I'll be trying a new type of chapter format! I think it would very fitting for this particular chapter.

There will be two songs attached to this chapter. When you come up to it and can play the song, start playing it and read the chapter along with the lyrics. You can also listen to the song first and familiarize yourself with the lyrics. The lyrics are important. You might have a fast reading speed and you will reach the next song part before the previous one finishes. At that, you can either wait for the song to finish or just stop it and move to the next one. I got the idea from Webtoons when they have songs available to be played as you read.

I hope you have fun!

Recap:

Dominic finally got his turn in the schedule Jordan made for Naomi's time, but only to figure out if he is Nicotine, leader of the Lost Boys, a gang that is stirring up trouble in the city. They went to a Korean BBQ Restaurant and bumped into Jae Seong, gang leader of the Blades Syndicates. Dominic and Naomi then broke into their old elementary school to talk about the past. Afterward, Naomi went back to the base to recollect herself only to find out that she wasn't alone.

On the skin of the Four Musketeers are two marks of ink to symbolize their solidarity amongst each other. The first is the fleur-de-lis, a brand once for criminals and now for royalty. The second is the letter M with a number at its upper corner: one for the captain on his index finger for the victories he led, two for the diplomat on his pinky for the promises he made, three for the strength on his middle finger for the cruelty he faced, and four for the smarts on her ring finger for the hope she manages to hold.

-

"I've been expecting you."

I froze at the sentence that hung in the air. Slowly turning towards the direction of the sound, I realized too late who it was.

There was a stifled snort until it turned into laughter. In their fit of laughter, a thud followed after as they fell off the couch.

"Y-You should've seen your face!" Jordan managed out through his cackling.

What is Jordan doing here? The guys told me that they all were busy to hang out today during my outing with Dominic- Bennett had to go to the main house again and Declan was going to babysit his sister. Did Jordan take advantage of the fact that no one was going to be in the base?

I went up to him, ignoring how hilarious he found this. "Are you ok?"

He stopped laughing and instead put the back of his hand against his forehead and wailed out, "Painnn. All I feel is pain. Oh, woe is me. Spain, but the 's' is silent."

I rolled my eyes. "Nice try, Jordan. You were laughing just a second ago."

Jordan sighed. "And here I was going to get some comfort points."

Holding my hand out to him, I said, "Here let me-"

Jordan took my hand and pulled himself up. But once he stood back on his own two feet, he slumped over me, having his arms draped over my shoulders and his chin resting against my right shoulder. My legs nearly buckled in his weight as I was forced to hold him up.

"Naomi," Jordan whined out like a child. "I'm bored. Amuse me."

I would like to say I know Jordan, so I think I can say that he's acting more Jordany than usual. The room was dark but moonlight managed to slip through the windows, illuminating the room. That was when I saw the array of bottles on the coffee table that weren't exactly coffee. There were different packs and a couple of larger bottles. With a hesitant sniff, I knew what was going on.

"Are you drunk?" I asked in disbelief.

"Nope," Jordan said, popping the p.

"Then what are you?"

"Not drunk," Jordan replied before snickering to himself. "Sorry, that's probably trademarked," he said in sing-song.

"It's dangerous for you to drink alone," I told him. "You need someone to look after you. Let's have you sit down and-"

"Nooo," he whined out again before hugging me tightly. "I don't wanna be alone. I don't wanna sit alone." He let out a sigh as he nuzzled against my neck. "You're warm and fluffy. Be my pillow."

"I'll take it as a compliment," I told him. "And you're not alone. I'm here. I'll sit with you. Can you sit down on the couch for me?"

There was a pause. "Ok..." He mumbled reluctantly.

Jordan let go of me and walked backward before plopping back onto the couch. I exhaled then sat down next to him.

"Drink with me," he declared, holding a bottle of beer in the air. "Drink to my honor."

"You're not dead nor have you achieved anything notable to drink to."

"Rude," he huffed.

"Smart," I corrected.

"I'm not going to drink with you, Jordan," I told him flatly. "I don't exactly have a good history with alcohol."

"Then you should replace it with a good history, memory, yeah memory," Jordan told me with a bright smile.

"How much did you drink?" I asked, looking over at the table to count how many empty bottles there were.

"Shh, shh, shh," Jordan said, his hand moving my cheek to look at him then covering my eyes with his hand. "Don't count. The only time you count is when you're doing a drinking game. Or money. Mostly money."

I removed his hand and looked at him. "Jordan, let's just sober you up."

"No, I don't wanna be sober," Jordan pleaded. "Sober Jordan is a sad Jordan. Just drink like one bottle. This one. It's like a soda. You like sweet things. Like me."

Jordan grabbed one bottle then held the top against the table before hitting it with his hand for the cap to come off. He handed me the bottle and I took it. The cover read Smirnoff Ice with a 5% alcohol content.

I hesitated then looked back at him and saw him giving me puppy dog eyes, a mistake on my part. I took a small sip and my eyes widened in surprise. It was fizzy like soda and tasted like lemonade with a stronger kick.

