Quick warning for all those legions of reviewers *g*-If you are opposed to sex, don't read this chapter.
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A few days passed, and Rachel made a special point of hanging around Jordan a little more. She was right in her assumptions. Her little sister had a lot of questions she'd been afraid to ask, but not surprisingly, she took the information in with ease. Almost as if she was expecting to hear a little of it.
Cassie and Jake hadn't seen much of each other, and when they did, there was always another person there. Once Tobias had purposely refused to sit next to Cassie at a meeting, leaving only one space open for Jake. But he insisted on standing during Erek's entire twenty minute briefing, while the other girl left half way through because of exhaustion. Or so she said.
It was early morning and the sun had just risen from over the horizon.
Falling down lightly on the valley like a light coat of golden paint, the air was fresh and the ground was warm. It was well on the way of being a beautiful day, but Jake's mood was so negative it nearly washed over everything in sight. He was sick.
Of all the time's in the world to come down with one of his killer migraines, it had to be a time where he had no access to his prescriptions.
It's just as well, Jake thought as he grimaced, the pain throbbing in his temples mercilessly. At least there's enough peace and quiet in this place to drive a deaf man insane.
He sat up from his bed in the hut and went outside to the stream nearby to get a drink. On his way there, he ran into Cassie, who looked just as bad as he felt. He raised his eyebrows.
"What's your problem?" Jake asked, bending down to fill his cup with the clear water. The girl's eyes were tired as she placed one hand on her throat. Jake stared blankly at Cassie for a few moments, not understanding. Finally she opened her mouth to speak, but only a soft scratchy sound emitted. He immediately regretted the dismissive tone he'd taken.
"You feel like crap too," Jake said rhetorically. Cassie nodded and mimicked Jake's earlier movements by filling her cup with water as well.
She watched him silently, the water easing her inflamed throat. Toby's aromatic tea had helped her get to sleep the night before, but she woke up in some of the worst discomfort she'd experienced.
"I wonder what could have made us both so sick," he thought out loud for no reason, sitting down despite the headache telling him to go back to bed. Cassie sat down a few feet away from him and buried her barefeet in the lush green grass, gently tugging at the individual blades.
"Maybe we're allergic to each other," she replied evenly, albeit softly.
Jake glanced at her sourly.
"What?"
She stared back at him with the dark eyes he had once so admired.
"Don't sound so surprised. Lately you haven't been able to look at me, much less come within ten feet of me. Maybe you're just having reactions to living so close. And maybe you're having the same effect on me," she added, her weak voice breaking from exertion.
Cassie coughed a little and continued to drink the cool water, but the uncharacteristic sarcasm in her tone had planted itself in her expression.
Jake felt the angry words rising up inside of him but, did his best to hold them down. He could hardly believe his ears.
How dare she make complaints over something that started all because of her thoughtlessness? How dare she make it seem as if I was the one acting foolish and stupid.
And how dare she write off my pain as a joke? he silently fumed.
On pure impulse, Jake walked over and snatched the earthen cup from Cassie's hands and threw it in the rushing water. She heard the clay shatter against the moss covered rocks many yards down the stream a few seconds later.
Cassie stood abruptly, her mouth in a cross between an angry and laughing purse. She could hardly believe he had done something so...immature. She could see Rachel doing something like that out of pure spite, possibly Marco, but not Jake. Not the controlled, rational man-child she knew. But then again, she didn't know him anymore.
Pity was something she was all out of, so anger would just have to be the next best thing.
In a burst of bravada, she lunged forward, roughly pushing an unexpecting Jake into the shallow stream. Let him feel how cold he can be, she thought to herself, immediately feeling better.
Jake cursed as he fumbled up into a standing position, drenched from his head all the way down to his feet, now scratched and bleeding a little from some sharp stones. The day was warm, but the shadows of the forests drowned out the sun, and it didn't take long for him to become really cold. He could already feel his lungs beginning to chill.
"You bitch."
Cassie's full lips drew into a smirk and she didn't bother to hide it.
"At least you came out and said it."
For a good few minutes the two angry teenagers just stared at each other, long and hard. Both were pretty sure they couldn't hate the other more than they already did. After all, while one had taken the other's authority, the other had taken their self-respect.
Despite this, neither of them were willing to admit any of those
things, especially the fact that they had both long ago stolen each other's hearts.
Jake made the first move and stepped forward to point his finger in Cassie's face.
