vagabond, ne'erdowell, insufferable bastard

[celebritiesrock]

Keith Powers 📸 : @/cbfour.co

[roughtough-teddybear]

Well, well, well.

[roughtough-teddybear]

hailie-tyler:

… I’m sorry, do I know you? Strange uh, burly manchild. I think you have me confused with someone else. Someone with less hairspray, glitter and curls. Yup, definitely not me. These are not the droids you’re looking for…

Wait, oh my god. What!? You brought the family? Your mom is here? My- My dad is here? He’s gonna have a minor heart attack when he realizes there are no cardigans in cheerleading. Mm, if I’m cartwheeling away it’s because I’m kicking your face on the way out. I can not believe you’re here. I was so careful… I mean, have you any idea how super secret and last minute this was? Damn Faye Montgomery and her faulty ass memory…

It’s okay, my mom went over to your house earlier saying she was gonna drop off more lasagna, but I also think she threatened him not to say anything about it. Or the skirts. Or the twerking.

Here and ready to cheer. No, wait, that’s you. Honestly, I didn’t even know about it until we were driving up here -- I think Ma signed up to get ‘Very Valuable Vixen Updates!’ texts after your first game. ... So. Which teams do you think are most likely to get in a cat fight? My bet’s on the one over there in the gold. Their ponytails look way too tight.

[roughtough-teddybear]

Well, well, well.

Well well well well well well, oh and... well.

My mom’s sitting at the left side of the bleachers, front row. I’ll be at the center, near the middle and next to the kid with the New Haven shirt. I’ve yet to see your dad, but I can guess that he’ll be somewhere near the hotdog stand. Just in case you wanted to cartwheel away from us, because I am obligated to take pictures this time around.

[mymattlanter]

[roughtough-teddybear]

This was a bad idea.

[roughtough-teddybear]

hailie-tyler:

It’s in my nature. Oh my God, there’s literally no living it down, is there? It was one time. One short skirt, one pair of pom-poms. All photos forcibly deleted from Robbie’s phone so you can totes shove that offer up your be-hind. How about I take the ‘tache and the tattoos, ring leader up the gang and you stand in the background with the glittery sign and yell encouragement.

Ooh… True though. That’s why I’m always kicking your ass at any and all video games, preferably zombie based, for every whack– your reflexes took a blow. Along with your common sense too probably. Hey, hey, hey. Back off, buddy. Me and that dead rat have been neck in neck for years now and I didn’t come here to have my achievements tarnished by your bad attitude. Have a cheese fry and cheer up.

Ah, but did you delete all the evidence off of Gage Shneiderer’s cell phone? ... The answer to that would be no, because I did that for you, but not before forwarding the picture of you and the pyramid to mine. Also made sure that the creep’s not gonna be able to use his hands well enough to use a camera for a couple months.

Excuse me, setting everything and everyone on fire is not the same as kicking my ass. My common sense is just fine, thank you very much. Have enough of it to want to get out of this town, at least. Eugh... whatever. But, if you want to maybe hold off on the food poisoning and/or diabetes, my grandma made me bring back a tub of lasagna. And beef stroganoff. And fruit salad.

[roughtough-teddybear]

This was a bad idea.

[roughtough-teddybear]

coop-coop-cooper:

Oh, uh, yeah. Yeah, yeah I know. It’s uh, just a– It’s on the working list. I mean, the list of things I’m working on. The hypothetical  list of– Anyway. Ted.

Ha, yeah his heart is definitely ten times the size of anyone else’s. Sure, it gets kinda confusing when he’s yelling the compliments but it’s all from a place of love. Mm. Right, I see the flaw in that plan. Honestly, even their auction is terrifying. Y’know, the Vanderbilt one for March of Dimes. You haven’t really known true terror until you’ve accidentally got between a lady and her new three piece furniture collection. I– Yeah! I mean, yeah. It is, thanks for uh, noticing. I’m great though! Great. Uh, totally– I mean, a new… Like a fresh pressed flannel shirt in the… Anyway, how’ve you been? How was uh, Jersey, right?

Right. Well, it’s always good to have goals? But, uh, it was just a suggestion, too -- greet me however you want. I don’t really care. You can even just do the nod, it might be less... stressful.

