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Description
Chapter Three:
Seriously?

Chapter playlist:
Paramore - The Only Exception
Nickelback - Hero
All American Rejects - I Wanna
Puddle Of Mudd - We Don't Have To Look Back Now
**************************************************************

    "I think you should stay here tonight." Jacob opened the door to his room. I'd never been in here before and what I saw took my breath away. The walls, the same white walls with the sheet music collage. The three framed pieces in the middle. I walked tentatively over to the middle frame, stroking the golden plaque on the bottom.

    "Breathing In - The Veer Union. Are you serious?" I whirled to face him. He was smiling. That, 'yeah, I'm serious -- seriously in trouble' smile. "Did you know that this is--"

    "Just like your room at your home before you were changed? Yes. I thought it would make the transition easier. Once you came, but, it didn't work out that way." He began staring at the white wood floors. I glanced around the room. In the far corner... were two Acoustic guitars, two electric and a keyboard.

    "You knew I played too?" I rushed to him and flung my arms around his neck. "Thank you, Jake, really. It's amazing. I think I'll take you up on your offer for tonight, too." I  grinned a goofy smile and he laughed.

    "I hope you stay longer than just tonight." He eased my feet on top of his and walked me to the wall of music. Still holding me, he told me the story of every piece of music he had glued to his wall. There was a favorite story of mine that he told me. It started when he was still human. He was going to a concert and walked by a pub on the way. He heard the music blaring on the inside, and decided that's where he belonged. It's also where he met Hunter, who was looking for Indie at the time. Hunter made fast LIMES friends with him, and took him home to Meryenne. She also felt that he would be a nice addition to their family. My Jacob was changed later that same day. At that same moment, the song became one of my favorites too.

    "Why these three songs?" I asked him, running my hands along the frames.

    "Because this one," he pointed to the middle one, "was a reminder of what I had to remember. Never to let you down, no matter what I was going through. I didn't even know you yet. This one, on the far end is what I needed. Someone to heal my broken bones. I can heal yours too, if you want. The last one, is something that reminded me of the time I had to spend pretending like I didn't worship the ground under your feet. I love you, Grace." He leaned forward, and for the second time in our lives he kissed me.

    "What the heck, is goin' on here?!" Damien burst through the bedroom door. It bounced against the wall, snapping the hinges and putting a door-knob sized hole in the dry-wall. Jacob pushed me behind him and narrow his eyes. A deep growl escaped his throat.

    "I'm kissing my girl, Masen. Got a problem with it?" He slung an arm around me. He went from angry to arrogantly calm.

    "Yeah, 'cause you're kising my girl," Damien snarled.

    I stepped out from behind Jacob. "Okay, just for the books, I'm his." I grabbed Jacob's hand. "Damien, you're just a blast from the past. I think it would be best if you left."

    "Okay, fine. But don't come crawling back to me when he lies to you again." He turned and stalked out the door.

    "You lied to me you lying punk!" I called after him. I ran to the door and slammed it shut. It stuck in the frame and then fell to the floor.

    "Grace." Jacob took a step toward me and offered his hand. I took it and let it go.

    "I need a minute." I kissed his cheek and left the room. I kept my eyes on the floor, the lime green, brown, and kelly green, dots of carpet trailing down the hall guiding me. In a few minutes I reached Indie and Hunter's room. "Indie," I knocked. "Inds, you there?" No answer. Sigh. I gave up and walked downstairs.

    "Hey, sis. I haven't seen you all day. I know you haven't been painting." Hunter smiled cheekily and waved at me from the couch.

    "Hey, Hunt. Hey, Indie, Mom." They were all sitting on the sofa, studying a hand-drawn map of the area. Little red "Xs" marking places of interest. I sat down on the couch between Indie and my mother. I realized with a twang of guilt that they were all dressed in black, apart from myself. Everybody was grieving for my sister, except for me. I was wearing, of course, light blue skinnies and an All Time Low t-shirt. I was happy. At the expense of my sister I was happy. She was dead, but I had love, and a new lease on life.

