CrazyA: Hey guys, sorry for the wait! I've just had a whole other heap of stories to write (I've got abotu 5 going at once) as well as school-work. Damn. But don't worry, I'm gonna keep writing no matter what! *heroic pose* PLEASE REVIEW!!


8. Bonding
'Forget the fear it's just a crush...'- Unbreakable, Fireflight

Morning's rays flooded the room and stirred Jane from her sleep. She opened her eyes and let out a yawn. She blinked when she saw the extra person in her bed, but as the memories of yesterday came back she let out a smile.

"I thought it was all a dream..." she whispered.

She slowly sat up, careful not to wake up Jack, and got out of bed, stretching her arms out and embracing the day with a disappointed frown on her face. She was having a good dream, and hated being disturbed when she was in a good spot.

She looked over to Jack, smiling at the face he made when he was asleep. It was a calm smile, and he let out the occasional chuckle. He must've been having good dreams too. Sometimes she woke up for a few seconds during the night, hearing his laughter. She never knew it was possible for a person to laugh himself to sleep…

She walked over to the curtains, sliding the tattered material across the glass. Just because she had gotten up early didn't mean that he had to as well. She picked her iPod off the bedside table and walked down the stairs, wanting to get an early breakfast in before her parents woke up.

Jane pulled out a box of cereal, pouring herself a bowl the size of a small African nation. Just as she was taking the first few mouthfuls, she saw the shadow of a figure walking down the hallway. She sat up, tempted to call out, but worried if she got the wrong person.

If she called her dad 'Jack', then there might be a bit of a side-problem.

But when she saw her mother emerge from the hall, dressed in a pink-laced dressing gown that she had once made a long, long time ago. Jane knew that was a bad sign. She only wore it if she needed comforting.

And sure enough, the black ring around her eye told the whole story.

"Mom... are you okay?" Jane asked, wide-eyed at what her father had done.

"Y-yeah... I'm fine..." she whispered, as if she was close to death. "How are you going?" she asked, her eyes looking moist and shiny. Jane shrugged, looking down at her cereal. Mom walked up to her and gently placed a hand on her daughter's bruise, sighing at the sight of it. "What are we going to do?"

"Report him."

"Jane, we can't do that..." she muttered, picking sugary crunches from her daughter's breakfast. "You know what he'll be like when he gets back... it'll be worse than before. And besides, it won't help him find a job any sooner."

Jane shunned her mother, going silent and bitter again. She hated having to protect her abusing, alcoholic father just because she was made up of some scraps of his DNA. She took a slow mouthful, listening to her mother's shuffling footsteps as she walked over to the cupboards, pulling out some instant coffee.

She looked over to her daughter and sighed, a slight smile on her face. "You know, Jane... you've been talking a lot more than usual..." she commented. Jane looked up, a little surprised by the remark. "Ever since yesterday, you've seemed... I don't know... you just seem happier... even last night... you were happy when we came home from work-searching... Jane..." she said, smiling at her daughter. "...it's really good to see you like this."

Jane blinked again, a slight smile on her face. Her mother, as bugging as she could be sometimes, was one of the best people in the world. She always stood strong and yet was always forgiving. She knew more about Jane than anyone else... well, before Jack had come.

"Honey..." she continued. "When you went out for shopping... did you meet anyone? Maybe a boy?"

Jane pulled a face. "Nah, just me and a scary old lady."

"Oh... well, is there a boy in your life already?" she asked. "It's just that... a lot of girls I used to work with always seemed happiest with a guy and-"

"Mom, don't worry about it!" Jane said, giving a smile. "I don't know anybody around here whatsoever."

"That's what I'm worried about," she said, looking her daughter in the eye. "Why don't you go for another walk today? Meet up with some people? If we're going to be here for a while, then at least start making some friends before you go back to school. That way, you've got a head start."

Jane was rolling her inner eyes, but she just nodded and pretended that it was all amazing advice. But when she kept going on... and on... and on... Jane finally snapped with something to keep her quiet for a while.

"There is this one guy."

Her mother blinked, eyes wide. "Really? What's he like?"

This was the first time Mom had ever seemed like this. They never talked like this before. "Don't get too excited... he's just a friend, barely even that."

"So do you like him?"

"Yeah, he's a pretty cool guy. He's... different... from other guys... and I like different..."

"What's his name?"

"Jack O-" she started, suddenly realising how stupid it sounded. She pretended to have a coughing fit, choking on a piece of cereal. When she recovered, she smiled at Mom and continued. "Uh... Jack O'Bryan."

"What does he look like?" she asked, her eyes bright and enthusiastic. Much to Jane's surprise, she found herself enjoying this conversation. This completely normal mom-to-daughter conversation about a completely abnormal guy.

