October brought the changing of the seasons, and with it, life at Ingrid shifted as well.
Zoe left at the end of September, just as she'd been talking about, leaving the door open for a new housemate dynamic as Stacy's friend Jodi entered the scene.
At first, things seemed well on the Homefront for Jess, but for those who watched from the outside it became evident that the ship was about to run aground.
At the end of the first week of living with Jodi, the girls went out to the Bulkhead on Friday again.
As it happened, most of the boys were already there and they got to see immediately what sort of girl Jodi was.
At first they thought Jess hadn't come out with the rest of them, and they only noted in passing the arrival of the housemates.
"That the new girl?" Jason asked when Stacy stalked past to join a couple of young pups with a tall dark haired girl in toe. The way the young woman carried herself spoke volumes and instantly Bravo knew she was trouble.
"Yeah." Metal hardly glanced at her. "Jodi."
"Wow." Trent went back to his drink with a look, having seen enough already. "And she's a friend of Stacy?"
"Yup."
"What does Jess think of her?" Ray asked, trying to hold out hope that the girl had some redeeming qualities that would endear her to living with their sweet Jess.
Metal shrugged. "Hasn't said much. You know Jess, she's more likely to convince herself that whatever the issue is, it's because of her and not the other person."
"Fair point."
"Where is that girl of ours anyway?" Sonny asked, craning his head round looking for her after giving Jodi a good stare. Had she been a little older he might have tagged her as an easy target for a one nighter, but she wasn't exactly his type. Anymore.
"Haven't seen her yet." Clay said. "Oh, hold up, there's Pauline…and there's Jess."
"Ahhh…" Trent straightened suddenly. "Is it just me, or does she look like she got beat up."
Heads swiveled the second he asked.
As Jess walked towards them, chatting nervously with Pauline because this was her first time back since seeing Devin here, they could see she wasn't moving right and despite the make up, there was a visible bruise along the left side of her face.
She flushed when she caught them staring and both girls made their way over. The fact that Pauline wasn't joining Jodi and Stacy was telling.
"Shit, Jess…" Sonny whistled and squinted at her. "What in the hell happened to you? We're the ones supposed to be walkin around like that, not you."
The bashful smile that crossed her face eased some of the tension sitting around the boys and they waited.
"It's not as bad as it looks." Jess offered as she gingerly sat down in one of the chairs Metal had set between him and Trent for her and Pauline. "I think."
"What happened?" Clay asked.
"Well, ah, Paulie here roped me into helping at the barn with training another really green horse." Jess told them with a nervous laugh. "Got tossed. I'm ok though."
"Ahhh, yeah no. You did not just get tossed." Pauline was already pulling out her phone. "I'm gonna preface this with Jess volunteered very happily and I feel really bad for putting her up there because that horse was fuckin crazy and we have like….soooo much work to do with him before anyone gets on him again. Like, he had some issues that were not disclosed during the sale."
Jess shrugged carefully, like it hurt and smiled again, "It wasn't his fault! We didn't know he was abused, and now we do! Besides, we made some good progress at the end there, and he could have kicked me, but he didn't- hey…what the hell are you doing? No…nonoo, don't show them that- Pauline!"
Pauline was already holding up the phone and they watched with fascinated dread as a video of Jess getting thrown hard off a chestnut horse played. The animal went from standing quietly to abruptly spinning, bolting, then slid stopping while and bucking Jess off. It happened so fast that the girl hardly had time to react before she ate dirt.
There was an audible 'fuck' from Pauline on the screen when Jess landed and the horse looked like it stepped on her and certain members of Bravo failed to hide their own cringes. 'Are you ok!' Pauline gasped, running for the girl laying on the ground and ignoring the horse that went off bucking around the ring. Jess rolled over slowly with a groan so she was looking at the ceiling. 'Well that was terrifying!' Pauline was crouched down now, 'Did he get you?' Jess moved her legs experimentally. 'A little? He just sorta tapped me. Like…that should have hurt more if he put his full weight down…so that's a good sign!'