‘March of Dimes’, Jesus Christ it’s like they purposely chose the name I’d roll my eyes hardest at. Never been, but I’ll take your word for it. Definitely sounds like something I probably don’t even want to live and tell the tale of. Oookay, that’s good? Nothing like a fresh pressed flannel. Gets all the ladies. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re the reason why my mom always buys me one every time she goes shopping for me. Probably something about wanting her son to look wholesome and nice and like he wants to get beat up by several ears of corn. ... Er, no offense.

Jersey was alright. My grandma wiped me out in poker and tried literally shoving all my textbooks down my throat, so that was nice.

[roughtough-teddybear]

This was a bad idea.

[roughtough-teddybear]

christopher-bites:

My apologies. I’m partial to avoiding the old full name myself. Unless of course it’s coming from a beautiful woman with a grisly history but! Enough about me. Although, in all technicality, I’m not really breathing aro– But again, getting off point.

Oh… Right, right. Of course. My bad, first real interaction for you and I. Hard to keep up with my own antics here. Okay, easy there killer. No need to get all hostile here. Well. I suppose if you knew… Fisticuffs away though, if you please. I’m just a casual bystander, third party with no personal involvement in the matter. But I am a fan. Come on, Ted and Jenny. Jenny and Ted. ‘Tenny’, if you will. The ups, the downs. Make-ups, break-ups. How’s it going?

You... are freaky. Wait, you’re the other Andrews, aren’t you? Alex and Corey’s kid brother. Did they put you up to this?

Great, now I can’t punch you without one of them probably whining about it... Although, keep saying things like ‘fisticuffs’ and I might just start not caring again.

‘Third party with no personal involvement in the matter’ -- that sounds a whole lot like ‘none of your business’. Which it isn’t. Anyways, I changed my mind. Do not go anywhere near Jenny. She’s got enough crazy on her own, without you adding yours to the mix. And if it’ll make you shut up and go away, then I haven’t seen her. Left town for a bit, really bad texter, wasn’t about to go to the trouble of getting in contact since she obviously didn’t want to talk about-- about... whatever. Yeah. Forget it. Don’t go near her.

[roughtough-teddybear]

This was a bad idea.

[roughtough-teddybear]

hailie-tyler:

Hey, Asshole. Don’t you even think about leaving me behind. I’ve got plenty of room for conspiracy-based tattoos. Plus I’d look way better with a ‘tache than you would.

How’s grandma? She give you grief for the way your shirt isn’t tucked into your pants? The bad juju you’re putting out into the world? Anyways, don’t come at Sal’s. He’s doing his best. He still smothers his fries with cheese.

What? How could you think so low of me. Of course I wouldn’t have left you behind -- I’d already promised all the guys that you’d totes be our new cheerleader. Don’t ever say that I’m not supportive, ‘cause I’ve got a whole bunch of gigs lined up for you.

Nah, she hasn’t given me grief in years. She figured out that I responded better to a rolling pin across the head. Hailie, how many times do I have to tell you that being the best customer to the restaurant whose second best customer is the dead rat in the corner is not a good thing?

[roughtough-teddybear]

This was a bad idea.

[roughtough-teddybear]

coop-coop-cooper:

Hey, you’re back!

I mean uh, hi. Man. Ted. Mister, uh– Castro… ‘Sup? We uh, missed you out on the field. The practice wheel never stops turning. Although, Coach has chilled out a little since there’s Finals. And uh, I’m sure if you put it on Louis Vanderbilt’s list he’ll try to reason with Sal about his sign. I’m uh, sure the motorcycle gang would have been lucky to have you.

Um. Hey, Coop. You know that you don’t have to greet me like that every single time, right?

That explains it, then. I was wondering why I’d only gotten six death threats via text from him, instead of the standard nine. Almost thought he didn’t care about me. Yeah, sure, I’ll get right on making pleasant conversation with Louis Vanderbilt. Anyways, how’ve you been, man? That a new flannel shirt?

[roughtough-teddybear]

This was a bad idea.

[roughtough-teddybear]

christopher-bites:

Theodore! I thought you’d done the smart thing and turned tail out of here. Anyway, good thing you didn’t. I’ve been meaning to catch up with you.

How are you? Don’t answer that, I don’t care. What I do care about, at least, slightly more, is how Jennifer is doing. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you? Hm?

It’s Ted. And I guess we’re both disappointed, ‘cause here I was thinking you’d do the smart thing and not breathe around me .

Okay, I’m not sure why you’re talking like we’ve actually talked before, but wipe that creepy little grin off your face before I do it for you. Especially if you really wanna know how she’s doing, because you could just, oh I don’t know, ask her yourself. ‘Course, that’d only be possible if I didn’t break your jaw, so.

