Delicate

Chapter 4: Touch-Me-Not

    Friday. 6:30pm. The sun sets sooner than expected (fucking America, thinks it's so special with it's Daylight Savings). Putting a blanket on the floor for Elphie (my cat), then taking the potted flower from my desk by the handles, I head downstairs and to the front door- "Jake, sweetie!" I get stopped by my mum calling me from the kitchen, so I head there. She's sitting at the table having a cup of tea (because this household isn't British enough). "Mum, I need to go now." "I know honey, but I just want you to know that I love you very much and want to make sure that you're careful and safe." "Ok mum..." "now give me a kiss before you leave uwu." "But muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum..... fine..." I walk up to my mum and give her a little peck on the cheek, "I'll see you later, mum." "Bye sweetie!" I head out to my car and before driving out of the driveway, I take out the note with Jamie's address to pick her up.
    I drive up to Jamie's house. Coincidentally, she lives in the neighborhood across from mine. Even more ironic, she lives right next to Jacob's place. I get out of the car and walk up to the front door, then ring the doorbell. I hear the sound of a small dog barking...... barking? More like yelping in pain and needs help from whatever misery it's going through. When the door opens, a woman stands there. Guessing it's Jamie's mum. "Hi, Can I help you, sir?" She asks me. "Good evening, Miss. I'm Jake, I'm here for Jamie. I invited her to hangout with me and some friends of mine." "Oh...you're the guy she was talking about. She's coming now, just... wait a minute..." the woman gives me a blank stare of judgement as she turns away and turns the door. The next minute, the door reopens, this time with Jamie there. She's wearing the same scarf she'd always wear, along with a t-shirt, a sweater, a skirt, leggings, and boots. And, like always, she buries her face in her scarf. "Hey Jake... I'm ready to go," she tells me. Her mum stands behind her, still giving me that same glance. "Alright, let's go." I head to the car, but behind me I hear her mum: "mija, Be careful, make sure he brings you home, and if he dares touches you, you better fight back." She responds, "mom, I'm fine, I promise. I'll see you later." She walks out and I hear the front door close shut. I get into the car and she comes in afterwards into shotgun. "I'm so sorry... my mom's always like that, very overprotective... she doesn't trust boys..." "yeah, I can see that. But it's fine, don't worry." "Yeah..." She guides her view down to see the potted flower in a car cup holder, "hey, you brought the flower with you." "Well, I mean, you did ask me to make sure to bring it everywhere, that's what I've been doing." Her gaze drops down to her feet, "...I didn't think you'd actually do it, though..." "well, why wouldn't I..?" She shows a shy smile through her scarf, "just... thanks... really appreciate it..." "no problem," I smile back, then start the car and drive on over to Oliver's.
    We drive up to Oliver's house, hearing the sound of in-game gunshots coming from his garage. Jamie gets frightened, thinking they're real, "w-what was that!?" "Don't worry, they're not real, the others are probably just playing Call of Duty." "...o-oh... thanks god, I was scared for a second..."I take out the case of beer from my car then we both step out of be car and walk up to the front door. It appeared that the the door was already open, so we go inside and see Oliver's mum (my aunt) just dusting. She turns around to greet us, "oh? Hey Jake! The other's are in the garage, have fun." "ok, thanks Aunt Molly."
