Justin helps his younger brother climb the stairs to the apartment, slipping every now and then.

"Come on bro," he said, grabbing a hold of his arm to steady him. "Just two more flights and then we're there."

"Two more," said a whiny voice from behind. "That's bullshit. Let's just sleep here."

"No Sierra," Bud grumbles, picking up his drunk cousin. "Keep going."

"But I don't want to," she whined, slumping back down to the floor. Bud grabbed her before she could tumble down the staircase.

Justin gave the drunk girl the evil eye. All night she had been complaining, about the city, about music, about the drinks he had ordered, about the club they went to, and mostly about India. Justin didn't like either girls but he knew that Jesse was in love with the blonde haired stuck up from their home town. So by family connection Justin had to stand up for India, but only because of his brother's feelings for her.

When Justin told Sierra to not so nicely shut her mouth she got mad and drunkenly threw a beer bottle at his head. That got all four of them kicked out of the nightclub and for Justin to be in a pissy mood the entire way home. His head hurt like a bitch.

"You guys go on ahead," Bud told him. "I'll deal with her."

Justin didn't argue and hauled his drunk brother up the rest of the stairs. Jesse was upset all night since India didn't bother to follow them out the door and she hadn't even congratulated him about his dream beginning to come true. Justin didn't want to admit to his brother that he dragged him from the apartment and closed the door behind him on purpose. He wanted a guy's night with his brother who he hadn't seen in two years. But when he saw how upset his brother was getting and how many shots he was taking to cover up the pain Justin knew that his little brother was in love.

Justin wanted to be a better Jesse to brother so that's why he stood up for India, the girl that he never really liked.

He would tell him tomorrow morning when he was sober and perhaps he would try to warm up to India. Try.

"My lips feel funny," Jesse said as they approached the door. He was leaning most, if not all, his weight on his older brother. Justin struggled to unlock the door as Jesse began to blow raspberries.

Finally Justin opened the door with the help of his brother, letting it slam against the wall when Jesse decided to kick it.

Suddenly the lamp beside the couch turned on, illuminating India lying across it.

"What time is it," she groaned, wiping her eyes. It was clear that the two brothers had woken her up.

"Game time," Jesse yelled enthusiastically, throwing his fist in the air. Justin rolled his eyes and looked at a confused India, who was staring at Jesse as if he was an abnormal animal.

"I think it's like three or something," Justin answered.

"Is he drunk?" India stood from the couch, letting the fleece blanket fall to the floor at her feet. She made her way to Jesse and cupped his face in her hands, looking at him in concern. Justin watched as she inspected him for any injuries and as his little brother smiled drunkenly at her.

As much as Justin didn't like India because she seemed like a goody two shoes that got served with a silver spoon in her mouth her entire life, he was happy to know that there was another person in this world that cared for his little brother.

As long as she kept caring for Jesse then Justin couldn't help but like her.

"He had a lot to drink. Want to help me set him down on the couch?"

India nodded her head, grabbing his arm and lying it over her shoulders. Together they carried him to the couch, letting him fall back on it with a plop. Jesse began to uncontrollably laugh, almost falling off the couch before Justin caught him and turned him over.

Justin sighed and stood up straight, cracking his back. Jesse weighed more than he remembered.

"Did you guys have a fun night," India asked gently, obviously upset but not wanting to show it.

"Not really," he answered honestly. "The entire night he was missing you and then drinking which means I became his babysitter."

India scoffs, picking up the blanket from the floor and placing it over Jesse as he fell into a deep sleep. "Well maybe he should have-"

"Put me down Buddy," shouted a voice from behind them. Justin groaned since that voice became imprinted in his head all night long.

"Not going to happen." Bud walked through the door, carrying his cousin over his shoulder. Justin noticed how India's entire face fell. "You can't even walk straight Sierra."

"Yes I can," she whined. Justin clenched his eyes, hoping someone would rip out her tongue.

Bud carried his cousin down the hall to the bathroom, adjacent to his bedroom. When he closed the door behind him India asked, "Why was she with you guys?"

"We called Bud and asked if he wanted to come celebrate with us and Sierra was with him. She kind of just invited herself unfortunately."

"Oh."

"I'm going to bed," Justin sighed. "Jesse should stay asleep. I made him drink some water in the cab but he only took a couple sips before he figured out it wasn't vodka. You might want to wake him up to give him some more so he doesn't have a killer head ache in the morning."

India nodded her head in understanding as Justin left her alone. Maybe he was drunk too because he was acting oddly nice to her.

As India was filling a cup full of water the bathroom door down the hall opened and closed. Bud walked out, smiled at India and said "goodnight." Not very long after did sounds of Sierra puking from the bathroom fill her ears.

