"You know it's me and where I've been and the million words I'm thinking.
I burned my time today as I start to waste away"
Sinking into the casual embrace of my couch feels like heaven after the hell that was today. Jade's barely let a word stray into the air since our kiss. It's as though the passion of it burnt away her ability to speak. The insistent stream of my shower running in the background is the only reminder that I didn't actually arrive home alone. Jade was all gangly limbs and barely contained awkwardness as she rushed toward the bathroom as soon as I unlocked the door. She's been in there ever since, and I'm beginning to wonder if she's ever going to come out.
I'm contemplating leaping into action and launching a rescue attempt when I hear the shower's stream finally ceases. A few moments later, the bathroom door flies open and Jade's midnight curves carve out sharpened lines against the ivory porcelain behind her. A singlet that I recognize from the outer reaches of my closet hangs over her frame. Clinging to her damp skin, it turns breathing into an impossible task. My mind flails pathetically in the wake of her appearance, she's a ride built for sin and I'm searching for a ticket.
"Jade! Did you raid my closet again?" My voice is scratchy from disuse, but the terror that I had expected to color my words never quite arrives. Jade's mouth falls open slightly, like she'd been expecting me to shy away from her. Something about the smile curving my lips forces gaping chasms between her confident façade and tosses her off guard.
"Get used to it." She finally states, before giving a startled blink and a haphazard shrug of her shoulders. Before any further words can jump off my lips, Jade rapidly approaches where I'm sitting and tosses herself down next to me. Twin emerald orbs eye me for a moment, as though she's trying to gauge whether or not I'm a threat. Satisfied that I'm no danger, Jade swings her legs into the air for a moment, before they land on my lap. I feel like a goddamn cushion, but it's far from the worst thing in the world I suppose.
"My neck hurts." The comment hurtles from out of nowhere, catching me off guard. My eyes drift over to Jade. She's spilled across the entire couch by this point, a living oil spill. Her eyes are narrowed slightly, and she's gorgeous. It feels foreign to think that about Jade, but I've always known it to be true, even before she quit wishing death upon my very existence.
"What happened?" I ask, turning towards her and tossing my full attention on her. Her lips are alive with activity, thoughts coming into existence and fading away before a second can even pass. She's always had these hardened edges to her face, ones that threaten to slice you to ribbons if you don't heed their warning. It's not until recently that those cuts have dulled to a slight sting around me.
"Your couch kind of sucks to sleep on." Jade mumbles, before taking a shallow breath and patting her stomach with a nervous kind of energy. I can't help but feel guilty that she's feeling like crap, even though without me she might be homeless right now. My eyebrows drag together as I weigh my options; Jade's emotions are a minefield. I'm one misstep from a total eruption. A few moments drift past us, but they're not nearly as tense as I'd been expecting.
"We could uh…try sharing again?" Jade's eyebrows twitch as my words fumble their way through the air. As her eyes flicker toward the television, I'm not sure whether it's outrage brewing on her face or something more deadly. I set my jaw and swallow heavily; the words that are swirling around the room right now are nothing like the ones that I had envisioned speaking. As she turns back to me, a flash of white accompanies her. There's smile hitched to her lips, one that I can't decipher.
"Good." Jade states simply. The simple word throws me for a loop, my mind filling with conflicting thoughts and emotions as my limbs turn to stone. Jade doesn't wait for my reaction though, turning back to the television once more and losing herself in the flickering images.
"Good?" I mumble, barely noticing as my thoughts trickle into speech. Jade uncrosses her arms and slaps her knees irritably, turning to me with a look of frustration on her face. I feel a lump form in my throat when her eyes lock with mine. I feel as though I'm staring into twin emerald infernos and marching toward a fiery fate with each word that slips through my lips.
"Yes good. I really didn't want to sleep on this stupid couch again. After last night's sleep, I would have just snuck into your room later anyway."
The darkness that I had expected to coat Jade's voice never quite leaves her throat. Her eyebrows are linked over her nose and she's trying her best to look menacing. It's as though she's trying to conjure the girl that I'm familiar with, but can't quite muster it.
"This hotel has really good taste in beds at least. I like your bed." Jade adds, abandoning her attempts at hostility and rolling her shoulders casually with an irritated sigh. Emerald orbs flicker in my direction and the smirk on her lips only widens as she notices the color draining from my cheeks. I shake my head and try to shake loose the troubling thoughts of Jade and I together in a bed from my head. I've got enough difficulties in dealing with her, without that kind of thing clogging up my head.
"Aw, and here I was thinking that I'm special." Digging into the part of my mind that conjured Rex into existence, I hitch a pout to my lips. I'm shooting for sympathetic, but the bruises that still mark my skin conspire with my swelled jaw to form something closer to pathetic. I probably just look as though I fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.
