July 2nd, 1995

Juniper hadn't thought it through too well, but it was a good thing she had a stroke of good fortune that night.

Where she was going, how she was getting there, none of that had crossed her mind as she walked down the street, gliding past the dimly lit, flickering street lights. Luckily enough her feet seemed to guide her down the familiar path and within moments she was standing in front of the Napier residence, the sole light in the house was a flaming glow from the second story and, much to her fortunate karma, Jack's silhouette was cast against the stained blinds. It took her a moment to realize he was changing as she watched him pull the forest green shirt he'd been wearing. Only hours ago, over his head. The image in her mind unfolded itself and she was taken back to only a few weeks before, when Jack had been mowing the overgrown, yellowing grass, his shirt long gone, the toned, tanned skin looked even more perfect in the golden rays of the unrelenting sun.

The memory didn't leave her mind as easily as it had come and she found herself replaying the moment he called her name, the genuine happiness shown clear, the way her skin prickled pleasantly at first, until his father had made himself known. Juniper cringed away from the thought in time to see Jack's bedroom light flick off and she headed toward the house, as slow and steady as she could, as if it were recoiling to strike her.

The warm, humid air seemed to be tingling around her as she neared the front and wondered how she'd possibly get to Jack's window, if he'd be angry that she was there or not seemed unimportant, it was only fair she break into his house as he'd done her's multiple times now. Juniper jumped like a frightened cat and swore when the air unit, only feet from her turned on with a loud gasp of air and then proceeded with a low hum. She glared at the offending object as though it weren't her who had overreacted, seconds later she laughed to herself for being so gullible.

Juniper swung her leg up and braced it on the window seal as she hoisted herself up onto the roof, the scrape on her knee stung with the pressure of the rough shingles. Juniper breathed in deeply and crept toward the window she'd seen Jack's shadow in. The seam was cracked slightly and she didn't bother knocking on the glass, instead tugged it open and threw herself inside, where she landed on cool hardwood flooring with a dull thud. There were plenty of things she'd expected, but the silent, stuffiness of the room hadn't been it, the complete abyss that splay in front of her as the blinds returned to their position was unnerving to the petite girl. It didn't last long and Jack's large body tackling her to the ground roughly had, unfortunately, not crossed her mind either.

His rough hands pinned down her own and Juniper couldn't make her vocal chords work long enough to manage anything other than a whimper. Jack wouldn't hurt her, but Jack also couldn't see that it was her. He let out a loud grunt once he realized there was a female beneath him, and yanked the culprit to her feet. Much to Juniper's chagrin Jack did so with a single hand, he hauled her across the room by the back of her neck and tossed her to the side, onto a, thankfully, soft surface.

For the first time that night Juniper considered sneaking into Jack's room hadn't been such a good idea. She hadn't ever seen him use any kind of laborious physical strength, especially not with herself as an example, although she figured she should have taken heed of his muscular form instead of testing it unknowingly.

Her eyes snapped open in horror as she realized he'd thrown her onto a bed and she flipped over as he shuffled behind her. The first thought that had presented itself had been a rather explicit one and fear gripped her for a moment before she reminded herself that she was with Jack. No matter how angry, those lengths wouldn't be taken by him.

Despite her inner monologue of Jack's morals, Juniper felt herself inhale for the first time she'd entered the room as the lamp on the bedside table clicked on.

She smiled at him, somewhat guiltily, like a child caught reaching into a cookie jar, when her eyes connected with his darker ones. Jack frowned at her, like her sitting on his bed in pj's and torn up converse was the last thing he'd expected and Juniper felt a rush of pleasure at the fact that she, had caught Jack Napier off guard. Her skinned, sore legs that hung of the side of the bed, limply, began to sway back and forth in nervousness as he continued to just stare at her. Finally, Juniper decided to break the silence, but it seemed she always said the wrong thing, this instance proved to be no different.

"Well, hello there, handsome."

She tried playfully, and then cringed at herself for her awkward shot at breaking the sharp, deadly tension in the room, Juniper looked up to see Jack suppressing a smile at her fumbling and tossed a discarded, crumpled up pillow from the floor at him while attempting to stop her own from growing. It hit his chest, and before it could fall to the ground he caught it and moved closer to her. A wide smirk split his boyish features and Juniper felt her stomach flutter pleasantly as she squirmed in her place on his bed.

She didn't waste much time observing him and instead turned her attention to Jack's room, it was practically empty, besides the basic necessities of a bedroom. A faded dresser in the corner and a nightstand beside his bed, still, she took in what she could with a new found hunger. His comforter was a simple, dark green and the rest of the furniture a muted brown the only thing out of the ordinary was the amount of pillows, piled against the headboard. It was so like him to only have what he needed, for the room to be so dark and private, Juniper found that she loved it.

Her hazel eyes returned to his, only inches from her face, startled, Juniper fidgeted once more, further across the bed until her back hit a wall. Jack's once teasing smile had turned dark, as he followed her easily, she frowned up at him, eyes sparkling with confusion as he tilted her face up. She let out a stuttered breath as his face neared her's with a predatory gleam in his eye.

