Song of the chapter: Gorilla - Bruno Mars

"Isn't this a little too big for me? Are you sure I don't look like a sack or something because I don't feel sexy at all," I asked, examining myself in one of the many mirrors in his room. He's vain like that, not - he was a walking contradiction to Cameron, a total extrovert comfortable in his own golden skin.

He sauntered into the bedroom behind me and hugged me from behind. "You look beautiful, Zoe. It's actually really sexy on you. I want to tear it off you," he mumbled into my neck, his hands moving around my waist.

"You can't do that," I countered. Of course he never listened to me. "Mitch," I said again, trying not to want him more than I already did, "Stop. Please stop kissing my neck!"

I shrieked as his hand now moved in his t-shirt on my unprotected skin. I felt an unmistakable sensation travelling up my spine, betraying my already vulnerable body. "Ple-ase?" I pleaded in a whisper.

Ignoring me, he flung my hair to one side and worked his way down my neck and my spine all the while his fingers doing all the talking. "Don't you want me, Zoe? Because I want you," he whispered back.

I was on my tiptoes now, curling and uncurling them, muttering inaudible things to myself, to him, and purring softly like a cat. "We can't. Not...not again." He continued the journey of his mouth to my lips and lifted me up into his arms after clawing at my clothing.

The shower was on, the steam having fogged up the windows and the doors, creating a mysterious and intense atmosphere.

I slipped in and the hot water slithered down my bare skin. He followed and pressed me against the door, pinning my arms to the glass. He wasn't going to let me go, and in the back of my mind I knew I wanted this. I wanted him.

I jumped up onto him, wrapping my legs around his waist, and I cupped his face in my hands. I kissed him unrelenting, moving my tongue consciously in his mouth, tangling our tongues once, maybe twice. Then we were back against the glass.

The air was heavy with sex, tension, love and lust. I was lusting for his body, lusting for the love that came from having sex with Mitch which then released the sexual tension festering inside the both of us.

We were ourselves this way, and we together in the best possible way. I knew him when we made love, all the contours of his body and the inner corners of his soul. It was an open, honest expression of our deep feelings for each other, feelings that brought us to our nirvana.

"You're so beautiful, Zoe!" he proclaimed at his brink. I pulled him in for a lengthy kiss and my body gave into him. I felt overwhelmed with emotion and love for this creature; also, the exhaustion of showing him how far reaching and great my love was for him.

"I love you, Zoe. I love you so much and I hope you know that I'll never change," he declared, holding me close to him and hugging me under the hot water falling from the shower.

"I know, Mitchell. I love you, too," I replied as he held me in his warm embrace.

...

I snuck out of his room an hour later, racing quickly into the elevators and stealthily past the hotel staff in the lobby. I took the subway across town from Manhattan to Min's and was in my bed by three-thirty. Min arrived an hour later, laughing at what someone, probably Lyle, was saying and sounding wasted.

They were not as drunk as I thought - they had the decency to get freaky in her cosy walk-in closet. He left soon after and she rolled into my bed, his stench all over her, including her hair. I repeat - her hair.

She cuddled up to me like she had always done and we slept snuggled up till Carla drew the curtains at ten a.m., three hours earlier than I wished she had.

"Wake up, girls. You have visitors." I took one of my many pillows and covered my eyes from the blinding light pouring into the room.

"Carla, isn't it a little early?" I asked, groggy. "Can't you stall the visitors?"

"No, Zoe. They said to tell you two to 'Get your arses downstairs looking decent enough'."

"Why do I get the feeling Ty is behind this?"

"Who else would be waking us up now?" I mumbled into my pillow.

"Gosh, that fucking Brit. Is she nocturnal or what? Normal people aren't awake at this time," complained Min, grumpily rolling out of bed and heading towards the bathroom.

I did the same and we tried our best to attain that wake-up no make-up fresh face, barely keeping our eyes open.

Rae and Ty were seated around the kitchen nibbling on freshly baked blueberry muffins and discussing Rae's hookup with Cam the previous night when we stumbled in, pouty faced with pounding heads.

"Finally, you're up," Ty said. "So, you guys, we have a surprise for you."

"My dad got us passes to as many concerts at Coachella on Saturday. Cam, Lyle, Mitch and Aid are gonna be there as well 'cause they have quite a few shows. We're going to LA!" Rae announced, nearly bouncing off her chair.

"Rae, not so loud. My head hurts from last night. I feel like that hippy moron from the bar spiked my drinks," cried Min, clutching her head as she sat beside Ty. I made us four steaming cups of coffee while Rae ironed out all the details.

"So we will be staying at our beach house in Malibu and we're leaving tonight. The guys said they're gonna meet up with us at the house to chill. Get your shit together, do some last minute shopping for desert essentials and all that jazz 'cause take-off is in T minus 8 hours."

"Okay, cool. So what is this I hear of you and Cam hooking up last night?" I asked, perched on the kitchen counter. "What did Queen K do this time?"

She recounted the tale of the two obsessed lovers and their many quarrels. Apparently Kira was bitching to Cam the whole night about his friendship with Rae and how it made her jealous. She was even throwing shade, the poor thing, grinding up on any random guy her skinny ass attracted on the dance floor.

Rae, being the Rae Campbell-Davies we know and love anyways, got Cam to leave with her earlier than everyone else.

"I went home with him and we smoked a little, made out a little and fell asleep to Nirvana. He made me cereal in the morning before he left and thanked me for being there for him."

"He didn't even try to get into your underwear, the sweet lad. You should know he's always had the biggest crush on you, Rae. He told me that day when I introduced you guys," confessed Ty, who had been best friends with the band since the very beginning.

"Yeah. He told me, too," I joined in.

"How come I didn't know this? I thought our friendship was purely platonic because I kinda crushed on him for a while after we met," Rae revealed, smiling subtly to herself.

"You mean you obsessed over him! You even had posters of him and Insta-stalked him for quite a long time. You love him, Rae. I see it in the way you look at him. Your eyes twinkle and you blush. She blushes, people," Min declared.

They had been roommates before Rae moved into her own apartment off-campus and were childhood best friends.

"Okay, okay. For argument's sakes, let's say I do like him. He has a girlfriend, a crazy girlfriend. Don't forget she stole his guitar when they were in Germany like two months ago. She has some real issues and I don't get why he keeps going back to her."

"You have real issues too, Rae. Doesn't mean he can't love you," Tyler shrugged knowingly.

"He feels sorry for her, Rae. Finn died on her last year so he feels he can't leave her, too. I feel sorry for her sometimes," I added.

"If we're being honest with ourselves, she's just a clingy, stanky ass whore who needs to seriously re-evaluate her life and stop being so damn psychotic," Min said, heading upstairs to get ready. Thank heavens for her bluntness.