"Chug, chug, chug..." Jordan began.

"No, there will be no chugging," I told him, ignoring him booing me. "I'll drink one bottle and then that'll be it."

Hopefully, if I play along with him, he'll listen to me and sober up so then we can talk about why he's drinking by himself.

Or that was the plan.

"It should be illegal how sweet this is," I told him between a fit of giggles before taking another swig. "It's like juice. You can't tell it's alcohol. I already drank three bottles."

"I told you so," Jordan said in sing-song.

"It's like... adult lemonade. That's what they should call it- adult lemonade." My eyes widened and I stood up from the couch and raised the bottle over my head like I was sacrificing it to the alcohol god. Dionysus? "I should call the company, pitch the idea, then I'll be rich."

"Ooh like Bennett rich?" Jordan asked excitedly. "I wanna be Bennett rich too. I gave you that drink. I should get like... 100% of the money."

"No, that's unfair. It was my idea," I argued back, sitting back on the couch. "You can have like... 99%. Wait no..."

Jordan snorted to himself. "You'd still probably be Bennett rich even if you get 1%. Well, he's the top 1% anyway."

"Ha, true," I said nonchalantly. "Eat the rich."

"Eh, he'd probably taste like chocolate," Jordan said, waving it off.

"Milk or dark chocolate?"

Jordan nodded. "Yes."

"Imma play some music on my phone," Jordan said as he looked at his screen. "Then... shuffle."

A random song played on his phone and the volume suddenly increased most likely from him adjusting the volume. He then tossed the phone on the table for us to enjoy the music filling the room.

"I know. My songs are amazing-"

"It's a nice song, but you only played one song."

"Doesn't matter, my music taste is magnificent. You can now compliment me."

"I'm not gonna do that."

"Hit me with your praise."

I suddenly karate chopped his stomach.

"Ugh," Jordan groaned out, clutching his stomach. "I said with your praise."

"Oh, right, sorry," I said before chopping his stomach once more. "You're not modest."

"I'll take it," Jordan croaked out.

The two of us started playing a handclapping game and the first one who messes up will have to take a shot of random alcohol. We only started our first round when Jordan suddenly raised his hands over his head.

"I have an idea!"

"You messed up the game! Take a shot!"

Jordan groaned. "Fine." He poured some vodka in a shot glass then gulped it. "Ugh", he managed out, shaking off a shudder from the alcohol. "This fake, adult water tastes gross."

"So what was your idea?" I asked.

"Boop," he said when he tapped the tip of my nose.

"Boop," I said back when I tapped the tip of his nose.

"I have an idea and it's one word," Jordan declared. "Rolling chair race."

I blinked then counted slowly off my fingers. "That's two words." I stopped then counted again. "Wait no, four words. Roll, ing, chair, race."

"Ok, fine, four words," Jordan said in exasperation. "Rolling chair race."

Jordan and I moved some furniture around to give enough space for the race. We grabbed two swivel chairs that appeared in the last book as our noble steeds. We each were in position. Jordan had one leg on the chair and the other as the engine or motor or whatever to push the chair to victory. I, on the other hand, or maybe... I, on the other chair, am sitting regularly on the chair but have my legs ready to be the engine/motor to push my chair to victory.

"On the count of three," Jordan began.

"No," I whined out. "On the count of four. Because there's four of us. We're the four musketeers."

"But there's two of us."

"Wait, you're right," I mumbled. "Ok, on the count of two then."

Jordan nodded. "Alrighty, on the count of two. One... Two!"

It was a heart-racing race. No one knew who was going to win. The odds were stacked against us, or maybe just one of us. But there only could be one winner. However, we still put our heart and soul into the race, having given up everything to be there. It wasn't a mere race. It was life.

"Winner!" Jordan declared, jumping off his chair and cheering at the crowd. "You lost. I won. I am victorious! Great show. We are the champions- Wait, no. I am the champion, my friend!" He sang out.

"Booo!" I called out. "You suck! No one likes a sore loser!"

"You're the sore loser," Jordan retorted back.

I paused then called out, "Booo! You suck! No one likes a sore winner!"

Before Jordan could argue back, the playlist coming from Jordan's phone had switched to a different song.

https://youtu.be/Sd345a2eAfU

"Fred Astaire" - Jukebox The Ghost

"I love this song!" Jordan exclaimed.

Jordan grabbed my hands and pulled me up from my seat. As the music played, he moved my hands with his so we started swaying to the upbeat music, our energy increasing along with the song.

Jordan then began to sing out to me with a grin, "It seems like I can do no wrong- Through your eyes!"

He dramatically put his hand on his chest and looked away before singing, "Sing the wrong lines to my own song- You don't mind!"

Then he suddenly lifted my arm and twirled me around as he sang out, "Make it up as we go... All the words we don't know..."

