"Jack!" I gasped, "If you don't stop I'm going to kick your sorry ass!" I tried speaking through a fit of giggles, but it was damn near impossible.

            Jack's fingers dug further into my sides as I squirmed under him. Laughter erupted from deep in his chest. I couldn't tell if he was laughing with me or at me. Probably at me because he wouldn't stop. This all started when I told him that he couldn't make me laugh. Well, he couldn't make me laugh verbally with his cheap jokes and resorted to tickling, which was cheating.

            Jack clearly wasn't one for rules.    

            His tickling subsided and there was a dull ache on my sides. Before he could move, I wrapped my legs around him and locked my ankles against his lower back. I snaked my arms around his neck and drew him in closer. He rested his weight on his hands on each side of my head on the floor. "Your face is so red." He pointed out.

            "I can slap you and make yours equally red." I grinned as I slid one of my hands from his neck.

            Jack caught my wrist before I could do anything, "Someone likes to play dirty."

            I freed my hand from his and pressed both against his chest, "You know it." I unlocked my legs and pushed up on his chest until he was lying next to me. I swung my leg over his hip to straddle and pin him down. I guess it was dumb because he could easily just flip me back over.

            A grin slid on Jack's lips as he folded his hands behind his head. "Is this supposed to be your punishment for me?"

            I leaned in closer until my chest was pressed against his, "No. Keeping your hands to yourself is your punishment."

            "Oh?" He leaned his head to the side, "And how is that a punishment exactly? I like a girl in control." He smirked.

            "If there's something I know about you more than anything, it's that you like to be in control. You may like it when a girl's in control, but for how long?" I hover my face over his neck, letting my lips brush over his skin. "How do you feel about teasing, Jack?"

            He moaned in response, "I don't think I'll like your no touching policy."

            I smiled and moved to hover my lips over his, "Yeah?" I kissed his bottom lip, his chin, and started down his throat. "What about if I kissed you here?" I tilted his chin up to get the access to his neck that I needed. I kissed the spot below his jaw and he swallowed hard.

            "Juliet." He whispered my name.

            I smiled to myself and hovered my face over his again, "What? Feeling a little helpless?"

            "I'm trying to obey." He smirked through his struggle.

            I placed my mouth on his and he complied to my touch. I kissed him softly, paying special attention to the softness of his lips. I pulled away all too quickly and he let out a whimper. I kissed his cheek, but he wasn't appreciating the teasing still. I pulled back until I was sitting up again

            I looked down at Jack and he still had his hands folded behind his head. I pointed to his cheeks, "Look, now your face is redder than mine."

            I stood up off of him and looked down at him, "You're really proud of yourself, aren't you?"

            "Kind of." I grinned and folded my arms over my chest.

            Jack stood up to his feet and stretched his arms out in front of him, "Well now we're officially even."

            I let out a defeated sigh and walked up to him. I threw my arms around his neck and stood on my toes to leave a small kiss on his lips. "Better?"

            He smiled and leaned in, "Not even close." And he kissed me again...and again...and again.

            The sound of the doorbell echoing through the house jolted us apart. I looked at him with raised eyebrows but he wasn't moving. "Go answer it." I hissed in a whisper. He moved around me and jogged to the front door. I hid in the kitchen in case it could've been Paxton.

            But it was my grandma's voice that rang through the house.

            Oh, no.           

            "Jack." I could tell she was trying to be nice, "Is your mother around?"           

            "No, Mrs. White. She won't be home until later tonight."

            "Shoot." If she would've been talking to me, her language would've been colorful. She may be a grandma but she can curse like a sailor.

            "I can give her a message, if you want."

            It was quiet for a moment, "Just tell her I would like to speak to her about keeping an eye on Juliet for me."

            Their cruise. I totally forgot about the cruise.

            They planned it last year for my grandma's birthday.

            Wait—I don't need a babysitter. I think James and Meredith will still be here, so I don't see why this is necessary.

            "I'll give her the message." 

            "Thanks, Jack."

            I heard the door close and soon Jack popped into the kitchen, "Guess you heard that."

            I rolled my eyes, "I don't need a babysitter. James and Meredith will still be here. I'm seventeen, I'm completely capable of staying alone."