[roughtough-teddybear]

This was a bad idea.

Should’ve stayed in New Jersey. Should’ve joined up with that motorcycle gang. Even the constant B.O and chance of getting tagged with a tat that ‘absolutely doesn’t resemble the Illuminati’ is better than seeing Sal’s dingy sign again.

[jennythe-good]

If there was one thing that Jenny could be absolutely sure of right now it was that she did not want to mess this up. Any of it. Surely there were a million different ways she could. If today hadn’t been proof enough then there was also the fact that she always said way too much and let her thought process run itself freely into panic all the time and okay so it had totally been an accident but what if her hand gestures got way too over-exaggerated when she was holding the stapler and—

Okay, exactly how necessary was it for him to move at that pace taking off his shirt?

At this point it would have been totally redundant to even attempt to instruct her eyes to stay somewhat fixed on his, or at least on his sort-of-smile but she was only human (sort of), right? So they drifted and she gazed (not stared, definitely not stared, there was no staring or vague mouth opening here) and couldn’t help thinking that if there was a can of Coke in the room and Etta James playing in the background this might even pass as an ad.

Shut up, Jenny.

Feeling his gaze return to her, her eyes snapped back up and she didn’t even make any sort of effort to mask what she’d just been doing. And she didn’t care either. Her previous feelings of panic and desperation, fear (but he was there, he was still there and he was fine. See? He was fine. Really fine) mixed with the fluttery butterfly, heart racing, borderline infuriating regular ones which really just left her with the one feeling: she really wanted to be kissing him right now. She really wanted him. Then she was— like he’d read her mind or probably more likely the look she was sure was very obviously on her face.

But then none of that mattered, because she was pretty sure they were the only two people left in the world. She really liked him. She really liked how she felt when she was with him. More carefree, like she didn’t have to feel like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Like she didn’t have to bite her tongue which she probably couldn’t have around him anways because he was still totally infuriating, and a heart beating this fast probably should be a cause for concern.

Sure there had been boys (not a lot of boys mind you which isn’t surprising considering she was eluded into believing a literal puffy shirted prince was going to come her way, and we are so never allowed to talk about Damon Berry from cheer camp) but nothing like this. Nothing that could leave her without words to even express what it felt like. Or how freeing it was to not have to think. To just act. Want something and then have it. So without really processing what she was doing, but knowing that she wanted to do it, she adjusted herself so that she was straddling him (still kissing him, her pale pink painted nails still pressing into him) before her fingertips hooked under her own tank top and she pulled away, as difficult as that was, long enough to pull it over her head.

Then she fixed him with a look. It was different from her ‘touch my glitter gun again and I’ll kill you’ look or her ‘don’t you dare crush his/hers/its dreams’ look. This was the ‘shut up and kiss me’ look.

[pleasemissmayihavesomemoore]

"You got that James Deeaan daaay dreeaaam look in your eeeyes!"

Daniel Moore was a businessman. Which usually came with a preconception of fitting suits, a collected persona, and a totally awesome hairstyle (more often than not severely overpaid for in order to cover up an impending bald spot). And he did have those. Well, at least, most of those — like the trademark blazing color, Moore hair was virtually and genetically indestructible. 

The kitchen was empty, but that’s what he’d expected to come home to. And since there was only so many seconds in the day where he was able to do so, he didn’t even think twice about slipping into his comfiest pair of onesies and then proceeding to have a dance party with the stove. Bacon grease sizzling, T-Swift rockin’… it was almost a shame that he had nobody to dance with. 

That is, however, until he heard a peculiar noise upstairs and realized that teenagers had a habit of sneaking quietly into their houses and slinking back to their lairs without being noticed. God, he missed those days. 

"Ohhhh, Jennifer!" he sing-songed, quickly stacking a plate and bounding up the stairs, "There’s food! And hip music that you and your whippersnapper friends like. See, just like my main girl Tay says, I’ll never go out of sty—"

He’d opened the door. Daniel opened the door and the first thing he saw was the last thing he processed. Namely, his seventeen year old niece on top of some guy. 

Actually, the first thing he’d processed were the shirts. Both were on the floor. And then he processed the  boy — he couldn’t remember if he’s seen him before, but, then again, he’s never really felt like screaming and crying and slapping someone to unconsciousness with pieces of bacon all at once before either. Guess there’s a first time for everything.

