Forbidden

TWENTY-TWO

They were the first to arrive at Joey Greene Field when six o’clock rolled around. Of course, this was excluding the mobs of their fellow high school students, already there with their camera phones and ready to record the fight like excited paparazzi’s waiting to catch a glimpse of their favorite star. Jessa shook her head at this upon exiting her car and was immediately joined by Jason.

“You sure you’re up for this?” he asked her.

“I’m sure,” she replied with a smile, and that was that.

They walked over toward the middle of the parking lot where everyone else stood; Brandon, Ben, Chloe, Mike, and Dan soon accompanying them, all with matching gazes of concentration. Jessa avoided eye contact with anyone else besides those with her, as it was pretty damn certain some of the crowd were going to be people she previously associated with and were probably now gunning for her. This didn’t bother her so much, but that didn’t mean she wanted to start anything, and therefore, her attention was kept mainly to Jason— because she didn’t want to admit it, but his intense dedication was kind of cute—while Dan, Chloe, Mike, Brandon, and Ben sort of socialized with one another. It was quite remarkable to see them talking and finding their mutual interests to be fascinating.

"So, is this guy gonna show up?" Dan voiced to everyone.

"Yeah, I'm starting to get sunburn over here," Ben said next, glancing down at his arms with a pout.

"How are you starting to get sunburn, Campbell, it's the fucking evening," Jason spat at his friend, while everyone else chuckled.

"He does have very fair skin," Brandon said, tone sarcastic, and Ben stuck out his tongue in defense.

"Anyway." Jessa rolled her eyes with a smirk. "I'm sure they'll be here soon. I doubt Scott would back down, considering half the senior class and then some are here. He loves any type of attention and this will just be the icing on the cake for him."

"The guy's a fucking tool," Dan commented, remembering back to the first time he met the other at one of Jessa's events at school. He'd only saw Scott a couple times after that, and each one of them proved just how much of an ass he truly was.

"I second that notion," Jason chimed in with a scoff.

It was somewhat quiet after that, each of them standing rather still and inspecting the area. Jessa was horribly nervous, her heart thudding against her chest, as she waited anxiously to see the glistening, white Hummer pull in. It was Scott's most prized possession, just as a car was to any guy nowadays. He even named the damn thing; Debbie, he liked to call it, and Jessa would only roll her eyes anytime she'd hang out with him, and he'd spend the majority of the time polishing it, while she sat on the curb with a sour expression on her face.

Thinking about their relationship now, it was a wonder to Jessa how she even stayed with him for that long. It was out of longing, mostly; a longing for her parents to accept her even just a tiny bit, and a longing to feel wanted, loved, and protected. Scott portrayed those three characteristics in the very beginning of their relationship, which was why she so willingly handed over her last bit of innocence to him. It wasn’t too long after, that things changed, and now, she couldn't care less and was ecstatic to be rid of the cocky little shit.

Finally, after a few more overwrought moments, screeching tires sounded, and every face turned in the direction of the main entrance to the parking lot. The pale-colored truck skidded in, exaggeratedly of course, and Jessa couldn't help but chuckle at the sneer gracing Jason's features.

"Well, looky here!" Scott's brash voice suddenly spoke, upon exiting the Hummer. "DiMera found him some backup. Who are these losers?"

"It’s none of your fuckin' business who they are. Let's get this over with, Moyer. I got shit to do," Jason taunted, and Brandon stepped forward to clap him on the back happily.

"Hah, that's funny. I guess doing drugs and drinking categorizes as shit to do," Scott replied, turning to high-five some of the guys behind him.

Jessa frowned at the mention of drugs, remembering that Jason did, indeed, partake in those activities. It was definitely disheartening, but she didn't have much time to dwell on it, as the two groups were slowly inching closer together. Jessa stayed in her place, though, and crossed her arms nervously. Chloe remained beside her and placed an arm around her shoulder.