Jordan let go of my hand then grabbed an empty bottle off the table. He jumped onto the couch and sang to the bottle like it was a mic.

He pointed at me. "Even when I'm a drunken mess- You don't care!" He sang out with a brilliant off-key passion.

Then he pointed up into the air. "Still like me better than the rest- I swear!"

Jumping off of the couch, Jordan grabbed one of my hands then serenaded me with the bottle-mic, "I don't understand it... How you like me when I'm dancing-"

Suddenly, he threw the bottle behind him. "Hey!"

Jordan took my hand and pulled me to the large space of the living room. With a hand on my waist, we began to dance to the energetic music.

Those eyes, damn, those eyes- They get me every time!

We clumsily danced together, moving all around the space as if we owned it. Looking at each other, we shared our laughter as the song played.

Those eyes, in those eyes- I can do no crime!

Letting go of each other, we now danced on our own, having the music take us. It wasn't possible to separate our laughter from the lyrics.

When I dance like I don't care- You call me Fred Astaire!

As the chorus repeated, Jordan and I were now singing and dancing together.

"Those eyes, damn, those eyes!" We sang through our laughter. "They get me every time!"

"Those eyes, in those eyes- I can do no crime!" Our dancing was most certainly a crime.

Jordan twirled me again as we bellowed out, "When I dance like I don't care- You call me Fred Astaire!"

At the instrumental break, the two of us danced like we didn't care, danced like no one was watching. My heart was doing backflips, my head was dizzy, my face hurt from laughing so hard, and yet I still danced with him. It helped that Jordan didn't care either as he danced with no grace but with fervor and fun. We were a mess, an absolute mess.

"All my idiosyncrasies- You like 'em," he sang out with a wink to me.

Jordan looked at me with both his face and voice marked by sincerity, "Annoyed at all the little things... I know I can be frustrating..."

Then he suddenly grinned at me and his eyes lit up the room as he sang, "But you still like me when I'm dancing- Hey!"

As the chorus continued to play, we kept on dancing. I didn't know who else I could relax and have fun like this. I didn't know I was going to spend my night dancing and laughing like this.

We were dancing closely when Jordan held my waist then lifted me up, making me squeal at the action. He brought me back to him and we crashed into a mess of arms. My arms wrapped around his shoulders for dear life and he hugged me back at my waist. Then I realized that I was still falling.

We burst out laughing after having fallen onto the floor. I managed to roll off of his and patted his shoulder to check if he was alright. Jordan stood back up with little to no grace in his drunken state. The song continued to play as if nothing had happened.

When I lose myself.

He held out his hand to me to help me up.

There's no one else.

I clasped his hand with mine, and he pulled me back on my feet.

Who else sees through me quite like you?

Then Jordan pulled me into a hug and I laughed and hugged him back. We swayed as the energetic music dipped to a slow beat.

Those eyes, damn, those eyes- They get me every time...

Those eyes, in those eyes- I can do no crime...

When I dance like I don't care...

At the rise of the energetic music, Jordan grabbed my hand and twirled me once more.

You call me Fred Astaire!

We danced until the song ended then collapsed back into the couch.

"I didn't know I was going to get my daily exercise by dancing," Jordan said with a grin.

"I'm just glad I'm not the only one dancing. At least then you wouldn't laugh at my dance skills when you've got your own to worry about."

"Hey, I'm a great dancer," Jordan defended. "And you're great at dancing too."

"Really?" I asked with a smile.

"Yeah, but only if I close my eyes, then your dancing is-"

I smacked his chest before we burst out laughing at that.

"Now I'm tired," Jordan complained before resting his head on my shoulder. "You're the perfect height as my headrest. Promise me you'll never get taller."

"Oh, shut up."

I slumped in my seat, decreasing my height.

"Nooo," Jordan whined as his head resting on my shoulder lowered. "My optimal rest position..."

Jordan shifted his body then hung his arms over my shoulders and nuzzled his cheek against mine. "You're like a cuddly teddy bear," he whined out. "No one should know of your secret weapon. Don't abuse your power. Responsibility has great power. Wait, no..."

"You're very cuddly when you're drunk," I told him. "I just hope you've never been this drunk with the others."

Jordan let out a laugh. "I remember that night. I blacked out then woke up smelling like puke and had bruises on my face."

"What?" I asked.

Jordan suddenly shifted his head off my shoulder and had it land on my lap instead. I ruffled his dirty-blonde hair, the curls running through my fingers. I noticed he closed his eyes as I twirled his hair. Then I got annoyed by the fact he was looking so peaceful. I tapped the side of his head with my hand, then lightly smacked his forehead.

"Your head's heavy," I complained. "You're going to flatten my lap. I can already feel the blood circulation on my legs being cut off. Nooo-"

"It's only because of all of the knowledge I carry," he retorted back.

"Just because you have some knowledge doesn't mean it's useful. It's probably filled with useless trivia."

"It's not useless trivia," Jordan defended. "Did you know that wombats poop out cubes?"

