Turning life around

Fighting

Tina's POV:

Once I heard what happened from Luke, I immediately went to see Grace and Beatrice.

I find her standing next to Jake, and my smile widens even more.

- Bea! I heard what happened! How did you even get him to leave?!

She chuckles.

- I may or may not have used the "my best friend's a lawyer" card among the lines.

"But I'm not a lawyer yet."

"He doesn't need to know that", she replies with a small smirk. 

 - Well, what you did was impressive. But you're totally crazy! 

"She's right", Jake interferes. "It wasn't the safest option."

"For who, exactly? The girl was about to get drugged!", Beatrice answers.

Grace jumps in.

- Lacy. That's her name, she informs us.

On the other hand, Beatrice and Jake were still in the middle of their conversation, but even I could feel the tension building up.

- But who knows what he could've done to you!

"I wasn't even close to danger. She was!"

- And you literally went to the source of it! You could've told us! We would've taken care of him.

"But I did", Beatrice fires back. "And I think I did a great fucking job."

For a minute, heavy silence floats between them, till Jake eventually broke it.

- Look, all I'm saying is that there were other ways to handle it, where you didn't put yourself in such situation.

"It would've been too late, Jake." she says dryly. "If my date was gonna put drugs in my drinks without my consent, I would damn hell appreciate it if someone warned me!"

- But what if something else happened?

"Then you would've seen it, since you were staring at my back the whole time!" Beatrice exclaims. She scoffs. "God, I even threatened him with it!"

Her arms fall back to her sides. "You know what, I don't even know why I'm even arguing with you about it. Grace and I did the right thing."

She leaves his side and grabs her purse from a bench then heads towards me.

"I'm gonna leave, okay? Can you catch a ride with someone else?"

- Yeah, sure.

I could see in her eyes how tired and frustrated she was. So I let her be. She does need rest. Afterall, it was a long ass day.

She says goodbye to everyone and takes off. When she's out of sight, I get closer to Jake.

"What the hell's wrong with you!", I whisper-shout.

- Oh God, are you too gonna yell at me? he says in an exasperated voice.

- Till you stop being an asshole, yes! 

"What did I even do?!"

- Do you think that guy drugged Lacy for fun? Who knows what he could've done to her! It might simply go from mocking her to other kinds of stuff. 

- And that's exactly my point, Tina. I was just worried, is that so bad?!

- What B did wasn't so easy. She was conscient of the danger, and that's exactly why she went for Lacy! That needed balls, and she didn't need for you to tell her that it was not a good idea.

"But that's not what I meant!"

- It did look like it, though. Just... be honest with her. I can't find anything else to say.

His expression changes. He looks lost in thought, but I can tell that he got it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to Beatrice's POV:

I hear a knock on the door around an hour after I get home. As I was sitting with Four on the couch, I pick him up from my lap and hold him.

I open the door, only to find the person I least expected.

His tall figure was standing on the porch, framed by the starlit sky.

- Hey.

- Hi. Come in.

I head back to the couch. He can close the door by himself, it won't kill him.

I put Four back on my lap, and he's immediately into cuddling position. That cute ball of fur. My fingers go through his small hair, and I don't stop when Jake takes a seat next to me.

He pushes the book I was reading to sit closer, but picks it up when he notices the cover. A small smile gets to his lips. "Harry Potter. Nice."

I simply nod. This series is one of my favorite. I keep re-reading them from now and then, and tonight I just wanted to lay off a little, get a bit of rest.

Jake notices my behavior, and sighs. He puts the book down and looks me in the eye.

"Look, Beatrice. I'm sorry. I realize now why you got upset. I talked with Tina and-"

"It took for your sister to call you out to figure it out?" I cut him off.

- No. It wasn't about was I was saying to you, back there. It's how I said it. All I ever wanted to tell you was that it wasn't safe, and that I was worried about you. I just expressed my concern, and I'm sorry it came out the wrong way. I don't think what you did was stupid. I actually think that it was amazing. You had the guts to go for it, and I should've told you that instead of making you upset.

I soak all of it in. I could tell from his face that he was sincere, but it doesn't change the fact that I left the campfire because of how upset I was.

Jake clears his throat when only silence meets his words. 

- Next time, just call for me. Do a signal or something. I'll notice it, that's for sure. Because like you said, I'll be looking out for you.

He gets up from the couch, and I watch him as he turns around, ready to leave.

"When I was talking to him", I say in a low voice, "I was scared. There was so much adrenaline, but I was rethinking every move..."

My voice drops down to a whisper. "But then I saw you looking at us, Jake. And I wasn't so scared anymore. But there was no need for all that lecture about what's safe and what's not. I know enough to chose what I get myself into."

Jake smiles and gets closer to me. He puts a strand of hair behind my ear.

- I know that. Doesn't mean I'll stop caring about your safety.

He leaves a quick kiss on my forehead, and the warmth of it suddenly sends chills through my whole body, and I find myself wanting this moment to linger forever.

- Goodnight, Prior.