*

      TAYA's POV:

Why was the sky spinning? Why were the trees moving? Wait—what? Where am I?

My eyelids weighed a ton and my head was pounding as I forced myself to open my eyes. The first thing that I saw was his face. Judah was asleep, his eyes were closed, and his breathing was steady. He looked so peaceful, it was truly a sight to see.

Slowly, I propped myself up on my elbows and took in my surrounding. I was on the back of a moving truck, and my body was draped in Judah's jacket. I looked up to see who was driving— and I saw Hallee and Jesse were in the driver's seat. Behind me I noticed Gabe, passed out like a damn log. My hand went to rub my temples as I tried my hardest to remember.

What the hell happened last night?

*

I remembered... We were at the dance... I remembered Hallee and her boyfriend, Jesse, came over to us and suggested that we go somewhere. Gabe had lucked with Maddie and he was miserable. And since misery loves company, he decided to join us.

The next thing I remembered... we were all piling up in the back of Jesse's truck. Jesse used his fake ID and got us all two six-packs and a big bottle of Vodka from the liquor store. We drove around all night, blasting old rock songs on the radio, drinking cheap beer, and standing on the back of a moving truck with open arms and wild laughter.

If someone told me last year that this was what I would be doing on my Winter Formal night, I wouldn't believe it one bit.

But that was what happened. And after driving around for a while, we decided to go to this waterfall at the edge of town. The night sky was twinkling with stars above us and the sound of the waterfall was like music to our ears.

The five of us sat huddled around each other as we lit up a small bonfire in the middle. We were laughing, making stupid arguments about god knows what, and drinking like there was no tomorrow.

"Let's play a game!" Hallee squeaked. "Truth or dare or drink. So you pick truth or dare, but if you chickened out, then you have to drink—let's start with Gabe, truth or dare?" she slurred.

"Let's do a dare," I could tell Gabe was a little tipsy by now.

"I dare you to call Maddie right now and tell her how you feel about her!" Hallee started the game with a bang.

"That's creepy. She doesn't even know I exist," he groaned.

"That's the dare, Gabe. What are you gonna do?" Hallee pressed on.

"Ugh, you are evil," he grabbed the bottle of beer half-heartedly and took one big gulp. We all laughed in unison as he winced at the taste.

"Hallee, truth or dare?" I said to Hallee.

"Um... Dare,"

"I dare you to... strip for the duration of the game!" I said as everyone went 'oooh' and Jesse's eyes widened in excitement. I just assumed that Hallee wouldn't do it and take the drink instead, but no.

"Oh, you are so gonna pay for that," Hallee shook her finger at me knowingly. Then she stood up, turned around and unzipped her dress seductively before letting it fall on the ground. We all sat in awe as Jesse started clapping at the performance. As Hallee sat back down next to Jesse and he put his arms around her, she shot me a wink. That was when I knew I had done messed up.

"Jesse, truth or dare," Gabe was starting to slur his words too.

"Let's start slow. Truth," Jesse chuckled.

"Tell us the kinkiest thing you two have done," Judah spoke again and we all grinned.

"Oh shit," Jesse turned to Hallee and she shook her head.

"Just take the drink, babe," Hallee ordered.

"No, no, no, don't be a chicken. Tell us, Jesse!" I exclaimed.

"Uh... alright, so this one time, I got Hallee all tied up—" before Jesse could finish, Hallee had shoved a drink up to his mouth, shutting him up. He drank involuntarily and we all groaned in disappointment.

"Okay, Taya, your turn. Truth or dare?" Hallee said to me.

"Truth,"

"So, Taya, do you like, have feelings for someone in our group?" Hallee was smirking like crazy. That bitch.

"Uh... no...." I muttered awkwardly, giving her a deadly glare.

"Are you sure?" she pressed on as everyone had their eyes on me, including Judah.

"Uh... I..."

"That's a stupid question! We all know she likes Blake Harrison, hic," Gabe cut in.

The tension in the air subsided and Judah turned away. I felt somewhat relieved, but also not really.

"Your turn Judah" Jesse said.

"Dare me," Judah replied.

"I dare you to kiss Taya!" Hallee exclaimed.

"That's it? I kiss her all the time even without being dared," he responded, causing my cheeks to burn up.

"Fine, then I dare you to take her skinny dipping!"

