Handle With Care

(Jade's POV)

The following night when we all returned home, immediately Melody and KayT bombarded me with a million questions. "When did you start dating?" "Why didn't you tell us?" "How could you just act like it's nothing?" I finally threw my hands up in defeat, telling them both to shut up long enough so I could explain. Because honestly, I just wanted it all to stop. "We are just friends, for the thousandth fucking time. He does that when he knows something's wrong with me. Like a sort of security thing. I promise you, if anything like that was to happen, obviously you two would be the first to know!" As much as they didn't want to believe it, they both agreed and apologized for making that kind of assumption so quickly.

When Thursday had finally rolled around Chester did indeed keep his promise and took me out for ice cream afterwards. KayT and Melody said they would see me at home and made googly eyes the entire time I walked with Chester to his car. I felt like such a child, but it was so much fun. He told me to get whatever I wanted no matter the cost and I sure in the hell did. I ended up with twenty dollars worth of ice cream, and please don't ask why, because I just did. We sat in a small booth in the back by ourselves, just chatting and keeping things simple. "So what did you think of the video? Can you believe it's already been making headlines." I smiled as I took another bite of my sundae. Of course I could, he was an amazing singer and his band was insane, there's no way anyone could top them right now. "Do you want my answer with a mouth full of ice cream or after?" I mumbled as the cold started to numb my mouth. He laughed as he took a bite of his own. "After." I practically choked on it as I swallowed it down, earning myself a brain freeze.

"Of course I can, you guys are kick ass. Not to mention, Crawling is my favorite song." I admitted before helping myself to yet another large bite. "Really? Well, now I know what song to dedicate to you when we preform Sunday." I again almost choked on my ice cream, my eyes seeming to grow huge at him. "Why would you do that? I'm no one special." It was his turn to almost choke as he raised an eyebrow at me. "No one special? Have you heard yourself? You're special, you've survived. You may be young Jay but that's nothing. You've done and seen a lot. Plus you're special to me." I now found myself staying quiet as I shifted from my seat uncomfortably, moving my spoon in my dish. I didn't want him thinking I was anything, because I didn't deserve it. I was just a nobody he met at therapy, some girl that was fucked up in the head and liked to hurt herself. I didn't deserve his appreciation of me.

"Hello? Jay? Is anyone in there?" I shifted my gaze back up to him, his eyes meeting with mine. I normally never got to really look into them face to face, so when I did, it was like I was seeing everything that was built up inside of him. "Chester, I'm not special. I don't deserve you to think that I am. I'm just some girl you met at therapy that's probably ruined your image and you feel sorry for." His smile faded away almost instantly when he heard that. Before I could take another bite, I suddenly felt his hands grab mine tightly. I felt ashamed to even look at him now. "Hey, look at me, please." The tone in his voice almost made me cry as I forced myself to look up at him, my sad brown eyes meeting his concerned dark ones. "You are special, Jay. Especially to me and all of your friends. I know we're just friends barely getting to really know each other and everything, but I seriously care about you. You've been hurt so much, it's like you're afraid of being really loved. But don't let fear stop you, you can't let it control you."

I let that sink in for a bit, just zoning off into my own head. I guess he was right, after all the trauma with my mom and stepdad, I was afraid of being hurt. But he said I'm afraid of being really loved, so what the hell is he trying to say? That he loves me? That he wants to love me? All of this at this very moment was too confusing and overwhelming. I just wanted to enjoy a simple night out and now it turned into a therapy session. Just perfect. "I guess so." I stated bluntly finally after a good few minutes a utter silence. He just sighed softly, returning his attention back on his ice cream thankfully, giving me enough time to figure out a way to change the subject quickly. "So your friends seem really awesome. I never would have known that Shae was basically related to all of you." He chuckled now, a small smile creeping onto his face. "Yeah, when I joined the band she was the first person I met at band practice at Brad's house. She was really young, younger than your age at the time she started to be in love with Mike. But they're only a couple of years apart now. I believe they started dating when she was sixteen and he had turned eighteen." I casually nodded, really pretending to be interested.

It's not that I wasn't, but the fact that she got to be super close to them and have a real family that more than likely never had to deal with all the bullshit that I've had to, made me almost jealous. "I don't think she likes me, really." He made a sort of confused looking face as he wiped at his mouth with a napkin. "What do you mean? That night after we went home from shooting the video, you were all she talked about. Saying how she thought you were really cool and would enjoy hanging out with you at the show Sunday to really get to know you better. Trust me, she's very protective but she's also super bubbly and outgoing when you really get under the whole mommy bear skin. She's a great person, I really think you two would get along great." Instead of being negative again, I decided to keep up the positive tone and put on a smile. "Yeah, that would be awesome, I'd love to get to know her more."