This all happened in about .5 seconds, before he promptly backed out of the room and slammed the door shut. Then, two seconds later, that first thing he saw that his mind refused to want to acknowledge came back, and Daniel really did let out a little scream. 

And he knocked. 

"… So I’m going to wait three seconds," he called, unable to stop himself from munching on some bacon in panic, "and then I’m going to break down this door. Please, please, please have clothes on by then.” 

[roughtough-teddybear]

The thing was this: he didn't have that tiny little know-it-all voice in the back of his head telling him this was bad. If you were to go up to Teddy a month ago and tell him that he'd be in this situation with none other than pom-pom tossing Jennifer Moore, he would've scoffed and threatened to run you over with multiple beat up cars. If you were to tell him two days ago, he'd probably blush and stutter and definitely run you over with multiple beat up cars. 

Now though? Now, he couldn't even remember that a word like 'bad' coexisted with a world that had the sight of her taking off her shirt with it. 

He wanted to think that he would've argued. He wanted to believe that some part of him could be described as 'chivalrous', and that being best friends with He Who Shall Not Be Named Right Now taught him a bit of restraint. But then Jenny gave him a look -- a look he wasn't sure how he already knew how to read but still did -- and it took everything in him not to break out into a giddy, schoolboy grin right there. 

Instead, Ted busied himself with kissing her thoroughly. Calloused hands traced over impossibly soft skin. His lips soon followed; down her neck, across her shoulders, covering every inch he could reach as if doing so would make all the tension and anxiety she held before dissolve away. 

Honestly, he didn't know where this was going. He took a split second to insist to himself that he held no ulterior motives, and almost considered pulling back just to tell her so, but apparently none of that was necessary. At least, not when some guy he didn't know spontaneously barged into the room with a plate full of bacon and Taylor Swift lyrics. 

Needless to say, that was definitely not where he figured this could have gone.

It all happened so fast. One moment, he was slowly working his way toward Jenny's bra clasp. And then the next, he was standing up so quickly that he kind of forgot that there was a girl he sort of really liked on his lap.

"What the-- Wh-Who was that?" Ted spluttered, offering her an apologetic glance as he helped her from the floor. That's when the man called through the door again though, successfully coaxing a deep shade of red to his entire upper body, and he frantically made a grab for a couple shirts. 

Tossing one to Jenny, he cleared his throat. "I, uh... crap," he continued eloquently, too panicked to realize that the snug top he was helplessly trying to tug down couldn't possibly be his, "You don't think I've got time to make a dive out the window, do you...?"

[jennythe-good]

Jenny hadn’t thought twice, again. Healing him was one thing. That was necessity, that was impulsive but this… This was different. Jenny wasn’t anyone’s witch, neither was her mom but they still knew how to make them. Every witch did, it was this whole thing with them and hunters and helping fight the good fight and what not. It wasn’t too tricky a spell once you’d got it, but like most things it was draining. And she was sixteen and her mom really didn’t want her to be doing anything associated with fighting the good fight but she did it anyway. And now she was taking it one step further by giving it to him, who of course wasn’t a hunter and he better not have been trying to fight anything.

But here’s the thing: she didn’t care.

Shocking maybe but Jenny had to protect him. She had to know that he was safe when she wasn’t there and she couldn’t be there every waking moment (could she? Would that be like, borderlining on stalking?) so she had to do it. She had to do it. Smiling as he slipped the bracelet on, the dark blue that intertwined with the leather barely noticeable unless you knew to look for it. That was all it took. The smile, the kiss… He called her JJ. Nothing else mattered.

“You’re welcome, Teddy,” she said softly her fingertip tapping the bracelet, “It really brings out the whole rugged devil may care thing you’ve got going on,” she smirked a little. Pressing her lips together she moved absent mindedly back to where she’d been, closing as much distance as she could. “That’s okay, you keep them. Think of this like my bag of pretzel M&Ms and auto-shop class to you.”

Finally, she closed the gap between them by pressing her lips against his, kissing him softly, lingeringly with a small smile playing on her lips, “I wouldn’t let you touch the glitter gun,” she kissed him again, “I’d re-align them after your despicable attempts,” and again, “… M’kay that one you can have but I’m gonna tell her that you like me better than her, and then what are you gonna…,” the rest of her oh-so-witty sentence was lost as she gave into the kiss. It was like instead of crying, or shouting or ju-juing the hell out of Christopher God damn Andrews, she was kissing him. Taking all that hopelessness, desperation, fear, relief even, and putting it into kissing him. It was like she could make it better this way, erase everything bad that had happened. She did not lose him. She thought she was going to lose him.

