Chapter Four:

"Jack, STOP!" I shouted again and again, but to no avail. There was no stopping this freak. At this point he was sucking at my neck and trying to work off my pants, all while keeping me pinned to the floor.

Just when I thought all was lost, Jack was suddenly yanked off of me. I was gasping for air. I looked past the now on his feet Jack, and saw an extremely pissed off Spot standing behind him, pulling back his arm to deliver a punch tho Jack's nose that would surely send him flying. I realized that almost too late, and only barely made it out from the spot on the floor I'd been lying before Jack landed where I would have been.

"What the HELL do ya think you was doin?" Spot screamed, along with a few other profanities that I will not repeat. He jumped on top of him and started throwing punches left and right at his face, which had already been bloodied.

"STO IT!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Spot had heard, but didn't stop, so I jumped on his back and did my best to pull him off. "STOP! Spot, you're hurting him!" I had completely reverted back to my accent by this point.

It was another few minutes before I finally peeled him off of Jack, who was beaten to a bloody pulp on the floor. I don't think he even got one good punch at Spot. I'm not sure if I should have any sort of pity for him or not, considering the circumstances.

________________________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~____________________ I hear Jack was hurt pretty bad. I haven't seen him since the fight. Spot came out of it with barely a bruise. Can you blame him for getting pissed? I mean, Jack was like, trying stuff.

"Why hadn't you told me that Jack was tryin' ta get ya?" Spot asks me a few hours after it's over/ I've spent most of that time in the corner thinking stuff through.

"I-I don't know," I answer unsurely, completely letting my accent go, "I don't think I thought much of it at first."

"Is this the first time he's done anything like this?" My god, Spot's speaking proper English, only no accent. That's never good. Never. And Jack has. Just never so seriously. Small stuff, like flirting, heavy flirting. I can't tell Spot that. I prefer him out of the Refuge. And I also prefer Jack alive.

"Yeah, that's the first." I lied. Oh well. Who cares?

"If he EVER tries anything like that again," Spot says threateningly, "Or anything else, I'll kill him." He finishes his sentence and looks at me in this way that means he means business. "I mean it."

"Spot," I start unsure of what I'm about to say, "I-" I stop and my eyes start watering. What the hell am I doing. "Never mind."

"No, Gidge, tell me," he asks. Why had I said anything. I can't ever tell Spot that I want to go home. Not until I'm gone.

"It's-it's nothing. It doesn't matter," I said, stuttering. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I could hit myself. Now he's never going to give up about finding out what I was gonna say.

"Okay," he said simply. Wow, he left it at that. "I-uh-I'm gonna go sell the afternoon editition now. I'm guessing you'd rather stay here?"

"Um, yeah. I'm gonna take that nap I said I was going to."

He left and I was alone again. Wouldn't last long, I knew. There are those of us that come home after just the morning selling. Any minute now, Skittles, Smint, and M&M will walk through the LH outer door.

Skittles is a small girl around the age of eight. Her hair is really long, down to her knees. She has green eyes that may be bright, but have been dulled by a life on the street. She sells with Smint, a tall thin girl with hair that she's cut short. She did that for to fit it under her hat. Her eyes are a simple brown buy somehow hold life. Incredibly sad life, but life. She's been through a lot.

M&M is Smint's boy friend. His brown hair and blue eyes don't make him stand in a crowd, and he isn't tall either. He's actually very short, for his age, at least. Smint must have a thing for short guys. He has a great sense of humor, though.

I'm just nodding off when I hear them all come in loudly. Skittles is laughing at something that M&M said. I let myself slip and I dream of home. God I miss it. I can't wait until I have enough money to go back.

When I wake up, Spot's there on the edge of his bed stroking my hair. I just look up at him and smile. He looks down at me and gives me the most caring look that any guy can give. And then I know that I can never leave him. I have to save double now.

"Hey, how ya doin'," he asks softly.

"I've seen betteh days," I say, stretching my arms in front of me. "But seein' you makes it dat much more worth livin'." We just look at eachother for a bit, then I realize that there isn't any light filtering in through the small window. "Eh, what time is it?"

"Eight o-clock."

"Oh, should we go and get somethin' ta eat?" I ask, sitting up.

"Only if you want to." I nod and pull the covers off me. Did I fall asleep fully dressed save for my shoes? "Okay, then I s'pose we should go now."

I slip my boots on and we head in the direction of Tibby's. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll tell him about wanting to go home. And about wanting to take him with me.

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Hi all. I apologize for the lack of new chapter in, like, forever. I can tell you that I will be updating all of my ff's more often than I have been. And yes, this was a short chapter. All of my new ones end up being short right now. . . Hmmm. . . Oh well. Shout-outs.

Thistle- Yes, I am giving Jack some un-expected character flaws. Spot came, so that is good.

Imaginelet- Thank you so much for reviewing, not only this story, but my other ones, too. I hope to update more often, though.

Race- Erg, I dun feel like typing your name. It's been way too long since last chapter. Sleep, I need sleep.