Thank you for all the reviews! They make me so happy that I float. Haha.

Chapter 5

Lisa collapsed on the couch, breathless. Her mind hadn't even begun to fix on what had just happened when she heard the door open again. Lisa sat bolt upright. Jackson! He had come after her, he—

"Hi, Annie. Did you… you have a good time at Bette's?" Lisa crushed her hands into fists at her sides to stop them from shaking and took a shuddering breath.

Annie answered her from the kitchen and Lisa could hear the water running. She numbly collapsed against the couch and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and, unbidden, the image of Jackson leaning towards her lips appeared. A zip shot up through her stomach and she squeezed her eyes very tightly together. "Lisa?" her aunt called from the kitchen and Lisa leapt up from the couch, her head pounding again. "Could you go to the grocery store for me real quick? I don't know how, but we're already all out of orange juice!"

Lisa felt her lips twitch at the way Jackson had looked, drenched in orange juice. And then her eyes widened in disgust at herself, her thoughts and she hurried into the kitchen and grabbed her keys. "Thanks," said Annie, preoccupied with whatever she was cooking.

As Lisa drove mindlessly to the grocery store, her brain hooked on one thing. Jake would be there. And Jackson wouldn't, he was obviously already home. Lisa licked her lips and shook her head, trying to clear it. Jake, think about Jake, not Jackson… Think about Jackson… Lisa parked at the grocery store and rested her head on the steering wheel. "I hate you, Jackson," Lisa murmured into the leather. "I hate you." She rubbed the back of her head to remind herself of the bump he had put there. She firmly put him from her mind and stepped out of the car.

Lisa found her carton of orange juice and then scanned the checkout counters. "Is Jake working right now?" she asked as she set the orange juice on the counter at a checkout. The cashier shook her head. "No, he's off evenings now; we've finally found another cashier. It's a relief for us all." Lisa smiled and nodded, inwardly feeling disappointed.

When she reached her car, she stared out the windshield for a moment before starting it. So her date with Jake was tomorrow. And she hadn't seen him since two days ago. And that had been the first time since what…? The rape. Suddenly it seemed important to Lisa to talk to him, to assure herself that he hadn't changed, that Jackson had not been right, that Jake wasn't jealous… Because an odd memory of how Jake had acted towards one of Lisa's friends in the past, his girlfriend, then, had resurfaced in Lisa's mind and she wanted it gone. Now.

- - - -

Jackson opened his fridge and then shut it again, the image of Lisa suddenly popping into his mind with such force that he felt his eyes widen. His mouth tingled as he remembered how he had almost kissed her. Jackson forcibly opened the fridge again. Well, that was alright. He could want to kiss her. That was okay. She was attractive. Who wouldn't want to kiss her? Obviously Jake did… And she would let him. She would have no problem with him. Suddenly angry, Jackson slammed the bowl of leftover soup he was holding down on the counter.

Wait a minute. Logic came back again. Who cared about Lisa Reisart? Jackson didn't. He found her interesting, that was all. And attractive. And sure, yeah, Jake was a loser. Someone like him didn't deserve a girl who could kick Jackson Rippner's ass. Jackson roughly shoved the bowl in the microwave above the stove. He began to feel angry at Lisa again. She had sent him to the hospital, made him lose his job, and she had bad taste in men. Total shit taste. Jackson felt his lips tingle again. How did she taste? The timer went off on the microwave and Jackson jumped. He had left practically all of his furniture at his old home, not wanting to hire a U-Haul and provide any easier links for his company to track him down with, should the need for them to do that arise. He hopped up on the counter and stirred his soup. In his mind, Lisa wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, and he ran his fingers through her soft hair, and she…

- - - -

"Jake?"

"Hey! Lisa! How are you?"

Lisa wrapped the comforter around her tighter. "I'm good," she said slowly.

"What did you do today?"

Lisa stared at her fingernails for a second. "Nothing," she sighed.

