Disingenuous

13. Doubt

May 23, 2018

"I don't even have a phone!"

Morgan was protesting as Jackson explained that she'd need to stay back while he and Seb ran to a work thing. Jackson still wasn't exactly sure where he was going, but Seb seemed to know. He could be content with that. Seb had also apparently taken the donuts as a peace offering. He wasn't giving any inclination of hard feelings over their bickering. That was normal.

Jackson had spent the morning hanging out with Morgan. He found she was easier to talk to after a few days. Having her around was still scary, but less so. The banter was coming easier. He'd managed a shower before she woke up and he thought he looked a little more put together than he had at the donut place. He hoped that helped with the worrying about him thing that she was doing.

"Why don't you have a phone?" Seb asked her, as if not having a phone was like not having a hand.

"I didn't want mom— Amanda to track me." She said carefully with a dark look at the floor.

Jackson didn't miss the insinuation of that statement at all, which he owed in large part to the fact that he'd made it through that day without getting himself high or spiking his own coffee or anything of the sort. He hadn't given into temptation. He'd dealt with his own thoughts instead.

"Didn't she kick you out?" Jackson looked at her seriously.

Morgan nodded immediately, but Jackson noticed the way she was nervously biting her lip. "I didn't want to give her a chance to change her mind."

Jackson couldn't stop that from setting off something nervous in his mind. That had to be a red flag of some sort, right? He couldn't just ignore how sketchy that sounded. He looked to Seb, who was watching the exchange intently. His face didn't give much away, but Jackson could deduce he was also seeing what Jackson was noticing in Morgan's tone.

"It's complicated," she added.

"You don't think that she would report you missing right?" Jackson inquired. Then he tried to laugh to ease Morgan's tension. Acting suspicious of her wouldn't help. If there was something amiss, he didn't want her to hide it more. Carver never forced answers out of him. Carver always made telling the truth easy, and that's why he was able to make himself tell it even it it was in his vague and disconnected way. "I'm not hiding a fugitive?"

She laughed lightly, taking his cue. "No, she wouldn't do that. She would have to want me back first."

She ended with a frown pointed to the floor. Jackson recognized the request. She wanted him to drop it. He did.

"I'll get you a phone," he promised. He thought he looked as though he was excited by the opportunity to do something for her. He definitely was. It was the same giddiness that had possessed him when he offered to let her drive.

"We can't hide you at this thing," Seb piped up. "You look too much like him anyways. There are going to be pictures. The guys at that meeting don't barely look at any of us, but fans analyze photos. If you show up next to him, it will be too obvious."

"So let's pretend I'm his sister. He has a little sister right?" She suggested.

Jackson closed his eyes and grimaced. He didn't like the images that flashed through his head.

"My mother will see that," he said quietly. "My sister is older than you anyways and I've not seen her since she was a baby, and if my mother sees you..." he trailed off.

He hadn't noticed how weak his voice sounded until that moment. He knew that his family connections were available online. He knew what his sister looked like, which wasn't very much like Morgan anyways. Thinking about that alone made his chest hurt.