Whatever It Takes (Bold As Love 3)

“How have you been?” Hannah asks.

“Great. Things are a lot better.”

“That's good,” Jess inserts.

“It's time to party!” Abella says before chugging down her drink.

Kyle returns and I take my drink from him. As I take a sip, my eyes roam the room looking for Jake.

“I'm glad you have your memory back,” Kyle comments.

“Thanks. Me too. How have you been?”

“Let's skip the chit-chat and dance,” Abella says, pushing us to the center of the room. Our bodies move to the beat and I take a swig every so often. Jake slips in behind me and pulls me to him. My head starts to hurt again, but I don't mention it. Jake will just want to go home and I'm having too much fun to leave.

Thirty minutes of heavy dancing and I'm sweating from the massive heat of all the bodies squirming together. My head is pounding so with a firm grasp on Jake's hand, I lead us outside for fresh air.

“You alright, Sweetness?” Jake asks from his close position behind me, making me feel claustrophobic.

“I need some space, Jake.”

He steps backwards and the cold air wraps its arms around me protectively. My chest rises as I take a deep breath with my eyes closed.

“Sweetness?”

Jake's voice echos in my ear after my third breath. Opening my eyes, I turn around and hug him tightly. Jake doesn't miss a beat as his arms begin to warm me up. I bury my face into his chest and a few tears slip out.

“My head hurts. Can you take me home before you head to the other party?”

“I'm not leaving you alone on New Year's. C'mon.”

Jake leads me down the steps and to my car. He drives me to the house and I feel terrible. Not only because of my headache, but because I'm the reason we are not partying right now. The thoughts don't last long. Pain radiates throughout my skull. Jake squeezes my hand in comfort.

At home, I toss off all my clothes and climb into bed with just my bra and underwear on. I hear Jake ruffling about the house. If I knew exactly where my iPod was, I would get it and listen to some soothing John Mayer. I'm hot under the covers. Tossing them aside, I lay on my stomach on the floor. My cheek is mushed against the hard wood and it's refreshing to feel the cold floor against my hot body. It feels as if the pain in my head is swimming around like a very large fish cramped in a small space.

“Emily!”

I roll over to see a panicked Jake. “I'm just hot. I'm fine.”

Squatting beside me, he lifts me into a standing position and to the bed. My eyes follow Jake as he walks around the bed and sits beside me.

“Are you sure you're feeling okay?”

“Just lay with me.” He does and I rest my head on his chest over his heart. “Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we listen to 'Fall'?”

“Sure.” He leans over and finds it on the iPod. Once he is back in place, I close my eyes and let the pain float on the waves of the music. The song plays three times before I prop on my elbow and look at my love.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Sweetness.”

“No. I love you. I love how you open the door for me. I love how affectionate you are. How caring, loving, and amazing you are. I love every single piece of you. You've stood by me through the good and the bad and I honestly don't know how I would have made it through this without you. I can only hope that I can give you the same amount of love and strength that you give me.”

Jake leans forward and kisses me. A hot, long kiss. I happen to glance at the clock, blinking on the iHome and realize that we missed the ending of last year and the beginning of this year. Oh well. It was spent in the best of ways.