"He's... fairly tall... thin..." she said. "Golden eyes that just... glow... and an...amazing smile..." Thank God that he wasn't listening in on her, otherwise Jane might've been blushing. "He's really cool... kinda good-looking... and... I feel really stupid saying this, since we barely know each other... but... he understands me..."

Mom smiled at her daughter, her moist eyes overflowing. Jane looked up from her cereal and at her mother's eye. She didn't notice the tears of joy, just the deep bruise that took the place of eyeliner. "Mom... why did you marry Dad?"

The tanned house-wife stared at her daughter, taken back by surprise. The kettle beeped, and she walked over to the red pot to start making her coffee. She couldn't look her daughter in the eye whenever she talked about her husband.

"As hard as it is to believe... I truly loved your father. He was a sweetheart. And a complete romantic...people said we were perfect together... I guess they were right at the time. But then, he became angrier and angrier as he aged. We were constantly fighting, and sometimes thought about a divorce. But every time we thought, he would win me over. Soon, I just became a doormat for him. Just another piece of furniture..."

She looked over to Jane at last. Her eyes were on the brink of tears and were as bright as crying stars. "Jane... my sweet little Jane..." she said, her voice breaking. She stared at the bruise that damaged both body and soul. "If you really like this boy... then spend as much time as you can with him... let him know exactly how you feel about him..."

"Mum, it's fine..." Jane replied, doing her best to keep a smile. "Don't be too dramatic. I barely know the guy."

"No, Jane..." she said in a ghost of a voice. "I know you... you really do like him... I can tell."

They sat there, silent and bewitched by the sound of a brewing coffee pot. Jane stared at her mother's new scar, biting her lip before slowly getting the courage to talk about it. "Mom... if you need to cover it up... I've got makeup you can use..."

"Thanks honey..." she said quietly. She walked over to her daughter and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "That would be great..."

Jane blinked at the touch, but then rested her head against her mother's side. She breathed in the smell of perfume and coffee that made up who she was, wondering why they hardly ever did this.

"Hey, Jane?"

"Yeah..."

"Promise me you won't tell your father... but I'm going for a job interview."

"What?" she said, breaking the hug and looking up at her wide-eyed. "That's great, Mom. But why don't we tell Dad?"

Her mother sighed, drinking down her coffee. "Well, you father believes that the man of the house should be the one responsible for earning money... he'd be terribly upset if he found out about this. It's just a small job as the local school's psychiatrist... but we really need some income until your father gets a job at last."

"Speaking of which, where is Daddy-dearest?" Jane said as sweetly and sarcastically as she could. Mom playfully swatted her daughter, trying not to laugh at the way she said his title.

"He's out, of course. Job-hunting as usual."

"Figured. What time will he be home?" Jane asked, plotting away in the back of her mind.

"I'd say around six... but I'll be home by five. So until then, you've got the whole day to yourself," she said positively. "I hope you don't mind us leaving you all by yourself... maybe you can catch up with Jack?"

"Sure, maybe..." Jane said casually, not giving anything else away. "You go get dressed."

Jack's eyes slowly opened to the sound of a closing door and shuffling feet. He sat up, stretching out his arms and looking around the room. Jane was already up from the looks of it, since there wasn't a lump of teenager sleeping next to him. He could smell something cooking... if it was bacon, then there was a definitely a reason to get up.

He slowly walked down the stairs, making sure the coast was clear, before skipping over to the kitchen. Sure enough, Jane was dancing around in the kitchen with a frying-pan of bacon in her hand and her iPod in her ears.

"Morning," Jack said with a smiled, sitting at the counter and watching her with interest.

She turned around and gave a smile back. "Morning," she replied. "I didn't know what you wanted for breakfast... so I figured a might be able to fry something up." She quickly dropped the curled slices of crispy delight on a plate that already had two fresh slices of bread. "I'm sorry if I didn't cook it the way you wanted..."

Jack shrugged, taking the plate off of her. "Meh, I don't care. As long as it's crispy bacon, that's enough for me."

Jane smiled, happy to know that she was doing the right thing. She picked up a new slice of bacon, dropping it in the frying pan and watching it sizzle, still dancing to the song that was playing.

The prankster smiled, it was good seeing her like this. After her terrifying father had slapped her, she seemed like an empty shell of a person. He still saw those wide, terrified eyes as she curled up in the corner of the room. But she seemed to have calmed down last night. Maybe a shower was all that she really needed...

I will not picture her naked. I will not picture her naked...