Eventually and kinda obviously (not to her in that moment however) she had to pull back for air, her breathing ever-so-slightly ragged and her hands tangled up in his hair she said the first thing that came into her head, “You should take off your shirt,” heard what she’d said and added, “Because of the blood. The stains,” paused and concluded, “You can’t leave in a bloody shirt.”

[roughtough-teddybear]

He just smiled wider. Not even an eye roll, or a slight scoff, or an inclination to say 'Ted, not Teddy'. This was not good. This was not good at all. "Ugh, I knew it," he smirked, his left hand absentmindedly running up and down her arm, "you're just trying to recruit me here, aren't you. Suck me into the world of hot glue guns, neon glow sticks, and bedazzled anything. Well, let me tell you something -- it is not going to work, because I am a horrible lear--"

And then she was kissing him, softer than he's ever been kissed but somehow still managing to command every bit of his attention. He was only vaguely aware that she was still talking, and that he was responding with intelligent answers like 'huhhmhm'. Soon enough, a hand was cupping her face while the other pulled her closer by the waist, and it took everything in him to even remember what in the world was going on. 

She was trying to kill him. That was the only explanation. She was trying to instill a heart attack with every tug of her hands. She was trying to blow his brain up with every movement of her lips. She was trying to set every single inch of him on fire when she pulled back and told him to take his shirt off. 

That was the part where his thoughts came crashing back down to reality from wherever they'd been soaring up in a few moments prior. Ted blinked, unable to focus on more than two things (right now, they seemed to be her impossibly red lips and shallow breathing). Eventually though, he forced his eyes up to her eyes -- her bright green, kind of gorgeous, deadly serious eyes -- and realized that maybe she wasn't the only one that couldn't seem to get enough oxygen in. 

"R-Right..." he mumbled, offering a small (totally manly, definitely cocky, so not anywhere shy) smile. He slowly stripped off his shirt, mostly because the muscles on his left shoulder seemed to be incredibly sore and stiff. Setting it somewhere behind him, he returned his gaze to Jenny. 

He liked her. In fact, he really, really liked her, and that was something he didn't know how to deal with. He didn't know what to do with that. Ted wasn't sure how he got here -- both literally and metaphorically -- but the one thing he did know was that he absolutely did not want to screw any of this up. Looking at her, he saw that there was one more thing that he didn't want to lose in his life (added to a pathetically short list), and instead of being terrified about it he actually felt... happy. 

Honestly, he'd meant for it to be innocent. As soon as that thought had registered, Ted couldn't help but close the distance between them once more. Everything still applied, he still wanted to not do anything they might regret later, but he needed to kiss her. And, okay, maybe he didn't need to make sure that every single bit of them was touching, or for his hands to get lost in her hair, but he figured that that was just a bonus.

He was going to pull away. He was going to pull away -- just, you know... later. 

[jennythe-good]

Time, she thought, seemed to lose its power as she lay there with his arms tightly around her, his chin resting gently atop her head. Slowly Jenny felt her breathing starting to return to normal, falling into sync with his. The knotted feeling in her gut was momentarily overtaken by the light yet completely grounding feeling of being in his arms. He was comforting her, even though he didn’t know why he was comforting her. Jenny hated that she couldn’t explain, hated that she could be so content with him not asking and her not telling but it was nice. Being held by him, it was nice and oddly natural, like they could have probably fit together perfectly all this time, they just hadn’t tried before.

That was when she knew. Not that she was in trouble, she’d already figured that out already (the good kind of trouble) but something else. If she’d been able to gather her thoughts, she may have actually been able to acknowledge the realisation.

“Good,” she said softly, smiling, content in a way she’d never been before. Reassured when she knew that she shouldn’t be, “Yeah? You promise? Like, pinky promise?” her voice sounded clearer now, a little teasing even. She pressed her lips together when he said vampire but managed to stop her voice from raising about a bajillion tell-tale octaves when she gently touched her fingertips to his cheek, smiling, “Guess I’m just going to have to get used to your insufferable presence then.”

