Hello! I wanted to finish my other story before continuing with this one, because I work better when doing one fic at a time. So Alone now has my full attention and will be updated a little more regularly. Thanks for your patience :D
Ztofan, you are the Knight to my Pepperwood.
Alone: Chapter 6
"You didn't have to get back to me, Jess," Nick whispered breathlessly as he slipped through the door Jess had just unlocked, his mouth immediately finding hers. She let out a quick moan as he pushed her cardigan from her shoulders, impatiently wriggling out of it and letting her hands return to his neck once again.
She sucked in a breath when they separated. "I wanted to. I've been thinking about you all day." She didn't let him reply, attacking him with her mouth once more until he roughly pulled her away, eyes searching hers.
"You could get fired."
She giggled quietly. "I know."
He grinned at her, leaning in for another kiss before he moved his mouth to her neck, teeth grazing over her sweet spot. "It's been too long," he groaned against her skin, delighting in the way her neck hummed and vibrated as she laughed.
"It's been two days!"
"Exactly. Too damn long." They backed up against her classroom door, the rattle it made silencing them for a tense few seconds, until they knew for certain that no one had heard. Jess knew that there was a janitor somewhere in the school, but he was always listening to loud country music in his headphones whenever she had seen him, and he didn't seem to be anywhere near them. They were alone.
Jess needed this. She had stayed late, marking papers and planning her classes for next week when her phone had buzzed with his text. I need you, now. She had crossed her legs when the thrill of desire had coursed through her upon reading it, surprised at herself for being so turned on. So of course, she hadn't said no.
She bit down hard on her tongue to stop herself from moaning as Nick pressed her into her desk, his hands finding her breasts and caressing them through her blouse. Wow, he really does need me tonight, she thought as she shuffled backwards on the wood, finding it increasingly difficult as he pushed eagerly against her, nearly losing her balance. They made it look so much easier in the movies.
She started to unbutton her blouse, eyes raking over Nick as he pulled back to yank his sweater over his head. Her lips felt bruised, and she could tell they were swollen by the way he couldn't take his eyes off them. She flicked her tongue out and licked her bottom lip, grinning at him. "Come here, I haven't got all night."
"Yes Miss Day," he replied, looking very pleased with himself as he closed the space between them again, one arm wrapping around her waist. She tilted her head back as the fingers of the other hand danced up her skirt, coming to rest exactly where she wanted them. She sighed at the ceiling, her eyes fluttering shut.
"No one is gonna find us, right?"
"No," she said, tensing as his hand slid under her panties. "Oh. Yes."
"Yes?"
"What? No. I mean, yes. No, the yes was for-" she was cut short as he pressed hard against her clit. She moaned loudly. It was loud enough for Nick to clamp his free hand over her mouth, smirking at her obvious pleasure.
Annoyed at herself, she reached out and traced her fingers up the length of the hardness pressing against his jeans, satisfied when he closed his eyes, momentarily stilling his hand. "Shut up," she whispered as he freed her mouth to steady himself against the desk, knowing he hadn't said anything. Sometimes all she needed was a look from him, a sparkle in his eye that let her know he was laughing at her. It always annoyed her, because she felt as if they were in constant competition for whoever had the upper hand. She liked to be on top. He liked to press her against walls and various inanimate objects until her legs gave out and she succumbed. It was how they worked, and it was exciting.
"Jess," he sighed as she pressed harder, sitting up a little so she could find his earlobe with her teeth. She heard the breath whoosh out of him as they sank into the soft flesh, her tongue flicking out to soothe it afterwards. "I'm so fucking turned on right now."
She laughed, making sure it was breathy enough to tickle the inside of his ear and make him shiver. "Why don't you get over here and treat me like the bad teacher I am."
He didn't need to be told twice. Shooting her an excited smile, he was soon on top of her, pants undone, pressing her into the desk. Jess was uncomfortable, pens digging into her back and a nagging worry about her unmarked papers, now strewn all over the floor. This really was insane. They liked to mix it up, but her school? Rational thought left her brain as quickly as it had come when Nick ground his hips into hers.
When she let her head fall back it made contact with a stapler, and she quickly reached her arm above her head, pushing it to the floor along with everything else. Thank God the floors were carpeted, the objects merely thudding quietly to the ground. Nick was impatiently struggling with the condom as she attempted to remove her panties, barely holding back a laugh. After sleeping with Nick for a couple of weeks, she knew how he worked, how they worked together. What had originally been a heated and quick embrace had evolved into something far less serious. She found herself giggling with him on more than one occasion when everything just wasn't working. When they were a mess of tangled limbs before they had even started. When her stomach had growled impossibly loudly during a particularly hot round of sex. When he asked her to talk dirty to him and she had asked him about his laundry.