    "Hello, love. How are you?" Meryenne stroked my cheek. She looked into my eyes and I knew that that was not what she was seeing. She was seeing my heart, and she knew. That I was not entirely devastated by my sibling's death.

    "I'm doing alright, Mum, honestly." I smiled. "Can I talk to you?" I turned to Indie, and stood.

    "Of course, what's the matter?" She stood and walked with me to the kitchen.

    "Damien's lost his mind. He burst into Jacob's room and started screaming about J kissing his girl. I'm J's 'girl'... What's his problem?!" I threw my hands up in exasperation.

    "He's jealous. But I think it'll get better once he gets to see Sydney in 'that way'." She hung her arm around my shoulders.

    "He told me that Jacob lied to me. Jacob doesn't lie. Jacob thinks he lied, because Damien forced him into it!" I sat cross-legged on the floor of the kitchen.

    "You're over-reacting a bit, Grace. Get over him. Forget him, it doesn't matter anymore." Indie looked at me sternly, smiled, and then left the kitchen. Okay, so I was to simply ignore that. Okay...
*********************************************************

    "G, what do you want to do with all these paintings?" Jacob held up two and motioned with his head to the other hundred and fifty.

    "I dunno, I'll ask Meryenne if she can use any of them." I walked into the sunroom, grabbed an armful of my clothes, and trudged back down the hall to Jake's room - our room.

    "Jesus, Grace. How many rock t-shirts and tight jeans can one person own?" Jacob rolled his eyes and began stuffing things on hangers.  I giggled and left the room for another arm load. This one contained my "special occasion" stuff. Dresses, skirts, pretty sweaters and long cardigans. Girly stuff. I packed all of it into the laundry basket at my feet. I looked around once more. Noticing my shoes, I stacked them on top of the clothing. Vans, chucks, vans, chucks, vans, vans, chucks, vans, flip flops.

    "Good lord, are you sure all of this is going to fit in there?" Jacob was just finishing hanging the last load up. I'd taken my time packing things in the sunroom, thinking, remembering some offhand comment Hunter had made earlier in the day, laughing to myself and all around loving how awesome my life was.

    "Yes, Jacob. It all fit in the other closet. It should fit in this one." I dumped the load of clothes onto the floor and began hanging and folding and hanging and folding, all of my clothes. It took less than an hour before I was all moved in. My old trusty acoustic and my beaten skate-board leaned against the wall in the corner.

    "Well, looks like we're about done here. Anything you need from, you know, the other room?" Jacob gestured towards my old bedroom. I scanned the room in my mind, looking for something I needed. Crap, that drawing. The one of his eyes, Jacob's eyes. I drew them after I had the dream the first time. They'd haunted me since. Deep, emerald globes of beauty.

    "Sadly, yes. I'll run and get it." I took one step and Jacob was infront of me.

    "I'll come with you," he offered thickly. He was protecting me. We walked silently down the hall. Past the sunroom, the bathroom, a spare bedroom that I knew Jake used as a studio when he played, and finally arrived at my old room. Jacob stepped infront of me and rapped lightly on the door. then stepped back. A few seconds ticked by, and the door eased open. Damien was there. He slid aside and let me in. After I entered he shut the door, denying Jacob entrance.

    "Hey," I offered uneasily. I glanced around the room nervously, checking for anything apart from the drawing I'd come for.

    "So, you've come for the rest of your things," he asked, but it wasn't a question. He knew it was coming. He sat down on his bed and motioned that whatever I wanted was mine. He sat there, watching me as I flitted about the room, grabbing things when I found them. I ended up finding a few sailor rope bracelets and my navy rope-bottom TOMS, as well as the drawing of Jake's eyes. I turned to look at my ex. He pulled a face and sighed. I took it as my cue to leave. The second I got out of the room, I was in Jacob's arms.

