Looking After You

(12) Ages: 16 & 13

Ages: 16 & 13

“Dude, you’re shitfaced,” Rex chuckled. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay getting inside?”

James practically fell out of the passenger side of Rex’ truck and turned back to him with both thumbs up and a cheeky grin before slamming the door shut.

“Alright. Call me tomorrow if you’re still of the living.” Rex lifted his hand briefly before pulling away from the curb and driving off.

James turned back to face his parents white house and began making his way up the stone walkway. He took the first step onto the porch but due to his drunken fog, his foot caught on the second step causing him to stumble onto the porch. He immediately turned around with a finger up to his lip, “shhh,” he hissed as if there was an invisible person behind him that caused him to trip. He took a few more steps and reached out for the doorknob, cussing when he realized the door was locked. He began patting his jacket pockets and turned his pants pockets inside out, searching for his house keys but came up empty each time. He let out a breath of air and walked back over to the porch steps to sit down. He groaned in exhaustion and leaned his head back against the railing. “I’m so dead.” He mumbled and rubbed his hand over his face, trying to stay awake and think of some other way inside the house without waking his parents. He made a slit between two of his fingers and peered through them, his eyes landing on the neighboring house and more specifically, the second story window. He stood up on the porch step and immediately began walking towards the house. There wasn’t much thought put forth, he just knew that he wasn’t up for a fight tonight and finding a comfortable place to crash was about the only thought entering his brain.

“Jenny!” James hissed up towards the second story window while he tossed small pebbles at the glass. “Jennifer!”

Suddenly, the window slid up and Jenny stuck her head out with an exhausted expression. “Jameson?” She questioned in confusion. “What are you doing? It’s three in the morning.”

“I know,” he whispered back loudly, “I just need a place to crash for the night. I locked myself out of the house.”

Rolling her eyes, Jenny slumped against her window sill. “There’s not much more stupid for you to achieve, Jameson, you might want to slow down.”

James copied her eye roll and began latching onto the lattice work leading up to her bedroom window. “Would you just shut up and give me a hand?” He missed a step and both feet lose grip on the lattice work. Jenny’s heart jumped into her throat as her hand immediately covered her mouth in fright. She leaned closer but remained helpless until he final found another foot hole and climbed a few more feet.

“Give me your hand and I’ll pull you through,” Jenny ordered while holding her hand out the window.

James normally would have objected, due to the fact that he was about three times the size of Jenny, but he could feel the alcohol settling in and he knew he didn’t have long before any surface would feel just like a nice king sized bed. He grabbed onto Jenny’s hand and attempted to help her pull him through the window by pushing off with his feet but he wasn’t much help due to his drunken haze and he nearly missed the opening of the window. Jenny latched onto his arms and pulled fiercely with all of her strength. He finally gave a little help and pushed himself through the window, almost crash landing on Jenny’s bedroom floor, but Jenny stopped him before he could make too much of a ruckus and possibly wake her parents.

“Shhh,” Jenny ordered and led James over to the side of her bed. She set him down on the edge of her bed while she began making a small cushioned area on the floor. “How in the world did you lock yourself out of the house? Don’t you keep a spare key under the welcome mat or something?”

James struggled to keep his eyes open. “Da took to get copies.” His words came out jumbled slurs and he fell back on the bed immediately after the last word.

Jenny sighed and walked over to her bed, lifting James’ head and practically cradling it in her lap. “You stupid boy.”

“That’s not very nice,” James whispered, trying to keep his voice as low as Jenny’s, although the alcohol made that very difficult.

“Neither is waking someone up at three in the morning,” she snapped before standing up and removing his tennis shoes. Her nose crinkled up in disgust as she shoved the old shoes under her bed. “You should try Febreze-ing those things sometime.” James groaned and moved his hands down to the bottom of his t-shirt. Jenny’s eyes widened in shock at what he was about to do. “What are you doing?” She questioned, her pitch rising a bit.

“I can't sleep with my shirt on,” James answered coolly but failed to get the shirt above his head.

“Yes, you can.” Jenny responded definitively as she stood up and grabbed onto James’ hands, pulling him into a seated position. He continued pulling at his shirt, the alcohol obviously making his limbs fairly useless.

Jenny rolled her eyes and eventually gave in, reaching down to the bottom of his shirt and pulling it over his head. “Thank you,” James mumbled while staring at her through the slits in his eyes. The corner of his mouth slid up into a smirk as he tried to keep himself awake. “You’re going to make someone a good wife someday.”

Jenny stared back at him in confusion and has to take a minute to be sure that she heard what she thought she heard. “Because I can take off a shirt?” She questioned jokingly, suddenly feeling her age for the first time and letting a bit of awkwardness take over.

“Because you care about people.” James responded with a drunken smile. “And you take care of people…even when they don’t deserve it.

Jenny watched as his eyes slowly started to close and she helped him down to the small bed she made on the floor. She covered him with the blanket before crawling into her bed. She lied perpendicular across her full-size bed so she could stare down at James, her eyes and mind wandering. “I’ll always take care of you, Jameson. Only you.” Her words barely made a sound as she whispered them into the dark room. 

~

Please, please, please leave comments! If you see mistakes feel free to point them out! I am FIVE chapters ahead now on this story so as you can probably tell, I am itching to post! Thanks to everyone reading!! :D