JESSICA'S POV.Things were going well.Really well for now. I mean, I'd made friends asides Julia and Daniel and I had come to an understanding. We weren't bickering or wanting to chop each other's heads off, instead we were kind of in my opinion in the flirting phase. I knew the reasonable thing to do was not to interpret Daniel's friendliness as flirting, but I couldn't help how my heart felt. How was I supposed to believe that his eyes lingering on mine longer than he used to, and how I caught him smiling at me more times than I could count recently—was just him being friendly and not flirty? So, in essence what I'm saying is what more could I've asked for? Things were going great. All we needed to do for this agreement to work was to keep up this friendly or flirty energy without it ever growing into anything else. Any other thing would've make this marriage unbearable. From what I'd experienced so far with this—we were better off as friends than enemies. I got out of bed with a
JESSICA'S POV.Things didn't go as planned. I'd wanted to be the one coming down the stairs gracefully as Daniel watched with his eyes bulging out of the sockets, but no. Daniel wasn't downstairs when I got there. Instead things happened in the opposite. I was the one who stood with a dry throat as he sauntered down the stairs with his handsome face in a smirk. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and very dark denim jeans that hugged his thighs perfectly, and his hair was bunched into a black hat that had "King" written on it. The cap was right. He looked like a king, even in this simple attire. Oh God. I was done for. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," Daniel says once he reaches me, and I roll my eyes. "I'll pass," I crossed my arms and watched as his eyes followed the movement before he cleared his throat and looked away. Okay. Awkward."You ready?" He wiped his palms on his jeans, starring right at the wall instead of me. "Yeah I am," I touched my hair to make sure it was in
DANIEL'S POV.Jessica had really gotten on my nerves. I walked away from the party to the balcony with my blood boiling. Just a few minutes of going to get a drink with Alex and she'd already found a random asshole to dance with, even when I'd specially warned her not to do that. And then what did she make me look like in front of everyone? A jealous asshole husband who couldn't put a leash on his wife and stormed away like a jerk.Shit. That made me angry, but you know what made me more angry? It was seeing Jessica in that asshole's hands as they laughed and danced together. It wasn't even like she was really mine or anything, but I felt mad with fury anyways. I really wished it was just my stupid male ego acting up and not anything else, because at this point my feelings confused the hell out of me. I was suddenly transported back to the scene where I stood at the edge of the crowded room, my heart pounding with a mix of anger and jealousy as I watched Jessica dancing with that guy
DANIEL'S POV.As I walked away from Jessica, the sting of our argument still fresh in my mind, I couldn't help but feel a mix of frustration and guilt. I had come to this party with the intention of having a good time, but now everything had changed. I needed to find Alex and let him know that we would be leaving, but as I scanned the room, he was nowhere to be seen.I made my way back to the main area of the party, the music pounding in my ears, drowning out my thoughts. The room was now filled with a sea of people—making me wonder just how many people Alex knew—their laughter and chatter blending together into a cacophony of sound. I felt a sense of detachment as I stood there, an observer amidst the chaos.My eyes darted around, searching for any sign of Alex. I noticed groups of friends talking and laughing, couples dancing and swaying to the rhythm of the music. But Alex was nowhere to be found. I felt a knot tightening in my stomach, a sense of unease settling over me. Why wasn'
JESSICA''S POV. I lay in bed after the emotional talk with Daniel with my mind swirling with different thoughts. The one that stood out amongst the others was the memories that were flooding back in my mind, of the orphanage days. You know, growing up in an orphanage, there was always this constant feeling of being invisible. It was as if I was a tiny speck in a vast universe, lost and forgotten. Day after day, I watched as families walked in, their hearts filled with love for the children they were going to take home. But somehow, that love never seemed to find its way to me.Loneliness became my closest companion. It whispered in my ear, telling me that I wasn't good enough, that I wasn't deserving of love. It stole away my self-esteem, piece by piece, until all I was left with was a hollow shell of insecurities.I remembered the orphanage, as a place that was supposed to be a haven for children like me. But instead, it became a breeding ground for my low self-esteem. It was there
DANIEL'S POV. It was the fourth day of our final week in Hawaii and I must say things had been great. Jessica and I had gotten even closer and had gotten accustomed to three things. Watching movies together every night, making foreign dishes together every afternoon, and lastly sharing our playlists. Though my mind still couldn't stop thinking it would've been better if we were kissing and cuddling instead. Over the past days, I'd gotten even more obsessed with Jessica. Her sweet smile whenever she sang Mason Jason's lyrics, kept me up all night, wondering what I was going to do the next day to make her smile again. Her laugh whenever she found something that most times wasn't funny to me, in a movie, remained ingraved in my head whenever we said goodnight. I wanted to wrap my hands around her and protect he from all her fears and insecurities. I wanted to spoil her with all the things she'd never thought of having before, no matter the cost. I wanted to be the one for her, the one
JESSICA'S POV.I was having the most fun I'd ever had in my entire life. As I stepped onto the sandy shores, the vibrant energy of the beach party hit me like a wave crashing against the rocks. The air was filled with laughter, music, and the scent of saltwater. I couldn't help but smile, feeling a surge of excitement coursing through my veins. This was my first time ever at a beach party and I was determined to make the most of it.I snuck a glance at Daniel and saw him staring at the sky like he was thinking really hard about something and a smile played on my lips. He was cute when he was deep in thought. Daniel looked dashing in his casual attire, his dark hair tousled by the ocean breeze. I couldn't help but feel a surge of desperation to reach out my hands and fix his hair. Show these other girls that had been looking at him that he was mine and not up for grabs. Despite the circumstances that brought us together, we had managed to forge a genuine friendship over the past few
JESSICA'S POV. The crackling bonfire cast dancing shadows across the faces of the gathered crowd, while the warm glow of the flames reflected in our eyes. I sat on a weathered log, feeling the heat seep into my skin as I watched Daniel sip on a bottle of beer, casually speaking with a scrawny looking guy beside him. Laughter and hushed whispers filled the air, blending with the distant sound of waves crashing against the shore.As the bottle was placed and it was settled, the group's attention shifted to the next challenge—Truth or Dare. My heart fluttered nervously, anxious about what the game had in store for us. I had never been good at hiding my emotions, and the thought of being put on the spot made my palms sweat. But I couldn't back out now; I had to play along. The link haired girl—whose name I'd learnt was Makayla—always the daredevil, volunteered to go first. She spun the empty beer bottle in the center of our makeshift circle, its neck pointed coincidentally right at Dani