            "When do they leave?"

            "Sunday and they'll get back the following Sunday."

            Jack leaned a hand on the counter, "Well now you don't have to use Lindy as an excuse to sneak out and see me."        

            I lifted my shoulders in a shrug, "That is a plus. But still. Your mom doesn't need to keep an eye on me. I'll be fine. I'll most likely be here when I'm not at work anyway, she just won't know it."

            "You know I don't want you to get in trouble, right? Believe me, I'm not worth all the trouble."

            He made my heart ache. I think he's worth getting in trouble over. "If you can get in trouble for me, I can get in trouble for you." Two different kinds of trouble. And mine is nothing compared to his. "I have to tell them soon."

            Jack smiled sadly, "Even if that means you can't see me again?"

            "I won't let that happen."

            He took a step towards me and caressed my cheek with one hand, "I can be your Romeo."

            I couldn't help the laugh that spilled out, "Good one."

            He smiled at his joke. He was quite proud of it. Surprised he didn't crack that one sooner to be honest. "I would climb up to your bedroom window just so that I could kiss you."        

            I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "Well lucky for you, you don't have to do that."

            "I'm saying I would though."

            I nodded, "I know." I stood on my toes and left a small kiss on his lips, "I just...my grandma has already told me countless times to stay away from you. If she finds out before I can tell her, she'll flip out and then I definitely won't be able to see you again. So if I explain everything, our situation, and how we feel, I can convince her." Or she'll be even madder because I lied to her.

            Jack brushed his thumb across my cheek, "I don't want to make things difficult between you guys. I told you I'm not worth the trouble."

            "You are. If you haven't noticed, I was here with you when my grandma came over. Clearly I would get in trouble for you."

            He leaned down towards me, his lips just an inch above mine, "All this talk about trouble and you haven't caused any yet."

            Then I remembered a line he told me when he had me blocked in the pantry, "Just being here with you can get me in all kinds of trouble."

            He smiled and I knew he remembered, "Then let me get you in more trouble."

            "Not possible."

            He tilted his head, moving his index finger under my chin, "Sure about that?"

            "I think we have different definitions of trouble, Jack." I laughed a little.

            He shook his head, "Not right now we don't."

            My breath hitched in my throat and he noticed, "You don't know what I'm thinking about." I fired.

            The corner of his lips turned up into a crooked smirk, "Want to bet?"

            I scanned his face, "No...but thanks for the offer."

            "Tell me what you're thinking about and I'll tell you what I'm thinking about."

            I raised a brow out of curiosity, "I don't need you to tell me something I already know."

            "So you know I'm thinking about the little wrinkle you get here—" He rubbed his finger between my eyebrows, "when you're confused."

            I swatted his hand away and he laughed. I rubbed the spot where his hand previously, "Are you making fun of me?"

            "Of course not." He took my hand away from my head and caressed my face in his hands, "It's insanely adorable." He leaned in, pressing his lips to the space between my eyebrows and I instantly relaxed. He moved his lips down, kissing the tip of my nose. His lips brushed over each of my cheeks, leaving small kisses on his way down to my chin. I felt his breath against my lips as he kissed each corner of my mouth, kissing my bottom lip, and finally kissing me.  

            It's weird how quickly our conversations can change. And no matter what, they ended the same. Him kissing me, or the other way around. It's not a bad thing at all, either. I couldn't get enough of him in more ways than one. I need his conversations, his comfort, and his burning kisses. I just needed him in more ways than I've needed anyone before.

            And that's terrifying.

            Jack pulled away, leaning his forehead against mine, "You know I wish things were different, Juliet." He brushed a thumb over my cheek.

            "I know."

            He took a step back away from me, losing all contact, "They will be soon. And we can be together without any problems." He smiled a little, but it wasn't helping much. I love being with Jack no matter what. It doesn't matter what we do, or where we are. I just love being around him.

            I closed the space between us and wrapped my arms around his waist. I pressed my cheek against the spot over his heart and closed my eyes. The beat of his heart was erratic and thumping hard against his chest. He snaked his arms around my shoulders and gave me a gentle squeeze. "I need to get home." I whispered, not wanting to break the contact. "I'm sure my grandma is looking for me. Probably thinks I'm still in bed."