"Oh. God, we hired this new guy at Mark's about a week ago, Jackson Robinson? He's… He said he knew you."

Inwardly Lisa scoffed. Jackson Robinson. Oh brother. "Yeah."

"I didn't know you knew him."

"Yeah, we were old… er… college buddies."

"Really? Anything I should… know about that?" Jake laughed in a way that greatly annoyed Lisa.

"Umm, Jake, is there a reason you're giving me the third degree here?"

"No, no, sorry…" Jake sounded flustered and quickly changed the subject. They went on to talk about little, inconsequential things and by the end of their conversation Lisa was feeling quite relieved. For a moment there, she had almost thought that Jackson might've been right. She went to sleep looking forwards to her date.

Lisa woke up in the middle of the night with the covers twisted around her, hardly able to breathe. She kicked the blankets off of her and stumbled from the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. She got a glass of water and sat down at the kitchen table. God, it was hot tonight. She looked at the lit-up clock on the oven and chewed her lip. Three a.m. Lisa finished the rest of her water and started towards the stairs again, trying to remember her dream and unable to. The bed squeaked under her as she lay down on top of the sheets, staring at the ceiling and waiting for sleep. She rolled over and looked at her clock ten minutes later. Lisa tiptoed down the stairs for the second time and slipped out the front door, locking it and tucking the key in her pocket. The Florida air was still warm and muggy and Lisa could feel the static from the approaching storm. She would just take a small walk, until she felt sleepy again.

The street was lit dimly by streetlights and Lisa took a right at the end of the driveway, towards the brighter part of the road. Vaguely, she wondered if this was very smart, but Cove Springs wasn't Miami. She was safe. And if anyone came up to her, she could… could… gouge their eyes out with her house key.

She walked to the end of the street and then turned around and started back again. As she went back towards her house, she saw some other person on the other side of the street. In the dimness she could only see that he wore boxer shorts and a white t-shirt that stood out under the streetlamps. She couldn't see his face. Probably some other poor soul with insomnia, she thought wryly. She reached her aunt's house; paused, realized she still wasn't tired, and turned around again. She went to the end of the street and passed the other person again, who was walking in the opposite direction. She was halfway back to her house again and nearing the other person when he called, "Can't sleep?"

"No," Lisa called back ruefully. The man crossed to her side of the street. He had an oddly familiar voice. "I thought I'd go walk around a little."

In the glare of a streetlight, Jackson looked down at Lisa. The static from the storm had made her hair frizz a little, and she was wearing shorts with ducks on them and a t-shirt with Luxe Atlantic printed on it. She looked beautiful and cute and Jackson felt his stomach flip. "Yeah, Leese, I had the same idea." Lisa jumped and looked up at him. He stopped walking and so did she.

"No." She shook her head. "I'm dreaming."

"Oh, you dream about me? How sweet," Jackson grinned. Lisa glared at him.

"I have nightmares about you."

"But you still are dreaming of me. I'm in your head."

"Oh, go away," Lisa started walking towards her house again, the key clenched in her fist.

"You always say that," Jackson said, trotting to catch up with her. "So, your date with Jakey is tomorrow? Are you nervous?"

Lisa whirled around to face him. "How do you even know about that? Still keeping up on your stalker duties?"

Jackson looked down on her seriously. "I work with Jakey, for your information."

"His name's not 'Jakey'."

"Sure."

"Okay, Jack."

Jackson grabbed her arm and stopped her. "I really hate it when you call me that," he murmured. "It's like you're going out of your way to be annoying, when really you don't need to even try." Lisa stared stubbornly up into his eyes.

"Good," she muttered. And then she wrenched her arm from his grip and started walking again. Jackson grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back again. She struggled against him and pried at the arms that were wrapped over her stomach. She forgot that she could scream.

"Lisa," Jackson whispered suddenly, fiercely. "Lisa, Leese… Just stop it."

