Betting on the Nerd

Chapter 15: Figure Your Shit Out, Dude

Recap:
Jack: Hey, wanna hang out? Haven't talked to you in a while :(

"Truth or dare, Jack?...what do you look for in a girl?"

He freezes, eyes widening slightly, cheeks red. I swear a can even see a little sweat forming on his forehead. "Imma use your bathroom, be right back" he rushes before jumping off my bed...He's hiding something and I'm not going to stop until I find out what it is.

Jessica's POV:

"So what was your idea for the project?"

The feeling of his breath on my face snapped me out of my trance. He was sitting on Beth's couch, with me standing between his legs absentmindedly cleaning the rest of the blood off his face and hands. "When you came over, you said it was because you had an idea for our project. What was it?"

"Oh. Yeah. I did...have an idea."

"Well?

"Well, what?

"Jess, are you okay?" His hand reached up to caress my face, a gesture of concern, but I couldn't help but turn away.

"I just saw you and your dad beat each other and you are acting like it's normal and it's just another day in the Garner household, so no I'm not okay. I know it's over, I mean he got arrested right in front of us, but I can't help but feel worried. What if he escapes? What if he comes back for you? Or Ellie? Or-" I shut up when Beth walks into the living room with some gauze for Chris' hand. 

"I thought you could use this" she looked down at the floor, then raised her eyes, unsure of who to look at. "What the hell happened? Why can't I call Alex?"

"You should-"

"No." We both turned to look at Chris, surprised. He called Alex for everything. "He'd just worry and get pissed and go to the jail to find him. He has a test tomorrow that he is studying for. I'll tell him after."

"Fine, but at least tell me. Why would he get pissed? And who would he go to the jail to find? I mean you show up here with Jess in tears and you a bloody mess, I deserve to know."

"I said no!" He stands up abruptly, slighting shoving me back away from him, and storms out of the house. I give Beth an apologetic look and hurry after him, a knot forming in my throat once again. Pushing it down, I walked up to stand next to him, reaching for his hand. I could tell he wanted to break down, even if he acted like it was nothing. I pulled him into my arms and did my best to hold back my tears as his own began to fall against my neck. He needed me to be strong for him, and that's what I planned to be.

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Chris' POV:

Wiping away my tears, I turned away, hoping she wouldn't see me crying. I don't know why I kept pushing her away, she obviously knew I was crying, and it felt good to finally let go of all my pent up emotions, and by the way that she reached out for my hand to stop me from walking away, I knew she wasn't judging me. So why was I so afraid. 

"Why don't we go to my place? No ones home, so no questions will be asked. We can watch some movies and I've got a huge tub of ice cream in the freezer"

Nodding, I let her lead me to her car and watch her walk to Beth's house to let her know we were leaving.

Fifteen minutes later we arrived at her house and for the first time, I take in every detail of it. I loved being here honestly; it was homey and it made me feel comfortable and welcome.

She took my hand and led me upstairs to her room. "You can shower and change in my bathroom. Here's a towel and some of Shawn's clothes. Uhm yeah, have at it cause you stink." I smile and wait for her to wander off before I begin to undress. It takes me a while to figure out which knob was for the cold water and which one was for the hot water, but eventually, I got the perfect mix of hot and cold. The warm water helped relax my tense muscles and for a moment, standing still under the stream of water, I forgot about everything. When I'm done I follow the delicious smell of food which leads me to the kitchen. I find Jess serving two huge bowls of mac and cheese. "When I was younger and I would feel sad or angry my mom would make me mac and cheese, so it's kinda always been my comfort food, even after she passed away. But I can totally make something else if you want"