"When the hell did this happen!?" Asked Trent with deceptive mildness, tearing his eyes from the screen.
"This morning!" Pauline told them as she turned her phone back to herself and started looking for another video. "Then cray cray here decided she wanted to ride Charlie."
"And you let her?!" Jason was laughing now, though it only just reached his eyes.
"Charlie was a good boy." Jess insisted a little too quickly.
"You fell off him too, didn't you." Metal's growl overtook the rest.
"That wasn't his fault, that was my fault! I wasn't paying attention and he spooked at a bird."
"What is wrong with you?" Sonny asked, shaking his head incredulously at Jess. "You just barely escaped death and you wanna go courtin it again?!"
"I was fine!" Jess protested.
"I think it's awesome, even if you did get stepped on!" Clay laughed, less worried by it all than Sonny and Trent because he appreciated the recklessness Jess showed when it came to horses.
"It was a little love tap! I've barely got a bruise."
Ray looked pointedly at Pauline. "How bad is it?"
The blonde rolled both lips between her teeth and said frankly, "Her whole right quad is purple and blue in the shape of a horse hoof. You should hear her complain about going down stairs."
"What the heck!? Why are you telling on me!?" Jess turned to stare at Pauline.
"What?!" Pauline returned the stare innocently. "I don't wanna disappear because I didn't tell the truth!"
The laughter that rose over that statement neither confirmed nor denied anything.
"Damn horses." Sonny growled, casting another glance over Jess. "Did it get your face too?"
Pauline started to laugh while Jess said, "What? Oh, no. That's from walking into the bathroom door when the power was out last night. My nose bled everywhere, but it was dark so I couldn't see it so I didn't pass out, which was good."
Rubbing his face with both hands, Jason groaned. "Kid, I am starting to think you might be more accident prone than Clay."
"Hey! I'm not accident prone!" Clay was instantly offended.
"Yes you are!" Chorused the rest of his team.
"We could go all night talkin about you're misadventures, there, Claytastrophe." Distracted from being cranky about murderous horses, Sonny got a shit-eating grin as they geared up to tease their rookie.
Trying to deter them, Clay ignored them all and asked pleasantly, "So, Jess, how's that little car treating you?"
Mention of the little black civic made Jess's eyes light up and only Jason caught the way that made Metal's face lift with smug satisfaction. "It's great! I can't believe how good it is for fuel! I've hardly had to fill it at all and it takes forever for a tank of gas to go down!"
Still watching Metal out of the corner of his eye, Jason spotted the tiny smirk that appeared following Jess's pronouncement of how fuel efficient the car was.
"You're doing alright driving stick?" Ray asked. "You never had before, right?"
"Well," Jess looked into space just over Trent's head as she thought. "I don't stall much anymore, and I don't have to pep talk myself before going on the highway, so I think it's going well!"
"Pauline! Jess! Are coming or not!? We're supposed to be having fun as a group!" Stacy found them then, and Jess visibly diminished in her lighter attitude.
"Oh, sorry," Pauline sounded overly sincere. "It kinda looked like you and Jodi were busy. We'll come now. Come on, Jess!"
Making an obvious show to those that were a little better at picking up on her tells, Jess smiled and got up to go with the other girls. The way her eye nearly rolled when she spied the couple of guys standing around Jodi at the pool tables gave away how unenthusiastic she was about going with them.
"See ya." Jess sounded tired all the sudden. "Gotta go do the housemate thing."
"Hold up." Trent stopped her with a hand on her shoulder before she could force herself out of her chair.
"Yeah?"
"Did you hit your head when you fell? Horse didn't get your head or anywhere else?"
"No, and no."
"No headaches?"
"No."
"That bruise, is there fluid or just a normal bruise."
"Normal…ish…bruise. I've had worse. My horse fell on me once, but it was really muddy so he didn't hurt me that bad, but it was still worse than this. And then this other time Pauline's horse kicked me and I bruised my kidney. Honestly he didn't get me that bad. Could have, but he didn't. He's not a bad horse."