And she did. Weak from the feeling of him so close, she felt her knees almost buckle, felt her body want to him to hold her and support her. She sagged against him, her mind blaming her tiredness and her body knowing otherwise. "Jackson, I…" Her hands were still on top of his wrists.

"We've both gone crazy," he whispered. "I'm crazy. You're crazy. Accept it."

"No…"

Jackson let his lips rest on the top of her ear. In the glow of the streetlamp, her eyes closed. Thunder rumbled faintly in the distance. The first drops of rain began to fall and Lisa snuggled against Jackson's warm chest. He let his lips rest lightly on her temple. She lifted up his fingers and slid her hand between the two on her waist and twined her fingers through his. Rain began to fall harder. Jackson shielded Lisa from it. She turned around slowly, staring up at Jackson in a kind of surprised wonder. He brought his hands to her face and both watched each other. Slowly, cautiously, Jackson's mouth descended towards hers and Lisa found herself leaning forwards. The rain poured down around them. The kiss was a wave, carrying them away. Floating away from earth with only each other to cling to.

Finally they drifted apart, separated by the vast emptiness of space, and they fell back down. Lisa became aware of Jackson's warm hands threaded through her soaked hair, of her warm lips, and she shook her head and blinked and stared somewhere over Jackson's shoulder. He felt his heart sink down and didn't know why. Wordlessly she turned around and began to walk away. Jackson's arm was still around her waist and his hand brushed hers. She stopped and looked back at him. His hair was dripping and his shirt was plastered around him, and he watched her gaze at him.

He said nothing, just stood in the rain, his arms crossed over his chest. Lisa took a step towards him, her mind searching for words that never came. He turned and walked away. Lisa stared down at the rain soaked pavement for a moment and then turned and walked slowly back to her house.

Lisa slipped silently in and stood numbly in front of the mirror in her room for a moment, looking at her completely drenched form. Then she yanked off her clothes and balled them up in the hamper, slipped into dry ones, and huddled up in her bed. The rain hammered down on the house. Lisa felt something wet trickle down her cheek and realized she was crying.

When Lisa woke up, rain was still drifting down the windows like tears. She felt a vague relief. Her date with Jake would have to be canceled, there was no way they could see a drive-in movie in the rain. She got out of bed and started towards the shower. Then she saw the pool of water around the wet clothes in her laundry hamper and stopped as an image of Jackson appeared in her brain. Lisa felt something seem to pierce her throat. She stared questioningly at the hamper. She grabbed a towel from the bathroom and mopped up the water on the floor and then dumped her clothes in the washing machine. Lisa hopped into the shower wondering why she still felt so cold.

- - - -

"Hey, Jake, it's Lisa."

"Hello! Looking forwards to our movie?"

"Jake. It's pouring down rain outside."

"That's okay," Jake said, peeling his orange and wondering at the odd tone of her voice. He was on his lunch break and luckily alone in the little back room that was classified as a 'lounge.' Jackson was the only other employee who ever stayed for lunch. Jake hoped he didn't come in for awhile. "We'll roll up the windows. It'll be cozy."

"But can they still show the movie when it's raining? Won't that hurt the screen?" Lisa asked doubtfully.

"You sound like you're not very excited," Jake observed, throwing his orange peel into the trash.

Lisa closed her eyes and then opened them again. What was she doing? "No… I was just wondering."

"Oh. Okay. Well, I'll pick you up at seven, okay?"

"Yeah."

Lisa watched her aunt run into the kitchen, fill a pan with water, jump, and then run out of the kitchen again. She laughed. Then she realized Jake was still talking.

"…Jackson, and--"

"What?"

Jake sounded annoyed. "I was just saying that that new guy, Jackson Robinson, is kind of… strange. Did you know he has a BMW? Who owns a BMW and works at a grocery store?"

"I don't know. Look, Jake, I don't know if I can go see the movie today…"

"Why not?"