She was kidding, of course. Then all of sudden she was aware. Aware of how close they were. Of how little she’d have to lean forward to close the practically non-existent gap between them. Of how her heart was all but thudding against her chest. If she just —

“Oh!” she exclaimed, leaning across him so she could shove her hands down the side of her bed (ignoring the kinda sticky substance her skin briefly touched – glitter glue gets everywhere) and returning from the escapade with a small wooden box, “Sorry. I just remembered something. This something. I mean, I want to give you something. Like, for all the Christmases, birthdays and um, International Doughnut Days I wasn’t strictly present for, with you.”

[roughtough-teddybear]

When he saw Jenny's smile, he then actually believed himself when he'd said that he was okay. Which was terrifying as it was comforting and confusing. Because he was so not supposed to get that kind of feeling. He was Theodore Castro and he did not like warm hugs. 

Still, that didn't stop him from drawing her even nearer. It didn't stop him from resting his forehead against hers when he reached down to hook their pinkies together. And it didn't even seem to stop him from leaning into her hand a bit, as it left a trail of tingles down his face.

God, he was disgusting. 

"Yeah, right, good luck with that," Ted smirked, only then noticing just how close she was, "Constant misuse of the glitter gun... never hanging the flyers on the walls so that they're all perfectly aligned... parking my motorcycle in your favorite spot in the lot because it was actually my favorite spot first..."

Yeah, so he wasn't aware of what he was saying anymore. Nor was he particularly discrete about the fact that he couldn't peel his eyes away from her lips. Pulling her even closer, Ted moved to close the distance between them and--

And jerk quickly away in order to narrowly dodge a collision between their heads. He let out a confused grunt, which quickly turned into a more confused but at least intelligible 'huh?' when she presented the box to him. 

"Oh," he blinked, carefully taking it from her, "... Really? Thanks. Sorry, I didn't, um-- W-Well, I mean, if you want, I have some peanut m&ms in my pocket, but--"

Oh dear God, was that why they'd been in Sal's? And, oh dear Satan, had he seriously taken her there for an apparently gift-giving occasion?! Like, Teddy was fully aware that he didn't have the game that most guys had. And he so wasn't the type to give out jewelry or anything, but he also wasn't the type to give out tetanus. 

Pushing his panic aside -- he'll make it up to her, he'll even wear (gulp) a tie -- he opened the box. And then he lifted a brow. "Hey, I always wanted one of these," he said, taking the leather bracelet out. Ted slipped it on, immediately feeling an odd sort of comfort of it against his skin, and smiled. And then, before he even thought about it, he gave Jenny a quick peck on the lips with a "Thanks, JJ." 

[jennythe-good]

Her story was ridiculous even by her own count but thankfully he seemed like he lacked the energy to question the Raccoon Incident. Which was good because Jenny was already starting to feel herself crumble just a little bit. Like a pie crust under a mallet. While she’d spoken her brain was pushing itself to the tipping point. Thoughts swirling together to the point where nothing made sense. She had to do something. She had to do a lot of somethings. Trying to put words to these urgent actions however seemed impossible. She’d started to push herself off the bed when he grabbed her hand.

Shock passed over her face for a number of reasons. The suddenness of his movement, the treble in his voice, the glint of fear that flashed in his eyes. Jenny felt his grip tighten and she was sure that the delicate gold ring she wore was going to leave a red mark where it had dug into her skin but she didn’t care. All the thoughts fell out off her head – especially the ones about Chris, because he didn’t matter right now. Teddy did.

“They’re my least favourite animal,” she said a small quirk of her lips indicating she was trying for a smile. Her eyes were glassy with tears but she didn’t move. Didn’t protest or tell him that he was not fine. Maybe that was selfish but the second the word ‘please’ left his mouth she felt her will to fight him on it leave, along with the building feeling of tension mixed with fear, “Sure. Ten minutes.” She really did smile then, moving so she could burrow into the space beside him, still not letting go off his hand. Jenny snuggled as close as probably humanly possible into him (because he was there. He was there, solid and real and okay), her face pressing into his side and she bit down on her bottom lip while those pesky tears made their great escape. Still, she managed to mumble, “I hope you know you’re gonna have to drink litres upon litres of orange juice before I believe that you’re okay and let you leave.”

[roughtough-teddybear]

She hadn't moved yet, which allowed Teddy a couple moments to organize his thoughts. Most of them were still frenzied, while some were so sluggish that trying to pick at them was just as exhausting, but the one that stuck with him was that she'd cried. And while that offered some sort of sick comfort (he wouldn't want him mom to cry over him and Benjy was being Mr. Stay Away But Trust Me McDouche, so who else did he have to do so?), he couldn't help but wonder why. 