It didn't really seem to sway them at all, their appetite for each other never wavering. Jess knew Cece was wrong. Everything had stayed exactly the same, no complicated feelings, just a text every other day, short and sweet and to the point. A steamed up car, his soft bed at three in the morning, her bathroom floor. That time they had unexpectedly bumped into each other at a nightclub, both unhappy to have been dragged out by friends. That had been a good night. She smiled as she remembered them blindly fumbling for her bedroom light, ignoring their buzzing phones as their friends tried to get in touch. Even when they didn't work, they still worked.
She gasped as she was drawn back to the present day, the sudden feel of Nick's shaft pressed against her bare clit sending a wave of pleasure down her body. Nick looked up at her when he saw how much that had affected her, leaning down to press kisses over her collarbone as he pushed inside her. Jess groaned, clutching his shoulders, raking her fingernails down his bare back because she knew how much that was his absolute weakness. She felt the stresses of her work week fade away as Nick dug his fingers gently into her skin.
"It's been too long," he breathed against her neck, making her squirm. This time, she agreed with him, nodding wordlessly and letting out a hushed cry of pleasure as he started to pick up the pace.
"Jessica!"
He saw her, curls bouncing as she appeared at his side, pistol in one hand and knife in the other. Her skills in weaponry had always surprised him. She could wield firearms, crossbows and even an axe when it was entirely necessary. His job hardly ever came to this however, and when it did he sure as hell didn't want his assistant around. She was too precious to be in the middle of a zombie attack. "I told you to wait in the damn truck!"
"And leave you, Julius?" she asked, the question obviously sounding ridiculous to her. She turned and shot a zombie in the head. "No chance, we're in this together."
He wanted to laugh, shout, kiss her. She was the bravest woman he had ever met. She glanced his way as she fired another bullet, catching the look he was giving her. Julius felt the world tip sideways as their eyes met. He would die for this woman.
There was a horrible gurgling noise as a zombie appeared behind Jessica, bearing down on her before either of them could gather their thoughts. "NO!" Julius shouted as the corpse dug its rotting teeth into the flesh of her exposed shoulder, making her scream loudly. "JESSICA!"
Overcome with fear and rage, Julius let out a roar as he turned his gun on the remaining zombies, picking them off with extreme accuracy. When the coast was clear he ran to her side, the zombie that had bitten her now lying some two feet away, Jessica's knife through its eyeball.
She was pale, her eyes wide. "No, no," he repeated over and over as he cradled her body in his arms, her blood soaking his white shirt. "Don't leave me, you can't leave me now, Knight."
She placed her cold hand on his forearm, trying to comfort him, but it was fruitless. He was losing her, and he couldn't take it. Julius couldn't imagine his life without Jessica. "Pepperwood and Knight," she said softly, smiling at him. "We were a great team, weren't we Julius?"
"Stop it," Julius demanded, trying to stop the bleeding. "We don't know how you'll be when you come back. You're amazing Jessica, you're bound to be one of the good ones." He felt his vision become blurry with tears. Julius Pepperwood did not cry. "Come back to me good, okay sidekick? You better come back to me good."
He felt her weakening in his arms, and knew she was about to go. Letting out a quiet, strangled sob, he pulled her small frame closer to him, resting his forehead against hers. "Come back to me Jessica. I love you."
He didn't know whether she had heard him, because when he drew away from her face she was dead.
"Wow, that is some deep stuff right there, Nick."
Nick started, whipping around in his seat. "Oh," he laughed as he snapped his laptop shut. He pushed down the embarrassment he felt when he thought about someone other than himself reading his work. He really didn't know if it was even any good.
Caroline smiled at him, taking the seat opposite and placing her purse on the floor beside her. "You didn't even hear me come in, and they have one of those cute bells above the door in here. You must be really going somewhere with this one."
Nick nodded nervously, playing with the rim of his coffee mug. "I hope so. I'm nearly halfway through. I've never gotten this far with anything before." He winced to himself when he realized his choice of words, and how incredibly fitting they were when it came to his life.
Caroline rested her chin on her interlaced fingers. "You'll get there," she said. He smiled gratefully at her.
"So why did you want to see me?" Nick asked, taking a sip from his mug. "We already spoke on the phone."
She shrugged, lifting her eyes to meet his. "I don't know. I guess I just feel…" she trailed off, sighing. "I feel a little lost. Life isn't going too well for me right now, Nick." She continued to stare at him, and spoke again when he said nothing. "It doesn't really feel the same without you in my life, y'know? Even when we were just friends, when we used to call each other every now and then."