    "Are you alright? What did he say? Did he say anything? Did he touch you?" rapid-fire French hit me like a machine gun. Jacob pulled me in tighter and held me at arms length. His eyes searched mine. Seeing that I was okay and unharmed, he hugged me again and planted kisses across my forehead.

    "Yes, I'm fine, he didn't say anything. And no, he didn't touch me," I answered just as fast in English. I laughed breathily and picked up my stuff off of the ground. I'd dropped it when I was so warmly greeted.

    "You're sure? ...Yes? Alright." He took my things away from me and walked with me back to our room. I flopped down on the bed and exhaled.
"I hear ya." Jacob collapsed on the bed beside me and before I knew it I was asleep.

**************************************************************

     I rolled over to keep the rising sun out of my eyes. I rolled over right into Jacob.

    "Mmm, morning, pretty girl." He smiled.

    "Good morning, sleepyhead." I nestled closer to him and inhaled. His scent was intoxicating. Warm spices mixed with the smell of old leather and new books.

    "Do you feel like sleeping in?" He arced his eyebrow and threw his arm over my shoulder.

    "Su-"

    "Grace, can I ask-" Brea flew into our room and stopped dead. "Sorry, I assumed you all would be awake by now. Excusez-moi." She raced away.

    "Now, about that sleeping in." Jacob laughed and turned over. Leaving me to cuddle up to his back.

    "Sure thing."

     And we were out again.
******************************************************************

    "Grace, Jacob, seriously, wake up!" Indie took a running start and vaulted onto our bed.

    "Ow," I heard Jake grunt next to me and laughed.

    "What, Ind?" I wiped the hair from my face and leaned on one elbow.

    "We were just all wondering when you were gonna let us talk to Syd, that's all." She batted her eyelashes innocently. Oh, man. She grabbed the covers and yanked them off of the both of us. She chuckled, looking at Jay's Scooby Doo boxers and then left us to ready ourselves for the horror to come.

Description
Chapter Three:
Seriously?

Chapter playlist:
Paramore - The Only Exception
Nickelback - Hero
All American Rejects - I Wanna
Puddle Of Mudd - We Don't Have To Look Back Now
**************************************************************

    "I think you should stay here tonight." Jacob opened the door to his room. I'd never been in here before and what I saw took my breath away. The walls, the same white walls with the sheet music collage. The three framed pieces in the middle. I walked tentatively over to the middle frame, stroking the golden plaque on the bottom.

    "Breathing In - The Veer Union. Are you serious?" I whirled to face him. He was smiling. That, 'yeah, I'm serious -- seriously in trouble' smile. "Did you know that this is--"

    "Just like your room at your home before you were changed? Yes. I thought it would make the transition easier. Once you came, but, it didn't work out that way." He began staring at the white wood floors. I glanced around the room. In the far corner... were two Acoustic guitars, two electric and a keyboard.

    "You knew I played too?" I rushed to him and flung my arms around his neck. "Thank you, Jake, really. It's amazing. I think I'll take you up on your offer for tonight, too." I  grinned a goofy smile and he laughed.

    "I hope you stay longer than just tonight." He eased my feet on top of his and walked me to the wall of music. Still holding me, he told me the story of every piece of music he had glued to his wall. There was a favorite story of mine that he told me. It started when he was still human. He was going to a concert and walked by a pub on the way. He heard the music blaring on the inside, and decided that's where he belonged. It's also where he met Hunter, who was looking for Indie at the time. Hunter made fast LIMES friends with him, and took him home to Meryenne. She also felt that he would be a nice addition to their family. My Jacob was changed later that same day. At that same moment, the song became one of my favorites too.

    "Why these three songs?" I asked him, running my hands along the frames.