    We head to the garage and open the door to see Oliver on his PS4 playing COD (why wouldn't he), Sebastian watching him play, and Jacob at the small round table in the corner, drawing. "Sup guys, the party has arrived~" I smirked. "Jake, it's better to let someone think you are an Idiot than to open your mouth and prove it," Oliver announced in the most saltiest way ever, then Sebastian grins like a ninny and Jacob chuckles to himself. I furiously yeet my jacket at him, controller falling out of his hands, "-nO, MY GAME-" "INSULT ME AGAIN, I DARE YOU." Oliver mangages to throw the jacket to the side, glares at me bitterly, then picks up his controller to start a new match. I turn back to Jamie, "don't worry, this always happens," then I turn back to everyone else, "guys, this is Jamie, I really hope you guys don't mind her being here." Oliver doesn't look away from his TV screen, still playing the game, "nah, we don't mind." Sebastian's ears perk up and he waves to her, while Jacob just does his classic peace sign he always does whenever greeting people. "ooof, it's kinda hot in here," Jamie mildly complains, gently rubbing her right arm. "Yeah, Oli usually likes to keep this room warm, you can take your jacket and other stuff off if you're that hot," I answer. "Yeah, that would be better..." she pulls off her boots and puts them by the door, then takes off her sweater and hangs it on a hook by the door. But when she takes off her scarf and hangs it with her sweater..... I mean, holy shit. They were so big, indescribable. And her fucking shirt wasn't helping, either, it just made them look bigger. As if I needed another reason to make shit awkward, her boobs had to do the job for me. She slightly rubs her neck, then looks up at me, "that are you looking at, Jake?" "u-um, nothing, nothing! It's fine, I'm fine... hehe...." "...okay...." "anyways, let me introduce you to everyone." I walk over by the couch and have her follow me, then guide my hand towards Oliver still head deep into his game, "this is Oliver, my cousin. He's an idiot, but I promise you, you'll find a way to like him somehow." He holds up a middle finger at me and then continues to shoot at the other players in the game. She slightly waves at him. Turning away, I then walk towards the table Jacob was drawing at, bringing the care of beer, then placing it on the table (of course, with Jamie following me to the table), "this is Jacob, a pretty good friend of mine. And he's pretty friendly, so I feel like you two would get along...in a way..." he gets up and holds out his hand for a friendly handshake, and the shakes back. "Greetings and salutations, flower girl," Jacob jokingly responds, smirking. "Nice to meet you, too..." she replies. Then I go back towards the couch, "and this is Sebastian, sure, he's a werewolf, but he really would harm a fly-" "hi! It's so nice to meet you!!" Sebastian cheerfully claims, ears perked up and tail wagging. Jamie giggles, "aw, you're adorable! And it's nice to meet you, too!" she turns back to me, then I continue, " so, yeah, you can just relax for now, we're gonna start a small game soon, so just sit back, maybe try talking to the others, watch Oliver get killed in COD, etc." "alrighty!" she goes and sits on the couch right by Sebastian as I crack open a beer. "...she seems nice... i guess..." Jacob mumbled, continuing to draw. "Jacob, please don't be like that, not now..." he doesn't answer, just continues to draw, "....i promise you, everything will be fine. I mean, it wouldn't hurt to make friends with her, you've seen how lonely she's been ever since she transferred.... Give her a chance..." Jacob gets up from his chair and grabs a beer, popping it open, taking a sip, then finally responds, "...yeah, alright."
    A little while later, we all watch Oliver get destroyed in Overwatch. "NO NO NO! uGh!" he throws his controller at the table in front of him, "GOD FUCKING DAMNIT, WHY DID I HAVE TO PLAY A ROUND WITH MEI MAINS???? OF ALL MAINS?!?!?!?" Everyone hysterically laughs at Oliver's loss, but Jamie stays quiet, in confusion. Then, she finally speaks, "maybe if you chose a different character or maybe understand how Mei's attacks work, then you could defeat them." Everyone stops laughing for a moment, then Oliver cockingly replies, "well, if you can defeat the Mei mains in this round, you'll earn my respect." He hands the controller to Jamie, then Jacob scoffs, "well, good luck, because there's, like, 8 Mei mains-" "shut up, JD, let her at least try," I snarkily interrupt Jacob. He gives me an icy glare, but I didn't care (Hey, that rhymed). Jamie chooses Ashe, one of be newest heroes, as her main for the round. We all surround her as she gets into the game. As time passes, Jamie annihilates each and every Mei in the game, the rest of us silently watch in awe. Damn, I never thought she'd be that good. But, I mean, you really shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, just because she's a girl, doesn't mean she's not good at games like OverWatch.
    The round ends and Jamie gets Play of the Game, the rest of us still in awe. She hands the controller back to Oliver, slightly grinning of embarrassment, "u-um, you're welcome-" "tEACH ME YOUR WAYS," Oliver screeches, Jamie making an awkward face. "Jesus, Oli, don't fucking scare her!" I shouted at Oliver, then turn back to Jamie, "But seriously, you did good!" "That was amazing! I've never seen anyone be that good at Overwatch before!" Sebastian compliments her, ears perked up. "Well, if you want any tips on the game, I'd be glad to help!" She responds back, giving a cheery smile. "I mean, she did ok, i guess..." mutters Jacob, rolling his eyes. I give him another "wtf" look at him. This is the second time tonight, but I just hope he turns his attitude around by the end.
