Weeks passed. The snow had thickened, and so had Jason's nausea towards Alexia and the wedding. He couldn't help but feel like he shouldn't give a damn, simply because they broke up three years ago, but also he couldn't help but feel like he's the one person who knows her best.

Summer had been a pain in the ass, as usual, and he just didn't know how to shake her off. Even after treating her like the shit under his shoe, she kept clinging and Jason started thinking he was dealing with something they call a stalker.

A week or so before Christmas everyone got Christmas break and the atmosphere was... overwhelming.

Since this year's big snowfall, everyone was even more in the twinkly-lights mood and it affected every individual.

Jason was currently at his dorm room, packing everything he needed before going home.

"Jase, what'chu going to do this break?" Ryan burst into his room, plopping on his bed. Jason shrugged and stuffed a shirt into his bag. "Not much, I think. Probably just Christmas with the family and New Year's Eve with you guys."

Ryan grinned. "Boring."

"Tell me about it. You?"

"Well.. since my dad isn't home for Christmas and he's taking my mom, he's decided to give me a present so I'll shut up about him not being here," Ryan rolled his eyes shortly, "I'm going to the Maldives."

Jason's mouth fell open and his eyes widened. "Dude, the Maldives? That shit's amazing!"

Ryan nodded. "Anyway, I'm not going alone of course."

Jason smirked. He felt like he knew where this was going and he was all up for it. The Maldives? Who would say no?

"Chaz already said yes, you wanna join?"

Jason smiled widely. "God, yes! You bet my fucking ass that I want to join. You have no idea how much I need this, Ryan." He closed his eyes and thought about the salty-like smell and the sound of the waves.

"Great! Sienna is coming too and Chaz is thinking about inviting Chloe." Ryan smiled.

"Chaz and Chloe are becoming a thing, aren't they?" Jason smiled too. The boys both wished their best friend all the happiness, luck and sex in the world, and if it kept going like this, Chaz and Chloe would enter the new year with a bang.

Literally.

"I guess so. Nothing's official yet, but Chaz can't seem to shut up about her," Ryan rolled his eyes for a mere second, "and Alexia informed me that Chloe hasn't been silent either. It's a good thing."

Jason clenched and unclenched his jaw when hearing Alexia's name. Although they were avoiding each other the best they could, it was difficult. She hung out with his crowd so that meant they were forced to be around each other outside of class all the time. Also, the fact that every single guy in the fucking state kept eyeing her and staring at her butt every time she passed by didn't help.

He didn't even know why they were avoiding each other. They just were.

"Good."

It was silent for a short while. Jason had hoped the silence took longer when he heard what Ryan had just muttered.

"We're thinking about inviting Lex.." Ryan almost whispered her name, scared Jason was going to throw his bag.

"Are you freaking kidding me? Why does she always have to butt in whatever fun plans we have?" He shot at Ryan throwing his hands up in the air in confusion. The bliss he had just moments ago from hearing about the Maldives disappeared into the air.

Ryan frowned and sighed. "She's our friend! She's one of our best friends! You're not the only one who knew her before she transferred. Don't you recall how we used to be best friends? All four of us?"

"That doesn't matter! You didn't have sex with her, I did. And now I'm supposed to be all friendly and nice and act like I don't care about her getting married."

He couldn't help it, but Ryan started to chuckle. "Jason, the fact that you guys used to have sex 20 times a week is not the reason this is so awkward. You never really finished whatever you had going on and whatever feelings were involved never got the time to go away because it was all cut off so quickly. The entire relationship. And then you see her again, and of course all the feelings come back, because there's unfinished business! Oh, and she's getting married in a couple of months. That's the reason. It's just a hunch." He shook his head at the sarcastic comment he made in the end.

Jason knew Ryan was right, but he didn't want to admit it. Denying it is so much easier. "It doesn't matter what the reason is, it's still awkward between us." He grabbed another shirt and tried to get it into his already full bag. He just wanted to do something so he didn't seem nervous.

"You guys are civil, right?"

Jason nodded. "I guess." His mind went back to two days ago, when all of them were sitting in the cafeteria making plans for that night.

"God, it's freezing!" Chloe blabbered, her entire body shaking as she joined them around the table. They'd been sitting there for quite a while, so they weren't feeling the cold as much as she was. Jason rolled his eyes. "You don't say?"

