Chapter 13

Day three----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reid had barely slept the night before. Jess had been shaking the whole ride home. Even when they had gotten to Caleb's house, Jess seemed incapable of movement. Reid, without saying a word, had opened her door and scooped her up again, carrying her to his room, not even bothering to explain himself to Mrs. Danvers.

Worn out from the night's events, Jess had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and Reid began to pace. After a couple hours, Reid had sat down in the lounge chair across from the bed, exhausted from pacing, but unable to fall asleep.

Jess woke up alone in Reid's room. "Reid," she called nervously as she sat up in bed. She relaxed when she saw him in the lounge chair, and felt bad that he had slept there all night.

Reid woke up with a horrible crick in his neck, having slept awkwardly on the lounge chair. He saw the worried look on Jess' face, and immediately stood up to go to her. Jess flinched at the quick movement, causing Reid to halt a foot from the bed. He tried to keep his distance, not knowing if Jess was still angry with him.

Jess realized why he had stopped, and forced herself to relax. She pulled Reid unto the bed, and laid her head on his chest.

"I'm really sorry Reid."

"Jess, what are you talking about? You have nothing to be sorry about. I'm the one that should be apologizing. If I hadn't stormed out, Aaron would have never touched you. What happened Jess? Why didn't you use?"

Jess shuddered, "I really don't want to talk about it."

Reid kissed her head nodding, but said, "Jessica, I have to know what happened, otherwise I'll just start imagining something worse. I was up half of the night imagining things. Please, you have to tell me what happened."

"I was coming out after you, after you stormed off, when Kira stopped me to give me a hard time. By the time I got outside, you had left. I turned to go back inside, when he grabbed me. I tried to scream, but no one could hear me…"

"Why didn't you throw up a protective barrier?!"

"I didn't want Chase to sense me any further than he already has. I figured I could handle Aaron without using, and I needed to save up my energy for Chase. I thought he was only going to try to kiss me, but he started to unbutton my top…"

Reid sucked in his breath, and held onto Jess tighter. "Jess please, next time you feel that you are in any danger just use. I would gladly give up the gift to keep you safe."

Jess nodded, "I guess in the back of my mind I thought someone would find me at first. And then when… when he threw me in his car, my mind was racing so fast I couldn't focus long enough to do anything."

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Around noon, everyone had made it down to eat. Caleb decided to grill for everyone, and he and Pogue were setting everything up. Jess had been quiet all morning, but was starting to relax by the time the burgers were served.

Everyone had been careful around her all day. As they ate, people would glance her way, and then quickly look away when she noticed. Jess was getting tired of the game, and wanted to straighten everything out.

"Guys, come on! Stop acting like you're walking on egg shells around me. I'm fine, really."

Not convinced, Becca said, "Jess look, we're all just worried about you. No one will tell us what happened. We know Reid knows the whole story, but he's not budging. We just need to know why you didn't use."

"I… I didn't want Chase to find us before we ascend. Becca, he's already on my trail, and it's only a matter of days before he finds me."

"It's not worth…"

Jess interrupted, "Yes it is! Look, I know it was a bad call, but it ended up fine right? Nothing happened. So can we please stop talking about it?!"

Becca glanced at Reid, and saw he was getting more anxious the more upset Jess got. Becca knew they were all five seconds away from Reid picking Jess up and carrying her away from them all. She sighed and nodded in agreement with Jess, knowing that the eight of them needed to stay together if they were going to make it.

Day four-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was Monday morning, and everyone was slow to get up. The night before had not ended well. The group was still tense when everyone went off to bed. Jess was so mad that she went to her room alone, not even bothering to say goodnight. Reid had tried to calm her down, and had stood outside her door for an hour before giving up. Becca had tried to apologize to Reid, knowing it was her fault that Jess was so pissed, but the apology fell on deaf ears.

Tyler drove everyone to school in his SUV in silence. Sarah and Kate had tried to spark conversations, but no one was listening. Mrs. Danvers had registered Becca for classes at Spencer, under the pretense that she was Caleb's cousin and would be staying with them.

As soon as they hit school grounds, everyone split up. Jess moved quickly to Chemistry, but knew Reid was in the class with her. Sighing, she waited for him to catch up, and kept her head down as they walked to class. Honestly, Jess didn't even know why she was mad at him anymore. It's not like he forced Becca to be a bitch, or told everyone else to avoid me, Jess thought.

Feeling a little better by the time they reached the class, Jess opened her mouth to apologize to Reid, when she spotted Aaron. Panicking, Jess started to back out of the class room, but the teacher had walked in and spotted her trying to bolt. Reid looked down at her confused, but followed her gaze to Aaron, and clenched his jaw. The teacher ushered both of them into the room, and Jess and Reid were forced to walk past Aaron to get to their seats. By the time they had reached their seats, Jess was shaking. Reid felt helpless because he was at a loss to know what to do to comfort her in a room with thirty other kids.

Jess tried hard to concentrate on the lecture, but found her gaze shifting over her shoulder towards Aaron. Each time she looked over her shoulder, she found both of his black eyes on her. The more times she turned around, the more nervous she got, until Reid coughed loudly causing Aaron to glance his way. As soon as their eyes met, Aaron went red, and kept his head down for the remainder of the class. Jess sighed in relief, and started to focus on the day ahead of her.

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By the time lunch rolled around, Jess was feeling more confident about facing Aaron. Giving herself a quick pep talk before going into the dining hall, Jess felt prepared for whatever came her way.

Aaron was a few people away from her in the line for food, but Jess was completely oblivious to his presence. As she scooped up her food and turned to head back towards her usual table however, she spotted him. Trying not to show weakness, Jess walked right past him.

"Hey babe, need a hand," Aaron sneered.

Unfazed, Jess kept walking, but stiffened when Aaron grabbed her arm.

Aaron held her arm, and was at her back whispering, "You know you liked it Jess. Come on, you know it would have been great had we not been caught. Ready for round two?"

Jess, tired of playing the victim, decided this was as good of an opportunity as any, and brought up her foot sharply directly between his legs. Howling with pain, Aaron let her go, and Jess took the chance to say casually, "If you ever touch me again, I'll scream rape so loud even your ancestors will hear me. Why don't you just cut your losses and go back to your slut Kira? She must be missing quite a few senses to stay with you, what with your appearance, stench, and overall sliminess." Laughing at Aaron's gapping mouth, Jess moved to her usual lunch table with a smile on her face.

Author's note: ok so i know this chapter was a little bit of fluff, but it was getting too long again so i had to cut it off after two days...AGAIN... [sigh... i think the next chapter will mush the days together more because i'm starting to get antsy (sp?) about Chase coming...idk i'll come up with something good though...PROMISE!!... anyways... i kind of feel pathetic because i don't really have that many reviews...so i was wondering if after this chapter everyone could just review...even if it just says, "YAY!" or something gay...so that i feel better about myself...(sorry for the shameless plug)...until next time...