Waking up to complete darkness was calming. I didn’t feel like I needed to get up and jump out of bed because the sun was shining through the blinds. The dark allowed me to lay in bed until I was completely ready to get up. I laid, quietly, wrapped up in the soft camouflage sheets. I flipped my body over and closed my eyes again, nuzzling my face into the warm body next to me. Arms suddenly wrapped around my torso and hands landed on my bare backside. They gave me a squeeze and pulled me closer. I leaned up and pressed my lips against extremely plump ones, sighing softly at the familiar coldness of a lip ring.

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t feel as if I needed to. I had spent five hours with him in the early morning, celebrating his birthday, and exhausting each other is until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore. I had no idea what time it was now. I could hear voices out in the living room. It could be ten in the morning, it could be four in the afternoon. God knows how long the two of us slept for. I opened my eyes and licked over my lips. I could feel his big, brown eyes staring at me in the darkness. I could still feel his breath on my face. He knew something was eating me away inside, and it was causing him to worry. I didn’t deny that there was something wrong whenever he asked; I just shrugged it off. Once today was over I could confront him, but first I had to get through today.

“Good morning,” I said softly. “We should probably get up. I’m sure everyone wants to wish you a happy birthday.” His arms pulled away from my body as I got out of bed, him soon following behind me. I walked over to the light and flipped it on, squinting at the brightness.

Mike yanked on a pair of boxers and ran a hand through his long, dark hair. He laughed at himself as he looked in the mirror, “Seriously, Rae? This thing on my neck is the size of a baseball.”

I shrugged as I pulled my shirt over my head, “Just marking my territory.”

“Because it isn’t obvious enough that I’m yours?” He raised an eyebrow.

I stood on my tip toes and kissed his cheek, “Come on. Let’s go see everyone and I’ll make you a cup of coffee.”

Everyone was already awake and drinking. A thousand “Happy Birthday, Mike!”’s were flying around the living room as I made my way to the kitchen. I looked at the clock on the microwave and laughed, it was five in the afternoon. We slept for twelve hours. I poured Mike a cup of coffee and then put a little bit of Fireball in it. I made my own cup with some Bailey’s and then walked back out into the living room, handing him his cup with a smile. He took it and then wrapped an arm around me, saying that he wanted to go outside.

Mike and I stood, over looking the water and smoking our first cigarette of the day together. His hand was rubbing my side softly as I leaned into his body. He pulled his cigarette from his lips and exhaled, “You know... There’s one person in this house that has yet to tell me happy birthday.”

I rolled my eyes, “I told you happy birthday at midnight, fucker. I spent five hours underneath you. Isn’t that enough for a happy birthday?”

He chuckled and took a sip of his coffee, “I knew you’d sneak alcohol in this.”

“Hey! I have some in mine. It’s just not that gross shit,” I laughed as I raised my cup up to his lips. He scrunched his nose up at the taste, “How you enjoy Fireball over this, I will never understand.”

“Bailey’s is for girls,” he smiled. “I’m a man.”

“You’re twenty-three but you still look like you’re nineteen. You are far from a man, Michael.”

“Be nice to me,” he kissed the side of my head and let go of my waist. He put his coffee back down on the railing, “I can’t believe we slept so long.”

“Me either. I’m going to have to start getting ready soon. What time are we all going out, again?” I asked as I placed my own mug down and stretched my arms over my head.

“We’re heading out around eight. So you have three hours to get yourself all pretty for me, not that that’s such a challenge or anything,” he smirked and leaned forward, pressing his lips on mine. “Less make-up for me tonight? Please.”

I smiled and traced the heart tattoo in the middle of his chest, “If that is what your little heart desires.”

“It is,” he looked into my eyes and grinned. “Are we showering together?”

I raised an eyebrow, “You want more birthday sex?”

“I don’t think I can wait till later,” he gestured to the bulge in his boxers.

I smiled and kissed his cheek, then walked towards the sliding glass door. “Meet me in the bathroom in five minutes,” I said over my shoulder as I walked into the house.