            "When are you going to see your dad?"

            I tilted my head back to look up at him, "I'm going to call the hotel when I get home and see if he wants to meet up for lunch tomorrow."

            He smiled at me, his fingers brushed against my temple as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, "It'll be fine."

            "I hope so. I'll stop by when I get home."

            He kissed my forehead and let me go, "You don't have to. I know you have a lot going on tomorrow with Meredith—"

            "Jack."

            "Sorry." He said sheepishly, "I'll see you tomorrow."

            I stood on my toes, kissed his cheek, and left as much as I didn't want to.

            When I made it up to my room, I sat at my desk. I reached for my phone, looking up the number to the hotel he was staying at. I looked down at the letter and back at my phone in my hand. Am I doing the right thing? I don't know...

            I wanted to know more about my mom. I wanted to know more about him also, as much as it kills me inside.

            I found the number and pressed call. My heart was beating faster with each ring. "Hello, how can I help you?"

            "I need to talk to William Sanders, please."

            "I'll direct your call. Just one moment."

            I muttered a thank you and the phone started ringing again.

            Breathe in, breath out, breathe in—

            "Hello?"

            My breath hitched and I couldn't say anything.

            "Is someone there?"

            I closed my eyes and breathed out, "Will."

            "Juliet." The surprised tone was hard to miss, "I didn't think you'd call."        

            "I didn't either." My tone was light, "I read your letter."

            "I'm glad. And I meant every word."

            "I would like to...I'd like to see you, before you leave. I can meet you tomorrow and we can go to lunch and talk."

            "Of course." He said without hesitation, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions and I'll do my best to answer them. I have some pictures I would like to show you as well."

            The idea made me smile, "I'll meet you at The Orchid at noon tomorrow."

            "Thank you, Juliet."

            "See you tomorrow."

            And he said bye and I hung up.

            It felt weird. I talked to him like I've known him my whole life, like he didn't leave me for fourteen years. I liked that, too. I'm not going to have high hopes about tomorrow because it could end badly. I don't want it to, but I know I'm going to be kind of on edge the whole time, just waiting for him to make one wrong move and I bolt.

            I really did have a lot going on tomorrow.

            There was a knock at my door, "Come in!"           

            My door opened and Meredith stepped through, "Hey. Glad you're awake."

            "Unfortunately." I mumbled.

            She let out a small laugh, "I was going to see if you wanted to go to the mall with me? I don't have anything to wear tomorrow and I really need something new."

            "Sure, sounds like fun. I'll call Lindy and have her meet us there."

            I called Lindy the second she left, and of course, Lindy was all for it. She would be meeting us there within the hour. I changed into jeans, a black tank top, and put my hair into a messy knot. I washed my face again because my eyes felt sore. I put on a light layer of make up and met Meredith downstairs.

            We took my grandma's car since James has already left for the day. I'm not too fond of the mall during the summer because that's where everyone goes. Here or the beach, and it seems a lot of people go to the mall instead.

            I parked the car and Meredith jumped out before I could even turn it off. I ran to catch up to her. Her legs are longer than mine, so it's like an endless sprint while walking next to her. She immediately ran into one of the clothing stores that consisted of a lot of dresses. "You should get something too." She smiled while running a hand over a dress.

            I looked around the store, scrunching up my nose, "I don't know. I already have a lot of clothes I'll look fine in."

            She shrugged, "There's no such thing as too many clothes, Juliet."

            She did have a point.

            By the time we made it to the second store, Lindy showed up. She was just like Meredith trying to get me to buy things. Lindy did hold up a few things that were cute and I did end up buying a few of them. I found a great pair of black jeans that fit snug around my legs. And a cute small leather jacket I planned on wearing tomorrow night.       

            Still not sure how we're going to get in, but Meredith said the guy she's meeting will get us in without a problem. This guy seemed sketchy. Meredith doesn't know too much about him except that he's hot and in college. Still sketchy. I don't care how attractive he is.

The next morning I felt nervous and excited at the same time. I would be learning more about my mom, but nervous about sitting with the person who abandoned me all those years ago.

