The morning started the same way for Lonnie as they did every day.
As the sun peaked out from behind the horizon, the few rays of sunshine creeping across the sprawling lawn of the school. They began climbing the walls and peering into windows, searching for an entrance. Some found the window belonging to Lonnie and entered, rousing her from her sleep. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up and smiled as her eyes fell on the scene that lay beyond her window. The sky was lit up with bright pinks, reds and oranges with the trees and houses beyond AP silhouetted against it making her feel as though she was looking at a beautiful painting.
She looked over her shoulder to ensure that her room-mate was undisturbed by the light and upon seeing that Olivia was still fast asleep, Lonnie stepped out of bed and went to find her running gear. As soon as she finished tying the laces of her running shoes, Lonnie headed out, ensuring to close the door gently behind her.
As she headed outside, Lonnie saw two types of people: those who'd just gotten up and those who were just deciding to go to bed. There were very few of either, though, so it was, as usual, a mostly quiet morning.
Once she left the building, she stretched for a bit before setting off on her run. The sun had almost fully risen and the sky was turning a lovely blue. The wind brushed past her as her feet rhythmically drummed the ground. Like every morning, she went around the whole grounds before heading inside and waiting outside the gym for a good half an hour, getting some rest in before she and her gym partner did some exercises.
As she was waiting, someone came and sat next to her. Lonnie smiled at him, vaguely recognising him as a junior. Pete, she was pretty sure his name was.
"Hey, Lonnie," he said, smiling at her.
"Hey," she replied.
"I saw you running today. I've noticed that you always run alone."
Lonnie shrugged, "Yeah. Not many of my friends like running but honestly, I don't mind running alone. Helps me gather my thoughts."
"Well," Pete (she was fairly certain that was his name but either way, that is what she would call him till further notice.) said, "If you ever want someone to run with, I've heard that I'm pretty good company."
Lonnie gave him partially bemused, partially touched look. But before she had a chance to say "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind", another voice entered the conversation.
"She just said that she prefers to run alone," it said. Lonnie closed her eyes in slight annoyance. It was her boyfriend and he was clearly in one of his more jealous moods. This had been happening a lot more lately and she was beginning to wonder if she should take it as a red flag. "Leave her alone." Jay appeared in her line of sight but he didn't look at Lonnie. He kept a glare fixed on the guy sat next to her.
"Sorry, man," he said, getting up, "I didn't realise I was bugging her."
"You weren't," Lonnie said, jumping in. "It was nice of you to offer. I'll keep it in mind."
Pete smiled thankfully at her then quickly entered the gym to get away from Jay's glare.
"Babe, come on, he was just making conversation," she said, getting up.
Jay finally looked at her, "He was definitely flirting with you."
Lonnie rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Even so, I wasn't flirting back. I wasn't even going to take him up on his offer. Could you try trusting me and backing off once in a while?"
"I do trust you," Jay replied. Lonnie glared at him and he averted his eyes, "I do trust you," he repeated, though quieter.
Lonnie sighed, "Whatever. Come on, let's just go in, okay?" She put her arm around his waist. Jay looked at her and returned the small smile she offered him. He then pulled her closer and the two of them went about their usual gym routine. By the time it was finished, they were back to their normal selves and were joking around and bantering. Lonnie was still bothered by the earlier incident but she felt like bringing up again would do more harm than good, so she let it be.
However, as she stood under the running hot water, running a hand through her hair, her mind went to other incidents similar to the one this morning. It seemed no guy could even compliment Lonnie without Jay jumping at their throats. Lonnie knew that Mal, Evie, Carlos and even Ben had tried to stop Jay whenever they noticed it but it didn't seem to do much. However, whilst she was thankful that they'd done their best to help, she knew this was something that she would have to deal with herself, one-to-one with Jay. She realised that putting it off as long as she had wasn't helpful nor was it solving anything. In fact, it almost seemed to be telling Jay that this kind of behaviour was okay. She knew that putting it off like she was doing was unhealthy for their relationship.
The more she thought about it, the more Lonnie realised that she had to talk to Jay as soon as possible. Hopefully, it wasn't too late to sort this out.
Lonnie was so lost in thought that her room-mate had to bang on the door to tell her to get out of the shower, otherwise they'd both be late to class. Luckily though, they were both ready before the first bell went and managed to make it to their class on time.
Though it was still bugging her, Lonnie managed to push her thoughts about Jay to the back of her mind until classes were over. She hadn't even seen him during lunch that day. After classes though, she was reminded about the conversation she had to have with him when her eyes landed on the picture of her and him that she had in her locker. She closed her locker with a slow exhale and then went to go find Jay.
She wasn't surprised when she found him hanging out with their group of friends. She walked over to him and laid a hand on her shoulder. He looked up at her with a smile that dropped when he noticed the serious look on Lonnie's face. She leaned down and quietly asked him if they could talk in private. Jay nodded and got up, bidding the group goodbye as he followed her towards her dorm. Both of them were silent throughout the walk. When they got to Lonnie's dorm, she gestured for Jay to enter first and then carefully shut the door behind her.
Jay leaned against the desk in her room. "So, what's up?"
Lonnie sighed, "We need to talk about this morning."
Jay furrowed his brow. "What about it?"
