By the time Scott was showered and dressed, Trent had come back and with him, Naima.
With their arrival, Jason slipped out, giving Jess the warmest of hugs before he left the house and promising to be back in the morning.
"Hey, sweetheart!" Naima took Jason's place on the couch while Trent went to the fridge and started rummaging around. "How are you feeling? Are these cavemen taking good care of you?"
"I'm ok. They're really good to me." Jess's answer was muffled in Naima's shoulder as they hugged. She tried not to cling too long which was hard because Naima had the best mom hugs in the universe. The woman was everything she'd wanted her own mother to be.
"How's the incision?" Naima asked, casting a look around at the three of them.
"I haven't checked it today," Trent commented as he put an armload of food items on the counter. "Metal, unless you did?"
"Nope. She was still sleeping when I left." Scott said as he came down the short hall, pulling on a gray t-shirt and then tossing a black and red plaid long sleeve over it. He nodded as he passed the couch. "Naima. How are the rug-rats?"
"RJ threw up on Ray this morning, but that's only because he was getting too many rough plane rides. Jameelah has been asking when you're coming next."
A smile across Scott's face, "Can't imagine why she'd want to see boring, grumpy old me."
"Boring and grumpy, indeed." Naima laughed and shook her head before turning back to Jess. "Ok, honey, you ok if I take a look at the incision?"
"Sure," Jess agreed easily enough, tugging the edge of her hoodie and tank top up the short distance needed for her to see. It hadn't been looked at since the bandage came off at the the hospital yesterday and if she was honest she'd been avoiding looking at it herself. For some reason it freaked her out.
Naima hummed, peering at it. "No increase in tenderness?"
"I don't think so…not really?"
"There is a little more redness and swelling than I'd like, but nothing too alarming." Naima looked over at Trent who'd paused in the middle of slicing apples, listening intently. "The boys will keep an eye on that for me, though. Checking twice a day until it settles down? Please and thank you? I think at least one of you should still have some of that extra helpful cream that I procured for all your various minor wounds? If it's still looking a little angry tomorrow, put some of that on it."
"Yes ma'am," Trent nodded, and Scott just rumbled a noise of agreement as he threw ingredients for a protein smoothie together.
"Jess, you're not feeling sick again, or fevered?"
"Sometimes a little nauseous…but it comes and goes." Jess dropped her voice a little, trying to ignore Scott and Trent on the other side of the open room.
"You're not using your abs too much?"
"I don't think so." Jess didn't think mentioning all the crying was necessary.
"How are your energy levels? Not too hard going from here to the bathroom or your bed?"
"I feel tired quickly." Jess mumbled. "But not as bad as yesterday."
"Good! What about…bathroom visits. How are those going? Still the issues we talked about?" Naima spoke a little quieter, but it wasn't a large room and Jess instantly went red.
Jess gave Naima a look and glance over at Trent and Scott. They seemed busy with their own thing, but Jess spied the tiniest smirk appearing on Trent's face.
Naima just laughed a little. "Oh, don't worry about them. One of their favorite topics is discussing the perfect recipe for a good bowel movement. Now, have you gone yet?"
Flushing when she spotted Scott and Trent snort and nod in agreement to each other at Naima's statement about their favored topics of conversation, Jess mumbled. "No. Not yet."
"She should soon." Trent spoke up confidently. "Our recipes never fail."
Eyes going big, Jess turned to him and asked incredulously, "What recipe!?"
Scott's deep chuckle filled the space and Trent just winked at her saying, "Don't worry about it. Just trust the system. You'll thank us later. Promise."
"I don't know how I feel about this conversation," said Jess, turning back to Naima and praying that the older woman would move things along.
"You're going to have to get used to those kinds of conversations if you're going to be spending more time around them. It told you. They're cavemen." Naima told her, amused and kindly taking pity on her. "How's the pain been? You've been taking your meds, I trust?"
"It's ok. And yeah. Jason gave me them just before you came."
"Good. And you're doing ok?" Naima fixed her with that knowing, compassionate and sensitive look that always made Jess want to spill her guts.
Fully aware of the two men who were taking so much time out of their lives to take care of her, Jess pushed every single one of her insecurities, worries and fears away as she lied with decent conviction.
"I'm good."
Naima studied her for a moment before nodding. "Ok. Well, I can't stay long, honey, I'm on my way to work, but I'm glad to have seen you and we'll talk again soon, ok?"
"Thank you." Jess melted into the hug. For the moment able to let tension leave her.
