-Jax-

I watched Nic carefully. He lay beside me, his eyes closed, not knowing I was staring. He had a small smile on his face as his hand caressed my side slowly under the covers. I was smiling too. My body was still tingling all over after what we just did. After we had... sex.

I did not see that coming, but the timing was perfect. Natural. And fuck me, Nic was hot when he hovered over me, his body moving slowly... making me feel so goddamn good... I couldn't get that image out of my head. Not that I wanted to.

He opened his eyes, and his smile grew wider when our eyes met. His hand traveled up on my shoulder, then down my arm to take my hand in his. He brought it to his lips and kissed my scarred skin, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Why are you so good at romancing?" I asked.

He laughed, his handsomeness growing. "I didn't know I'm good at it."

"Good enough for me," I said, pecking his lips. "I guess we should clean up and get dressed before my dads come back home."

"Yeahh, I wouldn't want to try to explain this," he said, grinning in embarrassment at the thought of it.

"Yeah, no thanks," I said, and got out of bed, pulling him with me.

He gave me a curious look when I led him to my bathroom. He stopped by the door.

"Are we...?" he trailed off, peering at the shower, then gave me a careful glance, trying not to take a longer look at my naked body.

"No need to be shy," I told him, nudging his hand. "We don't have anything to hide anymore."

His eyes traveled down my body, then he quickly resumed his eye contact with me. He gave me a mischievous smile.

"But I'm expecting you to behave," I said sternly.

"I'll behave," he promised. "I can't promise I'll behave well, though."

I rolled my eyes but laughed lightly and let go of his hand. "Just get in already."

I stepped under the shower and turned to see him. His eyes quickly darted up to my eyes, giving away the fact that he'd been staring at my ass.

"Coming, coming," he hurried to say, and closed the door behind him before joining me behind the curtain. "I've never actually taken a shower with someone else before."

"That sounds so boring," I told him, turning on the water.

"My life was boring without you in it," he said quietly, touching my face.

I groaned lightly and tossed my head back. "Stop being so romantic..."

"I'm surprised you like romance," he purred with a smile, pressing himself lightly against me.

"I... didn't know that either," I muttered, suddenly feeling a little lightheaded with him so close to me, his entire body on me.

He kissed me slowly without saying a word, his arms surrounding me. I kissed him back, my mind growing numb to everything else but his touch. I rested my hands on his chest while he pulled me even closer. I was surprised that my body wasn't really reacting to him even though we'd just had sex. Being in his arms was so goddamn hot.

After the kiss had continued for a while, he slowly pulled back and smiled at me gently, then rested his forehead against mine. I smiled like an idiot at him, enjoying the calm, content happiness I was filled with.

But seeing my own arms next to his flawless skin took a little out of that good feeling. Nic noticed it. He frowned lightly, then looked at my scarred skin. He pulled his hands away from my back to wrap his fingers gently around my wrists. He moved my hands on his face, then planted small kisses on both of my palms, his thumbs caressing the backs of them.

"You did so great today," he murmured. "Letting my friends see your scars must've been taxing."

"It's whatever," I said with a shrug, completely forgetting myself in the way he watched me.

"Sure," he said, not believing me. "I'm so relieved they didn't turn out to be dicks. Cecilia... Well."

"I adore her, actually," I said, chuckling. "She's great. Your friends are great."

"Great enough to be our friends?" he asked.

"Sure, why not," I said.

"Good," he said, and kissed me again, then turned his attention back to my scars. "Does this bother you? Being naked with me?"

I shook my head slowly. "Not really. I don't mind if you look at me. At my scars. It's... a bit weird, but it's not giving me anxiety or anything."

"Good," he whispered gently, then caressed my cheek. "Because you're very hot."

I snorted lightly. He grinned, then stepped back to take a look at me. He sure took his time looking at me. But I let him. I was fine with letting him.

"Yup. You are very hot," he eventually concluded, stepping back to me. "So very hot..." he added mischievously, his hands finding my ass, and he pulled me tightly against him.