I sat on the floor in Mike’s room, my face about five inches from the mirror that was plastered to his closet door. My make-up was strewn about all over the floor next to me. Five brushes, concealer, foundation, eyeliner, fake lashes, mascara, blush, bronzer, highlighter, eyeshadow, lipstick, chapstick, eyebrow filler... you name it, it was there. I was in a thong, something I rarely ever wore, and a bra. My hair was thrown up in a towel on the top of my head. I grabbed the fake lashes and glued them onto my lash line, holding them there with a pair of tweezers. I groaned when I noticed my eyelash curler wasn’t on the floor. I grabbed my make-up bag and it wasn’t in there either. I guess I forgot to pack it. I stood up and walked out into the living room, my eyelids tacky with the fake lashes weighing them down.

“Look at that ass!” Vic whistled and I glared. “I never thought I’d see the day Rae had a thong on.”

Mike had a smirk on his face as he brought his beer up to his lips. I pursed my lips in his direction, “Stare all you want, Michael.”

“Is that a hickey?” Jaime asked as he pointed to my butt. Mike bursted into laughter, nearly choking on his beer. My face was as red as a tomato as my hand flew back and tried to cover the spot. “Mike, why the hell were you sucking on Rae’s ass?”

“That’s enough,” I smacked Jaime in the back of the head. “Where are the girls?”

“They all ran to the grocery store. They wanted you to go with them, but you were too busy getting ass hickeys in the shower with Mike,” Jaime said with a giggle.

“Fuck you, Preciado!” I yelled and smacked the back of his head again. He took it upon himself to practically tackle me and send me to the floor, screaming. My head was so close to hitting the stone floor, but Vic threw a pillow down just in time.

Jaime grabbed onto my bra strap and grinned at me. My eyes went wide, “Don’t you dare!” He continued to grin as he pulled my strap and let it go, letting it snap against my skin. “FUCK YOU!” I screamed and started trying to knee him.

“Why is Jaime on top of a naked Rae?” Casey’s voice came from the stairs, joining in on Mike and Vic’s laughter.

Jaime continued to grab at my bra straps, as well as the sides of my underwear, letting the elastic sting my skin. For anyone else, this would be weird, but as my best friend singe age fourteen, this was pretty damn normal. He knew that I hated when people snapped things on me... hair ties, my bra, rubber bands, etc. My knee’s couldn’t reach anything that would get him off me, and his elbows were on my biceps as he snapped my straps. I was getting fed up and decided to do the only thing that would get him off me.

I slammed my head upward and smacked my forehead against his, a horrible noise came from the two of us and he rolled off me, holding his head. My head was pounding, so I’d hate to know how he felt. “Jesus Christ,” Jaime muttered as he held onto his forehead.

“You did not just head butt him!” Vic squealed with laughter, holding his stomach as he nearly doubled over on the couch.

“Don’t yell. My head hurts,” I whined as I held my head in my hands. “I need Excedrin.”

“I need four,” Jaime groaned from beside me.

“I hope you both have bumps and bruises on your foreheads. Just to remind yourselves how stupid you are,” Casey laughed and shook his head.

“All I wanted was an eyelash curler and I got mauled by a Mexican,” I frowned as I stood up, my wet hair now cascading down my back. I looked at Mike, who was still laughing. I walked over to him and pointed at my forehead, “Make it better.”

His big hands held onto the sides of my head as he pulled my head towards his puckered lips. He kissed my forehead four times and then pulled away with a smile, “All better.”

“Is that a hickey?” Casey asked in the same tone that Jaime had asked earlier.

“Don’t,” Mike said, sternly, while pulling me onto his lap. “I guess we’re even for this thing on my neck.”

“That thing is a gift from god,” I smiled and poked the dark purple skin. He hissed at the feeling, “It still hurts? You’re going to have this thing for like a week.”

He sighed, “Great. I guess this isn’t part of the ‘What happens in Cancun, stays in Cancun’ deal.”

“Nope,” I smiled and pressed my lips to his. “I need to finish getting ready.”

“You have two hours!” He whined and held me tighter against him, “Spend time with the birthday boy.”