"Hallee!" I snapped, but she just grinned innocently.

A part of me wanted to murder Hallee in her sleep, and the other part of me wanted to send her flowers. This was a very confusing time in my life.

Judah stood up slowly and held his hand out to me.

"You're joking right?" I gaped at him.

He shook his head and held his hand even closer to my face.

"Live a little, Blondie. Come on,"

Clearly, this was not something I was meant to do sober. Using every bit of strength Taya 2.0 had left, I gulped down my drink and threw the bottle away once I was done. Blood was pumping in my vein at the speed of light as I took his hand and he pulled me up.

"Yas, girl, yaaas!" Hallee hollered.

We walked closer to the waters pooling below the waterfall. The sound of the water falling was loud, drowning the catcalls and whistles coming from behind us.

We stopped when we got to the edge. Judah looked at me with a playful glint in his eyes as he started undoing his shirt buttons one by one. My eyes trailed his every move, until all the buttons were undone and I saw his toned skin peeking out in the middle.

The next thing I knew, his shirt was off on the ground. Judah's body was lean-built, with muscles perfectly sculpted on his chest, stomach, and arms.

"I showed you mine, now show me yours," he smirked playfully.

I gulped and slowly started to shake off his jacket until it fell on the ground. He watched me intently, his eyes hanging on my every move. My fingers went to my back and found my dress zipper. As soon as I pulled the zipper down, cold air hit my bare skin and I couldn't help but shiver.

The dress fell off of me easily and Judah's eyes widened immediately, causing me to blush. His gaze bore onto my chest, down to my stomach, and to my thighs. I looked down at myself and I just realized that I was wearing my light blue polka dot underwear with the little bow on top.

My hands quickly went to cover them, but sadly, my hands weren't big enough to cover such embarrassment.

"You're cute," he laughed at my reaction. Of course, he would.

Then he pulled down his pants, and I was tempted to look away, but I couldn't. My eyes had seen the most shocking sight which would never be erased from my mind—Judah was wearing a dinosaur patterned boxer briefs.

I snorted out a laugh so loud, I was sure Hallee and everyone else in the back had heard me.

"Laugh all you want, but this is my lucky drawers," he grinned and I rolled my eyes.

He bit his lower lip and cocked his head to the side, as an evil thought came to his mind. Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around me and he pulled us both towards the water.

Splash!

The water was cold as ice. It was December, of course, what were we thinking!?

"It's—so—fucking—cold!" I screamed out as soon as my head was above the water. Judah was laughing maniacally and I shot him a 'go-fuck-yourself' glare.

I was paddling and wailing around as much as I could, trying to shake off the coldness.

"Come here," he said finally and he pulled me into his arms. His strong arms secured me tight and my face was flushed against his rock-hard chest.

"Better?" he asked.

"Not really,"

I was about to say something else, when suddenly he pulled me up and his lips found mine. His breaths were hot and wanting. He gripped my body tighter and I was pressed tightly against his chest. Then, he started leaving wet open-mouthed kisses all across my jaw and neck.

"How about now?"

"A little bit better," the words came out in a whisper.

He pulled away, but his hands still held onto my waist and I wrapped my legs around him. He swallowed hard as his eyes darted from my eyes, down to my lips, and down to the rest of my body. His eyes darkened and his body stiffened.

I didn't know what was going on with him, but whatever it was, I was feeling it too!

My skin ached and my stomach twisted, all I wanted to do was to pull him close, but I was restraining myself. I bit my lip as my eyes roamed his broad chest, noting how the muscles flexed as he held onto me tighter.

"Hey, I think we should get outta here," he said suddenly.

"Huh? Why?"

"I need to take a leak,"

So much for sexual tension! I wanted to smack his stupid face, but I restrained.

"Ew! Don't you dare do it with me here in the water!" I said instead, pulling away and swimming to the shore.

"I don't think I can hold it much longer!" he yelled playfully.

"Judah! Euuugh! Get away!"

I pushed and paddled as fast as I could to the shore. Judah was just laughing that sinister laugh as he followed behind me.

Once we reached the shore, Judah went behind some trees to relieve himself. I shook off the excess water from my hair and body before taking a seat on one of the rocks.

On the corner of my eye, I noticed all our clothes on the ground, and his cigarette pack was peeking out of his pants pocket. An evil smirk curved up my face as I tiptoed around to get the pack.

