Chapter Twenty-Four
Warning: Jack is a normal teen with normal urges, but he is uneasy about them. Lock has some memories come back that aren't very nice. . .the next chapter has almost a full memory that's rather bad. . .just thought I'd warn you guys. . .

Two weeks went by, Jack kept it slow, and Lock was still around. Moody, but 'his' girl was still with them.

HA! 'My' girl. . . he thought, developing his own mood. That's a fuckin' riot! We kiss, cuddle, make out on occasion, but we're still not dating. . .Stop bitchin', Jack! You got more than you could have imagined.

He growled, turned his stereo off, and went downstairs. Bobby had the TV on, but was busy reading the paper. Jack flopped on the couch, snatching up the remote and flicked through the channels. He growled again as he saw only romantic shit and boring shit, shut the TV off, and whipped the remote.

"Jack!" Bobby bellowed, hitting him in the back of the head. "What the fuck is your deal?"

"Nothing!" he snapped. "Don't fucking hit me!"

He got up and stood over his older brother, hands clenched up, Bobby's blue eyes flooded with worry. Bobby stood up, gently touching his shoulders, and eventually jerked Jack close.

"I'm sorry, Jackie."

"Me too, Bobby," he clung to his brother. "I dunno. . .I guess Lock's bad mood is contagious. . ."

"She has been a bitch lately," Bobby snickered. "What, you not giving it to her enough?"

"Fuck you!" he growled, slapping Bobby's back hard. "Damn, Bobby!"

"I was joking! You fairy bitch!"

"Not like that, Bobby. . .you fucking know. . ."

"Sorry, kiddo. . .me an' my damn mouth. . ." he mumbled.

"I'm going slow with her. . ." Jack said, letting go and sinking to the couch. "Her pace, not mine. . ."

"That's how you should do it. . .I'm proud of you, Cracker Jack."

Jack nodded, head dropping into his hands. He felt so ashamed of himself and the shit going on in his head lately, stuff he knew was natural and that he couldn't really help.

Haven't had those types of dreams since I was seventeen. . .And they were never quite so. . .vivid. . .he thought as the dream that kept happening replayed.

'Lock? What're you?'

'Shhhh. . .Jackie, I wanna try this. . .' Lock's mouth was on his.

'Ah--Lo--ck,' he gasped as her hand slid into his pajamas. 'Are. . .you. . .'

'I'm sure, Jack. . .' she would whisper as she slowly started to massage him.

"Yo, Cracker Jack!" Bobby snapped his fingers in his face. "You home?"

"Shit. . .what?" he blushed.

"Guy stuff?" Bobby teased. "Don't be embarrassed, just don't let it loose in front of Stray. . .or I will kick your ass."

"I haven't. . ." he mumbled, burning hotter. "And I won't. . ."

"Shit. . .Get upstairs. . .I hear Stray comin'. . .and she don't need to see that. . ." Bobby laughed, pulling him to his feet, and steering him to the steps.

"Fuck," he whispered, vanishing.

He could hear Bobby snickering even as he shut his door and locked it. He cursed when he looked down, seeing the familiar bulge in his jeans, and opened the window to go out.

Snow should do me some good. . . he thought as he sat in the freezing cold. Cool me down some. . .

He lit a smoke with numbing fingers, enjoying the feel of the stuff I his lungs, and relaxed. The snow was doing its job, his pants fit better, and he felt better.

I shouldn't be thinkin' shit like that about Lock. . .dreamin' it. . .Natural or not. . .How in the hell could I do that to her? he asked himself.

You dream of her slipping into your bed at night and giving you a hand job, BIG DEAL! a part of his mind shot back. It's so you don't fuck up out there in reality. . .Gotta have some sort of release. . .

He had to agree with that animal part of his brain, dreams were harmless as long as he didn't act on them here in the real world. His good mood was short lived.

He had changed his clothes and gone downstairs for dinner, Ma was working another late shift, and Angel was at Sofi's place. That meant it was him, Bobby, and Lock at the table, and Jack couldn't look at her at all. Bobby kept sniggering until Jack kicked him hard in the shin, but he still smiled at him with knowing blue eyes. Lock left the table first, going upstairs to get ready for bed, and Bobby used the time for another 'talk'.

"Jackie. . .man, get over it!" he smirked. "So she gives you wet dreams, as long as you don't act on those dreams, you live."

