Jett waited a couple of days before heading into town to check on Jacqueline. He could have called, of course – but he wanted to gauge her body language as he spoke to her, to make sure she was alright. He first checked her house, but as no one was home he drove on to the Winchester house, and parked in front.
He sat in the car for a few minutes, wondering if anyone was home – he didn’t see a car, after all – and if so, would he be interrupting anything. He was hoping to get Jacqueline alone so that she would, hopefully, be less guarded. After contemplating, he got out of the car and headed up the front walk to the door, and knocked. A few short moments later, Jacqueline opened the door, smiling when she saw him.
“Jett! What brings you by?” she asked.
“I wanted to talk to you. May I come in?”
She nodded, stepping aside to let him in, then closed the door behind him. He turned to face her, removing the sunglasses from his face, and for the first time she could clearly tell his eyes weren’t their normal beautiful blue, but instead were the gold slitted eyes of a snake.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I frenzied, trying to get to you. Petra made sure to get Claude out of the way so he wouldn’t be injured, though I did injure her unintentionally.” he paused before continuing. “Is anyone else home?”
She shook her head. “Mandy’s at school, Claude is doing some shopping, and I’m not sure where Michael went. Why?”
“I wanted to talk to you alone if at all possible.”
“Jett, what’s this about?”
“You. Specifically, how are you?”
“Oh.” she waved her hand dismissively, and forced a smile, hoping he wouldn’t notice. “I’m fine. Really.”
“Jacqueline…” he looked…hurt. “Please don’t lie to me. Please?”
She sighed heavily.
“Alright, I’m not okay.” she threw her arms up. “I’ve never been okay with what Penhallow put me through. This most recent thing was nothing different than his old tricks, saving one thing.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Is it that you don’t want to talk about it? Or that you want to talk to someone else about it?”
He let the question linger as she paused, mulling over the answer. He suspected she might not even want to tell Claude, possibly because he and himself were too close to the situation.
“It’s not like I can go into therapy.”
“Lucas is in therapy for his ordeal.” Jett responded calmly.
“I didn’t know there were any therapists in town that helped out…well, you know.”
“It’s ok, you’ve only met him a couple of times. Do you remember Charles?” She thought for a minute and nodded.
“For your sake, and mine, talk to him. Visit him tonight at the outreach center and see if he’s someone you’d be willing to talk to. You can’t bottle up your feelings about whatever happened forever.”
He reached out a hand, and lightly caressed her face before leaning down, pressing his forehead against hers. He spoke quietly. “I love you. I can’t bear to see you hurt.”
She reached up, put a hand on the side of his face. “I love you too, so, for your sake I’ll try. You’ll have to be happy with that.”
He moved, kissing her forehead. “You’re willing to try. That’s all I’m asking.” he put his shades back on. “Well, I better go before Claude gets back. Don’t want him thinking the wrong thing.” he smiled a little, and she smiled back, just a little.
“Go on you. I’ll call or text you within the next few days. Okay?”
He nodded, kissed her cheek, and headed out the door and to his car, then headed towards Nightborn, in order to rehearse for the weekend. After going how to play a few new tunes with his band, Mandy showed up. It was well after lunch, and she’d had her last class of the day before heading over. She greeted Trish warmly, then headed over to Jett and the rest of the band.
“Sorry I’m late.” she said, a little sheepish. One of the guys was about to snap at her, but Jett cut him off.
“It’s ok – you have classes. It’s understandable. What’s important is you’re here now.” he handed her some sheets of music. “Look over those, study them for a bit, then we’ll rehearse, ok?” She nodded, taking the sheet music from him and began looking it over. For his part, Jett was welcome for the distraction of not worrying about Jacqueline.
Rehearsal went for a couple of hours, as they perfected the songs Jett had written. Adjustments had to be made for the more difficult parts of the music, but the band did okay. Jett only called it quits for the day because one had somewhere to be, and the other was getting grumpy and frustrated.
Mandy was helping Jett pack up the equipment that didn’t stay out, when she said, somewhat timidly at first, “Hey, Jett?”
“Yea?” he said, not looking up from what he was doing.
“I’d like to ask a favor, if you don’t mind.” This gave him pause, and he looked over at her.
“Depends. What is it?”
“Well, I’m studying music at the University, and next semester we’re supposed to choose an instrument to learn. The Professor suggested we get an early start and, well, you’re a talented musician…I thought maybe you could teach me?”
“What were you thinking of learning?”
“Guitar. Or bass. Not sure which would be more fitting.”
“Who put you up to asking me?”
“Michael suggested it first, and Trish confirmed it would be a good idea.”
He looked over at Trish, who waved. He sighed a little. “I can teach you. Lessons can be one of three places – my house, which I don’t recommend simply because of Vince, and I don’t think your father would be comfortable with that either; there’s my recording studio, which might be best but, again I don’t know if your father is comfortable leaving you alone with me. Lastly, there’s your place, which is probably the safe bet.”
“Why do you keep bringing up my father? He doesn’t have a say in this.” Jett looked at h er. She could feel his look through his shades, and it made her uncomfortable.
“I have a healthy respect for his level of protectiveness over you, and so should you. Also, I don’t feel like getting shot. I’ve seen your father in action, I don’t want to be on the receiving end.”
She paused, letting that sink in. “Okay, fair enough. When can you start?”
“I can come by this evening, if you think that will be okay.”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Good. I’ll bring Beth and Lucille.” she gave him a confused look, and he put his hands on his bass – Beth, and his guitar – Lucille. She smiled – it made more sense now.
“Okay, I’ll see you tonight.” she said, and headed over to talk to Trish briefly before heading home. For his part, Jett packed up and loaded his car and headed home until it was time for him to teach. This would also give him opportunity to make sure Jacquline kept her promise, he mused.