She didn't respond and looked at him angrily before she took off her coat and her gloves. Chaz smiled at her and she smiled back, red crawling up her cheeks. And it was not because of the cold.

Jason averted his gaze and looked at Ryan, who was drinking his coffee contently, staring at the wall behind Jason. Jason was sure he was thinking about his girlfriend Sienna.

The person sitting next to Ryan was, surprise, Alexia. She had silently been eating a muffin for the past twenty minutes. He kept his eyes on her beautiful eyelashes, her rosy cheeks, her lips... Trailing down he saw how arousing her round breasts actually looked, even in a turtle neck.

Alexia finished her muffin and looked up. Jason acted like he was coughing so she wouldn't catch him staring, but she did.

After his fake coughing fiasco, he turned his attention back to the girl in front of him, who was now also looking back at him. "Took you a while to eat that muffin." He observed.

"Oh well, what can I say? I like to enjoy my food." The answer was plain, but Jason could hear the challenging undertone. She could never catch a break, could she?

"I know." He murmured, giving her a half grin. She looked taken aback by the fact that, one, he didn't attack, and two, he even grinned at her. Even though it wasn't a full grin. It had been more than the past two months combined.

She smiled back and Jason felt his body melt.

In that moment, her phone started to ring. Both of them woke up from the trance and started avoid each other's eyes again. Ryan, Chloe and Chaz stopped talking for one second and then continued their conversation.

Alexia picked up the phone and Jason tried to listen to whoever was calling her, but he was sitting too far away.

"Oh. Hey, babe." She muttered guiltily as she looked at the table. Jason clenched his jaw and crossed his arms. Babe? That must be Damian. Fucking Damian.

The things he'd do for her to say babe to him.

She kept talking on the phone so Jason decided to jump in the conversation Ryan and the others were having, so he didn't look stupid. After maybe hours, (it was 3 minutes tops) Alexia seemed to be ending the conversation.

"I will. Yes. Alright, love you too."

His insides were burning completely.

She put the phone away and faked a smile to the others. Jason couldn't keep his curiosity hidden. "So, who was that?"

Alexia pulled up an eyebrow. "Uhm.. how exactly is that your business?"

Jason shrugged. "Just making conversation."

Both of them didn't say anything.

"It was Damian."

It was silent again, and this time no one broke the silence. Jason also left after maybe a minute. He suddenly wasn't really feeling like he wanted to hang out with his friends.

"Well then, no worries. You're not going to be stuck with her or anything like that. It's me, Sienna, Chloe, Chaz, and her. She'll probably be with the girls most of the time, and if not, she'll be with me or Chaz. You guys don't even have to talk."

Jason didn't answer and Ryan took that as a yes.

"Cool! She already left campus, so we're going to ask her on our way home. You can give us directions to her house, right?"

"To her house?"

"We want to ask her in person."

"Sorry, who is we?" Jason grabbed the zipper of his bag and zipped it so hard the thing unattached itself from the bag. Great.

"Me, Chloe and Chaz. Jeez Jase, pay attention. Who else?" Ryan replied annoyed.

"I don't know. I thought I, as someone who's also attending this trip, should have a say in this and guess what I'm about to say. Hell no."

Ryan groaned loudly and pulled the bag out of Jason's hands because he was fiddling with it too much. "You're just scared we'll run into this Damian guy."

"No! I don't give a shit about him! Do you think I'm scared of him?"

"That's not what I was saying, we both know you'd probably beat his ass if you were in a fight, you'll just be uncomfortable. That's what I'm saying."

Jason gladly took the ego-booster and closed his eyes. Everything was going to be fine. Why would he even freak out this much? He was just going to give them directions to her house, they'd go and ask her, her brothers would probably freak when they see the two guys talking to their sister and they'd be kicked out. She wouldn't be able to come and he could enjoy the Maldives.

"Alright."

Ryan clapped his hands. "Yes! You're also coming with us inside when we're asking her. Figured her family would be more comfortable if they saw a familiar face they actually remembered."

"No! No, no, no. N to the O. Hell no. Fuck no. Nee. Nein. Ne. In how many languages do I have to say this? This is not happening!" Jason shook his head in disbelief and got up off the bed. He couldn't believe they were making him do this. He had no interest at all in entering that damned house and talk to Alexia's parents.

"Jason.."

