Running Scared

One year, four months, eighteen days, five hours, and twenty-two minutes. When you spell it out like that, it sounds like a long time. In reality, it had all flown away in the blink of an eye.

People say time flies when you’re having fun but Jackson hadn’t been out having fun. He’d been working. Not the kind of job that he worked before. No, this one was legit. It was dirty with long hours and low pay. But it was honest work. It paid the bills and even afforded him a night out once in a while for a cold one at the noisy pub down the street. It was a dinky, dark little hole in the wall but it was his haven on rough days that often led to relaxing and pleasurable nights. He’d gone away to clear his head and find what he was missing. Well, one year, four months, eighteen days, five hours and twenty-two minutes later… he’d found it. Okay, so he’d found it a few days ago and was just now making his way back but who was really counting anyway, right?

Jacks stepped into the dimly lit room that used to belong to him. Things hadn’t changed too much. No one had touched any of his old belongings that he hadn’t bothered to pack up and it seemed that the room had been kept vacant for him. There was a rather thick layer of dust on the sheets but that was the purpose behind covering everything with sheets. It was almost as if he’d been expected. No one had wanted to think that he would leave for good. It was a nice thought, anyway. The truth was probably that no one had wanted the room or wanted to take the time to clean it out. Either way, that was fine. He hadn’t expected this anyway.

Jacks left the door open and walked through the still air. He pulled sheets off of everything as he passed. The air became colored, a grey fog choking out the light before everything settled. His heavy footsteps rang out into the silence with each step he took as he wandered around in search of everything and yet, nothing at all. He was like an amnesia victim, suddenly awake and taken back to the place that they should have known but couldn’t quite place everything. He felt that he should know this place but it was stark and foreign to him. Even the pictures didn’t remind him of anything. And he was in them. He continued his examination of the room before he stopped in the center of it at the foot of the bed under the overhead light. He paused, trying to recall anything that might make this place once again feel like home but there was nothing. Nothing but the shadows and the whispers of the past.

Lexi was just having fun. Fun life, new life, gang life. She had her conquests, she had her boyfriends, she had her partylife. She still had her big brother looking out for her all the time, but it was different now. Lexi was no longer a little girl. Her once scrawny body had filled out into soft, feminine curves. Ratty, messy hair became smooth, silky ringlets. Braces turned into perfectly white teeth. Yes, Lexi Evans was no longer a child.

Flitting into the bank like she owned the place was nothing new to her, either. But today, something was different. For one thing, there was a strange car parked outside of the place. For another...When she entered the bank, she sensed that she was not alone. Far from it, actually. "Hello?" She called, wondering what was going on. Generally the place was abandoned at this time and she could use the front room to do Yoga. But she didn't want someone walking in on her during the dog pose, that could be awkward.

When she heard no response, she set her bag and jacket down on the back of the couch and headed towards where she thought a sound was coming from. "Who the fuck are yo--Jackson?" Time froze for a moment, as she stared at the tall, beautiful man in front of her. "Oh my god, is that really you?" He didn't look much different then she remembered him, he was a lot taller, more buff, but it was him. In the flesh.

Jacks had heard the voice but when he'd been living there, there'd been plenty of homeless and kids just looking for a place to crash. That didn't mean anything. Besides, he was in his own little world and not interested to bother with someone he didn't care to know. He was no longer living in the bank. Jacks had the money to rent out an apartment in the cheaper part of town and it was little better than the bank but it had electricity and running water so he wasn't about to talk down about it. Jackson sighed and started rummaging about, trying to decide if he wanted anything out of this place or if he should just leave it all to the thieves and homeless.

That was when movement behind him caught his attention and he turned around, his hand on his back where his gun was. He stopped, staring at the girl before him. She looked so familiar but he couldn't place her. She obviously knew him but that didn't mean too much. He had slept with practically the entire city! Well, the female population, anyway. He relaxed and removed his hand from the gun, still staring at this girl. He knew he should have known her but it'd been so long. A year and a half could do a lot to a person if you weren't careful. He nodded slowly, "Yeah." He didn't want to tell her that he didn't remember her.

Oh, how embarrassing... He didn't remember her. A pink tint immediatly colored her cheeks in embarrassment and she wasn't sure how to make this situation less awkward, so she just gave a little laugh and shook her head. "Lexi? Lexi Evans? Cloud's sister..." Man, if he still didn't remember her things could go even further downhill. Dude, he'd almost drawn his gun on her! Where do you go from there? "You look really great, Jackson." She gave him a smile, still feeling a bit awkward, and then turned on her heel to leave.


