They argued for hours and right now I'm hoping Jake wins this argument. I would much rather sleep in the forest than to be this close in proximity to Jake.
It was Friday night, anyways. I can do one more night and then see Miles. They were in their bedroom, and even if you tried to ignore them. It was impossible.
"I already set orders!" He growled at her. "You need to stop overstepping my..."
"No! You are wrong!" She snapped back at him. "How could you leave a helpless being out there? She's done nothing!"
"I don't fucking care! She's not one of us!"
"There was a time where you weren't either!" She shouts standing so close to his face that the sweat drops could've fallen off. He sat there angry, just staring the woman he was in love with. Wanting her to stop looking at him with disappointment. "How do you expect to be..."
"Fuck, Neytiri." He groans throwing his arms down in defeat. "Stop comparing me to your dad"
"He gave his life for you!" She shouts digging her pointer finger into his chest. "And what have you done with it?!"
"You know better than to touch me like that" He warns. Because Jake felt demeaned, like he was her child not her fiancé. "Show me the same fucking respect that i show you"
"I show you enough!" She shouts as he turns his head to let her continue to yell. "This is a partnership, yet you show no sign of being my actual partner"
"No, i am your partner. You are the one who thinks this partnership ties into this weird political..." He starts but that already digs at her.
"So my culture is weird now? Strange? Is that it?"
"God, i didn't mean it like that"
"Then what Jake?! You show no sign of actually being the man that i..."
And he stands up, fed up with the fighting.
"I'm done talking" he says walking past her to strap on his harness.
"So you leave? Is that how you solve things?"
"Do what you want baby" He shrugs "You're the leader right? You make the rules?" Jake says turning back to look at her. "I'm just your slave"
"Jake."
But he doesn't respond to her, slamming open the makeshift door to their room and i jump from the sudden loudness, still sitting with my knees folded on the floor, holding the tea that Neytiri made for me. Jake never looks my way as he walks out of their home calling for Ikran and just leaving.
I never knew...there was so much turmoil between them.
Neytiri lets out a sigh running her hand through her hair as she walks out to look at me.
"Ignore him" Neytiri reassures me, and honestly i would love to ignore Jake. But that's hard to do when his very presence was so...big. "Everything is fine" She says smiling and sitting down next to me.
"I don't wish to be a burden, really, I can..." I started. Which is technically true I could leave, tomorrow I would see Miles anyways. Maybe convince him to take me home.
"No, he is wrong." She tells me sternly. "He needs to start acting like a chief. He can't keep running away from these..." and she sighs realizing she was venting again. "I'm sorry. You must be tired"
I shook my head but she takes this as me being polite again and grabs my wrist to drag me to her room and...i already feel like I'm violating their most intimate part of their relationship. In Na'Vi culture it's normal to sleep in a community, however i spent way too long with human traditions...So i wasn't prepared to actually sleep in the same room that they just argued in, where they laugh in, where they have sex in.
"You may stay with us for as long as you like." She tells me, and i wonder if she's just saying that to annoy Jake. "it's the way of our people, it's how my father would've done things. It's how I will do things. He would never left you out there" She tells me.
"You may sleep here" Neytiri says walking over to her bed, moving things to make it more comfortable. It was nothing like the human ones, these were thin almost just enough to be off of the floor. Woven fabrics for blankets and it dawned on me that it was one sleeping area.
I turn to look at Neytiri confused for a moment.
"Jake will sleep outside." She reassures me "for the disrespect he's shown you..So rest assured he will not touch you without me biting his head off first."
And I wonder how much he would even be able to deal with that.
"Neytiri" I mumbled feeling like this will force Jake to truly strangle me. "I don't want to cause issues,"
She looks into my eyes for a moment, seeing that i was begging her to change her mind. But she is also too guilt ridden, feeling like she owes me for saving her life. When in actuality, I'm the very cause of it.
"It's just for tonight, we'll figure things out tomorrow." She says "You just...look exhausted. So... i wanted to...help" She admits and i was...exhausted. But this mission felt more complicated than i was expecting. Neytiri grabs my hand and drags me over to her side of the bed, as she lays on Jake's side, guarding over me. As if her husband to be, was really the thing she should be worried about...
I don't think Jake came home at all. Which wasn't unpleasant actually. He hates me, clearly this weird mate serum didn't work. Honestly it's working better on Neytiri than Jake...at this point i have better luck with getting into her panties than his. Maybe i could use that as an excuse to go back home.
