A/N: Yeah so it turns out that I couldn't be bothered going to school today. Even though it is the first day of the last week of school until holidays, I was too tired and I have the most awesome mother who let me stay home! So here's a new chapter, not sure how it's going to go but please enjoy it! Also I'd love to get to know my readers so if any of you would like to message me I'd love to talk to you all!

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I woke up feeling disoriented. My head was resting on a bare chest and I knew school would have already started as I wasn't woken up by my alarm clock, just by the sun streaming through the window.

i looked up at Jayden's peaceful face and all I wanted to do was run my fingers through his hair and kiss him, but then it dawned on me.

Jay had no idea I heard anything he said last night.

Meaning that I couldn't let on that I knew. I had to pretend to be confused about why he was here and I had to pretend that I heard none of the lovely things that tumbled out of his mouth last night.

Damn it!

I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes again, hugging Jayden tighter to me which seemed like a good idea until he began to stir underneath me.

I looked up into his sleepy eyes, sighed internally then put a confused look on my face.

"Huh... Jay? What are you doing here?" I asked sleepily, rubbing my eyes and sitting up.

"Oh.." he trailed, looking kinda worried. "I just came over when the party finished to see if you were okay, but you were asleep on the couch so I carried you upstairs and was too tired to go home."

I knew he was lying about leaving when the party was over, but I didn't mind. I wouldn't have known either way and it didn't make much difference either way. I'd tell him at some point.

I smiled at him, still lying on his back with his hands now resting behind his head. My eyes travelled of their own accord from his face down his neck, down his chest and to his abs.

Perfectly toned and muscular, usually covered by a t-shirt.

Jayden knew he was hot but unlike others who were aware of their hotness, Jay wasn't arrogant about it. He downplayed his looks almost as if he was uncomfortable when someone stared.

"Are you okay?" Jayden's voice brought me back down from my thinking cloud as my eyes made their way back to his.

"Yes, why?" I responded, perhaps a little too quickly. I didn't want him to be suspicious but I did not want him to worry either.

I could tell that he was debating telling me the truth, but when he took a deep breath in I knew e was going to tell me.

"Last night you left the party because of me," he didn't ask me though, he told me. "I don't know what I did, but I am so sorry. I can't even begin to explain how sorry I am."

His eyes filled with regret of something that he had no idea of. He didn't need to regret anything but he didn't understand that.

Jay was sitting up now too, one leg hanging off the side of the bed and the other bended at the knee.

"Jay..." I started, trying to figure out how to explain truthfully. "You're right, I did leave the party because of you, but you didn't do anything. You have to know that it was nothing you did."

He stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. I know it made no sense. I was telling him I left because of him, but he didn't actually do anything to make me leave.

"Just don't worry about it," I told him and I had nothing else to say, so I wrapped my arms around his shoulders like I would do when we were little, and leaned my head just under his neck.

I took a deep breath, inhaling Jayden's comforting smell and taking in his warmth.

"Well, it looks like we're not going to school today," he smiled when I pulled away and sat at the other end of my bed.

I needed the space so that I wouldn't do something extreme that would show my feelings.

I leaned over and grabbed my phone off my bedside table, actually kind of surprised to see it there.

The last time I had seen my phone was when Caleb called.

Jay must have brought it up and put it on charge.

The time read 12:30pm and I laughed.

"Well it's half past twelve and we're leaving for Wye river at four. I highly doubt we have time for school," I told him, getting out of bed and stretching my arms above my head, pulling my tank top up to reveal a bit of my stomach.

Jay made no move to get up but he was looking at me and my cheeks threatened to blush.

"Stop staring Jay."

I turned away from him but he didn't respond.

I rolled my eyes as I always did and padded across the floor to my bathroom.

Locking the door behind me, I hopped in the shower, washing my hair and brushing my teeth. I hadn't done either last night before I went to sleep and it didn't feel right.

Once I was out and dressed in denim shorts and the same white flowy top that Jay had thrown me in the pool in, I grabbed my duffel bag out of the bottom of my cupboard and started to throw two weeks worth of clothes into it while singing.

