never gave two shits about most people but this was different. He somehow doubted those guys were kidding.

But card games and casinos were only going to get them so far. They couldn't keep cheating! They'd get seriously screwed over! So maybe some of them could go play cards, Ashton and Luke, maybe. What about everyone else?

What would Tony do? Seth wasn't sure but he doubted Jake was going to feel very appeased if he came out and found Antonio just sitting around. And Seth was unwilling to let Jake prowl around Vegas with his bad mood and aching side. Not after what had just happened to him.

"Fuck," Seth muttered, rubbing his hadns over his face.

"Tony," Luke spoke up quietly, "Jake just got beat up for you. I hope you appreciate that." Evelyn lifted her gaze off the floor and looked horrified.

Seth glanced over at the blond boy, and then his eyes flicked past Luke to Ashlee and he gave her a tired grin before turning to James, on her other side and speaking grimly. "Darko." An idea was growing in his head. "I need a word with you. Alone."

Seth walked to the stairs and spoke as he climbed them. "Ash, Luke, get back to the casinos. Find something for Antonio to do. James and I will do our own thing. Ladies, relax."

He paused midway and turned around, leaning over the railing and grinning roguishly at Ashlee to completely contrast his serious mood earlier. "And you look like a sexy nun in them jammies." He winked and headed on upstairs.

Luke had walked over to Evelyn and given her a swift hug in hopes to unfreeze her from her frozen horrified posture. She shrugged up at him and pulled away, fighting down her panic.

Okay, this was a little too much to handle on this damn day. God, she hated Vegas!

She bit her lip and against her better judgment, headed back to Jake's room with Nova trailing behind her.

She knocked quietly on the door before trying the handle and it swung open. "Jake?" she called uncertainly, stepping in but staying in the doorway in case he wanted his space.

[Guest]

James raised an eyebrow and followed Seth,he was kind of afraid of what he could have possibly thought of. Ashlee hearing Seth's comment felt blood rush to her cheeks out of embarrassment and went to go sit on the couch.

James though gave Seth a swift smack across Seth's head, "Ogle your wife later, what's your plan?" He asked.



Jake had gone into his room, he was pacing around for a moment before he just decided to drop down on the floor, he sat with his back against the bed staring ahead his head tilted back, staring at the ceiling. He closed his eyes letting out a long breath,running a hand through his dark hair.

When he heard Evelyn's voice he turned his head to the door. "Hey Red." He said, exhausted. All of this getting beaten up and threatening your friends was taking a lot out of him. Although in all consideration this was the most activity he's had in almost a month.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke shot Ashlee a surprised look. Since when did she get flustered? He grinned and followed an amused Ashton out of the room.

At least the tension had broken.

***

Seth led the way into his room adn indicated James follow him. he shut the door wiht hsi foot and turned around. His eyes were completely serious now, no impish twinkling. "Okay, so, clearly we're in a fix. I highly doubt we're goign to be able to raise all that dough by tonight, and in case you weren't aware, we have to give those guys fifty grand back. Ashton,, unfortunately, bought a house in Hawaii last night with that money, down payment or some shit. So he's broke. We so far have about thirty-two thousand, acutally, wait, we have thirty-three thousand so far, we need seventeen thousand more but we're really running out of time. Got it?"

He paused and walked past James to pace around Ashlee's wedding down, stepping carefully over it. Fuck, they had to return this and get their clothes back. Shit.

He turned back to James. "I know Evelyn's probably not your favorite person right now," because Seth could remember Evelyn turning James down last night, "but this is serious. How much are you willing to help out?"

***

Evelyn walked slowly over to Jake, shutting the door after Nova entered. She hesitated, standing beside him, and then sat down cross-legged by him, scanning his face. There was a large bruise on his cheek and a slightly fainter one.

Holy shit, I did that! I gave it to him last night when we....

She shook that thought off, hating that memory and swallowed. "Does that hurt? Your face?" she asked quietly.

[Guest]

"I'm willing to help as much as I can... um listen I still have the one thousand Jake gave me from last night. I think I can get like five thousand or so from my cards. But I have a trust fund and I could have given you money but I gotta go to the bank in order to do that. But what do you need me to do?" James asked, wondering what any of this had to do with Evelyn.

