It was incredibly boring to him. Dark eyes stared out the window of the car, not bothering to even really look at anything passing them by. Chewing on his lower lip, he kicked the seat in front of him, 'causing his father to turn around and give him a stern look, while he had nothing but an annoyed expression on his face.
"How much longer?" He asked, leaning his head back against the seat, eyes moving to stare at the ceiling.
"We're almost to the inn, James. You can stop kicking your father's seat." His mother commented. Letting out an audible sigh, the twelve year old closed his eyes for a moment. They were going to visit his grandmother who had fallen ill in the past few weeks, but that was of no interest to him. Nor was he interested in seeing his aunt and cousin who were staying at their grandmother's house despite how much his mother insisted that they would have fun. Jim could hardly understand how an eleven year old could just be so idiotic.
Soon the car came to a stop, and he sat there for a moment, the frown on his face growing as he sunk into his seat. He didn't even want to see that stupid little town again. It was nothing like London. It was just too calm and peaceful. There was no excitement for him there. His mother opened the door, urging him to get out. With a groan, the boy unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car, digging his hands into his pocket as he shuffled after his parents with the bags. He glanced up only once to look back, seeing only a few people and a small duck pond. Oh, he was going to absolutely loathe being there.
Upon checking in, he almost immediately heard his mother on the phone, chatting away with his aunt. He cringed, already hearing Rory's annoying voice in his head. He knew it was coming, though- that inevitable playdate that their mothers were going to force upon them. He was just glad that he at least got something to play with, but it wasn't generally the way that their mothers had intended. Rory almost always ended up crying and running to his aunt, saying that he had hurt him. Sure, he usually had, but Jim was usually a good enough liar to say that it had been an accident. Cue the crocodile tears and his aunt and mother were putty in his hands.
"Rory will be coming to visit in fifteen minutes, James. He'll be bringing a little friend, too. How exciting, you get to have to friends to play with!" There it was, just what he had been dreading. Putting on the best fake smile he could, he looked towards his mom and began to rummage through his bag.
"Really?" He said, grabbing a pair of clean clothes. "I'm going to go take a shower then! Can we play outside?" Jim looked up towards his mother, watching her give a small nod.
"Just stay away from the road!" She called after him as he hurried towards the shower. Only when he had locked himself away in the bathroom did he allow himself to show that he was annoyed. No, to his parents he could be the sweetest thing, and if they knew how much he hated Rory, they'd make sure they didn't see each other. That would be much more boring than tormenting him, at least. He cried so easily, after all.
Jim could hear voices almost immediately upon turning the hot water off. Wiping the condensation off of the mirror, he looked at himself for a moment, frowning as he dried his hair. There was that unfamiliar voice on the other side as well- Rory's little friend. He was a bit surprised to hear it was a Scottish girl, but he ignored it, quickly pulling his clothes on as he opened the door, putting on the excited facade once again.
"Rory!" He cried out, hurrying to wrap his arms around the other. Feeling the younger boy stiffen underneath him, he couldn't help but smirk. Though, he looked towards the girl, extending a hand towards her, hoping that she wouldn't cry nearly as easy as his cousin. "I'm Jim. Jim Moriarty." He said, shaking her hand once she held it out to him.
"Amelia Pond." She replied, obviously a bit weary of him. It seemed that Rory had probably brought her there because he didn't feel comfortable being alone with him. What a shame, really. He'd have to make sure that she never wanted to see him again, either.
"Shall we?" He said, motioning towards the door as he looked back towards his cousin. The other boy nodded slowly, hanging his head a bit. You could tell how much he dreaded those visits. Amy bound through first, grabbing Rory's wrist and dragging him out into the hall, where Jim followed after. Once the door had closed, he almost immediately kicked the other in the shin, the former smirk returning to his face. Hearing Rory let out a loud yelp, the redhead almost immediately turned around, glaring daggers towards the other. Sure, it was a bit surprising, but it wasn't as if it hadn't happened before. There had been a few who stood up to him at first, but by the end of the day they always cowered before him.
Amy let go of Rory's hand, moving to stand in front of Jim so they were just a couple inches apart. She looked up towards him, hands on her waist.
"Now listen here! He's told me about how much you bully him and I'm not going to stand for it! You either play by my rules or not at all!" The smirk only grew a bit more, his eyes remaining completely dark.
"Whatever you say, Pond." The girl's eyes narrowed, taking a step back before turning on her heel to press the button for the elevator. Rory leaned in, whispering something in Amelia's ear that Jim didn't care to listen in on. All he could think about was how badly he wanted to see the both of them cry.
Once they had made it outside, the girl seemed to lighten up a bit, turning back towards the two of them.
"Well, boys! Which one of you is going to be my raggedy doctor?" She chirped. Jim raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. She looked at the both of them before leaning in towards Jim. "You!" He rolled his eyes, waving her off.
"Like hell I'm going to play pretend with my wimpy little cousin and some annoying Scottish brat," Jim ran a hand through his hair, chuckling a bit to himself.
"Oh, yes you are!" Amy said, a grin forming on her face. "Rory's been him enough times, it's your turn. You get to be a ti-"
"I told you, I'm not playing your dumb little game!" He said, beginning to walk off. Though, Amy was quick, grabbing his wrist and tugging back before he could get too far.
"And I told you that you're going to be the raggedy doctor whether you like it or not!" Jim was beginning to get annoyed. His eyes narrowed and he yanked his hand back, quickly taking a step towards Amelia to shove her towards the street. Stumbling back, she glanced towards Rory, whose eyes had gone completely wide and she was sure she could see the tears beginning to pool already. He always had been such a pushover.