"Well, your brother categorizes it as shit to do, so why can't I? How is your brother, by the way? I heard your parents sent him off to rehab last week. I guess you can thank me for that, considering I was the one who sold him all that good shit." A collective amount of, 'ooh!' and 'snap!' and 'burn!' was received from the crowd at that, and even Jessa had to admit it was a pretty good comeback, because it was the truth—Scott's younger brother, Sam, had been shipped off to a rehabilitation clinic, after their parents found out he was mixed in with a lot of bad stuff. She couldn't really blame Jason, though, for selling to the sixteen-year-old. Sam had made the decision himself to buy and use it.

Scott's lips quivered at that, eyes wide, and cheeks flushing a deep pink. "You're going to pay for that!"

And suddenly, Scott's right fist raised and shot out towards Jason's face, striking him a total of one time, before Jason was on him like a bat out of hell. He'd been caught off guard at first, but quickly recovered and threw numerous successive punches in a row. The others behind Scott attempted to step in and take Jason out, but Brandon, Ben, Dan, and Mike were having none of it, and they jumped in, as well. Jessa began to recognize the others Scott was with, now that they were no longer hovering behind him; Riley Smith, Carter Moore, Alex Stackhouse, and Luis Thornton. She knew them all pretty well, and they had absolutely no reason to be there. They were, overall, good kids; good kids, who made undoubtedly the biggest mistake of their lives in getting mixed up with Scott Moyer.

It became an all-out brawl; fists flying in every direction, with each party putting up one hell of a fight against the other. Jessa looked on, practically enthralled by what was taking place, and that was when it happened. She was suddenly propelled forward, by an unknown force from behind her, and it was all she could do to stop herself from falling over. She whipped around and was met with the offending face of Alyson Clark.

"You," Aly started. "This is all your fault. Scott told me what happened. How could you just ditch your friends like that?! And for... them!" She pointed over in Jason's general direction with a look of disgust on her face.

"It's funny you say that because if I remember correctly, you were supposed to be my best friend. And then the next thing I know, I walk into Nate's kitchen and find you and Scott all over each other. Is that how you categorize friendship, Al?" Jessa blasted back, to which Alyson's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Chloe stood back a bit, after making sure Jessa was all right after the fall, while some of the crowd members now turned their attention to the two girls.

"That's what this is about? Jessa, you are even more pathetic than I thought. You barely showed Scott any attention the whole time you were together and even complained to me about him! I saw through the negative attitude Scott showed; saw through to someone who's beautiful, and I gave him what you couldn't. A real friend would have supported that. A real friend would accept our love."

"Your love? That's funny. First of all, Scott and I weren't even broken up when you started your little affair with him. Maybe if we were, then I would’ve accepted it. Second, Scott doesn't love anyone but himself. You're in way over your head, Al. If he loved you, why would he be here fighting over me?" Jessa waited to hear Alyson's answer, though, there really wasn't one. "Exactly. You're just a piece of trash, Alyson. You always have been, and always will be. That's why Scott didn't leave me for you because he knew how dirty you were; everyone does. And as long as you're like that, no one will want you."

Alyson appeared to be fuming, chest heaving uncontrollably, and eyes still as wide as before. "Well, at least people will remember me. No one will remember you. If they do, it'll only be for leaving the most elite group in the whole school for a bunch of fucking crack heads. If not that, then for being the only kid in school who walks in every other week with a new bruise because her parents fucking hate her and regret ever having her. At least my parents are proud of me; yours only wish I turned out to be theirs instead of you."

Without even thinking, Jessa snapped, and hit Alyson with a right hook. Thanks to all that WWE and UFC nonsense she watched with Dan over the years, Jessa learned to hit quite well; not to mention, she'd studied Jason's hits closely, and that helped a great deal, too.

The hit landed Alyson flat on her bottom, and everyone surrounding them exclaimed their praises and cheers for the new fight taking place. Alyson stared up at Jessa with absolute shock, before pushing herself up and charging like a rabid bull. She tackled the blonde to the ground, but Jessa quickly retook the upper hand and pushed Alyson on her back. She gripped Alyson's long hair and proceeded to yank at it and slam the other girl's head against the ground every so often. Alyson's screeches could be heard, and her hands were flying everywhere in an effort to break free. Her fists hit a few times at Jessa's face, sometimes pretty hard from the momentum, but Jessa never let up. After all the years of taking everyone's shit, it all poured out of her, and she couldn't bring herself to care. Everything else was nonexistent at that moment; the other fights, the hits she was taking, the crowd of people cheering; it didn't matter.