“Don’t even go there,” I laughed. “Just let me finish my make-up and then I’ll come back out here with you... and let me put pants on....”

“Why? I like seeing you in a thong. You never wear them.”

“This is the only one I own. I hate them. You try having something up your ass.”

“You should be used to that,” Mike said a little too loud with a smirk.

“WHAT!” Casey screamed, “You were supposed to tell me when that happened, dude!”

Mike laughed and looked over my shoulder, “It’s happened a few times. It happened this morning. I don’t know how any of you can sleep through it. Rae doesn’t know how to shut up.”

I blushed and threw my head into his neck. It didn’t bother me that the guys knew about Mike and I’s sex life. All of the guys were like my brothers, they always had been. They knew about a lot of the stuff I’ve tried in bed. When I lost my virginity at fifteen I called Jaime and Vic and told them to come over so I could talk to them about it. Even though they were all like brothers, they weren’t very over-protective about it. They found it humorous and always said the ever-so-creepy comment of “I wish my girlfriend was a freak.”

Vic gagged, “As much as I love that you two have a great sex life, I don’t want to know that you put your dick in Rae’s butthole.”

“Yeah, have you ever smelled the stuff that comes out of there?” Jaime said with a laugh.

My jaw fell open and I looked over my shoulder, “Do you want to be head butt again?”

“Rae won’t fart in front of me,” Mike laughed. “She did once and it was the cutest thing ever, but it was only because I wouldn’t stop tickling her.”

“You are such a creep!” I groaned and got off him. He looked at me with a frown, “Kiss my ass.”

“Looks like he’s already done that,” Jaime said quietly. I walked over to him and smacked the back of his head again before walking back into Mike’s room and closing the door behind me.


We all sat around a circular table with shots of tequila lined up in front of us. Mike was to my left and Mia was to my right. I had been drinking all day, prepping myself for this evening. It seemed as if that when I was drunk, I was less likely to act hostile towards Mike. I had yet to tell anyone about what I had saw because I knew they would all pester me to bring it up to him. I had to get through this evening, at least, before I could bring it up. I sat a tad awkwardly in my small, black dress. I had remembered Mike making a comment about how it looked really cute on the hanger in my closet, so I decided to bring it with me for tonight. It was a tight-fitting material, coming down in a deep-v in the front and it was open in the back. It was just long enough to cover my forever growing backside and it looked good with a pair of Lita’s. I hadn’t put on much make-up, just the general stuff. No eye shadow and just a nude lip. My hair was full of loose, black waves. Mike matched me. Black jeans, black button up showing off his forearms, black vans and a black beanie on the top of his head. Everyone else had color on while we sat there soaking in the blackness. Jess, Mia, Alex and Steph all looked gorgeous as well, and the boys all looked handsome. We had all dressed up tonight. We looked way too classy for our personalities, but it was nice and enjoyable.

All of the boys were taking turns giving a toast to Mike. “Happy birthday to my big little brother. I wouldn’t be here without you!” Vic shouted and held up a shot. We all cheered along with him and then threw back the tequila.

“Alright, my turn,” Casey grinned. “Happy Birthday to the best friend I could ever ask for. You’ve been there since diapers, man. I’m lucky to have you by my side!” We all threw back another shot.

“To the best drummer on the West Coast when Travis Barker isn’t home. Happy Birthday, Whiskey Handz!” Jaime said with a grin and then another shot went down.

Lastly, it was Tony’s turn. “Gryffindor sucks,” he smirked and held up his shot glass.

“Fuck you,” Mike laughed and threw his shot back.

There was still one shot glass left sitting in front of all of us. Vic looked at me with a smile, “Rae Bear.”

“Oh, fuck.” I muttered, “The least you could have done was given me a heads-up that I was going to do this!”

“Why? Do you need to practice before you say it?” Vic laughed and I glared at him.

I didn’t want to do this, not when I had so much on my mind... stuff that revolved around our relationship. I was going to feel like a total idiot. I knew I had to say something though, or else it was just going to ruin the night. Hopefully he’d feel guilty about whatever he was doing. I took a deep breath and smiled, lacing my left hand with his right hand under the table.

