I'm very overwhelmed with the amount of people who've reviewed and story alerted this. It's the fastest I've had any of my stories come to popularity. But this also means that I actually have to write decent from now on...great.
BUT, I do love writing for an audience and you lot seem lively and open minded so onwards we go! Actually, I watched Fright Night for a second time this evening in theaters since how I wanted to write Jerry's character was disappearing from my mind. Better than the first time, that's for sure. I've got different ideas and actual thoughts about the future of this story. However, I feel like Professor Umbridge needs to give me one of her special quills so I can write 'I must not write fanfiction, I must not write fanfiction' over and over again. I'm not even done with one of my stories that I promised to have finished and now I'm starting another one. It's pure chaos and it's for this reason that I can't alway guarantee an update. Anywho, enjoy!
Chapter 2
"So...I heard you met our new neighbor," Jane pointedly noted, sipping her coffee.
Grace suspiciously glanced at her, but couldn't hide the smile from claiming her lips.
"He's definitely...something," Grace finally commented, staring at her empty cup.
It was early in the morning that Grace had decided to stop by and see Jane, intent on telling her the latest conflict between herself and Andrew. As usual, Charley had given her a hasty goodbye before heading out for school. The Brewster duo was both like a second family to her and Grace couldn't have been anymore grateful to them. Charley kept her young and spirited with his youthful humor while Jane listened and gave advice like an adult. Together, the two were possibly the only friends she had in the whole town.
Upon her arrival, Jane had hugged her meaningfully, whispering soothing things into her ear. Apparently the whole block had heard Andrew's violent exchange last night, more curious about the outcome rather than whether Grace herself was alright. The police weren't notified anymore since Grace denied anything happened anyway. No point in sending Andrew to prison when she was supposed to be helping him.
Still, it was nice to have known that Jane cared.
After sitting down and taking in some coffee, Grace opened up about the incident and surprisingly relayed her near death experience with little fear.
"Grace, you've been trying for a year to get him straightened out. There's a time that comes when enough is enough," Jane had explained.
Of course it wasn't quite that easy.
"But Jane, sometimes I feel like I'm so close. That I'm just on the verge of finding that hidden man that keeps on fleeing. He treated me and loved me for three years and for him to just suddenly turn into this drunkard is still difficult for me to believe."
Even to her own ears, it had sounded weak. A part of Grace knew that she was making excuses up for Andrew's alcoholism. But another part of her just couldn't help it. She was a believer in love and grasping on to the fact that it could disappear so abruptly, wasn't something she was willing to face.
Eventually the conversation steered toward their current topic of their neighbor.
"Do you like him?" Jane quipped.
"I don't know," Grace found herself admitting.
"Well...Charley likes him."
"Really?"
"Yes. They met two days ago and they got along just fine."
"And everyone that Charley likes must be good."
"Hasn't let me down yet," Jane laughed.
"He's a good kid."
"Don't change the subject on me! What's got you shaken up about Jerry?"
Grace's fingers twitched at the mention of his name, suddenly remembering how cold his body had been when in comparison to the balmy air. He'd been like an icebox at the center of a sun.
"He called Andrew a drunk."
Smiling, Jane was about to reply when Grace cut her off.
"Yes, yes, I know I let you call him that too. But just the way he said it, almost like he was so self assured about the fact. And what was he doing, standing in the middle of his yard in the dark? If I was still in New York, I would have pepper sprayed him until his eyes bled."
"But we're not in New York, we're in Nevada. And Grace, honey, I really hate to say this but it's been a year and Andrew has made little to no progress. He doesn't love you the way you should be loved. Isn't it time that you looked for somebody who's going to respect you for who you are?"
Sighing, Grace nodded her head in reluctant understanding.
Taking in her friend, Jane stood up and took Grace's cup.
"Alright, I'm not saying you should marry the guy. I just think," Jane attempted to relay, "that you might be getting the creeps from him because of how Andrew treats you. He's making you not trust men. Any men."
"That's ridiculous," Grace stated.
"Is it? When's the last time you looked at a man other than to make conversation with him?"
Grace attempted to answer, but her mind frustratingly came up blank.
"And, when was the last time that Andrew called you beautiful? Or said he loved you?"
Again, Grace searched for an answer, but it was lost behind a thick fog of painful memories.
"Exactly. You need a change. You need a man, not a boy. And guess what? You've got Jerry completely at your disposal."
Despite Jane's need to have made that a reassuring comment, it only further set Grace on edge.
