Waeup Call

XII: Blake

Warm air and the scent of spices wafting into her nose pulled Blake from sleep. She felt herself smile as she stretched, then scrubbed sleep from her eyes. Her dreams had been very good dreams. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember anything specific. Something about her bed felt off, though.

Blinking open still-sleepy eyes, Blake found her room much brighter than usual, and pulled the covers up over her head with a growl, only to squeal when doing so pulled the warmth off of her feet.

A feminine laugh—more of a cackle really—caused Blake to sit up and actually keep her eyes open this time.

She was not in her room.

Eyes going wide, Blake looked down at herself before releasing a heavy sigh. She was wearing clothes. Mostly.

"Here, you need this."

Blake looked to where Chloe sat across the couch, and took the mug offered from her. It was warm, but not too hot to handle. The tea's heat warmed her hands and her body as she took a sip.

"Why am I—" Blake started, then cut off as she remembered the previous night. Her inability to sleep leading to a late-night talk with Liam, "Oh."

Chloe snorted, "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Did we wake you up?" Blake asked.

Chloe shrugged, "Got a little cold and woke to find myself without a snugglebug. You weren't loud, but I couldn't help but listen after the little bit I did hear."

Blake sighed, "How much—?"

She cut off again, eyes darting to Marie's door, then back to Chloe.

"Don't worry, they're gone," Chloe assured her, "I had a nice talk with Liam and let Marie think I was your fuckbuddy. She is fun to mess with." She paused, taking a sip from her own mug, "And to answer your question, I heard enough to know that you didn't do that boy justice when you told me about him. He's a unicorn if I ever saw one, Miss I-forgot-to-tell-my-best-friend-about-Liam's-cooking. Just for that I ate your French Toast. It was delicious."

Blake stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"You need to get your shit together with him, Blake," Chloe continued, tone sobering, "If you want him as a friend, he'll probably end up being a better one than I am, but you'll need to set some serious ground rules, the first being that you're always second to Marie or whatever girl he's with. If you can't settle for that, then you need to decide if you want him enough to lose Marie as a friend and hurt him by making him choose."

Blake hung her head. Leave it to Chloe to be blunt.

"Sucks both ways, doesn't it?"

Blake nodded, "Yeah. Fuck. Fucking fuck!"

She took another, somewhat angry, sip of her tea, then looked to Chloe, "Any ideas on where to start?"

"Seeing if you can go at least a week without getting off to him sounds like a good place to start. Though after seeing him in person, I don't envy you."

Blake glared at her friend, "Thanks."

Chloe laughed, "Sorry, couldn't resist. Seriously though. Try going a week where he's just a friend. No teasing him, let him talk about Marie if he wants, wear some baggy clothes, just treat him like a friend."

"And if that doesn't work?"

Chloe grinned, "Then call me and I'll help you turn up the heat. That boy cares about you, and you know he would be all over your ass if Marie wasn't in the picture. He might really love her, in which case, you have no chance, or he might just be that good of a person, in which case you need to show him that and seduce him."

Blake stuck out her tongue. She knew she was hot, and she knew how to be sexual, but she always felt awkward when she tried to be sexy or sensual. It always seemed like she was trying too hard.

"I'll try," Blake said, "But I'm pretty sure you're going to end up hearing from me next week. And I'll need all the help I can get."

Blake sipped at her tea again, curling up in the blanket Liam had laid over her the previous night. Already she could tell how difficult the next week was going to be.

A/N: Blake has a choice to make...what do you think she'll do?