Unconditionally

Chapter 12: Tired

A/N: I know I had been pretty consistent in updating this every two weeks and I am sorry that I hadn't updated in four weeks. I recently had to euthanize my cat and it was very difficult for me to find the motivation to write

Viper knew how to manipulate Jaden. He knew what to say, he knew how to say it, he knew when to say it. If Jaden was alone out there, he surely would have fallen into Viper's trap, but just as his friends relied on him, Jaden relied on his friends.

Rae began to feel stable again. Her head was clearer, her heart slower, and her feet felt steadier underneath her. Although, there was still something lurking in her chest.

All the emotions she had been feeling had blended together, making it hard to separate them from each other, except for one. It had started small, easy to ignore, but now it was constant, consistent, and very very loud: love.

She refused to acknowledge it before, shoving it to the back of her mind every single time, but she was too tired now to deny it. The feeling was starting to comfort her with its warmth, quieting the crackle of the static on her skin. The stilling of the noise in her head didn't last long enough before the chill of fear moved in the emptied space. Jesse is a very nice, very perceptive person. While he always seems to know when she needs him, he also knows when Jaden needs him. She is his friend, just like Jaden is. There is nothing else there. Right?

Rae's anxieties didn't have much time to settle in: blinding light surrounded all of them, only dissipating to reveal Duel Academy displaced from its home. Whatever Viper had unleashed didn't intend on leaving any survivors and it wanted to start with them.

The helipad they were on teetered from the final blast of the duel, its base shifting in the sand, before steadying itself at a tilt. Jaden fell to the ground, the lack of adrenaline left his knees weak.

Rae hesitated. She watched everyone else jump to the ground below, seemingly unaffected by the distance of the fall. Heights were never her favorite and the near constant anxiety she had been experiencing wasn't helping.

"It's safe to jump down," Alexis tried to ease her worries. "The sand is soft." She looked from Alexis to the ground then back to Alexis.

"Is...is it cool if I just stay here? I don't think anyone is gonna get me up here." She took a step back from the edge, hoping the distance would calm her nerves. It didn't.

"No, you can't stay there!" Jaden's fatigue was clear in his voice, even though he tried to fight it. "We're not leaving without you!" Rae knew she had to jump, but she really didn't want to. She was already a liability; it'd be a lot worse if she breaks a leg or two.

"Don't worry, I'll catch ya!" She wasn't sure if the racing of her heart as she stepped closer to the edge was because of her fear of height or if it was the way Jesse looked at her. His arms were open and he had a big smile on his face. She tried to fight a smile by biting the inside of her cheek.

"Are you sure you'll be able to catch me?" Her question sounded playful, but it was clear she was terrified.

"Positive!" The confidence in his voice brought some faith to the surface, yet, her knees were still shaking when she closed her eyes and let gravity take her.

She felt Jesse stagger back when he caught her. Her hands clutched the material in front of her, a useless attempt to stop the both of them from falling, but the only thing that hit the ground was her feet. Her white-knuckled grip slowly loosened as her closed eyes opened to Jesse's grinning face.

"I told ya I'd catch ya." She wasn't able to bite back her smile this time. He could feel her anxiety's soft tremors through the hands that rested on his chest, even though she did well to hide it from her face. He considered not letting her go until she stopped shaking, and even though both of them were comfortable, and almost yearning, to stay like that, Jaden collapsing again forced them apart.