India shivered in disgust, deciding to turn the TV on to cancel out the noise.

"Jesse," she murmured, shaking his shoulder. "Wake up please."

It took a couple minutes and some coaxing for him to finally open his eyes. They fell on India and a smile spread across his lips.

"Hi angel."

India blushed slightly before holding out the cup of water to him. "Drink this. It will make you feel better tomorrow."

Jesse narrowed his eyes as he looked at the cup. "That's not vodka is it?"

India shook her head, as she kneeled on the ground beside him. "It's water, but it's good for you."

Jesse scoffed. "Only on one condition, I get to kiss you."

"You'll drink the whole glass if I kiss you," she asked skeptically. He nodded his head, a smirk playing across his lips. "Fine." She leaned in and gently kissed her boyfriend. He didn't let her go when she wanted to pull back though. He cupped the back of her neck in his hand and pushed their lips together, deepening the kiss.

India was shocked at the action but didn't want to pull away. She was stupid to think one little peck could make him drink a whole glass of water.

Jesse's tongue flicked out, tracing along her bottom lip. Before she knew it his tongue was meeting hers and her hand was fisted in his hair. He moaned, pulling her closer to him until her chest was pressed against the edge of the couch.

"India," he whispered, pulling away. "You're so beautiful." He laid kisses along her neck, nipping at the skin. She hummed, feeling at peace. "I'm so glad you're mine."

His lips landed back on her, his tongue meeting hers. He grabbed her hips and pulled her onto the couch. She moaned as he ran a hand up her bare thigh, moving it so she was straddling him.

India forgot about her anger towards him. She forgot about Sierra spending the entire night partying alongside her boyfriend. She forgot about Bud being invited out but not her. She forgot about her drunken father back home. She forgot about her mother who was somewhere in the world, missing her. She forgot about college starting in a couple days.

At the moment it was only her and Jesse, the boy she loved.

Jesse ran his hands down her back, over her butt, around her thighs and up, towards the spot that was aching most for him.

She gasped, grabbing his shirt in a fist. "Jesse."

He answered with a deep kiss, rubbing his fingers faster against her as one hand stayed on her hip, guiding her with him.

She broke the kiss, instead tucking her head into the crook of his neck. "Jesse," she moaned, "I love you."

She wanted him to answer her back. She wanted him to say the same three words back to her. But she was foolish to think he would when he hasn't before.

Getting no response she pulls away from him, standing beside the couch looking down on him. "Don't you love me back?" There was a crack in her voice that she couldn't hide. He looked up at her with his big blue eyes but couldn't form any words.

She scoffed, shaking her head as tears spilled down her cheeks. "I'm so stupid." She turned on her heel, ready to climb into the nook she had to call a bed when his hand reached out and grabbed her wrist.

India was hopeful as she slowly turned back around. She thought he was going to say it, finally.

She looked down on him, his mouth slightly ajar as his eyes looked into hers. She didn't see it coming until it was too late.

Jesse leaned over the couch, puking up the multitude of shots he had taken that night.

India jumped back in surprise and disgust, nearly missing his bodily fluid. "You have got to be kidding me," she groaned, staring down at the mess.

An hour later she had cleaned up the mess, wiping down the couch, the coffee table, and moping the floor. By the time she was finished Jesse was passed out, his head hanging off the side of the couch. She saw the full glass of water beside him but decided not to bother with it. So what if he got a hangover tomorrow morning? He deserved it for drinking so much.

Finally India crawled into bed after turning off the TV. The only sounds in the apartment were Sierra's obnoxious snores from the bathroom and India's soft sniffling as she cried into her pillow.

The first time she fell in love and the boy didn't love her back. How cruel the world could be.

...

Jesse awoke the next morning to the sound of a blender being turned on. However it sounded more like a machine gun mixed with a jack hammer pressed right in his ear. He groaned, stuffing his head into the crook of the couch.

His head hurt like hell and the loud sound was only making it worse.

"Shut up," he yelled angrily. The noise stopped instantly much to his relief. Minutes later the apartment door opened then closed with a slam. Jesse didn't bother to see who had left. He was just happy to rest in silence once again.

But that didn't last long when a bedroom door down the hall opened and feet padded down the hallway, sounding like a marching band to Jesse's sensitive ears.

"What was that," asked Justin as he came into the room.

"I don't know," Jesse groaned, getting angrier by the second. "Will everyone just shut up? I'm trying to sleep."

The hardwood floors creaked as Justin walked over to the couch that Jesse was lying on. "You didn't drink any water last night did you? India said she would make you but I see that you didn't."

Jesse curled himself into a ball, keeping his back facing his brother. "I don't even remember coming home last night."

