I know...this has been a long time coming and I had seriously lagged on you guys. Hopefully you will forgive me with this chapter. It's short but hopefully awesome! ENJOY!

The walk to Jerry's garage felt like it was taking a life time and every time he glanced behind to make sure I was following, for some reason, it made me stop dead in my tracks. I felt a little silly doing this but I couldn't shake this weird feeling I kept getting. My mind kept racing back to moments before to that domineering look and that feeling that maybe, just maybe, he had been toying with me.

Or then again I could just be acting paranoid due to the fact the guy had caught me smoking pot in the lovely wide open backyard of my mothers. What was the lesson that I had learned today? Could it be to stop smoking pot or to not smoke pot in open areas like a dumbass? Both were sound arguments and had their points. I was so lost up in my own world that I hadn't realized that I had followed Jerry right into his garage. His very ominous, dark, and what seemed empty garage.

Will the most paranoid person in the room please stand up?

It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the darkness and even after I still couldn't see crap. Although the inside of the garage was already pitch dark Jerry's shape took a menacing position against one of the darkest corners of the room that lead to the door into the house. I tried to remain calm but it was becoming more and more difficult the longer he decided to play Golem in the damn corner like that. Suddenly I was blinded with the brightest fucking light and attempted to block it.

"Oh, sorry didn't know it was facing your way."

He honestly sounded less than apologetic but…I wasn't here under guest capacity. I was here as the girl who got caught doing something super illegal and is desperately trying not to have the cops called on her, capacity.

Taking a second look at the jumbo light that had been shined in my eyes my jaw almost dropped to the floor before I caught it. Jerry had a very high grade piece of construction equipment and that lamp was nowhere near cheap. I watched as he maneuvered it around until he was satisfied with its placement and moved back to give me an impassive look. It shouldn't have been human to be able to give such an expressionless look. Finally he broke into that stunning smile but this time it appeared to be too drastic of a change and my brain didn't seem it was able to follow. So like the special little person that I am I just sort of stood there and didn't move a muscle.

Jerry didn't seem to mind at all as he motioned behind himself to his house.

"I'm gonna run inside really quick and grab a beer. You want one?"

"Uhm yeah sure man, that'd be great thanks."

I struggled to get some chipper-ness into my voice but if anything I made it sound worse. Without a second look Jerry turned quite quietly on his heel and headed on into his house the sound of the door clicking letting me know he truly had exited the garage.

Once he was gone my chest let out a heavy breath. I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath the whole time. What was up with me all of the sudden? Taking in a deep breath through my nose I began to shake out my hands as I exhaled and slowly turned in a circle to take in his garage. Besides the Dodge pickup that was patiently waiting for me to take a look at it, a few boxes in the far right corner, and a small cabinet to my immediate left there was nothing in the garage. It looked like even the walls had been stripped as the raw drywall added a bit of awkward coloring to the room.

"I've been meaning to re-do the walls."

Jerry's voice cut through the silence like a knife and startled the living shit out of me. Gasping I turned around to face him, my hand clasped tightly over my heart as I tried to calm my nerves. When did he come back outside and how the hell did he get so close to me?

Not only had I not heard him come back outside but when I turned around Jerry was a mere fraction away from me. That is something that a person usually notices, someone entering their personal bubble. Giving him a tight smile I took the cool Budweiser he extended out towards me and eagerly took a big gulp. I could feel him watching me when I pulled the bottle away from my mouth and I thought long and hard about what was going on.

The sooner I got this over with the sooner I could leave.

"Do you have tools I could use?" I asked trying to be extra polite.

What ended up coming out was my voice sounding more girlie than usual. I followed him over to the cabinet and watched as he swiftly opened it and removed a classic red tool chest from inside. I willingly took it from him and walked over to the front of the truck and waited for him to pop the engines cover.

"So what exactly has it been doing lately?"

Seemed like a routine enough question.

"Well it's been making this sort of clunky noise and just recently I've noticed it's been leaking oil over the cover gaskets. I tried tightening the bolts but it doesn't seem to do anything."

Setting the tool chest down I looked inside and was happily surprised to find a small flashlight and clean rags off in the corner. Picking up the first and pocketing the latter I lifted up the trucks engine cover and propped it up with its kick stand.