*facedesk* sorry that was crap

There was no reason for her to be embarrassed. Really, he was the one that should have been embarrassed. She was like a little sister to him way back when and now he couldn't even place her face. Well, it was probably a good thing that he didn't know who she was because there were quite a few thoughts running through his mind that weren't exactly sibling friendly. At the mere mention of her name, he mentally kicked himself. It was obvious that he hadn't recognized her but now he was making a fool of himself. His eyes got a little wide and his jaw dropped shortly. When she started to take off, he knew he had to say something to get her to stay. "So, that's it? No hug?" He mocked annoyance with a grin and turned back to his things, wondering if she'd stick around.

Well, she was the one who's face was so forgettable that he didn't even remember the girl who used to tag along with him everywhere as a kid! Granted, she'd grown about a foot, filled out nicely, matured a good few years, but otherwise she was still the cute little girl she'd always been. "Hug you? Ew, cooties," she stopped, and turned back to him with a smile on her face. "Well, I don't know if you get a hug, you couldn't even remember my name..." She was just teasing though, and a moment later he was practically tackled backwards as she entangled her slender arms and legs around his body. "Even though you don't remember me," yeah, she wasn't going to let that go. "I missed you a lot, Jacks." She kissed his cheek, letting him go.

She'd changed a lot. Jacks had been nearly nineteen, pretty much as grown as he would be. The only thing that would have changed about him would have been his body. He'd hit the age of visible aging for a while. She, on the other hand, had been a young woman but not fully aged for a while. So their time apart had given her time to really hit fruition and she'd left behind every bit of child that had been held in her features. He turned to pout just in time for her to jump on him. He caught her, shaking his head and letting her down when she let go of him. He pulled her into a real hug and kissed her cheek, giving her a good look over with a shake of his head. "You look great! You can't blame me for not recognizing you. I leave you a chick and come back and you've grown into a woman on me."

"Yeah, baby, I'm gonna be 19 soon you know," she smiled up at him, obviously pleased with his observation. She was too used to being treated like a child in the gang, being one of the only girls as well as Cloud's little sister, so any compliment about her growing up was a good one. "You, on the other hand," she gave him a saucy wink, running her hands over his muscled arms gently. "Are still the pretty boy I left you before," he did look a little older, but not much. As handsome as ever. "Where are you living at Jacks? Are you really back for good?" She pulled back again, staring up at him in a mixture of childish awe and excitement. "Has Cloud seen you yet? God, I feel like we have spoken in sooo long!" There was so much she wanted to tell him, about her mom, about her Aunt dying, about Cloud taking over and starting his own gang. But maybe he already knew? And she wanted more to find out what was going on with him.

He'd still treat her like she was a child, there was no way around that. He'd just be better about it. He'd still be the over protective Jacks that he'd been before, he'd just have a few problems he hadn't really had when he was around the first time. He'd slip up from time to time but he'd also try to make sure that he didn't push his luck with it all. "Pretty boy?" He frowned and sighed, having to admit to himself that he liked the contact with her. So many questions... He chuckled at her and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, yeah... I'm pretty sure I'm back. I'm, uh, staying at the apartments on the lower west side." In other words, he was living in the cheap dorms but it was better than the bank from before, right? "Yeah, I dropped by to let him know before I came here. He was a little busy so he really didn't catch me up on too much but I've got time. He mentioned something about him being the boss now but he really didn't say too much on it before he had to take off. But, anyway, what's good with you?"

She expected that from him, though. She knew there was no way for him to not treat her as a little girl, because that's what she'd always been to him, and it wasn't an easy habit to shed. But she didn't mind it, the protectiveness was often nice, and when it was unwelcome, she made it known. "That's neat! I've got my own place a little farther up west," meaning the Sunny Side Apartments. "Can I come over and decorate for you?" She teased, kissing both of his cheeks lightly. "Cloud busy? That's a new one, his lazy ass is hardly ever out of his room." She laughed lightly and took his hand almost impulsively, leading him back to the living room so they could sit and talk. "With me? Welllll... I'm in college now, Freshman," she was proud of that accomplishment, but Cloud would've whipped her ass if she hadn't made something out of herself. "I was living with Cloud for a little while, but Aunt Susan died and I had to move away," she just didn't feel right there. "But I don't want to talk about me, tell me where you were!"

