I'm back! I'm so glad ya'll liked chapter 4, cause I wasn't thrilled about it. This one, I thought, is really sad, so you have been warned. Anyway, thanks to all who read, especially those who reviewed.
Chapter Five Scars"Do you know what Thursday is?" Harry asked as he came in from fixing the porch. It had been three weeks since he began, and it was finally done. Now, all he had to do was paint it, and it would be as good as new.
"Nope," Ginny replied, handing him a glass of lemonade. Even though it wasn't that hot, he was sweating like crazy. Not that it was a bad thing. His shirt clung to his stomach, and Ginny couldn't help but admire his flat, toned…
Whoa, her mind screeched to a halt. Stop now.
"It's Thanksgiving," he told her, taking a sip of the sugary liquid, letting it flow over his parched tongue. "We have to buy a turkey and everything."
"Have to?" she asked, taking a small sip. The liquid was way too sweet for her mood right now.
"Yep."
She set the glass down and walked to the sink. She leaned heavily on her hands and sighed. "I'm homesick," she admitted quietly.
Harry was at her side in an instant. "I know, I am too."
"Who would want to kill a baby?" she asked, still looking out the window.
Harry was quiet before answering, "She was meant to do something great. People are afraid of her."
"But she's just a baby," Ginny countered, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, "She can't even talk yet."
"I know," Harry said, reaching out to hold her. She fell into his arms, and he inhaled the scent of her shampoo. Honey and vanilla. Very intoxicating. "We're here to protect her. I won't let anything happen to her. Or you," he added softly.
She wanted to believe him. And somewhere in her heart she did. But being here, with him, it made her want things she shouldn't want. Things that would only end up hurting her, again. So she did what her mind told her, but what her heart screamed her not to do.
She pulled away.
The look on his face, of hurt and rejection, it broke her heart. But, she'd been hurt too many times before. It's self-preservation, she told herself. Then why does it hurt so damn much?
"I have to- to- check on the baby," she stumbled over the words. He nodded sadly.
She ran upstairs, ducking in Ara's room before going into hers. She flung herself on her bed, and cried.
--
He knew he shouldn't have been so forward with her. She wasn't ready to trust him yet. And he really didn't blame her. But it felt so right to have her in his arms again, and he couldn't help it.
He stood in the same spot, trying to relive the feeling. Of her hair, her skin, everything…
He shook his head and walked into the foyer, trying to resist the urge to go upstairs, take her in his arms and reassure her that everything would be okay. Try to erase all the mistakes he'd made.
He slowly scaled the stairs, his mind resisting every step he took, but his heart urging him forward. It was like an out of body experience. He saw himself climbing the stair, and he could hear his mind screaming at him to stop, but he kept on.
He reached the second floor landing, and tiptoed to her room. He heard her muffled sobs, and suddenly, he was back in his body. Every nerve wanted to go in there, but he listened to his mind instead.
He backed away.
--
Everything had pretty much returned to normal in the 'Johnson' household. Ginny and Harry had pretty much stopped talking to each other, unless they needed the salt or something like that.
But, once, when Harry was out painting the house, Jeb stopped by. "Ya'll got plans for Thanksgivn'?" he called to Harry, who was on a scaffold, painting the window trim.
Thanksgiving, as in tomorrow. He'd forgotten about it. "Nope," Harry shouted down, lowering the scaffold. When he reached the ground, he approached Jeb. "Why?"
Jeb had volunteered to help with the renovations, and Harry had discovered he wasn't as thick as he had previously believed.
"The wife wanted to know if ya'll wanted to spend it with us. The pups want to meet ya."
Harry got nervous. They really weren't supposed to do anything, but Jeb wasn't smart enough to pull something so elaborate off. "Sure, Jeana and I would love to."
"Excellent. The wife'll be thrilled," Jeb clapped him on the back before turning to head home. "Drop in around 3!"
Harry shook his head and went inside. "Gin!" he called, peeling off his sticky tee shirt and throwing it in the laundry room. "We're spending Thanksgiving with Jeb and Sarah!"
Ginny came down the stairs. "Shut up! The baby's asleep-" She stopped mid sentence. It was then Harry remembered he didn't have a shirt on. "Well, um," Ginny said nervously, still standing on the steps. "When is it?" She licked her lips nervously.
"Um, tomorrow," Harry said, slowly going up the stairs. He carefully slid past Ginny, and ran up the rest of the stairs, completely unaware of Ginny's eyes on his back.
--
"C'mon Gin, whatever you're wearing is fine," Harry coaxed, trying to get the redhead out of her bedroom. They had to be at Sarah and Jeb's house in fifteen minutes, and Ginny still wasn't ready.
