Chapter V

Sherry

Life never treated Sherry Birkin fairly. At the age of 15 she had gotten into her first fist fight… with a doctor. The man had made fun of Sherry for the way she behaved, for being silent most of the time and having virtually no friends aside from some other kid in the facility she'd been in. Sherry could hardly remember his name now. But back then it had seemed so important to defend this friendship. Needless to say Sherry beat the doctor into a bloody mess, they got their answers to their question, how far could she be pushed before she resorted to violence?

There were other incidents, mostly things she couldn't have avoided. Sherry learned that things happened that were not always in his control. The world didn't revolve around her, even if it felt like it should. She accepted this and learned to move forward. But this challenge was a bit harder.

Sherry stood in front of Jake Muller's door. Her best friend was within the apartment, and while she would've liked nothing more than to rap her fist against the entrance – there was something keeping her from doing so. It was the fear of the unknown.

He hadn't contacted her in two days since the date… she tried calling him but he never picked up.

What if Jake was in there with someone? That'd be awkward to walk in to. But it had been two days, and she was set to leave soon for another mission.

"Jake!" Sherry called her urgently. She had to do it now or she wouldn't do it at all. Sherry could hardly stop thinking about Jake lately. Every thought led back to her in one way or another, if she ate something she would wonder if Jake would like to have some too. If Sherry lay in bed it would be with thoughts of what her own body felt like pressed against him that night.

"Sherry?" The voice was raspy, but it was Jake's. Her hands twitched, "is that you?"

"Yes," she replied, there was a pressure building within her chest.

Jake pulled the door open and she resisted the urge to shriek upon laying eyes on his face. Jake Muller was a mess, his fair skin looked drained of color and his lips were dry and cracked. His eyes were watered and crusty at the rims. Naturally he was shirtless and wearing long black sweats, bare foot like usual.

"What are you doing here Sherry?" Jake coughed softly, "it's too early."

"Early?" She asked, noticing his eyes were half closed, "Jake it's two in the afternoon."

"Well, whatever," Jake rolled his eyes at her as she stood there, "well don't just stand there, come inside." She rolled her eyes at the welcoming and entered. She waited for him to walk her into the rest of the apartment, and only sniffed at the air. She could smell stale pizza already lingering heavy.

"How are you?"

"I'm good, tired."

"Good, so there isn't an excuse." Sherry folded her arms.

Jake's gaze became confused, "for what."

"For you not picking up my five calls. I called you and texted you, at first I thought - you are just busy. But then a full day passed, and then another."

He rolled is eyes at her, infuriating her a bit more. He hated the way she looked at him, as if he owed her an apology.

"Yes I expect an apology, Jake."

"Well, you're not getting one. I was busy." He patted the seat next to him as he sat and she sat beside him with a roll of her eyes. "When is your next mission?"

"Two days, I haven't seen you so I wanted to come here today, the next to days are basically going to be spent in meetings..."

Jake didn't like this. Every time she left he worried about the way she'd return. In a body bag?

Jake accepted that she had to work and he looked at her with a blank stare, "you know I hate when you go, right?"

"I know," she smiled sadly at him and took his hand, moving closer to his side. Jake let her snuggle into his side. "I'll be back in one week from this mission though. I wish I could go into more detail about it but I'd get in trouble."

"It's fine, I'd rather not know."

Sherry and Jake stayed in silence for a while, he was absentmindedly toying with his very short hair. "I hope you understand," he paused to look down at her, there it was again. That proximity between his and her face, "that if you ever need a partner I'm more then willing."

She nodded and smiled, "I will keep that in mind."

Sherry became transfixed as suddenly his eyes seemed to burn. She could feel his hand on her hip... swirling like water around to the back of her thigh and pulling her closer. It was going to happen again. With a hard breath he captured her lips with his own.

Oh God, here we go...

Jake's arms pulled her closer to him, he was amazed at how easily he could manipulate her body. The body of the young petite was soon straddling the longer harder body beneath her. The muscles of his arms flexed as he tightly glued her chest to his own and his mouth to her lips. Her breath became labored, his became increasingly hard and loud. She loved it. Jake, now, I want you now. Jake... everything... He was everything to her, he was her other half.

Jake suddenly became infuriated as he kissed her... Jeff... He hated Jeff. And Jeff would try to touch her like this, he knew that much. Jake grunted when she rocked herself against the hard muscle of his thigh. "So sexy..." He growled against her throat, sucking there, marking her.

"Mhmm," She bit at his lips gently, running her palms along his head and rocking her hips directly on his growing erection.

"He wouldn't know what to do with you.." He whispered into her ear.

"What?" She breathed heavily back at him, pulling back slightly and staring at him with a confused look.

Jake stared up at her and licked his lips, they tasted like her. He continued to look into her eyes and play with the sensitive skin below her navel beneath her jacket. "I can't imagine what would happen if the two of you ever found yourself in a predicament like this one."

