I stood on the edge of the bridge, one foot on the ground, one on the guard rail. Somebody's car pulled onto the side of the road. I ignored the shouting, the freezing rain, and the quick pitter-patter of steps coming towards me. I closed my eyes and spread my arms out like a bird about to take flight. I slowly leaned forward.
"No Kimmy." A voice growled next to my ear. My eyes opened in surprise as fists latched themselves onto my arms and pulled me back. They tossed me onto the ground, away from the traffic, and held me in the mud.
"What were you thinking?" Dark brown eyes burned into my own.
"Are you going to let me go Jack?" I asked calmly, avoiding his question.
"After that little stunt?" He gave me a look of wide-eyed disbelief. "Why would you try something like that?!"
I shrugged. "I needed to see my dad."
Confusion lit Jack's face. "Can't you just go home and do that?"
"I don't have a home anymore."
I was just making him more and more confused. He leaned closer. "What do you mean by that Kim?"
As he was distracted, I kicked up at him, making him let go of my wrists to defend himself. I quickly got up and sprinted towards the bridge. He caught me in two seconds flat, his hands wrapping around my waist as I screamed and thrashed. My tears mingled with the rain and streaked down my face.
Finally I broke. He felt the change and plopped down on the ground, dragging me along with him. He rubbed my back as I clung to him for dear life, crying my eyes out.
We sat there for maybe an hour or two, multiple people stopping to see if everything was ok. Each time Jack sent them away with a smile and 'thank you, but we're fine.'
Pull it together. I told myself, and shrugged out of his arms, wiping my face.
"Thank you, Jack. But I really should be going now." Wobbling, I took a few steps, and quickened my pace, walking towards the nearest highway. Jack jogged to catch up.
"Where are you going? Town is that way." He pointed, while walking backwards to keep up with me.
"Somewhere that isn't here." I muttered. Jack heard it, though. We walked for a few moments, and then he put out a hand to stop me.
"Can I trust you to stay here for a minute?" I nodded. "You won't try anything stupid?" His eyes searched mine. After a little pause, I nodded again. He then turned around and sprinted back the way we had come.
After a while, a green Porsche Cayenne showed up beside me. By then I was shivering uncontrollably. Jack hopped out and ran over to me. I tried to take a step or two, but nearly fell over. Jack caught me and hoisted me up bridal-style, plopping me into the passenger seat. He came back around, jumped into the car, and blasted on the heat.
"Sorry, I don't have a coat or anything. When your mom called and said you'd gone out by yourself I didn't think about the fact that it was raining, and that you'd be freezing when I'd find you." He looked a little bashful.
"Sok" I said, slurring my words together. I tried to smile, but failed miserably. Jack looked even more concerned at my failed gesture.
We made it to Jack's house. Or should I say mansion! His family was totally loaded with his grandpa teaching Bobby Wasabi and all, so they had a HUGE house. This explained how Jack could afford the Porsche.
Jack parked the car and ran around to my side to help me out. I could hardly walk. In fact, I could hardly move! My feet felt like deadweights. And when I trumped forward, the gravel came towards my face at an alarming speed.
Suddenly, warm hands had me and my feet were being lifted off of the ground.
"Swrm." I muttered. I was out of it in the next second.
I woke up to someone calling my name. I ignored it and snuggled into my blankets. Mmm. My bed was so comfortable! Wait. My bed wasn't squishy. My bed was hard. Really hard. And I don't own any quilts. What are four doing on me right now?!
I shot up, almost hitting Jack's head with my own. He sprung backwards, surprised. Then he tackled me into a hug.
"Kim! You're awake!" He yelled into my hair.
"Mph!" I exclaimed into his neck. "I can't breathe! Get off, you big lump!"
"Oh, sorry." He got off of me and smiled sheepishly.
"It's ok. So how long was I out?"
"A few hours. You had hypothermia. We took care of you though."
