Howling For You
Stille Nacht
Disclaimer: Hey, uh, MTV, I'm borrowing your characters. Hope you don't mind.
Just saying; I'm totally not following the storyline/timeframe of the TV show.
By the time Jackson had gotten home, blood had soaked into the better part of his shirt collar. Derek's words rang in his ears: covering it up will only slow the healing process. So what was he supposed to do, go to school and practice and bleed out everywhere else he went? That seemed so likely to happen.
Standing in front of his bathroom mirror, he pulled off his torn jacket. He would have to get rid of it now, since Derek shredded the back of it. As irritated as he was about his jacket, he was more concerned about the gouges in his neck. Tossing the jacket to the tiled floor, he scowled at his reflection. There were bags and dark circles under his green eyes; his skin was paler than normal. He looked sick; he looked like a zombie, especially with the fresh blood on his shirt. He sighed in frustration, and his shirt joined his jacket in the floor. He winced when the fabric dragged across his bare neck. This crap, whatever it was, was going to be a pain in the ass. He just knew it.
Jackson turned on the tap and started cleaning himself up. "Bleeding this much for this long cannot be okay," he muttered to himself. Sure, leaving it unbandaged might make him heal faster, but how long would that take? Surely it wouldn't be healed up by the end of the school year, which was right around the corner. He just had to get through exam week and one more lacrosse game. Then he would be in the clear. So, despite Derek's super creepy attack in the locker room today, Jackson decided he would bandage his neck up until next Friday.
I must admit,
I can't explain
Any of these thoughts racing
Through my brain.
It's true;
Baby, I'm howlin' for you.
It took a moment for the tired athlete to recognize the song playing was actually his cell phone going off. He grabbed a dark colored towel and started wiping away the water and blood from his shoulder. He grabbed his phone and slid the unlock key over to answer. It was Lydia, of course.
"Hello?" he inquired.
"Hey, baby. Why do you sound so sullen?"
"I'm fine," he responded, "what's up?"
"Well, I was thinking that we could meet up with Scott and Allison tonight at the movies. Ya know, like a double date."
Jackson frowned into the phone. Lydia knew how he felt about getting dragged into the same plans as McCall. She knew how much the guy irritated him, yet she always insisted that they all hung out together, like they were some terrific TV sitcom clique. He held back a sigh and made an effort to sound at least content. "Sure, sounds great. What time should I pick you up?"
"The movie starts at nine. So I was thinking you could get here by seven-thirty. That way we can swing by Allison's house to pick her and Scott up, and we'll have just enough time to get there and hit the snack bar."
Of course. Of course he would be picking them up too. Fucking perfect. "Sure, babe, no problem."
Jackson had been meaning to break it off with Lydia for a while. It was no secret they were having problems, especially since McCall made first string. Lydia had gotten more moody with him, and she had been a hell of a lot more bossy. She acted like if he wasn't the superstar of the team, he wasn't as important to her, unless, of course, she wanted something. Whether it was a date, dinner, a way to hang out with her friend, or sex, well, that just depended on the day. Needless to say, it was wearing Jackson out. He was getting tired of it.
It also didn't help that she kept asking about the gashes in his neck. He kept skirting around the issue, saying he was fine and that it was fine and that it was no big deal. Just to get on her nerves one day, he had told her it was a tattoo of a mountain lion. She had gotten huffy and refused to talk to him the rest of the day, which, no surprise, was fine by him. Jackson wasn't sure why he kept putting up with Lydia. On a couple of occasions he figured he would be lonely without her, but he tossed that idea as soon as it formed. In actuality his life would be more comfortable without her. Easier, definitely. He held himself to the highest standards, so much so that his adoptive parents and teachers worried about him; he didn't need her breathing down his neck too.
Thinking on it again, he figured it was probably because of Allison. She was one of the nicest people he knew. Jackson wasn't interested in her romantically, but Allison had turned out to be his best friend about halfway through the school year when she noticed his relationship problems. Allison always listened to him when it came to his disagreements with Lydia. Stiles wasn't too bad, either, come to think about it; he just hung around McCall too much in his opinion.
Jackson sighed. This was going to be a tiring night. He needed to squeeze a nap in if he had to deal with people later. He flopped on to his bed with his towel and buried his face into his pillow.
WOAH. TWO UPDATES IN A ROW. HOLYCRAP.