Nick swallowed thickly. He knew the look she was giving him, the tired eyes, the soft smile. He'd seen it a thousand times before. "Caroline…" he started, swiping a hand over his face. "You know how hard that was for me. You know I didn't like it." He really didn't like the way this conversation was going. It had taken him so long to get to this point, and now here she was again, just like every other fucking time.
Caroline averted her gaze to the table between them, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Nick watched her fingers complete the little action. He wanted to scream at her. She knew exactly what she was doing. "I'm not doing this again," he said through gritted teeth.
"I'm not saying that," she replied, still not looking at him. "Nick, I'm unhappy. I'm always unhappy when I'm not with you. When you called, I just…" she trailed off, glancing up at him. "It was stupid. I thought there was more to it."
His palms were clammy as he clenched his fists under the table. He was furious that the hold she had on him was still there – he thought the phone call had provided him with closure. Was he ever going to get over her? What would it take?
"Nick?" she asked, her voice soft and hopeful. "Don't tell me you don't feel it too. That pull. We've always had it."
"Yes, because you won't leave me alone," he snapped. "Don't fuck with me Caroline, I swear. I was doing well, I am doing well."
She cocked her head to the side, a look of understanding passing over her face. "Is there someone else?" she asked, and Nick's head shot up, immediately thinking of Jess. Only yesterday he had sneaked into her school, pinning her to her desk and partaking in a ridiculously hot session. They had cleaned up together afterwards, placing all the items back on her desk and playfully throwing erasers at each other. He had drawn a rude picture on her blackboard and she had swatted his arm, throwing a disapproving look over her shoulder as she rubbed it off.
He caught himself before he smiled fondly at the memory. "No," he sighed, looking at Caroline as she smiled slightly, "there's no one else." He started to stand up, picking up his laptop and leaving his cold coffee on the table. "I gotta go."
She stood too, slinging the strap of her purse over her shoulder. "I understand," she said kindly, dipping her head. She had done this act so many times in order to get him back, but Nick always fell for it. It was the nagging thought in the back of his head that always egged him on – what if it was real? What if she really meant it this time?
They exited the coffee shop together, Caroline turning to him as they stood on the sidewalk. Nick shuffled back and forth between his feet, unable to meet her gaze. "Well," she said, placing her hand on his arm. He almost jerked away. "I won't give up that easily." She stepped towards him and pressed her lips to his cheek. He closed his eyes, hating himself for not pushing her away. When she pulled back, he reluctantly returned her smile. "Just think about it."
She set off in the opposite direction, Nick letting out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair and kicked the ground with the tip of his shoe. "Shit," he growled as he turned on his heel and started to walk.
Jess let the sun beat down on her face, enjoying the warmth as she licked her ice cream. The weekends were such bliss to her. Because she tended to stay late after school and finish her work she usually had the whole two days to herself, and this was one of those times. Her book lay open in her lap, but she had abandoned it a long time ago, content to sit back and watch the world go by.
She looked at the pages moving in the warm breeze and thought of JPEPPERWOOD. He appeared to have disappeared from the face of the earth, her messages forgotten on her laptop. She sometimes lay awake at night staring at the empty screen, willing herself to stop being so upset. He was just a random guy from the internet, and was certainly not her soulmate. Sure their online conversations had been more stimulating, funny and heartfelt than most of the ones she encountered in her everyday life, but he was still just a blank face to her. She couldn't fall in love with a man behind a screen. As much as she wanted to.
She huffed to herself. Today was not the day to be thinking about what could have happened between her and JPEPPERWOOD. She was annoyed at herself for considering taking a trip to Chinatown, wandering around, seeing if she might have a connection with someone there whose face she had never seen. Jess liked to believe that kind of stuff was real.
A bit of ice cream dripped on to her dress and she sighed dramatically. She really needed to get a grip.
She was surprised when she spotted Nick a good twenty yards from her, his flannel easily sticking out from the crowd. She watched him as he stalked down the sidewalk, hunched over and obviously angry. He hadn't noticed her, so she was free to stare as he walked away, laptop in hand. Jess still didn't know what he did for a living – it had never come up in their haste to rip each other's clothes off. He had seen where she worked. She made a mental note to ask him if they could have sex in his office sometime. She assumed he had one, judging by the way he seemed to carry around his files on a laptop.
She lost sight of him when he rounded a corner, and sat back again, enjoying the chocolate sauce on her dessert. Her head rested on the back of the bench as she relaxed, continuing to tan herself. "No," she softly said to herself as her online companion crept into her mind once again. "Don't even think about it."