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[ B L A I R E ' S P O V ]

I lift the hoodie off my body and throw it into the laundry bag, wanting to get rid of that damn thing as fast as possible. It not only serves as a reminder that I'm a thief, but also a reminder of my failure at being a thief.

      How could I not hear the footsteps echoing behind me, signaling the cop's presence? How could I have been so stupid not to be observant enough? I've been on the streets for three months—you would have thought that my survival instincts would kick back in.

This mansion has spoilt me already. I really need to get back in my game.

I will never forget what I had to endure to get here. I will never forget the days of being curled up like a ball on the concrete floor, shivering out in the cold. I will never forget the days of empty stomachs because I had no money to get me anything decent to eat. I will never forget the constant fear of not being able to live another day because the will to live grows weaker everyday.

I'm fortunate because I was able to persevere. The only reason why I didn't die out there was because of my brother.

I love him more than life itself. I made a promise to my parents-a promise that I will protect him and care for him forever.

And I'll make sure I keep that promise.

I take off my earpiece and chuck it into the trash can. When I had been trying to outrun the cop, my hoodie fell off at some point and the rain soaked the thing. Ben's voice telling me keep running soon was drowned out, falling on deaf's ears. I should send him a text, telling him that I made it back home safe. I would avoid his house tomorrow because I certainly do not want to hear him nagging at me for my stunt tonight that almost got me arrested.

But I hate to admit that there's something wildly thrilling about tonight. I don't know, I guess I felt really exhilarated, knowing that I had been so close to getting caught. The chase—oh, the chase was so much fun. My heart had never stammered so fast in my entire life. Adrenaline coursed through my veins and a nice hum vibrated through my core.

In that moment, I never felt more alive.

It is when I'm in the shower that I finally allow myself to relax. My shoulders slump and close my eyes, blowing out deep breaths. I shouldn't feel like this. My heart has finally gone back to it's original pace, but I ache for that feeling again tonight.

What are you thinking, Blaire? You almost got caught! If it weren't for Jax helping you just now, you would be dead. And you can't help Eden if you're dead.

Eden. I miss him so much. At least I get to see him tomorrow. I keep reminding myself that soon, I won't have to put up with visitation limits anymore. I won't have to settle for seeing my younger brother on the weekends. I won't have to constantly look at the clock, anxious about how much time I have with him left until the next time I see him. No more. I won't tolerate it anymore.

I'm going to take him. I'm going to free him. Even if it's the last thing I'll fucking do.

Nothing, not even the cops are going to stop me from getting my brother out.

Minutes past by and I stay in the shower until my fingers become pruned. I slip into a pink singlet and shorts then head to bed.

When I'm curled up in the covers, I grab my phone. Thankfully it's still in good condition-no thanks to the rain. I don't know what I'll do if it's ruined. I can't afford to get another one-not when I need every penny to get Eden away from his adoptive parents.

I decide to call Ben, so I punch his number down. He answers on the first ring.

"Hey," I say.

"Fuck, you're alive." Ben's voice instantly warms me.

"Disappointed?" I snicker.

"Not at all," he says. "I'm actually surprised. I thought you would get caught."

I shake my head. "Well, I almost did. But thankfully, Jax covered for me."

A long pause.

"Who the hell is Jax?" Jealousy cuts through the phone and I silently curse myself for not withholding this information from him. I guess it had slipped my mind. Stupid, stupid, Blaire.

"He's just... this guy. Who lives in the mansion with me," I tell him. "I swear, it's no big deal. He's Baxton's son. The one that's letting me stay here. I couldn't say no."

"Jax? As in Jax Deneris?" Ben says in disbelief. "Shit, Blaire. You're living with a god."

Okay, that was so not the reaction I had been expecting from him.

"What?" My face scrunches up in confusion.

"I actually don't know how to feel about this," Ben says. "I was kind of jealous at first, knowing that you're living with some guy, but... Jax fucking Deneris? You are so damn lucky. I can't believe you."

"I'm not sure I'm following." I hold the phone higher a little.