I opened it up and saw that it was still full, meaning it must be a new pack. Judah would be so pissed when he saw what I had done. And I couldn't stop smiling at the thought.

"You're right Blondie, tonight was fun. I'm glad I came," Judah came back moments later, striding towards me in his wet dinosaur boxer briefs.

I shoved the pack back quickly and turned around.

"Yeah, me too," my eyes darted to his lower abdomen area, "And now I know where you have a tattoo,"

It was a tattoo of a lion and it was big and intricate. I couldn't see the whole thing though, as half of the tattoo was covered by his boxers.

"Maybe someday I'll show you the rest," he smirked as if he knew what I was thinking.

I turned away quickly, saving myself from my embarrassing red-hot cheeks. At this point, I was somewhat dry and cold, so I decided to get dressed. Judah followed my lead and we decided to head back to the bonfire.

When we got back though, we found Gabe already passed out on the ground. Hallee and Jesse were nowhere to be found, but we saw some footprints leading up to some bushes. Judah and I exchanged a knowing look and we decided to leave those dancing bushes on its own.

Judah was holding his breath and I had to bit my lip from laughing out loud. Moving away from the bushes, we decided to bring poor Gabe back to the truck. He was dead asleep, so Judah had to carry him all the way there.

"Damn, he's heavier than I thought," Judah released a long sigh after he managed to put Gabe up on the truck. He sat down on the edge of truck, and I noticed that he was out of breath and his face was growing pale.

"Are you okay? You're shivering," My hand instinctively went to touch his forehead and I felt that he was burning up.

"I'm... fine," he croaked.

"You're not fine. Are you sick? Should we go to the hospital?"

At this point, his body became limp, but my hand was quick to catch him before he fall. I held onto his chest as his face fell to the crook of my neck. His breathing was labored as he tried to speak.

"No... No hospital... I'm okay... I just... haven't been using in a while, so... it's just the withdrawal," his voice was weak and strained.

I pushed him back to the truck and laid his body down. I took off his jacket and draped it over him, hoping that it would somehow help with his shivering.

Judah had his eyes closed and he looked as if he was in pain. Sweat started to form on his forehead as he restrained himself from groaning too much. My heart was breaking at the sight and I didn't know what to do.

"I...I'm gonna get Hallee and Jesse, okay?" I said finally, thinking that maybe they could help.

"No," he responded. "Don't go anywhere, please,"

His hand reached up for me and I quickly went to catch it. His hand was cold, and even though he was weak, he put all his energy into holding my hand.

"Just stay here, with me, please," he pleaded.

"Okay, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere," I cooed.

I scooted closer to him and laid my head down to his chest. All I could hear was his heavy breathing and his heart beating. His other hand snaked around my stomach as he pulled me tighter to him.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" I murmured to his chest.

"Yeah... just need to wait it out," he breathed.

I nodded meekly and snuggled closer to him, thinking that my body heat would help somehow. My fingers then ran along his jaw gently, and he let out a small smile, as if to show that my small actions had helped ease the pain. And so, we stayed like that for what felt like an eternity.

The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was his weak voice saying, "don't leave me," and then everything went dark...

*

Ah... so that was how we ended up here.

I took note of his jacket that was wrapped over me and I realized that Judah must have put it there after I fell asleep. I was still lost in my own thought and I didn't realize Judah was already waking up. I looked up to see his eyes blinking slowly for a few times and his lips twitched into a weak smile.

"Hey," I croaked. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better. I haven't slept that well in a long time,"

"You're sleeping in the back of a moving truck... how is that even possible?" 

He didn't answer me and he didn't say anything for a while. His hand then reached for my face and his thumb started drawing circles on my cheek.

"Thanks for staying with me," he breathed lowly.

A smile formed on my face as I took sight of this beautiful tortured boy in front of me.

"Anytime," I sighed, and how I meant it.

*

*

*

To be continued.

A/N: Hi lovely people! If you guys had been reading my stories, you'd realize that this story if more of a slow burn compared to 'Barely'. But don't worry, we'll get there ;)

Also, this (long) chapter is your special Christmas gift from yours truly, I hope you enjoyed it! Please tap the star button if you do and comment here your favorite thing about Christmas. ❤ 

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season,

aflyingwhale