"No, Ryan, just no. Don't you get it? I'm extremely uncomfortable doing this!" Jason furrowed his eyebrows and opened his closet door, rummaging through the mess to find new bag.

"Alright." Ryan sighed and got up too, giving Jason a short pat before exiting the room.

Jason was left alone.

-

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

Jason, Ryan, Chaz and Chloe were currently standing in front of the big front door. The water of the fountain behind them made a soft noise. Chaz was staring at the cars parked around the fountain. He had never seen so many expensive cars.

"This house is beautiful." Chloe murmured, mesmerized by the size. Everyone agreed.

Jason tried to ignore the nostalgic feeling in the pit of his stomach. Being here, knowing who was on the other side of the door brought back so many memories and feelings. He used to stand here seven times a week. Alexia and him used to do everything together, studying, homework, just hanging out..

The plan was that Jason would only take Chaz, Ryan and Chloe here and then wait in the car, but they somehow talked him into coming with them. He already regrets his decision.

"Alright, I'm going to ring the bell now." Ryan put his hand on the doorbell, but Jason stopped him. "Wait!"

"What, Jason?"

"I... wait. Give me a second."

Ryan sighed and pulled his hand back. Jason took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down.

The doorbell rang.

His eyes flew open and he looked at Ryan angrily. "I told you to fucking wait!"

Ryan shrugged. "You need to calm down, man."

In that moment, the door opened. The four of them looked at the man standing in front of them. He had dark hair, green eyes and a wide posture. He was wearing a V-neck and Jason noticed Chloe staring at the man's abs. He did have a good body, Jason had to admit.

"Can I help you?" The man muttered, pulling up his eyebrows. Although the sentence was directed to all of them, the man had his eyes on Jason, as if he recognized him but couldn't remember who he was.

Jason cleared his throat. "Me, Ryan, Chaz and Chloe are here for Alexia. Do you think we could talk to her for a minute?"

The man's face lit up when he heard Ryan and Chaz's names. "Ryan and Chaz? I didn't even recognize you guys! It's good to see you again."

Ryan and Chaz both smiled. "You too, eh," Chaz started searching his brain for the man's name, but he just couldn't remember which brother this was.

"Stefano." Jason quickly said with a fake smile. Stefano's head turned to meet Jason's eyes. "I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but.. Jason?"

"The one and only."

"God.." Stefano scanned Jason's entire body and furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief. Jason didn't mind, he had changed a lot from how he used to be. Not only mentally, his physical appearance was drastically different. "I didn't even recognize you."

"I get that a lot. You've been getting bigger, Stefano." Jason complimented. He knew how to make them like him in just a second.

Stefano grinned and flexed his biceps. "You think?"

"Yeah, man."

"Thanks, brother." The word brother was like a shot through the heart. They used to always call Jason brother, he was a part of their family. "Anyway, yeah I could call her for you guys. She's upstairs with Damian so it may take a while but to be honest I don't think it will."

Jason nodded slowly. A female voice echoed through the house, God even the hallway was fucking huge, and Stefano turned around, breaking his stare from Jason.

"Stef, who's that?" The woman was walking fast towards the door where they were standing. She swayed her hips in a way only three people could. Alexia, her sister, and their mom. Not too fast, but slow and sensual. The woman was also dark haired and wore a tight dress, complimenting all of her curves. She wore high heels and put an arm on Stefano's shoulder, eyeing Jason and the others. The second she recognized Jason, she squealed.

"Jason? Oh, my, God! I can't believe it's you! You've grown so much!" Catalina pushed Stefano out of the way and pulled Jason inside, throwing her arms around him. He used to be shorter than her. He was now taller, even when she had heels on.

Jason was buried in her strong smell. She kept her arms around him and kissed his cheeks three times. He hugged her back, just to be nice, and couldn't help but snicker a little.

"I swear, Jason, you look like a man. A full grown man. And jeez, you've got tattoos?" She let him go and grabbed his arm, looking at his tattoos. "You've got sleeves! On both arms! And Jesus, you've been working out, haven't you? I could feel the sixpack. And look at those biceps! Oh my God, your hair. You've got a pompadour. I would've never imagined you cutting your beautiful hair. It looks super sexy now, though. Man, you look hot. And your voice, it's so deep, how old are you anyway?"

"Twenty one." Jason chuckled. Stefano didn't look amused and put a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Leave the boy alone."

