One and a half weeks passed by too quickly. In just a blink of an eye, Alexia found herself seated in one of the many chairs facing a stack of papers called 'Exams'. She hadn't been up to speed for months, but with her endless studying and infinite cramming Alexia found that she wasn't all that thick. The week went by in a blur; the only time she saw her friends was to study in the library or grab a bite, but they weren't around each other much. All she did was study, eat, and study.

And after that horrible week of finals, it was time for something even worse: summer break.

Now, don't get her wrong, she loved summer. Especially summer break. Finally warm weather and no college was basically the only wish she ever used to have, but it was different this time around. This time, there would be no hanging by the poolside with her girlfriends from Los Angeles, hanging out with her brothers or Cat, going shopping with Carina or even spending time with Damian, no. This time around, she knew that all of her free weeks would be spent planning a wedding she was forced to participate in. No friends, no shopping, no Jason—even Damian wasn't the person he was before they moved back to New York City.

There was nothing Alexia wanted more than be with her best friends now that everyone was free and safe, but Damian persisted to keep her on lockdown. Today, however, was the first Wednesday of summer break and Alexia somehow sneaked out of the house, a rush of excitement surging through her as she realized how rebellion she was acting. Snort.

She hadn't bothered to dress up 'cute' in any form, all she was worried about was getting to her friends in time. She, of course, didn't have to worry about that. They were at Ryan's house, just like they'd agreed.

Seeing Chloe after a week of utter absence was surprisingly heart-warming and Alexia shrieked out a laugh as she pulled her best friend into a tight embrace. She wore a skin tight lilac dress that reached her knees and she seemed to be reeling with happiness, pulling away from the hug with a big smile plastered on her face. Chloe made a little twirl and looked at Alexia, "See anything different?"

It was as clear as daylight. The bump that was now Chloe's stomach still wasn't that big yet, but it was definitely there. "I spot a bump." Alexia cooed, staring at it in adoration. Chloe clapped, "Yes! Oh God, I couldn't wait till you could finally see! I have so much to tell you!"

"Tell me, tell me everything."

"I'm thirteen weeks now." Chloe babbled, hooking her arm through Alexia's as they entered Ryan's living room. "Doctor said she's the size of a peach. Can you imagine, Lex? Little peachy! Also my morning sickness has practically left altogether, which really, I love." Alexia snickered, faintly remembering Chloe throwing up in the bathroom while she was memorizing words on the bed.

Ryan, Chaz and Jason were all slumped on one of the big couches, bags of chips sticking out of their sides and their eyes fixated on the television. Alexia averted her gaze from Jason, forcing herself to stop remembering their last encounter and just listen to Chloe's baby talk.

"We also went for an ultrasound." She continued, carefully sitting down on one of the chairs. Alexia climbed up the couch, leaning her head on the palm of her hand.

Slowly, Chloe pulled out her phone and gave it to Alexia. "Look." She whispered.

And Alexia looked. As always, the picture was grey and faded, but she could make out the little head and the torso of the baby, and she could even outline a leg. And it was wonderful. Her heart sped up and an almost instant wave of intense love pulsed through her as she continued to gape at the photo. "Chloe..."

"I know." Chloe breathed with glossy eyes. Alexia quickly engulfed her into another hug again, nonchalantly brushing her own tears away before pulling away.

"So," She murmured, "Do we already know the gender?"

Chloe scowled, her eyes narrowing. "It's too early, but it's a girl."

"Don't let Chaz hear you."

"Oh, I heard." Chaz got off the couch and sauntered over to where Alexia was sitting, wrapping his arms around her. "Hey, Lex." He greeted, kissing her forehead. Alexia smiled, "Hey."

"Did you know our baby has his own fingerprints now?" he asked as he took a step back. Alexia laughed, shaking her head. It was quaint to see Chaz being enamoured by something as gentle and saccharine as a pregnancy or a baby. He definitely hadn't ever been unkind towards this kind of bargain, but it still baffled Alexia how well he actually fitted. Never had she seen him so excited for something other than a hockey match, his friends, sex or alcohol.

"Well, he does." He proudly stated, a grin curling his lips. Alexia couldn't help but laugh again, snaking an arm around his waist. "How awesome."

Chaz squeezed her shoulder in response.

