Chapter Two

Across the Street

AN: I realize using members of bands is illegal on , but before you zappers have this story zapped, please see the direction in which it is going, wait a few chaps.

This chapter takes on a Moulin Rouge twist.

A week and a half after she had left Rainey's home, dazed but not too confused the house across the street from her became occupied, a moving truck had come, dropped lots of stuff off, but she had never seen the owner enter, nosey as she was, she watched. She made a call to Mort, left a message as he didn't answer, telling him this was her number, she'd gotten a phone. She'd decided to take a nap on the couch when suddenly a blaring noise shot up from the house across the street, guitars and drums. Appalled, she rushed out the door, went to the house and began knocking loudly, a man, close to her age answered, hair thrown over the side of his face in a left side bangs sort of look, deep hazel eyes rounded out by smudged eyeliner, he wore a black hoodie, brass knuckles on it, along with some black, loose pants. She tried to smile as friendly as possible. "Hi, you're new as I recall, I'm Jen Lloyd, I live directly across the street."

He observed her, and she realized her khakis were at her hips, her shirt was rolled up revealing her tight, molded by time and a lot of running abs. She self consciously pulled the shirt down and he grinned, extended a hand. "Joel Madden, pleasure to met you, Jen."

She got lost in his eyes and refused to let his hand go for a moment, then quickly withdrew hers. "Um, I'm kind of trying to sleep, so, do you think that, maybe you can keep it down? Just a bit?"

"Oh, God, I'm sorry! It was just a warm up, yeah, I'll turn the amps down, I really am sorry, uh, can I or we make it up to you?" He motioned behind him to his twin brother and pals who waved approvingly, sly looks on their faces.

"Uh, how do you mean?"

"Well we were going to go out to dinner, celebrate the new album's success, um, do you have any clue who we are?"

She looked them over, shook her head. "I really never got to listen to much music as a kid, I mean, you look familiar but I can't say exactly who you are."

He grinned, he had a very charming smile, she noted, nothing like Mort's but charming in another way, not as . . . Seductive. "That's cool, we're Good Charlotte."

"Ohhhh I know who you are," she smiled and nodded. "My sister and I were kidnaped as well, kids, andI taped Hold On, it keptme strong whenI was really scared that the people whould find me."

He nodded in understanding. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that happened, but I'm glad we clearly helped you through. So how about dinner then?"

Mort could call, he probably wouldn't be too happy. What the hell? He isn't my boyfriend! He kissed me once and he really shouldn't have! But you liked it. Well, yeah . .. The braces were kind of a turnoff though. But the tongue was good, you imagined it in other places. . . She looked at him and smiled. "I think that would be great."

"Seven then?" His hazel eyes twinkled down at her.

"Seven."

Mort listened to her soft, sweet voice and smiled, picked up the receiver and dialed the number she'd left him, after a couple of rings, she answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Jen, it's Mort. How's it going?"

"Pretty good, say, I'm going to dinner with some friends tonight, want to come?"

He froze, his own voice ringing in his head. Friends being another guy that wants to fuck her, his brother and some other guys, that band that just moved into town, they live on her street. "Wouldn't happen to be a band, would it?"

She was silent a moment, stunned. "How'd you guess?"

"Heard they moved there, make too much noise and so you made them take you out?"

"Heh, I was napping." She admitted with a giggle. "So will you come?"

"I don't know . . ."

She tried to sound convincing. "Pleeeeaaassseee?"

You wanna hear THAT a lot, Mr. Rainey. Ah, Shooter! Shut up for a minute!

"All right, how about I'll pick you up and drive?"

"Sounds good, see you at, say, 6:15?"

"Definitely. Bye."

"Bye."

At six fifteen lights brightened her driveway and she closed the curtain, was about to step out the door when the bell rang, it was funny, he had gotten out of that car pretty fast. She straightened her blouse and opened the door, smiled at a grinning Mort. "Hi, you look great."

She blushed slightly, shrugged and stepped out, took his offered elbow. "You don't look so bad yourself." He opened the car door and shut it once she'd slid slowly into the passenger seat. She grabbed the belt and buckled in, then turned and looked at him, noticed he'd been watching. "Um," she averted her attention away. "I'm glad you agreed to come, I really don't know these kids and well, it feels good to have someone I do know close by."

"But you don't know me," he drawled, his voice husky with something she'd never been able to understand. "Why did you really want me there?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "It just felt right."

"Ah-hah." He gunned the engine and pulled out of her driveway. "Forgive me for being forward," he made his way into the street and around the corner onto the main street. "But can it be that you're attracted to me? Not just like, ooo he's cute but maybe . . ."

She looked at him, his intuition was almost too good, he understood everything she thought, felt, saw, it was beginning to really scare her. "What?"

He grinned at her seductively and she felt color rise in her cheeks, her heart began to pound. "Sexually? Can you see me as just an all the time random fuck toy?"

If she'd been driving she would have hit the brakes. "Mort, look, I, you were right, I hardly know you and I hardly think. . ." Her heart began to thump even faster as he pulled over into an abandoned part of the park, it was night, no child was playing.