Jason knew damn well Catalina shouldn't have hugged him in front of her brother. And she shouldn't have said all those things either.

Catalina pulled back apologetically and shook off Stefano's hand. "So, what'chu doing here J?"

"Um, we're here for Alexia." Jason suddenly realized it looked really bad. An ex-boyfriend coming for his ex-girlfriend while his ex-girlfriend is engaged?

"I don't know if that's a good idea.." Cat muttered.

"No it's okay. We go to the same college. Jason and Lexi are being just friends, nothing's going on if that's what you think. We're just here to ask a question." Chaz spoke up. Catalina looked at him and exhaled shortly, following it by a wide smile. "Alright then!" She invited the others inside too and closed the door behind them.

Stefano excused himself and Catalina went upstairs to find her little sister. Jason, Chaz, Ryan and Chloe were left alone in the big hallway.

"That was... strange." Chloe murmured. Everything was overwhelming. Jason suddenly felt exhilarated. And excited. He didn't know why.

"I think it was funny. Cat was all over you, Jase." Ryan laughed. Jason laughed too. "Yeah, I didn't think she'd still do that."

"Speaking of her, she looks damn good, doesn't she?" Chaz spoke, a grin on his face. The two guys laughed again and agreed. "She sure does, did you see her ass? I'm sure it got bigger. She looks amazing."

Chaz laughed too. "It feels so, I don't know, good to be here! I keep remembering all the fun times we had."

Ryan and Jason agreed. Chloe kept her mouth shut and thought back to the girl that was here just moments ago. Chaz's comment didn't go unnoticed.

Another woman entered the hallway. Everyone turned their attention to her. She was nothing like the two sibling who were here earlier. Her hair was a light shade of blonde, she was pale and didn't have as much curves. Her stomach was huge. She was pregnant.

"Carina?" Jason started feeling more excited. He was feeling happy. Why was he feeling happy?

"That's me, I'm sorry, who are you?"

Jason, Chaz and Ryan introduced themselves and she immediately remembered the three boys. "I'm sure you guys hear this a lot, but lord, have you guys grown!" She shuffled closer and gave all three of them a hand, Jason a peck on the cheek and hugged Chloe. "I'm Carina Valdez."

"Chloe Britto." Chloe was glad someone finally included her.

"So, Carina, pregnant huh?" Jason smiled. Carina smiled back at him and put her hands on her belly. "Finally, yes. It's been nearly eight months."

"I'm happy for you and Dominic. You guys deserve it." And he meant that.

"Thank you Jason. I'm glad we can see you again. Around, I mean." She blushed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm so used to you and Lexi being more than friends. I know you wouldn't sabotage her marriage."

Jason chuckled. "It's okay. Do you know the gender?" Somehow her comment didn't hurt him at all.

Carina looked excited to be talking about the topic. "Actually, no. We want it to be a surprise, but I'm secretly hoping for a girl."

"And let me guess, Dominic wants a boy, right? So the boy is the oldest one yada yada." Jason responded. Carina nodded and looked down at her belly in adoration. "We'll see.. Only a month left."

After a short while of talking, she left too and Alexia came running down the stairs.

"What are you guys doing here?" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up. She looked at Jason and widened her eyes in alarm. Jason was somehow feeling at ease. Maybe meeting Damian wasn't that bad. If Damian was good for Alexia Jason could maybe, just maybe, accept it.

"We wanted to ask you a question." Ryan replied. Jason stared at Alexia. She was wearing sweats and a top. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun and she looked slightly annoyed.

She looked cute.

"Alright, ask." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned against the table in the middle of the hallway. There was a huge vase with flowers in it on top of the table. The entire thing was twice as big as Alexia.

"First of all, what are you doing this vacation?"

Alexia shrugged. "The usual, I guess. Big family gatherings, Christmas celebration... Because of Carina's pregnancy we're trying to stay home as much as possible. Besides, there's a lot of planning that needs to happen." She stole a glance at Jason and looked away as fast as she could.

Ryan nodded. "Okay. Well, as per usual, my dad isn't home this Christmas."

His voice cracked while saying that and Jason realized this must be shitty for Ryan. He couldn't imagine one of his parents not being home during Christmas. Christmas is family time!