"Fucking god!" he whined. "Bobby, you suck at these 'sex' talks."

"I'm supposed to," he grinned, playfully slapping his cheek.

"It feels like me and Lock are fighting, but we're not. . ." he just wanted to vent.

"She's been fighting the world lately, but I think you two are fine," Bobby gave a slight nod at the steps.

Jack saw that Lock had decided to steal a pair of his P.J.'s, wondering why she didn't just ask for them instead of sneaking into his room and taking them, and she made brief eye contact with him.

"Night, Stray," Bobby said, getting up and kissing her head as she walked by.

"Night, Bobby. . ." she said quietly. "Night, princess."

"Night, Lock. . ." he exhaled, relieved.

He helped Bobby clean up, then went to his room. A homemade card was taped to his door, an anime drawing of a Gothic fairy that very much resembled Lock on the front with 'Jackie boy' done in elegant letters at the top. He carefully pulled it off and went into his room to read it.

Jackie. ..I'm sorry I've been a bitch lately. . .it's complicated and I'd rather not talk about it just yet, all right? Forgive me?
P.S. We have our first show in a week! I've got a certain song I wanna play. . .I'll explain more later, 'K?

He smirked, feeling fuzzy, and set the card on his desk. Another surprise waited for him on his pillow: a single black rose with a metal ring on the stem and a piece of paper under it.

"Lock," he breathed, putting the ring on his middle finger and smelling the rose, "the card was plenty to make me forgive you. . ."

He left the paper for dead last, changing, brushing his teeth, and sliding under the black comforter first. He took a good look at the ring, admiring the tribal markings on it, and wondered where she got it from, then finally picked up the paper. He lay back and read it.

Whisper These Words To You
I want to scream
These words to you.
Tell you how I
Really feel,
But the fear of
Fearful rejection
Keeps me silent. . .
I've felt it too often,
Just another nail
Beat into my coffin.
Someone tell me
How to kill this longing!
He stares at me and I wonder
If there's something I should say. . .
It seems like all the falling stars
Could never make a wish come true,
If only you knew. . .
You knew, you knew. . .
How much I want to whisper
These words to you. . . .

Jack felt a tear slide down his cheek as he finished the poem, knowing that she wanted to tell him so badly that she loved him--but she was scared that he'd reject her.

Funny. . .I was sure you'd reject me, baby. . .he thought, wiping his face. You'll tell me when you're ready. . .

He rolled over, snuggled into his bed, and fell asleep quickly, feeling much better. No dreams bothered him that night, of any kind.

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Lock woke up early, nothing woke her up, she just woke up on her own. She wished that the basement had bigger windows to let more of the sun in, but decided she could enjoy plenty of the sunlight upstairs. She grabbed her notebook and went up the steps quietly.

Horror movie! Awesome! she grinned as she flicked through the channels and found one.

She turned the TV down quite a bit, not wanting to wake the others, and only half watched the screen. Bobby had talked to her yesterday about her attitude, telling her it was catching and that Jack had it. She got the feeling that there was something else behind the mood Jackie had, but didn't dare venture into it--he wasn't that hard to figure out.

Focus!! she snapped at herself.

She opened the notebook, flipping to a fresh page, and then just stared at the paper. She had some form of writer's block, besides the poem she wrote two days ago, she had been unable to write anything, and it was frustrating the hell out of her. Finally, something came to her and she jotted it down.

As the embers
Rage to infernos,
They melt the ice
Around my soul.
They take my breath
And give me life.
I'm so alive, we're so alive. . .
What is our reason for living?
Is it love? Is it love?
What is our reason for loving?
Is it life? Is it life?
I love you,
And you love me. . .
That's the reason
For everything. . . .

She finished, read it over, and hated it.

Mushy, cute, utter bullshit! she growled, flipping the page. If I write, I write fucking shit! What in the fuck?!

More words flowed from her hand, writing before she could stop.

Staring at this blank paper,
Now the words refuse to come.
They've been swimming in my
Mind al day,
Begging sweetly to be released.
I point the finger
At the thief,
Only to realize that it's really me,
Who shattered my heart
And scattered the pieces,
Now I wait
'Til the bleeding ceases.
I've cried myself to sleep,
Wishing you a piece to keep.
Would you rebuild me?
If I hadn't killed me?
Piece by tattered piece,
Shard by broken shard,
Put my puzzle back together. . .
Try to make me whole!
I beg of you,
Help me save my soul.
But. . . .
Can no one save this Queen?
The Queen of Broken Hearted Dreams. . .

