Chapter XXV

When Friday night came Sherry was nervously biting her lips, pacing back and forth in her room. She was going to do it. She was going to sneak out tonight and hope to God that her father would not catch her. If he did she wouldn't know what to do with herself. She was certain that he would put her on some extreme form of lockdown.

Sheva had left to meet up with Chris, after all, she did not need permission to go out. It was Sherry who needed to get out with permission, except tonight she was not going to ask for permission. Her nerves were getting the best of her.

What if her father needed help and she was not here?

The thought continued to make her heart stutter.

"I'll be here Sherry," Jill smiled softly from the girl's bed. It was only because of Jill that Sherry would be a bit calmer as she snuck out, "you need to get out sometimes. So go, I'll call you if anything happens, I promise."

"What if he needs to tell me something? How are you going to handle that?" Sherry murmured, "You can't 'pretend' to be me."

Jill frowned, "I don't know. But he'll be asleep Sherry I'm sure he's going to be fine."

Sherry nodded and glanced at herself in the mirror. She looked good, at least that's what Jill did her best to assure her of. She wore fitting forest green pants and a white button down shirt. Her hair was styled as usual and she dabbed on a bit of lip-gloss over her Chapstick.

Sherry waved goodbye and walked to the window. Quickly she climbed out to the fire-escape and looked over the railing. Jake was standing there with a sly smile plastered on his face, leaning against his motorcycle and giving her a wary glance.

Sherry quickly lowered the ladder and began making her way down. She could see Jake approaching her as she came lower and lower, ready to catch her should she slip and fall.

When she reached the very bottom Jill looked out the window and gave them both a wave, Jake waved back and Jill began raising the ladder again. Sherry nervously looked at Jake and released a hard breath.

"Did you think I was going to fall or something?"

He smirked, "I just wanted to get a nice view," he playfully joked and kissed her hard on the temple, pulling her towards the motorcycle as she blushed, certain that he wasn't fully joking.

"How long will it take to get to the carnival?" She asked quietly as he lifted her onto the bike. The feel of his hands made her shiver as she remembered exactly what they had done to her in the bathroom stall.

"A matter of minutes, I promise," he climbed in front of her and shrugged, "relax."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around him, soon they were off.

…

"Holy cow!" Sherry shouted over the roar of the motorcycle as she glanced over Jake shoulder. Straight up ahead they could see a rapidly moving mechanism with people on it, screaming at the top of their lungs. Jake laughed as Sherry admired all the lights and colors bursting ahead of them. She could see a Ferris wheel, a rollercoaster, tents and different things of the sort. Jake parked the motorcycle and quickly climbed off, watching Sherry as she jumped off the bike and rose on the balls of her feet.

"Have you never been to a carnival or something?"

"I've been to carnivals," she laughed, "it's just that it's been a while. I want to get on that," she pointed to the small rollercoaster. Jake smirked, "we should find Chris and Sheva and get them on it too."

Jake agreed and he towed her with an arm around her waist into the carnival. They paid at the entrance and their eyes were immediately saturated in violent patterns of bursting light and loud music. Sherry grinned at all the people around her as they ate and played games. There were so many things to do and she wanted to do them all with Jake.

They found Chris and Sheva over by a game. In his hand Chris held a hammer and Sheva stood at his side with a grin plastered on her face. Chris raised the hammer over his head and let it slam back down to the base of the machine with a strange force of energy. A bar shot up to the top of the machine and rang out, signaling that he had 'won'.

Jake grinned as Sheva and Sherry clapped wildly for him.

Chris was awarded a huge teddy bear which he gave to Sheva, she kissed him and then towed him to where Jake and Sherry stood, admiring their friend for the feat.

"That was awesome!" Sherry laughed, hugging Chris.

"Well duh, I'm fucking strong," he boasted and high fived Jake.

"Sherry wants to get on the rollercoaster," Jake announced when they were walking away from the machine, and the death glares that guys still on line were shooting at Chris, "wanna' join?"

"Yes," Sheva instantly answered and with that in mind they headed towards the huge mechanism.

As Sherry walked she noticed that there were a lot of different kids from school here. She saw Excella vaguely among the heads of the moving people. She ignored the sight of the woman and only moved closer to Jake. He seemed to notice her small gesture and kissed her on the top of her head, she smiled happily.

When they were on the line Chris boasted of how he had won at every game he played so far, Sheva shook her head discreetly at Jake and Sherry, telling them that this was not exactly true.

"You won at the hammer hitting thing and the water gun game that's all. Remember that you lost at the hula hoop competition?" Sheva grinned.

Jake's eyes bulged, "hula-hoop?"

"Shut up," Chris glared at his friend, "it was fun."