After we had finished up with everything, it still felt like there was something else that needed to be said. What it was, I'm not sure. But the way the tension felt in the air, kinda made me eager to know. It was already 8:30 and I knew I had told Melody that I would be home by 9, but I needed just a bit more time to try and figure this out. I had texted her mom instead, saying that I promised to be home no later than 10 because we were going to pick up his friend from work and take them home. I really felt bad for lying, but she agreed anyways, saying just to be careful and that she trusted me completely to make the right choices. "Hey, I don't have to be back until 10. Do you wanna go for a walk or something?" I knew it sounded pretty cheesy and all, but I really wanted a chance to open up to him without a bunch of people around or besides it being a group assignment. He smiled, saying that he knew just the perfect place to go. We drove for another ten minutes until we pulled up to what looked like a small park with a playground and swings. He opened my door for me, still smiling all the while as we started to walk over towards there, sitting down on the swings.

"So there's something on your mind, am I right?" Boy he was fucking quick, wasn't he? I looked down at my hands, fidgeting with the strings on my hoodie. "Well, yeah. I just feel like there's so much more that me and you need to know about each other. I'm not admitting that you're right about me being afraid either, but I will say that I am scared of certain feelings and that I don't really know how to express or accept them." He looked over at me, his eyes seeming to just glow in the moonlight. I was started to sound incredibly like your textbook type of romance, but it was true. That man's eyes just shined bright no matter how dark it was outside. "I was picked on from an early age because I've always been different. People have bullied me, hurt me, I've been hurt. I've been abused. I've done my share of horrible coping skills, like drugs and drinking. But things have been great so far now that I've been making music. Being in Linkin Park, it's like my own sense of therapy. I have the best friends and band mates ever. They support me and help me with whatever I need. Especially since we're gaining so much popularity and basically blowing up, there's no looking back for me now." I had to blink back a few tears as I tried to even imagine him ever being victimized like that. Who in their right mind would ever do that to a person so amazing like him?

"Now it's your turn." I sucked in a shaky deep breath as I tried to get all my thoughts and words into order. "Well, when I lived in Arizona, it wasn't exactly easy either. My parents were great and so was my grandparents, but when my dad had left back to Mexico with my uncle and grandpa, it all started to fall apart. I guess because I missed him so much and didn't fully understand why he had went back, it made me start to rebel. I started staying out late, ditching school, smoking weed, drinking. Things like that. Well one day after my fifteenth birthday a couple of my friends had wanted to hangout and stuff. Well I guess I must have gotten too drunk but apparently I ended up leaving with a kid that was older than me by a year or two. I don't need to go into too much detail, but long story short, I woke up with my shorts around my ankles and blood stains on my thighs. You get the idea of what happened. Thankfully I didn't catch anything or get pregnant. Then my mom started dating my stepdad, Clay and things really just took a nosedive. She moved with him to L.A and I stayed behind. After I had started getting into trouble and I beat the shit out of the girl who had told the boy that I had wanted him to do what he did, I got expelled and sent here. No one knows what happened, either. To this day actually. So if you really care about me, I'd seriously consider not saying anything." When I had finished talking, I didn't even realize that I had been crying the entire time.

Chester instantly took me into his arms and held onto me tight. I guess I had even started to sob at that point, feeling like a heavy weight had been lifted off of me for once. I had never told anyone, and now that I had, I did feel a sense of closure. "Hey it's okay Jay, I'm here for you. Jesus you can't just repress things like that. It's not healthy and it's not your fault. You were young and not in the right state of mind. You had every right to beat up that girl, I'm on your side completely." I just continued to cry, not even sure of what to say anymore. "Jay, I've had similar trauma. You're not alone in this. I'm here for you, I always will be." As I just listened to him talk, I could feel an overwhelming sense of calm overtake me. Like everything he was telling me was going to come true and that he was right. I finally looked up at him, seeing that he had tears in his own eyes as well. He reached out a hand and put it to my face, stroking my cheek gently. I sniffled some, just keeping my eyes locked onto his. By this time our faces were a mere couple of inches away from each others.

And then, I'm sure you know what happened next. Yep, we kissed. He leaned down slowly, his eyes never once leaving my gaze as he brushed his lips softly against mine in the most warmest and sweetest kiss I had ever felt. My first real kiss, was with the sweetest man in the world who not to mention also is becoming super famous while I was just a nobody.