"The clunky noise could be a result of something going wrong with either having loose wheel lug nuts, loose brake pads; could be a number of things. Once I get under the side I'll see what I can find out for you."

I turned on the flashlight and immediately dove into the work. Since the truck was lifted a little higher than it was manufactured I had to dance around here and there on my tiptoes.

Finely I found the oil leakage problem he had told me about and whistled when I saw the mess that it had been making.

"Man, you sure weren't kidding about a leak," I said mildly.

"That bad, huh?"

I did my best to lean in farther, biting down on my tongue as I strained to get a good look at the valve cover gaskets. I was so intent on my goal that I hadn't realized I was about to lose my footing. Just when my finger wiped away the excess oil and exposed the culprit my right foot lost footing and down I went. I let out a yelp as my arms flailed around me and closed my eyes tight as I got ready to feel the sharp impact of the pavement.

When I felt nothing I squinted one eye open and looked around. I was still vertical. Opening my other eye I took in the room and realized that a pair of strong hands were holding on to my waist and that a very hard body was pressed up against my back. I turned as quickly, not to mention as politely, as I could out of his grip and gave him…a thumbs up?

Oh kill me now! Quickly I dropped my hand down and hoped to god that the blushing wouldn't be too noticeable.

"Thanks for that," I muttered.

"No problem," he stated coolly.

I don't know how I didn't notice until now but his eyes were dark, almost obsidian even, and those obsidian eyes just stared back at me cold and lifeless. Sure Jerry sent me another stunning smile but it never reached his eyes they just remained icy and unmoving. I fought not to shiver until he turned to head back over to lean against the cabinet and I turned to get back to work. I wanted out of here before this turned into the fucking Twilight Zone.

"It looks like you have for sure a leaky gasket. You can easily fix it yourself or have someone else do it for you. Either way if you do it yourself and buy the gasket, it'll only be 20 bucks at most." I took out the oil stick and saw that his oil was way below low. "And you might want to pick up some more oil as well."

"I'll make sure to write that down," he replied.

Now he sounded amused. I looked over at him and wasn't surprised to find him leaning back against the cabinet, his arms lazily crossed so he could still take languid sips of his beer. He looked down-right edible and I was willing to bet that he knew it too.

"So how's your family reunion going?"

I stopped cold as his question made my body freeze up with tension.

"How did you know it's a family reunion?"

He gave a graceful shrug as he took another sip of his beer and blessing me with his full attention. Lucky me.

"Well, to be honest I sorta heard you talking on you're phone the other day when you were standing in my driveway not mention, I've been here for about a month now and I've never seen your car before."

Those were all perfectly good explanations and proved that he wasn't some crazy dude whose house I had just so willingly decided to walk in. I was just being overly paranoid and it was going to give me a goddamn heart attack.

"Oh," was all I could come up with.

Grabbing my beer I took another rushed drink as I prayed the alcohol would hit me soon.

"Your dad ducked out on yeah, huh."

The question caught me so off guard I choked on the beer some and instantly started coughing. Why was it that every time I looked in his general direction he seemed to be more and more amused with each passing minute? I set my beer back down and began to bring down the top.

"Yeah he did a few years back but he wasn't my dad."

"No?"

"Nope, John was Charley's dad. My dad, from what I've always been told, was a dead beat who would rather be addicted to peyote than take care of his daughter. So I say fuck'em."

"That doesn't bother you at all?"

"Why should it? I've never met the guy and obviously he has never wanted to meet me. Why cry over spilt milk?"

A weird smile crept over Jerry's lips that strangely reminded me of the cat who ate the canary.

"I like that spilt milk line. Never gets old."

Dropping the hood down, I made sure that it was locked in place before I began to clean the oil off of my hands with the rag.

"Sure, it's a classic."

In one smooth motion Jerry pushed himself off of the cabinet and made his way towards me. I felt like a deer caught in the headlights. My body was screaming at me to move but I couldn't. I was transfixed by the fluidness of his motions and with the sensuality in which he walked. It didn't seem normal for a man to be able to move like that but here I was witnessing it with my own eyes. In what felt like brief seconds he was next to me. He brushed my hair behind my back and I felt the cool breeze from outside tickle my now bare neck.

