Thanks for all the love! It means the world to me.

Chapter Ten

"It's one thing to disagree with my choice for you behind closed doors, but in public? How could you two do that?" Lissa lectured them after they were all inside. She paced back and forth across the living room floor.

"I'm not sure what kind of hold Jesse has on you, but it must be air tight if you can't see what a fucktard he is! He's making Jill miserable," Adrian said.

"Jesse comes from a good family..." Lissa started.

"Who gives a shit?" Adrian said. "If anything I wish I would have decked him. Smug asshole deserves a beat down."

"This is exactly why you can't be around the baby or Jill," Lissa said. "You're completely unpredictable."

"And you're completely insane. What happened to you, Liss? This isn't you," Adrian said, his tone more concerned now.

"I don't have to listen to this. Come on, Jill. I'm taking you back to your room," Lissa said.

"No! She doesn't have to listen to you," Adrian insisted. "Come on, Jill."

"Both of you stop it!" Jill said. "I'm not supposed to be under stress!" She got up and started towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Lissa asked her.

"To get a minute to myself," she said and waddled away as fast as she could.

Once Jill was outside she took a deep breath of fresh air. Now that Adrian and Lissa's argument was just a rumble in the distance she could actually hear herself think. "Jill, Jill...get a hold of yourself," she said with a sigh.

"The first sign you're going crazy is talking to yourself," Jesse commented.

"Shit! You scared me!" she said when he snuck up on her. She put her hand over her chest.

"What are you doing out here alone?" he asked.

"What do you care?" Jill asked him with a huff.

"I was on my way to see you," he said. "I wanted to apologize."

Jill gave him a skeptical look. "You wanted to apologize?" she asked him.

"I know...hard to believe, right?" Jesse said with a sheepish chuckle. "But if you give me a chance I can explain."

Jill had never seen Jesse like this before. He seemed so sincere. "I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time believing you feel bad," she said.

"I know. I deserve that, but let me at least walk you back to your place," Jesse said. He locked eyes with her, an earnest expression on his face.

Jill gazed back at him and relented. "Okay," she agreed as they fell instep alongside of each other. "How was your trip?" she asked.

"Fine," he said with a shrug. "My father is trying to groom me for the family business. There's still a bit of a learning curve."

"You know...I really don't know that much about you," she said.

"We could fix that," Jesse said. "Why don't you let me in?"

"Okay," Jill replied and unlocked the door to her room inside Lissa's house.

Jill tossed her purse and keys onto the table in the hallway and showed Jesse towards her little living room area. "Can I get you anything?" she asked him.

"Why don't you sit on the couch," Jesse suggested.

"Okay," Jill agreed and sank into the cushions.

"Now, look at me, princess," Jesse said to her. He knelt in front of her as she obeyed and held his gaze. "You were very upset after you left Lissa and Adrian. You were upset that they were trying to control you. You decided you wanted some control back so you cut yourself...but you cut too deep."

"I was very upset," Jill agreed. She looked down and saw Jesse produce a knife from his pocket. She took it into her hands. "So I cut...but I cut too deep."

"Very good," Jesse said with a smile. "Cut, princess."

Unable to stop herself from doing anything but listen to him Jill cut deep into her wrist. "And now the other one," Jesse instructed her. Jill obeyed and cut the other wrist. "Good. Now I don't need to worry about you ruining things. Sleep well, princess," he said. He set the knife down haphazardly on the ground and snuck out the window.

Jill started to feel woozy as she laid down on the couch, closing her eyes. She felt herself drift away from her body. She was light and peaceful and didn't have a worry in the world.

…

"Jill! Jill! What did he do to you?" a far away voice cried.

Jill wanted to reply but she couldn't. The light in the distance was much more appealing than the voice calling to her. She walked towards it and was swallowed up.

"Can you heal her?!" Lissa yelled at Adrian. "You did it before! Adrian! She's not breathing!"

"I don't think I can do it again...is that even possible?" Adrian asked.

"Try! You have to do something!" Lissa yelled.

Adrian put his hands on Jill and concentrated. "Please don't let her be gone forever...please...come back, Jill..." he whimpered softly.

After what felt like an eternity for Lissa and Adrian, but very suddenly to Jill she pulled away from the light and reconnected with her body. Her eyes popped open and she saw Lissa and Adrian looking down at her.

"You're okay!" Adrian exclaimed while Lissa set to working healing the wounds on her wrists.

"I...died..." Jill stammered. "You...saved me...again..." She winced a little and grabbed her stomach.

"You really need to knock off this whole dying business. You're not a cat. I don't know how many lives you have," Adrian joked, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Jill screamed as a terrible pain shot through her stomach.

"What's wrong? What hurts?" Lissa asked, looking at her with a concern she had never seen her sister exhibit before.

"The baby...something's wrong...ahhhhhhhhhh!" Jill screamed again.