Chloe nodded, her eyebrows downing on her eyes, "She does."

"He."

"She."

"He."

"She."

"For God's sake! Not this again. You guys are going to kill me, when did the doctor say he could make out the gender?" Ryan got off the couch too, tugging the hem of Alexia's top. She stumbled backwards, straight into his arms. He snickered and gave her a warm hug before releasing her. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Me too. So I suppose they've been arguing about this non-stop?" she rolled her eyes. Chloe and Chaz looked like two children on the receiving end of a scolding, both scowling and their arms crossed in front of their chests. Ryan barked out a laugh, "They can't have a normal conversation without bringing the gender of the baby up. I'm thinking about bribing the doctor just so he could make something up."

"Shut up." Chaz snapped.

"Touchy subject." Ryan shrugged. Alexia giggled until she recognized the third person jaunting off the couch onto her direction. It had been a while since she last saw Jason, and to say she hadn't missed him would be a blatant lie. Jason looked glorious, his hair wild, his body wide and hard and his eyes strikingly warm.

She just wanted to envelop him into a hug and never let him go.

Instead, she nodded politely. "Hi."

"Hey." He crassly replied, his eyes instantly narrowing. A shiver ran up Alexia's spine upon hearing the coldness in his voice, but she shrugged it off. She shouldn't have slept with him, she knew that. It was a moment of weakness; Jason was capsized about Bumper's death and she had to help him.

And also, she missed him.

But she wasn't going to use that reasoning.

"How have you been doing?" She murmured, aware of the strange glances of her friends.

"Great." He hissed, riveting her from underneath his eyelashes. Alexia nodded, "That's good."

"Sure."

Silence.

"So..." Chloe awkwardly mumbled, grabbing Alexia's hand. "I think we're going to go check out the snacks. See you later!" and with that, she dragged Alexia to the kitchen and closed the door after her.

"Thanks." Alexia sighed. Chloe waved it away, "I don't think anyone wanted to see Jason leash out."

"Leash out?"

"He's been, um, acting up lately. Getting angry over silly stuff, throwing chairs and shit." She said it like it was nothing, but Alexia raised her eyebrows. "Why the hell would he do that?"

"Don't ask me." She shrugged. Alexia's mind spun for a little while until she pushed the thought away and sat herself down on one of the kitchen chairs. As happy as she was to be away from home, it downed on her that she still couldn't forget about everything that had happened. Damian's grip on her, Cat's love for Damian, her father's absolute ignorance, her brothers being on the verge of losing control... it was an irritating environment to be in all the time.

Her mind wandered from her dysfunctional family to her stupid wedding. Lately that's all she's been doing—planning, planning and planning. The dress needed to be fitted again, the venue had to be perfect in six weeks, the cake had to be ordered, the bridesmaids hadn't gotten to trying out dresses, not every member of the business had gotten an invite yet... it was all she was forced to think about.

Funny how just eight months ago, Alexia had been thinking of this wedding as 'still too far away to care'. Time flew, certainly. Of course everything had been different back then, she wasn't worried about marrying Damian and even saw him as her serious fiancé. Her family was fine, her mom was fine, everything was fine.

What a joke.

"I know you're here to kind of escape that whole ordeal, but how are you holding up with the wedding and everything?" Chloe carefully asked, sitting down across the table. Alexia glanced at her shortly, "Fine."

"It's so soon." Chloe whispered, "Chaz and I got an invite too. It's only one month away."

"I know." Alexia murmured, ignoring the stabs in her heart. "Chlo," she said, "Please change the subject. Or I'll do something."

Chloe nodded, "So, do you want to hear where we're going this break?"

"Yes." Anything, anything, as long as it wasn't about her or that damned wedding.

"Chaz and I are going to Europe." Chloe smiled. "Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam... we're visiting them all. I'm so excited! We're leaving in a couple of days so you better hang out with us all the time because the next time we see you it will be during the—anyway, Ryan's going away too."

"Oh? Where?" Alexia acted like she hadn't heard what Chloe was about to say. Once again, it was like a stab in the heart as she listened to her best friend's rambling. The next time she'd see Chloe and Chaz after they left would be during her wedding. God, it really was so soon.