Its not that he hated her, its just he really didn't care too much about what had happened last night. But he did care enough about her where he didn't want her to die.

***

Jake just shrugged, he really hadn't noticed or felt any pain from getting hurt. He had gotten so used to being hit in the face since meeting Evelyn that he started to believe he was growing immune, "No its fine." He said tapping his fingers on his knee he glanced at Evelyn, "Are you okay?"

[Tiger-Lily]

Seth cringed. Trust fund money? That was a little too much sacrifice. "Call it seduction," Seth blurted out. He cringed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I've seen you at work and I know myself. See, one of the girls I was with last night, sh - she was - was an escort. Like, not a stripper, don't get me wrong, here, okay? She was basically paid to sit in a room for however many hours a client paid for and just be there with said client. Most of these clients are like divorced middle-aged ladies who need a good-looking listener more than anything, just to get their damn esteem up. So, um, she mentioned these places were really good for earning quick cash. She got about five hundred plus tips from listening to an old dude blabber about his dead wife and his new one who was half his age. I mean, sure, some of the hornier ones will try to cop a feel or hit on you but it's not prostitution, not really, because it works in daylight too, and it's a quick earner and if you're astoundingly good-looking, like we clearly are, it pays a LOT. We could earn the money we need really quickly because I doubt Ashton and Luke are gonna have much luck now that they already pulled a heist before"

***

"Yeah," she said quickly, figuring he was already tense enough. Evelyn fiddled with her hands and then felt the smooth edges of her ring. She swallowed a jolt in her stomach and then lifted her left hand and carefully tugged the cross ring off. The wedding band was worth shit. She held the cross ring out to him, biting her lip, not sure why she felt so odd right now. "Here., you can sell this."

[Guest]

James blinked a few times, "Hold the phone... you want us to prostitute ourselves... for Antonio?!" James blurted out! It was one thing having sex for free and hitting on people! But this was Vegas! He was sure that these horny older woman or whoever would want more than just for James to listen to them bitch about their stupid ex husbands, or their obnoxious kids.

But Seth was right, if the boys had already tried scamming the casinos it meant that they must be on to them. How else were they going to raise money? But prostitution!? It was still wrong! He didn't care if it was legal in this damned city! He had some morals!

"Seth I dunno about this..." James said uneasily.

***

Jake's eyes fell to the ring and he brought his eyes back up at Evelyn and pushed the ring back into her hand, "No its okay. You can um... do what you want with it. Sell it and use the money for whatever you need. I uh... I can't take it back I would feel guilty after everything that happened." He muttered closing her hand over the ring.

[Tiger-Lily]

"Trust me, it's NOT prostitution. I wouldn't do that, man, that's just disgusting," Seth exclaimed. "And if they get too handsy, you just call for a bathroom break and run like fuck." He paused. "Look, shit could get really ugly if we don't have the money here by ten tonight. I'm already calling the limo to get us to the airport at nine PM, while Ashton transfers the money online to the guy's account. This way, in case something goes wrong, we can fly back to Manhattan and I'll get Rafe to lend me the dough from his account! But that's a last resort since he'll probably flip shit."

***

Evelyn wiggled her hand free of Jake's hastily, not liking her quivering stomach jolting again, and shook her head, shoving the ring into his hand again. "No, look, it's just..." She expelled a slow breath, "There's....no point to me keeping this. I just..." She swallowed and drew her hand back. I don't want to be reminded.

[Guest]

James bit his lip this still sounded odd to him, but Seth had been right. If they didn't do this then they would be screwed.

Damn his good looks.

"Okay fine!" James caved.

***

Jake looked at the ring then back at her, she looked like she wanted nothing to do with it and he didn't blame her. After a moment of silence passed between them he took the ring from her hand, "Thank you." He said quietly.

Jake got up to go to his suitcase and grabbed some jeans and a long shirt. He went to the bathroom to change, and as he pulled his shirt over his head he looked down and realized he still had his wedding band on.

Jake went to touch the ring, and decided he'd take it off now, he slid the ring off his finger with some difficulty and set it down on the marble counter.

