Drew’s P.O.V
The hot sun burned through my eyes as I returned from unconsciousness. I opened my eyes fully and immediately regretted it, the bright natural light causing me to squeeze my eyes shut once again. A few seconds later, I tried again, this time with success. I tried to sit up, but was greeted by a splitting headache. I crossed my legs under the covers in an Indian-style position and rubbed my temples, resting my elbows on my knees. I sat in this position for a few minutes, and then I finally decided to stand, ignoring my headache. Once I did, I looked to my left to see a full length mirror and studied my appearance. I was wearing black jeans that I had cuffed so they looked a bit like capris, ankle socks, and a white tank top under a gray hoodie. I raised an eyebrow at myself; I never slept with socks on, let alone a full outfit. Wait a minute, I thought. This isn’t my house…where am I? My breath quickened as I started to panic, but I calmed myself down. Mike’s house, silly. I laughed at myself silently, but was confused again. Why did I stay the night? And why am I fully clothed?

I walked into the hallway and the smell of bacon wafted through my nostrils. I smirked and made my way to the kitchen. I’d been here before, so it was easy for me to find it. I was greeted by Vic standing at the stove flipping some bacon with a fork. I sat at the island counter and sighed heavily, trying to catch his attention without saying anything. He looked at me at shot me a small smile. “Good morning,” he said, and turned back to his bacon.

“Good morning,” I said back. He was acting as though everything was completely normal, like I lived here. “Vic,” I said, once again catching his attention.

“Yeah, Drew?” He didn’t look up at me this time.

“Um, would you be so kind so as to tell what the fuck I’m doing here!?” I started my sentence quietly and sweetly, then raise it with a stern tone toward the end.

“Oh yeah, about that,” he began casually. “I came home last night to see you and Mike drunk out of your minds on the couch.”

That explains the headache, I thought. “And you didn’t take me home because…?” I asked him, frustrated.

“Do you really think your fiance would be happy if a strange small Mexican man brought you home while you were wasted?” At this point, the bacon was done, and he transferred the meat from the pan to a plate and placed it on the counter where I was sitting. “You want some?” he asked, sticking a piece into his mouth. I waved my hands in front of me to refuse his offer.

“I guess you’re right, Vic. What do I tell my fiance? I left around dinner time yesterday, I can’t just go home wearing my same clothes and expect everything to be fine.”

“Well,” he said in between bites. “Where did you tell him you were going when you left yesterday?”

“I told him I was going to hang out with Dylan,” I said ashamedly, dropping my head and looking at my black ankle socks.

Through my peripheral vision, I saw that Vic was looking at me with some sort of disappointment, and I tried to ignore his glare, but he was just staring at me so damn hard.

“How long have you been lying to your fiance to see Mike?” He asked with a sigh.

“Everyday since you guys got back from tour. I don’t know why I lie, though. It’s not like he cares anyway,” I replied sternly.

“Look, Drew. You can always talk to me about whatever, but right now, I gotta get you home, okay? Call him and tell him that you ended up staying the night with Dylan and forgot to tell him. Do you want me to bring you over there?”

I looked at him with wide eyes, surprised at his sincerity. I thought he was gonna scold me or lecture me for lying to Jerry, but instead, all he was being was kind. I gave him a small smile and said with a chuckle, “No thanks, I drove here. Do you have any Aspirin, though? This headache is awful.”

“Yep, I’ll be right back,” and with that, he made his way out of the room.

Almost as soon as Vic walked out, Mike walked in. He came right over to me and placed a kiss on my temple. “Good morning, beautiful. Why are you still here? Did I miss something?” he said, slightly laughing.

“Apparently your brother caught us on the couch unable to function. Thanks for keeping me from getting drunk!” I reply sarcastically, chuckling quietly.

“Sorry! I just get so carried away when I’m with you…” he let his voice trail off as he leaned down to kiss me, but I stood up, dodging his lips.

“No no no no! I have to get to Dylan’s house to change before I go home to face Jerry.” Mike’s face dropped when I mentioned my fiance, but I ignored him.

“Why do you have to stay with him? Why can’t you stay with me?” He whined, coming closer to me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

“You know why. I have a son! And I thought I loved him before I met you…I can’t just let him go right now, okay? We’ll make it work, I promise.” I stood on my tip-toes to kiss him on his cheek before spinning off his grasp. “But I have to go, okay baby?” I grabbed my keys off the counter and left without waiting for a response.

After getting in the car and calling a very confused and tired Dylan, I felt kind of disgusted with myself. Up until now, I never felt any sort of remorse for seeing Mike while I was engaged to Jerry. I couldn’t tell if it was the rush of being with someone fun and exciting, like Mike, and running the risk of getting caught, but I felt so different with Mike. I felt like I didn’t have to be so uptight and motherly all the time. He let me live, unlike Jerry, who was hardly ever even intimate with me anymore. But now, I didn’t want to do what I was doing anymore. I didn’t want to jump between two men constantly. I felt…gross…and I wanted to call off a relationship, but which one? Mike made me happy, but Jerry fathered my son!

