Blood is Thicker Than Water

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dean directed Nash to their get away for the night as Jackie and Axel relaxed into the only haven they truly had at the moment, unconsciousness.

Nash smiled as he observed Dean glancing back at Jackie and Axel every few minutes, as if to make sure they were still there. Nash knew the feeling well, he remembered when Jackie hadn't shown up for class for two weeks and how after she came back he would turn around just to make sure his friend was still right behind him. Jackie would smile and squeeze his shoulder comforting him even though she had bruises coloring her torso.

Jacqueline spread her arms to offer her brother more comfort and warmth, Axel cocooned into her embrace and watched out of the frosted glass the blurs of the life he wished his sister could have.

Axel was young, but even he knew his big sister deserved so much more than what their family gave her. She tried to keep secrets from him, but Axel had seen the bruises and blood his sister burdened so strongly and all for him.

"Hey, little man, Jackie we're stopping to get gas, you want anything?" Nash called out.

Jacqueline exited the rustic truck and walked to the bathroom she assured herself would be clean enough. Nash searched the truck for money and walked into the shabby building to pay for the pricey gas, leaving Axel and Dean inevitably alone. 

Dean shifted uncomfortably under the harsh glare of the ten year old, "So..." Axel rolled his hazel eyes and checked through the windows for Nash or Jacqueline. "Are you really Batman? Cause, I mean you kinda look like him if you squint your eyes and I mean this is the happiest I've seen my sister in a while so..... you've gotta be some sorta superhero."

Dean stared wide eyed at the young boy, he had no idea how to respond to what he'd just heard. Luckily enough for him Nash and Jackie strapped their seat belts on and a few silence stricken moments later Dean unlocked the door leading into his house.

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Dean laid in his room that night and thought about the words Axel had unexpectedly fired at him. He made her happy?

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Jacqueline sat in the living room catching her breath and reassuring herself that she and Axel would be fine, but staying in a house that was unknown to her, who belonged to someone she met just that night wasn't comforting. Every little noise startled her and slowly she was breaking down.

Axel mumbled in his sleep and Jacqueline brushed his messy strands from his face and laid down next to him. She promised to sort this out tomorrow as she closed her eyes and joined her brother and deceased sister in her dreams.