It so strange though, because it worked on Miles and he was only 15% of Jake. I wonder why it doesn't effect Jake? Maybe it's just how they formulated it? It was around 5am when I woke up and sat outside on their balcony. Looking up at the sun just barely peaking up. I couldn't wait to see Miles. I missed everything, my entire family back at hell's gate.
Suddenly, Jake grabs a handful of my hair and yanks me backwards to look at him. He crouches down, golden eyes filled with hate again. My breathing hitched up and my heart was pounding. He didn't even speak, gaze still locked on mine. I wanted to break away, but was terrified one wrong move and he'd kill me.
"Take your clothes off" he orders and I'm taken back by his very words but a knife held to my neck made me obey. "Slow."
"Why are you doing this" I let out but he doesn't answer that.
"Either you do it, or i can" he hisses closer to me. Jake refuses to let go of my hair, as he just keeps his eyes locked on mine while i began to remove everything until I was just sitting there naked. Shaking. He glances down for a moment, eyes trailing my entire body. Like... he was looking for something.
"What are you..." I started but he cuts me off.
"I don't trust you" he growls in a low voice "I know there is something." He was so close to my face that i could smell his intoxicating scent. Lips only inches from mine, I wondered if he never meant to lean his head down this low.
Because now he physically can't pull away. It's taking everything in him to keep from crashing down.
"If you hurt her, I promise. I will kill you."
And with that he throws me off and I fall forward clutching the ground. I didn't even want to look up at him and until his foot steps begin to disappear I started to finally breathe.
This was hell.
I didn't want to do this anymore.
——————-
"Sev..." Miles started as I crashed into his arms and he falls back. "Fuck kid," he groans "what's..."
"I wanna go home!" I protested feeling my arms tremble "I'm not cut out for this! Just call me a baby, tell the sergeant to throw me in prison but...i can't do this"
And he lets that 5% win.
"Vera" Miles whispers as he drops his head on mine. Wanting to so badly jump this leap and keep me hidden.
"Please" I beg "I can't"
I don't know what was more stupid...
Thinking that Miles had the power to just let me stay,
Or that Jake wouldn't follow me,
Even when i made sure to take different routes, stay hidden, it was my very scent that he tracked.
Miles looked into my eyes, wiping the small tears that appeared "It's ok," He whispers softly "I'll...figure it out. Just stay here with..." and in that split second, he shifts his body to protect me at Jake appears impaling him with a knife.
And I shouldn't have shown grief on my face. Because we were at war.
"Miles" I muttered as Jake picks up on my voice, ears perk up and he looks down at me. He could kill Miles right now, he could end this and yet...he found a better form of torture.
Jake hooks his arm around my waist.
"You want her? Come get her." he taunts Miles before dragging me all the way back to Omatikaya. This will be the only reason Jake finally agrees to keeping me. Because Miles took everything from him, so he would do the same.
—————
"You plan to starve yourself now" Jake ask putting down the plate of food, as i sat curled up in the corner of their bedroom. I didn't even turn to look at him, terrified that now that he knows I'm associated with the man that he's been after, that any wrong move would surely end my life. I needed to figure a way out of this. "Not talking to me?" He speaks again seeing how far he could push me. "Gonna get use to it because I'm not letting you near Neytiri anymore."
"Why don't you just kill me" i mumbled out hugging my legs and keeping my eyes focused on a part of their wall.
"I would love to" Jake answers "but when you manipulate my wife with pretty eyes, I have no choice but to...feed you." He mutters out, annoyed that he has no control over his life.
"I'm not hungry"
"Fine" he shrugs "Starve then" Jake walks out and hears me starting to cry. He stops for a brief second, brows still pressed into a scowl. He knows if i don't eat anything in a day or two. I would die. I've already gone almost a week without any real food. Something needed to give.
The next day, i still sat into the same corner, when he walks back in. Jake sits down right in front of me, a new plate of food.
"Eat." He orders but i keep still. He can hear my heart pounding, the fear was very apparent. Jake could literally see me physically shaking and he becomes impatient. "What is it about me that you are so fucking scared for?"
And even his voice makes me wish i could squish myself more into the corner.
"Eat" he repeats himself, and maybe because i was trained to know everything about Jake. So i knew that his patience was running direly low.
"I'm not hungry" I responded "Thank you"
"Will you eat if Neytiri is here?" He asks and i turn my head to look up at him, and a part of Jake himself does feed into that mate biology, but not enough to show it on his face.
