Sleeping in the same bed with someone else was actually nicer than Jesse had been expecting.
Well, 'sleeping'. That implied that she'd actually been sleeping and not just lying there in some sort of stupor.
Jesse shifted back into a sitting position, looking over at a completely conked-out Lukas. The moment she'd dumped him on the bed earlier (he was quite a bit heavier than he looked, alright?), he'd simply passed out with a loopy "Night, love ya" and gone straight to sleep, still fully clothed and with his shoes on. (She'd had to pull them off and put them at the foot of the bed.) She'd then quickly changed into her own pajamas and crawled into the bed as well...
And then lay there with her eyes shut for a few hours.
She might have dozed off a bit, but it wasn't really sleeping... more like going into a sort of hypnotic state where she was just lying there in some sort of half-asleep stupor.
She finally gave up on 'sleeping' for now and decided to head down to the kitchen. With her luck, Ivor would also be up and brewing himself some sort of calming potion.
She eked the door open slightly, slipped into the hallway-
- and promptly ran straight into someone. She staggered a bit, trying to regain her balance, and a hair of hands quickly clamped onto her shoulders, keeping her from falling over backwards.
"Oh, crap, I'm sorry, are you-" Aiden's voice abruptly cut off, the taller brown-haired boy freezing in place from where his hands were still on Jesse's shoulders, the black-haired girl simply blinking up at him with slightly wide eyes.
Honestly, she should've been a little more bothered by Aiden himself, but right now all that she was more worried about was the fact that Aiden was seeing her in her pajamas.
"... um... hi, Aiden," Jesse said, after a few, long moments.
The brown-haired boy slowly retracted his hands from Jesse's shoulders, still staring at her. "... hi, Jesse," he said at last, sounding a bit as if he wanted to bolt.
"Oh, you guys are up as w-"
The two of them swiveled in perfect unison to see the red-haired Cassie Rose and Winslow freeze in place, a few yards away from them. For a few minutes, the three of them stood in an odd triangle, regarding each other silently with wide eyes as they tried to figure out what in the name of heaven they were supposed t to do.
Finally, Jesse coughed, making all attention go to her. "Um... well, I'm headed to the kitchen to see if Ivor's brewing a calming potion or something... you guys can come if you'd like?" She let the question trail off a bit, uncertainly.
Another rather awkward silence occurred, before Cassie cleared her throat. "I mean... I was headed there anyway, so... sure, I guess..." she said, slowly.
"I... sure?" Aiden bit his lip and looked away awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess that sounds... nice. Sort of. I guess." He then blinked as Jesse started walking, quickly speedwalking to keep up with her- for being such a short girl, she could sure walk really fast. "Wait, how did you know Ivor was gonna be up?"
"I didn't; I was just hoping. He's been up for the past two nights, so..." Jesse shrugged a bit, turning the corner into the kitchen. "I was hoping he'd be in there."
"Oh- Jesse." Ivor looked up from his potion stand, but to Jesse's surprise Harper was perched on a chair as well, absentmindedly rubbing the spot on her leg that had been cut earlier, a bandage wrapped around it. "You're up again." Ivor's eyes slid sideways, and his eyebrow went up. "And... you brought company, as well." His voice showed no sign of displeasure, but he didn't exactly sound happy about it, either.
"Uh- yeah, sorry, I hope you don't mind. I ran into them in the hallway," and Jesse slid neatly into a chair next to Ivor, who almost immediately passed a bottle over to the girl. Aiden and Cassie hesitantly got into their own chairs a little further away. "We ought to just start an Insomniac Club at this rate," she joked a bit feebly, making the occupants of the room chuckle a bit.
Jesse blinked down at the bottle suddenly, a thought having occurred to her. "Oh- did you already make one for me?"
"Yes, I was assuming you might come down," Ivor replied, as Harper scooted away from Ivor a bit, a subtle blush beginning to come over her cheeks slightly.
Jesse uncorked the bottle and sipped, her shoulders almost immediately relaxing a bit the moment the liquid came into her mouth. She let out a little sigh and set the bottle down on the table. "Oh... that's much better," she sighed.
Ivor glanced over at Aiden and Cassie, regarding them for a few moments- long enough for a chill to run down their spines. He might not seem it, but when he was this quiet, he was actually a little frightening.
