Nefera was freezing as she turned around Jake's street' corner. She hadn't taken the time to change and had run away from her place as soon as she had left dinner. The princess wasn't one to leave the table usually - when she wasn't grounded, that is - and she knew it had been rude but she couldn't stay any more second acting as if it was completely normal to have Dedyet eating with them.
So she had left from her bedroom window, wearing a thin skirt and top, and not knowing where she was heading until she finally knew where. She had broken one of her heels during her journey, so she was now walking barefoot on the stone-cold sidewalk. Shaking, Nefera managed to take her phone out and to type her text.
can u come outside?
It took less than a minute before she was standing in front of her ex.
Jake could see her shivering, he bet that her Egyptian skirt and draped top weren't keeping her warm. She was wearing black, which she rarely if never, did. Nefera preferred skin tones, neutral clothes. "Dressed in all black…" He chuckled. "Did someone die?" She shivered again and he took his sweater off and handed it to her.
She took it and as she was putting it on he noticed that she wasn't wearing any necklace, which used to mean she felt terrible and in a bad mood. Nefera loved to think she was a mystery no one could solve, but it had been pretty easy for Jackson. He knew that the more necklaces she wore, the happier she was. She had confided to him once that they gave her confidence. It seemed that that night, she had none.
"It's quite the opposite, actually. My mother has resurrected." She said after she pulled the sweater as low as she could. "Wha- Wait… What?" The princess smiled. "She was already home when I got there." He looked down, not knowing what to say. "What the fuck are you doing barefoot?"
She looked down to her feet too and chuckled. "I broke a heel on my way here." She explained while showing him the shoes she held by a hand. Jake sighed as if she was the most desperate creature he'd ever seen - she probably was. "We'll talk in my car before I'll drive you back home." He said as he grabbed his keys from his jeans' back pocket and unlocked one of the neighborhoods' pulled up cars.
The princess's jaw dropped. "Since when do you have a license? Or even a car?" It was his turn to chuckle. "Since last summer. I don't drive it to school, though." They both got in the car and she saw him pushing a few buttons she couldn't quite understand. Nefera preferred to be driven around, usually. "Here, you'll get hotter, now." Jake said, smiling before he realized what he'd just said.
"I mean, not that you're not hot enou-" He mumbled before she cut him off by raising a hand as if to shut him up. "I know, I know…" She said as she smiled. She had missed his clumsiness. Jackson let out a sigh. "So, what about your mother?"
Nefera sighed too. "I don't want her here. They're all around her, acting as if nothing happened." Jake frowned. "Neffie, she's your mother. You thought she was dead and she isn't, why aren't you happy?" She looked at him, speechless. "I know you, and I know it destroyed you to think that she had died. Life's offering you a chance to catch up with her, take it." She clicked her tongue. "I'm not mad at life, I'm mad at her. She had been awoken for seven years and she had never tried to find us until my father found her."
He put a hand on her thigh and caressed it with his thumb. "I'm sure she tried." She looked down at his hand before he took it off, clearing his throat. "There's something else." Nefera said as she turned her head to look at her reflection in the window. "She wants to meet our boyfriends."
He raised an eyebrow at her - a mimic he'd stolen from her. "And I told her that I would ask if it was okay with him, but I haven't even talked to Holt yet, and I don't want to deal with this in front of my parents." Jake sighed, his heart heavy, he'd almost forgotten she was now dating his alter-ego. "Why don't you just act as if everything was alright until the end of the dinner." She scoffed. "I won't introduce someone to them if I expect to break up with him three hours later." They laughed. "Plus, you, of all people should know that I'm bad at pretending that everything is okay when it's not."
He smiled. Yes, he knew. He remembered very clearly how she had become so cold when she'd thought he'd cheated on her. She sighed. "Whatever… It's not like he's really boyfriend material." He frowned.
Her head still turned to the window, she had brought her knees up to her chest and had covered them with his sweater. Her eyes drifted from her reflection to his, and slowly, a sneaky smile found its place on her lips, while she delicately turned around to face him.