"Why?"
"Yes or no"
"Why do you want me to eat so bad?"
"Yes or no, Vera" he says again, voice harsher and i didn't even realize he knew my name.
"Will you let me go?"
"It depends, will you eat?"
"If you let me go, then yes"
He looks at me for a moment, just staring into my eyes. Seeing innocence. Something was off and he could feel it. Yet he didn't know what it was.
'You look sad" I said and maybe this catches him off guard. Because he hasn't stopped to process his own emotions, ever.
"Is this coming from the girl who's cowering in the corner?" He throws back at me.
"I'm not sad, I'm scared. There's a difference." I corrected him, "i can see it in your eyes."
"Eat." He says going back to the main topic again "And if you want then I'll set you free."
"You promise?"
Jake ponders on this thought for a moment. "Promise."
So i do eat, even if he poisoned it, i didn't care i was so hungry. He stands up and begins to walk out.
"Wait? You promised i was going to leave?"
"I lied." Jake says
"Wait!" I said standing up but he already walked out and locks me back in the room. The sound of banging and i began to scream and shout. Nails dig into the wood and he stands there, listening to me continues to shed hundreds of tears. "Please! I'll do anything"
"Jake." Neytiri says crossing her arms at her.
"No" he replies sternly, holding his finger up to her. "A lot of things, i give in to you. But not her. You won't get close to her."
"So what? You torture her? Do you hear her?"
"Enough Neytiri." He says in harsh tone that even sends fear toward her. There are few times, very few time Jake will not bend. Times where he reminds her that he is not weak, that he stand down for her. But if Jake needs to, he has no problem pushing his authority. "If i scent you on her, i won't hesitate to kill her"
"You're insane" she mutters out
"Pick baby, your husband or your Olo'eyktan. I can't be both" He reminds her, before walking away. She just watches him for minute as he lays down on the outside balcony. Knowing Neytiri won't let him near her. But in Jake's mind, this was justified. He was doing this to protect her, to protect their family, the colony.
The next few days i refuse food again, it was useless. Why eat? If he was just going to lie to me again.
"You don't wanna piss me off" Jake growls and i don't answer him, keeping my eyes diverted. Out of utter annoyance, he grabs my face to look up into his eyes, and he presses my cheeks forcing my mouth open and he attempts to force food down my throat but i just spit it back at him and he slams me into the wall tightening his hold on my neck. "All I'm trying to fucking do is keep you alive, and this is the shit i get?!"
"I rather die"
And he grits his teeth, releasing his hold on my throat.
"Like hell I'm going to give you what you want" he mutters and then it hit me. But maybe it's because his body was littered in injuries. Miles has come for me, but it seems like Jake and him are evenly matched.
"He loves me" I lied as Jake's ear begin to perk up, moving in a few different directions. He was confused for a moment, what I was going on about. "If you want him, I can lure him to you. He won't fight me."
Jake looks down at me, breathing heavily.
"What makes you think I'd bargain with you?" He asks
"Because you're desperate" I replied he hated how good I was at reading him. To the point where he did think of not visiting me at all. "Save your marriage, show your wife you can deal with the man who all but caused the destruction of home tree." I went on.
"And you?" Jake asks me
"What about you?"
"You love him?"
I paused for a moment not even knowing how to answer him but the silence was enough for Jake.
"So you do" He finishes for me. "He's a hypocrite you know, all this time. Talking about Na'Vi are trash this and that." Jake runs a hand over my face, softer this time. "And yet falls for one. How ironic."
And I couldn't even speak, because of his very touch.
"I guess I can't really be too surprised," he says more to himself than to me. "I mean now that I get to see his type in person" Jake leans down closer to me. "You bring him to me, and I'll let you go."
"You lied the first time, how will I know it's the truth?"
"Would you like to get out of here?" He entices "If you're a good girl, I'll let you have a bit more freedom than being stuck in here. As a token of trust."
And I begin to feel a bit of hope as he clutches my face tighter.
"If. You. Swear. To. Obey. Me." Jake says and I nodded. "That's my girl. So you'll bring me your boyfriend?"
And part of him craved the very idea that he could turn me into his own puppet just to get to Miles. Something so satisfying rushed over his face.
I nodded. I'd say whatever to get out of here, it wasn't like I would actually betray Miles anyways. But maybe a part of Jake knew that too. Knew that it would take more, so he plotted and even better scheme.
Jake would find a way to get me to his side. He would make Miles regret ever fucking with him.
