A/N: Hey guys! Thanks again for the love on the last chapter. Was nervous about the last chapter because I was a little rusty but I appreciate the views and a big thank you to all those who took the time to review the last chapter. A special thank you to Sophia! Your long and detailed review deserves a shoutout! I appreciate all the detail and love so big thank you. Also a special thank you to TrishOrton who has been an OG reviewer! Glad to still have you on board on my stories. I appreciate Everyone's reviews and feedback that I get on my stories and chapters. As cliche as it sounds, it does help keep the creative juices flowing and let's me know that I still got it! Hehe. Anyway enough chatting, here's another update for you guys, it's a little shorter than the previous ones, but I'm setting up for a big chapter next! So don't be afraid to let me know what you think and without further ado, here is Chapter 8! Hope you enjoy and as always, happy reading! :)
(P.s: It's about 1:00AM here in Australia, so please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors, I should be in bed right now. :P )

Chapter Eight

Trish laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was struggling to get any rest. She couldn't help but think back to Jeff's little playful joke about levelling out the playing field. Sure, she saw him naked when she walked in on him in the bathroom, but that was accidental, she didn't plan on that happening. She couldn't help but think, was Jeff really joking about wanting to see her naked or was there some truth behind his playfulness and teasing? Was it merely to get a reaction out of her and make her squirm more so than she already did? Did he find enjoyment in making her feel uncomfortable around him or was there something more to it? She was having trouble erasing the way he looked at her from her memory. Those penetrating, mesmerising, hypnotizing emerald eyes that looked beyond hers and straight into her soul. She was always captivated by his eyes. What girl wouldn't be? But it was different this time, it seemed darker and more…smouldering than usual and it made her feel extremely weak at the knees that she was surprise she was able to hold herself up. Thank goodness for that porch post because otherwise she probably would have fallen to the ground. Also the way that he dared to push pass personal boundaries and get so close to her that he could have probably felt her heart racing and thumping through her chest. Was that all really to make her squirm? Sure they laughed, joked and played around, but something about this time felt different. What troubled her the most was the feeling she got when he laughed it off and informed her that he was merely joking and that the look on her face was priceless. At first she was mad that he could play her like that, smacking him across the chest was indicative of that. Then she felt relief, relieved that she didn't have to get naked in front of him, but then, she felt a little bit of disappointment which surprised her immensely. Why was she feeling disappointed? Did she want him to see her naked? Surely not. She couldn't quite put her finger on why she felt disappointment and it was troubling her.

After another hour of tossing and turning around in her bed, frustration saw Trish climb out of bed and pace around her room.

"Stratus! Stop it! Get your shit together and go to sleep!" She said out loud as she continued to pace, gripping her hair on top of her head in frustration. "Seriously. What is wrong with me? It was nothing, Jeff was just joking around like always. That's it. There's nothing more to it. You're over-thinking things like you always do." She tried to convince herself.

Trish decided that pacing around and talking to herself was pointless. She decided that maybe if she goes downstairs and has something warm to drink that it might help put her mind at ease and maybe eventually some rest. As she slowly opened the door to her bedroom, trying not to make a sound, she was surprised to see Jeff open his door at the very same moment.

"Hey…Trish." Jeff whispered, just as surprised to see Trish standing in her doorway. "What are you still doing up?"

Trish couldn't believe the coincidence. What were the chances that Jeff was still awake and that he decided to hop out of bed and head out of his room at the exact moment that she was? It took a moment for Trish to reply as she stood staring or more so gawking at the man standing in front of her. Jeff blue hair was ruffled up in the messy bedhead hair type of way but a lot sexier and he wore nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants with the drawstrings loosely tied. Her eyes were fixated on his slender, athletic build. His toned stomach and the tattoos wrapped around his sculpted arm. He looked just as good out of bed as he did when she walked in on him after his shower in the bathroom.

"I…uhh…couldn't sleep" she finally said softly after what felt like several minutes, bringing her attention to Jeff's face. "I was just going to make some hot chocolate. Would you like to join me?"

A small smile etched across Jeff's face. "I'd like that."

Once downstairs in the kitchen, Jeff sat himself on one of the barstools by the island bench whilst Trish prepared the hot chocolate.

"So why are you still up?" Trish asked curiously.

"Couldn't get to sleep for some reason." Jeff replied. "I don't really know why. Adam fell asleep in the lounge so you would think I would be sleeping like a baby without his excessively loud snoring."

"He fell asleep in the lounge? Everyone just left him there?"

"Apparently." Jeff responded before the two shared a chuckle.

Once ready, Trish handed Jeff his mug as she stood, holding hers in between her hands, the warmth of the mug bringing a sense of calmness to her.

"Thanks Trish." Jeff said politely, taking a sip, not taking his attention off the beautiful blonde in front of him, He placed his mug gently down on the surface of the island bench, circling his finger around the rim of his mug, seemingly in deep thought. "Trish…I hope that my little joke before out on the porch wasn't crossing any boundaries or anything, I'm really sorry if it did."

Trish froze for a moment, wondering if he had the abilities to read her thoughts. Why would he bring that up? Taking a sip of her hot chocolate, she looked at Jeff who wore a sincere, apologetic expression on his face. "What? No not at all." Trish replied. "I mean, I can't say I wasn't a little stunned. A part of me did think you were being serious for a moment. I will say I was relieved when you said you were joking." Trish chuckled, though not as convincingly as she would have liked. She decided to withhold the information about her feeling a little disappointed. "I got you back though." She grinned before taking another sip of her drink.

