Description: Neither of them knew why no one seemed to understand that they belonged together.
AN: This is the sequel to Escape. Hope you enjoy it!
Jessica and Toby sat next to each other on his bed, holding onto one another. It had been a month since Jessica had moved in with the Tripps. They both longed for these moments, moments when they could be alone and be free to love.
There was a knock at the door and they both scrambled apart from each other, neither of them wanting to but they didn't have a choice. They both thought it was unfair that, even after they had defeated Magor and eliminated any threat in Gorm that stopped them being together, they still had to keep their love secret.
Mrs Tripp poked her head round the door. "Jessica, your parents are here. They want to talk to you. Should I tell them-?"
Jessica glanced at Toby. Her parents hadn't bothered trying to contact her until a week after she had left and she was still angry that they were trying to force her into what she knew would be a loveless marriage.
Toby gave her a small smile and placed his hand on her shoulder, the simple gesture making her feel so much emotion. She knew he was telling her to talk to her parents so she said quickly, "No, I'll talk to them."
As she came downstairs, a small feeling of dread began to build up in her stomach. Mrs Tripp led her to the kitchen and then left, presumably to give them some privacy.
"Jessica!" Her father's voice reached her ears but he didn't sound angry, just relieved. "Thank goodness you're okay." She ran across the room and hugged him. Of both her parents, her father was more likely to listen to her about Nate. Her mother, on the other hand...
"Young lady, you have some explaining to do!" Mrs Herleins scolded. "Do you have any idea how humiliating it was to tell Mr and Mrs Roberts that you had run away when you were supposed to be attending their reception party, hmm?" The woman folded her arms and glanced disdainfully around the room. "And, of all the places you could have run away to, it had to be here! You spend far too much time with those Tripp boys, Jessica."
Jessica bit back her retort that the Tripp's house felt more like a home to her than her own. Instead she said through gritted teeth, "They're my friends, Mom."
"Well, once you marry Nate, they won't be." Her mother said firmly. "You'll be the wife of a very influential young man. Just imagine what people would say if they knew who you were in the company of."
"No!" Jessica yelled suddenly.
"I beg your pardon!" Mrs Herleins said imperiously.
"I won't marry Nate! I'm not going to sit around and be his pretty little trophy wife to be shown off in front of all his rich friends and family. Why? Because I don't love him!" She breathed heavily, trying to control herself. To her anger, her mother simply laughed condescendingly.
"How can you possibly know what love is, my girl? You're only fourteen years old!"
I know more than you think, Jessica thought angrily. After everything I've been through just to be able to love, I'd say I know more than most people. "I know enough to know that I don't love Nate and I never will. So you can't...make me!"
The end of her sentence was incoherent as Jessica had burst into tears of anger and disappointment. Pushing past her parents, ignoring her mother's scandalised cry of "Jessica!", she fled up the stairs and ran straight into Toby's room.
Toby looked up as the door opened. One glance at Jessica's tear - stained face and he had crossed the room in an instant to hug her tenderly. They both jumped as they heard a car door slam and an engine rev as Jessica's parents drove off. The girl leaned against Toby who was rubbing her back gently.
"What did they say?" He began quietly, not wanting to upset her.
"They - well my mom, mainly - told me that living here was a bad influence on me and that they basically still want me to marry Nate but I told them I wouldn't."
Toby frowned lightly. "I can't imagine your mom taking that very well, somehow."
"She didn't." Jessica laughed bitterly. "She tried to tell me that I was too young to know what love is. As if she knows! She only married my dad because he was rich!"
"Jess..." Toby said, placing her hands on her shoulders and guiding her to the bed so that they could both sit down. "It's alr-"
"It's not alright, Toby!" Jessica sobbed angrily. "How can she say I know nothing about love after everything we've been through - everything we're still going through - just to be together? Why doesn't anyone understand that we belong together?"
Toby gently brushed away her tears with his thumb. "Because they don't know how much it hurts me when you're hurt or in danger. They don't see how I constantly protect you, even when I know you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. They don't hear how fast my heart beats when you get close to me. They don't feel the love I feel for you every day. They don't know what it's like to feel your soul being torn apart whenever we're separated."
Jessica cut him off by kissing him, prompting him to kiss her back. "They don't know what it feels like to kiss you." She pointed out mischievously and he smiled sheepishly. "They don't know that, when I'm angry or sad, you're the only one who can really cheer me up. They don't know that we're so close we know what we're thinking and we don't need words to talk. They don't know that every time we touch, it makes me feel so much love and protection. They don't understand..."
They said the rest of the sentence together. "That you're the only one I love and trust with all my heart."
This time, Toby was the one to initiate the kiss. The first one had been a way of expressing their defiance that no one understood them. This one, however, was an expression of all the love they felt for one another.
When they broke apart, Jessica could still feel the butterflies fluttering madly in her stomach. She looked at him and smiled softly. "I love you so much, Toby. Nothing and no one can change that."
"And I love you with everything I am, Jess." Toby responded. "If no one else understands us..."
"At least we have each other."