"Would you stop thinking for once in your life and start feeling?" His hand went to her thigh and pushed the skirt out of the way, unbuckled the garter from her thigh highs and began pushing those down, feeling her silky flesh. His voice deepened, mellowed. "All your life you've been running away from your uncle, let yourself go for once, hmm? Discover the woman you've become, Jennifer Lloyd."

She could hardly breathe, suddenly her mouth was pasted to his, she felt bare skin after fumbling with his shirt and as their mouths parted and his lips made their way down her throat, she saw Joel's face in her mind, twisted in disappointment. "Wait, Mort, we can't, we'll be late."

He rolled his eyes, finished removing her blouse. "Remind me, then, why you had me pick you up 45 minutes early?"

He was right, the restaurant wasn't far away at all. She gave in to him, totally as she'd never given in to any man willingly before. Michael had been forced on her by Wynn, she was free now, she was a woman.

"Hey Jen! Um, you never were formally introduced, this is my twin brother Benji, our friends from Maryland, Billy and Paul, and this is Chris, our new drummer."

"Hi, nice to meet you." She said shaking their hands, blushing when Benji kissed hers as a joke. "Um, I told you about my friend Mort, Mort Rainey, he's a novelist."

"Heard of him, nice to meet you Mr. Rainey."

Mort, rather disappointed by the introduction as her 'friend' smiled as best as he could and shook Joel's hand. "Friend?" he whispered into her ear.

"Friend." She muttered back. "Once and it was in the back of an SUV!"

"I told you I was sorry! The ground was muddy!"

She laughed at him. "I was only joking!" She turned to them. "Um, actually, Mort and I kind of just started seeing each other. Like, today."

"Well here's to you," Paul said, taking down a shot of whiskey.

"There goes our responsible driver." Billy shook his head. "Please, sit."

Mort had gone to pull the SUV around to the front, only seconds ago, and Jennifer was going towards the front when a hand grabbed her arm, Joel. She smiled at him, he had that look, the look he'd had the entire two hours they'd been here, and it nearly broke her heart, but she tried to ignore it.

"Hey."

"I don't want you to sleep with him." Joel muttered, pulling her to the side. "I know the rumors, and I don't trust him as far as I can kick him, how do you?"

"I . . ." She turned, hiding her conflicting emotions. "I'm not sure I do. I'm more . . . attracted than trusting."

"If you give yourself to him now that you've been seen in public you're sealing the deal, Jen. I know who you are, I've tracked you as long as I can remember, my mother was an investigator helping Dr. Loomis, I know you sold yourself for so long to keep Jamie safe, to Wynn, to the guards, even to your uncle." His lips fluttered against her ear as he whispered. "Michael Myers."

She gasped, astounded by the overwhelming emotions. "You knew . . . all that?"

"Dr. Loomis." He reminded.

"Oh," she turned back to him, wiping the tears away. "You can't. . ."

"I would never. I'm here to protect you, Benji and I promised Mom to protect you." He shook his head. "I don't know you personally, know what you like, but I do know what's happened to you." Under his breath he touched his nose to hers and whispered half in song. "My gift is my song, and this one is for you, and you can tell everybody, this is your song. It may be quite simple but, now that it's done. Hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind, that I put down in words. How wonderful life is, now you're in the world."

She blushed, heard Mort call her name. "I . . . I have to go, home, I'm going home, don't you worry." She rubbed his nose and wiped her wet face dry, pushed past some people and out of the bathroom hallway Joel had pulled her into, met his smiling face at the door and left.

Joel watched her walk away, frowning to himself, he shook his head. "Let her get home safe." He murmured to himself, wiggling the nose she had just rubbed with a smile. He found Benji and the guys in the parking lot moments later. "I told her," he informed them. "She said she'd go home tonight."

"Did you tell her Wynn's looking for her and Jamie?"

"Tomorrow. We have more time then, Mort came for her while I was still . . . Briefing her on Mom and us, Benj. I think she trusts me."

"Then tomorrow, be tomorrow." Benji said softly. "Let's go home."

Jennifer smiled falsely as Mort helped her from the car, to her surprise he spun her with their connected hands in the air, and she giggled in surprise but soon it melted into the suspicion Joel had left her with. She allowed Mort to embrace and kiss her, so he wouldn't be suspicious, then she moved to the door, began unlocking it when she froze, his lips were spreading hot kisses down her neck. "Mort," she murmured, turned into him. "I'm so tired, not tonight."

"I have a book signing all day tomorrow and I'll be gone the day after, L.A. isn't a two hour drive."

"I know, but I'm so tired, it's been such as long day, please, two days, I can wait if you can." She tried to hide her nervousness but could hear it in her own voice. She amended it quickly after seeing he'd noticed. "I'm just, it's so much, I'm not used to all of it so, give me two days to take it all in."

She's nervous about all that, that's true, but somethin' else got to her, Mr. Rainey.

"All right." He whispered, pecking her lips. "All right, two days." For once, he ignored Shooter.

"Ok, goodbye." She kissed him for effect and watched him leave. "Mort?" She called, he turned, the door of the SUV open.

"Yeah?"

"You can trust me."

And for once, he believed her. "All right."