"I'm going to go down to that shop today, okay?" she said, munching on a piece of crisped bacon. She stared at him blankly, wondering what he was thinking, before waving her hand for some attention. "Hey, you alright?"

Jack's head snapped back up, looking her in the eyes once more. "Uh... yeah..."

Jane smiled at him before wiping the bacon grease away from around her mouth. "You know... sometimes you seem a little bit awkward around me..." she said, leaning her elbows on the table-top and looking him right in the eyes. Her words were rather ironic, because her own face was turning a little pink with blush. "So... I was wondering..."

Jack had a slight feeling where this might've been going, and he gave a smirk about the idea she was asking him about this. They only knew each other for one day, and yet she was asking him about this already. Just to irritate her, he scooched further on his elbows towards her. "Yes...?"

"Did you... ever... did you ever have a girlfriend?" she asked at last.

Jack laughed, causing her blush to deepen by the slightest shade. "Uh... I guess I've had one..."

Jane blinked. "Seriously?" Jack gave her a sarcastic glare, which brought a smile to Jane's face. "What? You never mention about your life before the reap, so... I don't know, I just assumed..."

"...that I was a lonely sap who lived in a creepy house on the hill?"

"Well... yes and no..."

"Well, she wasn't just a girlfriend... she was fiancé," he said... grimly. Jane blinked, sitting up straighter. She was certainly not expecting this. "An arranged marriage... until I broke it. I just... don't tell me that I'm a total douche-bag or anything like that, because I had my reasons... I... sort of dumped her..."

Jane shrugged. "You don't seem like the guy to settle down with kids or anything like that. I'm not that surprised-"

"-at the altar."

"...okay then, maybe you are a douche-bag." Jack laughed it off, but he was barely smiling. "But seriously, at the altar? I hope you had some damn good reasons..."

Jack merely bit into his toast, his expression grim, and yet calm and reasonable. "Colli was... in one word... a diva. She hated nearly everything and one little old Endsville, and yet was the town virgin. People respected her, loved her, and wanted her, even though she bullied and whined and... well, just overall Colli-ed.

So, of course, everyone pretended to be happy for the two of us when our engagement was announced. But I wasn't interested in marrying her, I just wanted to keep pranking and joking and being me. I knew that if I married her, it would all come to an end. So... I decided to leave her.

But, you know me, I had to leave her with my signature style. So, when the bride started panicking at the altar, I managed to shove that monkey-suit of mine onto the neighbour's pig and put him in my place!" he finished, shrieking with laughter. "It was one of my best pranks! Just thinking about it makes me tingle all over!!"

Jack expected Jane to be yelling at him, telling him how heartless he was and that he should get out of the house quick-smart. But no. She was laughing with him, resting her forehead on the cool of the table and banging her fist against the surface as she cracked into hysterics. She was the first person to laugh at that mastermind of a prank, and he was happy to see that it was true laughter, not forced like some people had attempted back when he was fully human.

"That's genius!!" she squealed, making bowing movements down to him, her ribcage killing her sides. "And I bet she deserved it too!!"

"You should've been there!! You would've been able to help me dress the pig!!" he yelled, slapping her on the shoulder.

She rubbed her stomach, trying to stop but with no such luck. "Oh my toaster..." she said, barely able to breathe. "I so wish I had your courage!! If I did, I would've sorted out those bitches back in New York!"

They laughed and laughed, until finally they managed to breathe once more. Jane wiped away the tears in her eyes as Jack managed to stand up straight, but their shoulders still shook and they couldn't quite look each other in the eye.

"I... I better go..." she finally got out, a wicked grin showing nearly every tooth. Jack wasn't the only one with a wide smile. She packed the dishes into the sink and started walking down the hall, Jack watching her go with his own Cheshire-smile.

"Why are you so eager to go?" he asked as she reached the stairs.

She smiled at him and started walking up, her steps a creak on the old wooden steps. "The sooner I get your stuff, the sooner you can leave," she replied as she walked out of sight.

She stopped in her tracks, thinking it over.

"...the sooner you'll leave..." she muttered to herself. The floorboards stopped squeaking as she stood perfectly still, thinking it over. She had only known Jack for one day, and ye here she was... feeling like her heart was going to scream out if she didn't tell someone.

She was going to miss him when he left. Jack had done so much for her. He had comforted her, talked to her, understood her. He did what she thought no one could, not even her own parents. Sure, she had to go out and do the shopping for him, but he provided so much and yet so little of the fun in her life.

She didn't want him to go. She wanted him to stay with her. She knew that she could always keep in touch, but that wasn't the same. It would never be. But she couldn't keep him hiding in the closet for too long. One day, he would be found out.

But until then... he was with her.

And that was all that really mattered.