Susie pulled away from me slowly, and gasped.

"Holy shit Jackson, you need to get to the hospital right now"

I tensed.

"Yeah? And who's fault is that, huh? I'm not going, forget it"

Her gaze dropped to the floor.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone" She mumbled.

I scoffed at her comment, was she for real?!

"YOU WERE GONNA KILL ME SUSIE! WHAT PART OF THAT DOESN'T HURT ANYONE?!"

I shook my head and walked away from her, still feeling the effects of the accident. I swayed a little, then reached for the passenger door of the van to steady myself.

"Look, I wasn't gonna go through with it! Like you said, if I wanted you dead, I would have blown you up while you were inside the car dammit!"

"Oh, well thanks for being so considerate, but to be brutally honest, I'd rather be dead right now with the way I'm feeling"

Her eyes shot up at me, her lips trembling.

"Don't say that, don't you dare say that"

I looked at myself in the reflection of the van window. Bruises and scratches covered one side of my face. I sighed deeply.

"No, I'm gonna say it. I have no guards, no friends, no family that cares about me to visit me, no woman... I have nothing. I may look like I have everything, that I'm happy, living the high life, but you spend one day in my shoes and you'll realise how alone I really am. I have people around me all the time but I have never felt so lonely... not that you care. So you might as well have got what you wanted out of me, everyone else seems to."

Silence.

I yanked open the van door, then immediately regretted it as a surge of pain coursed up my arm.

I sat on the floor, cradling it, fighting back tears. No way in hell was I gonna let her see me cry.

I looked away from her direction and stared up at the trees around us. It was nice here, peaceful. I could stay here all day, nature surrounding me. I put my head in my hands.

*

I heard footsteps coming closer and peeking through my hands, I could see her shiny red stilettos in front of me.

"I'm sorry"

I didn't bother to reply.

"Look, I am sorry. I had no choice, I was forced into this. I didn't want to kill you! I didn't even want to touch you... I told him I wouldn't do it, I wasn't going to be his puppet anymore, but he threatened to make me homeless, to make me lose my job..."

I looked up at her, my eyes hovering over her beyond fine legs before they landed on her face,

"Susie... that's not a job, that's damn slavery. I don't care how tough you think you are, no woman deserves that kind of treatment. Why do you do it? You could be so much more"

"No.... no I couldn't. I have no other options. I got pulled out of college for this bullshit. I went for a night out with the girls, end up at that stupid Foxx place. Then I get pounced on by that perverted fuck of a manager and the rest is history."

I saw her lips tremble but she shook herself out of it.

"I am nothing but his pet. He tells me to jump, I ask how high. If I don't do as he says... Anyway you saw what happens when I decide to exert my basic rights."

"Susie..."

"And I don't want your sympathy neither. I ain't no charity case, so don't treat me like one. You think you can just sweep in, take me home, give me money then offer to take me in? That shit is for fairytales. You don't want me, so don't bother. I'll take you home, and that will be the end of it. You won't need to see me again"

She rounded to her side of the van then cursed loudly.

"What's wrong?" I asked

"Those fucking cowards! Listening in like that then running away!"

"Who? What are you talking about?"

"I mean those guys who got you in the damn van, Jackson, they're gone. I don't know what they heard, they were supposed to stay in the van! Dammit!"

She kicked the wheel in frustration and threw open her door, getting into the driver's seat and slamming it shut.

I slowly climbed into the other seat, wincing as my tender arm knocked the door.

"You're bleeding"

I rolled my eyes at her stating the obvious remark but she grabbed my arm.

"I'm serious, look at the state of you!"

She pulled her hand off my bad arm, her eyes growing wide. She held up her palm, it was stained with blood.

I felt that sick sensation again.

She leant across my body and closed my door, her chest pressing against my thighs. She took her time to straighten up, catching my stare.

She gripped the steering wheel. "I'm taking you to the hospital"

My heart slammed to a stop.

"No! No, I mean... I don't need to go there"

"Jackson, are you stupid? You were thrown across a car lot not three hours ago, and you still can't walk straight. You need to go and get checked out"

"I said I'm not going. That's final. Just take me home, I will sort myself out."

"You could have concussion, you could have broken your arm or any bone in your body! I am taking you to the-"

"No you are not! I will not set foot in that hospital again, do you hear me? I don't care if I'm half dead, I'm... not.... going. Is that clear?"

"Jackson, if you think I'm about to start listening to you..."

"Well you will this time around, I call the shots on this one, alright? You take me to the hospital, they're gonna want to know everything, what happened, who was there, they're gonna get the cops involved. They're gonna be asking you questions, there's gonna be a huge deal about it, the press and everything... its not every day the king of pop gets blown up."

She turned to me and her face fell, she knew I was right.

"I'm sorry I guess... I guess I forgot who you are"

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair.

"You're not the only one"

With no further conversation, we pulled out of the forest's darkening trail as the sun began to set and made our way back home... my home.

*

The black van inched through the gates of my beloved Neverland, or Neverland Valley Ranch to be precise. The large acres of land rolled down either side of the road up to the main estate.

It felt... good to be home, for once. I felt much less lost coming back here with Susie by my side... although she was still almost a stranger to me.