Even when strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her off the screaming girl, she fought them, too; kicking her legs and yelling obscenities.

“I'm going to kill that fucking bitch, let me go!”

"Jessa, it's me. Calm down. Please calm down."

It was a soothing voice that spoke to her now, and she began to settle after a while, head falling back to rest against the others shoulder blade, breathing heavy, and eyes watering.

"It's over. Everything's okay now."

"It's never going to be okay, Jason, ever." And Jessa was quite positive on that one.

"It is right now. They're leaving, see?" Jason pointed, and Jessa looked to see Scott and his friends scrambling back into their SUV. Alyson stumbled up from the ground and did her best to join them, but the cowardice man skidded away and left her there. Jessa wanted to go after her again because the anger within was still very much there and itching to come out, but Jason's arms tightened around her and it was obvious he wasn't going to allow it anytime soon.

"Relax, please. You were great, you took care of it, but now you need to relax. Come on, let's go sit."

Jason led her over to the set of bleachers not too far from them and made her sit. He kept his arm around her, just in case she decided to make a dash for Alyson again. This was doubtful, because Jessa had started to calm significantly, and because Alyson was currently about to hitch with another one of her friends, but he just wanted to be sure.

"Well, what'd you expect, kid? Those guys didn't have shit on us, believe that." Jason looked over and saw Dan conversing with some kids from the crowd, who were obviously praising their fighting skills. "And now if you'll excuse me, I have to go check on my 'cuz. She's the one you should be talking to. Did you see what she did to that chick? That was some badass shit right there."

Jason couldn't help but grin, even through the split lip he had, as Dan was just so content with himself. He'd obviously been in a lot of fights and was the majority winner.

"Hey, is she okay?" he asked, upon reaching the two.

"I'm fine, and I can talk for myself," Jessa replied, annoyed at the fact he thought she was traumatized or something.

"Obviously," Dan concurred with a laugh. "You fucked that bitch up."

"Shut up," she said, but couldn't hide the smile gracing her features. "I just got so angry, I couldn't help it. That's not even me, either."

"That's not you?" Brandon chimed in as he and the others now walked over. "If that wasn't you, you've got some serious explaining to do as to where that came from."

Jessa only shook her head and turned to rest it on Jason's shoulder again. She knew where that built up anger came from, but she couldn't tell them. They'd only feel bad for her and probably treat her differently. No, she couldn't let that happen.

"Lay off her for a bit, okay?" Dan said, reading the truth behind Jessa's eyes, as he was one of the only to know absolutely everything.

"It's fine, Dan. It’s just... I've been dealing with Alyson's shit for far too long is all, and I guess I just snapped," she told them, earning nods of understanding.

"Understandable. If it were me, I probably would have done it ages again. But then again, I also don't have a handle on my anger most of the time so," Jason said with a laugh, and Jessa couldn't help but chuckle, as well. Jason just had that effect on her for some reason. She pulled her head from his shoulder and glanced back at him, as she suddenly remembered he had just been in a pretty dangerous fight. Her eyes widened when she saw blood dripping from his wounds.

"Jay, you're bleeding all over!" she exclaimed, and he only snickered.

"Well, yeah, that's generally what happens in a fight. You should see the other guy," he replied with a wink, and she slapped his arm with a smile.

"Don't be such a hard-ass. Come on, I have some tissues in my purse." Jessa took him by the hand and stood from the bleachers and over in the direction of her car. The rest of them giggled, with Brandon being the main instigator.

"Aw, mama's gonna clean your boo-boo's?" he taunted, and Jason simply flipped him the bird as he watched Jessa fish through her purse, which she'd left in the car prior to the fight, and then allowed her to wipe the dark fluid from his face.

"Thanks," Jason mumbled shyly. It'd been a while since someone took care of him like this; probably since the last time he was in a full-on relationship, and that seemed like ages ago compared to now.

"Don't worry about it," she replied. "Just make sure you actually clean them when you leave here. I don't want you getting any infections because of me."

"Hey, what did I tell you? This isn't your fault. I was happy to do it, honestly," he told her with a hearty smile. "I think I broke his nose, too."