"Ew, you said poop," I said with a giggle.

"You did too!" Jordan said with a laugh. "Okay, okay, another one. A jiffy is one-trillionth of a second. I'll be back in a jiffy."

"Still useless," I pointed out.

"The dots on top of the letter 'j' and 'i' have a name- tittle."

"Tittle," I repeated then burst out laughing. I paused once more, then said in a serious tone, "Tittle." Now the two of us are laughing.

"Here, this one," Jordan told me. "Dr. Seuss invented the word 'nerd'."

I gasped. "The person who made my childhood also ruined it." I then burst out laughing.

Jordan turned his head that was still resting on my lap and looked up at me. He then lifted his hand and lightly tapped the bridge of glasses.

"Here's another useless fact," Jordan said quietly. "You still look like shades of gray to me."

I paused at what he said then I tapped his nose. "That isn't useless. It is a fact though."

He smiled at that. "Alright, then here's a useless fact. I wish I wasn't colorblind."

My smile faded at that. "Jordan..."

"If I wasn't colorblind, I'd paint you in color in a heartbeat," Jordan told me, his green eyes glinting at his words.

"I'd be able to know what color your eyes are," he said, tapping my glasses once more.

"Or the color of your hair," he continued, twirling a strand around his finger.

"And the color of your skin," he told me, his fingers brushing my cheek.

"But most importantly," he whispered, "what shade of pink to use when you blush."

His words hung in the air and I realized I was holding my breath not knowing how to respond.

"I... I think I'm feeling flustered," he told me softly, holding a wry smile.

Jordan's hand was still outstretched in front of me, the spaces between his fingers not allowing me to see his face. He held it up but didn't move it, as if it was hesitant on what to do. Slowly, he lowered his hand until the back of his hand covered his eyes.

"Naomi," he said quietly. "I wish that in another life, another universe, we were taken more seriously from the beginning. Then things would have been different."

"What are you talking about, Jordan?"

He didn't answer me. Instead, Jordan suddenly sat up on the couch then held up his index finger into the air.

https://youtu.be/h8LS2PnAeAU

"Bad Ideas" - Tessa Violet

"This is a good song," Jordan told me. "It's been a while since I listened to it, but I think I at least remember the first line."

Standing up from the couch, he held his hand out to me and I gave it to him. He pulled me up with both of his hands and walked me to the empty space of the room.

Rather than singing the song, Jordan mouthed the first line with a small smile.

I hope that you don't think I'm rude.

Both of us smiled, holding back a snicker from the lyric before the next line played.

But I wanna make out with you.

The two of us stopped moving at the line, the smiles dropping from our lips. We both looked away in embarrassment, and the song continued.

And I'm a little awkward, sure...

We stumbled into each other with perfect timing. I looked at him then averted my eyes away.

But I could touch my face to yours, oh.

Jordan lifted his hand to tuck some strands of my hair behind my ear. We locked eyes but simultaneously broke it off when we looked away from each other.

And no one ever called me smooth.

As the next line played, Jordan moved his hands to interlock our fingers together. I glanced back at him and saw he was looking down at our hands.

But I just wanna see the grooves between your hands, your teeth, oh.

Tell me- Do you think about me?

We began to sway to the music. I rested the side of my head against his chest, hearing his heartbeat beat rapidly- not syncing to the music but my own heartbeat. Jordan rested his cheek against the side of my head. Neither of us spoke as the song continued.

I just wanna kiss you.

And even if I miss you.

At least I'll know what it's like to have held your hand, oh! No...

"Hey," Jordan mumbled out at the same time as the song.

Looking up, our eyes met. The song heightened the intensity of the atmosphere between us. Each line, each lyric, each word made me more conscious of what was happening.

Bad ideas.

I glanced away.

I know where they lead.

Jordan lifted his hand up to me.

But I got too many to sleep. And I can't get enough, no.

He gently made me look at him again.

I wanna kiss you standing up.

My eyes slightly widened at the line, the weight of the words hitting me. My head produced a thought that echoed with the next line:

Oh-oh, no!

I felt Jordan's hand over mine tightened at the lyrics.

And if tomorrow makes me low...

Well, it'd be worth it just to know 'cause I can't get enough, no.

"I wanna kiss you standing up..." Jordan mumbled out once more with the lyrics.

The line made the song fade into the background. He was leaning down to me, his eyes slightly closing with every inch. It was as if closing his eyes will release him from the responsibility and leave gravity to blame. When my eyes began to flutter shut, I knew I was just as willing to blame the gravity, the atmosphere, everything.

Suddenly, Jordan stifled a small cough. I opened my eyes and we shared the same startled look. He backed away from me, his hand covering his mouth.

"I think... I think I'm-" He coughed out again, his eyes widening in horror.

Jordan pushed past me and scrambled away. Before I could react to what just happened, I heard it. The song was drowned out with the sound of puking.

"There, there," I told Jordan, rubbing his back as his body shuddered out another one.