"That you did. Still feel a little bruised from that whack you gave me." Jeff said, gently rubbing the area of impact.

"You'll survive." Trish teased. "Let that be a lesson to ya."

"Duly noted." Jeff smiled, taking another sip. "This hot chocolate tastes amazing. Just like the way my mom used to make it." Jeff added before he froze. He didn't know why he brought his mother up all of a sudden.

Trish was also still. She knew that his mother was a very touchy and heavy topic of conversation and he rarely spoke about her in any of their conversations, besides that brief mention upon their arrival at the cabin. Trish started to panic slightly. What was she meant to do now?

"From conversations with Matt, I heard that she was amazing in the kitchen." Trish comment, not really knowing what to say.

"Yeah she was." Jeff smiled. "She would make you anything you wanted to eat. Even if she didn't have the ingredients, she would drive down or get my father to pick up the ingredients she needed. I tell ya, there's nothing better than a home cooked meal."

By the smile on his face, Trish knew that he was reminiscing on happier times and fond memories. She wanted to delve further because she knew that his mother was a big part of him but she also knew that he hated to talk about it and she didn't want to push too deep.

"Do you miss her?" Trish wanted to kick herself after those words came out of her mouth. Obviously he did. What kind of question was that?

"Everyday." Jeff replied softly as he looked down at his mug. Sadness, sorrow and pain written all over his face.

"She would be very proud of you Jeff." Trish said in attempts to try and comfort him.

Jeff scoffed a little, as he continued to stare at his mug. "I don't think she would be very proud of some of the things that I've done." Jeff added, not even bringing his eyes up to look at Trish.

Trish was now curious. What could he have possibly done that would be so bad for his mother not to be proud of? Perhaps he murdered someone? She felt a cold chill run down her body. How could she possibly find out without directly asking him what he did. She knew when she first met him that he was a tortured soul like she was, but why? Why was he carrying so much pain around with him? Sure, the death of a parent is enough to destroy anyone, but there had to be more to it.

"Jeff, unless you murdered someone, I highly doubt that you've done anything that wouldn't make your mother proud of you."

"Trish, you don't understand. I've gone through some really dark days after my mother's passing…"

Another cold shiver ran down Trish's back. Perhaps she hit the nail on the head with the murder theory.

"…I mean, I haven't killed or murdered anyone, but I've done some really fucked up shit."

Trish let out a breath she didn't noticed she was holding in. "Thank goodness for that" she thought to herself. She put her mug down, leaned across the bench and placed her hands on top of Jeff's which were clasped around his mug. Her touch, finally bringing his attention to her.

"Jeff. We all do stupid things when we are in dark places. Trust me. I don't know what it is that you did, but I know that you are not the same person that you were when you did whatever it was you did. We all make mistakes and we all learn from them. Sometimes life's greatest lessons are usually learned at the worst times from the worst mistakes and sometimes, mistakes have the power to turn you into something or someone better than the person you were before." Trish noticed Jeff divert his gaze away from her, knowing full well he didn't want agree with what she was saying.

"Hey, look at me." Trish kindly ordered as Jeff returned his attention to her. "Don't ever doubt yourself as a person because of things that you have done in the past. Your past doesn't define you; it prepares you. The person that you are today, the person that overcame whatever you did, the person that I have gotten to know, that's what you need to focus on, because I really like him. I think he is amazing. Blue hair, tattoos and all." Trish smiled.

Though his pain and sorrow were rooted far too deep within him, for the first time in a long time, there was a spark that shone a little light over that darkness he felt…and it was all because of her. Usually it was the other way around with Jeff giving her sound advice but when he heard her say that she really liked him, it instilled something in him that he hadn't felt for a long time. He still had a little seed of doubt in his head, that maybe she might change her mind if she ever knew the things he did in his past, but he wasn't going to dwell on that now.

"Thanks Trish…and if it's any consolation…I like you too." He smiled.

The two stared at one another, somewhat lost in each other's eyes. Silence fell upon them as they felt that same unexplainable, gravitational pull towards each other once again.

"We…should probably get some rest." Jeff finally said, not wanting to disrupt what was going on between them, but knowing full well that if he didn't he would probably do something that he probably shouldn't at this time.

"Yeah…you're probably right." Trish agreed, pulling away as they both finished off their now warm chocolate and placed their mugs in the sink before heading back upstairs.

"I guess, I'll see you in the morning." Jeff said softly as he stood leaning against his bedroom doorframe. "Thank you for the hot chocolate and chat."

"Anytime" Trish smiled.

"Goodnight Trish." Jeff whispered.

"Night Jeff." Trish replied before turning to walk into her room.

"You know…" Jeff added stopping Trish in her tracks. "If you're not completely tired, you could come and chill with me in my room if you like. We could…you know…uhh…chat some more…maybe…possibly…if you want…to…" Jeff proposed nervously. "It's a little too quiet not having Adam in the room." He added, biting down on his bottom lip and rubbing the back of his neck, trying to mask his nerves. "I could actually use the company tonight."

Trish couldn't help but smile. There was no doubt, her cheeks had turned a little rosy but she didn't care. She enjoyed talking to Jeff, she could talk to him all night. "I'd actually...really like that." She answered, trying to contain her smile from growing any bigger. Jeff also tried to contain his smile as he gestured her to enter his room first before he following after her, closing the door behind him.