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J J W O O D F O R D

THE FIRST RULE OF GOING TO A PARTY where you only really know one person is to never get too drunk, I've learnt the hard way in the past. I passed successfully and woke up this morning feeling on top of the world. Finn on the other hand, he texts me from his room saying that he feels like absolute dog shit.

I don't really remember seeing him in a bad state last night but that's because most of my night was occupied by that girl with the tan skin and dark locks. Danielle, was it? No. Daisy. Like the cow. I remember almost saying that to her last night, good thing I didn't.

When Finn is still moping in bed, I shower early and get changed into fresh clothes for the day. I knock on his door and he groans, I laugh and walk my way inside. "Rise and shine," I say, ripping open his blinds to flash in the scorching sun.

He groans and covers his eyes. "You're a fucking ass."

"Come on, the beer can't have gotten you that bad."

"I need coffee and a large breakfast from the local cafe," he mumbles into his pillow pathetically.

I half roll my eyes as I stare at him. "You never used to be this bad at uni, what the hell happened to you?"

"I don't know," his voice is so muffled I barely understand him. After a few moments he presses his hand to the mattress and perches himself against the headboard, rubbing his eyes viciously. "Ugh God. I feel sick."

A stifled laugh escapes me as I cross my arms and lean onto his dresser. "Still moping?"

He flips me off and I shake my head. "Fine. I'll go get breakfast."

"You will?" My eyebrows raise in shock.

Finn nods and then swings his legs over the bed. He pauses, having to take a moment for himself. I think he's about to vomit all over the wooden floor but he doesn't, he stands and stabalises himself. "All good. Let me find my car keys and I'll go."

"I'll come with."

He waves a hand at me–signalling no. "I need the space. I need the time not to be judged. Are you okay with that?"

"Fine," I chuckle. "Go and bring me back a bacon sandwich and a coffee with one sugar. Thanks."

Finn doesn't even bother to shower before he pulls on his clothes and searches for his keys. I chuckle to myself and follow him downstairs, giving him a farewell before I find some orange juice in the fridge and pour myself a glass.

I stand against the counter, scrolling through my phone. I've been texting my dad over the last couple of days. My mum has officially started her experimental treatment and the doctors will know soon if it's working. I've been praying with everything I have that she pulls through and this is a miracle for her, for all of us.

A family without my mum isn't a family, it's just a gigantic black hole.

Loud music begins to blare from upstairs and for a second it startles me, then I remember–Ivy is probably home. I take a sip of my orange juice and try to dumb out the sound as I read over my father's last message but I'm severely distracted when I start hearing her sing.

I lower the phone and glance towards the stairs, my mouth opening in shock but I'm smiling. This is golden.

If I know one thing, it's that Ivy cannot sing to save her life but she belts out the words anyway. I don't know what the song is but it sounds like some sad rock chick ballad, she sings every word and sounds like she means it too.

The grin on my smile is epic and I wish I could see my own reaction.

One song leads to another and I am chuckling with entertainment. What a way to start the day other than murdering a song until there is nothing left of it. I give her props though, she either has no idea I'm in the house or she doesn't give a single shit. Part of me hopes it's the latter because that just makes this situation easier to explain.

When she's onto the third song and the music begins to quieten down, I can't help myself for a second longer. I head upstairs after placing down the cup with only orange juice bits as residue–who the fuck still buys orange juice with bits? The Thompson's, clearly.

I take one step onto the landing just at the door to the bathroom swings open, Ivy is still singing but a lot quieter. Under a hushed breath but those tone deaf notes are still there and I am absolutely enthralled by her in this moment in time.

But the worst part is, she exits the bathroom in nothing but a black lacy bra and a pair of bright pink knickers. Neither match and I don't think she was intending to. Her eyes drop onto mine and she jumps out of her skin, skin flushing red across her cheeks like a firework has exploded in front of her.

That makes two scares in the space of two days.

I shouldn't be looking but it's too late, she's in my direct eyeline. Her hands rush to hide her body, including the scar that runs down her chest. Just slightly off centre but the red line is obvious against her light skin.

Memories flash through my mind when I remember pressing kisses to that exact mark when we were alone in my bed. I shouldn't be thinking of her like that but I can't help myself.

What happened to her? A part of me wants to ask, I could always ask Finn but then I realise that ever since I've been here, Ivy has only ever worn clothes that cover it. For me to see the scar I would have had to have seen her with her clothes off–which I have but Finn can't know about that.

Instead of drawing on her scar, I shoot my eyes to her widened ones and flash her a quick smirk.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She's slightly out of breath. "I thought you left."

I don't miss the way her throat clenches. She's panicking. Probably because I heard her awful singing, not the fact she's half naked in front of me. But those little hands are doing nothing to hide that unmissable body from me.

My shoulder presses into the wall, crossing my arms over my chest. "Don't know why you're covering up, princess. It's not like I haven't seen it all before."

Ivy scowls at me from across the hall but to lessen her embarrassment, I lean over to the bannister and throw her a towel that's laying there. She catches it and wraps it around her body as quickly as possible.