Jake couldn't explain it but he felt sort of odd, not wearing it. Almost like something was missing, but nothing should be. Because this whole thing was a mistake.

Jake took the ring and shoved it in a drawer in the bathroom so he wouldn't be reminded of it, and walked back out into the room he went and dropped back on the bed going over things in his head. Everything from those Japanese men, to blurred pieces of the wedding night.

[Tiger-Lily]

Seth and James were already losing time, so Seth hustled them downstairs after they both ensured they looked presentable and then they hit the living room.

Seth looked around and spotted Tony. "Yo!" he snapped, grabbing Antonio's shirtsleeve and yanking him along with them. "We're going to go sell our bodies for money, come on!"

He yanked Antonio out the door and down the hall to the elevator alongside James, leaving Ashlee in hte living room.

***

Nova padded to Evelyn, licking her hand. She had taken off her wedding band while Jake had been in the bathroom. She'd felt weird wearing it.

But she felt even weirder without it. Probably because, just because she took off the ring meant squat. They were still legally hitched. That was her reasoning, anyways, and she was too afraid to consider any other possible reason that might be making her want to put the damn thing back on.

She scratched Nova's head, and her ring finger felt bare without the chunky engagement ring. It was really gorgeous and if she hadn't really needed to save her own life from Tokyo Drift's extras, she wouldn't have given it up.

But she should, she reminded herself. It was a drunken wedding. It meant nothing.

It had to mean nothing. Her and Jake's relationship was already dysfunctional enough without the wedding spectrum adding on.

Evelyn didn't look up when Jake walked out of the bathroom. She just saw his legs walk past out of the corner of her eye and turned her head when she heard the bed creak behind her. She figured with the crazy morning he'd had, he deserved a moment to himself.

She wondered why she didn't feel angry. She had every right to storm out of here and never say two words to him. Those Japs didn't know where she lived. She could get away, but that wouldn't be fair to the boys at all.

But even if she didn't ditch them, she could still stay away from the Spaniard. She should, but looking over at Jake, she couldn't bring herself to hate him. She felt frustrated with herself because her body was still having a difficult time adjusting to the fact that she was no longer a virgin. So why wasn't she mad at him? Even if it wasn't all his fault, most sane girls would probably at least have gotten a slap or two in for losing their virginity when they definitely didn't want to.

At least she'd gotten hitched first. Because around Jake, she always felt afraid that some day she'd get drunk and loose her guard completely and do the exact same thing she'd done last night. Minus the marriage part.

Guess building up the guard isn't such a bad idea after all.

It still didn't make sense. Her drunken self should rightfully be so anti-marriage that she should have climbed the miniature Paris structure across the street and started preaching about the horrible stupidity of marriage. That was how firmly she believed marriage to be a sham.

And now all it would take would be a couple signatures and this sham of a marriage would be over too. The whole thing was such a freaking joke!

What on earth had made her change her mind and accept, though? She cast her mind back to the events after the hospital. All she recalled was Jake saying something about friends...it didn't sound very convincing. She was surprised his drunken self even agreed to ask her to marry him. She was astounded her drunken self accepted. Technically speaking, James was up there on the looks quotient. Most drunk girls (aka, horny girls) would have gone for James without thinking about it. Why hadn't she? Sure, Jake definitely had his own looks going for him, but his ten thousand character flaws, not even counting his temper, definitely put James in a better light.

So why had she rejected Prince Charming and gone for the rogue, in basic terms? Why hadn't she remembered how big of a mistake that had been at the formal when she'd also chosen Jake over James? Why did she keep choosing Jake over James?

You know why, her smug inner voice pointed out. And you're an idiot if you deny it.

But I don't know, she thought, bewildered as she poked at the wedding band on the floor. If I did, I'd be able to work out all the mess in my head.

That's because you don't believe in things until you have them shoved down your throat. Now is a good time to stop being an ignorant little bitch, replied that voice, which sounded suspiciously like James.

She remembered a brief glimpse of them at the altar, but she couldn't recall what
her thought process had been during the whole thing. What was her logic
for wanting to marry Jake?!