"Ibiza! I don't know whether I'm supposed to tell you this, but," Chloe lowered her voice and quickly looked around as if to check that they were really alone in the kitchen, "Sienna and him broke up a couple of days ago. They were supposed to go to Barcelona together. Poor Ryan's been broken up about it ever since. He's trying to act all tough, but we all know he's hurting inside. Thus, he decided to go to Ibiza on his own to party and fuck random girls. That won't help if you ask me, but apparently that's the male version of getting over someone." She shrugged.

Ryan and Sienna broke up? If there was one thing Alexia hadn't seen coming, it would be that. Albeit it was true that she hadn't heard about Sienna in a while and it seemed that Ryan hadn't visited her for a long time too, she still assumed that the two were going strong. After all, this was Ryan and Ryan loved Sienna like no other.

"Why on earth did they break up?"

Chloe moved off the chair and grabbed two cokes from the fridge, sliding one over to Alexia. She sat down again and sighed, "Sienna claimed that Ryan wasn't paying her any attention."

"Wasn't he?"

"I don't know. But see it this way: Jason being in an accident, Jason being in a coma, Jason getting out of the coma, Jason going back to college, the guys finally hanging out with him again after months of nothing... It's obvious that Ryan had other things on his mind." Chloe opened her coke and it made a sizzling noise before she put it to her mouth and gulped.

"You're right." Alexia responded, mimicking Chloe's actions. The cold coke felt amazing, especially after the hot waves that continued to hit her. "I feel bad for saying this but I guess she's right."

"She is. I still feel bad for Ryan though, he wasn't doing it on purpose. Ryan is head over heels for her, we all know that."

Alexia agreed.

"Anyway," Chloe licked her lips, "This leaves Jason. He's leaving too, you know."

"I didn't know." And she didn't want to know. The mention of his name together with the blank stare he'd given her minutes ago was enough for her to realize that he hated her and she wanted to do nothing other than crying whenever she thought about it. Besides, where was he going to go? What was he going to do? Get drunk? Sleep with every female on the planet?

She unquestionably didn't want to know anything about that.

"He is." Chloe continued obliviously, "The idiot's going to Italy. Don't ask me why, I have no freaking idea why he would travel across half the globe to go to Italy on his own. His parents aren't keen on the idea either, they keep trying to convince him otherwise and even his doctor said he shouldn't be travelling that soon after the accident, but no, mister won't listen to anyone. He's booked the flight and everything. I mean, sorry but, he's a fool. What if he passes out in Italy? What if something happens to him? There's no doctor Malone there, nor is there anyone he knows. Fucking stupid!"

And for the first time in forever, Alexia felt like punching Jason in the face. How thick could someone be? It has been little over a month since he'd awakened out of a God damned coma! Doesn't he have a single responsible bone in his body? Why was this man so avid on self destruction?

"When's he leaving?" She queried, trying to keep her calm. Alexia was everything but calm. Her hands were trembling, her chest hove up and down and she couldn't stop wriggling her right foot.

"Tomorrow."

That was all Chloe had to say before Alexia stormed off. She was in a haze, the door to the living room clapping open so loudly that all three boys' faces snapped up to see what all that was about.

"You absolute fucking moron!" she screeched, stepping closer to where Jason was standing. He lifted one eyebrow and glared at her, "What?"

"What the hell are you thinking? Going to Italy on your own? Did all your brain cells die or something? What if something happens to you, huh? No one will be able to help you!" balling her fists, Alexia started punching them against his—admittedly—hard chest, irritated by how he didn't flinch.

"That's none of your fucking business." He sneered, "If I want to go to frickin' Italy, I'll go."

"No, you're not!" Alexia hissed, irritably starting to jam her shoulder into his belly. Jason finally cringed, taking a step backwards as he clutched his stomach and glowered at her. "Stop it, I can take you and you know that damn well."

"You. Are. Not. Going. To. Italy!" She blasted, ready to kick him in the guts. Jason seemed to have other plans. He harshly grabbed her wrists and pulled her closer, so close that her body was pressed against his own and his breath alighted her skin. "Why not?" he whispered.

Alexia found herself lost in his eyes and mush under his touch before she blinked it away and averted her gaze, her body involuntarily heating up. "Because," she replied, "Something could happen to you. You can't go on your own."

His eyes were locked on hers. "You make it sound like you care."