Naima got up, pointed at Scott and Trent and said, "No teasing her too much. She's not used to that sort of openness of conversation concerning bodily functions yet."
Trent gasped with mild shock and clutched at his heart. "Naima…I'm hurt you would think so little of us! We would never torment Jess like that."
Laughing, Naima waved as she walked out. "Keep them in line for me, Jess. See you boys later."
With Naima gone, Jess wasn't sure what to do with herself. She felt bad that all she did was sit around and she was still determined not to cause trouble or be a burden so she got up and slipped over to the kitchen.
"Hey…um…is there anything I can do?" She asked, trying not to let on how weak she felt just from standing.
"You're fine. Go sit." Scott told her.
"Please?" Jess blurted with a pleading note.
Both men had a silent conversation before Scott finally nodded and jerked his head over to the drying rack.
"You can put those away, if you're desperate for something to do. Should all go in those two cupboards there."
"Thank you." Jess moved carefully between both of them and set to work with as little obvious anxiety as possible.
Things went well for a bit until Jess tried to reach the next shelf up to put a glass away. Her stitches pulled, sending a stab of pain through her as the tissues tugged. The glass slipped from her fingers, not quite making it into the shelf and falling to the countertop with a smash.
All Jess could think while she stood frozen staring at the glass shards all over the counter was 'Shit. Oh shitshitshitshit!'
"You ok?" Trent asked, somehow both unruffled and alert at the same time.
The question jerked her into action.
"I'm so sorry-" She reached out unthinking, ready to sweep up the glass with her bare hands.
From either side of her both Scott and Trent uttered an exclamation and they each reached out quickly, grabbing a wrist and stopping her just before she could make contact with the razor sharp debris.
"Let's maybe not try picking up glass shards with our bare hands, huh?" Trent said in a mild tone that was just shy of incredulous and definitely complete with a slow head shake.
"Right." Jess said faintly as Trent let go of her left wrist, breathing way too shallow. Blood was rushing in her ears and she felt fuzzy around the edges.
Scott used his hold and an added grip to her shoulder to draw her back from the counter. "Watch your step. There's some on the floor too. I don't want to have to pick glass out of those bare feet of yours."
"I'm sorry-"
"Trent. You good to clean that up?" Scott asked abruptly, voice low and still not moving far from her after releasing her at the outskirts of the kitchen. Jess could feel him watching her try to keep it together.
"Yeah, I got it."
"Good. Jess and I need to have a chat about a few things."
"Ah." Trent cast a look between them. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."
Scott grunted in agreement and put light pressure between Jess's shoulder blades, propelling them both to the nearby back door leading to the small yard.
The sun didn't feel warm despite there not being a cloud in the sky. Jess steeled herself, going blank in preparation as Scott wordlessly indicated for her to sit on the top step of the small deck with him. They weren't wide steps, so Jess was brushed up against his shoulder and a little dwarfed by him.
"Right." Scott adjusted his backwards ballcap as he studied her and asked, "You wanna tell me what's going on or am I going to have to go digging."
Words stuck in Jess's throat and her mind went blank. It was like even if she wanted to she couldn't answer.
"Digging it is." Scott growled after a moment. "Fine. First question. Has someone taken a swing at you before? Maybe your mom or Harold?"
The last words ground out with a wave of anger.
Jess winced, knowing full well that she'd been flinching too many times around him today. She could put the pieces together. He was probably mad at her because she was acting like she didn't trust him.
"Yes or no, Jess"
A hard edge had slipped into Scott's tone and Jess drew a breath.
"H-Harold did, last time I went home," Jess mumbled quietly, staring at the grass with her arms wrapped around her middle. "He missed but it was enough that he tried..."
"Ok. That's important to know. Next question," Scott paused and let his tone soften. "Is there even the tiniest part of you afraid I'm going to hit you?"
Snapping out of the detached little trance she'd build around herself, Jess turned to him with both distress and conviction as she cried earnestly, "What? No!"
"You're sure?" Scott was still quiet and now that she was finally meeting his gaze, she spotted the worry and frustration. "Cause you've been avoiding eye contact all day, and you've been flinching ever since seeing those two bastards…usually whenever I'm around…and I get it. It's ok. I'm not offended, but you need to understand that I will never raise a hand to you. Ever ."
"No! I-It's not that, I swear!" Jess pleaded, desperate for him to understand she was trying and failing miserably to control herself. "I'm not…I don't…"
"Ok, then what is it, Jess. Talk to me. You're more nervous than you've been in months around us, you're apologizing constantly, barely speaking, and don't think I didn't notice your eyes were puffy from crying when I got back from my run. You cannot convince me that there is nothing going on."