I grabbed my shot glass in my right hand, “Happy birthday to my other half. We’ve been through so much in such little time and I’m so lucky to have you by my side. You’re the best boyfriend in the world.” I pressed a kiss to his cheek and then threw my shot back, everyone else doing the same soon after me.

Saying all that out loud, in front of everyone, practically telling a lie, made me sick to my stomach. I bit into my bottom lip as my eyes started to water, my stomach churning. I excused myself to go to the bathroom, oblivious to the fact that Mia was coming with me. Once I got in the bathroom the tears were flowing in full force. I sat on the counter with my head in my hands. I didn’t want this to happen tonight.

“Babe, what happened? What’s wrong?” Mia’s voice came out soothingly as she rubbed my back. I just shook my head and continued to cry, my nose filling up with snot. She grabbed a paper towel and handed it to me so I could blow my nose. “You don’t want to cry all your make-up off, Rae. Tell me what’s going on.”

I looked at her and wiped under my eyes, making sure nothing smeared. I looked in the mirror to see everything still in tact, and I sighed softly. I waited a few minutes before saying anything, just catching my breath.

“What has got you so upset?” She asked while standing in front of me, her hands resting on my knees.

I licked over my bottom lip, “I... I... I think Mike’s cheating on me.”

“You think he is WHAT! I’m going to kick his skinny little ass. No one cheats on my best friend.”

“Stop,” I laughed at her outburst and then sniffled again. “I don’t know for sure, Mi... I saw a text message from someone saying ‘It was really good seeing you last night. We should meet up some time’ a few days before we left. I didn’t want to bring it up until we got home...”

“You were snooping?” She raised an eyebrow, “That’s besides the point. Who was this text message from? Rae, I swear to god, I am going to beat the living shit out of him. You need to bring this up now because if he is he’s just sitting out there soaking up all the attention as some great fucking boyfriend when he’s actually a lying little shit!”

“No, no, no! I wasn’t snooping! I was posting a picture of him on his Instagram and it just popped up. I saw it and deleted it. He has no idea that it even came through. I tried to snoop the other day, but saw nothing and then he caught me with his phone! I told him I was calling my own phone and then he just snatched his phone from my hands and handed me mine. I can’t bring it up! Not on his birthday!”

“You sure as hell aren’t going to sit in here crying! If you don’t bring it up, I will! That’s fucking bullshit, Rae!” She ran a hand through her curls, “Who was the text from? A whore? An ex? Some random girl? Who?”

“Natalie Kings,” I said quietly and hanging my head.

Mike and Natalie had dated in high school, broke up, then dated again for three years and then broke up last fall. They then had a fuck buddy relationship and all of the guys wanted them to get back together. Mike finally stopped fucking around with Natalie once me and him started fucking around, or so I thought. When they were together they were this perfect little couple, when they were broken up she was psycho and malicious and obsessed with him. Last he told me, he hated her, but then I saw the text message.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Mia sneered and walked out of the bathroom. I hopped off the counter and followed her out there, screaming her name and grabbing onto her hand as she got closer to where all the boys were. “Michael Christopher Fuentes, how dare you!”

Mike’s eyes got huge and everyone else at the table just stared at them, “What did I do?” He saw me behind Mia and stood up, “Rae, what’s going on? What’s wrong, baby?”

“Mia, please,” I said while pulling onto her hand, trying my hardest to make her stop. “This is not the time and place.”

“Shut the fuck up, Rae!” She turned her attention back to Mike, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing Michael?” She pushed on Mike’s shoulders, shoving him back a little bit. “You’re going to fuck around with Natalie behind Rae’s back? You didn’t think you’d get caught? Guess again, buddy.”

I saw Vic’s jaw drop down to the floor at the sound of her name, “Mike, tell me this isn’t true.”

“I’m not fucking around behind Rae’s back!” Mike said and threw his hands up, “I’m in love with you, Rae. I haven’t touched or looked at anyone else since we’ve been together, baby. I would never do that to you. You know that.”

