Drop Dead.

“What happened to him?” Laker finally sits beside me, his fingers lying over my own.

I wrap my fingers around. “My parents were never the best of people. Mom was depressed, always drinking her life away in hopes to convince herself dad still loved her. Dad was always high and cheating on her. When either of them got mad they’d come after me. The neighbors heard, witnessed them beating me and I was sent to a foster care system.”

My chest is tightening at the memory of my parents faces. Mom was so beautiful before she let the alcohol take her. I remember the smell of her perfume, the feel of her arms and the sound of her voice. Her hair was always long, soft and the most beautiful blonde I’ve ever seen and eyes just like my own. I loved her, she was…so perfect.

And dad, he was never the best of fathers. Sometimes he’d say things he shouldn’t have or screw something up but he tried, he tried so hard. He’d always tell me how much he loved me, how much he was proud of me when I made something silly like a human made of sticks or a house of mud but he went back to his drug addict ways and my “perfect family” went down in a pit of flames.

“The system was pure hell. I don’t know what I hated about it the most, knowing a family would never love me or the assholes who worked there. Prince and I left, we ran away and lived on the streets and one day…one day we were searching for food, water, money, anything and we broke into someone’s house. We ran when the guy saw us, he had a gun. Prince told us to run, to get away but I shouldn’t have listened. I should have gone back…it’s my fault.”

“Jinx…” Laker wraps an arm around my waist. He rests his head against my shoulder and begins to press tender kisses against my neck. “Don’t even say that. Prince and you were obviously close, you meant a lot to him just like he meant a lot to you. He, just like me, would be able to die happy knowing you were ok. It wasn’t your fault and don’t ever think that, kay?”

Laker presses a kiss to my temple and I feel a smile tugging at my lips. “You’re so stupid.”

“I try,” Laker laughs and for a little while longer we sit before Prince’s grave. Finally, Laker and I leave hand in hand. I feel relieved to finally have that off my chest. I think I did what was right. Laker needed to know…no, anybody, just somebody needed to know, somebody who would listen and understand.

It feels…kind of good to depend on someone. Shaking that thought from my mind, I remove my hand from Laker’s. The boy pouts at my stubborn nature but he chuckles when he notices how my cheeks have a light pink shade to them.

“You’re cute, Jinx.” Laker places a kiss to my cheek before I have time to react.

Growling, I rip open the passenger door and step in, slamming it shut behind me. “Don’t call me that. I’m not a woman.”

“You don’t have to be a girl to be cute,” Laker says back around an impish grin. Sighing, I shake my head and give up on arguing with him. It’s just stupid to argue about it anyways.

“Let’s get something to eat,” Laker suggests, pulling up to a Subway before I have time to say if I even wanted to go out. Not that I would have rejected the idea, I’m hungry but still…Laker just thinks he can do whatever he wants. What a child.

“What if I don’t like Subway?” I ask, following Laker inside and to the line.

“Then you’d starve,” Laker replied, telling the girl behind the counter what he wanted and heading for the register to pay. I pull out my wallet and end up getting a meatball sandwich but before I could pay for the order, Laker pays for it.

“Idiot, what the hell are you doing?” I ask, watching the man at the register give Laker his change.

“Paying for our food,” Laker replies in a ‘duh’ tone that I ignore…for now. “What does it look like?”

“It looks like you’re being a dumb ass. Let me pay for myself.”

But of course, even with my arguing, Laker pays for both our meals and heads for a booth. Sighing, I follow him and take a seat across from him. The two of us are silent as we eat our sandwiches but once we finish it seems like Laker just won’t stop talking. Not that I mind.

“And then Dylan decided to be a dickhead and pushed me off my board!” Laker exclaims, throwing his arms around wildly. “Look! Look at this! That prick gave me a scar because he thought it’d be funny to watch me tumble down a set of stairs.” Laker points at a small scar on his arm.

“Stop acting like such a wimp. That shouldn’t even be considered a scar,” I chuckle, rolling my eyes at how Laker always seems to over exaggerate.

“Hey! A scar is a scar and it fucking hurt. Have you ever been shoved down a set of cement stairs?” Laker whines and takes a drink of his soda. “You’re so mean to me.”

“Do you ever shut up?” I groan, leaning back in the booth with a scowl.

Laker ignores my complaints and continues telling me stories. I don’t know how long we were sitting in that booth, me listening and Laker talking. Before I knew it the sky was dark and Laker’s parents were calling him. He answered and ended up telling me we had to leave.

“Finally.” I get up and head for the car. “I thought you were going to keep me there forever.”

“Shut up, you were enjoying yourself. Admit it!” I’ll never admit it.

“No way in hell.”

Laker just grins and I have a feeling that he knew I was lying. Come on, I am not going to boost his ego by telling him that I actually…enjoy his company. I’m not going to let into him so easily.

~

“Don’t you ever leave?” I grunt, shoving Laker out of my bed and onto the floor. He lands with a loud thump and whines at how “cruel” I’m treating him. I ignore his childish ways and get into bed, tugging the blankets up over my shoulders and curling under them.

I feel cool air breach my cocoon and I know why. Laker throws a leg over my waist and wraps his arms around me from behind. His bare chest is pressing against my back and I can feel his heart beating against my skin. It sends a shiver down my spine.

“I know you don’t care Jinx but…I really do like you a lot,” Laker whispers into the back of my neck, his lips pressing themselves against the warming skin. I feel my cheeks burn and I squirm uncomfortably in Laker’s arms.

My heart is beating faster than normal and I bite my lip. It’s weird to hear someone say that to me…but I can’t say that it doesn’t make me feel good to hear it.

“That…that’s nice to know,” I mumble, not knowing what else to say in this kind of situation. Laker chuckles and I sigh in relief. I was worried he’d get angry with me but I’m glad to know that he understands and is willing to wait for me to say something.

“Goodnight Jinx, try not to have any nightmares this time, ok?” Laker leans over me and presses his lips against my own. My stomach twists and my toes curl. The feeling of his lips pressed against my own makes my heart skip a beat, not that I’ll ever tell him that.

When he pulls away with a smile I realize that I am smiling too. Laker, thankfully, doesn’t point it out and goes back to lying behind me. With his arms around my waist and face nuzzled in the crock of my neck, I can’t help but think to myself how can I not have a goodnight sleep while in your arms?