"My problem, I never was a model, I never was a scholar, but you were always popular, you were singing all the songs I don't know now you're in the front row 'cause my song is popular," I was singing when Jayden walked in, still shirtless and wearing the black sweats he kept at my house.

"Popular! I know about pop-u-lar!" Jay sung in a really high pitched girly voice, making me laugh.

"Are you nearly done in here?" Jay continued, now in his normal talking voice except now it turned mischevious. " 'Cause I want to have a shower and as much as I'm sure you wouldn't mind staying to watch, I do."

"Shut uuuup," I groaned, elbowing him in the ribs. But I then proceeded to get out of the room.

I heard the water hit the tiles in the bathroom so I got my phone out and dialed Kenzie's number.

I knew she would be on her way home from school - if not already home - so I would ask if she wanted to catch up earlier. I mean, Jayden would have to go home to pack his bag and get ready so I would have some spare time.

"Hello?" Kenzie's melodic voice came through the phone. There was music playing in the background that I thought sounded like Coldplay.

"Hey! What's happening?" I asked her, smiling at the sound of her happy voice.

"KATY!!! Hey! I was actually just about to call you. Do you want to come over in like," she paused for a moment, thinking, "20 minutes? From what Caleb told me you need to spill and in that case you'll be ready earlier and hopefully we can leave early too."

Wait, what had Caleb told her?

"Huh, Kenzie?" I said. "Is Caleb home?"

"Of course he isn't! He's at school! Speaking of which why aren't you?" Her voice was curious but there was an undercurrent of something that I couldn't quite recognize... Suggestiveness perhaps?

"I'll explain later." I told her. "Look, I just need to get rid of Jay then I'll be over okay?"

Kenzie laughed in response and I joined in. "Sounds good, see you soon!"

With that she hung up. The pipes were still screeching, meaning Jayden was still in the shower.

I thought about what else I needed to pack, making a checklist in my head. As soon as I thought of my drawing book, I decided that I had time to draw something that had been bugging my head for days.

I sat down at my table and flipped my book open to a blank page. I swiftly picked the 2B greyled off the desk and started tracing lines of the face, pressing harder to emphasize the defined cheekbones, adding in the dimple on the left side of his face.

In the picture he was sitting on the side of his pool, his feet dipped into the water. Behind him was the big tree with leaves dancing down toward the ground gracefully, as graceful as I could never be. The background I smudged with my index finger to make slightly blurry so that the only thing that was clear and defined were the lines that traced Jayden.

"Nice drawing," Jay said from behind me, making me jump.

I had gotten carried away. Usually it takes me forever to finish a drawing, and I knew I would come back to this one but that's not the point. The point was that I had been drawing for God knows how long with Jay peering over my shoulder.

I quickly took the pencil away from the page and slammed the book shut.

Without any words, I walked over to the wardrobe and dropped the book into it, sliding the pencil into a seperate zip pocket.

I grabbed my toothbrush, toothpaste and hairbrush from under the basin and put them in my toiletries bag then added that to my duffel bag.

I was done packing so I zipped up the bag and slung it over my shoulder walking back out into my room.

"Are you going?" Jayden asked warily. Usually I just told him what was wrong but right now I didn't know. I didn't even have the slightest inkling to what was wrong so I just didn't say anything.

"Sorry," I apologized, looking at him with sincere eyes. "I think I'm going insane."

A small smile appeared on Jay's face as he took a step towards me, pulling me into his arms again.

I wish we could have stayed like that forever but I had to go see Kenzie.

"Sorry again, but I am leaving. Mackenzie's back and wants me to come over earlier," I explained, still in his arms.

"Are you walking?" He asked.

"Yup."

"Want me to walk you?"

I shrugged and nodded, and we walked out of my room with no further words.

My parents were both sitting at the counter downstairs. They obviously didn't go to work today and they smiled when they saw us descend the stairs.

"Good afternoon sleepy heads," Mum smiled, sipping from her steaming mug.

I had no idea how she drunk tea throughout summer, it was too hot for me.