When they were at the front of the line Billy showed up and skipped everyone. The people in charge of keeping everything in an orderly fashion looked at his tattoos and seemed to become wary of telling him to go to the back of the line. Sherry, quickly climbed onto the ride and Jake sat beside her, Chris and Sheva were in front of them and Billy and Rebecca behind.

"I'm so scared," Sherry whispered as the workers secured everyone into their seats, dropping metal bars onto their thighs. Her bar didn't even touch the top of her thigh because she was so slim, "I'm going to fall out!"

"You'll be fine Sherry," Jake grinned as she started to freak out.

"No-no-no this can't be right!"

"FIVE!" the people started counting down to launch off.

"Oh this is going to be horrible!" She exclaimed, "Look at the space Jake!" She pointed at the bar and her thighs.

"Three!"

"Sherry it's going to be fine, look I'm totally fine."

"One!"

"Jake this isn't okay!" She declared one more time, grabbing his arm tightly.

"Sherry it's totally—FUCK!"

Their heads snapped back as the rollercoaster darted forward. Sherry released a long scream that deafened Jake and caused Billy to burst into a riot of laughter behind them as Rebecca laughed at Sherry and Chris' antics.

"Fuck! Fuck! Oh my fucking God!" Chris yelled monstrously as his large arms came up in the air.

Sheva was laughing as she heard Sherry and Jake behind her.

"Oh sweet baby Jesus!" Sherry screeched as they made a turn, she came up off the seat slightly and Jake held onto her with laughter bubbling up out of him as she trembled in his arms, her eyes were as wide as plates and she looked like she had just seen all the answers to the universe. "No!" She yelled at nothing in particular.

In front of them Chris roared with a laughter so violent that he began to choke on the air, Sheva laughed at him and listened to Billy who was in the back yelling.

"Sherry it's fine!"

"No! This isn't okay! This is horrible! Oh god I'm going to choke on my gum!"

"No don't spit it out!" Jake laughed, but it was too late.

She spit it out only to have it fly back and hit Billy right on the cheek. He gave a strange sound of repulsion from the back of his throat and Sherry continued to scream, not realizing what had happened.

Finally the ride came to a halt and Chris was the only one left laughing as Billy helped a wobbly Rebecca out of the seats and Sheva watched Chris laughing obnoxiously. Jake looked down at Sherry who was whispering a prayer and bit his lip to not laugh at her.

"It's over Sherry," he informed her, lifting the bar and gently pulling her out of the seat. She trembled violently and followed him out. Chris needed help getting out of the ride as he was laughing too hard. Sheva rolled her eyes and helped him.

"That was so bad," Sherry murmured as Jake helped her down the stairs and away from the ride, "God that was so horrible! Why would I want to do that?"

"You were awesome," Jake smiled and held her face so that she looked up at him, "do you need to vomit?"

"No," she assured him, rising on her toes to hug him, "but I'm never doing that again."

…

The group played games and walked around the entire night, sometimes going off on their own or meeting up later. Jake held onto Sherry the entire time, watching her as she played games or when she would discreetly look up at him, thinking he didn't notice.

But he noticed. And it thrilled him to no end. He'd press his lips to her temple every now and then, happy to know that he was allowed to do this. She made him happy, so intensely happy that it had occurred to him only then that he had not felt like this… ever.

At the end of the night they all decided it was time to take a break before they headed home. It was already one in the morning. Jake noticed the way Sherry had begun to blink with a bit of drowsiness, indicating to him that she was in fact very tired. As they all walked down the dirt road of the parking lot Jake began to speak to Sherry.

"I really like that you came out," his voice was low and sincere, "its fun when you come out."

She looked up at him and grinned, "I'm glad I came too. I like being out with you."

"I'm glad," he grinned and kissed her forehead gently, she leaned against his lips and sighed. Happy for the first time in a long time, "I like you."

"I like you too," he breathed, a bit huskily she noted. He stared down at her for a long moment as the group kept moving without them and then without hesitation he lowered his face to hers.

Sherry's lips tingled as his came down to touch them. His mouth was smooth and gentle, his hands were her at back press her closer as he leaned down and she came up on her toes. She tasted so good to him, her mouth tasted like the cotton candy he had bought her earlier. He was so soft and fit perfectly against his as he beckoned her to open her mouth a little bit. He gave a low moan when she held onto his face, and she released a soft breath when she felt his tongue dart out to touch her bottom lip. Her own tongue came out and touched the tip of his in the heat of it all.

"Fuck," he whispered gently, pulling his mouth away. Sherry opened her eyes and blinked, "you're fucking good."

She blushed as he leaned down and kissed her once again, his stare at darkened and she released a whimper of delight as his teeth caught her bottom lip, tugging it just the slightest bit before he pulled away and stroked her reddened cheeks.

