Reluctant

Chapter 8: Carter's POV

 Slowly, Jess reaches for my arm and I let her take it. She frowns at the people that pass us and scowls with each of them that she makes eye contact with. Hatred and skepticism fill her blue eyes as she clings to me for safety and to keep her grounded. Though she kept a calm composure, she showed signs of being way too rigid and had the potential to pounce on every single person we pass.

As we approach the gum-covered table with attached benches, Jess and I slowly and reluctantly sit down next to each other. She slides her hand down to mine and intertwines our fingers together. A group of would-be frat boys pass our table and start whistling at Jess and cat-calling like a bunch of pigs.

Quickly and diligently, I stand; staring them in the eyes as I growl. "Do we have a problem here you uncultured swines?" One of the guys scoffs and shrugs the insult off. A tall blonde straightens his stance and glares daggers at me with a raspy reply. "Nothing that concerns you, rat breath."

As the words leave his lips, I'm up and over the metal table and hastily making my way over to him. As I approach my target, a fist collides with his jaw; the sound of cracking fills the air. A spurt of blood leaves the boy's lips as I forcefully make contact of my clenched fist onto his thin, sculpted face.

As he hits the floor, I'm above him instantly; one fist holding a piece of his shirt and the other repeatedly connecting with both his eye, and his jaw. His eye is already beginning to swell as I move my target to his already busted lip and bruising jaw. All I see is red and I can't control myself enough to stop, as if I even wanted to.

Way too soon I'm pulled off of the blonde and held back as he is lifted and carried away by the filth that makes up his group. I scowl and am slowly released from the stranger's vicious hold on me. I turn to find a burly brunette stepping away from me. I smirk and bare my teeth at him. He averts his eyes to the floor and I make my way over to Jess who is still sitting with a look of awe on her face.

As awkward silence fills the lot, a woman appears and faces us. A crooked smile covers her plastic face as she clears her throat loudly. Her posture straightens as everyone's attention is turned toward her.
"Good evening everyone, as some of you may know, we have new members joining us. Some of you may be able to guess who they are." As she finishes her first statement, she looks towards us and then to the group of frat boys. A smirk finds its way onto my lips and I feel a tiny hand grip the inside of my elbow. I smile down at Jess' hand and grip the other gently. My bloody hand stays clenched as I keep my eyes on the grey-blonde haired woman.

"Welcome them kindly. Stand up and tell us your names."

With that said, Jess tenses up as I cough once. Slowly, I stand and smirk at the faces that don't even dare to make eye contact with me. I clear my throat and raise my eyebrow. "M' name's Jackson and hers is Olivia. But don't bother learning our names, I'll kill anyone that even gets near her."

I sit down and feel Jess tug on my shirt. Turning my head, I give her a questioning look as she glares at me. "Yes, my dove?"

"What the actual hell are you doing? Now they'll be keeping an even closer eye on us than they would have originally. Stupid." She sighs in frustration and lays her head on the table. I can't help but laugh as she scolds me but quiet down as eyes make their way over to us once again.

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After dinner is served and everything is on its way to get washed, the woman from earlier approaches us. She shuffles over quickly and smiles at us. Her caked on makeup becomes more visible as she gets closer. Her teeth are coated with the pink lipstick that covers her tiny lips. I hold back my laughter as I look over at Jess who is giving me a look.

Jess politely smiles at her and holds her hand out. "Call me Liv." she says. I smile at her and the odd woman shakes it. "Name's Marie." The strange lady looks at me and offers her hand to me. Slowly, I shake it and introduce myself. "Jack...son. Jackson." I reply.

After Marie tells us some of the ground rules she asks us to follow her to our "house" for the time being. Jess and I both reluctantly tag along closely as she walks through the village and to a small little one-story house. She unlocks our door, and she hands me the key which I put in the left pocket of my jeans. As she gives us the tour of the house, Jess walks behind me and slips her hand into mine. I don't even realize that I'm smiling until Marie turns and gives me a weird look.

After the tour is over, Marie leaves the house and I make my way to the living room area and throw myself on the couch. God, this feels amazing. I can't help but sigh in relief as Jess makes her way over to me. She lifts my feet and sits down, resting my feet back down on her lap. She leans her head back and makes herself comfortable as I see her visibly relax in what seems like ages. Shortly after, Jess dozes off and I follow her lead not too long after, enjoying the feeling of security for the first time in months.

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I wake up to Jess moving my feet off of her and stand almost immediately as she stretches. I watch her for a second and yawn; throwing my head back to try and conceal it. I walk past her in the directions of the bedrooms that Marie had shown us and picked the first room I came across. I lay on the bed slowly and eventually get comfortable. This beats sleeping on the ground or on rocks.

As I am about to fall asleep, I hear a knock on my door and I mumble softly. Jess opens the door and creeps into the room, silently closing the door behind her. She walks over as I watch her with drowsy eyes. A smile covers my face as I peer at her in the dim lighting of the room.

"You okay?"

"I'm alright, just uh...couldn't sleep is all." she replies. I smile and scoot over so there's room for her on the bed. She lays down slowly and I open my arm for her to come closer. She softly mumbles a thank you and scoots closer as I wrap my arm around her. She sighs and eventually drifts off to sleep. I pull away slowly and get up to grab an extra blanket for her. Draping it over her, I climb back into bed and cover myself with the other blanket. This time around, I wasn't able to get comfortable any other way than laying on my back. As I drift off to sleep, I feel movement to my right as Jess turns around and snuggles closer to me. It was only then that I realized...I was falling, and I was falling hard.