I laughed but was silenced by his lips. I melted into his arms when he kissed me, his tongue seeking entry to my mouth. I was happy to let them in to explore. And I was glad we already fucked since things got pretty handsy between us, and I was sure my parents would return home any minute now.

But I couldn't stop this heated making out under the warm shower. I didn't want to, not with Nic kissing me so thoroughly, his hands claiming my body while he surrounded me completely. This kind of closeness was new to me, and I'd never realized how much I needed it. Not the making out or sex. I did very much enjoy all that, but what I'd craved was being able to be myself with someone, with burn marks and all, not getting anxious when someone saw my scars.

And to think that special someone had feelings for me, too. And was hot as fuck.

Nic's lips were already on my throat, and his hands had gotten greedy. I hated myself for it, but I had to stop him or we'd end up having round two.

"My dads will come home soon," I reminded him.

He let out a heavy sigh, then planted a few more kisses on my shoulder, and let go of me.

"Right, right," he said, flashing a smile at me. "But, like I was saying, you're hot."

I only laughed and grabbed my shampoo.

Once we finished our shower and stepped into my room, the house was still empty, but by the time we were fully dressed and I was drying my hair, I heard Pop's car pulling up.

"Perfect timing," I told Nic, who grinned at me.

I continued drying my hair until I heard the front door being opened. I stepped out of my room to say hi to my dads with Nic following me at a slower pace.

"Welcome home. Did you have fun?" I asked.

"Fun, ehh..." Dad muttered while Pop shrugged.

"Wow, first time on a date in a while and it sucked that bad, huh?" I asked sympathetically.

"Oh, uh... It wasn't a date," Dad said slowly.

"Then what was it?"

They glanced at each other and sighed in unison before turning their attention back to us.

"It was kind of an anti-celebration dinner," Pop said while he continued taking his jacket and shoes off.

"We kind of wanted to tell you later, not like this, but... The house is getting listed for sale on Monday," Dad explained quietly. "We went out to... I don't know, honor that?"

I let out a breath, looking down. "Fuck's sake..." I whispered, wrapping my arms around my stomach. I felt Nic's hand on my back, caressing me soothingly.

"Hey, it's not a bad thing" Dad said gently and made his way to us. He took my hands in his and waited until I looked up at him. "It's not. Come – we brought ice cream. Let's sit down and talk."

Part of me wanted to hide in my room, but at the same time, I needed comfort, and I needed to know more, so I nodded. Besides, ice cream felt like a great idea.

A short moment later, we all sat down in our living room with big bowls of ice cream in our hands. I tried to curl up against Nic's side to seek comfort under his arm, but then realized he was not able to hold his bowl and use his spoon at the same time. When I tried to move out of his way, he took my bowl and dumped his ice cream in it, then gave it back to me.

I chuckled lightly as I held the bowl for him.

"You're so smart," I muttered.

"Got a smile out of you," he said softly, and hugged me gently.

I snorted in amusement, but quickly fell back into sadness. I kept my eyes on the bowl, not quite ready to see the living room, my home. A home I soon didn't have.

I guess none of us wanted to be the one to break the silence. Maybe we all needed some time to figure out how to feel about the news. My feelings were all over the place, and I wasn't even sure why. Selling the house was a solution to a lot of our problems, especially the biggest ones, but...

"So... Monday, huh?" I finally muttered.

"Yeah..."

"Sounds like we need to start packing soon," I continued.

"Jax, this isn't a bad thing, I promise," Dad said again. "It's the smartest thing to do right now. Our lives will get so much easier. Living in this debt is so stressful."

I nodded slowly. "I know, I know..."

"How much are you asking?" Nic said.

"No. You stay out of this," I told him, shaking my spoon at him.

He laughed and kissed my cheek. "I'm just curious, that's all."

"Don't tell him," I told my parents, who were smirking as well.

"It'll be enough to pay every single bill and debt we have and we'll still have enough to buy a new, smaller house," Pop said. "We love this house, of course we do, but this constant struggle isn't worth it."

