Jesse's Girl (COMPLETE)

Chapter 15

* Catherine *

I hate to admit it, but I was actually really thankful that Jesse had turned up. I didn't have the energy to once again try and keep my own personal demons at bay.

And he turned out to be a good distraction.

It was actually surprising how easy being with him was. We spoke very little, neither of us felt the need to fill the silence with awkward small talk. We both just sat enjoying each other's company.

We watched movies for a good few hours before I heard the poor boy's stomach rumble.

I tried to stifle a laugh so as not to embarrass him, instead I pushed myself up off the couch and limped to the kitchen.

'Where you off to?' He called, sounding a little unsure of himself.

'Just be patient, I won't be long' I called back distractedly as I pulled various ingredients from the fridge.

'Hurry back, it's lonely out here' he replied.

I couldn't help but smile.

Yeah ok, I'll admit that was a little cute.

I spent the next forty five minutes in the kitchen, cooking some chicken, vegetables and brown rice.

I bet you're thinking what kind of teenager cooks like that? Well when you spend as much time on your own as I do, you get sick of pizza and burgers pretty quick.

Plus cooking isn't that complicated. I'm not saying I enjoy it or anything, it's just not that hard if you have the right motivation.

Before long I had served up our meals in two white bowls and hobbled back to the couch.

I handed a bowl over to Jesse before placing mine on the coffee table and joined him back on the couch.

'Wait... you cooked?' He asked, a little shocked as he eyed the delicious meal in his hand.

'Uh mm' I mumbled with a mouth full of food.

'You actually cooked... for me?' He asked again, turning to face me.

'It's just dinner green eyes, what's the big deal?' I queried, scooping another fork full of vegetables into my mouth.

'It's... uhh.. I mean my own mum barely ever cooks for me' he mumbled more to himself then to me.

I shot him a questioning look but before I could say a word he continued on.

'It's not like she can't cook or doesn't want to or whatever... I mean I'm not saying she's a bad mum or anything either... it's just sometimes money's tight you know...' he trailed off sheepishly, trying to hide his embarrassment.

In that moment I felt his hard exterior slip just a fraction and it warmed my heart to know that he wasn't holding himself back around me.

'Food is food' I replied as casually as I could. Sensing this was obviously a delicate subject for him I did my best to not make him feel any worse than he clearly already did.

It seemed to work because he just nodded and shot me a small, genuine smile.

At the sight of his smile I felt a weird knot form in the pit of my stomach as a familiar feeling stirred inside me.

One that I hadn't felt in a very long time.

I pushed those little flutters down as far as they could go and thankfully I was quickly distracted by the ridiculously handsome boy beside me. It was like he didn't even stop to even breathe as he inhaled his food that quickly.