She had just kissed Jake Muller.

It really would have been the perfect ending to a perfect night. She leaned her forehead against his cheek for a long time and tried to even out her breathing… Jake began to tow her back towards their friends who were pretending to not have noticed it. But Chris was grinning so wide that it was obvious that they had seen.

Jake's lips still tingled as he came to his friend's side and they continued down the dirt road. He wanted to kiss her again and again. He wanted to do it right now. Licking his lips once he smirked, he still tasted like her.

It would have been the perfect ending to a perfect night.

As Sherry looked down the road she noticed a group of people headed their way. Sherry could see that one of them was Steve and instantly stiffened.

"What's wrong?" Jake murmured, noticing how she had seemed to tense. He followed her gaze and instantly narrowed in on Steve Burnside. He flexed his fists and looked to Chris who had noticed Steve as well.

Sherry and Jake steered to the left, Billy, Rebecca, Chris and Sheva moved to the right, allowing the group of Steve and four of his friends to walk in between them. But Steve, who had his eyes locked in on Sherry stopped right in her path and smiled.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked, ignoring Jake.

"Move on," Jake muttered, shoving him back and away from Sherry. She pulled on his arm sternly, glaring at him for getting so physical.

Steve who had stumbled back a few steps glared at Sherry, "this is who you're with? This moron? He's an asshole Sherry! He only wants to fuck you!"

"Hey!" Chris yelled and started charging over.

"I'm going to give you five seconds to get out of here," Jake warned him angrily, "or else I'm going to bash your skull in."

"Sherry! You see!" Steve hollered, his face turned bright red with anger, "he's nothing! He's sh—

"Steve stop," she scolded him like if he were a child, pulling back on Jake once more as Chris glared down at Steve. She shot Sheva a pleading look, the brunette instantly started pushing her boyfriend back, Billy glared at Steve as Rebecca watched on with shock, completely confused.

"Sherry, if you leave with him tonight he's going to do things to you," Steve warned her, "he's going to try to-

"I said stop!" She stepped around Jake and glared at Steve, "who do you think you are? You don't tell me what to do Steve! I don't even know you. Are you crazy? You don't know us and you certainly don't get to tell me what to do."

"I'm trying to help you," his eyes narrowed and he continued, "Jake is not what he seems to be. He's violent, and mean and just an asshole!"

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Jake hissed violently.

"Come," Steve grabbed Sherry around the elbow gently and began to pull her away. But he didn't get very far.

In one instant Jake had grabbed Sherry around the waist, yanking her back so hard that Steve's nails scraped down her arm. She yelped as she collapsed back against the ground and Jake was on Steve the next moment.

Jake's fist came down with explosive power on Steve's jaw, causing the smaller boy to fall back against the ground.

Steve's friends swarmed in on Jake and Chris instantly jumped in, pulling them off of his friend easily. It was mayhem, and Sherry could only watch in terror. She could see Jake kneeing the side of Steve's body harshly. The veins in Jake's hands were popping up as adrenaline rushed through his system. And Steve's friends were struggling to pull him off.

"Jake stop!" Sherry cried out and ran at him before one of Steve's friends shoved her down to the ground.

"You asshole!" Sheva shrieked and was on him the next moment.

Chris looked at the sound of her voice and found her punching a guy to the ground, Billy was helping Sheva wrestle down the guy and Rebecca was trembling horribly where she stood. Sherry was running at Jake again as Steve struggled for control as Jake straddled him, repeatedly driving his elbows into the kid's face.

"I warned you!" Jake hissed violently, he could feel small hands on his arm, pulling but not managing, "don't you ever fucking look at her! Ever!" He had never felt so blinded with rage. He could hardly control himself.

"Jake please! Please!" Sherry pleaded, tugging at his shirt and ripping it to shreds in the process. Jake wasn't listening to her, he hardly noticed that the shirt was clinging to his body. The tendons of his arms and shoulders stood taut.

Chris grabbed one of Steve's friends and landed a blow against his cheek, knocking the kid down into a bloody mess.

Steve somehow managed to punch Jake straight in the throat, and gain the upper hand and roll him off.

Steve was a bloody mess, his entire face was swollen up but he could see Jake coughing and trying to clear his vision. He landed a kick to his jaw, sending blood into the air and knocking Muller onto his side.

Everyone was fighting. Sheva was on the ground, sprawling with a guy with Billy on her side. Rebecca was standing there with a shocked expression. Chris was trying to look for who to help, and Steve and Jake were wrestling and pummeling each other half to death.