"Hey," I smiled at them, sitting down at the counter across from them. I felt bad having spent so little time with them over the past week or two and now I was going away for two weeks, even though the parents were taking a week of work in the second week to stay with us.

Jayden sat down silently next to me and leaned his head in his hand, obviously still tired.

We ended up staying another half hour talking to Mum and Dad, but I really had to go to the Peyton's.

"Sorry but I'm going to have to love you and leave you. Kenzie's back and we're going to catch up before we spend time with the boys!" I looked at both my parents, looking tired and for the first time, old.

I observed some gray streaks in my fathers previously dark hair and my mother's face covered with wrinkles when she smiled.

I walked around the counter to hug them both, then walked out the door with Jay ahead of me.

When I looked up at Jay as we turned onto the path he looked as tired as I felt. His hair was still damp from the shower he had taken and he had his thinking face on, which instantly made him look even more exhausted.

It reminded me of the day before in Japanese; tired, distracted and thinking. Which reminded me that I needed to find out what was wrong.

"What's up?" I asked him, my words bringing him out of his daze. His eyes looked down at me as we turned another corner to walk down a side street in between two crumbling old restaurants.

"Remember when we used to run down here as kids?" He suddenly asked, his eyes turning to the dark walls we walked in between. "You used to get so scared, as if the walls were about to collapse onto us, so you yelled at me to run." A smile of remembrace lit Jayden's face and I couldn't tell what was coming next.

"You never listened though," I reminded him and his laugh echoed through the alley.

"No. But you were too scared to go ahead on your own so you would jump on my back and bury your head in my shoulder, not looking until we were safely out of the 'danger of the darkness' as you put it."

Reminiscing the old days always made me smile, but I had a feeling something was wrong. I should have asked but I just couldn't bring myself to do so.

"Jay?" I asked in a small voice, looking up into his watering green eyes. "I'm scared."

A small smile lit his face as he slung me onto his back. I wrapped my legs around his hips and my arms tightly around his neck, burrying my face in his shoulder like when we were younger.

I knew when we were out of the alley, I could feel the sun on my back again but I pretended I didn't. I stayed silently clinging to his back until we reached the Peyton's.

"Here you go," he whispered into my ear, stopping in front of the oh so familiar house.

I slipped down his back and planted my feet on the ground, my duffel bag still swinging on my shoulder.

Jay was still distracted and he actually sort of looked in pain. He was rubbing his forearm as if to relieve tension or something. I had to ask. "Jay, are you okay?"

His eyes snapped up and he smiled, but it wasn't a real one. "I'm fantastic!" He exclaimed, a little too quickly. "Why do you ask?"

"You just don't seem like yourself... And yesterday...." I trailed off, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

"Kay," he said, using the nickname that only he used. It had been a while since it had tumbled from his mouth though. "I am really fine. You need to stop worrying about me."

It was very unlike Jay to lie through his teeth, especially to me. But it seemed that I had to let him tell me in his own time. I couldn't force anything on him.

"I'll see you soon," I told him, instead of saying what I really wanted.

I turned and walked to the door, looking back over my shoulder once but Jayden was already gone.

I turned the knob to the front door and walked in. I immediately heard Kenzie's singing from her bedroom upstairs, so I dropped my bag and ran up the stairs.

"MACKENZIE!" I screamed, bursting into her room and scaring the bejesus out of her.

"OH MY GOD KATIA DON'T DO THAT!!!" Kenzie shouted, holding a hand over her heart, probably feeling it racing.

"Sorry," I told her but then took it back, laughing. "Well, I'm not actually. That was freaking hilarious."

She just huffed, turned the music down by a small black remote that appeared suddenly in her hand and continued packing.

"Anyway, what's up?" She asked as I sat down on her bed, crossing my legs and looking around.

Kenzie's room was always what I had wished mine to be when I was younger, it was my dream room.

Three of the walls were splattered with multicoloured paint which she had done herself, and on the fourth wall there was a zoomed in outline of a bird sitting on the branch of a tree.

I remember when Kenzie came to me asking for me to draw a bird for her. She wouldn't tell me what it was for but I did it anyway. It turns out she wanted a picture for her wall and she knew I would draw something magnificent.