After receiving no reply from the redhead, Harry sighed and turned the doorknob. Much to his delight, or embarrassment (depending on which side of the situation you're considering) Ginny was standing in only her black lace bra, and she had been in the middle of buttoning her jeans. "Harry!" she screeched.
Harry backed out of the room and shut the door. Ginny, who was the color of a ripe tomato, came out a few seconds later. She was wearing a long sleeved, black turtleneck, and she stormed right past him.
He followed, and after scooping up Ara from the drawing room, they headed outside to the car. Ginny jumped in the sedan, and Harry buckled Ara in, and hopped in next to her.
They drove west, Jeb and Sarah lived further outside of town than Harry and Ginny did, and they lived in a trailer. It was a nice one, old, but they kept it fairly clean, and three kids were running around outside of it.
"Momma!" the girl called, "They here!"
Sarah wiped her hands on her jeans as she came down the steps that led into the house. "Howdy," she greeted as she approached them. "Kids, these are the Johnsons. Pete, Jean, these are the kids. Patty, Kenny, Mike and Dan. Jeb, Junior and Joe are in town, but they'll be back any minute. Ya'll wanna come in?"
Ginny and Harry followed Sarah inside, and she gestured for them to take seats around the table. "We'll eat inside, the kids already ate," she explained as she pulled the stuffing out of the oven. "We haven't had guests for Thanksgiven in forever. Thanks for comin."
Before Ginny could answer, Jeb and two older boys came through the door. "Hey Pete!" Jeb said, clapping Harry on the back, "These are my sons, Junior and Joe. Boys, this is Petey Johnson."
Both boys grunted in greeting before taking a pot of assorted desserts outside. Sarah began to fix up the plates, and they ate.
Ginny pulled a jar of baby food out for Ara, when Sarah asked, "Ya'll don't breastfeed?"
Ginny's eyes widened, "Um, no. We wanted to get her on solids quickly."
They didn't speak for a couple of minutes, but Jeb started up a conversation. "So, Pete, ya work at the paper huh? You know Jakey Malone?"
Ginny's head shot up. "Jake Malone?"
Jeb nodded, "Yea. He's been a-wantin to buy your place since it went up for sale. Guess ya'll got it before him. He works as one of them reporters, yep, he's been researchin that place ever since old man Hansen's death."
"Is the house cursed?" Harry and Ginny asked at the same time.
"Well, that's the funny thing," Jeb said, "Everyone who's lived there since Hansen died has had their marriage ruined, just like Hansen's. His wife left him for the farmhand, who happened to be his best friend. Rumor has it Hansen killed 'em both and buried 'em in the cemetery late one night, but I knew Charlene Hansen and got a postcard from 'er couple of years ago. Hansen flipped," Jeb told them. "That's when he started that whole curse thing. Supposedly, Charlene wrote a warning, but when Hansen found it he changed it to a curse. He died a couple weeks later. Heart attack." Jeb took another spoonful of mashed potatoes.
" Anyway, so Malone's convinced the curse is real, and he's been doing everything to get it whenever it goes up on the market, but he's never got it. Money troubles or somethin', but if he ever get a hold of the place, Brownsville is gonna be a tourist attraction."
"So, it's not really cursed?"
Jeb's face broke into a smile. "Never said that. Every marriage that's ever been there has gone down the tube. Whether it's the rumor or the actual thing? I dunno."
That was pretty much all that was said during dinner. Sarah served dessert and coffee in the living room, and after stuffing themselves, they said goodbye and went to the car.
Harry drove, and after strapping a sleeping Ara in the back, he got into the driver's seat. Halfway home, Ginny began to nod off, and Harry found himself getting drowsy too.
When he pulled into the driveway, he first carried little Ara inside, but when he came back for Ginny, she was so soundly asleep, he felt bad to wake her up, so he slid his arm under her knees, and then picked her up.
He carefully carried her inside, shutting the front door with his foot. After gently shifting her weight, he continued upstairs. He laid her on the bed, and debated whether or not to take her jeans off. Finally, he lifted her hips, sliding the jeans off her.
When he went to put her pajama pants on, he noticed several scars on her upper thigh. They were raised slightly, and went upwards as they reached higher up her thigh. She had cut herself.
He gently traced the lowest one, from the inside of her thigh to the outside. Goosebumps appeared around it, and she stirred. Harry hastily put her pajama pants on and backed away, but Ginny's eyes opened. "What's going on?" she yawned, arching her back and hips.
"Nothing," Harry told her, moving to cover her with the sheets. She snuggled into the sheets, and Harry quietly left, tears burning his eyes.
She cut herself because of him.