The sunlight streaming through Jess's bedroom windows woke her.  Squeezing her eyes shut tight, she rolled over, pulling the blankets over her head to escape the sun.  She didn't want to see the sun shining.  It should be gloomy outside, just like it was inside her.  She felt a heavy sadness pressing on her, knowing the man who was supposed to be raising her, didn't even want her in his home. 

But she wasn't entirely alone.  Jess remembered Annie unpacking her suitcase the day she'd arrived, saying how glad she was Jess was there.  Annie loved her, she was certain of it.  Even Doug, a typical annoying boy, had stepped into the big brother role.  He'd protected her a few times, even making sure she wouldn't have to dance with someone who might step on her feet the night before.  Having both of them helped make up for how cold and cruel her uncle had been.

And then there was Marty.  If there was one person who made her happy she was living there, it was him.  He'd saved her from being desperately lonely over the summer, but she knew he needed her just as much.  If she hadn't come to live with her uncle, he'd still have no friends.  She pulled the covers off her head, finally ready to get up.  It was Sunday and that meant she'd get to spend the day with Marty.

Once she'd dressed, she came down the back stairs.  Annie was frying bacon and humming along with the country song that was playing on the radio, but as soon as she saw Jess, she smiled and exclaimed cheerfully,  "Good morning!"

"Good morning, Annie," Jess replied going to give her a hug.  It was good to see Annie was in such a good mood after the rough night she'd had dealing with Uncle Jonathon.

"Did you get a good night's sleep?" Annie asked while smoothing Jess's hair.

"Yes," she lied.  "And – how was your night?" she asked hesitantly.  Had her uncle been even more difficult when they'd been in his room?

"I slept very well," Annie said with a smile, still smoothing her hair.

"That's good," Jess said with relief.

"Have a seat.  Breakfast is almost ready."

Jess sat at her place and drank orange juice while Annie continued humming while she fried eggs.  When she set them in front of Jess, she asked, "What do you have planned for this beautiful day?"

"I'm going to –."

"Stop that racket!" her Uncle's voice boomed out, making both of them jump.  He was leaning against the doorway to the butler's pantry with his hand over his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Annie said, rushing to turn off the radio. 

"I need aspirin!" he snapped, lowering his hand and glaring at her through squinty, bloodshot eyes. 

"Yes, Sir," she said, immediately going to her bedroom.  As he watched her leave the room, his eyes fell on Jess and she slumped in her chair, knowing what was coming.

"What are you doing here?" he shouted as she picked up her plate and cutlery.  "How many times do I have to tell you we eat in the dining room?"

"Yes, sir," she said, avoiding his eyes while she stood. 

As she approached him, she saw his hands ball into fists, and her heart began racing.  Was he going to hit her?  She didn't want to get any closer to him, but he was standing in the doorway of the butler's pantry.  She was going to have to walk past him to get to the dining room.  If she didn't, he'd get even more angry at her.  With her body tense, she squeezed past him, but to her relief, he only glared down at her. Once she was safely on the other side of the swinging door, she let out a deep breath.

"Please don't be angry with Jess," she heard Annie plead, her voice muffled from the door.  "It's not her fault.  I – thought you'd be sleeping late this morning."

"You know I don't like it when you make assumptions," Uncle Jonathon muttered angrily.

"But – it's hard not to – sometimes," Annie replied quietly and Jess could hear the sadness in her voice. 

"I need water to take these," he grumbled, clearly unmoved by the pain he was causing her.

"Why don't you sit down and I'll –," Annie started, and Jess went to her chair, not waiting to hear the rest.  The last thing she needed was to be caught eavesdropping again.

It was several seconds before Uncle Jonathon pushed through the door, giving her plenty of time to begin eating by time he saw her.  Then Annie came in with a glass of water and a pot of coffee.  Her eyes were red rimmed, and Jess lowered her head, not wanting to embarrass her further by making it obvious she knew Annie had been crying. 

"Your eggs should be ready soon," she said with a subdued voice to Uncle Jonathon, and he grunted in response as he unscrewed the cap on the bottle of aspirin.

While Jess choked down her food, she kept her head down and tried to make as little noise as possible, not wanting to give him another reason to get angry at her.  For the hundredth time she thought about how much she hated him for being so mean to her and Annie.  As soon as she finished, she quietly asked to be excused and then escaped to her room.  After getting her school books organized, she sat on her bed and looked out the window, waiting until she saw her uncle leave in the big black car.

Pulling on her coat, she went down the back stairs.  Annie wasn't in the kitchen but she had Jess's basket ready on the counter for her.  She took it and was soon on her way to the cabin.  As she walked down the path, a frigid breeze blew through the forest and she clutched her coat tighter.  It seemed like the temperature was dropping by the second.   Looking up through the swaying tree branches, she saw dark grey clouds flying past. 