"He's practically a legend in underground fighting!" Ben's enthusiastic voice pierces my ears and I have to hold the phone away from my ear. "He's amazing. You should have seen the fights, Blaire. He moves with such speed and agility-"

"Yeah, I know all about his... underground fighting shit," I cut him off quickly. "Baxton told me all about it. How the hell do you know about it?"

"I know of a guy who knows of a guy who knows the guy," Ben tells me like it's such an achievement. I can picture him grinning at me proudly, teeth gleaming. "It's actually kind of amazing how the press doesn't know about it. Do they even know he's here? In LA"

"No and you can't tell anyone," I murmur. "If word gets out, it will be hell for both Baxton and Jax. His father has enough to deal with as it is. And Jax doesn't want paparazzi."

"Really?" Ben asks. "That's funny. I thought he would have loved the attention."

"You're talking about him like you actually know him."

"Hey, I'm a major fan of his," Ben gushes and I groan. "I know all about him."

"Like that's not creepy or anything," I mumble.

"You think I can come over?" He says, excitement lacing his voice. "Please, Blaire? I really want to meet him-"

"No! Absolutely not," I shake my head.

"Why not?"

"because A—I'm not going to be around tomorrow and I'm pretty sure if I leave you unsupervised with him, you'll end up humping his leg out of sheer admiration and also B—he's an asshole and I'm afraid you're going to get ideas from him-"

"Oh, damn you and your stupid lists." Ben snorts. "I'll promise I'll behave, Blaire. Just let me come over."

"Not tomorrow," I tell him pleadingly. "Some other time. I promise."

I just need to learn how to handle Jackson first. I don't think I can trust him around Ben, let alone my other friends.

"Fine," he sighs in defeat. "I kind of wished I had a more softer, nicer, fuck buddy than you."

"Hah," I choke out a laugh. "You're out of luck. I guess that means you're stuck with me, Benny-boy."

"I told you never to call me that-"

"Bye, boo," I pop a kiss.

"Wait. Before you hang up on me... are you sure you're alright, though?" He says quickly. "About the whole cop thing-"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I nod. "Ben, stop worrying. I can handle myself very well."

"Lies," he hisses. "All lies."

"Tell Belle I said hi," I ignore his previous comment and say instead. "See you, Ben."

"Goodnight, Blaire."

And then I hang up on him.

I place my phone back on the side table.

My relationship with Ben is complicated. Sometimes, I'd like to think that we could make it as a couple. It's easy talking to him, and he does put up with my bullshit. A little part of me thinks that if I stayed with him a little longer, we might just end up a couple.

But... I don't feel it. I don't feel a connection with him—not in the way I want to. Sure, he's a good lover, but it's not enough.

Maybe I have high standards. Maybe I'm looking for someone—the ideal guy—who doesn't even exist. Call me a hopeless romantic but I do believe in those sappy romance films. I do believe there is love like that.

There's a reason why those love stories exist. It's got to come from somewhere, right?

I want to mentally slap myself. What am I doing? I can't think about this right now. I have a brother to save and a life to fix. There is no time for romance.

Only distractions. Like Ben.

I toss the sheets away and hug myself as I walk towards my door. I am curious as to what is Jax doing right now. I felt bad about what happened just now—me brushing him off like that. But I couldn't help it. The minute I said I needed money, he looked at me in a way that made me want to crawl up into a ball and die. Perhaps it didn't mean anything to him but it did to me.

Once you've lost everything, pity is your number one enemy.

I peer through the door, wondering if he's out there. Sure enough, he is. He's just hanging by the stairs, a bottle of Corona beer in his hand. His back is towards me and I see him take a sip of the beer. He shifts, just slightly, and I notice his back muscles moving through that grey shirt he has on. Damn, if he only had his shirt off... that sight would be pretty damn perfect.

"Come out, my little shadow," he calls out, never even turning his head back. Guess I've been caught.

"How do you do that?" I fold my arms across my chest and walk over to him, bracing my back against the glass panel of the staircase. "I barely even made a sound."

He turns his head to me and smiles, one of his lips tugging upwards faster than the other. "Call it a fighter's instinct."

I nod, then point to the Corona. "Can I have that?"