Jordan was kneeling in front of the toilet, his hands gripping against the sides. He looked like he was praying to the toilet god, or maybe still the alcohol god, Dionysus. I was sitting cross-legged beside him, not being able to give him anything but support as he emptied out his stomach. I hummed out the same song from before to ignore the sounds.

Jordan sniffled and let out a small cough. "I'm... I'm never going to drink ever-" He didn't get to finish his sentence.

"That's what they all say," I told him. I used my sleeve to lift Jordan's bangs off his forehead, damp from sweat. "Are you done now?"

"Yeah, I think I'm all emptied-" Jordan stopped and heaved out another set.

With a small groan, Jordan managed out, "Ok, now I am."

I pressed the handle and had the toilet flush the trouble away.

There was a small chuckle. "I think there are better ways to sober up. Thanks," Jordan said when I put his arm around my shoulder and helped him up.

Leaning against the sink, Jordan scrubbed a hand down his face. "Let me just... clean myself up and rethink my life choices."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Alright. I'll get you some water."

Jordan came back to the room just as I had finished organizing the bottles on the coffee table, setting aside the empty bottles from the full ones and creating a small mountain of bottle caps. He thanked me when I handed him a glass of water and we both sat back down on the couch.

"You feeling better?" I asked him.

"Much better," he affirmed. "I'm sorry for making you drink with me."

"You didn't make me do anything. You pitched the idea and I took it. And you were right, I now have a much better memory of alcohol: watching you puke your guts out."

Jordan winced. "Thanks for reminding me."

I leaned back and rested my head against the back of the couch. Jordan followed suit then let out a heavy sigh.

"So are you going to tell me why I found you were drinking by yourself or should I ask first?"

He scoffed and held a wry smile.

"I was kidding," I told him. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I don't like the idea of you turning towards alcohol because of it."

I turned my head to look at him. "You can always talk to us, not to the bottom of the bottle. I mean, we can at least talk back."

"I can assure you that this is the first time I did this. Maybe not the last-"

"Jordan..."

"Kidding, kidding," he told me. "But yeah, I'll tell you. It's the least I can do."

Jordan looked down at the glass of water that was slightly tilted, slowly turning it and watching the water follow along the side of the cup.

"You know that my dad came back, right?" Jordan asked, his eyebrows furrowed together from the line. "Well, he and my mom have been hanging out more lately, and... they went on a date tonight."

He scoffed and shook his head to himself. "I know. It's stupid. This isn't the first time my mom has dated anyone and they don't last that long, maybe a couple of months at most. But it's different... definitely different."

After another sip of water, Jordan set the glass down on the table. "I just didn't want to be in the apartment in case they came back together. I didn't want to see them together then decided it was better if I just left and didn't see them at all."

Jordan turned to look at me, holding another wry smile. "And so I decided to come here and see how much I can drink before I puke. Took a case of beer, and a couple of random shots of vodka and whiskey to do it."

I frowned. "I heard that you're not supposed to mix drinks. You shouldn't drink something with lower alcohol content first because your body gets used to being drunk. Then when you drink heavier stuff your body still thinks you're drinking the same rate and you start drinking faster when you shouldn't be."

"Oh..." Jordan said quietly. "That explains a lot."

I lifted my hand up and rubbed Jordan's shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry that you're facing this and that you decided to turn to alcohol because of it. But I'm here to either listen or talk to, whatever you want."

He closed his eyes for a moment, let out a sigh then opened them. "I don't plan on doing anything like sabotaging their dates or something. I mean, the idea has crossed my mind..."

"Jordan..."

"But I won't do that, probably because I'm tired of it. My mom suffered just as much as me, probably even more, and it's her life. If that's her decision, I'll have to respect that."

"You can always talk to her about it though. She cares enough about you to still hear your thoughts about it."

"I guess," Jordan said with a slight shrug. "You're right. This is more effective than drowning my sorrows with alcohol."

I exhaled. "I don't want you to become an alcoholic."

"I won't become an alcoholic," Jordan said in exasperation then smiled when he saw me frown. "I'm serious. I promise I won't."

I narrowed my eyes at him, displaying my reluctance to believe him.

Jordan held up his left pinky to me.

"I promise," he said again.

"You'd better," I told him, linking my pinky with his to officiate the promise.

I was about to let go of his pinky, but he pulled against it so I wouldn't let go. He blinked, realizing what he was doing, then relaxed and took back his hand. Jordan stared at his hand then removed the band-aid covering his left pinky to reveal his tattoo of M to the second power. Following suit, I took off the ring I wore around my right ring finger to reveal my tattoo of M to the fourth power.

"It seemed like it was years ago since this happened," I said quietly, looking at my hand.

"More like chapters ago if you're feeling technical," Jordan pointed out.

Still staring at his hand, Jordan said, "I'm a lot of things. Handsome. Charming."

"Modest," I added.

"Selfish," he finished.

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You're definitely a lot of things, Jordan, but you're not selfish."