    "Because this one," he pointed to the middle one, "was a reminder of what I had to remember. Never to let you down, no matter what I was going through. I didn't even know you yet. This one, on the far end is what I needed. Someone to heal my broken bones. I can heal yours too, if you want. The last one, is something that reminded me of the time I had to spend pretending like I didn't worship the ground under your feet. I love you, Grace." He leaned forward, and for the second time in our lives he kissed me.

    "What the heck, is goin' on here?!" Damien burst through the bedroom door. It bounced against the wall, snapping the hinges and putting a door-knob sized hole in the dry-wall. Jacob pushed me behind him and narrow his eyes. A deep growl escaped his throat.

    "I'm kissing my girl, Masen. Got a problem with it?" He slung an arm around me. He went from angry to arrogantly calm.

    "Yeah, 'cause you're kising my girl," Damien snarled.

    I stepped out from behind Jacob. "Okay, just for the books, I'm his." I grabbed Jacob's hand. "Damien, you're just a blast from the past. I think it would be best if you left."

    "Okay, fine. But don't come crawling back to me when he lies to you again." He turned and stalked out the door.

    "You lied to me you lying punk!" I called after him. I ran to the door and slammed it shut. It stuck in the frame and then fell to the floor.

    "Grace." Jacob took a step toward me and offered his hand. I took it and let it go.

    "I need a minute." I kissed his cheek and left the room. I kept my eyes on the floor, the lime green, brown, and kelly green, dots of carpet trailing down the hall guiding me. In a few minutes I reached Indie and Hunter's room. "Indie," I knocked. "Inds, you there?" No answer. Sigh. I gave up and walked downstairs.

    "Hey, sis. I haven't seen you all day. I know you haven't been painting." Hunter smiled cheekily and waved at me from the couch.

    "Hey, Hunt. Hey, Indie, Mom." They were all sitting on the sofa, studying a hand-drawn map of the area. Little red "Xs" marking places of interest. I sat down on the couch between Indie and my mother. I realized with a twang of guilt that they were all dressed in black, apart from myself. Everybody was grieving for my sister, except for me. I was wearing, of course, light blue skinnies and an All Time Low t-shirt. I was happy. At the expense of my sister I was happy. She was dead, but I had love, and a new lease on life.

    "Hello, love. How are you?" Meryenne stroked my cheek. She looked into my eyes and I knew that that was not what she was seeing. She was seeing my heart, and she knew. That I was not entirely devastated by my sibling's death.

    "I'm doing alright, Mum, honestly." I smiled. "Can I talk to you?" I turned to Indie, and stood.

    "Of course, what's the matter?" She stood and walked with me to the kitchen.

    "Damien's lost his mind. He burst into Jacob's room and started screaming about J kissing his girl. I'm J's 'girl'... What's his problem?!" I threw my hands up in exasperation.

    "He's jealous. But I think it'll get better once he gets to see Sydney in 'that way'." She hung her arm around my shoulders.

    "He told me that Jacob lied to me. Jacob doesn't lie. Jacob thinks he lied, because Damien forced him into it!" I sat cross-legged on the floor of the kitchen.

    "You're over-reacting a bit, Grace. Get over him. Forget him, it doesn't matter anymore." Indie looked at me sternly, smiled, and then left the kitchen. Okay, so I was to simply ignore that. Okay...
*********************************************************

    "G, what do you want to do with all these paintings?" Jacob held up two and motioned with his head to the other hundred and fifty.

    "I dunno, I'll ask Meryenne if she can use any of them." I walked into the sunroom, grabbed an armful of my clothes, and trudged back down the hall to Jake's room - our room.

    "Jesus, Grace. How many rock t-shirts and tight jeans can one person own?" Jacob rolled his eyes and began stuffing things on hangers.  I giggled and left the room for another arm load. This one contained my "special occasion" stuff. Dresses, skirts, pretty sweaters and long cardigans. Girly stuff. I packed all of it into the laundry basket at my feet. I looked around once more. Noticing my shoes, I stacked them on top of the clothing. Vans, chucks, vans, chucks, vans, vans, chucks, vans, flip flops.

