"The necklace is stunning," my mom said when she saw it a little later that morning.

"It is." I touched the delicate necklace. My heart fluttered every time I thought about what Adonis had so thoughtfully chosen for me.

We were sitting in the living room painting our nails. Alex had left with Adonis earlier and my dad had gone out, so it left me alone with my mom.

"Who got you that?" She concentrated on painting her toenail a deep red colour with nail polish.

"Gray," I said, trying not to sound breathless. I was pretty sure my mom already knew that I had a thing for him, but it wasn't something I wanted to admit out right.

She stilled and looked up with a faint smile.

"That was nice of him," she said, and I nodded my head as I surveyed my painted toenails. Instead of red, I'd gone for a baby pink colour.

"Are you going out later?" My mom closed the nail polish bottle and set it down on the coffee table.

"Yeah, I'm going to Reece for the night," I said.

We were planning a sleepover. We were going to watch all our favourite romantic movies while eating too much junk food.

"She'll be picking me up soon," I said as I finished painting my last toe.

""Have fun then."

It surprised me. She had said nothing more about Adonis and my necklace. A slight pounding in my head made me rub my forehead. I was getting a slight headache.

In the kitchen I got some headache tablets before I heard Reece hooting impatiently outside my house. She was so impatient.

By the time we got to her house, my headache had eased slightly, and I looked forward to a nice evening with my friend.

"Where did you get that?" she asked when she finally spotted my new jewelry hanging around my neck.

I smiled at her as I touched it.

She touched the small pendant with a finger. "It's beautiful."

Her eyes lifted to mine. "He totally likes you."

I rolled my eyes and pulled away from her. "No, he doesn't." I dumped my overnight bag on her bed.

"A guy doesn't buy a girl jewelry unless he cares about her," she said as she plopped down beside my bag.

"I didn't say he didn't care. I'm the little sister of his best friend, of course he cares about me," I said with my hands on my hips.

Remembering all the times he'd defended me and looked after me when someone had tried to bully me, he cared for me. He just didn't care for me in the way I wanted him to.

Reece smiled in response and shook her head at me.

"If he liked me in that way, why hasn't he ever said anything?" I asked her, feeling like we'd had the same conversation repeatedly. "And why did his have his tongue down the throat of another girl?"

That had hurt the most. The intimate connection between him and someone else had been enough to make me see the situation without my fairytale glasses on.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "All I'm telling you is I see the way he looks at you when he doesn't think anyone else is watching."

I rolled my eyes at her. She was my friend, and a little biased. I believed she saw what she wanted to see.

"I don't want to talk about him anymore," I said, dropping to sit down beside her. "I came here for chick flicks and junk food."

"Fine." She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a gentle hug.

While we were watching 'Sleepless in Seattle' in Reece's bedroom, I felt my head pound again. We'd showered and gotten dressed in our pyjamas.

I closed my eyes for a moment and let out a sigh. Lately, I'd been suffering from more headaches that occasionally turned into migraines. My mother had taken me to the doctor and gotten some medication to manage them. The doctor had told me that stress could be the reason behind the migraines.

Finishing high school had been stressful, but trying to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life was even more daunting.

I rubbed my forehead as I opened my eyes and focused my eyes on the TV.

"You okay?" Reece asked, noticing my discomfort.

"I'm getting a headache," I said, trying to concentrate on the movie even though the pounding in my head felt like it was worsening.

"You want some painkillers?" she offered, but I shook my head. The painkillers I'd taken earlier seemed to have worn off.

"No, it's okay. I think I'm just tired." I yawned.

Before the movie ended, I drifted off to sleep. I woke up with my head pounding so hard it felt like someone was hitting me on the head with a massive hammer. It was a migraine, and I needed my medication that was at home.

It was dark, but as I groaned and sat up. Reece woke up and switched on her sidelight.

"What's wrong?" Still half asleep as she rubbed her eyes.

The sudden light seemed to hurt my eyes, I blinked a few times trying to adjust to the light. I closed my eyes as I held my head.

"Sorry, I'm not feeling very well," I said. "I've got a migraine."

"Do you want some painkillers?" she asked.

"Normal painkillers wont help. I needed my migraine mediation that I left at home." I groaned when a sharp pain cut through my front temple.

"I can take you home," Reece said, but I stopped her with a hand to her wrist.

"Call my brother," I said instead. Alex could come and get me.

"Are you sure?" she asked as she reached for her phone.

"Yes," I murmured. It was late, but he would be either out or at home playing video games.

"Hi," Reece said while she held her phone next to her ear.

"Oh, okay...it's Lacey...she isn't feeling well."

There was silence.

"Okay." She ended the call. "Gray is on his way to pick you up."

I wanted to ask why but when the pounding increased I didn't care. All that mattered was dealing with the pain long enough to get home to take my medication.

It felt like forever before I heard Adonis arrive.

"Can you stand?" he murmured, and I opened an eye to look at him.

"I think so," I whispered as I pushed the covers off and sat up before opening up the other eye. His concerned face swam before me.

"It's okay," he whispered before he reached for me gently and carefully scooped me into his arms. I buried my head against his chest just as I felt a sudden pain slice through my head at the slight jostle.

If I hadn't been in so much pain, I would have revelled in the feel of the intimate action of being held so close in his powerful arms, but the only thing that mattered was the pounding in my head that vibrated through me.

He carried me to his car, trying his best not to cause me more pain. He eased me slowly into the back seat before he closed the door. I groaned and then I heard him get into the car.

By the time we got home, my migraine had worsened. Adonis helped me out of the car and I pushed away from him. I made it to the flower bed in front of the house and dropped to my knees as I threw up.

"It's okay." Adonis held my hair off my face. The soft tone reached the part of me that had loved him for too long.