"Ok. Just making sure." Trent squeezed and waited for her to get up to see just how sore she was. The half giggle to cover the pain made half him shake his head.
As soon as Jess was out of earshot, Jason looked at Metal.
"You've been filling that gas tank up, haven't you."
The rest of the boys perked up, listening.
"Yup."
"How long do you think it will take her to notice?" Ray laughed.
"Not sure." Metal considered the question as he watched Jess reluctantly join her housemates at the pool tables. She looked uncomfortable when one of the guys tried talking to her, flicking a glance back to their table and only relaxing when she saw Metal was keeping an eye on her. "I'm thinking maybe another week."
Sure enough, one week to the day, Jess was up at a stupid hour, around 2am, and she caught sight of Scott's truck parked on the road. She was puzzled by that and only confused further when she noticed something missing from the driveway.
The car was missing.
Before she had much time to panic, speculate or wonder, he was pulling back in, hopping out, locking the car and heading back to his truck.
Just as he was getting in, Jess finally put the pieces together and she practically flew out her front door.
Scott caught the movement on the porch right away and waited when he saw it was her, a smug little smirk playing at his mouth despite how exhausted and worn down he seemed tonight.
"You sneaky turd!" Jess scolded with a disbelieving laugh bubbling under the surface. "Have you been filling my gas tank up? Is that why it's freakishly good on fuel?"
Playing innocent, Scott shook his head, "No, I was just taking it for a spin. Wanted to make sure it was still driving right."
"At two in the morning? What are you even doing up?"
"Just got back from a spin up and happened to swing past." Scott fixed her with a narrow eyed frown. "What about you? Why aren't you in bed?"
"Hey, don't go dodging the question! Have you seriously been stealing my car and putting gas in it?!"
"Oh, now it's your car!" Another smug smile appeared, lifting more of the tired lines on his face.
"Well, no, obviously not, but- stop that! You're dodging again!" Jess was standing before him on the sidewalk now, arms wrapped around herself. It was chilly out tonight. "You can't just steal it and fill it up like that!"
"Why not?" Scott tilted his head, ego and mild arrogance creeping in. "If it's my car then technically I'm not stealing it and I can take it whenever I want."
"But! That's…you…that's not fair!" Jess huffed, stumbling to find an argument.
"Seems perfectly fair to me."
Knowing she wasn't going to win this, and filled with a complicated mix of feeling like she owed him so much more now and also knowing he didn't want a dang thing from her, Jess stomped forward two steps and slipped her arms around his middle while letting her weight thump into him, hugging him the way she normally did when she was feeling confident. "You are a terrible person. And my bank account says thank you."
There was a subtle way that his body grew tense, his breathing caught, and he almost carefully returned the hug, like he was hurting.
Had Jess not hugged the man numerous times now in the span that they'd known each other, she might not have caught it. As it was, she picked up on it instantly.
"Did I hurt you!?" Her arms went slack immediately, putting together the exhaustion written all over him and the fact he'd just gotten back from a mission. She tried to pull away, gasping, "Are you hurt?!"
The big arms locked into place, keeping her there and Scott growled, "No. I'm fine, pipsqueak."
"I don't believe you." Jess challenged, a pitch of worry making her voice wobble.
"Jess, I'm ok. Got a little roughed up, that's all."
"Define, 'got a little roughed up'!" Jess tried to pull away a second time, and Scott tightened his arms as if to prove something, nearly crushing her. "Hey!"
"I'm fine. Stop gettin all worked up." Scott said gruffly as he finally let her go. "You should go bed."
"So should you." Jess shot back, crossing her arms.
Scott gave her a long look that she couldn't identify before he nodded, "Yeah. You're probably right, pips."
Giving him her best puppy eyes, Jess said, "Promise you aren't hurt bad, at least? Cause I'm still convinced I hurt you when I hugged you."