"It's kind of a relief, actually," Dad agreed. "We'd get to go on vacations again."

"And eat out in those fancy restaurants. Nic, you can probably recommend a few good ones," Pop said.

"I do, but I have better recommendations for pizza and Chinese places, so..." Nic said.

"That actually sounds better," Pop said.

I tried to share their enthusiasm. I really did. I of course wanted to see my dads happy and carefree. With a quiet sigh, I finally looked at our living room. The rest fell silent and gave me the time I needed while focusing on their desserts.

"I guess... I've only had two homes in my life," I finally said, then looked back down. "This has been my safe place ever since I lost the first one."

"We know, honey," Dad said. "It's going to be hard for us all. Your father and I have been living here for... twenty years?"

"I remember when I bought this place," Pops said quietly, looking around. "It was one special shithole. Couldn't afford a better one even back then."

"But you fixed it up," Dad said with a smile. "You turned it into our home."

"With your help, don't forget," Pop said tenderly. "And now it's worth three times more..."

I ate my ice cream in silence while I listened to them talking about the renovations. I wanted to tell them these happy memories weren't making me feel any better. I was a big reason why they needed to sell this place. Without me and my medical bills... Without them having to provide for me...

Nic hugged me gently and kissed my cheek, his cold lips sending shivers down my body. I looked up at him, and he smiled at me with a warm look in his eyes. Slowly, he brushed my hair out of my face, and kissed my cheek again.

"So, about that price–" he suddenly turned to ask my parents.

"No!" I said sternly and laughed. "You're not buying our house!"

"I'm not going to," he said, chuckling, his voice way too innocent to be real.

I shook my head at him and continued eating my ice cream.

"You need to save your money for when you want to buy your own house, kiddo," Pop told him. "Because, you know, Jax actually has an expensive taste, so you need to–"

"Pop!" I interrupted him, but he only laughed at me. So did Nic.

"An expensive taste, huh...?" he asked me teasingly.

"Stop. All of you," I said, but I had to admit, my mood was coming up a little.

"There is that, too," Dad said. "You'll be flying out of the nest soon. This house will be a bit too big for the two of us after that."

I sighed. I hated it when they were making good points.

"Soon, you'll be making your own home," Dad continued gently. "Maybe with someone special."

I looked up at Nic, who was still smiling at me and caressing my arm lightly. I leaned against his side and rested my head on his shoulder.

"I guess," I said, and Nic hugged me again.

"In the end, it's just a house," Pop said. "Our family is much more important than that. All we are leaving behind is a bunch of walls and a roof. The rest of it comes with us."

"It could be exciting too, you know," Dad continued. "Finding a new house and turning it into our home."

"Yeah, you're right," I said.

"And we can easily afford your education and get you your own car and all those expensive makeups you've always wanted," Pop said.

I stayed silent for a moment for a dramatic effect, then said, "I'm listening."

They laughed at my words.

"Told you, Nic. Expensive," Pop said with a smirk.

"I'm glad I'm rich," Nic joked with a grin. "Though I'm so out of my dad's will, so..."

"I don't care about the money," I told him.

"I know," he said, kissing me. "And I got two concussions to prove that."

"What?" both Dad and Pop asked at the same time.

"Ignore him," I said, glaring at Nic. Then I sighed and looked at my parents again. "It's... It's fine. I'm fine, or at least I will be. I'm just... going to miss this place. But I know I'll be fine."

"Good," Pop said, and came to give me a hug. "We all will be fine. I promise. We'll just take it easy for now and figure out what to do a bit later."

"Okay," I muttered, hugging him tightly.

I was feeling better. Sad, but better. I'd get used to the idea, and who knew, maybe the new place would be just as great, or better.

When Pop returned to his seat, Nic put his arm back around my shoulder, pulling me close to him. I didn't need to look at him to know he was still smiling at me. I felt his lips in my hair and his hand slowly caressing my arm.

Yeah... I had the feeling I'd be just fine, especially since I now had Nic by my side.