            I put on a red sundress and braided my hair to the side loosely. I swallowed the lump in my throat and walked downstairs for breakfast. James was sitting there with my grandma, no Grandpa or Meredith in sight.

            James smiled and patted the seat next to him.

            I joined them, taking the seat next to James. I piled my plate with two pancakes and dug in. My grandma's pancakes are like clouds, so light and fluffy.

            "Still meeting up with your dad?" She asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

            I nodded and swallowed my food, "At noon. He said he's going to bring pictures of my mom and stuff."

            "That's good, sweetie. You know you can call me if you need me to."

            "I can handle him."

            "I wouldn't doubt that." She grinned and stood up. She left the kitchen, leaving James and me alone.

            He was quiet next to me for a few moments, "Are you going to be up to go tonight?"

            I took a drink of my orange juice while nodding. Wasn't really a good idea on my part to do that, "As long as you're still going."

            "You'll let me corrupt you for the night?"

            Why does everyone want to corrupt me? I'm not that uptight. Wait—I'm not uptight at all, what the hell? Jack's done a good job on that corrupting thing. It's a work in progress anyway. I don't even know what they want me to do exactly. Drink? No way in hell.

            "Depends on what you have in mind." I eyed him warily.

            James smirked, "I guess you'll find out tonight."

            "Should I be worried?"

            He shook his head, "Absolutely not. I just want to show you what fun looks like. And no, it doesn't involve any books. I'm talking real fun."

            I narrowed my eyes and glared at him, "I will fight you."

            James let out a laugh and threw an arm over the back of my chair, "Not today you won't. Just one night. That's all I'm asking and I promise, I won't pressure you to drink or anything you don't want to do."

            I was still a bit on the fence about this, "Fine. But no, I'm not drinking. You don't need that to have a good time."

            And easy smile rested on his lips, "I agree." He leaned into me, and I almost thought he was going to kiss me but his lips landed on my cheek. "Good luck with your dad." He whispered in my ear and a chill sped down my spine. His cheek brushed mine as he pulled back and left without looking at me once.

            That was odd.

            I put a hand over the spot he kissed and sighed. It was friendly. Everything about the way he acts is just friendly. I'm not going to read too much into that and just go along with my day.

            But it was hard to ignore the spot where my cheek burned. James said he didn't feel anything like that towards me. Well, he said he wasn't going to screw up our friendship and he knows Jack and I are together. He wouldn't—

            It was a kiss on the cheek, Juliet, shut up.

            I mentally smacked myself and finished eating. I have a bad habit of over analyzing everything if you can't tell. 

            I cleaned up my dishes and went back upstairs to call Jack. I think hearing his voice before I leave will help calm my beating heart. I grabbed my phone, scrolling through my contacts until I found Jack's name. If he was asleep, he's going to kick my ass if I wake him up.

            Oh well.

            "Hey." There was no hint of sleep in his tone.      

            "Hopefully I didn't wake you." I said anyway.      

            He laughed lightly, "No, I was about to call you." 

            "Any reason?" I sat down at the foot of my bed.

            "Just to check on you. Make sure you're okay before you leave."

            "I think I'm okay as I'll be right now. But thank you for checking up on me." I smiled even though he couldn't see it, "When do your parents get home from their trip?"           

            "They'll be back tomorrow night or early Sunday morning. I mentioned to my mom when I talked to her earlier about your grandma's request. She said she would be ecstatic to keep an eye on you for a week." Jack snorted, "Honestly, she was way too happy about it. Not sure if that's normal."

            "How am I supposed to sneak and see you now?"

            "Easy. I'll let you know when they go to bed, just like how it is now."

            He did have a point. "Good. And I'm coming over later tonight when I get home from going with Meredith."

            "Twice in one day? I do feel special."

            "You should." I laughed, "I'll see you soon."

            We exchanged byes and hung up. I walked downstairs, grabbed my grandma's keys and left the house to go see my dad.

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I wanted to do something light and fluffy because the next chapter will be emotionally heavy. Or at least I think it is.

Comment and let me know what you think and thank you guys so much for all the votes! :)