In response he rolled his eyes with an arrogant snort and head jerk, "I'm fine, Jess. You didn't hurt me. Just a little sore, that's all."
"Promise?"
"Keep that up and I'll make a bigger deal the next time you get stepped on by a horse."
"I'm willing to risk it."
"Good night, Jess." Scott said pointedly, tired lines returning despite the amusement lurking under the surface.
"Fine."
Monday night arrived faster than Jess wanted, although she had hoped it would deter Jodi from hooking up with another rando. It didn't. Hence why Jess was forced out of the house at a ridiculously late hour for a run.
The girl went through them like dirty socks and while Pauline and Stacy occasionally brought guys home, they were often discreet and nice people. This rando had been…a little creepy when he came in. She didn't like the way he'd looked her up and down before going upstairs to Jodi's room.
That was two hours ago. Jess was sore and tired from the lengthy run, wanted to sleep because she had a huge day tomorrow and prayed they were gone now. Jodi usually kicked them out after.
Crossing the street, Jess worked her way up the last street before home, turning up the music just a hair.
She passed in front of the darkened park, two blocks from home and instincts pushed her pace a little more until she was nearly to the pool of light at the edge of the park. She really didn't like passing this spot and thinking of the creep again made it worse.
Just before she reached it, a huge figure stepped out in front of her from the shadows.
Stifling a loud shriek and failing to stop from crashing into them, Jess drew another breath when they grabbed hold of her.
A hand clamped over her mouth, but by then all completely heartstopping fear had vaporized.
Jason was glaring down at her and she felt her earbuds get plucked from her ears.
"What did I tell you?!" He said a little harshly, holding the earbuds in front of her nose.
"J-jason." Jess croaked as he let her go and she took an involuntary step back because he was definitely mad at her. He was dressed as though he'd also been out running too.
"Do you have any idea how long I was following you?" Jason snapped, pacing in front of her a little and rubbing his chin with a hand on his hip. "You passed me eight blocks ago and never noticed when I started coming up behind you! And I wasn't quiet or subtle!"
"I had a lot on my mind. I…I wasn't paying attention." Jess whispered, properly terrified by the implications and not wanting to know how he'd made it in front of her when he'd been trailing behind before.
"No shit. What the hell are you doing out here at this hour anyway?"
"Just…needed to run."
Something about the way she said it poked a hole in his furious expression and he grimaced, almost like he understood better than she would ever know.
"Let's go." He dropped the traitorous earbuds in her hand. "I'm walkin you home."
Heart still hammering, Jess tried not to flinch when Jason's hand came behind her, firmly propelling forward.
"I'm sorry." Jess murmured, trying not to start crying.
"I'm not." Jason told her sharply, his jaw set. "We warned you what would happen if we ever caught you out doing exactly this. That damn music was way too loud."
Jess stayed quiet, her body anticipating getting yelled at and berated further, but instead Jason stopped lecturing her, stalking next to her in moody silence instead.
When they got within sight of Ingrid, Jason slowed his stride and Jess found herself matching him.
Rando was leaving the house.
"Who's that?" Jason asked in a low voice.
Jess shrugged and mumbled. "Jodi found him and brought him home for a good time. I just needed to get out of the house for a bit."
Jason didn't answer until they were standing at the porch stairs.
When she tried to say a hurried good night, he stopped her.
"Don't run with your music that loud again."
"I won't." Jess shivered as she studied the ground, still reeling, confused and embarrassed. She didn't like that he was angry, or that he'd scared her even though they'd promised they would if she didn't listen.
"Good." Jason crossed his arms, studying her with that same angry frown, but this time there was a smidge of regret in his dark eyes. "You ok?"
"Not really." Jess whispered, a lump finally rising in her throat.
"Come here. It's ok. You're safe." Jason's opened his arms. "You're ok."
Jess didn't feel ok, but she wasn't about to tell Jason that as she slipped closer and let him hug her. He wasn't wrong. They'd warned her what would happen and she knew now how stupid she'd been to ignore them.