I get it. We're not having sex. We're not getting intimate. She doesn't want me to see her body and it's totally understandable but I personally don't mind considering that she has the cutest freckles to cover her arms, matching the ones across her nose and cheeks.

I devoured it every inch of it that night and part of me would be happy to do it again.

"Finn went out to grab breakfast," I say. "Said I wasn't allowed to go with him because I'd be a distraction."

Ivy snorts. "Probably because he's throwing up down the side of the door."

The corners of my lip curl. Ivy doesn't begin to move but I know her bedroom is directly behind me and she's now covered up with only her arms and bare feet on show. I dig my tongue into my cheek because I can't help what falls from my lips next.

"Nice singing by the way," I blurt out, trying to hide my smile of amusement. "Those high notes were Grammy worthy."

Ivy's eyes rage but she's not angry at me, she's angry for being embarrassed. If I thought someone could turn red before, she might as well be the brightest tomato in the patch. The smile that creeps up on my face won't stop and she storms past me to reach her bedroom muttering prick under her breath.

This has me laughing. I should have spared her the humiliation but I couldn't help myself.

I deserved that insult. It's not the first time someone has called me that and it's definitely not going to be the last.

When I head back downstairs, I walk towards the living room just in time for Finn to walk through the front doors. He looks worse from when he left and I frown at his entrance. "You good?"

"No," he shakes his head, complexion so pale it's like he's seen a ghost. "Some lady tried cutting me up and then ended up my ass the whole journey back. Almost fucking crashed the car."

I roll my eyes because he's probably being dramatic. That's one thing I've learnt about Finn–drama queen.

"Did you get the goods?" I pray.

Finn nods as he holds up a coffee and a takeaway bag. "I drank my coffee on the way back. It was either that or throw up everywhere."

I chuckle as he passes me my drink and then digs his hand into the bag to pass me my sandwich. "What are we going to do today?"

"Lay as low as possible," he groans before catapulting himself onto the sofa. "But if you want to do something, feel free. I've got a date with this lovely cushion and rugby league."

"Rugby league? Really?"

Finn shoots me a look. I know how much he loves rugby but I can't stand it.

"I have games to catch up on."

"Fine," I huff. It is his house after all. "Whatever."

We get through twenty minutes of the first game when I hear footsteps echo down the stairs, I twist my head to see Ivy strolling past. She doesn't glance my way as she reaches the front door, instead she yells. "See you later."

"Bye," Finn mumbles into his pillow like a sloth.

My phone vibrates from beside me and I glance at it. A number that I haven't saved to my contacts yet, I scrunch up my eyebrows to read the message.

Unknown Number: Hey, it's Daisy. It was so cool to meet you last night. I was wondering if you'd want to meet up another time, alone. Just us two. Away from all the party shit, it would be nice to get to know each other.

Oh yes. Daisy. The cow.

I clear my throat and turn to Finn. "You know much about Daisy? She was at the party last night."

"Smoking hot, brunette, has the body of a Victoria Secret model?"

"Yeah. I guess that's her." I don't really remember looking at her body. Of course her face is what pops into my mind when I think of last night and she's extremely stunning. She's got the dark mysterious vibe going on and most guys would find that very sexy.

Finn snorts to himself, eyes still on the screen. He isn't missing a second for nobody. "She's Ivy's best friend. Total maneater."

Ivy's best friend.

Well shit. I wasn't expecting that. Does she know that we hooked up?

"Why?"

"She just texted me asking to hang out."

Finn's mouth hangs open, finally his attention is turned to me. He pushes himself up from the sofa. "Daisy text you?"

I simply nod.

"Holy shit! Man, she's fucking so hot. Do you know how many times I've had to walk out of the room when she was here because I can't bear to be around that attractiveness?" He exhales a little out of breath. Probably still all that alcohol from last night. "It fucked me up big time when I was in year ten, literal torture."

"So you never spoke to her more than a friend?"

Finn scowls at me. "She's Ivy's best friend, man. That would be fucking weird."

Right. Of course. Just like how me and Ivy would be weird but the damage has already been done.

I watch as Finn settles back into the sofa. "You should text her back, JJ."

My eyes are glued to the phone in front of me, glazing over the words again. I mean yeah, she's cute, attractive but something inside me isn't pushing to reply. Instead I'm finding myself becoming disinterested by the second.

Any guy would jump at the chance of her forwardness and the fact she's very pleasing on the eye but I knew I wasn't interested last night, I only gave her my number because I didn't want to seem rude. She's a nice girl. But she's definitely not it for me.

A part of me is screaming in hysterics because I have no idea what that truly means.

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Author's Note

Hello my loves. Eeek, what did we think of this chapter?👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼

Do we like being in JJ's mind for his POV?

Him spying on Ivy singing honestly makes me feel some type of way hahah😂

Anddddd... his new impression on Daisy, he's not interested ahhhhhh😬

Don't forget to leave a vote, it means the world to me! Love Savanna x

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