"Rory, stop crying!" She demanded, taking a few steps towards Jim before pushing him back, harder than he had done to her. Gritting his teeth, he quickly kicked her in the knee, causing her to wince in pain. Oh, she absolutely hated this boy! Grabbing a full handful of his hair, she pulled him down as quickly as she could. He punched her in the stomach as hard as he could, but Amy refused to let go of his hair. "Stop fighting me!" She yelled, but Jim grabbed her free hand, biting down until he could feel the metal on his tongue. The redhead let go, letting out a loud scream. He then grabbed her hair, pulling her head back and leaning in closely.
"This will teach you to ever mess with me again." He whispered. Though, Amy wasn't going to give up so easily. She put her hand on his face, pushing him back. It was only upon hearing yelling towards them did either of them stop. Jim immediately let go, and Amy was pulled away by Rory's mother. It appeared that while they had been fighting, Rory had run off to get both his and Jim's mother.
"James! What the hell did you do?" She yelled out, grabbing his arm roughly as she dragged him inside. Amy looked towards him, glaring at him while Rory's mother lectured her about fighting and how her Aunt Sharon was going to hear about this. Though, James looked back as well, that stupid grin plastered upon his face as if to tell her it wasn't over.
In truth, James was rather impressed. No one had stood up to him after he had threatened them. Usually they would back off as soon as he began to fight them. This girl was strange, and he couldn't help but admit to himself that he kind of liked it. Maybe he found someone who also found amusement in hurting others.
It was around one in the morning when the phone of the hotel had woken them up. It took another two hours for Jim's mother to stop crying. They knew it was coming and they had already had everything ready for her funeral, but it didn't stop her from hysterics. The twelve year old lay in his bed next to theirs, eyes wide in annoyance. He fought the urge to sit up and snap at her, but knew his punishment for fighting Amy would only get worse if he spoke up against his mother.
His father woke him back up at ten, laying out the suit they had brought for him in case something like this had happened. He yawned, rubbing at his eyes as he looked at it. So she was dead, then? Good riddance. That woman had been so annoying. Climbing out of his bed, he looked towards his parents, his father's eyes with bags under them from lack of sleep, his mother's puffy and red from crying.
"Jim?" His mother called after he had gotten dressed. He moved to stand next to her, waiting for her to speak. She forced a smile, kneeling down to fix his crooked tie. "That girl from yesterday will be there. Try not to fight with her, alright? For mommy's sake?" She said, feeling herself near tears again. Though, Jim nodded, looking away from her. There was a small smile there- small, but this one real. She seemed almost a bit relieved. Grabbing his hand, she led him out to the car where his dad was already waiting, smoking a cigarette.
"Are you ready?" He asked, moving to pet his wife's hair. She nodded slowly, looking away from him as if he hadn't been there while she was crying the night before. How sick. Jim got in the car, letting out a deep sigh, trying to pass it off as being upset for his grandmother's death.
Five minutes. Really, that's how long it takes to drive anywhere in Leadworth. He was a bit surprised that they hadn't walked, but with his mother's mental state, he assumed it couldn't be helped. Almost immediately his eyes fell upon her- that redhead from earlier. He smirked, letting go of his mother's hand to walk over towards her.
"Jim?" His mother called, extending a hand towards him a bit. "Just...remember what I asked, please." She said. He nodded, looking back towards Amelia. He walked along, making sure as he passed her that their shoulders collided. Only was it when he looked back that he noted that the glare going back towards him was red and puffy, just like his mother's. Blinking a couple times, he stopped and stared towards the girl who hadn't even shown the slightest hint of remorse at fighting the day before, but was crying over some old woman who was dead? He didn't quite understand.
That wasn't the end of it, either. He was sitting just a few seats away from Amelia and Rory, and while he could hear Rory's constant crying, every time he looked over towards the Scottish girl, he could see her sniffling or a few tears running down her cheeks. It was obvious she was trying to be brave, but just wasn't quite cutting it.
At the end of it, while everyone was talking to each other, he noticed Rory looking around, obviously a bit anxious. He even walked straight up to Jim, in which he greeted him with a kick to the leg. He yelped and jumped a bit, looking towards the other.
"H-Have you seen Amelia?" He asked, looking around again. Jim scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Why the hell would I know where she is?" Jim rolled his eyes and turned around, hoping that he could put on some crocodile tears and say that he was too upset and that he wanted to be left at the hotel room. The small boy moved outside, hoping to find his father smoking somewhere. He frowned, walking around the building to see if he was hiding a cigarette like he sometimes did in large crowds. Though, at the back of the building he was a bit taken back to see not his father, but sitting on the ground was that stupid eleven year old girl.
How was he supposed to react? She was there sobbing and he didn't even know her. He decided to nudge her with his foot, more so to let her know that it was him instead of Rory or something. She looked up towards him, rubbing at her eyes.
"What do you want?" She said, trying to keep herself from crying more. She got to her feet, turning her back towards him. He sighed, looking away for a moment. He wasn't used to this, really. He held a small amount of respect for this girl, but there she was, sobbing like everyone else there. Though, that was what normal people did, wasn't it? Taking a deep breath, he took a step towards her, patting her on the back a bit awkwardly. This only seemed to make the tears Amy had been fighting back come pouring out, in which she covered her face. He continued to pat her back, shifting uncomfortably at her tears. Though, that quickly changed when he felt her arms wrap around him incredibly tightly and her face burying into his shoulder. He quickly put his hands on her shoulders, trying to push her off of him.
"No, no, no!" He said loudly, wishing her grip wasn't nearly as tight so he could pry her off much easier. "No hugging!" Jim said, though he quickly felt Amy stomp on his foot, as if trying to yell at him to stop fighting it without saying anything. Groaning, he put his hands down to his sides, simply letting her hug him.