"What's been on your mind that you're out running instead of sleeping." The question was more of a statement, except it was gentler than earlier.
Shrugging, Jess tried to fight the calming effect being hugged had on her heightened anxiety and she started to forget that he's scared the shit out of her.
"Everything ok with the housemates?"
Blinking rapidly now, Jess debated saying yes. That wasn't the truth though, and she learned long ago that Bravo valued trustworthiness and honesty above most other things.
"No. Jodi's a…interesting person. She and Pauline really aren't getting along, and Paulie's talking about moving out now too to take this position at the barn she works at. They'll pay for her room and board, she'd get to ride more."
"Hm." Jason pulled away. "What about you?"
"What about me? Well, I don't really have anywhere else to go that's as cheap as here."
Giving her a funny look, Jason said, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah! I've looked!" Jess rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted. "I can't find anywhere with cheaper rent that's not super sketchy."
"Ok." Jason was still giving her that look and seemed like he wanted to add something, but didn't. "Go on. Get out of here. You need sleep, kid."
Nodding miserably, Jess had to agree. She knew if he or Scott or Trent knew the half of it, they'd lose their shit because she wasn't eating, or drinking enough, she'd started drinking coffee again and her sleep was all out of whack.
"Jess?"
She paused when she reached the door.
"Love you."
Tears springing into her eyes, Jess nodded and whimpered, "I know."
"Ahhhh, damn it." Jason sighed and dragged himself up the steps. "Get back here."
Slipping back into a second hug, Jess tried and failed to keep from crying into his shirt, not caring that he was still damp from his run.
Saturday night arrived and Jess felt like she'd been through a terrible sitcom of ridiculous, unbelievable drama with Jodi and Stacy.
To make things worse she didn't hear from or see any of the guys all week and when she finally did, it was Scott texting her to say he wasn't going to be around and to text Trent if she needed anything.
And after everything that just went down in the kitchen, Jess absolutely needed something.
~Hey, Scott mentioned he wasn't going to be around this weekend but that I could text you if I needed anything?~
The reply took a few minutes, but it came back fairly quickly.
~Yup! What do you need, Jess.~
Taking a minute to debate and then starting to cry silently into her pillow before she gave in to the desire for 'back up', Jess typed;
~Put simply my one new housemate has a rando over again and he's creepier than the last one, like really creepy, so I was wondering if maybe I could crash on your couch tonight? It's ok if not.~
Her phone lit up five minutes later with a call coming in from Trent.
Stomach twisting, Jess answered it quietly so the only other occupants of the house wouldn't hear her, "Hey, I'm so sorry-"
"Nope, Jess, don't even start with that." Trent's voice was firm, but still gentle. "Get a bag packed, I want you to keep talking to me while we come get you."
Not computing the use of 'we', Jess started to protest because it was all she knew how to do, "You don't ha-"
"Jess." Trent's tone left leaving no room for further argument. "Do you feel safe right now?"
Swallowing the rock in her throat, Jess looked at her bedroom door and croaked quietly, "No."
"Ok. Then you stay on the line and you talk to me. Simple as that. Doesn't matter what was or wasn't said to make you feel like that, or what happened, it's enough that you don't feel safe. Are they occupied right now?"
Making a face because the house walls were paper thin and just because it was at the other end of the hall didn't mean Jess couldn't hear, she said flatly, "Yes."
"Ok. Good. Get your stuff together and go wait near the door for me, ok?"
Jess hesitated, staring at her door still as if she expected someone to break it down.
"Y-yeah...it's just…h-he said that…he had a buddy…waiting in the car…and kinda suggested a few things that I'm not interested in-and that was all after he suggested a threesome and a lot of other really- just- Trent…I'm actually really scared right now."
There was a long pause and then Trent said calmly. "New plan. You lock yourself in your room, ok? Don't come out until one of us gets there. Got it?"
