One Deep Breath

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sometime over the weekend Jolie had realized that this would come up eventually. She had hoped that it wouldn't have come up until way down the road, but with their current pace she wasn't surprised she was already about to spill her guts. Things with Jesse were on warp speed.

If she really wanted him in her life she'd have to fess up.

"Okay," Jolie exhaled. "I guess I'll just give you the whole story, as quick as I can."

"Doesn't have to be quick on my account," he replied, grabbing her hand and playing with her fingers. It was distracting and soothing at the same time.

"So you know I have my Dad and Sarah, but I haven't mentioned my mom at all." She peeked over at Jesse, who nodded back encouragingly.

"Well... she left. When I was 16. Here one day and gone the next. I thought something terrible had happened to her until my Dad finally sat me down and showed me the letter she wrote him. Something terrible did happen I guess, just not to her, to us. She didn't want us anymore."

Another stolen side-glance from Jolie showed the dumbfounded look on Jesse's face.

"Anyways, that's not exactly what you asked I suppose, but it kind of leads to what Rachel mentioned earlier. I didn't handle any of it very well, and I lashed out. Typical teenage angst stuff but on like, hyper speed; sneaking out, partying, drugs and alcohol. My Dad was too busy wallowing to realize I was spiraling, and I was too busy trying to act okay in front of both him and Sarah whenever I was at home. So I took to self-medicating. Luckily I had Landon."

Jolie froze as soon as his name rolled off her tongue.

"Who's Landon?" Jesse's eyes hardened for a second.

"Oh, um," Jolie stuttered. "My boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend, I mean. Boyfriend at the time."

"Okay. Landon, your ex," he observed. "Go on."

Jolie took a deep breath. Anxiety was welling in her chest. A quick squeeze from Jesse sent a brief wave of relief through her.

"Yeah, so, it was a rough time, like I said. Most nights I had someone looking out for me, usually Landon, sometimes one of my other friends, but after awhile I think everyone got tired of babysitting. One night, after a particularly bad day at home, I snuck out for a party. It was a house I had been to so many times, but this time I was on my own. I don't actually remember what happened..."

Jolie faltered. Her eyes burned with unshed tears and a lump had appeared in her throat. Jesse was off the dryer and standing in front of her in an instant.

"Hey, hey," he soothed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into him. "You can stop."

He kissed her forehead as she leaned into him and all the tears from the past few hours spilled out.

Jolie cried as Jesse desperately wiped her tears away.

"Don't cry. Please don't cry," Jesse begged her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you to talk about this."

"No. It's okay," she sniffed. She looked up into his big blue eyes and gave him a meek smile. "Let me just finish quick, okay? Then you'll know everything."

Jesse tilted his head to the side, hesitation evident on his face.

"I'm fine," she promised. "So, the night that it happened I don't actually remember. I woke up the next morning in one of the bedrooms confused and alone, and basically naked."