"Of course I care!" she hissed in disbelief, fighting the urge to wrap her arms around his neck and bury her hands in his hair. Jason stared at her with a gaze she didn't understand before his face hardened again. "I find that hard to believe."

"Why?"

His hands were still tightly clutched around Alexia's wrists and her body was still pressed against his. "Tell me," he murmured, "When is the wedding?"

Alexia's lips parted in confusion. "A month." She frowned, "That has nothing to do with this."

"It doesn't? I beg to differ."

"It doesn't."

Jason shook his head, "You don't get it. The wedding has everything to do with this. If you cared, if you loved me, you wouldn't get married to another fucking man. You used me. I don't know for what, but you used me and you fucking know this. I can't believe I let you have sex with me."

Alexia ignored the sinking of her stomach. "I can't explain it—you'll just have to believe me on this. I love you, only you. If I could, I wouldn't marry Damian." Her voice was thick with guilt and desperation. She needed Jason to believe her.

"Don't give me that bullshit." He mumbled, his jaw setting. "It won't work on me again. You played me."

"I did not! You've got to believe me, I swear. I've never lied to you before, have I? There's no one else in this world I trust as much as I trust you, and there's no one else in this world you trust as much as you trust me. You know this."

Jason's lips formed a thin line. The only barrier between the two were Alexia's arms, who were still held up by Jason. She didn't care, she'd been pining for his touch for a while now and this would do.

Jason looked disorganized and he gave himself away by darting his eyes from hers to her lips, and back. In the end, he slightly shook his head and his eyes went dark again, lowering his head. His nose brushed against Alexia's. "Maybe, but I'll get over it. I'll get over you. I've done it before, you know."

"Shut up. You're talking out of your ass." She husked, stifling the urge to just stand on her tiptoes and kiss him.

"No." he snapped back, "Nothing you say or do will change my opinion of you. You've given me false hope by kissing me more than once, but it really sealed the deal when you fucked me. What the fuck were you thinking, Alexia?"

Alexia bit the inside of her cheek. He didn't know how badly she wanted to tell him that she did all of that because she wanted to, because she loved him. She did it because with him, it felt right.

When he comprehended that she wasn't going to respond, he tugged her even closer, his nose sliding from the tip down and his lips faintly brushing against hers. Alexia gasped at the touch, but what he said next torched her heart. "Why are you marrying him, Alexia?" he whispered, "If you love me like you say you do, why would you marry someone else?"

"I—I,"

"Am I not enough? Do I not give you any satisfaction? Do I hurt you when we're having sex? Are my kisses not gentle enough? Do you not like the way I hold you? Are you done with me because we've been together before? I don't get it."

"No, no, you're perfect." She murmured, "Don't think any of that."

"Then why are you still fucking engaged to Damian Albarran?"

"It's not my decision, I have to marry him." And also, if she doesn't, you'll get murdered. "You know this, Jason. You were there when my dad sprung the news on all of us. You know how it works with my family, you know that because he's the next upcoming leader I'm supposed to marry him."

Jason looked taken aback and his grip on her wrists loosened. "He's following up after your dad? I didn't know this."

"You didn—oh. I forgot."

Quite frankly, Alexia kept on forgetting that Jason's memory loss had more to it than him not remembering that it was Damian who was after him. But she didn't dwell on it, her eyes fixating back on his. "The point is, I don't have a say in this."

"You do. You're the fiercest, most stubborn woman I know. I doubt that if you really didn't want this you would still be going through with this."

"Jason, I'm telling you, I have to fucking marry him!"

Jason's grip on her wrists tightened again and he dipped his head. Shock infiltrated Alexia's limbs when she felt his lips on hers, her mouth immediately moving against his. His lips were just like she remembered—soft and plump, and ever so gentle. They kissed until he emitted a low, pleased growl and she shakily whispered his name out of pleasure.

Softly, he let go of her wrists and pulled back, a wary look in his eyes. "You insist on marrying him?"

"I have to." She rasped, her brows furrowing.

Jason nodded, taking another step back. "If you say so."

A tug pulled at the core of her insides as she watched him enlarge the space between them two. Her heart was still beating like crazy from the kiss and she felt light headed and in love. "Where are you going?"

"I have to pack." He gruffly answered. "I have Italy to get to."

With that, Jason didn't only exit the house, but also the entire situation. 

It was over now.