"I drag a lot of people down with me," Jordan told me. "First my parents with the accident that led to the medical debt and their separation."

"You can't blame yourself for that. You were just a kid," I interjected.

"Then those two when we first met," he said with a scoff. "Well, I should cut myself some slack. We all dragged each other down."

Jordan looked at me. "And finally, you, when I dragged you to Starbucks with a contract and a pen."

He smiled. "I'm living in my own world, Lorraine. I'm acting like the main character when I'm just a side one."

"You can be both," I argued. "And that doesn't make you selfish. We all have the right to be selfish. Life's too short to not be."

"Yeah, until it brings people down," Jordan said and I frowned at it.

His thumb rubbed against his tattoo as if it was painted onto his skin with a marker and he was trying to erase it.

"I made a promise to someone," Jordan told me. "But the only reason I made that promise was because I broke one before."

"What were the promises?" I asked quietly.

"I broke my promise to save someone," Jordan said solemnly. "So I made a promise to save another."

Jordan put his face in his hands and chuckled bitterly. "I know. Selfish. Arrogant. Weak. A life for a life." He looked up at me, the distraught clear on his face. "Your life."

"My life..." I repeated quietly.

He cursed under his breath. "I think I'm still drunk. Why else would I even be bringing up?" He let out a heavy sigh. "That promise. It was to make up for the last one, but you can't clean the blood off your hands with more blood."

"You're exaggerating, Jordan," I accused him.

"Maybe I am," Jordan mused with a smile. "Anything from a drunk person can be dramatic."

The smile vanished. "And honest."

"Don't worry, no one's going to die," he assured me with a light chuckle. "It wasn't anything related to the gang. Well, not directly, anyway." Jordan looked at me. "It was just a promise that ended up being heavier than we expected."

"Well, you are arrogant," I told him.

Jordan looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

I smiled at him. "You promised to save someone? How noble. Even so, you're arrogant for thinking that in your efforts to save me, you're the one who made my life a mess. I was perfectly capable of ruining my life on my own before I was unfortunate enough to have met you."

He smiled back at me. "You have such a way with words, Naomi. You're comforting me and insulting me at the same time."

My smile turned into a grin. "You may have been insane enough to invite me for a cup of coffee to sign a copied and pasted contract, but I was the one who signed it."

Jordan shook his head at my words, smiling to himself.

"Jordan, you didn't save me, so you never fulfilled your promise."

His eyebrows furrowed together.

"But there is someone you can still save."

He looked up at me and I tapped his chest.

"Yourself."

Jordan smiled at me. "Who's being the arrogant one now?"

"Well, if ever you need saving, I'm always here," I offered nonchalantly. "Let's break gender roles. I'll be your female knight in shining armor."

"Are you saying my life-long dream will come true?" Jordan asked excitedly. "I've always wanted to be carried bridal-style."

I held my hand up to stop him. "Hold your horses, Wallace. I never said I'd do that, much less be physically capable of doing that."

"Not with that attitude!" Jordan declared. "When there's a will, there's a-"

"-no way," I finished.

"Let's end the night with a movie," Jordan offered. "Then I'll drop you home."

"I'll take it," I said. "We should have some snacks in the pantry."

With a random assortment of chips, candy, and juice boxes, we set up a movie on the TV. We decided to watch a movie with action and adventure, humor and music, where true love is awarded for those who look not at outer beauty, but inner beauty.

Yeah, you guessed it.

Shrek.

-

Someone cleared their throat.

Someone cleared their throat again.

I slowly opened my eyes to be met with a blinding light.

"Am... Am I dead?" I asked softly.

"No. What? Of course not."

I shifted my body then looked down to see a fluffy blanket draped over me and one of the couch pillows under my head. I rubbed one of my eyes, thankful that I didn't sleep with my glasses on, or else I would have woken up with marks on my face, or worse, them being broken. My eyes adjusted to the light and as I sat up, I slowly looked around me.

Looking back up, I covered my mouth as I yawned. "Hi, Bennett," I said in sing-song with my bedridden voice.

Bennett slightly tilted his head to the side as he looked at me. "Hi, Naomi. Are you alright?"

I slowly nodded before suddenly wincing. My hands clutched the sides of my head and I left out a groan. "My head hurts," I whined.

"It's probably a hangover. We'll get you some aspirin."

I pulled the blanket closer to me, preferring its warmth over the cold air of the room. "Okay," I said in sing-song once more, resting my head against the back of the couch.

"Hi, Declan," I said softly, ignoring how mad he looked with his narrowed eyes and his arms folded across his chest. "It's not good to start your morning being angry. You'll get wrinkles faster."

"Well, it's not good to start your morning hungover either," Declan replied. "And it's the afternoon."

"That... isn't good," I concluded.

"It isn't."

I then realized I had the whole couch to myself.

"Jordan?" I asked.

"He's here," Bennett told me.

