Wow! Chapter One and Zero! I'm so proud that I made it this far! And you guys know what Chapter Ten means? It means something big is gonna happen! Woo drama and all that stuff!
Once again, I do not own Tuck Everlasting. The Book, The Movie, The Characters, nothin'. Well I own my own personal character Lily Owens but she comes from a family line with Winnie Foster/Jackson, so technically I should give her existence to the Author. Man, that's all really complicated.
So let's move onto Chapter Ten! Drama!
"I'm going to punch Jesse in the arm next time I see him," I vowed to myself while climbing up The Eiffel Tower, "if he doesn't show up today."
I pulled my self up onto the flat top of the rock tower and swore under my breath. He hadn't gotten here before me, which I was kind of hoping he would. But I guess I kind of promised to be here first, it was implied.
It was still pitch dark out, so I knew I had a little while to relax before the sun came up. I only prayed that this time Miles wouldn't come up here. I'm not going to be falling asleep this time, I've taken a cold shower and drank six cans of Red Bull. I'm ready to take that jerk on if he tries to mess with me again. I'm pretty sure that right now I could have ran up the side of the Eiffel Tower, since I'm so hyped up.
I sat down on the chilly rock and stared off at the direction where the sun will be rising. The sky was still navy blue but the horizon was a red, purple color. It'll be coming up sooner than I though.
I pulled my blanket, tighter around my shoulder. I tied it around my neck so I could climb up, but now that I'm sitting I'm able to warm up a bit. I let my hair hand lose to help a little but covering my face but damn, I should have put on sweat pants, not jeans. A sweat shirt would be nicer than a long sleeve one. Instead of putting makeup on I could have grabbed a hat and gloves. Why didn't I get all of those things instead of making myself look nice? I blushed and covered my cheeks with the blanket. I shut my eyes firmly.
I do not like Jesse like that. He's just a nice friend, that's all to me.
I could hear Daniela yelling at me in the back of my head, bringing up a bunch of times that would prove otherwise.
I reopened my eyes slowly and I flinched. My gaze adjusted and made out someone sitting in front of me, blocking the sunrise. They stared right back at me grinning. I gasped and smiled.
"Jesse!" I yelled joyously, leaping forward into him. I put my arms around his neck and hugged him. "You're back!" Me being 'Captain Obvious' again, but I was far too happy to care at that moment.
He hugged me back tightly and he sounded just as excited as I did. "I'm sorry I wasn't back sooner, I know I said two days tops, but things got kind of held up."
I leaned back and smacked him in the arm. "You should have called me that you weren't going to be back in two days! Or texted me quick! Or at least let Mae know so she could tell me! God! Jesse Tuck you worried the living hell out of me! I was afraid that something bad happened!"
He chuckled lightly and hugged me again, more gently this time. "I missed you too Lily. I couldn't find where The Man in the Yellow Suit was."
I released a soft breath of contentment. "That's okay."
"Is it really?"
I nodded. Then I recalled some things I should tell him.
"You know Duke?"
He pulled back and stared at me. "Yeah? Is something wrong? Did he do something to you again?"
I shook my head quickly. "I…I broke up with him."
He rose his eyebrows. "You did?"
"Uh huh. I did the day you left."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to be gone longer?"
"Touché."
"I also had a little encounter with Miles," I admitted quickly, trying to make it less of a blow.
"What?" I guess it didn't work. "What'd he say?"
"He said you were hiding something, a secret, from me." Even in this lighting I saw his face go pale. "What's he talking about?"
"U-Uh…"
"It's got something to do with The Fountain doesn't it?"
"U-U-Uh…"
"It had to do with your whole family too right? Has to do with how your family knew my family back when Winnie was alive right?"
"U-U-U-Uh…"
"Jesse!"
"I can't tell you Lily!"
"Why? Why can't you tell me?"
"I just can't, please understand that Lily."
I got up onto my feet, refusing to start fighting with him about this again. He got up too and grabbed my hand before I could start down The Eiffel Tower. I turned to yell but he put one arm around me and he put his hand on my cheek. My eyes grew.
His green eyes stared down at my blue, his lips parted slowly. "I can't lose you too," he whispered.
"My great grandfather must have just rolled over in his grave," someone laughed as they came up to the top.
Jesse pulled me closer and pushed me behind me as The Man in the Yellow Suit stood up tall. He tilted his head to the side and fixed his hat. "Well Jesse Tuck, I can admit that you've been quite a pain to follow the last twenty years. My great grandfather would not believe that I found you. Now," he took a step forward, "tell me where The Fountain is."
"I'll tell you the day after I die," he growled, cautiously moving the opposite way that the man moved. He kept me behind him.
