Crawl To Me

21- Unspoken Tension

Ren

That was one of the worst conversations of my life. The highlight of the conversation is that even Jeremiah doesn't know anything about Stefen's connection with Jacklyn. I guess I have to figure it out myself. I was skipping the stairs to reach Jacklyn's room. Jeremiah said he had some work to take care of, so he left, warning me to take good care of Jacklyn. Warning me? Me? Because of this woman, I don't know what I'll be facing in the future either. I opened the door slowly and saw Jacklyn sitting on her window couch, staring into space. I went near her and said,

"Can those thoughts be stopped for the night?"

She looked at me with the same weak eyes.

"Daddy...."

She whined, looking at me.

"Hmm?"

"What did Jerry say?"

"Maybe tomorrow."

"Why doesn't anyone say anything to me?"

"Because there's no need for you to know anything."

She huffed, looking at her lap angrily.

I sat beside her, leaning my back on the window. I saw her phone ringing.

"Princess, someone is calling you."

She instantly reached for the phone.

"Hello, Kavin."

She shut her eyes, face-palming herself. I don't know what he said, but she looked terrified.

"I was... sleeping, Kavin."

"--"

"No! I am not lying."

"--"

"When?"

"--"

"Ok, bye, Kavin."

"--"

With that, she cut the call.

"What was it, Princess?"

"Holy shit! 21 missed calls, Ren."

"From whom?"

"From whom what? From Kavin. He's going to kill me when he returns."

"I'll talk to him."

"What will you talk to him about?"

She questioned anxiously.

"About us."

I stood up from the seat and walked towards her.

She shook her head, saying,

"No, no, no, you won't talk to him."

I kept walking towards her, but she kept backing away with every step I took.

"Princess, calm down."

"No, Ren, you don't understand. I can't face him. I... I..."

She was stuttering badly. I grabbed her waist with one hand, kissing her forehead, and said,

"Okay, nothing to worry about. I won't. Not right now, but someday. I don't think I can have you without your brother giving me your hand, isn't that right, love?"

"I don't know."

She relaxed in my hold and leaned her head on my chest.

"What did you eat for dinner, Princess?"

"Pizza."

I got a call from Jordan. As much as I loved being here, I needed to take the call. I made her lie on the bed and went to the balcony.

---

Time Skip

Laying on the bed with Jacklyn peacefully sleeping in my arms made me feel relaxed for a few moments, but there was a lot running through my mind.

Suddenly, the door opened. It was Jeremiah, casually walking into the room. It was dark, so maybe that's why he hadn't seen me yet.

He reached for the bed lamp.

"What in the fuck, Ren! I said to take care of her, not to sleep with her."

"Dude, she's my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend of what? At least one day."

"She is anyway."

From the sounds of our bickering, Jacklyn stirred in my arms. I was terrified when she rubbed her eyes. It had been a huge task to get her to sleep, and I couldn't do it again. I switched off the lamp and slowly slid off the bed to avoid disturbing her.

Jeremiah went out of the room, and I followed him. We sat at the kitchen island. Jeremiah grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge for us.

"Why wasn't she letting me tell Kavin?"

"They fought the day after you stayed here."

I knew what happened that night. There was a long pause. I remembered the days when we used to be together.

"It's been a long time."

I said, looking at Jeremiah. He just nodded. Jeremiah was never the type to express his feelings.