"I-I-I don't know!" Jess managed, digging her fingers into her forearms and closing her eyes tightly as she tried in vain to stop from rocking.
"Well, we gotta figure this out because this isn't going to work otherwise"
Swallowing the painful lump in her throat, Jess nodded. "You don't need to deal with this…I…I can go back to-"
"Seriously?" Scott stared at her in disbelief. "I say we need to figure something out and you immediately go with 'I have to leave'? Where in the hell did you get that from?"
"I'm sorry!" Jess's voice rose with growing panic and her nails bit deeper into the skin of her arms and she drew a long mark without even noticing.
"I'm not- Stop…" His gaze flicked to her arms and he reached out to pry her fingers loose. "Stop with the nails and scratching, Jess. You're going to hurt yourself. Let go. Thank you. I'm not mad at you. I'm just trying to understand and I can't do that if you're not talkin to me."
"You're going to decide it's not worth it." Jess blurted, sudden hysteria setting in as she laid bare the truth.
"I'm what now?!" Scott's eyebrows nearly disappeared under his hat.
Words started rushing out in no particular logical order and Jess spoke way too fast.
"You've already done so much and have taken care of me and put up with me and then you had to deal with my mom and now I'm just a friggin train wreck and I can't stop crying all the time or stop needing constant reassurance that people aren't mad at me and that's going to get old really fast which is totally fair and it's only a matter of time before you-"
"You think I'm going to walk away?" Scott's tone was unreadable now, only serving to spike the dreadful feeling that this was it.
She was going to lose everything because she couldn't figure her shit out.
A broken sob escaped and Jess said dispassionately, "Yes!"
"Jess, if that were the case then why are we having this conversation? Uh? Why would I be trying to understand? Hell, why would I be giving you shit about eating right and staying off your damn phone at three in the morning?" Scott made an almost helpless motion with his hand while scrutinizing her closely as she tried miserably to mop the tears up with her palm. He rubbed his face with both hands, growling deeply. "You honestly really do think that I'm just going to wake up one day and decide it's not worth it anymore, don't you. And I'm willing to bet it's not just me you're scared that's going to happen with…you think the others are going to give up on you too."
"I'm sorry-" Jess whispered before she could stop herself.
Scott let it go this time, pinching the bridge of his nose and breathing deeply.
"I really wish Jase hadn't stopped me." He muttered.
"H-hadn't s-stopped you from what?" Jess asked, almost afraid to.
"From burying the bitch and the piece of shit who messed you up so bad that you can't trust when people actually want to look after you and have in their lives."
A tiny shiver went down Jess's back and she chewed her lip, both warmed and worried by the statement.
"You…wouldn't have…actually…"
"I can't answer that, but I can tell you I always have a shovel and a bag of lye in my trunk." The tiniest of smiles appeared around Scott's mouth as he looked across the yard and the deep knot in Jess's chest loosened a little at the small shift back to something that felt normal.
She sniffed and offered weakly, "I'd be ok with it if it was Harold…but I still have complicated feelings towards my mom so maybe not her just yet."
"Oh, if I see Harold again he's going through a shredder." Scott answered menacingly, glancing at her and judging her response. "You sure it was only once he took a swing at you?"
Jess rubbed her palms on her knees and studied her bare toes. She needed to paint them. The old polish she'd put on with Jameelah was nearly worn off. "I…ah…always had this feeling he was capable of it, you know…like I was waiting for it to happen for years until it finally happened? Was kinda my own fault-"
"Excuse me?" There was sharp warning there this time in his growl and Scott's hand lightly touched her forearm, prompting her attention back to him. He seemed both pissed and stunned. "You're own fault?"
Jess hesitated, not sure how to explain so that he wouldn't get more angry. Back stiffening, Jess tried not to let on that she was getting worried again. She'd literally just told him she wasn't scared of him hurting her. How bad did it look if she immediately fell apart because he got mad about something?
"Well, I just mean that I knew I was pissing him off the last time I was home for Christmas and instead of backing down I just kept going…so like…I knew it was coming and I should have…been more careful."
Scott was up on his feet, cracking his knuckles and descending the last four stairs in seconds.
"Not mad at you. Stay put. I need two minutes."
Feeling small despite the short, controlled words, Jess watched quietly as Scott paced the yard eight to ten times, muttering to himself while clenching and unclenching his fists. When he came back his jaw was set and he had a determined look about him.
