I'm not happy with the ending of the last chapter, mainly the way I wrote it. But I like the idea, so let's hope I don't trash the book by going through with it. Also, I feel myself becoming repetitive, so hopefully it adds a spark of interest for you guys. Merry Christmas, happy (late) Hanukkah, or, simply, happy Saturday night! xx

—

Ana and Ben did not sleep together. In fact, they did not sleep at all. When they arrived back to Ben's tiny apartment, he poured her a tall glass of water, offered her too-big pajamas, and they sat on his couch until the sun was conducting the birds in an early-spring ballad.

Ana hadn't connected with someone so quickly since she had met Laura. It felt good to finally find someone new who she could share every single thought on her mind- including Jeremy.

Of course, Ana never told Ben the name of her lover boy- as Ben called him.

But Ben offered great advice to her, based on what she had told him.

In return, she gave him her own advice for his anonymous friend whom he was attempting to nurse back to sobriety and civility.

Together, they pulled their first all-nighter. There was some sort of rush they felt when they looked at the clock and it saw it was nearing 6 am. Neither of them felt remotely tired and ran through the rest of the morning until Ana's stomach growled.

Both of them laughed, only slightly parched and out of breath from telling each other every single little thing they could manage to.

"Do you want to go and get breakfast somewhere? I can cook, but I know this little cafe by where I work. It's amazing."

"I could definitely go for a breakfast burrito, so I'll choose the latter." Ana stood from his little couch, lifting her arms high up in the air in a stretch. She groaned slightly as her back cracked and Ben laughed.

He stood up, too, and carried their empty water cups to the his sink. "I say we go in our pj's."

"I second that." Ana gave him a thumbs up before excusing herself to his bathroom to freshen up.

She wasn't sure if the connection she felt with Ben was romantic or not. In her own personal opinion, she couldn't care less of it was or not. She was simply happy to be out with someone other than Jeremy or Laura.

She needed friends- possibly a boyfriend, one who she could actually be in a stable and not at all sinful relationship.

She laughed at this thought as she unpackaged a fresh toothbrush Ben had directed her to.

As Ana flicked off the light in Ben's bathroom, she suddenly thought, Where does Ben even work?

She voiced this reoccurring thought when she rejoined Ben in his living room, where he was folding up the quilts they had used over the night.

"Well, obviously, I'm an actor slash singer slash the occasional dancer."

"Right, Broadway, the big sha-bang." Ben laughed at Ana's jazz hands.

"The show I'm currently in is called Newsies. I'm one of the leads, Davey Jacobs." He continued on.

Ana knew now that the drunken and divorced man Ben had been telling her about was her 'lover boy.' Jeremy Jordan was close friends with her newest friend.

No matter what she did, she could not get rid of Jeremy. Not even for a day.

But, of course, she didn't tell Ben Fankhauser this.

—

As soon as Ana slammed the list on the wooden table between them, Jeremy folded it up, shoved it in his pocket, and studied it over a cold beer.

He resisted getting drunk out of his mind because he knew how he could be under more than 1 influence.

So, he bought one, single can of beer from the super market by his apartment, climbed into bed with his penguin pajama bottoms on, and shunned away every electronic in his possession.

As much as he hated to say it, he was falling for Ana. Who wouldn't? She had a way of twirling your hair so tight around her finger that your mind, body, and soul get spindled up in it.

Of course, she didn't know she had this type of influence on anyone.

Ana, as he had gotten to know her, was extremely self conscious of everything. Of her body, her inner thoughts, her opinions, who she voted for in the last election, her photos, especially.

He wanted to do everything to make her feel like the most confident woman in the world.

But, now that she was tying up the ends of their relationship, he knew he wouldn't be able to do much more than love her under each other's sheets.

But so be it. Because little contact with Ana was much better than no co tact at all.

If he lost her, he knew he would fall back down in the black hole he'd been in for a few months prior to her literal crash into his life.

-

Ana Devit

Jeremy Jordan