Chapter Six

~Alyss~

Jack and I woke up real early in the morning before anyone else was awake. He gave me a quick good morning kiss before sneaking out of my room. Granted, it was just a quick peck on the lips but I still felt dazed from in. I just laid there for a few more minutes before I finally got out of bed. I snagged some clothes from the dresser and shuffled into the bathroom to take a shower. As I took off my pajamas, I noticed my back in the mirror. It was covered in long scars that you'd get from a whip. Images of a dark room and the cracking of a whip filled my mind. I tore my eyes away from the mirror and focused on getting undress so I could take my shower.

I washed and conditioned my hair with Suave Ocean Breeze and washed my body with Moonlight Path from Bath & Body Works. I wasn't a real big fan of really sweet smelling soaps. Just not my cup of tea. I finished showering and dried myself off before getting dressed and blow drying my hair. Once I was all cleaned up and dried, I nabbed my pajamas and headed back to my room to put them away. I shuffled through my room and snagged my bag. After making sure I had everything I needed for the day, book I was reading, notebook, sketch pad, and Coraline, I hoisted the bag over my shoulder and headed down for breakfast.

Evelyn was already down there with a bowl of oatmeal. "Good morning, Evelyn," I smiled as I went into the kitchen to fix myself a bowl of cereal.

Evelyn looked up. "Oh, good morning, Alyss. How are you this morning?"

"Fine. I feel great," After last night with Jack, who wouldn't?

Evelyn gave me a concerned look. "Are you sure?"

I sat down across from her. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you about yesterday,"

I froze. Did Evelyn know about me and Jack? Not good! "What about it?"

"Well, you seemed awfully scared when you came home with Jack and I just want to make sure everything's alright,"

Whew! She just wanted to know why we were late? That was a relief. I'd planned to tell her anyways. I looked sheepishly down at my bowl. "Oh, that. Well, I must confess," Evelyn gestured for me to continue. "I lied about us being late. It had nothing to do with choir," I explained to her what happened after school with Rico. It was surprisingly easy. Maybe because that's not the worst that's happened to me. Her eyes grew wide and shocked when I finished.

"Are you okay? I mean, did he do anything to you?"

I shook my head. "Jack came in and saved me before he could,"

She sighed. "Well, that's a relief,"

I bit my lip. "I'm sorry I lied. I just…didn't want Bobby and Angel to hear about it and start up some more trouble. I had to swear Jack to secrecy,"

She nodded. "I understand, sweetheart. Bobby can be a real hot-head and they really are starting to look at you as their little sister. I promise. It'll be our little secret," I smiled and nodded then started chomping on my cereal. Evelyn had a few more bites of oatmeal before asking "So, on another note, what's your plan for today? I see you have your bag with you,"

I swallowed the mouthful I'd be working on and answered "Oh, I was thinking of going to the foster home for a visit. There's a little girl over there that I took care of,"

Evelyn nodded. "Right, you mentioned her at the home. Lexi, right?"

I nodded. "It that okay?"

"I don't see why not? Why don't you take one of the boys with you?" I would have protested, considering this visit would probably bore the hell out of whoever came. But I knew better. She just wanted to make sure I was okay and I wouldn't have another "incident." Actually, it made me feel good that she cared so much.

"Sure, sounds great,"

We continued to eat our breakfast when all three guys shuffled in to grab something eat. Jack snuck a small smile to me and I returned it with one of my own.

"Morning, all," I said pleasantly.

"Morning," said all three of them in unison.

"Hey, I need to make a visit to the foster home in a bit. Anyone wanna join me?"

Bobby shook his head. "Nah, there's gonna be a game on in a few and I got money all the line,"

"Same here," said Angel. "Sorry, kiddo,"

"I'll go with ya," said Jack, smiling at me. "I got nothing better to do,"

Okay, heart, stop swelling or my ribs'll crack. "Sounds great," Please tell me that did not sound too perky.

I finished breakfast, rinsed out my bowl and waited on the porch for Jack. When he finally came out, he took my hand and leaned down to kiss me. I shook my head and pointed at the front door. He understood. Better to be safe than sorry. We walked out and when we were a couple houses away, Jack wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head.

"Morning," he whispered in my ear.

I reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "Morning. How are we today?"

"Terrific," He replied, grinning. "And you?"

"Never better," I told him, wrapping my arm around his waist.

He smiled and placed his free hand on my cheek to pull my face up to his and kiss me. He pulled back for a second to say "Good."

We walked like that for a while. Quiet and sometimes share a few stolen kisses here and there. It was nice, just walking with Jack. I really had felt like I'd never been better.

"So," he said after a long while of silence. "Why do you need to go to the foster home?"

"Remember that little girl that was holding onto the rabbit for me?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I wanted to visit and see how she's doing,"

He nodded. "What do you plan on doing when you get there?"

I shrugged. "Probably read the rest of Coraline to her. She's dying to hear the ending,"

"Sounds like fun,"

"You sure? You can bail if you get too bored,"

He squeezed my hand. "I'll be fine,"

We got to the home after about twenty minutes of walking. I just opened the door and walked right in. "Hello?" Not two seconds after I said it, a certain blonde whirlwind crashed into me and Jack.

"Yay!" Lexi smiled. "You're home!"

"Kind of," I said as I picked her up. "I'm here to visit at least,"

Lexi held up Rabbit for me to see. "Rabbit missed you. He wants to go home with you tonight. Can he?"

