Chapter 4

She came back a few minutes later, and placed the ice under his head where it throbbed very badly. She decided to stay with him for the rest of the day, just taking care of him. She firmly believed that she would get to know this guy by having him tell her about himself. She would listen to whatever he had to say and fix him up so that he'd look happy and decent again. Her heart ached for him, for she thought that no one deserved to be hurt as severely as he'd obviously been.
After thinking to herself and making that decision, she left the room for a minute to go get herself a glass of orange juice from the kitchen and came back into the room to find him staring intently at her.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked, feeling a little uncomfortable under his intense scrutiny.
"You are a mystery, that's all," he replied, looking her up and down.
"Well we all have our own secrets, so it's best to let them be." she said quickly, avoiding his gaze.
He shrugged, feeling discouraged that he could get no where with her. "So how old are you?" he asked, trying to get to know her better.
"I'm 17 turning 18 in July," she told him, folding up her sheets and placing them in a neat pile on her cot.
Then, suddenly she swung her smoky gaze to encompass him and felt a sudden impulse to reach out to him in some way. He looked intently into those gray eyes, thinking that in all his years of touring, he'd never seen eyes like that.
"How old are you?" she asked him, a betraying curiosity in her eyes. Well finally, he thought. Finally she was coming out from under her shell a bit.
"I was 20 in January." he said, trying to figure out what the strange look in her beautiful eyes was.
"Wow, that means you're two years older than me. How did you end up here in East Point?" she asked, and it was curiosity in her eyes that he saw now.
He suddenly felt the need to guard himself, and so he did. "I can't remember why right now," he lied, not wanting to tell her why he had come to be here.
"I understand. I'll keep my past private, and you will keep yours private. It's okay."
He was astounded by her understanding of the situation. He looked back up into her eyes and saw pain in their depths again. He wanted to comfort her in any way possibly, so he reached up with his arm and pulled her down so that she laid on his chest, and brought his arms around her. For some reason, it felt so right to just hold her like this. He stroked her dark red hair, trying to soothe her inner pain. She turned her head slightly so that she was looking into his eyes. There was a surprised expression on her face, but then she relaxed and let him stroke her.
Jacinda was wondering why some one had wanted to hurt this sweet guy. He was obviously a sweetheart, because he barely knew her, yet he wanted to comfort her. Comfort? Suddenly a bolt ran through her. He knows that I've been hurt. The realization swept through her, and she sat up and looked down into his dulled eyes. She suddenly felt the need to make him better, and it would start with washing his hair. She got up to go get two basins of water, shampoo, and a towel. When she reached the doorway, he spoke up.
"Something I said?" he called, and she turned around to see a worried look on his face.
She shook her head. "No," she replied. "I'm just going to get the necessary equipment to wash your hair, because it can't stay that way forever."
"Oh?" he lifted an eyebrow.
"Yes, and then you might get into the shower. But if your head hurts too much, I'll have to bathe you myself, well not totally," she said, a bright red blush staining her cheeks. She left the room to get the things she needed, his laughter following her out.
She returned a few minutes later with all the articles necessary for washing Nick's hair. She took his head gently and dipped it into a basin, so that all the hair was wet. She lathered the apple smelling shampoo into his hair, with long, circular motions.

Home?