"Well you're not…kind of." A typically mean spirited reply erupts from Jade's lips and for a brief second, things almost seem to settle into normality. Then she has to go and tack and extra two words onto her reply. My lips stutter feebly and my tongue lies dead in my mouth. It's as though my mind has short circuited. Jade's lips quirk ever so slightly, before her eyes dart back to the flickering image in front of us. I feel nauseous. Not because she's disgusting, or even anything close to it, but because I can't stop my heart from racing.
After that, time seems to slip through my fingers. It's a funny thing, time. Sometimes entire evenings can blow past you, and other times a second seems to hang in the air for an eternity. As the shadows around us grow longer, it feels less and less like Robbie Shapiro and Jade West, and more like two old friends watching television.
A biting comment about a plot hole will spew forth from one of us, laughter fills the air, and then the cycle repeats. It's strange that conversation flows easily between us, but it does and suddenly hours have already passed since we devoured our dinner. Our easy laughter fills the spaces between us, and it's as if the girl sitting next to me is a poorly made copy of the original Jade West. The girl beside me has an easy smile, and her laughter flitters through the air without hesitation.
"This show is terrible. I'm going to bed." Jade announces, slamming her hands against the couch. Amusement colors my features as she pushes to her feet and stomps away from the couch. It's as though Jade's blaming my furnishings for the poor quality of MTV these days.
"Hurry up. I don't want you waking me up later." As I linger on the couch, Jade whirls around. Her eyebrows crash over her nose at the same time her hands fall upon her hips like stone. Rationale thought tumbles just out of reach as I stare at her dumbly. The flickering screen behind her only highlights Jade's deadly curves, and my breath catches in my throat.
"Yes, Princess Jade." I mumble under my breath as she stomps away. Bracing my arm against the couch and hauling myself upright, I wonder what exactly Jade has against the ground. I feel like she's attacking it whenever she's walking somewhere. The thoughts die in my skull as Jade whirls around again, shaking her head from side to side menacingly.
"That's Queen Jade. Mistress Jade if I'm wearing leather. Got it?" She hisses, taking a few steps toward me. I feel Jade's finger jab my chest with each word, as though she's trying to drive the point right through me. My eyes flicker to her finger as it comes in contact with me, wondering why it doesn't hurt. In the past every trace of contact between Jade and I had resulted in pain for me. My body is still trying to haul itself together, so in theory this should hurt so much more. Shaking my head slightly, I try to jar the thoughts loose. I'm seeing things that aren't there. Just because I'm having all of these warm, fuzzy thoughts towards Jade doesn't mean they're reflected.
"Yes Queen Mistress Jade." I deadpan, pressing my luck. Instead of the scowl I had been expecting, Jade's lips stretch into a smirk once more, the surface cracking and revealing something like genuine happiness beneath. The laughter the follows catches us both off guard. The gentle sound flitters around my ears instead of attacking them. It's not like Jade's usual crowing, spiteful laughter. It's a softer, more melodious sound that I could really get used to.
"That's better." She states, blinking rapidly and trying to still her features into an icy surface once more. As Jade turns around and steps through the door to my room, I could swear that there's an extra sway in her hips. Screwing my eyes shut, I stay rooted to the spot and try to steer my mind away from anything involving Jade changing in my room. The moments tick by, as I linger in place, heart thudding within my chest.
"Hurry up!" Jade's voice crawls under the door to my room and wrenches me away from my thoughts. I suck in a few mouthfuls of air, trying to regulate my breathing, but it never settles down as I propel myself towards my room. Pressing forward, I shove the door open, all bluster and no substance. Jade's sitting up in my bed, her back posted against the wall behind her. Midnight strands of Jade's hair cascade over her shoulders, and pool in crook of her collarbone. My heart begins to race as my eyes sweep over her body, and over the strap of the tiny blue bra that's just barely preserving what little modesty Jade has.
"No jeans either." She states, crossing her arms and deepening her cleavage. My fingers tremble as her words sink into my skin and paralyze whatever part of my mind controls speech. As a few moments skip past us, I'm dimly aware of the vicious smirk on Jade's face as she peers over at me. She's definitely getting a kick out of this.
"W-what?" The word clunks into the air gracelessly when I finally force myself into speaking. Jade's eyebrows draw together and her emerald eyes glare at the roof as she huffs in exasperation, like I should just accept her words as gospel. I'd roll my eyes or something, but as her chest fills with air and deflates again in rapid measure, my thoughts are trapped somewhere else.
"I don't like to feel denim when I'm in bed. It makes me itchy" Jade elaborates, narrowing her eyes and shaking her head irritably. My fingers skitter over my jeans, rubbing my thighs nervously as though it's going to magically result in my pants disappearing.
