~ Gemma ~

Jed held me close. Jed was holding me close. He looked so anxious and so gorgeous, all I could say was, "Gosh…" The way he looked at me, I couldn't quite place if he was upset with me or relieved. "Did I miss something?"

"It's really you," he said, crushing me to him.

"Um… yes…?" I murmured, overwhelmed by the feel of being in his arms, especially the way he held me, like he might never let me go again. That suited me just fine, and I laid my head against his chest, listening to the fast beat of his heart until he pulled back to look me over like he was checking me for damage.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his thumbs brushing over my cheeks.

"I… I think so. My head's a bit wonky. Did I faint or something?"

"Something like that," he mumbled, deep in thought.

God, how embarrassing. And he'd probably picked me up out of a puddle of my own drool, thinking I'd had a fit or something. I did a surreptitious check of my chin, pleased to find it dry at the moment.

Jilly was down the hall laying into someone invisible with a fury I didn't understand. "Don't you ever fucking do anything like that again or I'll fong you upside the head, you bloody old crone!"

"Jilly, language!" I hissed.

"If she's talking to who I think she is, I'm actually with her on this one," Jed muttered darkly. "Come on, let's get you out of here." Looping an arm around my shoulders, he led me to the stairs.

"Ah… what are we doing down here again?" I didn't remember going down those stairs at all. Had he carried me there?

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Well… I was about to go out to the car and I couldn't find my keys, and…" I patted myself down in a mild panic, pleased to find them in the pocket of my jumper. "Oh good, here they are."

"And after that?"

"After that…" What had come after that? "I… hardly know. The next thing I remember was you holding me. Did I pass out then?"

"That's a bit of a story. I'll tell you on the drive home."

Jed insisted on driving, and I was glad he'd offered, as what he told me made me feel like I might pass out again. I had to sit and take deep breaths for a good five minutes before the sensation passed.

"That's… incredible, isn't it? Do such things really happen?"

"They must, because it just did. Are you really okay? Do you need to go get checked out or something?"

"No, no I think I'm fine. What would a doctor check for in any case? But what about you? How are you?"

"I'm not the one who was just possessed," he snorted.

"No, but you're the one who just had their entire life turned around. How do you feel about the things Grace told you? Do you believe what she said?"

"I've no reason not to." He stared straight ahead, eyes on the road. "I… don't know what to feel quite yet, I'm still processing."

"That's to be expected," I nodded.

"Ask him about the rest of it," Jilly said from the back seat. She'd gone all quiet after her outburst at Grace earlier, but from what Jed had said, she'd been busy with the flickering lights and that tended to take a lot out of her.

I turned to look back at her. "What do you mean?"

"Ask him about what Grace said about you. The two of you."

"What did Grace say about me?" I asked him, not liking the ball of worry that bloomed in my stomach. What else wasn't he telling me?

"Nothing important."

"Jilly seems to think so."

Jed shook his head, moistening his lips before he replied. "She said something to the effect that I should leave you alone now that I've a chance at a normal life. She said a lot of things though, she was never really all there, even when she was alive."

"Oh." I hadn't thought of that yet, but Grace was right, wasn't she? Now that Jed was free from ghosts, he didn't need me or Jilly complicating his life, did he? Besides, it wasn't like we were together, together. We were friends, and that would have to be enough.

He pulled up to an available parking spot on the street by the house and turned off the car, but sat there without getting out right away. "You've gone awfully quiet. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yep, I'm fine," I said with a tight smile, tucking the hair back behind my ear.

He reached out and caught up my hand, trapping it between his. "Why don't I believe that?"

"Well…" I shouldn't say anything. I should blame my mood on being tired from possession and escape to my room to cry over an entire packet of Jammie Dodgers, but instead, I blurted out, "Grace had a point, didn't she? You don't have to stick around here any longer. You could go anywhere." He could even go find Kate.

He swallowed, looking down at the steering wheel. "You want me to leave?"

"What? No! Of course not. It's just… You're normal now and… I'm hardly normal, am I?"

Jed turned to face me again, reaching out to brush across the shell of my ear, pushing my hair back from my face. "Whatever you are, I like it." And then he leaned over and kissed me, slow and deliberate, as if he thought I might spook and pull away.

"I like you too," I whispered against his lips, breathing in the scent of his skin as his mouth closed over mine again. My heart beat faster as he deepened the kiss, and I learned the taste of him as well.

"Don't suppose it much matters to you at the moment, but the rug's on fire in the lounge," Jilly reported, and it was like being splashed with a bucket of water as I realized we had an audience.

"What?" I said, wrenching my mouth from his.

His brows pinched together with worry. "Is something the matter?"

"Jilly says the rug's on fire in the house."

"Let's go check it out," he said decisively, already half out of the car before I had my seatbelt off.

I followed after him, stopping when I saw what was going on at the house. "Oh no…"

Every light was on, even the ones in my bedroom and Jed's, and there was deep, thumping techno music pumping out. There were people everywhere. Drinking, smoking, as was the rug in the lounge, though the fire was out, thank goodness. While I didn't mind a good party, these were not good partygoers, as some of them were under age and there was open drug use going on.

"I can't have this here," I said, clutching to Jed's arm. I could be brought up on charges for contributing to the whatever of minors; it was my house.

"Right, I'll close it down," he said, giving my hand a squeeze and then making his way to the sound system, turning it off. "Party's over!" he yelled over the chorus of disappointed groans.