"There," she whispered, "that's more like it! But it seems unfinished. . .I guess it's a work in progress. . ."

Jack came down the steps, whistling happily, and vanished into the kitchen. Lock's stomach immediately fluttered, she still felt guilty for being moody, and she chewed her lip. She heard the door open and knew he was going out to smoke.

Just go talk to him! she told herself. Quit bein' a pussy about it.

She walked to the door, but couldn't make herself open it. Everything shook inside her, her heart was frantic, and she just couldn't open the door.

What if he's still pissed? her mind whispered. I go out there. . .things could get bad. . .like when I was little and pissed people off and didn't know they were still mad. . .Just leave it alone. . .

She walked back to the couch, sinking into it, and sighed. She saw the monster in the movie attack some dumb blonde and snickered at she was mauled and killed by said monster. Horror movies had a morbid way of making her feel better. The door opened as Jack came back in, she shifted uncomfortably, and focused on the movie.

Suddenly, Jack's mouth was on hers, kissing hard. She jumped, scared of what this was, but he softened the contact, and gently asked permission to deepen it. She allowed it and he took control, sitting on her lap and holding her face. She didn't like being subordinate to him and fought back, turning the kiss around, and explored his mouth. She felt him smirk and then he used the fact that he was older and more experienced to regain control, turning his head and dominating the kiss.

Damn him. . .she thought, giving up on the battle for dominance.

He was gentle, but firm at the same time, he knew what he wanted and what she was comfortable with, he stayed in the comfort zone. She felt for his stud, found it, and toyed with it, making him shiver. He focused on just their lips meeting, then made his way to her neck.

"I. Forgive. You," he said between bites to her skin.

She shivered violently as he attacked her neck with his mouth, shifting under him, and feeling her blood burn in her veins. He snickered and found her ear, nibbling it, and she gasped, arching up involuntarily into him. She wasn't going to lie, it felt good, damn good, but at the same time it was odd and scary.

The others knew how to make it feel good too. . .but it was a bad good feeling. . .SHIT! I don't know!

"Jack," she whispered, "I got it. You forgive me."

"Too far?" he panted in her ear.

"A little. . ." she murmured, hiding her face in his neck.

"Sorry. . ." he muttered, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Guess I got carried away. . ."

"Vampire," she snickered, knowing it was just Jackie, and bit him.

"Oh," he laughed, "you think that now, just wait."

"AH! Jack!" she giggled as he bit her hard.

She struggled, but he grabbed her hands and pinned them under his knees. This was his counter attack for her drawing on him, the war was officially on. The older teen growled playfully, sinking his teeth into her again, nipping her. She came close to screeching with laughter, but his strong hand covered her mouth, and he moved to the other side of her neck. Memories picked the worst times to present themselves, now being one of them.

'Lock, this feels good, I promise,' a boy said. 'It's only touching. . .See?' his hand slid between her young legs.

'No, I don't want to see!' she had pleaded as he kept touching her. 'Sto--ahhh--'

'See?' he touched again. 'How's that feel?'

'Nyuuuuhhhhh,' she couldn't help moving into him, he was making it feel the bad good again.

'Good girl, Lock,' he moved inside her pants. 'This will feel even better

She had been seven, almost eight, and the boy was fifteen. She'd had bad shit happen before this house, but this one was one of the worst ones, the one where the most shit happened because she was too little and too weak to fight back. They knew how to make it feel good in this house, she hated the feeling, she knew it was bad, but she couldn't help what she did when they made it feel good.

She tensed under Jackie boy, whimpering, and he understood. He released her hands, wiping tears off her face that she had no idea were there, and he brushed her hair back.

"Shit, Lock," he murmured. "I'm so fucking sorry. . ."

She shook her head, it wasn't him, wasn't what he was doing, it was her own damn fear and memories that kept ruining shit for her. She wanted so desperately to be normal, to let Jack close and not be scared of him, but bastards before have broken her.

"Jackie. . .it's not you. . ." she whispered.

"Memories?" he looked at her with his gentle eyes.

"Y-yeah. . .that's s-s-s-sorta why I was. . .bitchy before. . ." she stammered.