I still didn't think it was the best drawing, considering I had been eight, but to this day I know she loves the drawing and would never regret having a professional painter blow up the drawing and outline it on her wall.

"I'm worried about Jay." The world tumbled out of my mouth without my permission, but I couldn't do anything to stop them.

She immediately stopped throwing things into a duffel bag which matched mine - we had gotten matching ones for Christmas a few years back - and sat on the bed across from me.

"Why? What happened?" She asked, putting her hand comfortingly on my arm.

Without the slightest bit of hesitation I launched into the story of what had happened, starting the previous morning when Jayden was acting strange, including every little detail and thought that crossed my mind.

I didn't hesitate because I trusted Mackenzie with anything. She was the only person apart from Jayden and Caleb that I trusted, but I couldn't tell the boys everything.

When I was finished, Mackenzie took a deep breath, held it then let it all out.

"You realize you have to tell him you were awake," she told me, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder, not even slightly concerned that something could be wrong with Jayden.

"Yeah yeah I know but what about Jayden?? Something's wrong with him, right? I'm not just going insane, am I?" I ranted, too many emotions coursing through my body. I wanted to scream at the same time as I wanted to collapse in a heap and cry.

"I think Jay is fine, but if he's not he will tell you in his own time. You just need to have faith in the universe that everything will be okay." Kenzie pulled me into a quick hug then got up and chucked a few more things into her duffel bag and zipped it closed.

I sighed and then lay on my back, staring up at the leaves painted on the ceiling, swirling around in no particular order.

"You know, I'm so used to the Katia that is so closed up and not emotional, it's strange seeing you all emotional and stuff," Kenzie told me and I immediately sat up to glare, but she backpeddaled before I could say anything. "No no no!! It's a good thing!"

I rolled my eyes but at least I was feeling calmer than I had when I first got here, more relaxed anyway.

"Can I see the drawing you did of Jayden?" Mackenzie asked after a few more minutes of silence.

I frowned. "Why?"

"I'm curious," she shrugged.

I got off the bed and Kenzie followed me downstairs with her bag on her shoulder. She dropped it next to mine while I unzipped it and got out the big black folio that was resting on top.

We walked to the kids room at the back of the house which was basically just a second lounge room for Caleb and Mackenzie. They didn't use it much anymore but it just seemed like a good place to sit.

We both sat on the floor and I opened the book to the page I had been working on earlier, giving it to Kenzie before I had the time to critique it.

"When was this?" She asked as if the image was a photograph. Kenzie knew I only drew things from memory and found it difficult to create images to draw, so I told her.

"Last week sometime I went over to Jay's. We ate dinner by the pool with our feet hanging in the water like that. When we were done he pushed me into the water."

Mackenzie choked out a laugh and I smiled at the memory.

It felt like so long ago that we were floating in the freezing water of the pool, my top completely see through.

"This is really good, Katy," she informed me and I shrugged.

"What's really good?" Caleb's voice sounded from the door to the lounge room and sure enough there he was, his bag from school still on his shoulders.

"This," Kenzie shoved the folio at him before I had time to argue.

"You're right. This is amazing," Caleb nodded his head, brushing his fingers lightly over the drawing.

"Hey! Where were you today?" Caleb directed towards me obviously and I shrugged.

"I slept in."

"Did Jayden by any chance sleep in too?"

My cheeks flushed and the twins laughed at my discomfort.

"Did I do what?" Jayden appeared at the doorway, surprising Mackenzie and myself.

"Sleep in," Caleb repeated and Jayden rewarded him with a punch on the arm. It didn't look like it was a soft punch either.

"Anyway, Trent and Tyler will be here ready to go in ten minutes, So get your bags in the car and get ready," Caleb ordered, pointing us all towards the front door.

Within twenty minutes the car was packed with our bags and we were all seated in our spots.

Tyler was driving with Mackenzie in the front seat beside him. In the middle was Trent and Caleb and in the back beside me was Jayden.

As soon as we left the driveway, Jayden shot a smirk my way and spoke up.

"Are we there yet?"