"Right." He sat down next to her again, still taut with anger but more level than he'd been when he got up. Drawing another long breath, he took off his cap, messed his hair underneath, then put it back on. His voice stayed low. "I don't tell people stuff like this…but here it is. When I was ten, after my dad passed, my mom ended up getting with this asshole. He was nothing like my dad and he'd hidden what kind of snake he was so well that by the time my mom figured it out, she was stuck."
Scott rested his forearms on his knees and clasped his hands tightly, jiggling his knee a little.
"He'd get drunk, and when he did he beat the shit out of my mom. He never touched my sister or I, but he hurt mom something terrible. She'd tell us it was her own fault, that he wasn't like that when he was sober, that it was ok, that he had better qualities that made up for it, to stay out of his way when he drank. She told us anything she could to make us feel safe and to keep us safe from him, but we knew it was lies. When I was twelve, there was a night she couldn't get home in time and he'd started drinking. That was the night he went after my little sister and I stopped him. I got my ass handed to me but that was when I finally knew it was no ones' fault but his and that I wasn't going to let him do it anymore. I didn't care how many times it took, I'd fight him. That finally snapped something in mom. She got us out the next week. We never looked back."
He cracked his knuckles again. "I'm telling you this because firstly, I want to make sure you understand why it makes me so unbelievably angry that he took a swing at you. I hate shitbags like that. Second, I need you to tell me that you understand it is never ok for someone to do that and it's never your fault and you're never asking for it. Don't ever fuckin trust someone who tells you otherwise. Stay the hell away from them. Got it?"
Jess nodded, completely disarmed by the sudden vulnerability from Scott and suddenly less afraid that he didn't understand where she was coming from.
"I do understand…that's why I never went back, no matter how hard things got on my own..."
"Good." Scott relaxed a little, the fierce, earnest rage from moments prior dissipating. "Now that we got that cleared up, let's deal with the rest. Why do you think we're just going to decide one day you aren't worth the trouble anymore?"
"I…I don't know…" Jess mumbled, pressing her face into her knees and peering at him sideways, absolute apology pouring from every fiber of her being. "I'm just…used to people leaving…and I feel like I'm the reason for it."
He shrugged and prompted, "Name one reason."
"I don't know…I'm emotional?…Like, really emotional…I don't know…it drives people away?"
Scott stared at her without any expression for a good minute before putting his face in his hands and starting to laugh. It was quiet, hardly a sound as his shoulders shook.
Shifting, Jess wasn't sure if she should feel offended or relieved.
Still shaking with laughter, Scott reached out, gently gripped the back of her neck and pulled her sideways into him, hugging her fiercely.
"Too damn emotional…that's funny."
"Why?" Jess asked, muffled from where he'd squashed her against his chest.
"You honestly think we didn't know you're sensitive and emotional by now?"
"Well…I mean…I guess, yeah but-"
"Believe me, Jess. If we didn't want to deal with that aspect of you, we wouldn't still be around. It was obvious from the start. We wouldn't have invited you to sit with us at the Bulkhead, we would never have kept tabs on you, or brought you in. None of this would have happened. We would have steered clear if we weren't capable of handling your tears, panic attacks and downward spirals."
"But what if you guys get tired of dealing with it!?" Jess whispered, nearly inaudible now as she turned her face, hiding it a little in the edges of the long sleeve shirt he had on.
Scott snorted with more amusement and shrugged saying, "Then we send you to Naima for the weekend with a tub of ice cream and chocolate. Easy fix."
Jess huffed a laugh and relaxed a fraction, not making any sign that she wanted to leave the cocoon of the big guy's arms. In turn, he didn't let go, satisfied that stress trickled out of her small frame the longer they sat there.
"What else, Jess. I know there's more."
"Family drama…what if my mom makes all of your lives hell or something?"
"Then she's in for a bigger fight than I think you realize. We aren't scared of her, Jess, so get that out of your head."
"I don't wanna be the cause of problems when you all have enough to worry about and deal with!"
"Jess, this one isn't entirely up to you at this point." Scott told her, his normal rough speech pattern resurfacing but remaining kind all at once. "We made the decision to go toe to toe with the bitch at the hospital and we're making the decision to stick with you now. Nothing you do or say, apart from asking us to leave you alone, will change that. Now, what else."
Closing her eyes, Jess drew courage from the arms holding her and the lack of eye contact needed right now.
"I don't want to invade your space…and take over your time."
