She smiled coyly and patted the bed. He snuck under the covers and pulled her towards him. “You’re so little,” he said against her collarbone as he kissed a line across it.

“Um...thank you,” she said squirming under his light kisses.

“And you should always wear my t-shirts,” he said pulling back to examine the grey band shirt she had picked out from one of his drawers.

“You don’t like my clothes?” she asked pouting.

“Oh, I definitely love your skimpy little things, but you’re so…raw,” he said pushing her bangs off her forehead and really looking at her deeply. “So utterly beautiful, my dear.”

A slow sweet smile played across her mouth as he stared at her lovingly. “Thank you.”

“No,” he said letting his fingertips trail across her jaw line. “Thank you.” He covered her body with his and pressed his lips firmly against her own. The tenderness and affection he portrayed in that one kiss Lexi thought could last a lifetime. Tears welled up in her eyes as their tongues briefly touched then broke apart. “You’re crying,” he said concerned.

“I’m sorry. It’s dumb,” she said swiping at her eyes.

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s just…I don’t know, Jack. That was amazing. I know you can say it was just a kiss, but…”

He cut her off. “No, I felt it too,” he said knowing that she didn’t have to explain what had just happened between them.

“You…you did?” she asked in disbelief.

He leaned in once more and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. “Yeah. I did. Maybe we should just get some sleep,” he suggested.

Lexi nodded as she lay down on his shoulder and snuggled into his muscular chest. She had no idea where to pinpoint that feeling. It was something she had never experienced. It was wonderful, painful, euphoric, and disarming all at the same time. She felt like her heart was ripping out of her chest, and like she had just had the most amazing adrenaline boost of a lifetime. The scariest part was that she had no idea how such a small thing like a simple kiss could make her feel like this. Those were her last thoughts before she drifted to sleep securely placed in Jack’s arms.

*****

“Lex…Lex, wake up.” She heard her name called, but all she wanted to do was snuggle up further in the covers. “Come on, Lexi. You need to wake up.”

Lexi rolled over onto her back and stared up into her favorite pair of baby blues. “G’morning,” she mumbled.

“Your phone has been ringing off the hook all morning. You should probably go figure out what’s going on,” Jack told her.

She felt a jolt of adrenaline hit her body, and she bolted out of bed terrified to find out why her phone was blowing up. She had three missed calls from Clark and four from Olivia. Lexi thumbed through the texts, most of which were from Olivia checking to see if she had gotten in alright last night. Then as Lexi progressed through the messages, she noticed they began to get more frantic.

“Where are you?”

“What are you doing?”

“You didn’t come home. I’m freaking out.”

“Have you spoken with Clark, because he keeps calling me.”

“LEXI, what do I tell him?”

“What if he shows up at the apartment? Can’t you just get back here?”

Lexi sighed heavily when she reached the end of the messages, a hard knot forming in her stomach. This couldn’t be good. Clark would never call Olivia unless it was important. Maybe something had happened while he was home. She wasn’t sure, but she figured she should get home sooner rather than later.

“I’ve got to get going. Something’s going on with Clark. I’m not sure what, but I have to head out,” Lexi told Jack as she changed out of his t-shirt.

“Alright, let me know what you find out,” he said kissing her briefly on the forehead before she darted out of the house.

Olivia was pacing the living room absently strumming her guitar when Lexi walked through the door. She looked like she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Olivia squealed before Lexi could say a word. She placed her guitar in its stand and stared at Lexi angrily. “Clark kept calling and texting saying that you weren’t answering your phone, and that you weren’t responding to any of his messages. What did you expect me to tell him?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect this to happen. I had a few too many drinks last night and ended up sleeping at Jack’s place,” she told her. Most of what she had said was true.

“I figured as much, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. He would have come back and barged into Jack’s apartment without notice.”

“He could have. It’s not like we were doing anything,” Lexi lied biting her lip at Olivia’s frustration.

Olivia snorted. “Suuuure. In either case, I finally picked up and told him that you were fine and just passed out in your room from drinking last night. I’m surprised he isn’t over here yet. You should definitely call him.”

“I’m not sure why you are so frantic,” Lexi commented.

“Because I’m lying for you. I don’t mind, but you can at least confide in me,” Olivia cried. “I’m your best friend, and you can’t even tell me the truth. You’re a different person than you were when we first knew each other. I think this has to do with Jack, and I’d really like to be clued in.”

“For the last time, there is nothing going on between me and Jack,” Lexi said storming into her room and leaving Olivia hovering at her door.

“If that’s the case, then why didn’t he just bring you home last night? Huh?”

“Because he’d been drinking too and he lives closer to downtown,” she said, the lie coming out easier this time. She couldn’t even count how many she had made by now. They all seemed to be running together.

Olivia seemed to just let it go from there. There was no point in trying to argue with Lexi when she was in this state.

She pulled out her phone again and texted a message to Clark, “Sorry. I passed out last night from drinking. Hope you’re not worried.”

Then she typed out one to Jack. “Made it safe. No need to worry.”

After several hours of silence from Clark, Lexi was beginning to get worried. If he had been so frantic earlier, why wasn’t he returning her message now? It was very strange. When she was about to send him another message, a knock on the door sounded from the living room. As she went to check the front door Olivia was already standing there with it open talking to Clark.

“Hey, I was just wondering about you,” Lexi said smiling brightly.

“We need to talk,” Clark said walking into her bedroom without another word.

Olivia looked at her anxiously as Lexi followed him into her room, her smile dropping from her face. “I got all your messages.”

“Then you know what this is about?” he asked in a very serious tone.

Lexi’s stomach knotted together, and she could hear her blood pounding away in her ears. This wasn’t about something that had happened when he had been home. No. Judging by the way he was looking at her, she could tell. He knew. She had no idea how he knew, but he did. He hadn’t touched her. He had barely looked at her. And those lone looks had been ones of disgust. Not the loving tender looks she normally received from her boyfriend.

“I’m not sure,” she answered tentatively.

“Don’t do that, Lexi.”

“Do what?”

“Lie to me anymore. Just don’t lie. Okay? Can we just go through this one goddamn conversation without you lying to me?” he asked running his hand through his shaggy black hair a couple times before resting his green eyes back on her.

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Tell me what happened with you and Jack.”

She stared at him, anxiously holding her hands in place so she wouldn’t be tempted to mess with her hair. Everyone kept pointing out that little habit to her, and this would be the worst time for it. “What about me and Jack?” she asked gulping hard.