I let out a noncommittal grunt. I gently lay back down. I fingered the hem of my shirt as Jack absentmindedly hummed 'You are my Sunshine.' It was a song that always calmed me down. I looked down at my shirt again and played with the red material. Wait, red? I frowned slightly. I had not been wearing red when I came here. I had been wearing a purple shirt. And I hadn't been wearing sweats either!
(A/N: My sister used to sing You are my Sunshine to me to calm me down.)
"Wait a minute!" I shot up again, looking at my clothes. "I wasn't in these clothes when I got here!" Even though the clothes were mine, (I had clothes at Jack's for when we had sleepovers), I couldn't fathom how they had gotten on me.
He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a nervous chuckle. "Well, we had to get you out of those wet clothes… So…"
My face went cherry-red. "You didn't change me, right?" I said slowly. His face drained of color and he looked at me wide eyed.
"No, no, no, no, no, no." His face slowly flushed to a light pink. "My mom did that."
I smiled in relief. That would have awkwaaaard!
We chatted comfortably for a few minutes, until my tummy let us know it was still there. I giggled, embarrassed. He smiled.
"I'll be right back, k?" He walked out of the door without waiting for my reply. I grinned. He was like my personal slave. So eager to please.
I sighed got comfy. I suppose I dozed off, because suddenly I awoke with my head against Jack's chest, my body rocking gently as we went down the stairs.
"You've been carrying me way too much lately." I remarked, slapping his arm. "Put me down."
He looked at me. "No."
My mouth slightly dropped. "Did you just say no to me?"
"Why yes. Yes I did." He smirked.
"Well look who's cocky once again." I murmured to myself. He just threw his head back and laughed at me. I suppose I did sound kinda loopy.
When we got into the kitchen he placed me on a chair. In front of me was a steaming bowl of potato soup. I downed it in 10 seconds flat, and bounced in my seat waiting for more. Jack went over to the fridge and grabbed himself and I some cups and a jug of apple juice.
"Here you go Kimmy!" He placed the apple juice in front of me. I made sure that the mug was on the table before a thwacked him. Hard.
"Owie! Kiiiimmmm! What was that for?!" He rubbed his arm, looking at me resentfully.
"Don't call me Kimmy." I stated and gulped down my juice. I waited for Jack to get done and then insisted on walking back to his room. He kept a hand on my back to steady me, which caused little shocks to go up my spine every time he touched me. Jack lounged in a chair while I lay back down on his bed. After a minute of comfortable silence, I spoke.
"I'm ready to tell you what I was doing on the bridge." I kept my voice carefully neutral, trying to keep the emotions in. He sat up, noticing the tension in the room, and looked at me. All it took was one look at my face and he held out his arms. I gratefully went to them.
"It's my dad." My voice sounded squeaky. "He – he's- he's-" I lost it. I burrowed my face into the crook of his neck. My tears washed down his neck, soaking his shirt, but he didn't seem to care.
"He's dead, isn't he." He said quietly. It wasn't a question. More like a fact. I could only nod and burrow closer to him. He started stroking my hair and whispering nonsense; things that were meant to calm me down.
Eventually we ended up on the bed, me on his lap, sniffling, using his chest as a pillow. I tried to get up to clean myself off. Heaven knows I'm not pretty when I cry! But Jack pushed me back down.
"Kimmy, please don't move from this spot." He tried to see my face but embarrassed, I hid it in my hands. I didn't even whack him for calling me Kimmy, which was a first.
He gently removed my hands from my face and turned my chin towards him. "You're beautiful Kim!" He said softly, as if he heard all of my negative thoughts about my appearance. I blushed and burrowed into his warm chest. He held me tighter.
I sighed and shut my eyes. "You're the best friend I could ever ask for Jack."
In reply I got what I thought to be a warm kiss on the top of my head as I dozed off.
Didn't know what to do with it half way through! Oh well. (; Hope ya liked it!
