Returning Red

#8: Bucket Lists.

When Jason smiled with his lips pursed, it was more to himself than to me. He turned to the blank television screen without saying anything. I scoffed and he turned to my questioning eyes. "Classic you."

"If you say so," I shrugged standing up.

"Now you know where we'd be on this New Year, whether you make it or not." We mirror the same sad expression. He quickly clears his throat and changes the vibe between us like the expression on his face. "Where's Morgan?"

"The head housekeeper?" I frown and he nods. "May sent all the staff home. Why?"

Jason's lips spread into a wide smirk. "She's my dessert here."

I scoff a shock the same time Jason bursts out laughing on the couch. He stares at my expression only to laugh more loudly as he holds his stomach. I groan as I make my way near him but I accidentally knock over the basket with movie CDs and trip on it. I fall in between the couch Jason is sitting on and the coffee table.

"Fuck," he stops laughing for a second to curse and the moment his eyes find mine, he falls on the couch laughing. "Holy shit, you've still got the clumsiness under your skin."

"Shut up," I groan and when I stand up, I hear something crack under my feet. "Oh, no," I pick up the Harry Potter case and pull out the CD. There is a shining crack through the disc.

"And you broke Harry Potter," Liam whined as he instantly spotted it from the staircase. He walked to the couch, his eyebrows knit together. Jason was still laughing and I couldn't help but feel bad.

"Who uses CDs when we have Netflix and Amazon Prime, Lee?" I whine at him, trying my best to defend myself.

Liam's eyes look at me in annoyance. "People who are still old school. It's not mine."

I scoff a laugh as I turn the case in my hand. "Then whose is--" My eyes find his name scribbled at the bottom right corner of the case. Of course, he still keeps the CDs. Why did I take so long to figure it out?

Jason's laughter has dialed down and the silence around me helps me replay the last things he said to me before he left my house. My skin tingles with all the burning I feel. I wanted to yell at him for slapping his rude words on my face.

I hold the cracked disc in both my hands and break it into two distinct pieces. I break the two into four and four into eight. That's the maximum I can destroy the disc. I haul all the pieces together and keep them on the floor before stomping on them eight times.

"Okay, okay, alright," Jason holds his hand in defense as he backs me up and takes the pieces from the floor. "Easy tiger, you got this. It's alright."

Jason handed the pieces to Liam who for all I know threw them away forever and ever. I plopped on the couch beside Jason, hissing, and pouting. When Liam joined us, I knew he was trying so hard to bite back a smile. He was looking everywhere apart from me while I stared at him. A second later, his eyes met mine and he looked at Jason. That was it. They broke the silence by laughing like animals, careless, loud, and too offending.

I'd missed this laugh. The kind of laugh that made people question our sanity. Jason nudged me until my lips curled upward and they laughed, even more, clapping their hands and holding their stomach as they closed their eyes and let their heads fall back amid all the banter.

"Wow, someone established the fact that someone hates someone," Liam muttered slowly.

"Hate is an understatement," I muttered back.

"You're right," Liam said calming himself down. "You can hate all you want. It's anyway stupid to expect people to forgive so easily."

My smile fell because I was unsure if that statement was directed at me or themselves. I knew he wasn't referring to the hate I have for Austin. When he mentions forgiveness, I can't help but feel guilty for it. I was on the receiving end.