Mystery Boy

Jacky got dressed as I sat on his couch, trying to keep my eyes on the TV instead of the boy in boxers in front of me. Once he was fully clothed I climbed back through his window and ran around the side of his house and across the street, waiting for him to come out of the front door to meet me.

He came out the door quite a few minutes after I made it to the curb across the street. His dad was standing in the doorway, staring after him with an unkind look in his eye. I frowned as Jacky raced to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me away before his father could say anything to us.

I walked beside him towards Ronnie's although my gaze lingered on the man standing on the front steps of Jacky's house, staring after us and taking in every detail of what I looked like, holding hands with his son.

"What did your dad say?" I questioned, turning my gaze to Jacky once his father had disappeared inside.

Jacky shook his head and kept his eyes on Ronnie's house.

"Come on," I muttered, "You can tell me. I won't say anything."

The frown on Jacky's face seemed foreign. Like it didn't belong amongst his pale eyes or his usually quiet, but expressive, mouth. His frown made me frown and wish that I'd never asked.

I shook my head. "Never mind," I muttered, "It's none of my business."

Jacky stopped then and grasped my hand tighter to stop me, too. He looked down at me and shook his head. "It's not important," he said, "My dad," he shook his head once more, "He's not important, Air."

"But he's your dad," I replied, "He's why you are the way you are."

Jacky nodded. "Exactly," he murmured, an expression on his face and in his eyes that I hadn't seen before. It was remorse. Remorse about who he is and where he came from.

"There's nothing bad about you," I stated, looking up into his eyes, "You're the most amazing person I've ever met and I don't want you to think a single bad thing about yourself because without you," I sighed and tried to ration my breathing, "Without you I wouldn't have realized that the person I thought I wanted to be wasn't the person I should've been at all."

Jacky was smiling now, forgetting all about his remorse. I tugged on his arm and brought him down to my height so that I could wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips against his.

"I love you," he whispered again, barely speaking at all.

I buried my face in the crook of his neck and held him against me, unable to let go or even let him pull away from me. Hearing someone tell me that was more than I had ever expected. The feelings inside were unexplainable. It was like I had been stung by a bee and now I was swelling up all over but no one could see it. I felt bloated, too full, and for just a moment, before it settled into all the empty space inside of me, it felt like too much.

I took Jacky's hand in mine and we walked side by side back to the house that belonged to the Radke's. Jacky didn't bother to knock on the door, instead, he just pushed the door open and smiled at Russell and Brad before pulling me down the hall and into Ronnie's room.

"Hey guys!" Ronnie greeted, sitting up on his bed, "You're finally back!"

Jacky chuckled and nodded.

Ronnie grabbed Jacky's arm and yanked him down onto the bed. "Well, how were your trips? I'm still pissed that you both left me for the entire weekend."

I rolled my eyes and sat on the end of my bed. "Like you didn't have Ronnie and Ryan."

"And T.J," he added with a smirk.

"T.J was around?" Jacky asked, leaning against the smudged walls.

Ronnie nodded. "The girl threw a kick ass party this weekend, you two should've been here. You would've loved it. Ryan got wasted and him and T.J disappeared for awhile. But they emerged eventually. T.J had to work the next day or something like that."

Jacky nodded slowly and pulled his knees up to his chest.

Ronnie shook off the awkwardness and grinned at me. "How was seeing your mom, Airea?" he questioned, "Thinking about running off and abandoning us here in Vegas?"

I laughed and shook my head. "As horrible as Ina is, I don't think I could survive without seeing you and the rest of the guys."

Ronnie grinned and nodded eagerly. "I knew you'd love us," he joked, "I told you that there wasn't anyone better than us in all of Nevada!"

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, "You were right."

Ronnie laughed loudly and shoved Jacky's shoulder. "What about you, man?" he asked loudly, "How was your mum?"

Jacky chuckled at his poor impression and nodded. "She was great," he added, realizing that his silence wouldn't be enough to sedate us.

"What'd you guys do across the pond?" Ronnie asked, keeping up the horrible jokes, much to Jacky's dismay.

"Just hung out," he said, "Not much."

Ronnie rolled his eyes and turned to me. "What'd you do when you left me?"

"I saw the rest of my family," I offered, "And I visited my friend Kelley. Speaking of which..." I grabbed my phone from my pocket and held it up. "Smile!" I commanded before I took a picture of the two of them sitting side by side.

"What's that about?" Ronnie asked, his eyes narrowing.

I rolled mine. "Relax, she wanted me to send her a picture of you guys."

Ronnie, more hyper than usual, rolled his dark eyes and leaned back against the wall at the top of his bed. He glanced between Jacky and I, his lip between his teeth. Then he asked, "What's going on?" directed at the both of us.

"Nothing," I said, then my gaze turned to the more quiet than usual boy next to me, "At least, nothing with me."

Ronnie nudged his best friend. "What's going on?" he asked again, this time more sincerely, "Did something happen on your trip?"

"No," Jacky replied. He licked his lips and looked at Ronnie expectantly, waiting for the dark-eyed brunette to change the subject.

But he didn't, instead he probed Jacky further. "Is it something with your dad?" he questioned, "Because you know I'll go over there right now and beat his ass."

Jacky shook his head again, unsure of what to say to change the subject and Ronnie's mind. Jacky glanced back at me and frowned, obviously not wanting me to hear what ever thoughts were running through his head.

I asked, "Do you want me to leave the room so you two can talk? I know sometimes it's easier to talk to a guy friend than to your girl friend."

Jacky was about to rebut when Ronnie nodded. "I think that's a good idea," Ronnie said softly, glancing back at Jacky, who rolled his eyes, "Sorry, Air," Ronnie murmured, "I just need to talk to him."

I nodded and hopped up from the bed. "It's okay," I said, "Really. I'll just go spend some time with your brother. Riley's here, right?"

Ronnie shook his head. "He's walking the dog or something, but Brad and Dad are in the living room watching TV."

"Okay," I agreed, "I'll be out there." And as I left the room, I didn't glance over my shoulder. I tried not to care that Jacky didn't want to talk to me about what ever was going on in his life. I knew that him and Ronnie were close, but he said he loved me.

I shook the thought off and smiled at two thirds of Ronnie's family. I perched on the couch next to Ronnie's older brother, who paid me no mind. Russell, on the other hand, smiled at me from his chair and asked, "What brings you to our neck of the house?" He chuckled at his own joke and smiled at me warmly.

"Guy time," I replied with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Ahh," Russell nodded, "Sometimes a guy needs that. No matter how much he cares about you, it's always easier to sit down with a buddy and spill your guys."

I frowned. "But why?"

"Because," Russell stated, "Guys want to be the alpha-dog. They don't want their girlfriends thinking that they're going soft."

"Jacky's not like that," I replied, "He's different than those macho guys."

Russell shrugged. "You'd be surprised, Airea. It's a guy's instinct to hide his problems from the women he cares most about."

I thought it over and then I nodded. "You know what, Russell," I said, having him look at me intently, "You're pretty smart."

Russell laughed and shrugged his shoulders again. "I'm average, Airea," he said, "I just know a lot about my son and his best friend."