The Bad Boy Hero

Chapter 16

I tried to stifle my tears as I hid myself under my blanket, like it would somehow be a shield against him. He had gone to bed a while ago but I couldn’t sleep in fear he’d come back for a few more punches, like there was an inch of my he was yet to hurt, the light of my phone shone on my tears and I blinked them so I could see who it was. Jasper. I sighed with relief

‘I missed you today, why did you really run off?’

‘I told you Tess was a mess’

‘Bull! I know when you’re lying to me, even through texts, what’s up? Is it him?’

‘No, it’s fine’

‘Douche bag then? Or is it what Slag said earlier’ I loved how I knew who he was talking about.

‘I am really find, stop being a hero, you’ll ruin your rep!’ I grinned still under the heavy blanket, I pretended for a moment that I was under the light blanket at Jasper’s place, safe and sound with Jasper snoring lightly next to me and his scent all around me.

‘You know I don’t care about that’

‘Yeah, yeah, I need my beauty sleep, until tomorrow’

‘Yeah right, night’

I got the shock of my life when I went to meet Jasper at his car the next day. Jade was sat on his bonnet looking through the crowd pouring out of school for Jasper. Her eyes skipped over me without a second glance and I changed course to the bench by the car park and waited patiently. She was kind of beautiful, her blonde hair was long and draped over her shoulders and down her back, her skin was perfect and her features angled but I wasn’t sure if I was seeing Jasper’s drawing of her or the real article. Jasper arrived soon enough and I watched over my book as he headed over to his car not even looking surprised that she was there. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but Jasper didn’t look happy and Jade was scowling. He glanced around and his eyes caught mine, they seemed to brighten and I gave him a smile before he turned back to Jade. She gave him a surprised look sliding off his car and giving him a final comment before leaving in a strop. Jasper got into his car and pulled out of his parking space. Was he just going to leave me? But then I saw his grin as he pulled up in front of the bench.

“Are you coming Nerd?” he asked after the window zipped down, I laughed taking it as a compliment before climbing in. “Well that wasn’t fun,” he sighed once it was just the two of us, I nodded to him showing I was listening “She turned up and was confused why I wasn’t jumping for joy that she was here,” he drove and kept driving, out of town. His hands were clenched over the steering wheel, so tight I saw his knuckles turn white. His jaw was set and his eyes narrowed I noticed how handsome he looked with the afternoon light streaming through the car windows making his dark curls look lighter. “I just don’t understand how this is my fault,” he fumed “She left, not me.” I softly gave his shoulder a squeeze and he relaxed at my touch, “Sorry, I shouldn’t care,” Jasper sighed

“You should care,” I promised “You can’t help who you like,” I reminded him

“I don’t like her though,” he rubbed his eyes then seemed to realise we had been driving for almost 20 minutes in a random direction. He spun around at the next turning and headed back to town. “You were right; a peaceful life would be nice,” I laughed softly but it still made my back begin to ache again, I looked out of the window to hide it from Jasper “Do you think it will ever be normal?”

“Not while we’re in the town,” I sighed

“Is he...”

“Let’s not talk about it,” I looked down at my hand and heard Jasper sigh “Sorry let’s just be happy,” I grinned “I don’t want to think about it,”

“Safe haven,” he reminded me with a smile. A safe haven.

“We could watch that film again that we never got round to,” Jasper suggested I was sat waiting in his movie room as he ran upstairs to find something

“Sure,” I could never turn down Johnny Depp. Jasper gave me a grin like he knew what I had been thinking. Jasper had with him his trusty sketchpad that he didn’t let me look at anymore, and crashed on the sofa next to me stretching out his long legs onto mine. I checked the time knowing I was going to get into trouble for staying but not wanting to leave, out of the corner of my eye I saw Jasper sketching but continued to stare at the time ticking away on my phone. “Are you even watching this?” I blinked and looked up not even noticing that the film was on, I looked back at the time ticking away and began to panic. Unexpectedly I was lying on Jasper’s chest. He held me there the rise and fall of his chest calming me “Are you ok?” he softly stroked my hair and I felt protected once more

“I’m fine, just begin silly,” his arms around me tightened and he restarted the film. Other than a quick toilet break we didn’t move for the rest of the film, just continued to curl up together. I had never been so peaceful, even with Mattie, everything was better with Jasper.