A new beginning- not finished and no longer writing

c h a p t e r 18- messing with my feelings

I took one look at the beaten boy on the ground, Cole's bloody knuckles and our joined hands before turning back to Jared. From his pissed off expression, I could tell what he thought of the situation. Wrenching my hand from Cole's, I hurried over to him and grabbed his arm.

'I'm going to explain but I don't want to do it here.' I whispered in Jared's ear in a rush, pulling him along behind me. He grunted which I presumed meant that he agreed and I tried to shoot Cole a look that screamed 'run while you can' as I continued to drag Jared away from the crowd.

'Oi, Spenser, you better get your ass over here as well- she's not the only one with explaining to do,' Jared yelled, apparently having caught onto the frantic glares I was sending Cole's way. Fuck's sake- this was not going to end well.

Finally having reached a corner of the fair where no-one was present, I let go of Jared's arm. Immediately, he crossed his arms and towered over where I was standing- this then caused Cole to shift slightly, his body pushing mine halfway behind him. I rolled my eyes, pushing Cole out the way and then shoving Jared back.

'Stop acting like that! You don't even know what happened yet.' I said, exasperated. Jared deflated a tiny bit, relaxing so he was leaning against the back of one of the trailers, 'Tell me what did actually happen, then.'

Taking a deep breath, I began, 'Honestly, it wasn't THAT big of a deal,' Cole scoffed beside me and Jared gave me a look of disbelief. I swallowed nervously, continuing, 'Anyway, I didn't lie at all. I did meet Lyra and that but then I saw Cole and decided to go with him on the Ferris Wheel- we went on that and Cole left to go get more tickets. That's when...when Hunter came up to me,' I stopped, glancing up to see Cole with a pissed off expression, his hands curled tightly into fists.

'Hunter, well he asked me to basically hook up. And I said no, of course, but I guess he didn't really like that answer because he just kept pushing. Then, when I went to walk away, he...he pushed me against the wall and, well, he kissed me. So, I punched him. And that's when Cole came and he took him off me and, well, you saw what he did to Hunter.'

I waited cautiously for Jared's reaction, biting my lip with nervousness. Jared's face stayed blank, the only emotion being shown in the unclenching and clenching of his fists. All of sudden, he punched the wall to his side, making me flinch and slide closer to Cole.

'And the bastards already in an ambulance?' He growled out; the question obviously directed at Cole. Cole nodded, 'Trust me, he won't be able to move for quite a while.'

Jared seemed to relax at his statement and I was thankful he had calmed down- my PTSD always acted up when people got too violent and I hated it. Cheers for that Mum.

'So, we good now?' I asked, hesitantly.

'Yeah, we're good but, fuck Alyssa, I feel like I have to worry about you every time you go out now,' Jared replied, a frown on his face. I sighed, going to wrap my arms around his waist, 'I know but seriously, I'm okay,' I mumbled, Jared hugging me back tightly, 'I mean, it's not my fault I'm so pretty,' I joked, smiling when I felt Jared's laugh.

However, my grin soon disappeared when Jared spoke next.

'You do know I'm going to have to tell the others about this?'

-------------

I felt a strange sense of déjà vu as I waited in the car with Cole while Jared 'spoke' with Jordan who we'd met at the car- I'm more than certain that Jared was relaying the night's events because I heard some muffled shouts of 'He did WHAT' and 'I'll kill him!'. Sighing, I lent my head on the back of the car seat, twisting to look at Cole only to find him already staring at me.