"And my mom's going with him. To shut me up, he's gifted me a trip to the Maldives. I'm allowed to take friends. Come with us?" There was hope in his voice. Alexia widened her eyes. "The Maldives? Count me the fuck in!"

Everyone started cheering and Alexia gave Ryan a hug. Jason stood still, trying to comprehend what she had just said. How can she even decide that for herself? Isn't her fiancée supposed to have a say in this?

Not that he wanted it to be that way.

As if on cue, someone else entered the hallway. Jason recognized Damian from the last time he dropped Alexia off at home. The man had dark hair, pushed backwards and was wearing a suit. He looked slick. And arrogant. Eyeing his guests, he neared Alexia and put an arm around her hips, pulling her closer.

"Ow! Oh, hey Damian." Alexia almost whispered when she noticed him. Her eyes went to Jason's automatically. Jason shrugged, only for her to see. He didn't want her to worry about him going crazy.

She smiled gratefully.

"Hey, baby. Who's this?" Damian's voice was thick. Jason looked at his hand on her hip. It was going up and down, rubbing her skin. Alexia didn't seem uncomfortable, but she didn't seem super comfortable either.

"My best friends, Ryan and Chaz, Chloe and, um, Jason." She hesitated while saying Jason's name and right away Jason realized she shouldn't have, because Damian picked it up and stared at Jason.

Chloe decided to cut the tension and pulled out her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, Damian."

Damian looked surprise and took Chloe's hand, planting a soft kiss on it. "The pleasure's mine."

Everyone started introducing themselves, even Jason found the decency to shake the man's hand and act like all was well. Alexia clearly hadn't told Damian about her and Jason.

"So, what brings you guys here?" Damian wondered out loud, slipping his hand into Alexia's sweats. She didn't flinch. Jason did.

"We're going on vacation during Christmas break. We thought it'd be nice to invite Alexia." Chloe answered immediately. Damian pulled up his eyebrows and looked at Alexia. "Really? That's nice. And what was her answer to that?"

Alexia looked at him challengingly. "I said yes, of course. We don't have anything important going on, do we?"

Damian looked annoyed. Jason suddenly felt great.

"Well... I'm not sure. There are a lot of things who need to happen before the wedding. I thought this break was good for us to plan our honeymoon. And I can imagine Carina needing your help with the baby room and all that."

Jason frowned. Damian obviously said that on purpose. Jason crossed his arms in front of his chest and clenched his jaw, trying to ignore the anger building up in his insides. Dick.

"Maybe, but we have 9 months left and Catalina is here."

"8 months, time's passing by quickly, love."

Barf.

"Alright, 8 months. Who cares? Planning that will take one afternoon tops. We could do it tonight. Damian, this trip is to the damn Maldives! With all the money we have, we've never gotten further than Canada. You don't think I'm going to decline this offer, do you?"

Damian licked his lips and pulled Alexia closer. "What is your dad going to say? And your brothers? Oh and wait, your mom. You don't think they will let you go, right?"

Alexia pulled away from his grip and rolled her eyes. "My dad loves my friends, so do my brothers. My mom's opinion isn't going to overrule my dad's and brothers'. Nice try, but I'm going."

Jason chuckled and shook his head. Oh Alexia, always knows how to stand her ground. He admired her for that. Petite, but feisty as hell.

Everyone looked at Jason and Damian shot him a glare.

Oops, maybe he shouldn't have chuckled out loud.

Damian cleared his throat and pulled Alexia closer to him, putting one hand on her back and the other on her butt. "C'mon baby, I get that you want to have fun with your friends, but I'd miss you so much. We have so much fun every day and night, how am I going to survive without our nights? How are you going to survive that?" He squeezed her butt and put his lips on hers softly.

Chaz cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked away. Jason did the same. Did this guy really have to bring up their sex life? That's kind of a dick move.

Alexia pulled away once again. She had no emotion on her face whatsoever, although Jason depicted a little bit of disgust. He fully understood that, of course she doesn't want anyone to know about that. "I'm not sure if I'll survive, but I'll take the chance." She replied sarcastically.

Jason suppressed the chuckle this time and looked at Alexia. She looked back and chuckled out loud, rolling her eyes at him. Jason's entire body heat up and he nodded, telling her she was doing a damn well job with her fiancée. She chuckled again and shook her head, her cheeks red.

Jason smiled in himself. Maybe this trip wasn't going to be so bad after all.