Jake's head turned a bit before he immediately shook his head 'no'. "Nef I know this look, I know I won't like it." It was her who was raising an eyebrow now. "Of course, you will…"
She was now completely facing him, and if it wasn't for the remaining of her dignity she would have joined her hands together to supplicate him. "Be my date tomorrow." The princess spat boldly. "Wh- No!" She rolled her eyes. "C'mon, you're the only one that knows me nearly as much as my actual boyfriend." Jake stiffened. "How could this motherfucker know you better than I do?"
Nefera laughed. "He just does. Plus you owe me, so you have to do this for me." Jake opened his mouth, feigning shock when he was about to crack laughing. "What do you mean I owe you?" She gave him a wide grin and a friendly push. "You know what I mean. You little son of a bitch not even tryin' to get his girlfriend back of all summer." He chuckled. "You told me you'd cheated on me." She was pouting now. "You preferred to get wasted than trying to find out who I had cheated on you with. You didn't care about me."
Jackson smiled so hard it hurt. "You know I did." Nefera was still pouting, and he sighed. "Come here, you little witch." He said as he opened her arms and she climbed his laps and pulled him in for a tight hug. "I thought you didn't straddle your male friends." She laughed and hit his back before she returned to hugging him. "We're not friends."
He grinned against her hair. She smelled like fucking pomegranate, he'd missed it.
When Deuce arrived at the palace, the next evening, he was as anxious as a man could be. He had already seen Cleo's father once, and it could have been better if her father hadn't walked in on them having sex in the music room. Ever since Deuce had tried to avoid the King at all cost, but since Cleo's mother had been found alive and well, an introductory dinner was in order.
The handshake with Cleo's father was cold and emotionless but Dedyet had been quite charming. The woman was beautiful and he understood where the sisters' beauty came from, as he told her so, causing Cleo to hide her eyes shamingly. Dedyet had the same hair as Cleo, straight, brown hair that was caught in a loose bun, and the Queen had hazelnut eyes, just like Nefera.
After he'd charmed his girlfriend's mother, they were exchanging casualties as the other princess joined them in the living room. Her heels resonated through the whole room and Deuce's eyebrows jumped at the sight of her dress. He went to greet her while her father was protesting about the way she was dressed. Deuce kissed the back of his girlfriend's sister's hand. "Nefera… Always a pleasure…"
She smiled devilishly at him. "Will your boyfriend join us, tonight?" He asked, both of them knowing that neither Holt nor Deuce could stand the other. "As a matter of fact, he will."
Deuce chuckled. "This' gonna be fun, then…" The princess grinned. "You have no idea."
Jackson sighed when he got out of his car. It wasn't as if he should be nervous, Nefera wasn't his girlfriend anymore, hence he wasn't actually meeting his in-laws for the first time. He texted her to tell her he was here. He didn't feel comfortable with the idea of knocking and the risk that her father might be the one answering the door… Fortunately for him, she was the one who opened, unfortunately for him, she was breathtaking. She had her short blonde hair slicked back and a black sheer, very see-through dress with only embroideries to hide the minimum.
The dress, not only showing her legs and tummy, had a very deep neckline. Jake was stuck in awe and didn't know what to say else than "Wearing black again? Aren't you gonna get hot?" She cracked a smile and ignored his question. "Come in." She said before pulling him behind her. A glance at her ass and he could already feel himself growing hard. "'Cause I surely am." He muttered, earning him a wink from his date.
She walked him to the dining room and hooked her arm to his. "Dad, Mother, this is my boyfriend, Jackson Jekyll." She said as they were still walking and he saw Deuce and Cleo turn around to look at them, the couple was dumbfounded and had their mouths opened, none of them knowing what to say. Once they understood what was happening, Jake spotted Deuce trying to keep himself from laughing.
Jake shook hands with Ramses, who seemed way less loving to him than Nefera had depicted him, and Dedyet, who, on the other hand, gave him a warm embrace before showing him his seat.
It was unusual for many reasons. First, acting, or reenacting his relationship with Nefera owed him a lot of grins from Deuce, and it felt weird that they weren't a secret anymore, but again, they weren't anything anymore. Second, Nefera's father had his hands crossed under his chin and Jake could feel the man staring, no, analyzing him. So, he chose to look at his ex to chill out a little.