The Man's eyes came to mine and I shivered. "You ought to know since you know Jesse so well, you must know. If you tell me Lily Owens I won't kill off every single Tuck I run across after I find The Fountain."
"Don't tell him a word. He can't hurt my family."
The Man sighed, "Well, then I guess I'll just have to figure it out by force." He reached into his jacket.
Jesse obviously knew that he had a gun there, like I did. He grabbed me tightly and jumped us right off The Eiffel Tower. We were in mid-air for half a second before gravity set it and pulled up down.
"JESSE!" I screamed as we neared the ground.
He positioned us so he was on bottom but before I could do anything, we smashed into the forest floor. The impact made me lose grip on him and we both started rolling down the hill uncontrollably.
I tried to stop but I was rolling far too fast to get a decent grip. I dodged trees, attempting to grab one of them, but failing miserably. I ran over rocks and sticks, which dug into my skin.
A tree came out of no where and I quickly swerved to the side. But my leg smacked right into it, it stung but I kept on rolling.
At the bottom of the hill, I slowed down to a stop, on my stomach. I panted for air for a few seconds before getting enough strength to look up. When I did, I saw Jesse rolling to a stop a few feet from me.
My mind started to go a million miles per hour as I crawled over to him. His eyes were closed.
"Oh my god," I gasped, tears rippling out of my eyes. "T-There's no way he could have lived through that!" I grabbed his shirt with trembling hand and pulled on it. "Jesse? Jesse? Jesse! Please, please don't be dead!" I cried hysterically. "No! This can't be happening! Open your eyes Jesse! God, please no!" I put my head on him, unable to talk anymore. I put my hand in his.
I felt him take a staggered breath and his fingers tightened around mine. He groaned. My eyes grew and I shot my head up.
"Man," he moaned, opening his eyes, "that hurt a little."
I squeezed his hand. "Y-You're alive?" I shook like a leaf.
He sat up and cracked his neck. "I guess so."
"Jesse! How did you survive that?" I screamed in horror. "You just took the impact for me! How are you not dead?"
"Uh…"
"Oh my god, if you don't give me and explanation right now, I'm going to lose it!" I exclaimed, tears still making a waterfall on my cheeks.
"Lily-."
"Are you afraid I'm going to run away, because I'm not!"
"Lily, I-."
"I won't tell anyone either, I swear! I wouldn't-."
"Lily, I'm 234 years old!"
I blinked a few times. "So…you're like a vampire or something?"
"No," he sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "When my family and I first moved here 217 years ago, we stopped for water. We drank from The Fountain, not knowing what it was. All we cared about it that it was the best water we've ever tasted. It was like…drinking clouds, cool clouds. It wasn't until years later when I fell, when we suspected anything was wrong with us. I landed right on my neck, I should have been dead instantly. I wasn't aging, no one was. Even my dad got bit by a poisonous snake, lived through it. All of us should be dead now, but because of The Fountain, we completely unable to die."
I couldn't let go of his hand. Even now that he told me that he was some immortal. "T-That's why Miles wife left him." He nodded. "That' why that man had been after your family." He nodded again. "That's…how you knew Grandma Winnie." He nodded more slowly this time. I wiped the tears off of my face and let out a heavy breath. "Well…I guess it could be worse. You could be a serial killer, or dying, or you could actually be a girl. So…Miles is going to be pissed huh?"
"Yeah," he shrugged, "but it'll be worth telling you."
I smiled weakly. "Can I ask you something Jesse?"
"Go ahead."
"Did you and Grandma Winnie have something for each other?" I asked, truly being curious.
"Um…"
"Oh my god," I laughed. "That's so gross. How far did you guys go?"
"Er…"
"That far? That's a little weird but it never got farther than making out right?" I wondered.
"No."
"A straight answer! Good for you Jesse," I giggled.
"Shouldn't you be more freaked out than this?" he inquired.
"Maybe I should," I considered. "But I'm just glad that I understand so much more now." I took his other hand. "We should probably get out of here before The Man in the Yellow Suits shows up again huh?"
"I like that idea."
We both got onto our feet but I fell back down when a stinging shot up my leg. I cringed and grabbed it. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Damn, that hurts like a bitch!" Once the pain faded I tried to get up again but the same thing happened. "God! I must have hit my leg harder on that tree than I thought."
I got picked up by Jesse, who was completely unscathed. He put me onto his back. "I'll see what I can do to help once we get you back to your house."
I blushed a little as I put my arms around his neck. "Thanks Jesse."
"It's the least I can do since I was the one that came up with the genius idea to jump off the pile of rocks that's taller than The Eiffel Tower in Paris," he joked. Jesse started running in the direction of my house. "I'm still glad I told you Lily."
"I'm glad you told me, too."