4 a.m. // Jeggy

Chapter 19

"Oh my God." I whispered as John's dad continued to bang against the door, screaming and swearing. John and I had both jumped off his bed the first time he had knocked... if you could consider what he was doing knocking.

"You have to hide." He told me, looking around his room for somewhere I could hide. We finally settled on the corner of his closet, hidden behind some coats. He turned his overhead light off, leaving just a lamp on and effectively engulfing the closet in darkness. Now, I just needed to be silent and not run to try to help John if he were to get into another physical altercation with his father.

John limped to the door, the cut clearly impacting his ability to move with comfort. He unlocked it and I could hear his dad, screaming at full volume. I almost wanted to cry just thinking about how John had to deal with this all the time.

"How dare you run off from me like that? When I'm trying to discipline you, you stay where I tell you! You got it? I expect a 'yes sir', or I swear, John, you think your life is a living hell right now? I'll make it real hell." He yelled, doing something that I could only assume was grabbing John based on what I could hear.

"Yes sir." I could barely hear John mumble.

"Never, ever come home that late again. Understand? You're a burden to us, okay? Don't make things harder than they have to be." His dad spat. How could he think John, John, of all people was a burden? John, the guy who called me gorgeous and gave me his shirt and told me he'd fight for me. How is he a burden?

I couldn't quite hear what John was saying, but apparently it was enough to make his father go away, muttering loudly. John lingered at the door for a moment, talking to someone. His mother, I assumed.

"Mom, I'm so sorry for getting back late. How bad did it get when I was gone?" I could hear him asking.

"It was okay, sweetheart. I stayed out of his way and it was fine. Just a few hits here and there after the thing with the glass, but I'm alright. Speaking of, how is it?" She asked. I think they had moved into his room at this point. Their voices seemed a lot closer.

I was correct. I could see John and his mother sitting on his bed, where him and I had just been. I felt rude for listening to this moment between them without his mother knowing I was here.

I could see John lifting his shirt and showing his bandages side to his mother, then pointing at the pile of blood-soaked cloth. She put her head in her hands and he pulled her into his chest, patting her softly on the back.

"I'm okay, Mom. Don't worry. And besides, I had help." He told her, glancing at the closet where I was sitting, quite confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked, sitting back up. He stood up and walked over to where I was in the closet and reached for my hand. Carefully and quietly, he pulled me up off the floor and out of the closet, so that I was standing in front of his mother.

Instead of asking John how I got in or anything about who I was, all she did was jump up and hug me, the way John did when I got here. I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat. I felt so, so awful for these two people.

"Thank you so much." She whispered, pulling away from the hug but leaving her hands on my shoulders.

"Of course. Listen, if you guys ever need anything—" I began. She shook her head and waved it off.

"It's okay, dear. Don't you worry. Based on the fact that you're here right now, I know that John will call for help when we really need it. Now, your parents must be worried sick about you! John, you've got to get this girl back home." She said, turning to her son. He nodded and I did the same.

"Oh, I'm Peggy by the way. It's nice to meet you... I'm just wishing it could've been in any other circumstance." I told her. She smiled and introduced herself as Eleanor, saying that John had told her a lot about me. I found myself blushing at that.

"Mom!" John said. She laughed quietly before saying goodnight and telling John to walk me back home. He agreed, and we climbed out his window together.

By the time we were in his backyard, it was almost 5:30 in the morning. The wound cleaning took a long time, so I wasn't all that surprised, especially with the whole thing with his dad and talking to his mom.

We walked back to my house, very different than my sprinting to get to his. The sun slowly began to appear on the horizon, and I found myself with a familiar feeling aching in my bones. I had watched far too many sunrises over the past year or so, with all the troubles sleeping.

"Hey, do you want to take a little detour?" John asked me. I nodded, knowing I wouldn't sleep well when I returned home anyway. What's the point of going back now?

We walked to a nearby park and sat down in one of the benches where we could see the whole sky. We sat together and watched the colors of the sky shift from deep blue, to pink, orange, yellow and the familiar light blue of the morning.

By the time the sun was almost fully above the horizon, our hands were intertwined between us on the bench.

He walked me home afterwards, my hand still in his while we talked and laughed as if the scariness of the past little while never even happened. We arrived in my backyard at last, and I found myself really not wanting to let go of his hand to climb back up into my room.

"You know what?" I said, feeling particularly bold this early Sunday morning.

"Hmm?" He asked, meeting my eyes.

"Why don't we go in and make some coffee? I think there's some doughnuts in there too. We can get some and sit on the porch. If you want to, of course." I said. His smile lit up his face.

"Of course I do."

a/n: next chapter will def be fluff and i'm so excitedddd jeggy fluff is just so cute to write