"Er… well…" Lisa inwardly kicked herself. She felt sort of low and weak. Was this loner Lisa, coming back? "Never mind, I thought my aunt had something going on, I was wrong."

"Okay…" Jake said coolly. "I've got to go, get back to work and stuff. See you." He hung up slowly. She had seemed sort of reluctant about the date… Jackson walked into the lounge and Jake was jolted from his thoughts. Jake's eyes flickered to him. Yeah, me and Lisa go way back… Jake felt a spurt of jealousy grow inside of him. He was the one who went 'way back' with Lisa. He regarded Jackson suspiciously.

"You talked to Lisa at all lately?" Jake asked, clearing away the rest of his lunch, his eyes on Jackson. Jackson stiffened. His eyes moved slowly up to Jake and he swallowed. Jake saw a small pink-red scar at the base of Jackson's neck rise and fall. "Sort of," Jackson said clearly. "Why?"

Jake's gaze sharpened. "Just wondering." He walked hurriedly out the door. He was at his register when he stopped. A little jealous voice told him there was something he was missing here.

Jackson stared down at his yogurt and poked at it. How in the world could Lisa like that idiot? Logic interrupted his thoughts and he laughed at himself. He had thought that this kind of life would always be beneath him, and yet here he was, wrapped up in it.

Lisa leaned her chin on her hand and stared at the old video player under the television. What is wrong with me? All she wanted to do was move on, but some little part of her kept backpedaling when the opportunity came. I'm not as strong as I think. Going on a date with Jake would be safe. Why was she trying to escape it? Maybe I don't want to go…

Annie walked into the living room and saw her niece. She took in Lisa's appearance and sat down on the couch next to her. Lisa looked up, startled, and attempted to put on a happier expression.

"I'm not buying it," Annie said, her lips twitching. "Don't you try and hide your issues from me, young lady."

Lisa rolled her eyes and laughed weakly. Annie curled up on the end of the couch, taking off her cat-eye glasses and wiping them on her shirt. "So… What's going on? I'm sorry I've been so busy and haven't had a chance to be with you much." Lisa leaned her head against the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling.

"Do you remember Jake?"

"Jake… Jake Browning? Old friend Jake? What about him?"

"He asked me out."

Annie chewed the inside of her lip and surveyed her niece. "Oh?"

"Yeah. And it was just a day after the very first day I got here. That's kinda weird, isn't it?"

"Well, do you think it is?"

"Yes! I mean, no, maybe not, but I… You know," Lisa finished lamely.

Annie shook her head. "You know what I think? I think you're uncomfortable about this date, and it has nothing to do with the rape--" Lisa cringed at the word "—or the time that Jake asked you."

Lisa was silent, considering. With a jolt Jackson suddenly appeared in her mind. She unconsciously blinked several times, trying to erase him. Annie saw this and chewed her lip. She still suspected that Lisa had left out a lot in her story about the attempted assassination. "So, Lisa," Annie began tentatively. "Has Mr. Keefe told you if they've caught that Jackson Rippner yet?"

Lisa closed her eyes. "No," she said quietly. "No, he has not." I could call the police and Jackson would be gone… Lisa opened her eyes and got up. "Never mind," she said lightly, avoiding her aunt's gaze. "I'm probably just nervous." I've been hiding for so long.

- - - -

Lisa stood in front of the vanity mirror in her pink bedroom. Her aunt had just left for book club. Lisa decided that when she got back to Miami, she was going to become as involved in other activities as Annie. It would keep her from being lonely. Someone knocked on the door downstairs and Lisa grabbed her purse and started down the steps.

"He--"

Jackson stood in her doorway, raindrops spattered on his shoulders, his hair slightly damp. Lisa blinked at him. "Er… Hello."

Jackson looked down at her. "Hi," he said quietly. They both stared at each other. Truthfully, Jackson didn't know what he was thinking. In the back of his mind, there was some half-assed plan that involved stopping Lisa's date with loser boy. But logic kept asking why he cared about that.

