I'm not drunk.

That was what I told myself as I climbed up on the porch of Coach Buckley's house and to the roof as quietly as I could, until I was right outside Halo's bedroom. The only light came from her window, the rest of the house was dead asleep.

I looked around the neighborhood. Street lamps lit up the empty road. Other than the barking dog from down the street, there was no sign of life.

I glanced at my wrist watch.

12:47am

I was supposed to be on my way home. There I was in my car, ready to hit the sack and all that shit. But somehow I ended up here.

Seriously, I'm not drunk.

Raising my hand, I lightly tapped on the window in front of me. It was a Friday night, so I was sure she was still awake reading a book or watching a rerun of her favorite show.

I just want to see her.

The curtain slid open, revealing Halo wearing a red polyester pajamas and a shirt that had a TEAM BELLARKE (whatever the hell that meant) on it. Her eyes widened when they saw me, and she quickly pulled open the window.

I carefully climbed in and finally had a better look on her. Her black hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail. From the dim light of her room, I could make out that she was confused as hell as to why I was here.

"Wha -" she started, completely baffled. She stopped, shook her head, and tried again. Scrutinizing my face, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

Without a word, I put my arms around her and hugged her before she could remember that she was supposed to be mad at me.

I let out a sigh, also washing away my doubts.

She was here. She was in my arms. She wasn't pushing me away.

I missed her.

"Hey, hey," she whispered softly, stroking my hair at the back of my neck.

I reached up a hand and gently, slowly tugged her ponytail to let loose her hair. Then, I buried my face in her hair like a fucking weirdo, loving the smell of her. She always smelled of lavender. It eased the tension in my body.

I wanted to remind myself of what I had now.

And I had her.

"I don't wanna fight anymore," I admitted.

"Me, too," she replied, with a muffled voice.

"I'm sorry for being a dick."

"Class A pumkinhead."

A smile played on my lips, and I leaned back my face so I could look at her.

"Class A pumkinhead," I repeated, rolling my eyes.

She laughed at that. But then after a moment, her laughter died down and she sighed. Her eyes avoided mine as she spoke again.

"I told you, though. I'm only your girlfriend. I don't have a say in -"

I shut her up with a kiss.

"Never say that," I whispered against her lips, welcoming the feel of her warm breath on my face. "There's nothing 'only' about you being my girlfriend." I pulled away to look her in the eye and show her I was serious. "Got it, dork?"

She nodded and looked down - probably to hide her face, but too late. I already caught her smile. Absentmindedly, she drew random little circles on my chest.

I like the feel of her in my arms like this. I don't know why or fucking how, it just - It just feels right, you know?

While we stayed in silence, I took that chance to scan her room. This was the first time I've ever been here. The walls were covered in blue paint. There was an entire wall for books. Like literally, from the ground to the ceiling was rows and rows of nothing but that.

There was a low round table in the corner of the room, where her laptop was. Throw pillows surrounded it. And from the looks of it, that was the place she also studied.

A huge dark yellow cozy-looking armchair was on one corner, while a keyboard stood on the other side. White christmas lights hung on the walls, serving as a glowy background. My eyes wandered to the other light source, the one near the armchair.

"You have a full moon lamp in your bedroom?" I scoffed.

"No, that's an actual moon I named Bellamy," she replied, pretending to be serious.

I smirked, facing her. "She knows sarcasm."

"We're old friends," she nodded, trying hard not to giggle.

"Oh, yeah?"

I tickled her, making her squirm. She finally gave in and laughed.

"But seriously," she said, pushing me to stop. "That moon lamp's name is Bellamy."

"Who the hell is Bellamy?"

"A fictional character I'm currently in love with," she said a-matter-of-factly. "But I'm shipping him with someone else so you're safe," she added, patting me on the shoulder.

She was so weird sometimes. It was one of the things I loved about her.

"Okay," I chuckled, placing a strand of her hair behind her ear. For a second, my eyes stayed on her cheeks as the smile on my face disappeared. "Something happened tonight," I added quietly.

She tilted her head and stared at me, waiting for me to continue. Our eyes met, and suddenly I didn't know what to say. Would she be mad again? I didn't want another fight.

"Snow was at the party earlier." I frowned and shook my head. "Some dickface almost attacked her and I sorta rescued her."

Saying it out loud like that made it sound like a fucked up knight in armor shit.

"Is she okay?" asked Halo with a crease on her forehead, genuinely concerned.

I nodded, and closed my eyes.

"Yeah, I got there on time."

When I opened them again, they wandered to the bed. I walked towards it and sat on the edge. I looked up at Halo and grabbed her hand, pulling her to sit beside me.

I took a deep breath, rubbing my face.

"What's wrong?"

"I was pissed off that you didn't show up at the party," I admitted, staring at her moon lamp across the room. "Then, I heard Snow was getting harassed. And I guess let it out on the drunk retard, but fuck," I sighed, pausing. "That sounds like a fucking excuse."

I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated as hell.

"After all the shit I went through, I'm still damn protective of her," I confessed, my jaw clenching. "I don't like that I am." I fucking hated it.

Halo took my face in her hands, turning me to look at her.

"She's your first love," she said firmly. She didn't look hurt or sad, she was only stating a fact. She wanted to tell me that she understood. "It's only natural you feel that way. If you didn't, that would mean what you had wasn't real."