She had never seen anyone as single-handedly frightening as Jake was at that moment. He wasn't even blinking. His eyes seemed to flare in color! She was certain it was a trick of the light but he was absolutely terrifying. He looked like everything she feared in one moment. His muscles were taut, his fists were bloody and he was absolutely destroying Steve who moved sluggishly in comparison to Jake who moved so rapidly that it was... unnatural.

One moment it was all chaos, and the next it had come to a halt.

Sirens blared through the air.

"Get up! Get up!" Chris yelled as he pulled Jake away from Steve who was a bloody mess. Jake spit blood at him, fighting against Chris' grip to try and get to Steve who was being helped by his friends. "Billy get on Jake's bike and follow me! He can't drive like this! Give me the keys Jake."

"That motherfucker!" Jake spit blood again and Chris dug his hands into Jake's pockets, finding the keys and throwing them at Billy. "Sheva, Sherry, get in the car!"

Sheva helped Sherry quickly to her feet and they both went after Chris as he wrestled Jake towards the red car.

"Let me go! I'm going to fucking kill him! I'm going to beat the shit out of him! He's fucking dead!" Jake yelled over Chris' shoulder as Chris wrapped him up in a bear hug and quickly moved towards the vehicle, "you're done motherfucker!"

"Fuck you asshole!" Steve yelled from somewhere else.

Chris forced Jake into the car and shut the door. Sherry climbed into the back and Sheva sat beside her, Jake and Chris were in the front. The car roared to life and Chris pulled out of the parking spot easily and then began driving out of the dirt road parking lot, looking in his rearview mirror as Billy pulled out of a spot on Jake's bike and followed them.

"You saw that dickhead?" Jake huffed angrily, breathing so hard that his chest heaved, "I'm going to hit him so hard on Monday."

"Jake, stop, please," Sheva murmured.

"Look at my fucking knuckles," he laughed, holding them up. Sherry looked down at her arm and winced. Four long lines ran down her forearm from where Steve's nails had scraped down. Blood was popping up here and there, "he is such a little bitch."

"Jake, stop, please you're scaring Sherry."

It seemed to be the first time he had remembered about Sherry being there because his body stiffened and then he swirled around in the front seat and looked back at her. She wasn't looked at him, she was looking at her arm, focused in on it.

"Sherry, are you okay?" He asked gently, trying to keep his voice even.

"She's not okay," Chris sighed, "Jake put on your seatbelt, I don't need the fucking cops pulling me over right now. Especially not with your shirt like that and her arm that way."

He looked down at Sherry's arm and bit back a curse. It looked like someone had scratched her with a cheese grater.

He sat back down, albeit tensely, and put on his seatbelt, keeping his eye on Sherry through the rearview mirror.

She was silent the entire way to her house. When they pulled up Jake got out of the car instantly.

He pulled open Sherry's door and she stepped out shakily. Her arm was trembling and her eyes seemed to be looking anywhere but him, they were jittery.

"Sherry, Sherry look at me," he ordered, it bugged him that she wouldn't look at him. It was like she was purposely avoiding him, "damn it, Sherry look at me."

"No," she shook her head quietly and Sheva came to the blonde's side, "I just want to go inside right now—

"Sherry-

"Jake

"Are you mad at me or something?" He glared. His chest tightened at the prospects.

"No, Jake I'm just tired… this night was just a lot and—

"Then look at me."

She raised her eyes to him, clenching her jaw to keep from crying. Her arm hurt, and looking at him was even worse. He had blood staining his teeth, and there was still heat in his stare. She could tell that the adrenaline hadn't died there yet.

"I'll call you tomorrow." His statement was definitive.

"Yeah, okay," she murmured dismissively and walked towards her apartment. Jake blinked at the spot where she had just been and then looked towards her and Sheva as they disappeared into the apartment building.

Jake stalked back to Chris's car and closed the door, struggling to not slam it.

"She's fucking mad at me," Jake hissed, "she has no right to be mad at me."

"She's just scared Jake," Chris sighed, "you turn into a fucking monster when you fight. How do you think she feels after what she just saw?"

He thought about that for a minute as the lights in Sherry's apartment flickered on and Chris pulled away from the curb.

"I'd rather she be angry then scared," he muttered, wincing as his jaw protested.

…

Sheva led Sherry into the apartment quietly. Both were covered in dirt, but only one of them was injured.

Sheva turned on the lights quietly and walked to the kitchen as Sherry walked towards her bedroom. Inside Jill was laying on the bed sleeping soundly. She quietly gathered her sweats and shirt and left the room.

It was as Sherry was stepping back into the living room that she froze.

Her father stood in his doorway with a horrible glare in his eyes.

"I saw him Sherry," he said, "I saw you with Jake Muller."

...Oh crap...

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