J-Fred

Ch. 12: Paranoia and Game of Thrones

Alice lies awake at midnight. She stares up at the ceiling, paranoid that someone is walking around in her house. Ever since Damien broke in and attacked her, she has been afraid at night and unable to sleep. 

Suddenly, there is a loud shatter downstairs. Alice jumps out of bed. She snatches a lamp off her bedside and prepares herself to hit someone. When nothing happens, she sneaks downstairs. In her kitchen is a broken plate shattered on the floor. She crouches down and nearly jumps out of skin when something brushes up against her. Luckily, it is just her cat, Mr. Mittens. Alice sighs with relief as she sits down beside her cat. She will never be able to sleep.

Once she gets back to her room, she picks up her phone and opens up J-Fred's contact. She wants desperately to call him so he can calm her back down and comfort her, but it is too late at night. When another hour passes by, she finally decides to just call him. She cannot take it anymore.

After several rings, a drowsy voice answers on the other end. "Hello?" J-Fred mumbles.

"Hi Joey...it's Alice. I'm sorry it's late. I couldn't sleep." Alice can't help but think of how sexy J-Fred's voice is when it is raspy and tired.

"What's wrong?" he asks sincerely.

"I'm just paranoid, that's all," she sighs.

"Okay, I'll be right over," he replies. Before Alice can say another word, he hangs up. That was not her intention, but she cannot refuse now. 

Several minutes later, J-Fred appears at her door. He is wearing his Team Edge shirt with striped pajama bottoms. His hair is messy and uncombed, but Alice likes it. "You know you didn't have to come over," Alice smiles as he walks in bare-footed.

"I know, but I just wanted an excuse to spend the night here again," he smirks. His face then gets serious as he turns to her and asks, "Why can't you sleep? Is it because of Damien?" She frowns and nods. "Well, I'm here now, so you're not alone. Want to do something fun, like watch a movie?"

They cuddle up on the couch and start watching Game of Thrones on Netflix. They start off sitting next to each other, but J-Fred soon wraps his arms around her and pulls her close. She rests comfortably there with her head resting on his shoulder and his warmth radiating off of his body. She thinks about how lucky she is to have a boyfriend like J-Fred, but then she starts to wonder if he really is her boyfriend. She starts to worry about whether they are boyfriend and girlfriend, or if they are just together, or just two people seeing each other. 

She glances up at him, and all of those worries seem to fade away. He looks down at her and smiles. He plants a kiss on her forehead and then rests his head on top of hers. Alice falls asleep in his arms with a smile on her face. 

Late next morning, both of them are awoken by a knocking on the front door. When Alice opens her eyes, she realizes she is asleep on the couch, cuddled up with Joey. Their legs are intertwined, and her back is pressed up against him. His head is nestled on her shoulder, and his arms are wrapped around her waist to keep her tight. 

J-Fred gives her a tight squeeze, and then he releases her to get the door. Alice grumbles and tries to go back to sleep. It has been a long time since she has gotten this good of a sleep. 

"Um, Joey, why are you at Alice's house?" the person at the door asks. 

Alice immediately recognizes the voice as Amanda's. She scrambles off the couch and runs over to the door. J-Fred is at a loss of words as well. "Actually, Joey came over this morning to, um...fix my air conditioning unit. It broke. I knew he was handy, so I called him over to help me out with it."

Amanda is still skeptical. "He came in his pajamas? At ten in the morning?" 

J-Fred shrugs. "Hey, you know, I wanted to be comfortable. And I'm busy for the rest of the day..."

Amanda looks back and forth between the two of them, but then she just shrugs it off. "Anyways, I came over to invite you, Alice, to the beach tomorrow. We're all going to fish, swim, and all that. Do you want to come?"

Alice had never told any of them, but she is terrified of drowning. She hates the ocean as well as any kind of swimming. "Oh, I don't know...I'm pretty busy," Alice lies.

"Chicken," J-Fred coughs behind her. She elbows him. When she looks back at him, he is giving her puppy dog eyes.

"But I'll come," Alice sighs.

"Yay! I'll see you tomorrow at eleven, then." Amanda takes off, which leaves Alice and J-Fred alone again.

"Why didn't you want to come?" he asks.

"I'm terrified of drowning. I hate the ocean and I hate swimming," she moans.

J-Fred walks over to her and wraps his arms around her waist. He smiles and whispers, "Well then, looks like I'll be helping you conquer your fear tomorrow."

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AN: Thanks to all of you for over 1,000 reads! I never thought I'd make it this far, so thanks a million to all of your support. I look forward to writing more! I'd also love to hear any suggestions or comments you have. :)