Jessa grinned at Jason's obvious amusement and wiped the last bit of blood away from his lip. "All better."

"Sweet. It's a relief to know my devastatingly handsome looks were able to be salvaged, and it's all thanks to you." Jason quirked his eyebrow, somewhat similar to how The Rock would, and Jessa couldn't hold back the laugh even if she tried. It was strange, though, thinking about what had just happened; the fight, the harsh words exchanged, the straight-up war that might now take place; and yet, there they were talking, laughing, and having fun. Jessa was absolutely content. Jason was absolutely content. Neither were upset or afraid, and both knew it was the other that made these feelings possible.

"Hey lovebirds," Dan called over, and Jessa turned to flash him a dirty look. "It's getting late, and knowing my aunt and uncle, they won't be too happy if my little 'cuz is home past curfew."

"Whatever," she spat. The mere mention of her parents always killed her mood. "But... you're probably right. If I want to ever be allowed out of the house again, I'd better get going."

Jason glanced at Jessa and saw the look of distaste she possessed. It gave him a sudden urge to ask just what was so terrible about her parents. It obviously had to be something bad, and remembering back to the day he saw her in school all bruised and swollen, he wondered if maybe her father and mother were the cause of it. Of course, Jason didn't ask, because it kind of wasn't his business, but he only hoped that in the future, he might be able to get to the bottom of it.

"I think that's a good idea. But you're gonna have to avoid them for a few days, at least. If they see your face as it is now, they're going to ask questions and..." Dan trailed off, but everyone sort of understood what he meant.

"I know the drill by now. I have cover-up and everything I'll need. You, mister, had better not let Aunt Dianna see you like that either. She goes through enough putting up with you and everything," Jessa said, giggling, and Dan showed a face of mock shock.

"I resent that. I'm the fucking golden child of our family."

Everyone broke out laughing that time, even those who didn't truly know Dan too well, and he simply crossed his arms and stuck up his nose in a pretend fit.

"Well, I'd better get going, as much as I hate to say it," Jessa started again.

"Aw, don't worry. We'll see each other tomorrow, right?" Jason replied with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, we will. And I know these aren't really the right words, but I want to thank all of you for what you did today. I honestly don't know what I would have done if you guys weren't here for me."

"Don't thank us, hon. You're apart of us now, so technically, we'd do anything for you," Ben chimed in, and Jessa could only blush in return.

"Well, thanks," she said shyly. "Uh... listen, my excuse is going to be that I was with you, Dan, so if my mom calls you or calls your mom, can you make it so maybe Aunt Di confirms? I know she doesn't like to lie but..."

"Don't worry about it. I've got it covered. With a little smooth talking, I'm sure mother dearest will see it my way," Dan replied with a wink.

"Okay, well, I'll talk to everyone later then." She opened her car door again and waved to the others, who were all bidding her farewell. Jason stood next to her, ready to close the door when she got in but was caught off guard when the girl turned and embraced him in a tight hug. He returned it, and a warm feeling took over his whole body. What in the world was going on with him anymore?

When she pulled away, a smile was the only thing she showed, before finally climbing back in the car and shutting the door. Jason was, for a moment, speechless at the turn of events. What did it mean?

'Nothing. It meant nothing. She was only thanking me for standing up for her. She couldn't possibly have meant it to mean anything else.'

Jason nodded at his affirmation, but put on a smile anyway and waved to her as she backed out of the parking lot. The guys poked their fun at him, as per usual, because they witnessed the little hug take place. Jason responded only briefly by telling them to shut their traps, and his mind wandered, just as it always did when Jessa wasn't around. Even though there was absolutely no way in hell Jessa could ever want him, he thought about the possibility of there being a time when she would. It was a distant time, and a time that lived in another dimension where strange and wonderful things actually did come to life, but it was a time that was very much alive deep within Jason. He'd only been seeing her for what, almost a week? Yet, the feelings coursing through him resembled nothing like he's felt before.

Of course, there was no basis, and Jason wouldn't act on them at all. But... they were there, ever present, and he knew for a fact they weren't going anywhere anytime soon, and somehow, he was just fine with that.