"Am I overreacting?" Jess whispered as she curled into her bed and watched the door.
"No." Trent was firm on that one. "You are not. Take a deep breath. We got you."
"W-we?"
"Honey, Brock and I are still about ten minutes away, but don't worry. You got back up in about two minutes or less now, promise."
"Who-" The front door downstairs opened loudly and Jess stiffened.
"Jess?" Jason's voice called out, announcing his presence with all the confidence and grouchy protectiveness she'd come to love in him. "Comin in!"
Biting back a sob, Jess told Trent, "Jason's here."
"Ok. See? Told you we have you." Trent's voice held a hint of relief now and he added, "Brock and I will be there in a few."
Out in the hall Jess heard Jodi's door open and the rando exclaiming, "Who the hell are you guys?!"
"We're the garbage collectors." Jason said coldly. "You wouldn't know of any trash around here that needs to be crushed, do you?"
"Trash? Nah man, you got the wrong place-"
"Aw, you know that's really just too bad!" Jason was laughing without humor now. "My friend there was really looking forward to crushing something! He says the best thing to crush is a skull, while personally, I enjoy the way the bones of the arms and hands break. The little ones just pop so nicely!"
"Are you threatening me?"
"Threatening? No. Just making conversation! Why?" Jason's voice went cold as steel again, "Should I be?"
"What the hell?!" Jodi's voice joined in. "Jess?! Do you know these guys?"
There was a knock at her door and Jess opened it as her call with Trent ended.
The dark, serious and concerned face that greeted her wasn't Jason though.
"Scott?" Jess whispered, not at all expecting to see him standing there. He looked ruffled and half thrown together. Jess got the feeling he would never in a million years tell her where he just came from, but she had a horrible feeling he'd come from a date. "I thought-"
"Happened to be in the area again." He told her, steering her away from the topic before she could ask. "You ok?"
Tears surfaced immediately and she tried to nod her head as she stepped towards him, elbows clenched to her sides, but forearms opened in a wordless plea for a hug. She didn't have to ask twice. He practically crushed her with one arm and the other hand holding the back of her head against him and resting his chin on her crown.
"No one touched you, right?" Scott asked, his low growl making the hair on her neck lift. There was a part of her that was convinced if she said yes someone would get castrated. Lucky for the rando the answer was no.
She shook her head and tried not to look down the hall. "Just a lot of suggestions and crude insinuations…and he mentioned a buddy in the car."
"You got a bag packed yet?"
"No."
Jodi's voice rose a little down the hall, calling for her and demanding to know what was going on, threatening to call the cops.
The threat to Jason and Scott got Jess hot under the collar within seconds. The fury she hadn't felt safe enough to express earlier ignited and she just about went after Jodi.
"You know what? You can fuck right off, Jodi!" Jess started to push past Scott, ready to do…something. She didn't know what she would do, but she wanted to hit someone and she was done trying to play nice with this girl.
The solid arm that came firmly across the front of both shoulders stopped her forward movements but not the words.
"Screw you, Jess! You're such a bitch! Why the hell would you call in these guys over some dumb little drunk comment!" Jodi snapped right back.
"I'm the bitch? You keep having sleazy randos over who are all one brain cell shy of being murderers and rapists!"
"I'm calling the cops." Jodi stated, giving Jess a challenging, nasty look.
"Call the cops and I'll show them where you hide your fucking drugs!" Jess was shaking now with anger and Jodi's bitchy confidence faltered with the mention of the drugs. "Yeah! I know about them, I'm not dumb and you don't hide them well at all . I bet your friend there has stuff he doesn't want them finding either!"
"Wow! Yeah, hey I don't want any trouble." Rando was pulled on pants and heading for the stairs, but Jason was blocking his way. "Dude, I don't know these chicks. I was just here for a good time. I'm out of here."
"Not until you apologize to my daughter." Jason snarled coldly.
Jess's heart stopped and the fury in her soul took a hiatus as she processed his words.