Another door opened from down the hall, then another before it was closed softly. The sound of someone walking into the living room made Jesse groan. He wasn't going to go back to sleep, he knew it.

"Hey Justin, can I use your shower," Bud asked groggily. "Sierra is still passed out on my bathroom floor."

"Sure, go ahead."

Jesse slowly moved into a sitting position, his head aching with the small movement. The blanket covering him fell to his waist.

"Why does it smell so weird," Jesse whined, rubbing his eyes. The air smelled oddly like citrus.

"I don't know," Justin answered, looking confused as he looked around. "It smells kind of like cleaning products."

"Hey, who was making a smoothie," Bud called from the kitchen. "And why is it only half finished?"

"Only one person could do that," Justin said, eyeing his brother. "India. What did you do?"

Jesse scrunched up his face. "What are you talking about? I didn't do anything."

"Really," Justin asked skeptically, "because your girlfriend just left the apartment, slamming the door behind her. And I assume she's the one who cleaned, probably because of something you did."

"And," Bud spoke up, "she didn't finish making a smoothie."

"By the looks of it too I think it's supposed to be a hangover cure," Justin pointed out, looking at the green fixture on the counter.

"I think you fucked up bro," Bud laughed at Jesse, turning the blender back on.

The sound made Jesse want to jump out the window but at the moment he was too busy worrying about India. He yelled at her when he woke up but that couldn't have been the only reason why she left the apartment in a fit of rage.

He jumped from the couch and ran to the window. He pushed it open and stuck his head out, looking below. A blonde girl was crossing the street, a familiar gray sweatshirt around her shoulders.

"India," Jesse yelled as loud as he could. Three people looked up at the sound of his voice but none of them were his girlfriend. "India," he yelled again, cupping his hands around his mouth.

Finally she looked up at him, her blonde hair whipping over her shoulder. Even from the fifth story of the building he could see that she was crying.

"Come back inside," he yelled desperately.

She didn't answer. Instead she turned back around and headed down the street away from him.

Freaking out Jesse rushed around the apartment trying to find his phone. It took him about three minutes of cursing at Justin and Bud before he realized it was in his pocket. He fished it out, speedily looking for India's contact under the name of 'library girl'.

It continued to ring until it went to voicemail. Jesse quickly hung up and dialed again, cursing himself in the process. It went to voicemail again.

"Baby, please come back," he pleaded, grabbing his hair at the roots, almost tearing it out. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I didn't know it was you and I'm hung over and the sound was hurting my head. I don't remember anything from last night but I'm guessing I was an ass to you when I came home. Please come back so we can talk. I don't want you to run away from me, please." Jesse reluctantly hung up the phone. There was so much more he wanted to say but couldn't in a voicemail.

He typed out a text to her that read, 'come back.' Another said, 'I'm sorry.' The next said, 'please call me.' For the next ten minutes he texted her none stop, essentially repeating the same thing he had said in his voice mail to her. He called her again but it went straight to voicemail, meaning she had turned off her phone.

"Dammit," he yelled, throwing it across the room.

"Wow," Bud whistled from the kitchen where he was sipping on the smoothie made for Jesse. "You are really in love with her aren't you?"

"Yes," Jesse whispered, feeling his heart ache more than his head. How had he messed up bad?

Suddenly his phone began to ring and Jesse was across the room in a flash, jumping over the coffee table and landing on his knees beside his phone. He rushed to pick up the call, not even reading the caller ID.

"Baby," he sighed, "I'm so sorry. Please come back to the apartment!"

A deep laugh sounded from the other side. Instantly Jesse was on high alert, afraid India was with another man. He speedily checked the caller ID to make sure and then rolled his eyes when he saw it was his cousin calling.

"What the hell do you want Keenan," he growled. "I'm waiting for India to call." Jesse barely noticed Justin look up from his phone to look at him.

"You sound like you fucked up," said the voice but it wasn't his cousin's.

"Who is this?"

"I'm Conrad," said the man. "I'm Keenan's new roommate."

"Why are you calling me?"

"Because Keenan wanted me to," he said obviously. Jesse could hear rustling on the other end of the call and finally his cousin's voice spoke up.

"Sorry about that. I told him to call you, not talk to you."

Conrad protested in the back.

"It's uh fine," Jesse murmured, sinking back onto his heels.

"So what's up?"

"You were the one who wanted to talk to me."

"Damn you're in a pissy mood this morning."

"That's because he fucked up with his boo," yelled Conrad in the background.

"Wow you made India mad at you," Keenan teased. "What did you do this time?"

"I don't know honestly," Jesse groaned. "I got drunk last night and can't remember anything."