"Turn off the light, take off your pants, get under the sheets." Jade snaps, her voice slicing through the air as her patience withers away totally. With razorbladed words sticking out of my flesh, I nod towards her and snap into action. My hand fumbles across the wall behind me, groping blindly for the switch.
Eventually my fingers find the switch, and I'm able to douse the light within the room. Wincing as my muscles complain, I rip my shirt over my head. I'm thankful that Jade didn't insist on the light staying on. I don't really want her seeing the scars that crisscross my body, both new and old. She doesn't need to see the bruises that stain my torso either. Taking a long drag of oxygen, my fingers slide over my belt and unbuckle it. I can't remember ever feeling more exposed than I do right now.
"Are you ready for camping, or are you just happy to see me?" Jade's teasing voice slithers over my shoulder and into my insecurities as I turn and throw my clothing into a pile beside the door. Even without seeing her, I can imagine twin smoldering emerald embers leering back at me. It's the kind of look that never lingers too far behind comments like that from Jade. I've seen it directed at Beck, Andre and even Tori, but this is a first for me. I linger in place, my hands floating over my crotch uncertainly as moments amble past me.
"I'm kidding Shapiro, I'm not even looking at you. Just move your ass, I'm tired." With Jade's words, I breathe a sigh of relief. As I propel myself towards my bed, I realize that it's too dark for Jade to have even made that observation anyway. Shaking my head slightly, I slide between the covers of my bed and sink into its sweet embrace. After a day spent in the flames of hell, I'm able to fully comprehend just how comfortable this bed is. I sigh in satisfaction and my eyelids slide over my eyes.
"You know, you're not so bad." Jade's comment shoots out of the darkness, yanking me from the fingertips of sleep and into the waking world once more. I slide my eyes open and turn towards Jade. As they begin to adjust to the darkness, I can make out the barest of her details. She's tossed the covers aside mostly, and as her hair spills over her arms, she's laying on her hands and peering up at the roof.
"You're just saying that because you have a cushy hotel bed and a belly full of steak for the second night." I reply, forcing my words through a yawn. I toss my hands into the air, ignoring the groans of my body as I try to stretch myself totally back into consciousness.
"I'm serious jackass. Just don't go around kissing me in front of Beck constantly, and we'll get along great." Jade counters. I notice that Beck's name leaves wounds in its wake. When it stutters away from Jade's lips in this way, it almost sounds poisonous, almost like the way she used to address me. There's something in the rest of her tone though, something that's wholly unfamiliar.
"So it's fine for me to kiss you any other time?" My voice fills the air before my mind has the chance to catch up with it. My eyes blow wide open and I almost feel Rex's swagger seep into my voice as I speak. It's almost like our roles have twisted and he's the puppeteer, pulling my strings from some unknown location.
"Go on then." Jade utters, turning to her side and bracing her head on her palm. Even in this near lightless room, the glint within her eyes is obvious. The swagger leaks out of me, replaced by a feeling of absolutely paralyzing fear. Jade's eyes lock with mine, like she's daring me to do something. I screw my eyes shut as a voice that reminds me of Rex bounces around the back of my head and reminds me of my cowardice. When I open my eyes once again, even Jade's full lips are puckered in a way that suggests she knows I'm not going to do a thing.
"Hah, I knew you were chic-" Her taunts die within her throat as I rush forward and sweep her into a searing embrace. Cupping Jade's cheek, locks of her midnight hair blanket my fingers as I drift away from the real world. Everything seems so far away as I lose myself in her taste, in her touch, in everything that's Jade. Her lips are stiff at first, but the shock melts away as Jade parts her lips and her tongue brushes against my bottom lip. I feel as though my heart is going to explode, that my blood is going to ignite within my veins as Jade's fingers find their way around my neck. Her slender fingers twist through the rough curls of my hair and I'm almost certain that they're the only thing anchoring me to reality.
I'm not sure how far behind time we've falling, but as I pull away I'm panting. Lingering before her, I can fully appreciate how beautiful she is when she isn't scowling. Her dark hair spills over her shoulders and her lips are ever so slightly parted. She's not wearing any of her usual make up, the only trace of her usual facial adornments are the piercings glimmering in the pale moonlight. I run a finger over her cheekbones; Jade's bone structure is perfect. It might be even better than Tori's. She's a work of art. Without the blackened rims around her eyes, those emerald orbs seem to shine even brighter than usual and I almost lose myself in her eyes. Though currently unfocused and lost in thought, they're alive with a shimmering that's brighter than all of the stars in the sky. Well, they were, anyway.
But then the sky comes crashing down.
It's been a while, huh? I was kind of having some writers block with this fic, but now inspiration is flowing nicely, so I'm back on track.
Oh, and there's an alternate take on this fic up where Jade's a vampire and not just a wierdo. Check it out if you wanna.
Either way, leave some feedback. It's what makes me want to write :)