Fuck. What did I do to deserve her?

I gazed into her eyes, her beautiful enchanting eyes.

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

She blinked, her next words so quiet I thought I imagined it for a second.

"Are you breaking up with me?"

I instantly pulled away in shock.

"What? No!" I said indignantly. "Hell no." I shook my head in disbelief while my eyes narrowed as I closely studied her face. "What made you think that?"

"N - Nothing," she smiled weakly, looking down and waving her hands dismissively. "Forget I said anything."

My shoulders slumped. I reached out a hand and leaned her chin up.

"Baby, you gotta stop doing that," I told her, almost pleading. "If you got something on your mind, don't be afraid to say it out loud. Please, it drives me fucking nuts."

She probably decided I was telling the truth because her face softened.

"Okay," she smiled.

I pecked her nose, making her giggle.

"So how was your day?" I asked. Then, my eyes wandered to her shirt. "But first, what the fuck is Bellarke?"

Her eyes lit up. "It's a fandom based on glances and smiles. Tragic, really."

"Is that the show you've been telling me about, the one you bet I'd like?"

She beamed and nodded. "It's bloody and gory. Totally you," she teased.

"Funny," I said sarcastically. "What about school? Boring?"

She made a face, her light mood instantly vanishing.

Taking a deep breath, she answered, "Meh. The AV Club volunteered to help out at the yearbook committee but it's proving to be difficult since everyone wants to look good in it. I mean, at some point in our lives, we're bound to have a bad picture."

I smiled, watching her talk.

"Then in World Lit, Mr. Jenner wanted us to do an essay about the meaning of life - and all I could think about was Donald Stravinski's insistence we include his bug collection in the yearbook. I don't wanna say no and risk that someday when he becomes a villain, he'll torture me with his army of insects."

"Maybe life is about just that; taking risks," I pointed out. "After all, it's not the years in your life that matters. It's the people who bring life in your years."

She stared at me, then grinned.

"Clever, twisting Abraham Lincoln's words like that."

"I'm the master of wordplay," I shrugged.

She chuckled. But then I yawned, my eyes drooping.

"You must be so tired," she said, watching my face.

"No, it's cool," I grinned. "I wanna spend more time with you, dork." I lightly pinched her nose, causing her to giggle and pull away from me. I pouted playfully. "Aw, don't do that. I'm cold without your warm touch."

She bit her bottom lip, her eyes glancing down to her bed. When her eyes turned back to me, they had a shy glint to it.

"Do you wanna sleep here?"

I tilted my head curiously.

"Just sleep," she added quickly.

"On the bed, with you?" I clarified slowly, watching her.

She shrugged. "Well, if you'd rather sleep on the floor . . ."

"No, bed's good," I quickly said, standing up and taking off my shirt. But I stopped to look at her. "I sleep with only my boxers. Is that cool?"

She waved a hand, her cheeks visibly reddening. "Um, yeah. It's not like I haven't seen you shirtless before." She blinked, realizing what she said. "I mean, up close." She closed her eyes shut, winced, and shook her head. "I'm getting in the bed now."

Turning away, she pulled up the covers and got in. She turned her back to me, I bet my ass it was to hide her embarrassed face.

I wonder what she meant by that. When had she seen me shirtless? I mean, it's not like I walked around school with my top off. I'm no Jacob Black.

I decided to let it go. Too tired to think about it. Shaking my head, I laughed to myself as I took off the rest of my clothes, only leaving my plain black boxers. Then, I climbed on the bed with her under the covers. I put my arms around her and pulled her back to me.

Yep, we spooned.

I breathed in her scent. She smelled of book and cookies, mixed with lavender. With my eyes closed, I smiled. Damn, I felt so at home. With her. Like this.

"Oh, Oz?"

"Mm?"

"I have a favor to ask."

"Shoot," I murmured against her hair.

"Can you teach me how to spike?"

My droopy eyes shot open. Did she just say 'spank'? Or was it 'spike'? Honestly, I was too goddamn sleepy to tell the difference.

"What?"

"You know, in volleyball?" she cleared. "It's for PE. I may be good with my legs, but my arms suck at doing anything remotely athletic."

I groaned, smiling crookedly while I tightened my arms around her. She was so warm and comfy. Like a life-sized teddy bear, only I could kiss her without looking like a psycho.

"Don't talk dirty to me while we're on a bed," I warned, in a low voice.

She had an intake of breath, making me grin wider. I buried my face in her hair, until my mouth touched the back of her neck. I felt her shiver against me.

"Don't worry," I whispered. "I won't do anything you don't want to."

Her body relaxed, leaning back into me.

My eyes closed. I was so dead beat.

. . .

"Oz?"

Did Halo say my name? I wasn't sure.

"Are you asleep?"

Her voice was getting smaller. I might be in dreamland already.

"Ifnkvlenluvwivu."

Words were slurred.

So far. So faint.

I tried to hear it again.

All that met me was silence.

_____________

Yes, I purposely mashed the words to torture you. Bwahaha! >:) But come on, it's pretty obvious. Just try saying it out loud. ;)

This chapter is pretty tame, don't you think? I hope it's enough to satisfy your Haloz feels. 'Cause next chapter, everyone's gonna be there. Yes, I'm talking about EVERYONE. I think it's time Snow and Halo meet face to face. Beach party, mofooooos!