A little too late

Chapter 30

Once we are a good street away from Finn, Jack finally starts to calm down.  Luckily, Alfie doesn’t leave Jacks side.

“So, how exactly do you know where Jack lives?” I ask Alfie, who still has one hand on Jack. Jack pretends like he doesn’t hear me talk as he keeps his head straight in front of him.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve met young Jackson” He says.

“Jackson?” I ask Jack. He still doesn’t look at me so I keep talking, “You’re name is Jackson?”

Finally he gives me a nod but still doesn’t turn to face me. His eyes stay fixated on the footpath ahead of us.

“So, when did you first meet Jack?” I ask Alfie curiously. Jack doesn’t seem to mind me asking him these questions and neither does Alfie.

“I would tell you why, but a lot of its police records so I can’t. You’d have to ask Jack yourself. Sorry” He apologises.  

I look towards Jack in shock, “You’ve had run ins with the police before?”

He repeats the same action as he did before, simply nodding without turning his head to face me.

“What did you do?” I press him for answers.

“It’s the past, none of it matters” He tells me bluntly, refusing to expand on the situation. I decide to leave him be, he’s obviously been through enough tonight.

We finally walk to the gate of Jack’s house. We all stand awkwardly outside the front before Jack opens the gate and motions for me to walk in. I slowly walk in and wait for Alfie to follow us but he doesn’t.

“I think I can leave you guys here for now” Alfie says.

Jack doesn’t bother to reply, leaving me to do all the talking, “You don’t need to like, speak to his parents or anything?”

Alfie merely shakes his head before saying, “They’re already meeting us at the station to deal with Finn. But I will need your parents number Stella”

I look at him strangely, “Me? Why?”

“To find out where they want to take this and what charges they want to press against Finn” He informs me. I take a moment to consider what he says before shaking my head.

“No” I tell him.

“No?” He asks me.

“No charges. We press no charges. Finn goes out free” I tell him.

“I’m sorry Stella, but that’s not your decision to make. I’ll need that phone number” He repeats. I run a hand through my hair in stress as Alfie hands me a pen and paper.

I take the paper and look at it blankly for a moment before scribbling down a number on it. I hand the paper back to Alfie and he thanks me.

“I’ll leave you two be. You know how to contact me if needed, don’t you Jack?” He asks Jack. I look up at Jack and he merely nods. Satisfied with Jacks response, Alfie turns around and walks away.

I stare at Alfie’s figure as he walks back to the crime scene. It’s not until Jack puts his hand on my shoulder that I realise that I am actually staring.

“It’s cold, lets go in” Jack tells me. I nod and squeeze Jacks hand as he links his fingers around mine. Jack uses his other pocket to reach into his jeans and pull out a key. He struggles to open the door because he’s shaking too much in frustration.

“Stop. Let me do it” I order him, snatching the keys from his hands. He watches me as I easily open the door with the key. He pushes me inside once it’s open and I stand in the hallway awkwardly.

“You look tired, I’ll take you to bed” He tells me as he leads me upstairs. I’m about to turn right when I get upstairs but he quickly pulls me left, leading me to a different room.

“I thought you’re room was this way?” I ask him curiously.

“You’re tired and confused” He replies bluntly, once again not willing to talk about the subject matter. I simply shrug my shoulders, I mean, it’s house so he’d no better than me where his room is.

He opens his door and leads me in his room. The room looks similar yet different. I look around the room in suspicion.

“I swear your furniture was brown and not white?” I ask him.

“It’s white, you’re just confused” Jack tells me again. I look around again in confusion. I swear the setting is different. I mean, I wasn’t in his room for long before, but I swear it looked different.

“Jack, I’m being serious, something’s not right” I tell him.

He turns around and faces me, putting his mouth close to mine. His eyes squint slightly, something I’ve never seen him do.

“Everything is fine. This is the same room as it was this morning. It’s all the same” He tells me with a harshness in his voice. I look into his eyes, still unable to read him. Finally, he leans in and kisses me hardly. I can tell from the heat of our kiss that he is still pissed off, but I don’t really mind as it seems like he could use a good distraction. As we both get more involved in our little embrace, someone knocks on his door. Jack pulls away from me and opens his door.

His little sister stands at his door in her pyjamas. “Jack, I can’t sleep” She tells him.

He gives her a little nod and lifts her into his arms. Before he walks away, he pops his head through the door.

“Stay here” He orders. I nod my head slowly before he leaves the room.

I take another look around his room when he’s gone. It’s like things have been rearranged. As I look around in confusion, I decide to sit on his bed. I jump to the far end and decide to lie down for a moment. The second my head hits his pillow, I start to feel sleepy. I close my eyes for a moment and think, convincing myself that I’ll get back up when I hear him coming back. But it never happens because suddenly my world fades into darkness and I find myself falling asleep in Jack Harries bed.