Looking at my left, I saw Jordan's body sprawled across the coffee table, surrounded by empty and non-empty bottles of alcohol. He was hugging one particular bottle of what I can assume is vodka like a teddy bear. It wasn't exactly a good look.

Declan clapped his hands in front of Jordan's face. "Wake up!" He exclaimed.

Jordan exclaimed a curse, something about intercourse, and shot up with his eyes wide. Some empty bottles rolled off the table at the sudden movement. "I'm awake! I'm here! What did I miss?"

He suddenly winced and groaned out, "Headache. I hate hangovers." Then he cringed again. "And why does my back hurt too?"

He looked down and saw he was sitting on the coffee table. "Ok, that explains it. Why the hell am I here? Why am I sleeping on a table?"

Jordan turned to look at me. "I think I can say that I'm jealous. How come you get to look like sleeping beauty while I take years off my spine?"

"How did you even get there?" I asked.

"You think I'd know?" Jordan asked back.

He looked at the bottle of alcohol he was holding, then held it like it was a baby. "Ah yes, look here, my beloved stuffed animal I had since I was a child. It has always been there to comfort me in my dreams."

"Is he still drunk?" Bennett asked Declan.

"Jordan becomes more Jordany when he's drunk," I told him. "But you can't really tell with that one line."

Bennett handed me and Jordan aspirin and glasses of water.

"Now can you explain why we found you two asleep, surrounded by alcohol?" Declan asked impatiently.

"Guess," Jordan and I said in unison.

"Naomi found me drinking by myself. Then she joined me with one bottle, I mean, a couple of bottles."

"Why were you drinking by yourself?" Bennett asked him.

Jordan stood up from the coffee table and slightly stretched. "I think my parents are going to get back together. If that isn't a good reason, I don't know what is."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Declan offered slowly.

"Nah, Naomi was a good enough therapist. Maybe later though."

"And why did you come to the base?" Bennett asked me. "Much less stayed with him to drink?"

"I forgot something in my room," I told him. "And misery likes company. I'm kidding. I couldn't exactly leave Jordan to drink by himself."

"Are you feeling better enough to report what happened yesterday with Dominic?" Bennett asked me.

"Just give me a second," I told him

A second passed.

"Okay, wait, give me a minute," I told him.

A minute passed.

I then informed them of what happened yesterday. Going to get KBBQ.

"Lucky," Jordan grumbled. "I wanna go there."

Bumping into Jae Seong.

"That can't be a coincidence," Declan muttered. "Can it?"

Breaking into my old elementary school.

"Basketball Head?" Bennett repeated in confusion.

"I thought he was a myth," Jordan said in disbelief. "They say he still roams the courts, hoping to shoot his shot."

Then being dropped off and finding a budding alcoholic.

"Stop exaggerating," Jordan said dryly.

"Once you're feeling better and thinking more clearly, write up a detailed report," Bennett instructed me. "Nothing raised any suspicions, just coincidences at most. We'll still have him under our suspect list. If anything comes up, we can have someone tail him for a while."

"Fun," I said with a sigh.

"Well, now that that's over, the worst is yet to come," Declan said with a sigh.

I gasped, understanding what he meant.

"Want can be worse than going undercover and trying to expose a gang leader?" Jordan asked.

I looked at him in horror.

"AP exams."

~

FIRST!

I wrote this Jordomi chapter before I learned that TGGBB was nominated for the @thefictionawards. Jordan is actually nominated as Best Supporting Character and given that he has really carried the series, I think he deserves this. Naomi got Best Protagonist, Raymond Best Antagonist, and the 4M the Best Friendship Arc. Feel free to spam for the votes~

This chapter was my two old personalities of Jordan (ENFP-T) and Naomi (INFJ-T) having a grand old time.

I think the story is in May now. Time is a social construct. In the book, it's fluid because I don't know how to properly create a timeline.

I know that I update TGGBB2 less frequently than Broken Glasses. It was really just me riding the wave of writing productivity. I was on a two-year hiatus and I'm always fighting against writer's block- so it felt so good being able to write for long periods of time. I was just feeling BG slightly more than TGGBB2 since it's a new work. And honestly, I'm dreading the end of TGGBB2 which is why I've been thinking about the plot more than actually writing a chapter for it.

And it was because of that, I was waiting until I was hit with a wave of inspiration for TGGBB2. I can't force it or else I wouldn't produce a chapter like this one. You know I update slowly because I want to give you long, heavy chapters. If I just cranked out a chapter, this chapter would not have been as meaningful. So I understand your frustration with my slow updates, but always know that I'm working on a chapter. Even when I'm not actually writing a chapter, I'm thinking about it even when I have life-stuff to worry about because I want to write it as soon as possible.