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The morning ash clouds above her rolled in as soon as Grace had left the Brewster household. They rumbled threateningly, but the sound only comforted the New York native. It reminded her of watching storms over the Atlantic Ocean as a child with her parents. Taking pictures of waterspouts or lightning storms flying over a treacherous, eternal ocean. Ultimately, the sound brought back a familiar creeping of nostalgia.
When a clap of thunder erupted to the left of her, Grace spun her head in surprise toward the sound and instead was greeted with Jerry Dandridge's looming house. With the rapidly darkening clouds and sudden shift in temperature, Jerry's house appeared much more eerie than it actually was.
Shifting on her feet, Grace felt the sudden urge to run home as fast as she could. It was completely unsound and came out of nowhere, but nevertheless, a feeling of great unease had hit her. Whether she was one to follow her feelings, was a different matter altogether.
That's strange. The black shading out his windows...I suppose a lot of people have that here. What was it that Jane said he did? Construction on the strip?
Studying his windows, Grace ignored the prickling that had ignited on her forearms. Almost as if each stab of Goosebumps were warning her of this private invasion she was currently indulging in. It was silly of course, to feel like she was intruding just by scouting out his house. Still, the feeling was very much present, pushing her to leave immediately.
"Can I help you with something, Grace?" a voice questioned.
Grace couldn't fight her skin from curling up at Jerry's sudden appearance behind her.
Steadying her breaths and placing a shaky hand on her chest, Grace smiled politely as Jerry stepped up right next to her.
"You scared the pancakes out of me," Grace answered, taking in Jerry's brown eyes that stayed glued to her emerald ones.
A deep grin enveloped his lips as he tilted his head slightly.
"Your expressions and phrases are quite amusing."
"Sorry," Grace began.
"Not a problem. I welcome them rather than just some dumb teenagers dropping the f bomb every three minutes."
"Ah. Well, I guess it's a New York thing. I kind of grew up in a family that was very expressive. They're just little ways that I can change boring words."
"They work," he remarked, his eyes venturing down the length of her body once before meeting her eyes again with a smile.
If it was possible, the prickling had now evolved into miniscule stab wounds.
To hell with Jane telling me I need a man. If Jerry gives me the creeps, I'm not going to stick around to find out why.
But a stubborn part of her, the same part that was fueling her excuses for Andrew's behavior, forced her to stand rooted to the sidewalk. It told her that by running away, gave Jerry a certain power over her. A completely irrational notion, but Grace sometimes was an irrational girl, as greatly elaborated in the fact that she ran away with a man she had really known so little about.
"So what are you doing up this early?" Grace asked, ignoring the large inhalation of breath he suddenly took with closed eyes.
Opening them, Jerry simply answered, "Just some things I had to take care of regarding moving in."
"And how do you like this neighborhood so far?"
"Very tranquil. My kind of town."
"That's good," she acknowledged.
More thunder rumbled cautiously in the distance, bringing with it the promise of rain.
"I should probably get going," Grace finally announced, glancing at Jerry's still form.
"Did you want something since you were standing outside my house?"
"Oh, no. I just wanted to thank you again for carrying Andrew to my house. It would have probably taken me an hour."
"Not a problem."
"Right, well I'll catch you around," Grace offered, walking backward on the pavement.
She wasn't quite ready to turn her back on him yet.
"I can guarantee it," Jerry promised, keeping his dark brown eyes steadied on her.
"Are you sure about that?"
Inwardly, Grace groaned. She was trying to get away from this man, not flirt like some schoolgirl.
The rakish grin that covered his face however, assumed that she was doing the latter. His eyes flickered briefly behind her before settling on her with a brown entirely too dark for that early in the morning.
"I'm so sorry Jerry. I have no idea why they came out. I'm not trying to flirt with you, I swear."
"Not a problem. I don't think you're that kind of girl."
Before she could stop herself, Grace blurted, "What kind of girl do you think I am?"
Immediately, she flung her hands over her mouth as her green eyes opened wide.
Shaking her head, Grace laughed.
"I really need to shut up."
"Why?" Jerry questioned, taking two steps forward.
They may have been small in comparison, but Grace felt a gigantic shift in power leaving her and entering him.
"Because I'm an idiot."
Jerry laughed sardonically, running a finger down his dark blue shirt.
"Perhaps you are."
A stab of anger coursed its way through her as Grace flung her hands down in surprise, taking two powerful steps forward.
"In what way?"
She kept her voice free of anger, a genuine surprise masking it.
He's not the one that's supposed to judge me! I'm the one that's supposed to judge him!
He simply lifted his eyes behind her again, before settling them on her.