"You can't keep acting like that. And I need to stop letting it slide because it's not okay," Lonnie said, "This jealousy thing needs to stop. It's getting ridiculous that I can't even have a conversation with a guy without you acting like I'm some possession that only you get to have."
"I don't see you as a possession," Jay replied, looking offended that she'd even think that.
"Well, your actions don't reflect that," Lonnie argued. "I don't get why you act like this. It's like you're afraid that something is going to happen if I talk to another guy."
"I'm not afraid." Jay frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, "And I do trust you before you try and claim that I don't. I just don't like the way that other guys talk to you."
"Like I'm a human being?" Lonnie replied, "Like I'm someone worth talking to? Because that is it. And if they ever talked to me in a way I didn't like, I'd do something about it myself. You know that. So why do you act like you're the one who can decide whether or not I engage in conversation?"
"I just don't want them to think that they have a chance with you," Jay replied, "I'm trying to save you from having a bunch of men swarm over you. I know you get annoyed by that kind of att-"
"Cut the crap, Jay," Lonnie snapped, interrupting him, "You know that you can't lie to me, so I'd advise that you stop. Why do you act so jealous all the time? It's like you think that I'm going to leave you or something!"
Lonnie knew even before he spoke that she'd hit the nail on the head by the way that his neutral face cracked and for a brief second, she saw him fighting to keep his walls up.
"Because I do!" He yelled out, his arms dropping in exasperation.
Lonnie took a step back, hurt written across her face. "Do you seriously not trust me that much?"
Jay dragged a hand over his face, breathing slowly to try and get his emotions under control. "Of course I trust you," he replied, "I trust you with everything I am. But that doesn't mean that...that I'm not scared of losing you." Lonnie went to say something but he held up a hand to stop her. "I'm scared that by talking to other guys you'll realise that what I already know. That you're too good for me. And I can't lose you. I just can't."
Lonnie sighed and walked over to him, taking his hands in hers. Jay refused to meet her eyes but she gently squeezed his hands, making him look up at her, "Don't. Ever," she began, punctuating each word with a tug of his hands while she stared at him with a fiery passion in her eyes, "Say that I'm too good for you. Don't ever think that."
"How can I not?" Jay replied, looking down at their joint hands, "You're perfect. You're so smart and funny and badass and talented and gorgeous and wonderful and amazing and so beautiful inside and out that I just...I'm scared that one day you'll see yourself the way I do and leave me. And I know that by acting jealous I'm probably increasing the chances of you leaving me but I'm terrified that you'll realise any one of those guys are better than me and I don't think I just...act. I know I shouldn't. I-"
"Don't stop talking, apparently," Lonnie interrupted with a laugh, "Jay, why you think I'd ever leave you is beyond my understanding because I do see myself the way you do. I've never really lacked self-confidence. Though, I will admit that you listing those things off definitely boost my ego a bit," she joked. When he didn't smile, her shoulders sagged and she sighed, "Jay, I'm not too good for you. I think I'm simply good for you, the way you are for me." Jay began to lift his head, his brow once again furrowed in confusion. Lonnie removed one of her hands from his and cupped his cheek with it, "You support me, you're always there for me, you're not afraid to be yourself around me which in turn makes me feel able to be completely myself around you, you're a safe place for me to turn to and I always feel like I struck lucky because I'm dating a guy who was my friend first. Because that means you already knew me. It means that it was a very active choice that you made when you asked me out because you were willing to risk our friendship in case it didn't work out. It means that it's easier to share worries and hopes with you because we already had a solid foundation to build on. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have fallen in love with you and the fact that you think I could possibly ever want someone else is beyond my understanding." She rubbed her thumb over his cheek, "I love you, Jay, son of Jafar. No one else. I don't care if you think that you're not good enough for me because I know that you're more than good enough for me."
Lonnie was surprised when a few tears began leaking out of Jay's eyes. She quickly swiped them away with the pad of her thumb and he turned his head to kiss the inside of her palm. "What did I do to deserve you?" he whispered, seemingly more to himself than her.
"You loved me," she replied simply, "And made me fall in love with you. I don't care what flaws you have that make you think you're not worthy of me. I love every part of you, flaws and all. You have to believe that."
Jay nodded, "I'll try. I promise I'll try to believe it."
Lonnie smiled. To some, Jay's vow to try wouldn't have been enough, but for Lonnie, she knew that by saying that he'd try, he was being open and honest with her and she knew that he meant every word he said. She clutched his hand even harder and brought the hand on his cheek to the back of his head, gently guiding him to her lips, where they met in a soft kiss before Lonnie pulled away and rested her head on his shoulder. His free arm wrapped itself securely around her back as he buried his head in the crook of her neck. The two of them stood there in silence, feeling a little bit closer than they had previously and far more secure than they had that morning.
Here it is, RockThat! I hope it lived up to your expectations!
Also, I'm so sorry if anyone read the last story and was confused by the lack of A/N. I had some trouble trying to upload it and I must've forgotten to copy the A/N over once I finished fixing the problem. I did reupload it with the A/N so if you were looking for a response to a review, it's there now.
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Response to Reviews:
RockThat: Hope that this has enough jealous Jay for you :) And I'm glad you liked it!
wildflowerchildGrace: I'm so glad! And yep, I'm also a talker. And I'm not really getting any better.
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Love you guys so much! SparkyGurl
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