"That's none of your business - Jake."

"Speaking of business - how was your date with Jeff last night?" Jake's eyes narrowed moved over her face with interest, he noticed the way she adverted her gaze from him, still on him and shuffling awkwardly now, adverting her gaze and playing with her fingers. He held her hips tightly.

"It went really well," she smiled at him genuinely. "He's actually really sweet."

This infuriated Jake but he didn't know why. He was the one that asked after all. He knew that in a weird sense he felt a deeper affection for Sherry then just friendship – but he couldn't admit that to himself fully, he thought more along the lines of 'well, she's my friend and we've grown close, I have a right to be so protective, its just a thing of being friends'. Or at least that's the excuse he gave himself, "What do you like about him?"

"I don't know?" Sherry mused and lifted herself off of him, then started a slow walk around his living room towards the windows, "he is just very nice to me. He doesn't push me at all to talk about things I don't want to. He respects me," she recollected the way she drunkenly threw herself at him and the way he had stopped her. Her heart thumped, he was a gentleman. "He's just really nice." She summed it all up with that, but there was so much more to the man and she knew it.

"Do you even know anything about him?" Jake's head started to pound, he felt like ocean waves were battering at him and for an instant he saw red as she smiled and shook her head at him. How naive was she? Was she kidding?

"I don't know too much, I mean, I guess eventually I will but for right now everything is going smoothly. I just don't care to know everything about him just yet." Her job was to know everything about everyone she encountered, Jeff was the mystery she'd been waiting for - for her entire career.

"I don't see what you could possibly find so interesting about someone like him. He seems bland, stupid."

"He isn't." She defended, shooting Jake a glare that dared him to go on.

Jake knew saw it in her eyes, he knew she had kissed him. She had that awkward stance and the odd look to her. The thought made his blood boil, Sherry kissed him. Jeff, that disgusting human thing had touched her body, perhaps just as intimately as Jake. Territorial and angry, that's how Jake felt in that instant. But he also felt hateful, hateful to Jeff for existing, hateful towards Sherry for doing something so stupid."You kissed him didn't you."

Sherry blushed furiously and then the color went out of her face, "well.. yeah.."

"I guess it shouldn't shock me." Jake rubbed his head and grinded his teeth. He hated her suddenly. "You seem to find it easy to just sleep with someone and then move on as if nothing happened." Jake glared at her; he couldn't even register the look on her face. All Jake saw was the woman who was going out with some jerk off. A woman who was his best friend, the only person who really knew him. The only one who knew his background and everything about his personality. She knew him inside and out, literally and figuratively.

"In case you forgot you were the one who wanted me to just think of what happened between you and I as nothing, so how dare you!" Sherry was amazed and flabbergasted. She was stone in her spot. Her very core felt hot suddenly and she wanted to slap him.

"Sherry, you know better than anyone else that you shouldn't be with him." Sherry just glared at Jake as he stood, "he doesn't care about you. He see's you as a challenge. He'll be out of your life so fucking fast it'll make your head spin."

"What are you even saying!"

"He isn't right for you." She marched up to him as he spoke and shoved him hard back down to the couch.

"Stop it!"

"Does he know anything about you? What do you know about him!"

"Stop it!"

"You don't know him!"

"You don't know him!" She screamed up at Jake Muller who towered over her, his eyes were smoldering orange and it scared her but she didn't back down. "I thought I knew you. All you do is demean me and challenge me every turn. Who are you Jake?! What happened to you...?"

"What happened to me?!" He hissed. "You're the one with the fucking boyfriend-

"Are you jealous or something?! You-

"For fuck's sake!" Jake rolled his eyes at her, he wouldn't lie, "of course I'm fucking jealous. You are spending more and more time with him and stood me up for him!"

"I didn't." She shook her head at him, disbelieving of the man before her whose sweat had started to break out, "I can't do this Jake.. we… we can't be friends I guess. You're just too much for me and I don't want to fight with you every two minutes over him!"

"I just don't like him for you." Jake glared now, his eyes intense. "But go fuck him if you want to, you move on pretty quickly."

That was enough. Sherry threw her fist out but he saw it coming. He ducked and grabbed her arm tightly. Sherry found herself pressed flatly against Jake as he held her tightly. She struggled momentarily against him and gave up when she realized he would keep her in this embrace as long as it took for her to relax. She didn't like the proximity, he suddenly felt cold, and he wasn't comfortable to her anymore. His breath scent wasn't pleasing. He felt so alien. This had all escalated so quickly. "Let go of me."

He released her and shoved her a distance away. She huffed and glared sharply at him.