"You know what? I hope that felt good, because you'll never get the chance to do that again. I want you to stay the hell away from me. Far, far away," he ordered, fire behind his nearly black eyes. Cassie seized his hand into her smaller one and threw it away from her face.
"Don't tell me what to do, Jake. What gives you the right when you barely acknowledge my existence anymore?" she demanded hoarsely.
Jake laughed, shaking his head.
"What, are you expecting me to cater to YOUR moods, too? No thanks, Cassie. You're not the only one with problems. In fact, we wouldn't even be in the situation if you had thought harder before you ran off and gave away the only advantage we had!"
"I-it-he wasn't supposed to-"
"WHAT? What can you say to me? What could you-"
"Shut up Jake! Just shut up and listen. What else COULD I do? Let you kill Tom, your brother, your own flesh and blood, and wait for everything to be okay? Well, I know that's not what was going to happen.
I know that if you had taken his life it would have been as good as taking your own! And for God's sakes, I couldn't do it, Jake! I couldn't stand there and watch you kill him right before
my eyes, so I did the only thing I could to stop it!" Cassie cried hysterically..
"WHAT ELSE WAS I SUPPOSE TO DO!?!"
The silence after her statements was disturbing, and Jake just gazed at her flushed, beautiful face. What he saw scared him.
All this time he hadn't realized just how honest she had been with him when she told him she was sorry. After awhile, her apologies became less and less sincere.
But could he blame her for that?
She had tried over and over again to explain to him she didn't do it to purposely put them in danger, but instead she wanted to keep him, particularly his sanity, out of harm's way. That was possibly what made him most upset in the first place.
She couldn't just do something on an impulse, based solely on her feelings. That kind of reasoning got people killed, even it came from a good place.
His whole life for the past few years had revolved around keeping everyone, keeping her safe. When she gave away the blue box to Tom she had ultimately sentenced them all to their deaths. And that was something none of them were ready to face.
Finally seeing the truth, with Cassie's eyes unwaveringly locked on his, was too much. Jake turned away to leave when her whisper stopped him in his tracks.
"Don't you walk away from me."
She hesitantly wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his strong back. Jake stayed still, trying to resist her comfort, when he felt her hand thread through his. His resolve died completely. He pulled her completely into the circle of his own arms.
"I-I'm sorry, Cassie. I didn't mean any of those things I said about you, I swear," he said through the tears he'd fought so hard to hold in. He buried his face in her soft neck as his bottled words erupted along with the overwhelming feelings of sorrow, guilt, and loneliness.
Cassie's tears had already mixed with the water drying on his shirt. They slid down to the ground in a weak heap and held each other while they poured the pain out of their souls.
After what seemed like an eternity, Jake let go of Cassie to look her right in the eye.
"I'm a failure, I failed," he said quietly. She sniffed and rubbed his shoulder, shaking her head profusely.
"No, you're not well. There's been so much pressure on all of us, but you've had the most, for the longest. And a lot of that is my fault. I, I just hope you know, now I only want to help you..."
Jake slowly silenced her with a kiss, gentle and sweet at first but not for long.
It reminded him of the considerable amount of time that had passed without so much of a glance of recognition from either of them, even more the void that festered where their love had been.
Soon they were pressed against each other so closely they both wondered if it were possible to be any closer. Consequently, a shudder ran through Cassie's body as the kiss became so intimate she could feel herself and Jake responding to it, reminding them that, they could.
Jake knew the right thing to do would be to get up and leave, but he didn't. He didn't want to.
Even if that meant he was wrong.
A few minutes more and his t-shirt was gone, Cassie's followed. She could feel his eyelashes brushing against her stomach, then his mouth over and caressing both of her breasts and finally nuzzling her neck while his hands gently but insistently pushed her under him.
"Jake," she whispered in his ear as she bit her lip, "no...please..."
She refused to look him straight in the face, afraid of what kind of expression she might see there.
"Do you mean it?" he said back, with a kiss to her mouth that made them both feel like melting into the grass.
"I...I don't...no."
She couldn't think about a thing with his hands so intimately touching her.
"Then trust me. I've got nothing to hide from you."
And, although he would take it back later, he really meant it.
They managed to pull the rest of each other's clothes off without breaking contact, and Cassie gasped as she felt Jake for the first time, about to be with her.
"Jake," she whispered again, and held him tightly. He cradled her in his arms as she wrapped her legs around his tanned back. Soon they were lost in the depths of each other, moving together with the new found grace of lovers, and their cries of pain and pleasure echoed through the forests.