The Visitor

A Night In His Home

Chapter Two
A night in his home

Jack stared down at the sleeping body, his skull pounding with confusion. He had a million questions.
'Is...is that Sally? What's she doing here? Why isn't she home? Surely, she must be cold!'
The skeleton glanced around, not totally sure what he should do. He can't just leave her like this! She'll freeze! Besides, no one should have to sleep outside on the streets. He turned around, looking in the direction of Finkelsteins tower before turning his gaze back to Sally.
'Alright...I'll carry her back home. I can't let her sleep out here in the cold, on the ground. I'll just have to ask her tomorrow what she was doing.' Jack decided. He moved forward, crouching down on one knee in front of her. He slipped one arm around her back, placing a hand on the side of her shoulder, and placed his other hand on the inside of her knees where her legs were neatly folded. He tightened his grip, about to pick her up, when suddenly Sally's eyes shot open.

They stared at each other for what would be the longest ten seconds of their undead lives, both of them frozen.

Jack blinked in surprise and quickly let go of her, releasing his grip on her arms and legs, and moving back a bit. He scratched the side of his skull awkwardly.
"Oh, Sally! I apologize, I thought you were asleep..."
A red tint appeared on Sally's face as she sat up straight. She looked shocked and...a little embarrassed.
"Oh....it's alright." She hesitated before asking, looking away shyly, "...what were you doing...?"
"Erm...well, I was just going to bring you back home, so that you'd have a better place to sleep." He tilted his head at her. "What are you doing out here this late?"
Sally looked down at the ground. The blush across her nose darkened as her hand crept up to play with her hair. She bit her lip. "I...I was just...t-taking a walk and..got a little tired is all. So I sat down to rest.." she told him, which wasn't entirely false. Jack frowned at her. He could tell there was more to this, something that she wasn't telling him, but he decided not to pry. After all, if she wanted to talk about it , she would have told him.
After a moment, he nodded, standing up off the ground and brushing himself off. He looked back at his friend. "Well, Sally, I don't think it's a good idea to rest here. It's already chilly, and it's only going to get colder." He held his hand out to her, which she took after hesitating a second. He helped her to her feet. "I'd be happy to walk you back to the towe-"
"-No!"
Sally shouted, interrupting him. The skeleton blinked, a bit surprised that she raised her voice like that. The ragdoll slapped a hand over her mouth, before removing it and attempting to correct herself.
"I-I mean...I...I don't want to go back to the tower..."
"You don't?"
She shook her head, looking back down. "...no.."
Jack placed a finger on his chin in thought. He was a bit confused, but he understood well enough. He knew Sally wasn't entirely happy where she lived, although he didn't have all the details. But he could tell by the way she was standing, staring down at the ground with her shoulders slumped, a frown on her ruby lips, and her fingers intertwining each other behind her back, just the thought of going back there was upsetting her. Jack wasn't going to force her to do anything. Finally, he nodded.
"Alright. I understand." Sally looked up at him as he continued. "But, like I said...I can't let you sleep out here on the ground." Jack's sockets fell onto his own house. "- you're more than welcome to come stay with me, if you'd like."

Sally's eyes widened and the red on her face darkened yet again. She looked up from the ground, just barely meeting his gaze.
"With....y-you?"
The skeleton nodded. Sally placed a hand on the side of her face. She could feel the heat just from the touch. "O-Oh...no, Jack..that's okay. I-I don't want to intrude..."
"Not at all, Sally! I'm inviting you. Besides, you don't really have much of a choice." Jack put his hands in his pockets. "Like I keep saying, you can't spend the night out here. So it's either with me, or...the tower."
She bit her lip again.
"Are....are you sure?"
"Of course."
Sally turned around and gazed at his house. She could feel a thumping against her chest. Her fingers playing shyly with her hair, she turned back to face him after a second.
".....Okay, J-Jack....I guess I can...stay with you...."
The skeleton smiled happily, looking delighted that she had accepted his offer. Jack walked over to the gate, opening it and motioning for his friend to go inside. "Sounds like a plan, Sally. We may as well head in now, it's getting late and there's no point in hanging around here. Besides..." he paused as she walked past him and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He shut the gate and quickly caught up to her, extending his arm, which she took, to help her up the stairs. "...you look tired"