    "Good lord, are you sure all of this is going to fit in there?" Jacob was just finishing hanging the last load up. I'd taken my time packing things in the sunroom, thinking, remembering some offhand comment Hunter had made earlier in the day, laughing to myself and all around loving how awesome my life was.

    "Yes, Jacob. It all fit in the other closet. It should fit in this one." I dumped the load of clothes onto the floor and began hanging and folding and hanging and folding, all of my clothes. It took less than an hour before I was all moved in. My old trusty acoustic and my beaten skate-board leaned against the wall in the corner.

    "Well, looks like we're about done here. Anything you need from, you know, the other room?" Jacob gestured towards my old bedroom. I scanned the room in my mind, looking for something I needed. Crap, that drawing. The one of his eyes, Jacob's eyes. I drew them after I had the dream the first time. They'd haunted me since. Deep, emerald globes of beauty.

    "Sadly, yes. I'll run and get it." I took one step and Jacob was infront of me.

    "I'll come with you," he offered thickly. He was protecting me. We walked silently down the hall. Past the sunroom, the bathroom, a spare bedroom that I knew Jake used as a studio when he played, and finally arrived at my old room. Jacob stepped infront of me and rapped lightly on the door. then stepped back. A few seconds ticked by, and the door eased open. Damien was there. He slid aside and let me in. After I entered he shut the door, denying Jacob entrance.

    "Hey," I offered uneasily. I glanced around the room nervously, checking for anything apart from the drawing I'd come for.

    "So, you've come for the rest of your things," he asked, but it wasn't a question. He knew it was coming. He sat down on his bed and motioned that whatever I wanted was mine. He sat there, watching me as I flitted about the room, grabbing things when I found them. I ended up finding a few sailor rope bracelets and my navy rope-bottom TOMS, as well as the drawing of Jake's eyes. I turned to look at my ex. He pulled a face and sighed. I took it as my cue to leave. The second I got out of the room, I was in Jacob's arms.

    "Are you alright? What did he say? Did he say anything? Did he touch you?" rapid-fire French hit me like a machine gun. Jacob pulled me in tighter and held me at arms length. His eyes searched mine. Seeing that I was okay and unharmed, he hugged me again and planted kisses across my forehead.

    "Yes, I'm fine, he didn't say anything. And no, he didn't touch me," I answered just as fast in English. I laughed breathily and picked up my stuff off of the ground. I'd dropped it when I was so warmly greeted.

    "You're sure? ...Yes? Alright." He took my things away from me and walked with me back to our room. I flopped down on the bed and exhaled.
"I hear ya." Jacob collapsed on the bed beside me and before I knew it I was asleep.

**************************************************************

     I rolled over to keep the rising sun out of my eyes. I rolled over right into Jacob.

    "Mmm, morning, pretty girl." He smiled.

    "Good morning, sleepyhead." I nestled closer to him and inhaled. His scent was intoxicating. Warm spices mixed with the smell of old leather and new books.

    "Do you feel like sleeping in?" He arced his eyebrow and threw his arm over my shoulder.

    "Su-"

    "Grace, can I ask-" Brea flew into our room and stopped dead. "Sorry, I assumed you all would be awake by now. Excusez-moi." She raced away.

    "Now, about that sleeping in." Jacob laughed and turned over. Leaving me to cuddle up to his back.

    "Sure thing."

     And we were out again.
******************************************************************

    "Grace, Jacob, seriously, wake up!" Indie took a running start and vaulted onto our bed.

    "Ow," I heard Jake grunt next to me and laughed.

    "What, Ind?" I wiped the hair from my face and leaned on one elbow.

    "We were just all wondering when you were gonna let us talk to Syd, that's all." She batted her eyelashes innocently. Oh, man. She grabbed the covers and yanked them off of the both of us. She chuckled, looking at Jay's Scooby Doo boxers and then left us to ready ourselves for the horror to come.