Pulling up to Dylan’s house shook me out of my thoughts, and I practiced my best fake smile, despite all of the contradicting and upsetting thoughts swimming throughout my head. Walking up the path to her door, I noticed an unfamiliar black car in her driveway. That’s odd, I thought. Dylan never told me she had company over… but I rang her doorbell anyway, ignoring my thought. A few seconds later, Dylan appeared at the door in just her sweats and an oversized hoodie that I’d never seen before. I raised an eyebrow at her. “Who’s hoodie is that? And who’s car is that?”

She looked at me the same way I looked at her. “Well, why were you at the boys’ house all night?”

“I guess we have some mutual explaining to do, just let me shower, okay?” I sighed. She nodded and led me inside her house. It was dirty, in my opinion, but Dylan called an ‘organized mess.’ It wasn’t overwhelming or anything, but she could definitely clean up. I walked into the bathroom, and a few seconds later Dylan came to the door with some random outfit I’d left here when we used to hang out a lot. “Thanks,” I said. We smiled at each other, and she left me to get dressed.

30 minutes later, I was showered and dressed. I walked into the living room to see Dylan lounging on the couch with a cup of coffee clutched in her hands. When she saw me, she took one last sip before putting the mug down on a coaster on the coffee table. “So,” she began. “Why were you at the guys’ house all night?”

“Well, I was hanging out with Mike-“

She sighed, cutting off my story. “You’re still seeing him? What about Jerry, Drew?”

“Hush!” I gestured for her to be quiet, and she did so after rolling her eyes. “Anyway,” I continued. “I was only supposed to be there for a little while, but we just got really drunk and when Vic came home he helped us both to bed.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Separate beds!” I quickly added, causing her to relax. “And if Jerry asks, which he probably won’t, I was just here all night, okay?” She nodded in understanding. “But enough about me. What’s going on with you?” I asked impatiently. Suddenly her face lit up, and mine did the same. It was so great to see Dylan happy, and I knew that there was someone making her this way.

“Well,” she began, “Tony and I-“

“Ha!” I interrupted. “I knew it! I knew you two liked each other! Ha ha ha!” I wiggled happily in my seat.

“Hush! He’s still sleeping,” She gestured for me to be quiet, just as I had done to her before, and I obeyed, allowing her to continue. “He’s been staying here the past few nights. We’re having so much fun. But a lot has happened lately, Drew.”

She began to tell me about Ashley; how they met at Dylan’s tattoo parlor, how they hung out, the inconvenient exchange of kisses, and the heart-wrenching story of what happened with Ashley’s ex, Jack. Jack, I thought. That sounds vaguely familiar… “Oh my goodness, Dylan!” I exclaimed, causing my sister to jump.

“What?”

“Jerry’s brother’s name is Jack,” I stared at her wide-eyed, and she sighed amusingly at me.

“What?” I asked, annoyed.

“Jack and Ashley are from Miami, silly,” she said with a slight smirk.

“Yeah, so is Jerry, wise-ass,” I replied sharply. Dylan’s smirk was instantly replaced by a stern expression.

“Ok, ok, ok, well we can’t jump to conclusions, ok? There’s more than one Jack from Miami.”

“Yes, but not every Jack has a brother named Jerry living with his fiancee Drew in San Diego.”

“Good point. But this is a sensitive topic, Drew. Try to get some info from Jerry when you go home, okay? But don’t seem too obvious. The police are looking for Jack now, and we can probably help. Just be subtle.”

“Okay, but I’ve got to go. Say hi to Tony for me, alright?” I said with a wink.

Dylan got up to walk me to the door, and I picked up the small duffle bag containing my clothes from the day before. “Good luck, Drew. Stay safe, okay?”

“Okay, you too.” I hugged my sister, and with that, I got back into my car and drove home.
When I got to my small, but comfortable home, I walked up the path with somewhat of a nervous feeling in my system. I put my key in the doorknob, and walked in smelling cigarettes. Jerry doesn’t smoke… I walked into the living room to see Jerry and a tall man with curly brown hair and hazel eyes sitting next to each other on the couch. The man looked a lot like Jerry, actually. They both had sleepy hazel eyes and curly hair, except Jerry’s hair was quite a bit darker than the other man’s. “Hi…” I said nervously, grasping their attention.

“Hey, babe,” Jerry said, walking over to me and planting a kiss on my cheek. I cringed uncomfortably at the feeling of his lips on my skin. I knew he wouldn’t care about my all-night absence.

“Where’s Micah?”

“I dropped him off at Gabriella’s house,” Jerry responded casually. I let out a sigh of relief knowing that my son was in the safe hands of his babysitter. “Where were you all night?”

“I got carried away with Dylan. Who’s this?” I pointed at the man on my couch, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

“Oh, right. Drew, this is my brother Jack. He lives in Miami.” Jack got up and shook my hand.

“Nice to meet you,” he said with a charming smile that made my stomach churn. I thought of his baby, the one he killed. And of his ex-girlfriend, the one he tried to kill. I plastered on a fake smile and nodded at him, extracting my hand from his.

“Excuse me, guys.” I said, and hastily walked upstairs to the bathroom in my room. I think I’m gonna be sick…

Notes

Alright, this is the last chapter I'm posting today. I hope yall are enjoying the story thus far