"I invited you into my space, Jess. You're not invading and you're not taking over my time. You're pretty balanced out between all of us right now, pipsqueak."
"What if I screw it up?"
"How in the world do you think you're going to screw something up?" Vague annoyance mixed with the gruff affection as Scott tightened his arms briefly.
"I don't know…waking you up too many times, being in the way, breaking stuff? I'm…my housemates say I'm really quirky to live with and I do stuff all the time that drives them nuts…I don't want to…be a pain in the ass."
"Oh, I knew you were a pain in the ass already and I'm still keeping you around." He growled, the soft light of teasing creeping into the cranky phrase. Jess felt him shake his head as he exhaled. "You really do worry too much, you know that? What else."
"I don't know…" Jess debated saying more, still hiding her face. Part of her brain hissed to stay quiet, while the other part grew calmer and still with the reassurance physical contact was giving her. The truth came easily this time. "Mostly I'm just all over the place and scared of messing something up or pissing you guys off somehow and then…then losing everything? Cause one's ever really stood up for me like that…to my mom…or taken care of me like this…not since my parents split, and not since Jermey and Cassidy left home. Sometimes it doesn't even feel real? You know? Like it's just going to slip through my fingers at any second and I'll be handling stuff alone again…and then I remember the stakes are higher now because apparently mom's gone more psycho and I still don't know what to do about her…and the stalking PI stuff…and I…I'm tired…I'm so tired…I don't think I can do it anymore…I can't do it alone…not again."
She stopped talking with a shaking intake of air while she pressed her forehead into him a little more, wordlessly begging him not to be upset, or mad at her, or offended, or reject her.
"Jess," Scott spoke with a lack of gravel in his tone, driving home the sincerity of his next words. "We aren't going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere. At this point you would have to be pretty damn convincing to get me to stop looking out for you and we both know I can tell when you're lying, so unless it's completely genuine and you tell me to back off, there's nothing you can do or say that's gonna scare me away. You're stuck with Bravo, pipsqueak. Period. Got it?"
Jess nodded mutely, still half burying her face with her eyes scrunched shut.
"Am I going to need to change my shirt again?"
A half laugh, half sob burst from Jess and she nodded again.
"Imagine that," Scott said with crusty sarcasm that didn't have an ounce of bite to it. "I had no idea you could be so emotional, Jess…don't think I can manage. You might just have to go live with Sonny for the next few weeks instead. The two of you can be sensitive and emotional together."
Choking on another laugh mid sob, Jess curled in closer as the arms tightened again, bringing home the gruff and gentle teasing.
"Do we need to cover anything else?"
"I don't know. Can't think of anything else right now." Jess admitted tearfully.
"Alright. You think of something, and I don't care how tiny a thing it is, we talk. Simple as that. Got it? Good. Now let's get these tears turned off before the others get here. Don't need them thinking we aren't taking good enough care of you."
"Who else is coming?" Jess asked, wiping at her eyes and trying to make them stop.
"Sonny, Brock, maybe Clay too a little later. You better start thinking about what movie you wanna watch tonight. They're gonna make you pick again."
"What do you think we should watch?" Jess asked, reluctantly sitting up and out of the bear hug.
Scott snorted. "Nice try. You're picking. It's your job, not mine."
Accepting the shift from vulnerable and emotional to pulling herself together through the teasing and banter, Jess sighed saying, "Well, it might be my job to pick, but that doesn't mean I can't collect information that will make me more efficient at my task."
"I'm sure whatever you pick will be just fine."
The wheels turned in Jess's little brain and she couldn't help herself.
"So…I could pick anything then and no one would complain? Say…like Pride and Prejudice?"
Meeting her half devious smile with complete lack of emotion, Scott said, "Sure. It's a beautiful movie."
Squinting, Jess tried to get a read on him.
"I really can't tell if you're serious or not."
That got a proper smile as Scott got up and held out a hand to her saying, "Good."
Taking it, Jess was pulled to her feet like it was nothing at all.
"Wait." She stopped him just shy of opening the door and guiding her back in.
"What." Scott paused, one hand hovering just behind her while the other locked around the door handle.
Craning her head back so she could see him properly in such close quarters, Jess said softly and sincerely, "Thank you."
Something gentle flickered through the caveman's face before he raised an eyebrow sternly and said, "Don't you dare start crying again."
A grin spread across her face and Jess shrugged while saying with just a little shyness, "I'm emotional. What can I say?"
"You're something." Scott grumbled without real annoyance, throwing open the door and nudging her into the warmth.