"Go on. Take a swing."

I grab the beer from his hand and tilt it upwards, allowing the cool liquid pour inside my mouth. When I'm done, I lick my lips dry and I see Jax's eyes immediately fall on them. I cast him a slight smirk and hand the beer back. "Thanks."

"I'm sorry... about just now," he tells me quietly. "About me looking at you with pity. I didn't—I didn't mean to—"

"Nah, it's alright." I shrug it off like it's nothing. "I know you didn't mean to offend me."

"Damn straight," he nods. "The minute I said those words and you looked at me, I've never felt more fucking terrified in my entire life."

A bubbly laugh escapes from me. "Really? I pegged you as a type of guy who actually enjoys hurting people. Physically and emotionally."

He stares at me, his eyes hard and concentrated. He looks away quickly, drinking his Corona again, his arms relaxed against the stairs. My eyes trail to his huge biceps. Shit, for a split second I imagine those huge arms around me, embracing me, cocooning me.

You're delusional, Blaire. Go to sleep, my mind tells me.

"For some fucked up reason, I didn't enjoy hurting you," he says quietly, barely a whisper. I almost didn't hear it.

"Guess you got a little humanity in you after all," I nudge him and his lips curve upwards again.

This is weird. Very weird. Jax and I conversing like normal human beings.

So fucking weird. It's like I've stepped into another universe.

"Blaire," Jax starts off and I immediately know where this is going, "about just now... if you really need money-"

I place a hand on his chest to stop him from saying more. "Don't. I don't want to hear it."

He sighs out of frustration. "I can lend you money. Or I can ask my dad to. You don't have to steal to get it, Blaire."

"I can't," I shake my head. "Your father has already paid the favor he owed to my father by letting me stay here."

"What?" he says. "Blaire, you don't have to keep tabs on favors you owe or that are owed to you. It doesn't work like that."

"It does to me," I press the palms on my hands flat on the handle of the staircase. "I can't let you guys do this. I can't. I have to find my own way to get this money. And please, save me the trouble of telling me that it's wrong to steal and all that bullshit-"

Jax shakes his head. "No, I won't. Because I hate people telling me what to do too. I just figured you'd like an alternative way to solve your problems."

"No thanks," I tell him. "Stealing is all I've ever learnt to do. And it's the easiest and fastest way to get me out of this."

He arches his eyebrows in confusion. I know he wants to know what are the problems I'm faced with but I'm not ready to tell him. Not yet. I can't risk it. We may be having a little moment right now but I can't let that get to me.

The only way I've learnt to survive is to do it alone. And I have a feeling that if Jax gets too close to me, he'll destroy everything I've ever worked for.

"Alright," he lifts his broad shoulders, taking another sip at his beer. "Fine. Just... no more cops. I'm not going to do that again. Next time, I'll leave you to burn."

"How nice of you," I say sarcastically.

We stand together in silence again, the only sound I can hear is my even breaths. It's not an awkward silence surprisingly; I wrap the silence around like a blanket, keeping me safe. My thoughts are too muddled, too complex and it's nice to have just a little moment to sort them through. I think Jax feels the same way.

"You think the cop is going to tell on me?" Jax says after a while. "He knows who I am. He knows I'm Baxton's son."

I catch his gaze and I might have imagined it but I think I see a hint of worry spark his eyes. "Nah. I don't think so. He's a cop. Isn't he entitled to keep his mouth shut?"

"Blaire, I don't think that's how it works," he coughs out.

"Well, I don't think he's going to say anything to the paparazzi," I say with absolute certainty. "Don't worry, Jackson. I think you'll be safe."

I don't think I've ever been more wrong.

☸☸☸☸☸☸

A/N: Sorry! A little transition chapter and a small JAIRE moment. Nothing much! But the next chapter, things get REAL interesting! (;

So how are we feeling about JAIRE right now? It's getting there. Hopefully. Tell me what do you think about them in the comments section below! I'd love to get some feedback!

Also, I've been thinking about opening a Goodreads page for Perfect Addiction so that I can get reviews. Should I do it? Let me know! 

Also, next update: Wednesday!

Love, Claudia.