Stepping into the clearing, she was grateful to see smoke coming out of the chimney and quickened her steps.  As soon as she let herself in, she closed the door, not wanting to lose any of the precious heat.  Marty was washing his mug at the sink, still in his heavy cloth coat.

"Hi," she said, smiling at him with happiness when she joined him. 

"Hey," he replied, giving her warm smile before turning back to his washing. 

Finally feeling like she could relax, she set her books and basket on the table, then went to get the blankets so they could keep warm while they did their homework.  After everything that had happened since she'd seen Marty on Friday, she'd missed being in his calm, quiet presence.  It wasn't long before they were seated and quietly reading, but as Jess tried to make sense of the politics leading up to the Revolutionary War, her mind drifted back to the events of the twenty-four hours.  The awkward moments at the birthday party, Uncle Jonathon's cruel words, and the disastrous breakfast.

Giving up on the words, she straightened and watched Marty who was already answering the questions at the end of the chapter.  His gold brown hair was kept neatly trimmed but he was letting it grow out on top.  The bangs were long enough now they flopped over his forehead, free of the hair cream he only bothered to use when he went to school.  It was a sign the money from his new job was already helping him. Realizing she was watching him, he looked up from his paper. 

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said automatically.  He scrutinized her for a moment, then leaned forward to continue writing.  She looked down at her chapter, but there were too many thoughts swirling around in her head.

"Marty?"

"Yeah?" he said, straightening with a look on his face like he'd been expecting her to say something after all. 

"Do you – do you live with your mom and dad, or – just your dad?"  His eyes narrowed and his body stiffened.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked suspiciously.

"I was just wondering," she said quietly, sorry she'd brought it up.  Of course, he wouldn't want to discuss what was going on at his home.  "You don't have to talk about it," she said, and leaned over her text book, determined to force the facts into her memory.   

"I just live with my old man," Marty muttered, and she lifted her head.  He was hunched forward, his shoulders curved inward as he scowled at the table.

"What happened to your mom?" she prodded gently.

"Died," he said simply, and her heart immediately broke for him.  It had been six months since she'd lost her parents and it still hurt.

"I'm sorry, Marty," she said.  He shrugged his shoulders as he began picking at the binding on his text book.  "How did she die?"

"Got cancer," he muttered, concentrating on what his fingers were doing.

"Do you miss her?"

"No!" he said, lifting his head and scowling at her like he couldn't believe she'd asked such a stupid question.  She tried to hide her shock.  How could anyone not miss their mom? 

"How old were you when she died?" she asked, thinking maybe he'd been too little to remember her.

"Seven," he said, going back to pick at his binding.  That was old enough to have remembered her, Jess thought, and then another explanation hit her in the stomach. 

"Was she – a good mom?" she asked hesitantly, afraid of what he might say.  She didn't know if she could take the pain of knowing his mother had been as cruel to him as his father.

"I don't know," he said, shrugging again without lifting his eyes.  What did that mean, she wondered, watching him continue to pull at the threads he'd worked loose from the binding.  "She – used to read to me," he said quietly to his book.  "All the time."  His brown eyes came up and met hers.  "And then – she got sick." 

For a brief second, Jess saw a flicker of pain in his eyes before they dropped down and a lump formed in her throat.  His mother had loved him.  Swallowing a few times, she fought hard to keep the tears from coming.

"She sounds like she was really nice," she said when she thought she could keep the emotions out of her voice.  Marty shrugged in response. 

"I miss my parents," she said, and he lifted his head, the pain in his eyes now gone.  "I miss them a lot – especially – because my uncle hates me."  Marty's brow furrowed and he seemed surprised.  "He doesn't want me," Jess stated firmly as she straightened on her stool.  It felt good to finally tell the truth to someone.  "He's mad he has to take care of me.  He's mad at me all the time – no matter what I do."  Marty leaned forward, his eyes full of intensity.

"Does he hit you?"

"No!" she replied, shocked Marty would think that, and then she remembered the way her heart had raced when she'd had to pass her uncle on the way to the dining room that morning.  "But – sometimes I think he's going to," she said, dropping her head.  She suddenly felt ashamed, but she didn't know why.  She hadn't done anything wrong.

"Is he like that with your cousin?"

"No, he loves Doug," she muttered bitterly, the truth of those words crushing her. 

The lump in her throat was suddenly much larger and tears threatened to come as the emotions she'd felt the night before when she laid in her bed came rushing back.  She was unwanted, alone, hated by a man who could love his son but not her.  Her vision blurred and she blinked hard.  Then she saw Marty's hand as he slowly reached across the table.  Picking up her hand that was resting next to her book, he wrapped his fingers around it, gently holding her.