Why would she be crying if it hadn't been that bad of a bite? Did the raccoon have rabies? Did she think he had rabies now? 

So that admittedly stupid last question was answered when Jenny eventually nestled onto the bed next to him. And even though he was the one that asked, he still couldn't help noticing the distinct acceleration of his heart beat. Ted returned her smile, even managed a small laugh about her insistence of OJ chugging. 

He pulled her to his chest, holding her tightly as he pretend that he couldn't feel her tears against his shirt. Once again, the scent of her shampoo all but intoxicated him, which made it all the more easier not to hesitate when he rested his chin atop her head. Ten minutes surely ticked by and still he had no intentions of moving or letting her go. And in those ten minutes, he found himself growing absolutely certain of one thing.

It hadn't been a raccoon. 

"... I really am okay though," he said, unsure of why he was saying it but feeling compelled to nonetheless. Ted readjusted so that he could press a gentle kiss on her hair, in that moment deciding that he didn't feel like talking about what had happened just yet. "I promise. Trust me, princess firecracker. It's going to take a lot more than some insane rodent -- I don't know, I think raccoons are rodents, but they could also be, like, little goblin vampire devils or whatever -- to keep me from bugging you." 

[jennythe-good]

You’re beautiful. He just called her beautiful. Jenny wanted so badly to hold onto that, she wanted him to stop talking after that so she could smile, because he just called her beautiful. But of course life wasn’t that kind and the fluttering feeling she would have normally anticipated was cruelly cut off with a twisted one deep in her gut which was mirrored in her chest. The memory was crystal clear for her. In fact she was absolutely positive that she would never in her life forget the look in Christopher Andrews’ eyes as he turned off his humanity. She hadn’t wanted that. She was just trying to protect Juliette. She had just been trying to do the right thing but looking now at Teddy she couldn’t help the sick feeling that was overwhelming her because this was her fault. Maybe Chris hadn’t hurt Juliette– at least not physically, like he had wanted to in a feat of madness– but he had hurt someone she just might care about just as strongly if not in an entirely different way.

She hadn’t been able to protect him.

Then just like that it was gone. She watched as the thoughts left his mind, erased by Chris now that the message had been delivered. God, she hated him. The burning rage that threatened to overtake the feeling of drowning was smooshed back down as she met his eyes. Chris had used him. He could have died and for what? But the relief was too strong. The fact that he was still there, that he was healed and conscious was enough for her. Then the rambling started, but for once it was out of necessity. Because Teddy was human, he was wonderfully human and Jenny had to protect that. If anything, she had to protect that.

“There was a raccoon,” okay so that probably wasn’t what she meant to say, “Yeah, at Sal’s. It like, flew in the window and it was crazy. I mean it just jumped right at you and I was screaming and freaking out because okay, love all the animals but racoons just don’t bring anything to the table for me. Anyway it got at your neck, but it’s okay! It was one of those scratches that bleed a lot but they’re not actually all that deep but you sort of stumbled and hit your head and I was all ‘you have to go to a hospital’ but you were all mumbly and adamant that your mom would kill you if she found out you’d been to the emergency room over nothing. So I made you come here to like, stick a plaster on it or something and you sort of dozed off from time to time but you’re okay now. You’re okay now, right? You feel okay?”

Jenny didn’t want to lie to him, she didn’t but she was holding back a flood of emotion, her tears still staining her face and hands balled into fists she tried her hardest to just focus on him, “Here, move. C’mon, scooch up,” she nudged him to the arrangement of pillows on her bed, “Wait, I have orange juice. You should drink some orange juice. And I’ll get something to wipe the- the blood… Okay?”

[roughtough-teddybear]

That was his blood on the bed? That was a lot of his blood on the bed. Ted listened to Jenny with only half her words making it through the haze that had bogged around his head. And most of what she said didn't make sense. He wouldn't have taken her to Sal's -- half the world's diseases were made under his tables. He was also fairly certain that raccoons did not sail through windows. Nevertheless, he nodded, unable to stop from frowning but also to ask any further questions. 

When Jenny asked him if he was okay, he opened his mouth to answer. However, nothing came out, lodged in his throat underneath the dormant panic and reigning confusion. It wasn't until he'd obediently settled back into the pillows, and he noticed her tears, that Ted grabbed her hand. "W-Wait," he croaked, fear surging through him. 