"You're an insolent, bratty boy!" She insulted him as he stepped forward towards her, his eyes dark and burning, she knew what was coming so she stepped backwards and away, he was going to try and grab her and kiss her and break her, "everything you say to me hurts, and you know it! You're like my brother! How could you say things like that to me… again," her tears started pouring now and he felt a sharp pain. "You're the only friend I've ever had and that's how you talk to me?" There was a vein at her forehead that was pulsing. She could remember the lab clearly suddenly. Feeling so hurt and used, and she never expected to feel that way again.

Sherry never thought this pain would be back, so real again. She cried not out of sadness but of anger.

"Sherry, don't do that…" He hated when she started crying, or anything like that. "I-I-

"'I-I ' WHAT!" Sherry shoved him away from her. "I'm done with you." She said clearly and dodged his arm as he made an attempt to block her path. She could hear him going after her as she attempted to leave the apartment. His feet padded loudly on the floor.

"You're just going to leave it like that then?" He asked her as he went after her.

Sherry tore the door open, her hands trembled and her fingers felt numb. She noticed a pain at her palm, this was when she realized she'd dug her nails into her hand. She'd heal that later.

"Sherry!" He called her again as he reached the door. She turned around and stared up at him. His eyes looked conflicted.

Jake Muller wanted to touch her face and wipe at the tears but stopped himself, he knew that if he did he'd probably get a snapped arm; her petite body was small but capable. Her eyes were hurt. Organisms were more dangerous when wounded, "are you going to leave it like this?" He repeated.

"Yeah, I tend to move on pretty quickly, remember?" With that Sherry shut the door in his face.

Hours Later

Sherry

"Do you want me to come over?" Jeff asked, he had called her to make some talk but instead was greeting by her sobs, it shocked him at first. He didn't know why it was that she was sounding choked, he then came to one conclusion and carefully asked her if she was okay.

She had answered no and broke out into sobs, he didn't see it but she was covering her face, struggling to control herself.

"I could kill him."

Sherry wasn't trying to incite violence – she honestly was trying to stop her tears but found that it was growing harder and harder the more she thought about him. "Please just come here, I need you." Her voice was weak and sweet. How would he deny a tone like that? He agreed to be there quickly and jumped in his car immediately.

Jeff didn't like that Jake guy. He was an angry – insolent little brat who could only express himself through hurtful words. Sherry on the other hand was not like that at all. She was kind and careful with her words. Jake didn't deserve a friend like her.

Sherry opened the door for Jeff instantly upon hearing him knock. To her surprise he embraced her upon entering. His eyes were narrowed and his mouth in a tight firm line. He really would love nothing more then to absolutely destroy Jake. She let herself melt into his embrace, he was cold and shivering form the outside but as he stepped deeper into her apartment, not shutting the door, he was hit with the heart of her home. Her arms which were wrapped tightly around his neck seemed to radiate heat and he held her tighter.

"I'm so sorry that that imbecile spoke to you that way." His voice was tender and it made her shiver. It was menacing but still kind. "You deserve better than him Sherry. Why are you his friend?" Jeff's eyes burned into her own. Smoldering and hypnotizing, were she anyone else she would have fallen into a deep spell but she snapped herself out of it quickly.

She pulled back from him and sniffled, "I… I don't know. I just care about him a lot, he's a friend-

"Is he really?" Jeff asked, "Look at you here Sherry; crying because he is treating you like an enemy and not the great friend that you've been to him. How do you forgive him for these things?" His refined language made her smile slightly through her blurred vision.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners, do you want to stay for a bit? Take off your jacket?" Her voice was lighter, struggling to keep it even.

"Yes, that'd be wonderful." He answered and followed her into the living room. He took his jacket off and she put it down on the couch and then let him pull her down onto his knee where she carefully curled up into his chest. Jeff pressed his lips to her forehead and smoothed away her tears. "No more of this. I don't want to see you cry more for him Sherry."

"I'll try to keep it to a minimum," she laughed and wiped at her nose with the back of her sleeve.

"Come here," Jeff pulled her closer – as if that was possible and held her until she drifted into a half-sleep. He was warm and safe right now, he was all she needed right now.

Later in the day when Jeff had to leave he noticed a mark on her neck, it didn't take a genius to realize what it was. It angered him, he knew she wasn't his girlfriend but it angered him. He let her sleep but left without leaving a note.

Two days later Sherry boarded an early flight to her next destination. She didn't text Jake but did ask a neighbor to feed the cats to which they agreed happily.

Jeff hadn't messaged her. She called and left messages but clearly he was ignoring her, she was confused about it but figured she'd deal with it when she came back.

What Sherry didn't know was that she wouldn't be making it back in one peace this time.

Whew! So Hurricane Sandy was a pain in the ass. My computer died and I couldn't charge it so if this chapter seems long winded I apologize :) I hope you are all having an awesome week and that you enjoyed this chapter.

Review please? they make me so amazingly happy.