Jed Bailey (jokerandthief) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-01-21 22:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 03, jacklyn baker, jed bailey, | jack and jed |
Week Three - Thursday
Characters: Jack Baker, Jed Bailey
Location: Hard Rock Hotel
Summary: Coming back from Alice's place, Jed finds Jack blasting music behind locked doors and yelling at him to go away. Oh, the joys of puberty.
Rating: K for Kelly Clarkson
There was a lot on Jed's mind. The healthy helping of alcohol wasn't helping either. So he had plenty of reason he didn't notice the music blaring from the suite until he opened the door.
"What the..."
It was loud, but muffled, and his eyes went automatically to Jack's door. Jack's closed door.
"Here I am, once again, I'm tooooorn into pieces."
He knocked, a little uncertain. "Jack?" he called over the singing chick. "You in there?"
Jack had stormed into her room the moment after Searle left and she'd pretty much been in there ever since. So far, she'd only been out twice; once to make up with Rocky and bring the dog into her room and once to get a snack when Jed wasn't back at his usual time. Nobody ever stopped Jed from coming and going like he wanted. It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair.
She rubbed her eyes, even though she had stopped crying awhile ago. "Go away!" she yelled at the door.
He jerked back, eyes widening. He hadn't done anything wrong, right? He couldn't remember doing anything wrong, but then that's what he thought when she ran off, too. "What's goin' on, Jack?"
Her eyes started to sting again at the thought of trying to explain. "Leave me alone!" She rolled over so her back was facing the door.
"Jack, I'm sorry I was late," he tried. "Alice an' I had a lot to go over with the inventory. Didn't meant to take so long."
Scowling, Jack got up and stomped to the door. "Fine," she said, yanking her door open. "You were too busy with stupid Alice to even use the walkie to say you were late. Sorry to be an inconvenience," she added sarcastically. "Now, leave me alone!" Glaring through red-rimmed eyes, she moved to slam the door on him.
Jed's hand shot out, stopping the door right where it was. She'd been crying. Last time she'd been crying, she'd been beaten half to hell. His jaw tightened. "Jack, what happened?"
Jack tried to keep glaring at him, wanting to be angry but Jed asked and her tears spilled over again. "Searle...we were watching a movie and he - we - Searle said I'm going to hell," she sobbed, sounding heartbroken.
"What? What'd he do?" Or what'd you do? Floundering a moment, Jed gently took her shoulders, guiding her back to sit on the edge of her bed. "Tell me ev'rything, Jack."
"We got in a fight," she sniffled. "Searle - Searle said it was my fault I got hit 'cause I couldn't run away and that if I use a gun, I'm gonna go to hell. He said I was a bad guy and I'm not! I'm not bad, I'm not."
"Hey, hey, 'course you're not," Jed soothed, patting her back. In one swift movement, he leaned over and flicked off the stereo. Hearing some girl wailing out about crying didn't help when he had a crying girl right there with him. Then he put his arm around Jack, holding her shoulder tight. First thing was first: make Jack feel better. He could beat the crap out of Searle later.
"And it ain't your fault. Searle's juss some snotty rich kid who never been in that kind of situation," Jed assured her.
"I tried to run away," Jack added. "I tried, but they stopped me, and grabbed me and I couldn't get away..." She turned and pressed her face into Jed's shoulder. "I don't want to hurt anybody but I don't want bad things to happen to me and that doesn't make me bad. They're bad guys, not me and Searle doesn't like me anymore..."
Jed gritted his teeth, wanting nothing more than to have the little bastard there right now. "It wasn't your fault, Jack," he said firmly. "You did what you could, and now you gotta protect yourself, and if Searle don't see that, he's an asshole."
That was all Jack wanted. To protect herself. She knew guns weren't toys and she couldn't go around like she was in a video game. She just wanted to be able to stop bad people from doing bad things. "He was my friend and now I don't have nobody. You go to the meetings and to Alice's and I have to be myself all the time." She was crying again and Jed's shirt was splotched with wetness.
"Hey now," he said softly, rubbing her back, "I'm sorry. I ain't been around as much as I should be, but we'll change that, alright? You come with me everywhere after the meetin's, alright?"
That wasn't quite good enough. "Please let me come with to the meetings, Jed? Please?" She pulled away to look at him, still sniffling a little. "I won't get in the way, I promise. I know you think something bad might happen but if it does happen, it'll happen to you and then you won't come back and I'll never know and I'll just be waiting and waiting and by myself forever."
His eyes went right for the floor. No way could he hold his ground if he was looking at her. "Jack, I'm sorry, but you can't. Ain't like I think you'll get in the way, juss... If somethin' bad happens, I gotta be able to focus on protectin' myself. I dunno if I could be sure and protect you, too."
"Please?" she tried. "Please?" Then her expression shifted, her eyes narrowed and she raised her chin. "If you don't let me go, I'll just follow you. You can't make me stay."
His stomach gave a twist; he knew she wasn't bluffing. "Jack, c'mon, I juss wanna keep you safe. Besides, you'll get bored. It's a lot of waiting around, no TV or anything."
Jack wanted to be safe, she did. But she was terrified of what would happen if Jed went to a meeting and then never came back. She was afraid of having something bad happen to her again but this scared her more. "I can bring stuff to do."
Jed shook his head, patting her back. "Jack, Searle'll come back. An' if he doesn't, we'll find you other friends, alright? There'll be other people to hang out with."
Something in Jack twisted painfully at Searle's name. She reached over and turned on her stereo, skipping back to the beginning of the song. "Seems like just yesterday you were a part of me."
"Just leave me alone, Jed."
"Jack," he pleaded, finally looking at her. "C'mon, don't do this. Bein' moody 'bout it won't help."
Nobody understood her. Searle didn't and Jed didn't either. She'd been trying so hard to be good; to get Jed's permission for things, to stay where he told her but he couldn't even be good too and tell her on the radio he was going to be late. It wasn't fair. "I don't care."
Alright, he had one last thing to try and make her feel better. "It's gonna be alright, okay?" he said, pulling her into a loose hug.
Jack hugged him back because Jed did care and she cared about him, she just wished he would try harder. It was nice to be hugged but she was still going to follow him to the meeting. He felt his resolve melt a little when she hugged him back, but no. He had to be firm, with this one thing at least. This was important.
After a few seconds, he leaned back, patting her shoulder. "So what you want for dinner? I'll make you somethin' real good."