AN: hi again guys! Um, there'a more jara in this chapter so hopefully it'll be a bit better. I've seen gifs of Jerome in the next episode ( I don't want to post what happens in case of spoilers) and I'm writing copious amounts of jara fanfiction as a coping mechanism. To everybody has reviewed so far: thank you, I appreciate every single one!
Saturday 5th September 2012
"Patricia.. I'm so sorry." Joy says quietly, bursting into tears again. She jumps up and hugs Patricia tightly, her tears stopping slowly.
"Hey, it's fine. Calm down Joy. It's all okay." Patricia replies, wrapping her arms tighter around her best friend. Joy releases Patricia and sits back down next to Fabian, leaning her head on his shoulder.
Patricia and I meet each others eyes. "I'm sorry Mara. What I said was out of line... Friend's?" Patricia says, looking apologetic and confident at the same time. I feel.. Conflicted. Of course I want Patricia as a friend but the things she said to me were really hurtful. I instinctively look to Jerome and he shrugs lightly, softly squeezing my hand in a reassuring way.
"Friends." I reply with a smile, patting the space next to me to gesture that her and Eddie should come and sit down. The two of them sit down and we all began to chat amongst ourselves.
Jerome lets go of my hand and trails his fingers along my chin, tilting my face upwards and capturing my lips in a soft kiss. My eyes flutter closed and I lift one hand to twist my fingers into his soft hair. Slowly the kiss deepens and I feel his tongue slide across my bottom lip, his teeth grazing them slightly. I open my mouth and shuffle closer to him, pressing my left hand against his chest and feeling the steady thrum of his heart underneath my hand. His heart begins to beat faster and the soft thumping cause flutters inside of me. I feel so close to him right now and even as we pull away from the kiss, with the tips of our noses touching and eyes locked with each others, I still feel as close as possible to him.
In the semi-darkness of the room, his skin seems paler and his blue eyes are more prominent. His hair is tousled slightly and my hand is still twisted into it. I can still feel the steady thrumming of his heart under my hand and my heart is beating in time to his. Jerome's mouth is slightly open, his full lips slightly swollen from our kiss. He looks so beautiful yet young and vunerable at the same time.
"I love you so much." I whisper to him, as if speaking loudly will break the softness of the moment. We are both oblivious to the others around us. I can only focus on Jerome. His eyes widen slightly and he places his hand over mine. It suddenly hits me that I am ready for this. I'm old and mature enough to love Jerome fully. The only thing holding me back is fear but now I'm not scared anymore. Jerome will never hurt me. He loves me and I love him.
"I'm ready." I whisper softly, taking my hand out of his hair and rest it on his thigh. His eyes widen again and he opens his mouth in shock and confusion.
"Are you sure?" He replies, uncertainty clear on his face.
"Yes." I answer, leaning forward and kissing him again. His lips are soft and familiar against mine and it comforts me. He pulls away and stares at me with a look of wide-eyed amazement.
"It is ten o clock!" Victor, pulling us out of our trance, "You have five minutes precisely and then I want to hear a pin drop." Jerome stands up and offers me his hand. I take it and he pulls me up onto my feet. I yawn slightly and tightly grip his hand as we leave Fabian's room. "Night Mara." he says, softly kissing my lips before walking to his room with Alfie.
Us four girls hurriedly scurry past an angry looking Victor and head upstairs. Amber pushes open the door to her room and wavers slightly, turning back to Patricia, Joy and I with a fake smile. "Night guys." She says quietly.
"Night Amber." The three of us chorus, exchanging worried glances when she shuts the door. I walk over to her door and open it, peering in.
"Amber?" I ask, fully opening the door. She is sitting on Nina's old bed, holding a photo of the two of the laughing and smiling together. I quickly walk over to her and wrap my arm comfortingly around her shoulder, "Are you okay?" I ask softly.
"I miss Neens." She says quietly before bursting into tears. I rub her arm comfortingly and she drops her head onto my shoulder, tears dripping onto my pale cardigan. I look up and meet Joy's anxious eyes and shoot her an 'I can handle this' look. Silently she shuts the door and I hear the two of them walk back to our room.
"Shush Amber. It's okay. Nina wouldn't want you to cry." I say comfortingly.
"I'm so sorry Mara, I've been such a bad friend to you. I let Mick come between us." Amber answers, hugging me tightly.
"That was all my fault. Mick was out of bounds and I shouldn't have gone after him. I'm sorry." I reply, hugging her back just as tightly, feeling close to tears myself.
"I guess we're both sorry." Amber says with a slight laugh, wiping her tears away. I smile at her, pulling away from the hug. The two of us automatically look around the half-empty room and Amber looks close to tears again.
"Do you want me to stay in here with you tonight? So that you're not alone." I ask, taking Amber's hand. She smiles brightly and nods enthusiastically.
"I'll just go get into my pyjamas and I'll be through in a minute." I say, leaving the room quietly and tiptoeing along the landing. I open the door to my room and see Joy and Patricia staring at me expectantly.
"She's upset over Nina leaving." I say, collecting my pyjamas off my bed. Joy nods knowingly and Patricia rolls her eyes, pulling her duvet over her shoulders.
"I'm going to stay with her tonight." I continue, walking towards to door.
"Have fun." Joy chirps, climbing into her bed and switching off her bedside lamp. I smile at Joy and whisper, "Good night." before leaving the room and creeping down the corridor towards Amber's room.
I quietly open the door and see Amber waiting for me by her bed. She grabs a spare duvet from the bottom of her bed and spreads it across Nina's bed, handing me one of her pillows to sleep on. I quickly slip into my pyjamas and climb into bed, switching off the light.
"I feel a lot better now that you're here Mara." Amber says softly. I feel my insides warm up with happiness.
"I'm glad." I reply, rolling over so that I can get comfortable. "Night Amber."
"Good night Mara." She answers.
I close my eyes and slip into a deep sleep.