"What are... what are you, um… doing here?" Lisa asked awkwardly.

Good question. Jackson watched her fiddle with her purse. And then he realized that she was probably wishing he would leave, get out of the way, so she could go on her date, and he felt irrationally angry and disappointed. "Don't be rude, Leese."

"Jackson," Lisa said exasperatedly, trying to mask her discomfort. "Really, what do you want?"

"I need to borrow some butter," he said sarcastically.

"Jack."

"Leese."

"Get out of my aunt's house."

"No."

"I'll call the police."

"I bet you will." Jackson scoffed. He pushed past her and sat down on the couch. Lisa's mouth dropped open.

"What is wrong with you?"

Jackson smirked and turned to her. "Go call the cops, Leese."

"Okay then," Lisa went into the kitchen and came back with the phone, the cord of it stretched around the kitchen doorway. "I'm dialing…" she taunted. Jackson rested his head on the top of the couch and stared at the ceiling, much the same way Lisa had earlier.

Lisa got as far as the nine-one- when she stopped. Her finger hovered over the next one. She looked up at Jackson.

"You can't do it, can you?" he asked, still staring at the ceiling.

"This is a trick," Lisa spat. "How do I know you haven't rigged my phone? Maybe I'm really dialing your house or something." Jackson laughed and got up from the couch and took the phone from her hands. He hung it up in the kitchen and she followed him. Jackson turned around and looked at her. Lisa froze. She felt her heart speed up. He took a step towards her. Loud knocking came from the front door.

Jackson stiffened. "That's Jake?"

"Ye… Probably."

Jackson watched her for a moment. Lisa looked up at the ceiling and then out the kitchen window. "Go get the door, Leese," Jackson said quietly. Lisa found that her feet weren't capable of movement. "Go," Jackson said harshly. "Go. Go on your date. Bye." He went out the kitchen door and didn't look back. The doorbell echoed suddenly and almost violently through the house and Lisa jumped. She went and opened the front door, her purse hanging loosely in her hand.

"Hi." Jake smiled at her and Lisa looked over his shoulder for Jackson. But he had already gone around the corner and she couldn't see him. She followed Jake out to his old blue Datsun truck and inwardly groaned.

"Jake, I remember this car from when I was thirteen. Please tell me your dad didn't give you this."

Jake started the engine and grinned. "Yep, he gave it to me. Isn't she a beauty?"

"Er… I like the holes in the floor."

"Oh, those are because there's a leak in the roof, and one time it flooded in here, so I drilled the holes. It helps a lot."

Lisa watched the rain stream down the windows and felt something wet trickle down her neck. She winced and leaned forwards. "Jake, where is the leak in the roof?" He shrugged and glanced at her. "I plugged it awhile ago, didn't want it to mildew in here." Lisa chewed her lip.

"I think there's another one above me."

"Oh," Jake said, his focus back on the road. "That sucks."

Lisa turned awkwardly and looked at him. She could see the water dripping from a spot just above her seat. She opened and closed her mouth indignantly. He felt her stare and glanced back at her. "So, have you talked to anyone else around here in awhile?"

Lisa looked back at the leak again. "Not really, I've been pretty busy in Miami at the Luxe and everything. Do you have anything you could plug that hole with?"

Jake reached over awkwardly and felt around on the ceiling for it. "I don't feel anything," he commented.

"It's right there," Lisa guided his hand to the hole.

"Oh," Jake said. He brought his hand away and built up water poured heavily onto Lisa's seat. She scooted farther forwards, half off the seat now. "There's some duct tape in the back, I think." While Lisa rummaged around awkwardly, trying to avoid the leak and not succeeding, Jake said, "So, were you at the hotel during that attempted assassination on Keefe?"

Lisa stiffened. "No," she said shortly. She loudly ripped a piece of duct tape off the roll. Jake rounded a corner and the water from the leak blew on Lisa's face.