...stupid site

He nodded, picking up on the difference in housing. She had more money than he did but she always had. For Jacks, he'd been taking care of himself since he was in high school and all the money he had was to go to his future - should he have one. He had plans. He'd saved up enough money for the apartment he had now, knowing that anything would be better than the bank but he was still careful with what he had and didn't spend too much on a place that he spent little time in. "Well, I think he had female company," he chuckled. Yeah, they all knew how Cloud was. Jacks had been the one to get things done for Cloud. He'd taken the orders and carried them out but it was Cloud who issued them. "College? Alright, that's wassup." He should have been but he'd dropped out. He'd gotten his GED but had never thought he was good enough to even think about college. "Aw, Lex... I'm sorry." He knew how much her aunt meant to her.

Jacks shrugged and scratched the back of his head. He was always fidgeting but he'd been an active guy his whole life, he couldn't stand to be still for too long. "Um, I moved out to Harris City, worked in a shop there, got my license in auto mechanics but I haven't gone back to school just yet. I've been saving up and thinking about some stuff."

She didn't like rubbing it in his face though. She wouldn't have had money if she hadn't grown up with Aunt Susan instead of her mother. She had been lucky and priveleged, but even now she worked for her money. The money Susan had left to her was paying for college and college only. Cloud helped her out, she knew, but he didn't say anything and neither did she. "Ew, thanks for that bit of information," she made a face, wrinkling her nose a little. The less she heard about Cloud's sexlife, the better. "What about you, Jackson?" Here was the question she'd wanted to ask since the moment she saw him. "Any girls in your life? Come back with a wife and two kids?" She teased gently, praying that it wasn't true. "Hey, it was her time." She didn't talk much about that.

Lexi couldn't help but smile at his constant movements and when they distracted her, she put her small hands over his and forced him to go still. "What sort of stuff? I'm so glad you're home," home. Home with her and Cloud. Their little family again. "So are you working at the car shop here now? Sweet, free tune-ups for Lexi!"

Lex was considerate and humble. It was part of the reason why he'd been able to get along with her so well. She wasn't snobby or stuck up. Not to mention, she knew how to work for her bread and in a legitimate way. Jackson laughed a bit at her reaction and shrugged. "Hey, at least I didn't go into details about what they could have been doing," he teased with a slight air hump before he hopped onto the dresser behind him to sit. He shuddered at her question. "Me playing Mr Dad? That's a negative." She should have known him better than that. He shrugged a little and answered her honestly. "A few girls, nothing steady. Nothing current, either." Hey, if she wanted him to put himself out there, he would be more than happy to do so.

He picked up on her tone, understanding that she didn't want to talk about it. That was fine, he didn't want to talk about things and she'd always been considerate about that. He grinned and threaded his fingers through hers and swung them playfully for a moment. "Stuff... Work, life... me. I dunno, stupid shit." He was sounding a little too girly and he wasn't feeling that at all. "Home..." He repeated it in a thoughtful tone, smiling and nodding at the thought a bit. He liked the way it sounded coming from her. "Yeah but you could have had that before I left." He was always up for helping out friends.

Now it was her turn to shudder and she smacked his leg, making an "oh-god-didn't-need-to-know-that" face. "You are so gross. Same old Jackson," she liked this...this comfortable familiarity they had been able to re-settle into. If things had been awkward with them, she would've been devestated. But instead, they got on well. "You'd be a good dad," he would too. Not now, maybe, but someday. "Yeah, me neither," no denying that Lexi Evans was the little slut of the gang. She slept with just about everybody, no strings attached. Aaron was her latest conquest, though Jackson was certainly very appealing too...But she wasn't sure if she wanted him as a conquest in the sense that she wanted Aaron. It was complicated.

"Stupid shit, definitely," she had no clue what he was talking about, but she liked the way their fingers fit. "Except, genius, I couldn't drive before you left," she'd just been working on getting her license. Which was another reminder of how young she really was. Grown-up, but only so much. "You know, Cloud was pretty upset when you took off...He took over the Snakes, turned it into the Beasts," she was like that, talking about a mixture of subjects in one sentence. "Now there's this fuckin'...gang war shit going on. It's not safe anymore."