[This chapter is dedicated to our new top 1 fan, mary_Cooper. Thank you! Jess will pour her first glass of wine for you once she's out of the hospital. LOL]

---

"You don't have to stay the night here, Luke."

They were having their dinner delivered by the resort. Thank God! Because there is nothing more depressing than staying in a hospital than eating its food. She can enjoy her food without a needle in her right arm for she already removed her IV.

The nurse on duty twitched her eyebrows nervously as Jess pulled out her IV line, but didn't say anything.

She doesn't need an IV. Ellise was being utterly ridiculous.

She was trying to call to tell her that she doesn't have to stay in the hospital for a twenty-four observation. But, she won't answer nor reply to any of her messages. What irked her the most was the fact that she replied to all of Luke's messages!

"I'm staying. The bed is big enough for the two of us. I mean, this room doesn't look like a hospital room at all. If not for those machines lines and tubes on the wall located at the headboard of the bed, no one would see this as a hospital room."

"Yes, but the smell. I hate the smell."

"How come? Isn't a hospital room has the same smell as the sanitized laboratory?"

"No. It's different. I hate hospitals and Ellise knew that, yet, the bitch still did this!"

"Frankly, I couldn't believe that she could bully you to stay here."

"She can because she knows I don't have much of a choice and she is having a good laugh knowing that."

"What do you mean? Keeping you here in the hospital VIP room was just a prank?" He raised an eyebrow, baffled about how rich kids kept themselves entertained. There are people out there who couldn't afford a hospital.

"Sadly yes," she sighed as she cut her steak. "Our aunt is a worrywart. And worse than Ellise and I combined when it comes to being obnoxious. We tried not to let her know too much about our day-to-day lives. Ellise knew that, and she was using that fact to keep me here," she clicked her tongue in disgust at how dirty Ellise was with her pranks!

"How come you and Ellise shared an aunt when you aren't blood relatives?", he asked out of curiosity for this obnoxious aunt that they are avoiding like the plague.

"It's a long story and an extremely complicated one. To make the story short. We are Asian and we can have an aunt that wasn't our blood relatives that could watch our asses like hawk."

She longingly eyed the glass of wine Luke was drinking. She pulled her IV but she took an antibiotic, and can't have alcohol.

"We are friends but because of one common person in our lives, which was our aunt, Ellise, Dana, and I were stuck with each other even in times like this when I want to kill her!"

Luke laughed at Jess's expression of irritation towards Ellise.

"You are lucky you have good friends." he smiled, putting down his glass of wine. "When I was outed as gay back home, my so-called friends abandoned me."

"They are not real friends! What's wrong with being gay?" she scoffed, "You are a good person. And that's what matters!"

"That's the hard part, Little Miss Jessie," he propped his elbow on the table and cupped his left cheek, cocked his head to gaze at Jess. "You see, I'm not sure if I am a good person."

"What a dummy! No one is!"

He straightened his back upon hearing Jess' statement.

Jess propped both her elbows on the table, cupped her face, and batted her eyelashes on Luke, "Darling, all of us are two sides of a coin. Despite our best efforts, we aren't always good! A moral judgment is made based on the motivation behind your actions as well as their consequences."

He stared at Jess' pretty face that was acting cute in front of his face and laughed softly.

The people who were directly affected by our actions are the ones who can truly judge us. And as a friend, I'd say you are a pretty decent one. I don't care about the opinion of those little bitches back in your hometown. But, the Luke that I know -- I like him a lot!"

He leaned closer to her face, till the tip of their noses bumped with each other, "You like me more than you like Noah?" He wiggled his thick eyebrows up and down.

"Hey, you can't do that to me! Lucille already put me in a tight spot!"

Hey threw his head in laughter.

"Yeah, that was too funny. That kid was forced to reckon with."

"I can't imagine how Noah would handle her in her rebellious teenager phase," she chuckled softly.

"Why, Little Miss Jessie, would you like to be there to see Lucille in her teenage years?"

"Shut up!" She felt her face heat up when she realized from Luke's question that indeed she imagined herself there with Noah and Lucille!

"Noah's Asian genes won't keep him from growing old faster if he has to deal with you and his daughter."

He commented casually but still her face flushed with the notion. She was acting like a giddy teenager. How disgraceful!

"Speaking of Noah, how are you two nowadays. Any progress?"

"He confessed. I said, no." When she saw Luke's widening eyes, she added, "Well, not actually no. I more or less said, I would prefer an open relationship." she grimaced seeing the disapproval in Luke's eyes.

"What are you a high school kid?" he sneered.

"What do you want me to do? He doesn't remember even when we already screw each other again!" she pushed the chair away from the table hastily and with such force that the legs of the chairs scratched the floor with a deaf-defying noise.

"Wait, hold up -- what did you just say?"

He got overwhelmed with the information that Noah confessed, Jess wanted an open relationship and they screwed each other again -- err, sleep with each other!

It was obvious that Jess was fuming and puffing as she stood near the window. Her whole demeanor indicated anger. She has her arms crossed over her chest, almost hugging herself.

"Do you want to talk about it now?" He asked gently because he was familiar with Jess' temper.

"It was just what I said," she said, gritting her teeth.

"That's --

"It's so freaking frustrating! That's what it is!"

She suddenly faced Luke who was startled by the tone of her voice. Her voice was laced with frustration, confusion, and pain.

"I like Noah. I might have already loved him. I don't know. I'd never had any strong emotion towards other men who weren't my family," she mumbled under her breath as she bit her thumb.

"But, how can he expect me to commit to any kind of relationship with him when he doesn't remember me!" She held her palm in front of Luke's face when he was about to open his mouth.

"Don't tell me that I should be honest and tell him the truth."

"I'm not gonna tell you that. I was just going to say that I'm with your side, and I understand your frustration."

"Right?" She said in a whiny voice. "I don't know what to do. Ellise was saying that I should just let Noah break my heart and get over with whatever emotion I have towards him, but, honestly? I'm confused as fuck!"

Her gaze shifted once again to the window. She rubbed her face and heaved a deep sigh of frustration. The corners of her eyes sting from tears she was trying so hard to keep in. The chaos of her emotions filled her chest.

Luke stood next to her in silence. He cast his gaze outside of the window. The buildings in the distance were well-lighted but he has no words to comfort his friend.

He can understand Jess' frustration. He witnessed how Noah acted towards Jess. He can see the man was totally enamored with her, and yet, can't remember her?

Even when they sleep with each other again? He felt a tinge of guilt in his heart, remembering the time he told Jess that to find out if Noah would remember their night, she should just sleep with him again.

She did and he still didn't remember her. Now, she was just in for more suffering.

"I wanted to ask him, you know. I wanted to swallow my pride and just once and for all ask him," her voice was trembling and her tears were rolling on her cheeks.

"But, in what way should I open the conversation? Should I ask him over breakfast? After sex pillow talk?" She faced Luke, "Can I just ask him, hey, do you remember that one time in Midland hotel where we had sex for the first time?"