"Is the stuff I do what triggers them?"

"No! Jackie, no! They just have very bad times of flooding back. . .I'm just damaged. . ."

"Lock," he soothed, kissing her gently, "damaged or not, I still love you. I can understand why things keep happening with you, I can wait until the wounds are all healed up. . .trust me."

'There?' the boy asked, touching the something he knew made it feel good.

'Th-th-this is bad,' she whined. 'Gr-g-grown up s-st-stu--'

'Grown up stuff?' he rubbed and she squirmed on his lap

'Ah-ah-ah-ah. . .' she whined, moving involuntarily. 'Kieran. . .s-st-stop it!'

'Stop what? This?' he touched faster, making her dizzy and white flooded her vision.

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"BOBBY!" Jack yelled, running into his room.

Bobby heard the alarm in his brothers voice and woke immediately. He sat up in his bed as Jack slammed into the room.

"What?!" he felt fear creeping into him as he saw the terror in Jackie. "What's wrong, Jackie?!"

"Lock! She's passed out or something!" he panted, grabbing Bobby's hand and trying to drag him to the door.

"Hold on, Jack," he said, trying to keep calm and calm Jack down. "Slow the fuck down!"

"Bobby!" he snapped. "Lock is unconscious on the god damned couch! I need your fucking help!"

Stray. . .baby girl, what's happenin'? he tore off downstairs.

"Stray?" he touched her face, kneeling beside her.

"I tried that already!" Jack was shaking.

"Slow down, fairy," he was still calm as he found her pulse. "She's just out. . .C'mon, upstairs."

Bobby slid his arms under Lock, cradling her to him, and went up the stairs after Jack. He tried to keep calm, but terror was slowly wriggling its way into him.

"My room, Jack," he said. "You need to tell me what the fuck happened right before she passed out."

He carefully put Stray on his bed, covering her up, and checked her eyes. She was just unconscious, she could wake up any moment, but he didn't think it'd be fast enough for him.

"Bobby?" Jack whimpered, shifting around, scared.

Comfort him, dumb ass!

"Come here, Jackie," he said softly, sitting on the bed, and opening his arms. "Come on."

Just like when he was little. . . he thought as Jack literally crawled into his lap. Jesus, he's scared! And too damn old to be doing this kinda shit. . .

The nineteen-year-old clung to Bobby, arms wrapped tightly around his neck, crying into his bare shoulder, as if he were nine again. Bobby rubbed his back, resting his head on Jack's, and the boy slowly regained control over his emotions. Love could be a real bitch sometimes, making you trip out over nothing, and even making you do shit that made you uncomfortable.

"Tell me what happened, Apple Jacks," he used the baby name out of habit, he hadn't even thought of the damn thing in years. He had called Jack that before any of the other nicknames came about.

Jack mumbled the story into his shoulder as he rubbed his back, the teens grip on his neck loosened. He started to cry again as he got to Lock actually passing out, but Bobby had enough and told him to stop.

"Easy, Apple Jacks," he soothed. "I got the picture."

"Is she really all right?" he whimpered.

"Yeah, kiddo. Do you remember when you were little and you'd have flashbacks and night terrors?"

"Yeah. . ."

"You'd pass out sometimes if they were really bad. . .but you were always fine afterwards. . .same ol' queer. . ."

"Not the time Bobby. . ." Jack snickered a little. "What do we do?"

"First," Bobby couldn't help but laugh, "you get your fairy ass off of my lap! Then we just chill out here until she wakes up."

Jack pulled back, eyes wide with the shock of where he was, and scrambled off him, then cowered. He flushed a deep maroon, breathing funny, and came close to crying again.

"You were scared, huh?" Bobby asked, ruffling his hair lovingly.

Weird as that was. . .Jackie needed comfort. . .Still makes me feel like a damn perv. . .

"Sorry. . ." he murmured. "I- -I- -."

"Jackie boy," Bobby snickered, "just leave it alone. But if you ever put the moves on me, I'll kick your fairy ass so bad! Get it?"

Jack rewarded him with a smile, relaxing, and crawling to the other side of Stray. He watched Jack lay there and stare at her, face close to hers, and he smiled. He swung his legs onto the bed, staying close to the girl, being his over-protective self, and closed his eyes.

She's fine, Bobby. . .It's a damn good thing you were here. . .he told himself.