A guy with a shaved head and multiple face piercings swaggered up. "Turn the fucking music back on," he growled, pressing the play button again. The deafening thump of music immediately started up again.

"I said the party's over," Jed insisted, reaching for the power button again, and the guy head butted him, sending Jed reeling back a few steps, his face darkening as he charged at the guy.

"Oh no…" I murmured. The last thing I wanted was a fight.

"Hang on, I've got this," Jilly promised, eyes closing as she concentrated. The lights flickered and then the power went completely out. Everyone groaned again and the guy stopped struggling with Jed.

"That's it, party's over. Everyone out or I'm going to ring the police," I yelled out loud enough to be heard throughout the house. At the mention of police, the crowd started streaming out of the house like it was on fire.

Lilah came running down from upstairs, her face twisted with rage. "I've every right to have a party here!" she yelled once she found us in the lounge.

Normally, I might've shrank back from the confrontation, but with Jed by my side, I found the strength to reply. "Not without discussing it with me first. Besides the fact that it's common courtesy, you can't have illegal drugs in my house. Some of those guys were just kids!" Not to mention the fact that her guests were in my room and Jed's as well.

Lilah's chin thrust out like she was spoiling for a fight, but she crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine, I'm moving out. I was getting sick of this shit place anyway. Don't think I'll be paying my rent this month."

"Don't think you're getting your deposit back," I retorted, looking with dismay at the scorch marks on the carpet, still visible in the dim light.

"Whatever," she glowered, stomping out in her clompy boots.

There were a few people lingering out in the garden, but mostly people had dispersed, and we set about locking the doors and setting the house to rights after we got the lights back on. Apart from a lot of garbage, there hadn't been too much more damage to the rest of the place, though my bed was no longer made, so I immediately stripped the sheets off for the wash.

Jed knocked on my door just as I'd remade the bed with fresh sheets. "Come in," I called out, sitting on the edge of the bed with a dejected sigh. "What am I going to do now? I needed her rent to finish paying off that mortgage."

"We'll sort it out. Don't worry." He sat next to me, rubbing my back in a comforting manner.

I leaned my head against his shoulder. "Thank you for being here for me. Did that guy hurt you?"

"Nah," he shook his head. "I'd have had him in a moment or two," he smiled.

"Sorry to drag you into such a mess."

"Hey, this was a perfectly mundane mess, not like the one I dragged you into earlier, so no apologies needed. Except from me. I never did apologize for you getting possessed like that."

"No, that wasn't your fault. I'm the one that wanted to come with you." I shook my head. "And she didn't hurt me, it just took a little out of me."

"You should get some rest. We'll finish cleaning up in the morning." His hand rubbed the back of my neck.

"Or you could keep doing that for an hour or so," I smiled, my eyes drifting shut with a happy sigh.

"Happy to oblige," he said with a smile in his voice, shifting to rub my neck and shoulders with strong hands.

I let out a little moan as he worked the tension out of my muscles. "You could make a living at this. Have you ever thought of that?"

"I have always been good with my hands, but putting them on total strangers wouldn't be my first choice, no," he chuckled.

"Good, I'd rather keep your hands for myself," I smiled, my head lolling to one side.

"I'd rather keep my hands on you as well," he teased, hands moving down my arms in a lighter touch, making my skin tingle.

"I like the sound of that," I murmured, leaning back against his chest as his arms came around me.

"Just my hands?" he rumbled, his lips near my ear.

"I'm open to suggestion," I whispered, turning my head to catch his mouth. His kiss was slow and deliberate again, but after my lips parted to accept him, he deepened the kiss, showing me he wanted this as much as I did. Somehow, I ended up on his lap, my arms around him, his hands finding the bottom of my shirt and sliding up to find bare skin.

"You're not going to want to know what they did in the loo," Jilly reported, killing the mood, and I broke the kiss to scowl at her across the room.

"What's wrong?" Jed frowned at the interruption. "Too fast?"

"No, sorry… just… we're not alone."

"Ah, right." Comprehension dawned on him and he looked up at the ceiling, not sure where to find her. "Don't suppose you could give us a bit of privacy, Jilly?"

"Why, are you going to be sinning?" she teased.

"Jilly, please, could you give us a minute?"

"If all he takes is a minute, maybe best to give it a miss." She made a face, and I just stared at her until she rolled her eyes and left.

"All clear?" he smiled, and I wanted to pick up where we'd left off in the worst way, but Jilly and I were going to have to have a talk about boundaries before we got any more physical than we already had.

"Maybe it's best if we just say goodnight for now? If that's alright?" Silently, I willed him to understand, and Jed rewarded me with an easy smile.

"Course it is. There's no rush." He reached up to brush the hair away from my face. "You've made me feel more at home here with you than I have… ever, maybe. So I'm not going anywhere at the moment."

"I like the sound of that," I smiled.

"And besides, I haven't had the best of luck with relationships," he allowed.

"I can't really say that I have either."

"I tend to jump in without thinking, before I even really know a person, and things get out of control fast. I don't want that to happen with you. I think this could be something real."

"Me too," I smiled, beyond pleased with his response to what might have some guys leaving in frustration. "A chance at something really good for both of us."

"So," he said, carefully setting me off of his lap and standing. "I'll say goodnight."

"Goodnight," I said, walking him to the bedroom door where he gave me one last lingering kiss that almost had me pulling him back inside. At least I had something good to dream about for once.

~ Feedback is Love ~