### **Val's P.O.V**
The living room is a mess of pillows, pizza pouches, and half-empty champagne glasses and before I could gaze at our long projected window facing the outside. It was already getting dark, so much for a geng night.
It was supposed to be a girls' night. Face masks, gossip, movies and maybe a little bit of emotional venting over ice cream. But, of course, the guys had to crash it.
And yet the party is over, l louded.
They all turn facing me.
You want it back, because we can bring back the f-i-r-e!!!! Xavier responds twinkling the fingers of his right hand on the air while drinking wine with the other.
Durhh!! I say rolling my eyes at him.
We all had a good time, didn't we? He says yelling at the top of voice.
Oh yea we have, they all reply.
Juliette and Talia are going to miss this, I swear.
Brielle say turning to face me.
We'd gist them when we get to school tomorrow, but trust me it's not going to be an easy pass. I reply her snicking my nose.
Guys, guys, guys!!
I think some people here are still PG and underaged and would be grounded if their parents didn't see them at home before 10pm.
Lol?????
They all reply with a come off that look.
This geng already had catch phrases for everything and at certain times they'd just say it in unison.
So freaking sassy and dramatic. But these loggerheads are stubborn folks I must say.
"Jaxon, you literally have your own house and funny thing, it's just a crossover.
Few meters,
I deadpan, crossing my arms as I glare at my him.
"And yet, I find yours much more entertaining," he replies with a smug grin, stretching his long legs across the carpet. "Also, your pizza idea was great."
He added.
"I rest my case," I say, throwing my hands in the air.
Jax, who's lounging on the couch, smirks. "Oh, come on, Val. You know you'd rather be stuck with us than alone with your weird skincare routines."
I narrow my eyes. "Excuse you, my skincare routine is the reason I have flawless skin."
Jaxon leans forward, his intense gray eyes locking onto mine. "Flawless? You sure about that?"
My mouth drops open in mock offense. "You absolute *ass*." I pick up the nearest pillow and chuck it at his face. He catches it effortlessly, still smirking.
The conversation soon devolves into playful banter, bouncing between witty comebacks and increasingly suggestive remarks. It always happens like this. When you throw a bunch of sleep-deprived twenty-somethings together, the line between teasing and outright flirting blurs real fast.
"Okay, okay," Brielle, my best friend, finally interrupts, her face red from laughing. "We need to stop before someone actually combusts from all this tension."
"Or before Jaxon gets a boner," Xavier adds.
Jaxon flips him off. "You wish, jackass."
"Wish? Nah, man, I *know*."
I groan, throwing my head back against the couch. "Why am I friends with you people?"
"Because deep down, you love us," Jax says, his voice teasing, but there's something softer in his eyes when he looks at me.
I ignore the way my stomach does a weird little flip.
"Alright, degenerates," Reynolds announces, clapping his hands. "Movie time."
"Finally," I sigh. "What are we watching?"
"Xavier picked," she says, rolling her eyes.
That immediately sets off warning bells. "Oh God. Is it another one of those ridiculous action movies where everything explodes for no reason?"
"Um, excuse you," Reynolds says, feigning offense. "Explosions are the backbone of modern cinema."
Jax scoffs. "Yeah, sure. Nothing says *art* like random car chases and zero plot."
"Exactly," Xavier, Jax and Reynolds say in unison
Like the Car Racing/Call Of Duty games that you play on console, I reply looking especially at Reynolds. Look at them, I repeat, scanning them from head to toe.
Brielle groans. "You guys are *impossible*."
Eventually, we settle onto the couch. The living room is dimly lit by the soft glow of the TV, the opening credits rolling across the screen. I claim my usual spot—half-sprawled across the couch, with my legs over the armrest.
We're watching one of the sci-fiction crime movies that has been jumping on my Netflix Trailer and Newsletters non-stop.
Looking eye-sunk into the TV, I know this movie, I've seen a trailer before.
Would you keep quiet and not spoil it for us, Brielle says mockingly.
I flick my finger at her like a whistle but she ignored it.
They all look so concentrated on the screen giving my speech less attention like they were at a movie premiere in the cinema.
Jax plops down next to me, and before I know it, I'm resting my head on his lap. It just sort of happens. It's comfortable. And *not* weird. At least, that's what I tell myself.
The movie starts, but I barely pay attention. Maybe it's the warmth of Jaxon's hands idly playing with my hair, or the way his breathing is steady and calm.
---
Gradually, as we graduated from scene to scene, they began dashing out one after the other.
The guys crashed here, turning what was supposed to be an evening of gossip and facials between Brielle and I into a chaotic sleepover.
But, Reynolds is still very much fixed on the screen, he seems to be having a good time.
I'm sprawled across the couch in the weirdest position—my head resting on Jax's lap while my legs dangle over the armrest. It's surprisingly comfortable like I should never let go. I glance at the TV again, but the movie has long lost my attention.
Jax's fingers run through my hair absentmindedly, twirling strands between his fingers again and again. It's soothing, like a gentle lullaby, and before I realize it, my eyelids start drooping. The background noise of the movie fades into nothingness. Either way, my eyelids grow heavier, and before I can fight it, sleep pulls me under.
---