What he finally said was "What flavor would you like?"
Aiden glanced to Cassie automatically, just in time to catch the glance she was giving him. Their eyes met, and they immediately glanced away again, mumbling something under their breath that none of the others in the room could actually catch.
"What was that?" Ivor tilted his head at them.
"Strawberry ice cream," the two of them chorused, before glancing at each other automatically, a pink blush coming over their faces.
"... adorable."
The word slipped out of Harper's mouth as if it were an afterthought, the white-haired woman putting a hand to her mouth in surprise the moment she realized she'd said that out loud- probably when she noticed the two of them starting to blush redder than the insides of a ripe watermelon.
Jesse let out a soft giggle at that. "Well, I'm sure Ivor can manage that- right?" and she looked at the potionologist.
"Milk, magma cream, glistering melon, and sugar," Ivor rattled off with a relatively deadpan expression. "It'll take a bit longer than Jesse's, but sure, I can do that." With that, he got right to work on the potion, popped the ingredients into a potion bottle, and then set the potion bottles on the brewing stand. "Alright, they should be finished in about... ten minutes."
"Thank you."
A longer, extremely awkward silence settled over the room, before Aiden sighed, looking up at Jesse. "I... I just wanted to thank you, for... for not..." He was fumbling his words, gaze going straight to the table, "... well, you know."
Cassie looked away, silently, her heart thudding away in her chest so hard that each palpitation felt like an earthquake.
Honestly, it was hurting a little bit.
"No problem."
Aiden suddenly set his hands down on the table, a bit harder than he'd intended. "But it is a problem!" His shoulders were starting to shake as he stared at a now-rather-surprised Jesse. "Why would you try to save- why would you even be remotely nice to a schizophrenic, idiotic megalomaniac!?"
Aiden's voice was rising a little bit, and it was only the tiniest inkling of the fact that it was some ungodly hour of the day and everyone else was sleeping, and Jesse's sh*t past that was keeping him from just outright screaming at Jesse. "I tried to kill you. I tried to kill the Founder. Notch, I tried to kill Lukas! I'm a power hungry maniac, a schizophrenic, an idiot, a coward, a thief, a complete asshole-"
"Aiden."
"- completely insane, a bully-"
"Aiden."
"- an attempted murderer-"
"You think that's bad?" Cassie snapped suddenly, making Aiden start around to stare at her and Winslow leap off onto the table, her own voice rising yet at a somewhat controlled level. "I am a murderer. I killed people- hell, if Jesse hadn't been there, I'd probably have killed more people than the ones we saw onscreen! You think you're that bad?! You're talking to the girl who just tried to kill people just to get a stupid flint and steel!"
"Cassie-!"
"After everything I did- I destroyed a freaking city!" Aiden shouted in a low-ish voice right back, "I ruined tons of people's lives- Jesse should've just thrown me over the edge or just f*cking stabbed me. I deserved it!"
"Well what about me?! She had full right to just kick me into that pit of Endermites. I would've done the same to her!" Cassie hissed back, feeling tears building up in her eyes. "I didn't even deserve to go with them on their adventure, and she just- decided to take me with her anyways!"
"If there's anyone who should be having this discussion at all, it's me," Ivor suddenly snapped, putting his hands down on the table a bit harder than he meant to- effectively, you could've called it slamming your hands onto the tabletop. "I created a giant, overpowered Wither that tried to eat the entire world. If anything, Jesse shouldn't even like me- not even remotely. And yet here we are!"
"Yeah, well, you didn't set out to kill anyone!" Aiden snapped back, not noticing the way Jesse had gotten up and trotted out of her chair. "I would've done anything to beat Jesse. I was even ready to full-out murder her, yet she saves my life. Even here, I haven't exactly been nice to her. I've insulted her and her friends, I've- I've- I punched her in the face, for f*ck's sake!"
Ivor let out an annoyed growl. "I wasn't exactly pleasant either, yet everyone else forgave me."
"Did you kill anyone?!" Cassie snapped, glaring at him.
"Yes!" Ivor suddenly snarled, making the two teenagers flinch back at the sudden aggression, "not directly. Not intentionally. But if I hadn't created that Witherstorm, Reuben wouldn't have died, now would he have?!"
Jesse flinched a bit, looking as if someone had just punched her in the gut.