But wow! What a chapter! I love it! I hope you Jordomi fans enjoyed it. I really spoiled you there huh? I thought a lot about Jordan and felt it made sense for his character to do that simply because I would probably do the same thing- blame myself for things that were out of my control and turn to alcohol even though I have friends to talk to. (I definitely did not do that this year. *Eyes my glass of soju and Yakult next to laptop*)

Do you know there's a one-chapter prequel of the 3M's POV when they first met Naomi in TGGBB Chapter 1? It's called "Three of a Kind". Well, try to remember Jordan's part, something about "those eyes" just like in the song "Fred Astaire".

I thought a lot about what Jordomi is because, like many of you through the first book, you pushed Jordan aside as the older brother or best friend instead of actual boyfriend material. And that was my fault because I was so comfortable with the Jordomi dynamic since they're both of my old personalities that even I saw him as such a close best friend compared to others. And it was because of that, he wouldn't be taken seriously. But I hope through this chapter, you saw him as both our fun, lovable Jordan and then whoa boyfriend materials.

However, I was more mindful when I wrote... Broken Glasses.

Promotion time: If you want to see this development of Jordomi from the beginning of their relationship, read Broken Glasses. Also, a lot of Decomi fans were spoiled in the latest chapter nine of BG. Oh, and Bennomi fans are in for a surprise in chapter ten. I will never stop promoting BG. To paraphrase one reader who said so eloquently:

"I'm having a ship crisis. I keep jumping different ships. I should just accept polygamy." Wait no, not that one.

"Rubix meant it when she said she was going to do the guys justice. They're so much hotter." No, didn't mean that one either.

"This is better than the original! I'm getting goosebumps!" Wait, wrong one, sorry!

"You can tell how much your writing has improved. I'm proud that I was able to see you grow." I got too many of these. I love you guys and will keep writing for you.

[Insert any dirty simp comment that needs holy water] Too many to list there, and I've read new ones and dirtier ones too. Didn't know it was possible. I should make a compilation of them...

"It's like Broken Glasses is TGGBB's successor."

Yeah, that's pretty much it. It won't replace it. TGGBB is too OG and too iconic (your words, not mine) to be replaced. But I can definitely add more to the story with my better writing skills, plot development, and character backgrounds/arcs.

And stop calling Broken Glasses a TGGBB fanfiction! I hate you all because it's true!

-

What about that beginning intro? So dramatic right? If this book wasn't a teen fiction and was instead maybe some sort of fantasy action-adventure, that paragraph would have been something.

What did you guys think about this chapter's format with the two songs? It was during the summer I listened to those songs and knew I wanted to find a way to incorporate them into the book besides just showing it at the beginning of the chapter. When I first heard the song "Fred Astaire" by Jukebox the Ghost, I knew it was the perfect Jordomi song and knew I had to make a drunk scene with them. The second song "Bad Ideas" by Tessa Violet is actually a song I think about for Decomi, but I felt the song could work into this chapter too. I don't know if I'll do it for other chapters, but it was fun to write and I bet fun, or at least interesting, to read.

Also not going to lie but I get buzzed when I drink two Smirnoff ice which is my second favorite drink. My first favorite is yogurt Soju with Yakult. Storytime: I got buzzed from a bottle of soju and won solo imposter in Among Us by pretending to be drunk. You should try it when you're old enough. Alright, that's enough being a poor role model. Drink when you're 21.

-

Before I bid you farewell until the next chapter, I want to tell you that I'm holding Twitch livestreams where you can see me read, react, comment, and edit all of TGGBB! It's five years overdue (good god) and I want to clean up the punctuation, grammar, and anything cringey or incorrect (like things not politically correct or things I didn't know better because I was too young such as not knowing anorexia better). You can watch me and my occasional guest star Sean, my editor friend, as we talk and edit and occasionally answer questions. You can see the first session where we went through the prologue and chapter 1 on both Twitch and Youtube. I also did an Instagram Live at the same time, but something went wrong in the first one so I only got the last 17 minutes of the first session. I'll be recording the Insta Live itself as a backup from now on. Check my Wattpad posts, social media (Insta and Twitter), or the TGGBB Discord for future updates- all of the links are in my bio.

Also, @samxwrites_ has a podcast called "Yeah it's just Wattpad" and interviewed me! Hear me talk about TGGBB and writing stuff. You can stalk her Insta and Twitter to find it! I listened to it on Spotify!

Andddddd, here's some fanart! Check out Instagram and Discord to see fanart and post your fanart! For Insta, be sure to tag me so I can see them! I don't want to miss out on any fanart!

Mirii101 (Discord)

Mirii101 (Discord)

nyxfrazier (Discord)

miniyelloworanges (Discord)

sugar momma cuz why tf not? (Discord) /amazing name lol/

All Good Names Are Gone (Discord) /why are there so many great names?/

All Good Names Are Gone (Discord)

It's illegal for Bennett to be hot

Naomi whoa~

The Contract of Starbucks

It's illegal for Benny to be cute

Study vibes~

THIS IS A LINE FROM BROKEN GLASSES FROM NAOMI :)

WE'RE A CULT AND I'M YOUR CULT LEADER BOW DOWN TO ME

See ya on the flipside!

Rubix