“Then why the fuck did she text you, Mike? Why would she text you and say that it was nice seeing you the night before... that she wanted to see you again? Why would she say that to you if you weren’t fucking around with her!” I practically screamed, tears springing up again.

He looked at me confused, “I never got any text from... This is why you’ve been acting so weird towards me? This is why I caught you with my phone... You can talk to me about anything and you’ve been lying to me, Rae!”

“Why did she text you, Michael?” I shook my head when he didn’t respond, “You’re a fucking joke.”

“Can you give me two fucking minutes, Rae?” He said, obviously pissed off. “You have your best friend come out here, get in my face, and then you dish all this shit on me. Shit you’ve been lying to me about. Can I have a minute to think before I answer you?”

Mia laced her fingers with mine, “Why so you can make up some lie about it?”

“Mia, shut up and stay out of this. This has nothing to do with you. Go worry about your own fucking relationship,” Mike sneered.

“Excuse me? You are not going to speak to me like that!” Mia yelled and bucked forward. Casey came and grabbed her, pulling her back before she had the chance to hit Mike.


We ended up getting kicked out of the club for being too loud and dramatic. We all took separate cabs home. Casey took Mia up to bed right when we got home because she was scared that she was going to keep fueling the fire. Everyone had given me a hug, all of the in shock from tonight’s events, and told me to keep my head up. Vic said that if he finds out that Mike really cheated on me, Mike was going to be missing his balls. That definitely caused me to laugh a bit. I had stripped myself of my dress and heels. I threw on a pair of regular, cheeky, underwear and a long sleeved shirt. It was weird to sleep in my own shirt, but I wasn’t going to wear Mike’s clothes right now. I washed my face, my cheeks red and still a little tear stained. I walked into the kitchen and had a glass of water and grabbed my pack of cigarettes. I needed a cigarette... make that five cigarettes.

I guess Mike figured that it would be me coming out on the deck. He didn’t even turn when I opened up the door. I grabbed a cigarette out of my pack and looked at him.

He had taken my lighter because his stopped working. “Can I have a light?”

He nodded and dug into his pocket, placing my lighter in my hands. I lit my cigarette and then sat in the hammock on the other side of the deck, trying to be as far from him as possible. I let out a sigh as the toxic smoke escaped my mouth and swirled into the air. I closed my eyes as I listened to the waves crashing against shore. The same sound I heard on my birthday, a much happier birthday than the one we were experiencing today.

“I went to the bar with Dave and Cam that night. She was there and we ran into each other. I told her about how I was now with you and that I was madly in love with you. She told me about how she just found out that she is pregnant with her current boyfriend’s child. She’s really excited to be a mother and she said she was really happy for me. We talked for about a half hour and I met her boyfriend. If you don’t believe me, I will give you her phone number and you can call her yourself.” Mike’s voice came from beside the hammock.

I opened my eyes and just looked at him. I could tell that he was upset. “Rae, I am so in love with you. I never expected any of this to happen. It took me a year and a half to feel this way about Natalie. It only took me a few months of us not even being together for me to feel this way about you. I would never go behind your back or hurt you. You really are the best thing that ever happened to me. I wish you would have said this to me before. I wish you would have never lied and strewed it along this far. I knew something was wrong, and as I’ve said before, you can talk to me about anything. I love you, Rae. I know how you are. I know you may not want to believe me, but I just want you to know the truth.”

Notes

I KNOW I KNOW. FINALLY I FUCKING UPDATED. I AM A SLACKER.
So a lot happened here! What do you think is going to happen next?
How the hell is Rae going to react? What about the boys? Mia?
Is Mike being completely honest?
Stay tuned.

And for those of you who may be confused to who Natalie is.
Or where she came from... there has been a previous reference.
See chapter 7 (siete) about it... there's a little blurb in there.

I feel like I own my own TV show ok.
I know this was supposed to be updated 300 years ago.
I have been so busy between work and my social life, uoeno.

The next update on this as well as Running will be up by Friday.
I need to catch up on all of the stories I am subscribed to.
I have 12 stories to catch up on (some with multiple unread chapters).
So expect feedback from me on Tuesday night - Wednesday day.


xoxoxoxoxox