   "So, y'all ready for truth or dare?" Jacob announces in his normal tone. We all go over to the round table behind the couch, sitting in a circle in foldable chairs. Jacob grabs a deck of playing cards, then deals one card out to each of us. "So we're playing this version of truth or dare?" Sebastian questions, and Jacob snarkily answers, "of course we are, Seb," "But doesn't Jamie need to know how to play this version?" Jacob sighs, then looks over at Jamie, who was a curious look on her face, then says to her, "look, how we play is that whoever has the bigger card gets to ask anyone at this table either truth or dare. Got it?" She nods silently. Jesus Christ, why the fuck is Jacob acting this way??? I push the thought aside for now. "I'm already thinking of all the dares I'm gonna ask," Oliver devilishly smiles. "Dear God, I'm scared now," I say jokingly. We all draw our cards at once, and Jamie's the one who draws the bigger card. "Hey, you drew the biggest card. Now you get to ask anyone here truth or dare," I kindly explain to Jamie. "Okay....." she guides her eyes over all of us, deciding who to ask the infamous question. Her eyes end up on Jacob, then she asks, "Jacob, truth or dare?" Surprised, but not intimidated, he answers, "dare. And good luck trying to think of a good date because-" "I dare you to have anyone at this table go through your selfies and find and show it to everyone here," she says, shyly smirking. Oliver ooooo's snarkily, while Jacob gives Jamie the most dirty look while giving me his phone. "Alright then, pretty sure this won't be hard," I pleasantly say, scrolling through Jacob's extremely cringy selfies. I finally find the perfect one of him, and it's of him trying to be emo with fake piercings, dark clothing, and eye liner. I show it to everyone else, and Oliver and Sebastian laugh hysterically, Jamie giggles to herself, and Jacob still had that salty scowl planted on his face. "So sorry that they didn't let you into the black parade, Jacob," I jokingly cussed him out, then he snatches the phone got my hands, then I start laughing. I gotta say, that was a pretty good dare from Jamie, didn't think she'd think of something so creative.
    An hour of cringy truths and hysterical dates passes by. We draw our cards and Oliver gets the biggest one. "Aw hell yes~" he boasts, then looks over at Jamie, "so, Jamie, truth or dare?" "um... truth." "ok, imma put a twist on this." "Oh god-" Sebastian exclaims, already knowing what Oliver's gonna say, but Oliver continues anyway, "so, this is gonna add more to the game, and I've done this before, but who would you kiss, marry, kill? And it has to be someone at this table." Oliver tends to do this whenever we play truth or dare, and it's gotten annoying at this point. And he even claims it adds a little "spice" to the game. It really doesn't. "oh, hm..." Jamie thinks to herself, then answers, "I dunno who I would kiss, but I know that I would marry Sebastian, just because he's so adowable owo." "Awww, Thanks!" Seb replies. "Ok, but you need to answer who'd you wanna kiss," Oliver explains. "Well, I definitely know it's not Jacob-" "the feeling's mutual," Jacob interrupts. Jamie shoots him a dirty glare, then continues, "anyways... but I guess I would kiss Jake...? I dunno." "oh, how VeRy InTerEsTiNg~" I joke, but I'm screaming on the inside. I mean, it's just a game, but still. She giggles slightly at my joke, and I smile back. Jesus Christ, she's adorable. "Well, I mean, who wouldn't want to kiss Jake, he's the physical embodiment of an anime. Literally doesn't matter what anime, just any anime," Oliver cuts in. Well, he's not wrong. Then, Seb curiously says, "wait, so then you'd kill Oliver or Jacob, Jamie?" "Um.... Oliver" "wHAT-" Oli exclaims. "You scare me, and your too loud," she responds, "but no hard feelings." "Nah, it's fine. I understand," he replies. "And then that just leaves Jacob, but why wouldn't you want to kill him, Jamie?" Sebastian asks. "Well, not doing anything to Jacob would leave him depressed and alone, and he can't get the sweet release of death because I didn't choose to kill him, so he'll be stuck to his own devices for the rest of eternity," Jamie answers, looking down, then looks up to see all of our reactions. Well god damn, that was just dark. Her expression changes, "oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" "that was the