Chapter Seven

=Jack=

Jack and Alyss were walking hand in hand, their fingers intertwined with each others. He looked up and noticed they were passing a park that was empty. Then he got an idea.

"Hey," he said, grinning. She looked up at him. "Let's take a little detour," He nodded towards the park. She smiled and nodded. He guided her over to the swings where she put the rabbit in the bag and placed it off to the side before sitting on a swing. Jack sat in one beside her and started swinging back and forth. Alyss stared at the landscape.

"It's so surreal, all this snow," She mumbled.

"You didn't have snow where you're from?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Nah, I lived in the bottom of a freaking bowl. If it snowed, it wouldn't stick most of the time. We might get a day or two a year where there was actual snow on the ground but it was too warm to last very long," She stuck her tongue out in hopes of catching a snowflake but it didn't work. He chuckled at that and tried himself.

"Hey, caught one!" He grinned.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course you did. You've got

the biggest tongue I've ever seen!

He laughed and leaned close to her. "What about kissed with?"

A devilish grin appeared on her face. "Oh, definitely. And you know what?" She leaned over to him.

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Bigger is much better," She reached up and kissed him, opening her mouth in invitation. He opened his mouth and let his tongue sweep into her mouth and slide against her tongue. She moaned into his mouth has his tongue ring slid coolly against her tongue. They made out like that until the need for air was too great and they broke apart. That devilish little grin was still on her face as she panted. "Definitely better,"

He chuckled then got up and walked up behind her. She looked back confused as he pulled her swing back and then let it go. "What are you doing?" She giggled.

"Giving ya a boost," He replied, pushing her as she came back. "You were sitting still for too damn long,"

She laughed and shook her head but didn't protest. He continued to push her until she was almost as high as the swing would allow. He moved out of the way to keep from getting hit and saw she was smiling widely, like a little kid. It was so adorable he couldn't help but grin like an idiot back at her. She dragged her feet a few times then jumped off the swing. She landed on her feet but fell back and landed on her ass. He went over to check and make sure she was okay. Surprisingly, she was laughing her ass off.

"What's so funny?" He asked, letting out a laugh too.

She giggled a bit before answering. "I feel like a little kid again. Almost how I was before…"Her smile stopped and Jack suddenly regretting asking. He knew she was thinking about her mom and dad and that wasn't a good idea. Then she shook her head. "Well, a long time ago. It's just so carefree. I like it,"

He sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm glad," She cuddled into his side and he hugged her close. It was nice to have Alyss there, enjoying the snow with him. It almost felt like they could stay there forever, snuggling together in this quiet little white world where they were the only inhabitants. No one to hassle them or treat them like shit. Just peace and the girl he loved more than anything in the world.

~Alyss~

This felt nice. I wish time would have stopped time would have stopped then so we wouldn't have to go home and pretend anymore. Sad part is time doesn't stop for anyone.

"We'd better get going before they start wondering where the bunnies we are," He snorted at the "bunnies" part and nodded. He got up and gave me a hand.

"I still don't get why you do that," He chuckled.

"Do what?" I asked as I grabbed my bag from over by the swings.

"Use random words instead of cussing. You know it wouldn't hurt ya to say 'fuck' and 'shit' right?"

"I cuss, just not often. Besides, I'm the 'big sister' of a five year old, remember? Have to be responsible?"

He snorted again. "I've been living with Evelyn since I was a kid and being the big brother never stopped Bobby from cussing like a fucking sailor,"

"Yeah, well, that's Bobby. The guy doesn't exactly have a lot of morals,"

Jack laughed and nodded in agreement. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and hugged me close into his side. "So what did you think of our first date?"

I grinned up at him and kissed him on the lips. "Perfect,"

He smiled and put his hand on my cheek so he could guide my face to his for another kiss, this time a French one. I placed my little hands on either side of his face to hold him there as our tongues played with each other. He flicked his tongue against mine and I couldn't stifle the moan that resulted from it. Holy cats! I'd never had this hot and heavy of a make-out session with any guy before and I've have some pretty steamy ones. Jack knew what he was doing and it was driving me wild. I'd tried the tongue flicking and was happily rewarded with the same response I'd given him.

When we came up for air, he cupped both his hands around my face and rested his forehead against mine.

"I love you," I told him, my voice out of breath. Had I really just said that? It just slipped out.

He smiled that beautiful smile at me and said "I love you, too," We stood there like that for a long time, just holding each other until he tilted his head up to kiss me on the forehead.

"We have to go," He breathed, sounding reluctant to say the words.

I frowned and nodded. We continued walking, his arm around my shoulders while mine was wrapped around his waist. When we were a few houses away from home, we broke apart from each other and stuck our hands in our pockets.

"Finally!" Bobby shouted as we came in. "Where'd you guys go, Antarctica?"

"Sure, looks like it," Angel laughed as I started to brush the snow outta my hair.

"Ha, ha, very funny. You'd be covered in snow too if you had to walk through a freaking blizzard!" I told them as I shed my coat and hung it on the coat hook.

