Dancing with Danger: a Jay McGuiness+ TW Fanfiction

Chapter 13

 A calloused thumb circling on my hip. Breath gently ruffling my hair. Jay's chest moving in deep slow movements. I barely wake up, but I feel these things and memorize it. Jay softly murmurs about a shower, and I fall asleep again. 

I wake up again not long after, judging by the sounds of a shower just finishing. I sit up and a rush of vertigo strikes me. Head between my knees I remember the previous night, softly running my fingers on the edge of Jay's super soft t-shirt. There is a wide smile on my face when Jay steps out of the bathroom, steam swarming around him, a towel slung low around his hips. 

I'm not subtle at all as I admire him, and he rolls his eyes at me. "Glad you're enjoying the view."  

I giggle a tiny bit, and then force myself out of his bed. While I start looking in my purse for my phone, unsure of what time it is, I notice Jay's own gaze lingering on my long bare legs. Slightly mocking I ask him, "I see the view isn't too bad for you either." I return to looking for my phone, because it wasn't in my bag. 

A couple minutes later it's evident it's not on the couch or in my shorts either. "Babe? Do you know where my phone is?" 

"Oh, umm check the bedside table. It kept going off a couple hours ago, so I turned it off. I thought it was mine, but turns out mine is over here. Sorry." 

Who was calling me? Or was it my alarm? Shit, I hope my mom didn't just tell Clara I slept over when she found out I wasn't there. How do I explain that? Adult sleepovers? 

Once my phone powers up, an influx of messages and missed calls all demand my attention. A dozen missed calls from my mom makes me worry immediately though. I see several from Marissa and even one from the school. "Jay, something's happened." My voice shakes from worry and within seconds I'm returning my mum's calls. 

"Shaun? OH my god, thank god you're okay. Where are you?" My mum sounds as if I was a 14 year old missing for a night. 

"I'm fine mum; I stayed the night at Jay's. Is that all? I have like a million missed calls from you." 

"Shaun, I didn't have time to walk Clara to the school today, and- and she told me that she could do it by herself, so I let her. A-and-" 

Shit, shit, shit. "MUM! She's 7-fucking years old! She can't walk to school alone!" 

"Well, umm, the school called and said she didn't make it today, and- and she's gone, Shaun. We can't find her anywhere." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"Now, you're the one who normally walks Clara to school, according to your mother. Has anyone ever come up and talked to you, any where you didn't particularly feel safe?" 

The detective was sitting next to me on the sofa, while her partner was in the kitchen with my mum. My hands wouldn't stay still, and my phone was constantly buzzing with messages. I hadn't allowed Jay to come with me, knowing that it wouldn't be good for him or for the investigation to have paparazzi all over. And between him and the girls, everyone was anxious for news. 

"No, no, I mean, people say hello if you pass them, but no one's ever particularly come out and talked to us." 

She nods, and adds a note to her notepad. "Your mother mentioned that there was a custody battle for Clara, between the two of you and your brother, Henry? Is there a possibility that he took her?" 

The answer is automatic, because I knew he would in a heartbeat. "Ma'am, we've had to move twice, due to him showing up and all but beating the door down. Henry is a very... troubled guy. If he doesn't have her, I don't know who does." 

She nods again, and tells me that they already have someone looking for his address. Then she asks, "Now, if it is not personal, then we have to face the fact that it might be related to your career or boyfriend. You are connected to quite a few celebrities, and sometimes people can get a bit... obsessive. Have you heard from anyone about someone who could take things... that far? Or maybe try to get to them through you and Clara?" 

I don't even want to think about that, the possibility of it somehow being related to me and Jay, or dancing for Jessie. Yet, I still try to think of anything, even something mentioned off hand, but I come up with nothing. The detective and her partner leave soon, after assuring us that they would keep us in touch. 

Once they are gone, I loose control of the tight hold I had maintained on my temper. "YOU JUST LET HER WALK HERSELF!" I don't even care that she's my mother; it's her fault that Clara is gone, and she is earning no respect from me. 

"She's not a baby, Shaun." She stammers slightly, not meeting my eyes. 

"She's SEVEN! What the fuck where you thinking!" My voice shrieked through several octaves, my body rising from the couch. 

Mum locked her jaw and raised her finger at me, "Don't you dare use that language around me. I am still your mother! And why weren't you here to walk her anyway? To busy whoring around?" There's a sneer to her words, and this reminds me of the few times she fought against my father, and the one time she disciplined my brother. Yet I see it as it is, a defense mechanism so she won't have to accept her own fault in this. 

"You haven't been a mother for years, don't lie to yourself. And I'm 20 years old, with guy I've been with for months. That's not exactly a whore!" I snarl at her and grab my purse from the ground next to me, but she yanks on my arm. 

"You don't get to leave until you apologize, Shaun. I am your mother and I demand respect!" 

How dare she? She spends the first 15 years of my life watching me and her son get beat to pulps by her husband, and she says nothing. She's completely complacent to watch while we struggle and struggle to keep our fragile lives running, and then she just tells a 7 year old to walk over 15 blocks to school by herself. Now she wants respect, she thinks she can demand anything? 

I yank my arm away and completely turn off my mind to mouth filter. "You know what, I am sorry. I'm sorry I thought that you could be a competent grandmother, despite your failing as a mother. I'm sorry I trusted you for all of 12 hours to keep Clara safe. I should have known you'd be a failure, again." 

She recoiled as if I slapped her, and I can't deny that I half wanted to. There was a single, silent, tense moment, and then I'm slamming the door behind me. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

While I sit in the park, still only in last night's shorts and Jay's shirt, cold wind blows. Any smart person would have found somewhere warm to hide out in. But this park is where I always came when I needed to think. Try to be peaceful. 

What can I do? How can I help Clara, when now I see that I had been loosing myself into Me and Jay, and my career. I had gotten so out of touch with the real world, happy to live in this idyllic life I thought I had. Everything had been going so well. Clara was in a good school, money wasn't a worry anymore. I was preparing to go on tour with Jessie. Jay and I were working well; perfectly happy in the place we were in. 

I should have paid more attention to the text I got a month ago. But I had convinced myself that we were finally safe. How could I have been so wrong? I was careless, and naive. I had failed Clara, failed Lucy. 

I grab a small pebble from under my shoe and throw it into the pond stretching out before me, letting my frustration give it power. But it's not enough. That spark lets the entire flame burst out and a unholy roar rips through my chest and into the air. I kick at the ground and trees, wanting to hurt something as much as I hurt. 

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I struggle to pull it out of my pockets. I read out the text, shuddering as my soul is chilled through. 

I'm taking her back to the beginning of the end. To where they separated our family. And then it will all end.