"That was lucky," Jake said. "I would've been really scared if I had been there. But I heard the one of the guys responsible for it escaped from the hospital! Is that true?" Lisa pounded duct tape on the hole and mumbled something. She could feel Jackson's arms suddenly around her again, smell him, and she was confused. "What?" Jake asked again.

"Yes," Lisa murmured, tentatively feeling the wet seat with her fingertips. "Yes, it's true."

Jake pulled to a stop outside the red ticket booth and bought tickets. There weren't many cars parked on the large grass area, and Lisa bet that the cars that were probably didn't have holes in their roofs. Jake set the little sound box on the dashboard. The rain continued to pour down from the darkening sky. Lisa tried to get comfortable on the edge of the seat as the beginning ads came on. "Jake, my, er, seat is really wet."

"Oh. Do you want some Red Vines?" Jake ripped open the package and held it out to Lisa.

"Thanks… But do you have anything I could dry my seat with?"

Jake sighed. "Maybe behind the seat." Lisa waited for him to hand her something, but he continued to stare at the opening ads. She pursed her lips and felt around for something. She found nothing. "So," Jake said, tapping his chin with a Red Vine, "Do you know that Jackson guy really well?"

Lisa felt her jaw clench. "You're always asking me about him," she tried to say lightly. Jake turned and looked at her.

"Am I really? He told me that you two were really good friends, I guess I must be jealous," Jake laughed. Lisa stared out her window. "Because, you know, we've known each other so long; don't want Jackson taking my place…" Lisa perched precariously on the edge of the seat and sent the windshield a death stare.

Why am I so uncomfortable if we're 'such good friends'? "Jake--" Sudden sound erupted from the box and drowned out Lisa's voice. Lisa jumped and fell off the seat. She saw a crumpled napkin under the seat and grabbed it and tried to blot up the water with it, but the napkin just shredded. "Hey, they have more of those at the concession stand," Jake said vaguely, his eyes on the movie. "Could you go get me a couple?"

Lisa seized the excuse for escape and leapt from the car, pulling her sweatshirt hood up over her head. She ran through the rain and towards the bathrooms next to the concession stand. She ran her hands through the warm water at the sink and sighed. She was cold, her sweatshirt was damp and uncomfortable, and she wanted to go home. She thought of the easy friendship she had had with Jake that now seemed so long ago. People change, Lisa thought disappointedly. For some reason, she had sort of believed that since the town was the same, everyone in it would be too. Well, that was stupid.

My old friend is so… different, Lisa thought sadly. I guess I am too.

She pulled her hood back up and went over to the concession stand. It was completely dark now and Lisa could hardly see a thing. She got a wad of napkins and headed back towards the car. She handed Jake the napkins and then realized that the duct tape had become unstuck and there was even more water on her seat. Lisa pounded the tape back on and scrubbed at the water with the napkins. It didn't help at all.

The movie was one of those guy-flicks, all explosions and girls in bikinis and plotlines that were so complicated it would simplify them just to say they didn't make sense. Lisa perched on the edge of the seat and stared at the screen without seeing it. Why did Jackson walk away like that? Why did he come to my house?

When they finally reached her aunt's house again, Jake stopped the car at the end of the driveway. He turned and looked at Lisa. "Well, thank you," Lisa said, fumbling for her purse.

"We should do this again sometime," Jake said. He leaned over and gave Lisa a hug. She pulled back quickly and opened the car door. "Thank you," she said, nodding, and ran down the driveway. She heard Jake's car drive away and wrenched open the front door.

"So how was your—What happened?" Annie asked incredulously.

Lisa stumbled up the stairs on cramped legs. "Taking a shower. Tell you later."

A/N: I've rewritten this damn thing at least eight times, hopefully I won't have to again. If you think I need to add anything, please please tell me. Also, I'm not sure if the emergency number in Florida is 911, so sorry if that's wrong.