She also recalled a beautiful balcony, a gorgeous sunrise, Jake's arm around her while she huddled under his coat to keep warm. She was still borrowing his clothes! He'd mentioned the engagement ring being really pricey. But everything after that was still mostly a long blank.

She scrambled up, trying to ignore her rumbling stomach and the nausea rising up from the alcohol she still hadn't puked up. She climbed onto the bed beside him as Nova took off back to the living room. Evelyn kept a polite distance from Jake, though, fiddling with her hands nervously as she looked over at him.

For some reason, when he'd finally caved and taken the ring from her, she'd thought she'd offended him. Why had he wanted her to keep the ring when they needed the money it could get?

Then she realized that Jake, mature as he might seem sometimes, was really just an eighteen-year-old teenage boy. And like most boys his age, waking up and finding himself gone from single to married was a horrifying concept. It made sense he'd want nothing to do with the ring.

And she hated that that thought kind of stung.

"It was beautiful," she blurted out. "B - but I - I figured it'd be put to better use if it saved my life, you know? I - I mean, I don't know how much you guys have to raise but I figure..." Stop rambling, she reminded herself, and clamped her mouth shut, flustered as she looked down at her hands.

***

Nova bounded back to Ashlee and nudged her playfully on her knee, before attempting to climb up onto the circular couch beside her.

[Guest]

Jake just nodded, he noted her rambling and could tell she felt weird about this. He did too, but he really hoped that when he went sell it he wouldn't change his mind and end up keeping it.

"You know, as much as I had slept around, and used to hate relationships." He paused."Some part of me always believed I would one day get married. Obviously not now, I know I'm too young. But I did see it for myself, somewhere in the future." Jake wasn't sure why he had told her this. Then again he wasn't sure why he told her half the things he did about himself to her.

Right now he felt like even after all of this, that she was still the only person he could talk to. Because he didn't even want to think about what was waiting back home for him, but around here even given their whole dysfunctional friendship, relationship, whatever.

He felt safe.

***

Ashlee smiled down at Nova and reached over the couch to pick him up, "Hey you're just like me we can never reach high places." She said setting the dog down on the couch.

Ashlee had a lot of time to sit there with her thoughts, and she wanted to know what was her drunk self thinking when it agreed to marry Seth? Other than the obvious, he's pretty factor.

But besides all of that she kept trying to pin point the moment she had turned into such a freaking slut.

Sure she had always been flirty with boys, but she never used to drink so much she'd black out or make out with random guys she just met. She remembered meeting Damien when she was younger how things were so simple, before things went south.

Then she met Luke. Luke despite what he had done was one of the best boyfriends she ever had. How had she gone from someone like sweet Lucas to, banging Connor, making out with Ashton and finally the cherry on the sundae. Marrying and hooking up with Seth.

Why did it seem like all she wanted was attention from boys? She knew it wasn't some sort of self esteem thing. Ashlee knew she was pretty, and smart, and a bunch of other things. Sure she wasn't as tall as Evelyn or other girls but she walked like she was six feet tall.

So why? Why did she start acting like a skank? She knew she started to get a little wild when she rebelled and went to live with her brother. She had a bad year. Her best friend had went home, and she still had been harboring feelings for Luke and he had gone back too.

She remembered going out with her brother the first few times and hated being groped by his friends, and the smell of alcohol would make her puke. She was a nice girl, but she remembered how Tiffany was more like a diva. How she wore tighter clothes, and she would have that voice to her which oozed "I can steal your man." Ashlee wanted to be that girl at that time, the girl all kind of guys desired. So she started to dress more loud, and act a little more wild.

She remembered how she did small things back in the day to get Luke to notice her. (Minus the cat fight). She remembered sitting near him in class, or putting on a little lip gloss. Joining the cheer leading squad, small innocent things like that.

So why? Why was she doing all of this?

Because you still want him to notice you...because you know you never really got over him. Her thoughts answered.

But that wasn't true! Luke was her friend, no! Her best friend. She knew she didn't have those kind of feelings over him, not anymore. He picked another girl over her! She had to brutally remind herself of that a lot. What made her think he wouldn't do it again? Why would she had gone as far as to drunkenly agree in marrying Seth, just to get Luke to notice her?

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