She quickly wiped her eyes with her other hand and then looked up at him with wonder.  He had the same intense look he'd had a moment ago, but he was looking at her hand, as if it was too difficult to face her while doing something as intimate as holding her hand.  The warmth of his soft skin slowly spread through her body, pushing away the sadness and she took a deep breath.  When she let it out, the pain finally left and a peace took its place.  She wasn't alone, she had Marty, and the thought made her heart swell with happiness. 

Listening to the popping of the burning wood in the fireplace, she examined his hand, enjoying the moment.  Even though it had been months since they'd spent all day every day outside, his skin was still a few shades darker than hers.  When he pulled his hand away, she reluctantly let go.  He leaned over his book and resumed reading as if nothing had happened, but it was okay.  Jess knew he wouldn't want to talk about it.  Leaning over her own book, she began reading her chapter, finally able to concentrate on the words.

When they finished their homework, they moved into the living room and sat on the chairs in front of the fire.  Jess read while Marty whittled a piece of wood with his pen knife, expertly flicking the shavings into the fire where they made a pop when they hit the flames.  After a while, the light in the room dimmed and she lifted her head.  Fluffy white flakes were flying past the window.

"Oh!  It's snowing!" she exclaimed with a smile.  Marty looked up and then closed his knife.

"Didn't it snow where you come from?" he asked with surprise.

"Yes.  It snowed a lot, but the first snow of the year is special.  Don't you think?"

"No," he scoffed. 

"Well, I should probably get going," she said reluctantly as she stood.  She didn't want to take a chance on coming home after her uncle and give him another excuse to get mad at her, or worse, question where she'd been.

Once she'd gathered her school things and basket, they put on their coats.  When they stepped outside, she was surprised there was already a thick white coating on the ground.  As she trudged across the clearing, she suddenly felt sick. 

"Footprints!" she cried, and Marty stopped.  "What if my uncle sees them?  How am I going to hide them when I walk back to the house?"  Not knowing when he might show up, she couldn't be sure they'd be covered by new snowfall before he could see them.  "What am I going to do, Marty?" she asked desperately. 

He studied their prints for a moment while he thought, and then said, "Follow me," as he turned to go a different direction.  When they reached the edge of the clearing, he stopped.

"I reckon you better get something to write with," he said, and then he grinned.  "Since you're a city kid, you're bound to get lost if you don't."

"Ha, ha.  Very funny," she replied sarcastically, and then peered into the forest.  There wasn't a path and she wondered if he might be right. 

She handed him her books so she could have her hands free to write in her notebook.  Then she followed him while he pointed out trees, large rocks, and fallen logs, as if each one of them was unique, appearing as though he'd travelled the same route a hundred times before.  She did her best to note the characteristics of each one, trying to see them the way Marty did.  She marveled that he could know his way around the woods of her uncle's property so well, but it was evidence of how much time he'd spent there. 

When they finally stepped out of the trees, Jess was surprised to find herself on the winding drive that led to the house from the gate.

"You got it all?" Marty asked while she folded the paper and put it inside one of her text books. 

"I think so."

"Well, I'll know what happened if I never see you again," he said smirking.

"Stop!" she said, and tried to push his shoulder, but he jumped back laughing.  "I won't have any trouble," she declared confidently, even though she wasn't so sure.

"I reckon we'll find out," he teased, his brown eyes sparkling with humor.

"I guess we will!" she huffed.

"I better get going," he said more seriously, scanning the road.

"Okay," she said with a sigh.  I'll see you tomorrow."  When a grin spread across his face, she added quickly, "At school!"

"Yeah.  I'll see ya, Jess," he said, smiling a genuine smile, and turned to go back into the woods.  

She watched him until he was swallowed by the trees, and then began walking to her house, feeling much lighter than she had when she'd left to go to the cabin.

****

Jess has had another rough encounter with her uncle, a piece of Marty's past has been revealed, and Jess has finally let Marty know what her home life is like.  For the first time, Marty comforts Jess.  (Yeah!)  I'm dying to know what you think of all of it.  Did you learn anything that gives you insight into the characters?  Will things change after this?

Thank you so much for reading!  I can't tell you how much your support and encouragement means to me.  If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider giving it a vote!  The video is You Send Me by Sam Cooke - a real classic!

Dedicated to @deathofcool.  If you're looking for a great completed story, you should check out her story Bleeder.  It's a fantastic young adult romance about a kidnapped girl, who finds that the son of her sadistic kidnapper isn't all he seems.  But then, neither is she.  If you enjoy my stories, you will love hers!  Do yourself a favor and add it to your library right now.  Believe me, you won't regret it.  :)