𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗚𝗘 (JESS MARIANO)

05

"so what's the plan, Tea?" jess asked, confused why he was holding chalk and police tape.

more confused how the girl in front of him managed to get her hands on police tape.

"lie down." she instructed, pointing at the pavement in front of Doose's Market.

"what?" jess' head snapped up to meet teagans gaze.

"just trust me." she told him, impatiently.

"i don't tend to trust people who i met two days ago." he stated, completely deadpan.

"just lie down, Danes." she rolled her eyes, unsure if kirk was attempting to be town security again and was headed over with his torch to bust the two.

"fine. but the next time luke lectures me, i'm dragging you down with me." he pointed at her before following the bossy girls instructions.

"oh, like you don't already do that." she retorted while grabbing a white piece of chalk.

"so what is the plan?" he asked, lying on his stomach, staring down the street as teagan drew around his body.

"i'm murdering you." she chuckled continuing to outline his body. "we're just gonna freak Taylor out a bit, it's funny when he gets all antsy."

"right, and where'd you get you get the tape?" he asked.

"my foster dads a cop." she stated, watching as jess' face contorted into fear.

"relax, Danes. i'm kidding. a halloween store, idiot." she laughed.

"ah, so not a psycho." he noted.

"i wouldn't be so sure yet, you don't know me well enough."

"another threat, Tea?"

"shut up." she playfully rolled her eyes at the boy.

when teagan fell silent, jess studied her face as she concentrated.

'she looks cute when she's focusing on something.' he thought as she slightly furrowed her brows and pouted her lips as she was drawing.

he frowned when he realised what he had thought of. this was a girl he met just over twenty-four hours ago, and was now risking being arrested for a prank because he thought she was cute.

not normal for him.

"all done!" she snapped him out of his thoughts and motioned for him to stand up.

"help me with the tape." she continued as she passed one end of the tape to him and started to unwind it.

"so foster dad? what happe-" he was cut off before he could finish asking her anything.

"no!" she snapped, not looking him in the eye

"no what? you don't even know what i was going to ask!" he retorted

"yes i do, and it's none of your business. i hardly know you." she shut him down, still avoiding his gaze.

"alright, alright." he mumbled, realising it must be a touchy subject.

"finished." she ripped the tape off and stood back to admire her work.

"okay, we better go before anyone sees." teagan sighed, gathering up the tools she used.

"hey! jess! teagan!" a voice called out to them. their heads snapped up to the figure, recognising who it was immediately.

"oh shit! luke! he's gonna kill us!" teagan exclaimed, hitting jess on the arm.

"would you stop hitting me! and come here." he grabbed her hand running in the direction of luke, to dissuade him from discovering their crime, before running straight past the man and towards the diner.

~

"why did we come here? he's gonna find us." teagan complained as they burst through the door of luke's, still holding onto the boys hand.

"because if we're here, he's not gonna find the stuff we put outside Doose's." he shot back, in the same tone as teagans.

the door burst open and the two teens jumped apart, each holding part of their equipment behind their backs.

"what were you two up to?" luke eyed the two suspiciously.

"nothing, i was just walking home and bumped into Danes here." she pointed to the boy next to her. "and then some scary man shouted our names and we ran for our lives!" the girl was quick to come up with a lie.

jess could've come up with something just as quick but his u clue was more likely to believe her anyway.

the man held his suspicious look for a few more seconds before he sighed. "fine. i don't even wanna know what's behind your backs."

teagan let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, smiling at her boss.

"jess." he called. "get her home safe." he told him, chucking the keys to his truck to him.

"oh my pleasure!" jess replied, sarcastically. catching the keys with ease and heading for the door.

"let's go, Tea!" he called to the girl behind him, who was hesitant to leave as she wanted to talk to her boss.

"hey kid." luke called to the girl as she walked past him. "i didn't mean-" he started.

"no, it's okay. i get it." she cut him off and gave him a sweet smile.

he smiled back and pulled her in for a side hug. "still, it's not your fault." teagan gladly reciprocated the hug and continued walking towards the door.

"come on, i'm not waiting forever!" jess complained from outside the diner.

"you have no patience." teagan replied as she walked past him. "and i'm driving." she grabbed the keys from his hands, smirking.

"no, you're not. my uncles truck, i'm driving." he retorted, snatching the keys back.

"are all Danes men this bossy?" she laughed.

                                         ~

most of their journey was silent except from the few directions teagan would blurt out every few minutes.

"i never met them. my parents i mean. i've been in the system since i was a baby. i don't usually tell people but since you asked, i just thought.-" she trailed off, her eyes fixed onto the dashboard.

jess eyed her for a moment, watching as she seemed closed up talking about her family.

"i, uh, never met my dad. and my mom obviously shipped me off to luke. so, guess we both have a shit family." he told her, for some reason, wanting her to feel comfortable talking about her family with him.

he pulled up to her house, still closely watching her as she turned away from him as he spoke about family.

"at least you got two people who want you here." he nodded towards the house, hoping he'd get some sort of reaction out of her.

she let out a short laugh. "sure, this is family number five. at least you were sent to someone your actually related to." she told him, a sad smile stuck into her face.

she took a deep breath in. "anyway, you don't care." she shook her head, not wanting to burden someone who didn't even know her with family problems she carried with her.

the boy watched, a frown on his face as she stepped out of the truck and shut the door behind her.

she stuck her head into the window and gave him a genuine smile. "goodnight, Danes." she walked towards her door. "and don't snitch on me." she quickly looked back to him.

"have a little more faith in me, Tea."  he chuckled, waiting to see her shut the door behind her before driving away.

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authors note
yes i moved the murder prank but it works, just trust me.
enjoy & tell me what you think! :)