Living With The Giants

Thirty-Eight: Teary

Thirty-Eight: Teary

Darrick climbed to his feet quickly from off the bed and she gasped as he easily lifted her up into the air with him, holding her like a baby koala as he stared toward the ceiling where Jace loomed outside. Tess had to hold in a small laugh as she kept her legs wrapped around his hips for a second longer, enjoying being held within his strong arms. She could see he appeared worried of Jace's presence, shifting uncomfortably and looking ready to sprint if he needed. Tess finally unwrapped her small body from around Darrick, having to hop down to the ground from how tall he was. Darrick didn't remove his hands though, delicately resting his large fingers on her hips and pulling her close against him, as if needing her to be close to him at all times, before looking down to her.

"I~babe he can't see me like this, I'll explain it all to you later but this has to be a secret. Okay" Darrick whispered, bringing his hands up to lightly cup at her small cheeks, she took notice of the size difference of simply his hands and her face "you have to hide me" he spoke softly, lightly grazing a thumb over her cheek and making her feel like melting at his touch

"Tess?" Jace called again, hearing a few softer thuds as Jace tapped lightly on the roof with his finger.

"H-hold on!" Tess called back to Jace, her heart hammering imagining the large boy hovering over her home waiting eagerly for her to come out. She appreciated that he didn't just open the roof like he usually would "okay~ okay, Um~ go into the bathroom, he won't see you in there" she whispered from between his hands, her cheeks having turned a dark shade of red across her nose seeing as he was almost crouching to look down at her while his palms encased her face.

"Thank you~" he whispered back, his voice deep and making her entire body shiver beneath the baritone of his words. Leaning in, Tess stood frozen with both shock and excitement as Darrick head leant in closer and his lips delicately brushed at her cheek. It sent a wave of heat over her body and she felt as if she could collapse before him. She smiled, her heart fluttering at his voice as she wanted to reach up and clasp her hands on either side of his face. Wanting to lean in for another, to instead grab his large head and crash her lips into his but didn't get the chance as he didn't waste a second to slip away, having to duck through the doorway of the ensuite as he was taller than the doorframe so that he could hide inside away from any prying eyes.

Why did Jace have to come now? She could be cuddling Darrick but of course Jace had to be waiting outside. Her face turned red at the thoughts and she covered her face to hide her smile, feeling flustered and overwhelmed.

All the reasons not to do this came flooding to her mind once Darrick left, as if her body had come to realise who was waiting outside. She could feel the soft panic beginning to grow within her chest but then lightly fade as she tried to think positively, knowing it was only Jace. But because he was a giant, the thought of him looking down on her made her feel uneasy. She knew her nerves would fade if she backed away, but then thought how she'd have to do this all again another time. She had to face it. It will grow if she let these scared thoughts swirl into a vortex of stupidity. So she breathed in slowly, let the thoughts leak into nothing and began moving out of her bedroom to head downstairs to the front door, realising only along the way what Darrick had said. The word rang in her mind, could feel it fluttering in her chest

"Babe~"

Grabbing onto the cool door handle, she let her eyes close and filled her lungs with air before even opening the door. It was only Jace, why was she so scared? Twisting the door handle, she managed to pull the door open, hesitating for a long moment before finding confidence to step out of her home. Looking up, she found herself looking into the familiar large features. Blueberry eyes, light brown locks and a small frown of Jace Stevens. The fear looped around in her mind until there was no room for anything else. 'He's so big, he could hurt me so easily. No jace would never. But he's still a giant" over and over again, she couldn't escape her thought. Shuddering she takes a strong breath trying to calm the torment of her mind. 

Jace began to crouch then as he spotted her, leaning down til he came face to face with Tess, his large blueberry eyes looking down on the small girl with worry. She could tell he wanted to reach out and hold her, moving closer she flinched instinctively, making Jace back up. She was happy that he didn't just grab her and instead kept his hands by his sides.

"Hey Tessie~" Jace spoke softly as if testing the waters, a frown etched deep onto his features she could've sworn he looked on the verge of crying. Pursing her lips she shifted uncomfortably beneath his large gaze, seeing as he examined her bruised body and then down to the cast upon her arm. Shaking his head, he brought his hands to his eyes to rub at, "I'm so sorry Tess, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I-I can't believe~ i should've been there- I sh-should've known Lenny was upto  no good. I should've stopped him"

"It's okay Jace.. you didn't know" Tess spoke barely over a whisper, turning her eyes down to her feet feeling a frown tugging at her mouth.

"No it's not okay" Jace sniffed and it all went down from there. The tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down his cheeks and staining his shirt. She could see the muscles of his chin tremble like a small child as he tried holding in his cry and he turned away to look toward the window, as if embarrassed by his tears he quickly tried wiping them away. She could only imagine what Darrick was thinking if he were looking out a window at this or just by listening to Jace.

There is static in her head as she saw Jace cry, a side of her wanting to reach out and comfort the larger boy, surprised to see Jace of all people crying, who was always so happy and bubbly. But also a deep fear of his size and power held her back. Lenny had taken something out of her and her friends that she didn't know could have been taken.

Jace sniffled and rubbed at his eyes, "I-I-I really am s-sorry. I-I can un-understand if y-you don't wanna be f-friends with u-us anymore~" Jace's voice wavered as his dark lashes brimmed with tears, trying to swallow his cries but his shoulders heaved with emotion. As much as she tried to hold it in, the pain came out as the beads of water started falling down one after another at the sight of Jace crying before her. Once again she found herself crying, sniffling into her sleeve she tried stifling her sobs but couldn't hold in her tears.

"I don't want y-you to l-leave me" Tess bit her tongue, trying to hold in the tears and sobs that shook her shoulders.  She could feel the warmth, sliding down her cheeks, and rolling down her chin. She couldn't hold back as she began crying, like a child she felt herself shake and nearly collapse to the ground

She didn't know when he had reached out, but she found herself willingly stepping into the comfort of Jace's offered hands, enveloping her delicately to bring into a warm hug against his strong chest. She didn't fight, didn't kick or punch to escape, instead curling into the giants grasp as he held her and she dissolved into a puddle of tears. She could feel his thumb stroking her shoulders, trying to comfort the trembling tiny.

"Ill always be here for you Tess, always. It'll be okay~" Jace whispered, sniffling softly as his own sobs calmed, his emotion walled off behind a mask. He would wear it until everything was right again, cooing down at the small human in an attempt to soothe her pain. Tess wasn't scared for the first time since she'd arrived home towards a giant, having no fear toward Jace knowing he truly cared for her. How he held her, curled up on the ground by himself, how he cried for her and became a shoulder to cry on.

Jace truly was her best friend and all she needed in that moment.

~~~

Small update! Hope it's okay! Was wondering, if you guys would want a seperate book for when this ends or I was thinking maybe doing a part one and part two in the same book. So that this story will continue in this book and not a seperate one.

Hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment what you liked id love to hear your thoughts and what you wanna see next!!