"Holy shit... this place is ridiculously huge! You live here all by yourself, huh?"

I nodded solemnly as I watched the lights on my estate get nearer and nearer, the day inching closer to night time, my favourite time of the day, ironically.

"Yeah, it's just me, myself and I. And a few friends too."

"You told me you didn't have any"

I chuckled.

"Well... I guess I didn't count my animals."

"You still got that llama you had on the TV?"

"Yes, of course I still have Louie... and I have Bubbles my chimp, my horses, snake, rabbits, parrots, deer... I had a giraffe too, but I had to send her away when the neighbours complained."

"Well no offence to the petting zoo you got going on here, but most neighbours expect a dog as a pet, not a giraffe"

"Well I don't really like dogs"

"Yet you'll have a freakin lion or something? You are something else, Jackson"

She grinned at me as she drove round the large water fountain, then parked. Her smile was captivating.

*

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I turned to her.

"Susie... I'm going to need your... er, help."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

I pointed my stare at my arm, then back at her. Her expression changed to realisation and she flicked her hair off her shoulder.

For some reason I found that incredibly sexy... How hard had I hit my head?

"Oh...I see, you're a little beaten up, aren't you?"

I nodded slowly, my tongue running over my lips as I prepared myself to ask the inevitable question.

"W-would you mind... um, coming... bringing me..." I struggled to finish my sentence, my face getting hotter by the second.

What was wrong with me? I invited people round my home countless times before... but not her.

"I'll help you get sorted, don't worry."

Her face was soft, the first time I had seen her without her sarcastic rolling of eyes or anger. It made her look even more beautiful as the lights shone on her frame.

She nervously played with a strand of loose hair before opening her door and jumping out onto the gravel.

I watched her close as she walked round the front of the van and opened my door.

"Can you get down alright?"

Where had this caring side to Susie come from?

"Um, sure, I can do it"

With a little wincing and effort, I got out of the van at last.

We walked in together, her arm resting ever so lightly on my back, but I still felt the heat of her touch.

*

"Woah...."

We entered the large entrance hall, me hovering behind as she circled the room.

She looked good standing there, her face turned up to the ceiling, taking in the artwork hung high on the walls. Yet she was the true work of art.

"Your hallway has gotta be bigger than my entire apartment"

I shrugged. "I don't know, maybe"

"Well, show me the way then"

"The way to where? My b... bedroom?" My face grew hot again.

She raised her eyebrows at me.

"Well I was thinking maybe your kitchen, but if there's some medical stuff up there, sure"

Now what.

"Um, yeah I keep most of my er... I have a first aid kit in my room that I use... b-but the kitchen is fine... d-did you want something?"

She showed that perfect smile again.

"Always the gentleman. But I think we ought to get you cleaned up first, don't you? Anyway I said I wasn't staying if that's what you're thinking"

"Oh, no no of course, I just thought... I think you're right. The kitchen's this way"

I lead the way through the house, Susie taking in everything as we went.

"I'm always right, Jackson"

I smiled to myself. "Is that so?"

"Okay, I made a few mistakes, but I was right to make them"

"Why is that?"

"Because... they led me to you I suppose"

My heart quickened, but I didn't comment, I wasn't sure what to say to that.

*

I took off my shirt nervously as instructed by Susie. She was by the sink, cloth in hand.

"Now don't go whining on me, alright? It's gonna sting a little"

She turned round and her eyes widened as she took me in, making me shift a little under her gaze.

She stepped over to me and took a deep breath before pressing the cloth on the wound on my arm.

I hissed at the pain, but said nothing. I was too preoccupied with looking at her fine features, her face was contorted in an expression of deep concentration.

"Well at least there's no glass inside the cut, then that would have been a problem."

"Thank you, Susie"

She caught my eye then quickly looked away, slightly bashful.

"No... it's my fault you're like this in the first place"

"Well in a way I'm glad"

She shot me a confused look.

"Because if I hadn't been hurt like this, then you wouldn't be here with me right now.... I don't think you were going to get in that car, were you?"

She blushed crimson. I liked that.

"I... You remember that?"

"I didn't lose my memory, only a bit of blood. And just so you know, the offer still stands"

She finished cleaning my wound and grabbed the dressing she had picked out. She wound the bandages round my arm, her touch sending sparks shooting through my bloodstream.

Satisfied, she stepped back, but I grabbed her wrist.

"Susie? I said the offer still stands... if you want it."

She looked at me, her eyes searching for something.

"It's not that simple, Jackson. I'm stuck in this thing, he'll know where to look"

"But he can't get anywhere near you without my say so... as long as you are with me... you are safe, I promise"

I pushed her hair behind her ear and she shuddered.

"You don't want me, Jackson, don't make promises you can't keep"

I took her hand and pulled her along a different corridor to the grand staircase.

"Where are we going, Jackson?"

"You know where we're going, Susie. We're going to the place where I can show you how wrong you really are."

Slowly, we made our way to my bedroom.

*

A/N: Hey moonwalkers! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've had hella college work! Thanks for reading, voting and commenting, it means a lot ♥

~Demi xx