I smiled and looked at the plushie I'd had since I was a little girl. "Yeah, he can come home with me tonight,"

"Yay! Ya hear that, Rabbit? You get to go home with Alyss!"

I smiled and Jack chuckled from behind me. Lexi turned her bright blue eyes to him. "Hi there! I'm Lexi, what's your name?"

"I'm Jack. I live with Alyss,"

"Are you her boyfriend?" I blushed madly and slightly groaned. Leave it to a five year old see right through us.

"Well, yes, but it's a secret," Jack put his finger to his lips to emphasis the point. He then said in whispered tone "Can you keep a secret?"

Lexi nodded, grinning.

I laughed. "C'mon, I brought Coraline with me,"

"Yay!" Lexi clapped with glee as I carried her into the living room.

=Jack=

Jack followed Alyss and Lexi into what looked like the living room. They walked straight for an armchair on the corner of the room. Alyss put down Lexi so she could take off the bag and sit in the chair. Once Alyss was comfortable, Lexi scrambled into the chair so she could sit on her lap. Jack sat himself on the couch that was near the chair as Alyss pulled a book out of her bag and flipped through the pages until she was most of the way through the book. As she read, Lexi would either stare up at her or at the page if there was a picture. Jack smiled. He knew she worried about him getting bored as fuck. But true to his word, Jack wasn't bored. If fact, he enjoyed watching Alyss read to Lexi. He saw a part of her he hadn't seen since they'd met. Shit, he doubt anyone had seen this side of her except for Lexi. She seemed so lively and happy and radiant and warm and…He had a hard time finding all the words that described Alyss at the moment but he knew there was a hell of a lot more than that.

Alyss finished the last sentence and closed the book. "The end,"

Lexi's eyes grew round and wide. "That's it?" Alyss nodded. "But what about the hand? Can't it get her?"

She shook her head. "It fell down the well, remember? It can't get her now,"

"But the Other Mother, won't see get her too?"

"Not unless someone opens that door,"

Lexi pondered that for a moment. She had such a serious look to her face to her face, Jack could help but laugh. Then she looked up and stared out the window. "Alyss, look! It's the cat!" They looked at the window to see a black cat wandering about the yard. "It the cat, Alyss! Like the one in Coraline!"

Alyss smiled. "Yep, there he is,"

"Can we say hi to him?"

"Hmm, sure, but get your coat on first. It's cold out there," Lexi nodded and leapt off of Alyss. She flew up stairs before either of them could get up. Alyss came up to Jack and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Bored yet?" she asked, looking up at him.

He smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "Not in the slightest,"

She smiled back at him. "Good,"

"I'm ready!" Lexi piped, popping up in a cute purple snow jacket with a hat, scarf and gloves to match.

"Alrighty. Let's go say hi to the cat," Alyss grinned. She was about to pick her up when Lexi shook her head. The little girl stepped up to Jack and held her arms up. Jack looked confused and Alyss snickered.

"She wants you to pick her up," Lexi nodded, agreeing with Alyss.

"Oh," said Jack and he picked up the little girl. She wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and tucked her head against his chest. Alyss was beaming as she led them to the back door. It was snowing outside. Not hard but just enough for Alyss' long dark hair to get covered in snowflakes. Jack laughed at the sight. She looked adorable.

They crept up quietly to where the cat was washing itself by the wall. After they'd gotten a couple feet away, Alyss motioned for them to stop. Jack did and held Lexi as they watched Alyss creep a little closer. The cat noticed her and stared at her for a moment. She started to crouch down, making "tsk, tsk" noises and holding out her hand to make the cat come.

"Here, pretty kitty," she cooed. "Come here, sweetheart. We just wanna say hi," The cat looked at her and started to creep forward. "That's it. It's okay, baby," The cat came over and sniffed her hand before rubbing his head against her hand. She petted the cat before picking it up and bringing it over to Jack and Lexi. The cat just laid there in her arms without out a care in the world. "Say hi, Lexi,"

Lexi held out her hand so the cat could sniff it before she started petting it. The cat purred like a motorboat as she petted it. Alyss was smiling down at them and so was Jack. It made him happy to see Alyss happy. After a while, the cat started to squirm so Alyss let it go. As they walked back inside, Jack noticed the clock.

"We'd better get going, Alyss. We've been here for a few hours,"

"Awwwww," whined Lexi.

Alyss pouted a little. "Sorry, Lexi. But we'll be back soon,"

"Promise?" Lexi held out her pinky to Alyss.

Alyss smiled and curled her pinky around Lexi's. "Promise,"

Lexi then held out her pinky to Jack. "You gotta promise too, Jack,"

"Oh," He readjusted her so he was holding her with one arm and curled his pinky around hers. "There. I promise,"

Lexi beamed and gave him a peck on the cheek as he set her down. Alyss giggled. The little girl hugged both of them before zipping back to the couch to get Alyss' bag and her rabbit. "Bye, Alyss. Bye, Jack,"

"Bye, Lexi," they both said in unison, which made Alyss blush. They waved good bye and left the home hand in hand, with Alyss hugging the stuffed rabbit close to her chest.

Author's Note: Hi all! I hoped you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D It was just so cute to have Lexi around I just couldn't pass it up. The next chapters going to be equally cute but if I don't get reveiws, you ain't reading it! so, REVEIW!

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!