With the proclamation, Jodi and her rando both went white, neither knowing that Jason was verbally claiming Jess as his own for the first time with her able to hear him. All they knew was that a dad who loved his kid enough to be ready to rip the arms off someone who scared her or hurt her was dangerous.
The rando hardly looked at Jess and hurried to say, "I'm sorry for the dumb shit I said. I was just messing around."
"Good. You ever come near her again, or speak to her again, or even think about her again, we will find you and we will be discussing the best ways to break bones. Am I clear?"
"Crystal."
Jason stepped aside and the rando fled like a cat from a dog, no where near the same cocky, arrogant asshole that entered the house.
"And you," Jason turned on Jodi. "Why don't you just take yourself back into your room like a good little girl and don't show yourself again."
"You can't-" Jodi paused when Jason folded his arms with a subtle forward shift of his weight. Sensing herself on thin ice, she backed away into her room without another word and closed the door.
"Jase?"
There was a call from downstairs announcing the arrival of Brock and Trent.
"We're good." Jason answered, descending the stairs to meet them while Scott nudged Jess back into her room, muttering something about taking a deep breath.
Only when he said that did Jess notice she'd stopped breathing for a bit.
"Just how many times has this happened, Jess?" Scott asked quietly as he watched Jess walk circles around her room trying to collect herself and figure out what to pack.
"Creepy randos coming home with Jodi? A couple." Jess admitted, flicking a guilty look at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He didn't sound mad, but it was so carefully controlled that she knew he wasn't happy with her.
"I thought it would get better…and the others it was just, subtle and could have been in my head. I didn't want to make a big deal about it!"
"This was something you should have told me, Jess." Scott's tone took a warning edge to it and she knew for sure he was upset.
Panic started to build in her stomach. She didn't think she could handle him being mad at her tonight. "I'm sorry…you guys seemed really busy and had stuff-"
"How many bags do you have available?" Scott was scanning the room now, jaw set.
"Um, I should just need the one-"
"Nope. Not just one bag, Jess. Pack it all."
"What?"
"You're out of here. Enough is enough."
"But, where-"
"Really?" Scott raised his eyebrows at her. "You have to ask that?"
Stunned hope burned in Jess's chest. "Y-you mean I can come back? I can stay with you?"
"All you ever had to do was ask and since you ain't, I'm telling you; you're moving in with me. Period. If you wanna find a different place down the line, fine. No problems. But, you're done here. No more of this bullshit. You need to get out. It's toxic. You're not thriving, you're going back downhill! Don't think I haven't noticed-" Jess slammed into him before he ever finished speaking and burst into tears, arms latching tightly around his middle. Wrapping his arms around her, Scott looked down at her head and said with masked relief, "I take it you want to come back and stay with me?"
Still sobbing, Jess nodded vigorously. "Yes!"
"Good. You didn't have much of a choice." He growled, only half joking.
"I was too scared to ask." Jess cried into his nice black shirt. The anchor point of his palm cradling the back of her head made the truth slip out.
Scott's arms tightened and he went quiet for a minute.
"Why?"
"Because, I didn't want to ask and have you say no and then that would make things weird or awkward and I didn't have the right to ask because it's your space and I didn't want to just assume-"
"Pips, I told you when you moved back here that all you had to do was say the word and we'd take you back to my place!"
"I thought that was like, temporary, like a one time offer and I've been a huge pain in the ass since then so I thought maybe…maybe you wouldn't want me to come back!"
"You are always a huge pain in the ass, Jess. Doesn't change a thing." Scott said dryly, not exactly serious. "Let's get you packed."
In under an hour with the help of her family, Jess had all her stuff cleared out and packed into her and Scott's vehicles (minus the furniture, which wasn't much of anything to begin with). She always thought leaving Ingrid would be upsetting, but instead it was like a dark cloud lifted from her and she was free of something weighing her down.
That night, after she was semi settled back into the spare room at Scott's, Jess slept soundly for the first time since leaving to go back to Ingrid.