Evelyn came in with some steaming mugs on a tray. "Oh, you're back! Good. I made some hot chocolate if you want to warm up,"

I smiled and happily snagged a nice warm mug before taking a seat on the couch. Jack grabbed one too and sat next to me. I couldn't help but lean against him as we watched the hockey game that was on. That shouldn't be too incriminating right? I mean, I used to use my guy friends as pillows before I moved here. I sipped my hot chocolate here and there, loving the feel of the warm liquid run down my throat and then blossom into this cloud of warmth in my chest. At least that's what it felt like anyway. Soon, I started to notice I was nodding off and put my now empty cup on the coffee table. Not two second later, I fell asleep while snuggling into Jack's side.

I woke up to the feel of some carrying me up the stairs and the sound of someone singing softly. I knew that deep voice anywhere. I tucked my head against his chest and closed my eyes, listening to his sweet voice. Jack carried me to my room and laid me down on the bed. As he turned to leave, I grabbed his wrist.

"Please stay," I begged quietly. He nodded and I scooted over so he had room to lie down next to me. I cuddled up to him and he wrapped his arms around me, hugging close. He started singing and I sat there listening, loving the sound of his voice. "I didn't know you could sing that good,"

He chuckled. "I have to be good to sing in a band,"

"Oh, I didn't know that,"

"Maybe I'll take you to practice sometime," I nodded. "So, since you're taking Choir, I take it you can sing too?"

I shrugged. "I'm alright, I guess,"

"Can you sing something for me?" I blushed and shook my head. "Oh, come on. I promise I won't laugh,"

"Well…I do know this one song pretty well…" He looked eager and nodded for me to continue. "Oh, alright, but you'd better not laugh!"

He chuckled and nodded.

"Well, hear goes," I took a deep breath then started to sing "Silent All These Years" by Tori Amos.

"Excuse me but can I be you for a while
My dog won't bite if you sit real still
I got the anti-Christ in the kitchen yellin' at me again
Yeah I can hear that
Been saved again by the garbage truck
I got something to say you know
But nothing comes
Yes I know what you think of me
You never shut-up
Yeah I can hear that,"

Jack started to rub back as I sang, reassuring me continue.

"But what if I'm a mermaid
In these jeans of his
With her name still on it
Hey but I don't care
Cause sometimes
I said sometimes
I hear my voice
And it's been here
Silent all these years

So you found a girl
Who thinks really deep thoughts
What's so amazing about really deep thoughts
Boy you best pray that I bleed real soon
How's that thought for ya
My scream got lost in a paper cup
You think there's a heaven
Where some screams have gone
I got 25 bucks and a cracker
Do you think it's enough
To get us there

Cause what if I'm a mermaid
In these jeans of his
With her name still on it
Hey but I don't care
Cause sometimes
I said sometimes
I hear my voice
And it's been here
Silent all these...

Years go by
Will I still be waiting
For somebody else to understand
Years go by
If I'm stripped of my beauty
And the orange clouds
Raining in head
Years go by
Will I choke on my tears
Till finally there is nothing left
One more casualty
You know we're too easy easy easy,"

I looked up at him as I sang the verse, singing to him.

"Well I love the way we communicate
Your eyes focus on my funny lip shape
Let's hear what you think of me now
But baby don't look up
The sky is falling
Your mother shows up in a nasty dress
It's your turn now to stand where I stand
Everybody lookin' at you here
Take hold of my hand
Yeah I can hear them

But what if I'm a mermaid
In these jeans of yours
With her name still on it
Hey but I don't care
Cause sometimes
I said sometimes
I hear my voice
I hear my voice
I hear my voice

And it's been here
Silent all these years
I've been here
Silent all these years
Silent all these
Silent all these years," I smiled sheepishly at him as I finished the song. "Well? What do you think?"

He kissed my forehead and said "Beautiful. I almost wonder if you're an angel pretending to be human,"

I blushed and kissed him on the lips. "Nah, that's you, Jack," He smiled and started kissing me with more passion. Can't keep away from each other for long, now can we? We kissed like that for a while before Jack snuck back to his room. Good timing too cause a couple minutes after I heard Jack's door close, Bobby came up to let us know dinner was ready. We ate dinner, Jack giving me a reassured squeeze under the table after grace was said. I was confused at first but then I remembered him telling me my mouth twitches when I'm nervous. The whole saying grace still made me nervous even after a week of doing it. Dinner was quiet with bits of small talk. Evelyn asked about our trip to the home, which both of us answered with relative truthfulness. Naturally, we omitted our "date" and the like. Just said the visit was good and the trip was okay except for the cold. Evelyn had an interesting look on her face and I started to worry that you couldn't hide anything from her. But she just said she was glad and dropped the subject.

Jack snuck into my room again that night and cuddled with me under the blankets. There was the occasional make-out session but that was about as physical as it got. Granted, he wasn't wearing a shirt so I couldn't help but run my hands over his muscled chest. However, he didn't try to put his hands under my shirt, which I was very grateful for. The thought of him finding out about the scars on my back scared the crap out me. I just knew he'd look at me in revulsion and regret ever touching me. I loved him too damn much to lose him just yet. Like the night before, we fell asleep in each other's arms.

Author's Note: Hello all! I loved writing this chapter! Hope you guys love reading it! The park scene and the walk home was inspired by the song "Life is Beautiful" by Vega 4. It's such a sweet song and it describes the love that Alyss and Jack have for each other. At least it does to me. Please let me know what you think and i'll get the next chapter going as soon as possible :)

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!