"Would you three stop this!" Harper snapped, getting to her feet, oblivious to the way Jesse was poking around with some potion ingredients next to the brewing stand. "It's not a contest to see who did the worst thing. Ivor, you're not the only one who knows what happens when a creation gets out of hand. Cassie, I know how you feel about being trapped somewhere and not being able to get home. And Aiden- you weren't in your right mind, and your behavior was affected. It's not your faults."
"Well-"
"All of you, stop it!"
Everyone turned to look at Jesse, who hadn't snapped- with the calming potion in her system, it came out more as a soft scolding than a sharp rebuke.
"Look- just- just drink these."
All four of them started as Jesse shoved some potions in their directions across the table. Aiden's and Cassie's was distinctly foggy, with a swirl of pinkish-gray to it, while Ivor's and Harper's appeared to be a simple, clear liquid; albeit with some gold flecks and sugar thrown into it. "Drink this, and then sit down. We are going to talk this out like normal people."
Everyone immediately sat down, uncorking their bottles. Jesse's tone had been mild and rather serene, but she was definitely not smiling right now.
Aiden and Cassie uncorked their bottles, their shoulders abruptly relaxing and the two teenagers letting out a slightly surprised sound as the taste of strawberry ice cream came into their mouths. Ivor uncorked his and took a sip, eyes widening as he realized- well, for a flavored potion that an amateur had made, it was actually really really good.
And the effect wasn't half bad, either.
"Is everyone feeling better? Can we all talk now?" the girl asked, a slightly pleading tone entering her voice.
All of them nodded mutely at her, and she relaxed again. "Look... I... I don't like hating people," she said at last, staring down at her lap. "And honestly, you guys have done some bad things, but..."
She hesitated, before saying, softly, "I... my dad's done bad things to me, and me only."
Everyone automatically shared glances- this was the first time Jesse had actually talked about her dad in front of- well- anyone, really.
"And, when I was a kid, I always gave him the benefit of the doubt, and I would always forgive him, because he was my dad, and I... I was sure he loved me, and I was supposed to love him. And if I loved him, I would forgive him. Besides, I must've been the one doing things wrong if he was angry enough to... do all of those things to me."
Jesse took a deep, shaky breath, before letting it out again. "And then one day, I thought, maybe I'm not the one who's doing things wrong. Maybe he's the one who's in the wrong. I don't know if that's actually correct or not, but I like that, so I go with that."
The black-haired girl smiled weakly, locked in some dark memory now. "And... people tell me that life is easier when you learn to accept apologies that you never get, but... I did that all my life as a kid, and... nothing ever got easier or better for me. Which made me think... maybe 'forgiveness'... isn't actually accepting an apology. It's about understanding that someone made a mistake... and giving them a second chance."
"Well... I've already given my dad hundreds of chances, and... I don't think he's going to change, so... I don't think I can forgive him anymore, but... I can definitely forgive you guys." Jesse smiled, taking herself back out of that space and looking back at the others. "You guys have already taken your second chances, and gotten so much farther than my dad ever will. And..."
She paused, before smiling. "Sometimes, a second chance is all people need."
Aiden was on the calming potion, but he was definitely feeling tears welling up in his eyes.
Silently, he stood up, walked forward, and then leaned forward and pulled Jesse into a tight hug, feeling tears starting to trickle out of his eyes. Without the healing potion, he was quite sure he would've actually been hysterically sobbing or something along those lines. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he choked out, feeling his throat close up a little.
Cassie sniffed a bit, too, feeling tears beginning to pool in her eyes. Jesse looked up at the sound, before reaching out and pulling Cassie and Ivor into the hug as well, Ivor grumbling and setting his potion down before allowing himself to be pulled into the hug. He totally didn't have tears forming in his eyes. Nope. No idea what you're talking about.
Harper, watched, feeling a sad smile form on her face.
And then Jesse reached out and beckoned a bit. "I would just pull you into it, but you're at the other side of the table and I can't grab you," she told Harper.
Harper couldn't help but just laugh at that for a moment. Or, well, not laugh, but she did chuckle a bit. A moment passed, before she stood up, walked over, and joined into the hug.
Jesse walked back to her room, her entire body feeling slightly fuzzy for some reason- almost like her entire body had fallen asleep and was now getting the circulation back.
(No, that sensation would be more 'prickly' than fuzzy, wouldn't it...?)