best thing you've said all night," Oliver says, astonished, but impressed. "I've heard a lot of roasts before, but my god, that was the best one by far!" Sebastian marveled. I just chuckle, because I had no other response to it. And, apparently, neither did Jacob, but instead of being impressed, his expression went from scowling to furious. I don't fucking understand why he's acting like this, how can he get mad at someone like Jamie, she only said it in the name of satire. He dealt the cards to everyone, looking no one in the eye, then we all draw our cards, Jacob having the biggest. "Perfect. Jamie, truth or dare?" Jacob quickly asks her. I had a bad feeling that whatever Jamie picked, Jacob would have the worst thing to say back to her. "Um... truth..?" "ok, so are those... real?" Jacob quickly asks, resting his head on his hand. I had a bad feeling about this. "...e-excuse me, what?" "um, did I fucking stutter? Are those real? You know, those things you call 'boobs'?" "w-what!?" Jamie's flustered, wishing she had the scarf around her to hide her confused and embarrassed expression. "Jacob, are you fucking serious???" I yell, completely pissed at him. "Nonono, let me finish," he stands and plants his hands on the table, "and why do carry that damn flower everywhere you go?? You know, I'm surprised you didn't even bring it here, considering your so attached to it-" "jacob, stop!" Oliver snapped. "Your scaring her, leave her alone!!" Sebastian follows. Jamie gets up and backs away from the table, anxious and scared, "I-I think i should be leaving now, my mom might get worried-" "Oh, she has a curfew, too!! Of course she does!" Jacob cuts her off, sarcastically. Jamie looks like she's about to cry, but I try to help her relax, "Just get your stuff together, I'll take you home," I grab my keys as Jamie gets her stuff together, then I turn to the guys, "I'll be back." We exit through the garage door.

3rd person

    "What's your fucking damage, Jacob??" Oliver sneers at Jacob. "What? I was only being honest!" Jacob thunders back. "This is, like, the 3rd girl you've scared off this month, and Jamie seemed really nice," Sebastian muttered, "Seriously, Jacob, what's your problem with her?" Jacob sighs, "It's none of your fucking business, Seb." "Well, you better calm your shit next time," Oliver insists, but Jacob looks away, then grabs a beer, "sure, like there will ever be a next time..."

Jake's POV

    The ride is silent. It's not a long drive back to Jamie's house, but because of the uneasy feeling surrounding the atmosphere, it felt like forever. Jamie looks out the window to her right, face buried in the scarf around her neck. We get to a stop light, and i decide to try and talk to her, "........hey..." She turns towards me and guides her eyes to look me in the eye, but her face is still hidden. "..... I'm sorry for what happened back there..." I reassure her. Her gaze shoots back down to her lap, then she speaks softly, "........It's ok..... It's not your fault..." "Listen... this isn't the first time he's acted like this towards someone, trust me. Jacob just has a hard time making friends with people I try to bring into our group. But i promise you, he'll come around." "......Will he?" She looks back up at me with doe-like eyes. My heart stops for a second to render the sheer amount of cuteness she's emitting. How is she being this adorable by accident?? After a minute, i finally answer her, "....yes..... He will, i promise you," I smile at her to help reassure her once more. She faintly smiles back.
    I drive up to her house, then she gets out of the car. "Do you want me to walk you to your door?" I ask her. "No, it's ok, Jake. But thank you anyways. I'll see you Monday," She answers, then closes the door and goes up to her house. From the car, I see  her knock on her front door. Her mom opens the door and they both embrace, both going inside and then locking the door behind them. As I'm about to drive back to Oliver's place, I look down at the flower, which looks a quite wilted. But, as I go grab a water bottle, it's wilted-ness suddenly goes away. You know, i was gonna ask Jamie about the flower, but after what has happened, I think i should just give her more time to just adjust, get to know her better, make her feel comfortable before just asking questions. With that being said, I start the car and drive back to Oli's house.