Fear of what? He had absolutely no clue. He just had this feeling inside his chest (and arms, and neck, and honestly just everywhere else) that he needed her there with him. He was safe if she was there with him.  

He'd half-sat up, grip tightening on her but shaking. Clearing his throat, he shook his head and promptly pushed the red-stained duvet to the floor. Ted shifted over a bit so that there was more room on the bed. 

"I'm fine," he said, "Or, I mean... As fine as a survivor of a maniac raccoon mauling can be. B-But can you stay here first? I'll get orange juice later. Just... Just ten minutes. Please?" 

[jennythe-good]

You know that crazy thing that happens when you’re thinking about someone? There you are just re-sticking the photos that fell off your wall back up and boom. They text you or call you or send a Snapchat. What they don’t do however is stumble into your room, fall onto your bed and bleed— Bleed? Her mouth hung open but no matter how much screaming she was doing in her head the words just weren’t making it out. If she hadn’t heard him laugh— dryly mind you— she probably would have just continued to stare in horror. But the sound snapped her out off it and she didn’t even think. There was not one moment of hesitation or second guessing or thought for any future consequences. Leaning down her hair fell around him both curtaining them and no doubt blocking his vision. Healing yourself, minor things like cuts and bruises, that was easy. That was basic 101 stuff. Other people? That was a little trickier and with the way her heart was thudding and her eyes were pricking it was kind of amazing how she found the power to tell herself to calm the hell down.

Pressing her hands as gently as she could to his wound, trying her best to ignore the hot sticky feel of the blood— his blood, she focused all her energy into doing it. Because there was no hospital and she couldn’t yell on her mom. Because he was hurt— he was hurt because of her and she couldn’t let him be hurt. She couldn’t. The comforting warmth she’d known so well all her life radiated from her fingertips and then from her palms and for a minute she could have sworn the air around them was clogged up with the smell of freshly mown grass. It was something to do with that earth connection, at least that’s what her mom always said. And she could feel that too. That natural power that was everywhere and always there to draw on, and she didn’t take her hands away from his wound until she felt her own tears splash onto her palms.

"Ohmygod," she breathed lifting them up, and they were shaking. And- And covered in blood. But it was gone. The… The bite marks. The flow of blood, but what had already came out still stained his skin as much as it stained hers. Pushing her hair away from their faces she pressed her lips against his cheek because she honestly couldn’t think of any better way to say you idiot, how dare you almost die on me. “Chris,” she said, and she hated that she had to say it, she hated it, “Teddy what did he do? What did he want? What— Why did he—,” biting down hard on her bottom lip she couldn’t even feel the relief or the anger, just the crushing weight she’d been trying to ignore plough down on her shoulders.

[roughtough-teddybear]

Ted was vaguely aware of her freaking the heck out above him. Despite everything wrong that was going on in this situation (which was everything), he had to smile at that. And then he lost his grip on consciousness again, unable to come to until a familiar scent began to fill whichever senses he had left. 

Her shampoo. So he definitely wasn't going to be the idiot that admitted that he'd somehow memorized the smell of Jenny's shampoo in his mind, but he didn't try to push it away either. In fact, the more he focused on it, the stronger it became. It was comforting, actually. Fresh, too. Kind of like...

"... Grass?" 

Those were the first words out of his mouth and, although they were mumbled, it wasn't incoherent. As in, the dizziness was gone. Eyes fluttering open, Ted blinked and saw Jenny just a few inches away. And apparently a close encounter with death (holy crap, he'd just been dying) kind of turned off all the filters that are usually locked away in steel, because he couldn't stop himself from saying the next thing as well.

"You're beautiful. I-- But that's not-- I mean, I do mean it, but that's not what I meant to say first. I think. C-Chris though, he..." trailing off there, he had to pause and figure out exactly how intended on finishing that. Because he did something to him. He knows he did something to him, but that was all Ted could manage to recollect and even that was slowly starting to fade away. Before the entire event had a chance to slip from his memory, he added, "He says 'thank you'. He remembers what you guys talked about last time, and he wants to thank you for telling him the truth. For telling him that he's a monster, 'cause that's what he is." 

And then it was gone. The entire thing, the entire reason he was laying on a pink bed with his own blood spilled everywhere, just disappeared. He glanced around the room and eventually settled on keeping his eyes on Jenny.

"Wh-- Wh-What just happened..?"