She choked on her words as it dawned on her in that inopportune moment, that she was indeed in Jack Napier's room, on his bed, in his space. He owned everything in the room, somewhere nobody but he had been, she'd tainted it, but it was only fair, she reminded herself steadily, trying to gain back control, he'd been inside of her's as well. Fumbled with her belongings and taken them for his own, still she blushed at his closeness.

Jack smiled down at her as she panicked internally, the action brightening his face and he yanked the covers back before sliding into them. Juniper let out, yet another, exhale of relief and anger. He'd just done it to get a rise out of her.

"So, what's little Joony doing breaking into my humble abode?" Jack mocked but she couldn't force herself to care, simply happy-and somewhat annoyed at him-that he hadn't been angry.

Juniper picked at the lace trim of her pajama shorts for a few moments before Jack cleared his throat and hurried her reply. Instead of doing so instantly, she stuffed her nose up at him, comically, and hugged one of his pillows to her chest. The waft of cologne that hit her nose seemed to crawl inside of her lungs and replace any air she'd ever breathed before, and it didn't bother her a single bit.

Juniper decided she was taking this pillow, by force if necessary.

"Welllll," She began elusively, as thought her head was anywhere but in that room, quite honestly, it was. "My mom's got company.." Whore. Whore. Whore. She blamed her mother for her current predicament, if she hadn't been so loud, Juniper wouldn't of had a problem staying in her own bed. Now, here she was, in Jack Napier's, with his tanned, carved chest on show. "and sooo.. I figured I'd repay your kind, uninvited," She looked up accusingly, but it lacked any kind of venom that should have been there, "appearances with one of my own." Juniper smiled at him, too wide for it to possibly be innocent and crawled forward until she was right next to him again, only regretting it once her stomach twirled with desire at his coaxing warmth.

Jack raised a brow at her childish display but the fond smirk he reserved for only her remained on his lips.

"So, you come here and expect me to give up my cozy bed with open arms to some delinquent that broke into my home."

He faked an exasperated tone quite well and Juniper found herself giggling girlishly at his display, toying with the idea of telling him he should be an actor. But she was too focused on how his eyes seemed to glitter in the light of his bedroom lamp and crinkled at the corners, laughing along with her without his mouth. Juniper challenged him with a raise of her own, sharp brow.

"I never said you had to give it up… or with open arms, Napier."

He was on her in a moment, only warning her with a single sobering look for a split second before his large hand returned to lock her own together. He appeared over her, a true, giddy smile on his face that stopped her glare of annoyance. Jack's hair framed his face above her's and the stubborn piece that always fell into his dark eyes remained, she felt herself tempted to brush it away. Only couldn't as calloused hands had captured her's and destroyed her urge.

He sobered too quickly and pulled her up with him. Placing her beneath the covers beside him before retreating a safe distance and taking his heat with him. Juniper pouted at his muscular back once it faced her and the room went dark with a subtle click.

She remained glaring into the darkness for what seemed like hours when there was a long rumble outside, warning the world of an oncoming storm. Juniper remained quiet, and simply threw concerned glances toward the window when a flash of light would illuminate the room. However the loud clap of lightening and thunder mingling had a panicked shriek ripping from her throat. A loud, annoyed sigh filled the room and Jack turned around to throw her a glare that eased slightly at the look of fear broadcast on her face.

Juniper felt her heart flutter in her chest when he turned toward her, and then ache when he rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around her.

Feeling like a burden, she waited until his breathing evened back out before retreating to the edge of the bed, hot tears rolling down her cheeks as she admonished herself for being so sensitive and silly and foolish and girly.

That night, Juniper Heden sucked it up and accepted the fact that Jack Napier would never love her as she loved him.

July 3rd, 1995

Her cold behavior was recognized the next morning by herself and Jack.

As soon as she'd awoken she'd found his arms around her once more, not even that made her feel any better about her stupid revelation and still present crush. Instead it made her feel used and tired-by and of, Jack Napier all at once. While she, at any other time, before, would have given the world to see his sleeping face beside her's, that morning, Juniper didn't care to see anything at all, and just wanted to be alone.

So, when Jack opened his eyes to an empty bed and a still warm pillow, his face crumpled with confusion and the bleariness of sleep. Instead of doing anything right away he grabbed the, still warm pillow she'd slept on and shoved it into his chest, pressing his face to the sugary scent, a loud groan escaped his throat before he fell back into a deep slumber.

He figured she needed her space.

When Jack didn't visit her, that day, or the next, Juniper was finally done. Not like the times before when she'd told herself she was and then continued waiting, this time, she was truly done. She would have no fairy tale ending with Jack Napier, she'd never counted on that anyhow, now she grasped the fact that there would be no ending at all.

Jack Napier wasn't her's and never had been. He was simply the person that decided when her presence was deemed acceptable and dealt with her when he liked.

But she was done waiting for him. From that day forward she decided that Jack Napier would simply be her best friend, what he saw himself as, she wouldn't put him on some pedestal anymore, she wouldn't be some burden.

She figured he just didn't care at all.