"That's not good," Keenan murmured. "But it's good to know you're keeping in touch with India. How is she holding up? My parents are wondering."

"What are you talking about," Jesse asked confused. Then he remembered that nobody knew that India was in New York with him. They didn't want her Dad to find out and come track her down before school started.

"The news about her Dad went around like wildfire. My Mom texted me twenty minutes ago about it. I'm not sure how she found out though, but you know this town."

"The news about her Dad," Jesse asked confused once again. He couldn't be talking about him hitting India could he?

"India didn't tell you," Keenan asked shocked.

Jesse was sure that if he didn't know than India didn't either.

"Just tell me," he said frustrated.

"He was arrested last night for a DUI."

Jesse closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. He didn't want to tell India about this. She hated talking about her Dad but she had to know.

"Jesse?"

"Yeah, I'm here," he sighed.

"How is India? My Mom said that the Sheriff was trying to find her last night to bail Mr. Quail out. He couldn't find her."

"She's in New York with me," Jesse blurted.

A couple of seconds passed in silence before Keenan finally answered. "You have got to be kidding me? How? Why?"

"Because her Dad's a drunk that's why," Jesse growled. "Look can you do me a favor?"

"Sure," Keenan answered without hesitation.

"School for India starts in a couple days and she doesn't have any of the stuff she needs for her dorm. It's all at her house in her bedroom. Do you mind finding someone to go over and get it then ship to us?"

"Yeah, yeah," Keenan answered. "I'll call my Dad. He'll handle it. Send me your address so I can give it to him."

"Yeah," Jesse sighed, feeling his headache coming back on. "I'll do that."

"Well I got to head to class. India doesn't start class until Monday right?"

Justin appeared in front of him, handing him a glass of the hangover smoothie. Jesse graciously took it. "Yeah, that's right."

"Good. That's enough time for Dad to get all her stuff and ship it over there. Hey," he paused, "can you tell her I said hi? I think she might still hate me."

"She does," Jesse answered although he didn't know if it were true or not.

"Thanks dick," he cousin mumbled, "that makes me feel better. Good luck on your music and I'll talk to you later, alright? Peace."

"Bye," Jesse said before hanging up. When Keenan had more time Jesse would tell him about the possible record deal he would snag. Maybe he would say congrats, unlike his own girlfriend yesterday.

Jesse didn't want to be bitter about it but he couldn't help it. He had gotten great news and she didn't bother to say congrats, or go out celebrating with him.

Did he say something about that last night to her? Did they get into a fight about it? Is that why she left?

"Hey Justin," he said, looking up at his brother who was flipping through the TV channels. "Do you know if I said anything to India last night about her not congratulating me? Or anything...?"

Justin put down the remote then came to sit next to Jesse on the ground next to him. "I don't know if you did or not but I do need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

Taking a deep breath Justin said, "I didn't want India to come out to celebrate with us last night. I rushed you out the door and closed it before she could even get her shoes on. I was being selfish. She also called you just about a thousand times."

"Why would you do that," Jesse yelled. "I was mad at her all night!"

"Because I haven't seen you in two years dude," Justin exclaimed, looking distraught. "Then you decide to move in with me and finally I felt like I had my little brother back. But then your girlfriend who I didn't even knew existed comes to move in too and I don't know," he sighed. "I felt like she's more important to you than me which sucks because I thought it was just going to be us two. I was being a dick and I'm sorry. She loves you though and I know you love her, so I won't try to come between you anymore."

"You're a dumbass," Jesse growled. "You're my brother. You always have been and nothing is going to change that, not even the girl I love. It's us two, forever."

"I think I just shed a tear," teased Bud, from his spot in the kitchen.

Jesse rolled his eyes and turned back to his brother. "But I do need to get pay back on you."

"Fine, whatever it is-"

Without warning Jesse punched his brother in the gut, making him roll over in pain. Bud winced from afar.

Jesse's phone rang again in his hand. He forgot about his groaning brother as soon as he saw India's contact name.

"Hello?"

"Hey," she responded softly.

"Where are you," he asked urgently. The first thing he wanted to know was if she was safe or not.

"I'm on the subway heading to the college."

"Why?" His whole body tensed. She couldn't be moving in to the dorms to get away from him could she? She didn't even have any of her stuff.

"Because I want to pick up my schedule. Classes start in a couple days Jesse."

"Right," he said, sighing in relief. "Will you come home afterwards?"

"Yeah," she said, taking a breath that Jesse could hear. She sniffled, making Jesse tense up again. "We need to talk." Jesse couldn't ignore the crack in her voice, even if he wanted to.

This was not good.

I hope you all enjoyed that! I'm sorry for the slow updates, I'm focusing on my other book The War of the Alphas!

Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day!