I'm Bad. You're Worse.

Twenty Six: Caught

~~~~~~~~~~~~~26~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well?" Jake's mother asks brusquely, glaring at me. I gulp. "Miranda, we weren't doing-" "Don't call me that," Miranda snaps, her lips now pressed into a tight, thin line.  

"Ms. Holter-" I try again, but Jake hastily cuts me off before I can come up with some lame-ass, unbelievable excuse.  

"We were kissing. People do that, mom," Jake sneers out. I stare at him disbelievingly.  

"And in the process you've soiled my house and wrecked my perfect kitchen floors!" Miranda says agitatedly, flapping her arms around the room for emphasis.  

"That's all you care about? MOM?" Jake now spits the word, as if it's a curse instead of a term of respect.  

I gape at the both of them, at a loss for what to say.  

"She's living here now. Deal with it," Jake says flatly. Miranda splutters in disbelief for a moment, but stays deadly quiet.  

A cold, lifeless look replaces the animation on her face and she says nothing more.  

I scramble for something to say. An excuse. An explanation. Anything. Suddenly, I blurt out, "It wasn't my choice to stay here, Ms. Holter. I'm really sorry-"  

"No. It's fine, dearie." Miranda says cutting me off. Her voice has now taken on a robotic tone, cold as ice itself.  

"You enjoy your time here. You're perfectly welcome," Miranda says, heading over to the cupboard and pulling out a large bottle of whiskey.  

Jake huffs, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of the kitchen. I wrench my wrist out of his grip once we're in his room again.  

"I told you we'd get in trouble," I mutter, rolling my eyes at his foolhardiness. "And I told YOU she wouldn't care," Jake retorts with a smirk.  

"She must care somewhere in there. Otherwise she wouldn't have-" "Freaked out about her 'perfectly polished floors'? I'm pretty sure she doesn't, Gorgeous," Jake says, cutting me off with a look.  

I sigh and shoo him out of the room so I can change. I quickly dry myself off with a towel and slip on an old t-shirt and boxers.  

"Right. You can come in now," I call out. "Finally," Jake says teasingly, pushing past me and plopping down onto the bed.  

"You're wet," I point out. "So?" "We're sharing that bed, Holter." "You can always sleep on me," he says innocently.  

"I'm sure I wouldn't be comfortable," I snap, heading over to the desk to continue our assignment.  

***  

To my surprise, Jake gets up sometime later and insists on helping out as well. We sit and work for what seems like hours, until-  

"Was that a whale call or your stomach?" The blood rushes to my face, staining my cheeks and Jake laughs.  

"Come on, it's dinner time." He says, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the room.  

When we step into the kitchen to scavenge for food, Miranda is nowhere to be seen.  

From the loud banging and giggles that are emitting from somewhere in the house, it's obvious that she's been drinking. Alot.  

"Hold on," I say, pulling away from Jake to seek out Miranda. "Miranda?" I call cautiously, walking slowly along the downstairs hallway.  

I eventually find her in the living room, watching TV on the plush leather couch with a distant look on her face.  

Her hand trembles, and the glass she's holding tumbles out of her hand toward the polished wood floor.  

I make a quick dive for the glass, catching it just before it can shatter. Thank you, Baseball.  

"I think you've had enough of that," I say, picking up the nearly empty bottle of whiskey. Geez, how often does this woman drink?  

"Leave it," she snaps, making a grab for the bottle. I pull it further out of reach and set it on the small bookshelf near the TV.  

"Come on, Miranda," I groan, heaving her up out of the couch. "Where's your room?" I ask, directing her out of the living room and turning the TV off.  

Miranda doesn't say anything as I painstakingly haul her up the stairs. "Miranda, where's your room," I ask again, once we're on the landing.  

Miranda grasps my arm and leads me along the hallway, stopping at the fourth door to the left. She nods at the door, giving me an expectant look.  

"Here, let's get you to bed," I say, pulling her inside and tucking her into the silk sheets.  

I hand her a glass of water, turning on the air conditioner and the small bedside lamp before leaving.  

"Thank you, child," she says, grabbing onto my wrist and pulling me back before I can leave. A small smile settles on my face, and I nod, urging Miranda to sleep.  

She starts snoring in no time, and I smile to myself once more as I close the door quietly behind me.  

I nearly yelp aloud when I bump into someone's solid chest, looking up to see that it's only Jake.  

"Hi," I breathe, looking up at him with wide eyes. "What did you do?" He asks, staring down at me. "Your mom. I... Put her to bed," I explain with a small shrug.  

"Why?" He asks, astonished. "Well it's the least I could do. The poor woman could have kicked me out. But she didn't," I reply, taking in his amazed expression and widening eyes.  

"What?" I snap. "Nothing," he whispers, grabbing my hand and leading me downstairs.  

"It's just that... Most people wouldn't bother... With... You know," he stammers once we're back in the kitchen.  

"Miranda cares about you, Jake," I sigh, rubbing tiredly at my eyes. "She just... Has a different way of showing it," I explain, looking down sheepishly when he doesn't reply.  

Suddenly, I feel his strong, sure arms encircle me, pulling me against him in a right hug.  

I stiffen with shock for a moment, but loop my arms around him as well. He buries his face in my hair and whispers, "Thank you."  

I nearly gasp aloud. Who is this boy and what has he done to Jake?  

"Now come on, I'm starving," he says, pulling away with a smirk. I roll my eyes, looping my fingers through his. "Hurry up," he growls over his shoulder.  

Oh, look. There he is.  

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Aww! They're so cute, I swear! =)))  

I know this chapters pretty long even though nothing happened, but I wanted to give Jake and Lily another "moment." :">  

Haha. Please: COMMENT, VOTE, FAN & SHARE, alright? ❤ 

Catch ya'll next time,  

-Sofi :)