Grace turned around and followed his eyes to her house. To be more specific, a window in her house in which she saw Andrew standing in, watching them.
From the distance, Grace couldn't make out what the emotion on his face was. However, panic soon overran her anger.
"I've got to go," she muttered, moving suddenly toward her house.
Before she could take any more steps however, she felt a gentle yank on her arm as Jerry pulled her back to him. The effect nearly made her dizzy with euphoria, a sudden scent of aftershave and wood filling her mind. Her eyes met his with determined confusion, tugging half heartedly at his grip.
"Let go," Grace firmly ordered.
"Back to a man who puts those bruises on you?" Jerry questioned, lifting his hand near her face.
He didn't do anything for a second, merely observing her cautious form. Then with gentle precision, Jerry located a receding pinkish bruise under her cheekbone and brushed his thumb delicately across it.
This made Grace breathe in harshly.
This should not be happening. I've only known this guy one day.
But her eyes closed in silent relief at his ministration, reveling in the feeling of such sensual contact. Maybe Jane was right. Grace had been used to Andrew's rash touches and fists. The feeling of someone touching her without anger, without threat, made her body sing with pleasure. That is, until she remembered herself.
"I don't have a choice," Grace whispered back, nearly whimpering at the loss of contact.
"There's always a choice," Jerry noted, releasing her arm.
"Then I choose Andrew. I will always choose Andrew."
"Maybe you're not as smart as I thought you were."
Grace laughed, taking a few steps back.
"And the same could be said for you," she observed, glancing at him one last time before making her way home.
The whole way, even without turning around, Grace could feel the undeniable weight of Jerry's eyes on her. For some reason, she felt like things had just reached a whole new level of complicated between him and her.
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"Just this weird neighbor that moved in," Grace commented off hand, brushing an invisible dustbunny off her shirt.
Andrew studied her, and then breathed out as he set his cap on his head.
"He looked like he was getting pretty cozy with you."
Finding Andrew's hand, Grace interlocked her fingers within his.
"All I could think of was you," she announced, kissing his thumb.
Meeting her green eyes with his blue ones, Andrew pulled Grace to him, settling his arm tightly around her.
"You don't sleep around with men, I know that. I'm really, really sorry Grace, about last night. You're the most faithful girl I've ever known."
"I know you don't mean it," Grace said, running the nails of her fingers over his forearm.
"Forgive me?"
Hearing the truthful sorrow in his voice, Grace wrapped her hand around his neck and brought his lips to hers.
"Always," she answered, kissing him soulfully.
The kiss shifted within seconds to a battle of tongues and tugging at clothes.
"I've got to get to-," Andrew tried to finish in between kisses, "work."
"Stay," Grace pled, pulling his form to the bedroom. This time, it was for an entirely different reason than the night before.
"I want to."
"But?"
"I've got to pay the mortgage off for this house somehow."
"Well..." Grace bargained, slipping her shirt off and grinning as Andrew's blue eyes expanded, "let's first put this house to some good use."
"Oh Grace. I love the way you think," he stated, slipping his white shirt off with excited fervor.
Grace felt warm heat spread all the way through her body at his words. It was times like these that she really wished she could show Jane how Andrew was at home. How he treated her when his hands stayed away from the bottle. How he loved her with passion equivalent to that of long time lovers.
Right before Andrew tugged her into the bedroom, Grace wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes as he sucked and kissed at her neck. The sensations were making it hard for her to stand up properly.
Just as she opened her eyes, Grace caught the outline of a figure moving in front of their living room window. They'd gone by so fast that she couldn't have made sure it really was somebody, even though her mind argued against that notion.
Who could be-.
Her thoughts were cut off as soon as Andrew kicked the door shut and layed her down carefully on the bed.
"I love you," he stated, his blue eyes making contact with her green. "I love you even more because you stay with me. Grace, I-."
His words were struggling to get past his lips so Grace pulled at his arm and watched in approval as he crawled over her form.
"I know Andy," Grace expressed, running a hand through his blond curly locks, "you don't ever have to say it. I'll always know."
With that, Andrew's lips met Grace's and the only thing that could fill her mind was how wrong everyone was. Love was worth the bruises sometimes.
Another fyi, I appreciate your reviews more than you'll ever know. I don't tend to like angst stories, nor do I like writing them. I don't like conflict between characters who are supposed to be friends. But, I guess I kind of overshadowed my own rule by writing in the abuse. Still, I'm not going to get angsty up in here. There are more important things like mystery, romance, horror, and humor. But if you're still interested, drop off a review. They really do keep me writing. And this story has only just begun.