Throwing side glances at the princess, he noticed that she had adopted the same position as her father, only it wasn't for analyzing but for judging. He saw Nefera rolling her eyes almost every time her mother would speak. It made him silently chuckle, he'd never seen her actually annoyed by someone, and it turned out that was the ever so drama queen he thought she'd be.
"So, Jackson, when did you and our dear Neffie meet ?" Asked Dedyet and he didn't need to look to know that his ex had rolled her eyes again, which made him smile.
"Uh, Februa- March." He corrected after the dear Neffie had stepped on his foot with her high heel. He'd forgotten that she was grounded when they met. "Oh! Tell me more about it! I love to hear about love stories…"
Well, you won't be in rest with ours… He thought and when he heard Nefera laugh he realized that he might have said that out loud. "Huh, we met at the mall… There's not much to say about it, really." Nefera grabbed his hand, holding it rather tightly upon the table. "Yeah, remember Father, it was the day I learned that I wasn't grounded anymore. After three months of being stuck at home."
Her father darted his eyes to his wife before he frowned at Nefera. "You had perfectly deserved this punishment, and you know it."
The remainder of the dinner went quite well, Nefera's mother was the one talking the most as she tried to get to know her daughters through questions asked to their lovers. "Jackson… Jekyll? Is it? I think I might have met a Jekyll not so long ago… Dr. Henry Jekyll, are you related?" Jake didn't have time to answer that Nefera cut him off. "Yes, they are, but he's dead and Jake doesn't speak with this side of his family."
Jake turned his head to face the blonde. "Honey, that's my grandpa you're talking about, a bit of respect for the dead, please." She was now facing him, too. "Oh, sorry, Baby, I'm not quite used to it, around here the dead tend to get back to life…" The King punched the table and both Deuce and Jake straightened up at the sound of it. "Nefera enough with it! You're going to stop insulting your mother or else you'll be grounded 'til the end of your days!"
Jackson wanted to be swallowed by his chair, he felt really awkward and he saw Deuce being as uneasy as he was at the opposite of the table. "I'm an adult, you can't ground me forever anymore." They all could see the King fuming. "As long as you're under my roof-" Jake could feel Nefera's leg shaking from anger, only then did he realize that their legs were touching.
"Yeah, well don't worry about it. I plan on getting my own place very soon. Oh, haven't you heard? I've gotten a job for myself, but you've been too busy finding your wife who hasn't moved the slightest finger to get back to us to worry. Too busy to worry about your daughters. I had my heart broken, this summer, I had a depression, I lost nearly 33 lbs and if it weren't for Deuce and Cleo, I'd probably be dead by now." Her parents were speechless, the princess stood from her seat. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I just lost my appetite." She left, not turning back to her father shouting her name.
Deuce laughed nervously. "Well, it went better than I thought it would." Dedyet stared at Jake questioning him. "I don't understand… Are you the one who broke her heart?" Jackson stared back but ignored the question and excused himself too, following Nefera.
Jake found the princess crying on a little bench in front of the palace. He approached her quietly. "You shouldn't cry, it makes you ugly." She laughed through her tears. "That's not what you used to say." He smiled and sat next to her. "Hey, do you have a cigarette?" Nefera asked and he raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you a smoker?" He asked all the while handing her what she'd asked for. "I am when I'm angry." He watched in wonder as she lit up her cigarette and took a puff on it, she was the last person he would picture doing so.
"I'm sorry you had to see this. I couldn't handle it anymore." Nefera said, lost in her thoughts. "I'm sorry I broke your heart." She looked at him and made a sad face before resting her head on his shoulder, still smoking as he joined her and lit his own cigarette. "It's fine, Sweetheart. It wasn't your fault, anyway." He looked at her. "It is. Like you said last night, I should have fought for you, and maybe we would have found out sooner about all of it."
She smiled and raised a little to be facing him. "What I said last night was a joke, I was only teasing you." He cupped her jaw, his eyes sweeping off her features. "It doesn't make it any less true." He barely whispered. "I should have fought for the woman I loved." She blinked and another tear fell down. "Do you still love her?" He smiled. "How could I ever stop?" He whispered again, and soon enough he felt her pull him in for a kiss.