Maybe it was a sign that she was sleepy right now.
Good. She definitely needed some sleep at this point. She was exhausted. Especially because it was about... one in the morning or something by this point.
Yeah, they definitely needed to get some sleep.
Insomnia was quite cruel sometimes.
Eking the door to her room back open, Jesse was somewhat relieved to see that Lukas hadn't woken up, and was still snoozing away as if he was a rock. She was worried that he might've just woken up randomly while she was gone.
Carefully, she clambered back into the bed, relieved to feel that the blankets were toasty warm against her now-rather-chilly body, and snuggled down into the next of blankets, accidentally managing to snuggle right into Lukas as she did so.
The blonde shifted slightly as she did so, and Jesse abruptly froze, waiting for him to wake up or something.
Instead, his free arm reached up and looped Jesse into a hug, the petite girl finding herself being cuddled like some sort of giant teddy bear or something, the blonde burying his face in her shoulder. "Love ya," he slurred in his sleep, in a low, sleepy voice.
Now that she was being hugged like a stuffed animal, Jesse just couldn't help but smile happily at that.
"Love you too."
She barely had enough time to reach one arm and wrap it around him in a hug before she was plunged into a deep, dreamless sleep.
A/N: If a chapter is over 2,500 words from now on, it's long enough to publish. That's it. I'm not going to push myself for 3000 anymore; it takes me too long to write haha xD
Awwwww... lots of fluff! Next chapter will be fun to write as well :3
Insomniac Squad~ haha
Oh! I have a deviantArt group for Phantasmagoria now! You can go ahead and follow it if you'd like.
Wow, I completely forgot to mention this haha
RQTC: Have you ever had your name mispronounced, either first or last?
Yes. Woefully so. People tend to pronounce my last name like the s-word, except without the T. (which isn't even the way you pronounce it in the first place.) One time a substitute teacher called me that... but... well, let me just say, he forgot to take off the 'T'.
...
60.
THOUSAND.
VIEWS.
SIXTY THOUSAND?!
GUYS OMG I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!
LunarStarsMoons: Haha I'm glad you thought so xD / (laughs) / (giggles) Okay, then.
sailor . mikuchan: The character's great! Thanks for the submission :3 / Ahhh, I see xD
AquaK13: No, I don't remember you. Who are you again? xD xD Jk. Welcome back! / Nah, it's fine! / Heheheh xD / Uhhhhhhhhhmmm... okay then 0-0. / (chuckles) / That's a lot of babies xD / Lolol / Of course xD / (grins) / (laughs) I'm glad you're ready. / Thank you! Still don't know how that happened lol / (beams) Thank you! / RIGHT?!
LittleAngelbun: x3
RapidSammi: (grins evilly) / I'm glad you liked it, Sammi-kun!
Jack: No, it's fine! I know other people haven't read it either, but this isn't a bad place to start! / Too bad I might have to wait to get it... / (grins) / GOOD xD
Toni42: (laughs) I'm glad you're excited for the chapter... at least, I think you are. xD / Eh, she's actually decent. I just probably don't express it well enough... ha... ha... / Thanks! It took me a super long time to do, so I'm glad you liked it xD / (cracks up) DID IT REALLY?! xD
Kaos Ruin: Yeah... / No spoilers~
giriri: Please PM it to me, don't put it in the comments of a different story. That kind of defeats the purpose of me telling you to PM it to me xD / GOOD! xD
Savannah-the-Caracal: (laughs) / (grins)
Infernius Flashfire: Hehehehe xD / Oh, yes, that'll be very fun. x3
RavenBlaze4850: (grins) Yep! / No, they'll probably all just conk out- they pretty much finish watching the episode around 2 in the morning haha xD / Inquiring minds must wait until it is revealed :3 / Alright, cool :3 / Yeah, Thinknoodle said I think. Too bad I might not be able to get it until the 5th... / (grins)
S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Ah, I see x3 / I'm glad you liked it! / Yeah Winslow's great xD / (fangirls with you) x3 / I just read that in a Spongebob voice for some reason xD
Rabbits rule: Hi! / No, Lukas is exhausted and a bit loopy from the whole experience. / x3
Emily The Avenger: Thanks! :3
DarkPrincess2001: Few more chappies xD
Guest: :3
x.X. A.L. X.x