Jerry was incredibly close so close that I was afraid if I swallowed he was going to hear it.

"Do you want to know something?" he asked playfully.

Somehow I had become mesmerized by those obsidian eyes and all I could seem to do way slowly shake my head yes.

"The cat is known as the most vindictive animal on the planet. When they decide on a piece of prey, the follow it around: taunting it and teasing it. Playing with it and letting it believe that it has a chance to go free right before they play with it one last time…and end its life."

While he told his little factoid story his eyes had began to dance with a feverish excitement and when his hand slid around my waist I couldn't think of a reason why he shouldn't have been touching me, even though his words chilled me to the bone.

"That's cool. You learn that from Animal Planet?" I asked meekly.

My heart began to pound uncontrollably as his eyes broke away from mine, his lips barely skimming mine, before his mouth dipped down low to my neck.

My neck of all places!

But all thoughts were stripped away when I felt his lips graze softly against my throat, instantly making me catch my breath. I felt the grip of his fingers tighten around my waist as he inhaled deeply.

Did this dude seriously just sniff me?

My nerves were screaming at me that something about this was way off and my heart began to pound so loud I thought it was a bass drum. This only seemed to encourage Jerry even more as his lips continued to dance to the rhythm my heart made.

"Kaylee? Kaylee what the fuck are you doing in there?"

I knew that voice! At the sound of Ed's voice Jerry instantly grew tense while his lips stopped their dance immediately.

"Kaylee I know you are in there! Get the fuck out here now!"

Reluctantly Jerry pulled away from me and before he could right himself I caught sight of the most malicious face I had ever seen. How could someone who looked so beautiful be able to make such an awful face?

Once he released me I happily backed away from him and began to move around him and back towards the garage entrance.

"Uhm, I'll be back to finish up sometime I promise," I stammered.

I couldn't get the fuck out of there fast enough and my mind still couldn't process what exactly just happened in that man's garage. Shooting the garage one last look I finally stopped in front of Ed who had his hands placed on his hips and his foot tapping rapidly.

"Mind telling me what the hell you were doing in there?" He screeched.

"Geez, calm down Ed I was just talking a look at his truck for him."

"In the dark, Kaylee? What the fuck could you see in the dark?"

"What are you talking about the light-"

My breath caught as I realized that the whole entire garage was pitch black all over again. Had the light been on when I exited the garage? Had it been on at all? Turning back to Ed I tried to hide the fear that began to creep its way up my throat and threatened to come howling out.

"Have you been playing Resident Evil again? You know what that does to you when you start playing it."

"This is not because I've been playing Resident Evil Kaylee!"

I held up my hands in surrender and wrapped a quick arm around his shoulder and started to lead him back towards the house. For some reason I was going to feel much better being on my mom's side of the fence.

"What do you say to having a cup of hot chocolate with me, Ed?"

He shot a quick look up to Charley's glowing window and looked back down at his feet.

"You sure Charley isn't going to throw a bitch fit?"

He sounded so heartbroken. It killed me to hear it come from the kid.

"I didn't say have a cup with you, me, and Charley, Ed. I said with me and if Charley wants to throw a bitch fit he can do so up in his room and away from us."

I gave Ed the best give'em hell smile I could and was rewarded with a genuine smile from him.

"Alright, I'm down."

"That 'a boy!" I teased as I pinched his cheek.

He tried to wiggle free from my pinches but I pulled him in closer with my arm I had locked around his shoulders and gave out an evil chuckle as he tried to fight back.

"Seriously, Kaylee this wasn't fun in 6th grade and it isn't fun now!"

Finally I let him up as we were almost to the front door. I was sure mom was going to be excited to see Ed. From the sound of it Ed or Adam hadn't been by in a long time and mom had always liked them. As Ed headed inside I shot a quick glance back over towards Jerry's garage and caught sight of a dark figure peeking around the corner of the garage. I stifled back a cry as I quickly went inside and decided maybe it was best I stayed away from Jerry and his garage for a while.

So what did you guys think? I'm dying to know!