My heart warmed as I realised I had probably judged him a bit too quickly and I could feel myself liking him a lot more than was healthy. Pushing back the tears and holding my head high, I nodded and smiled at him. He held his arm out for me to take in an old fashioned gesture which took me pleasantly by surprise, as we walked together - our arms linked - towards the restaurant.
****
"So, I met another one of your brothers."
"Ah, the elusive Blake. Yeah, he's a character."
I laughed and tucked in to my ceasar salad with a groan, as I realised how hungry I was. Jackson and I had walked to the restaurant in a comfortable silence, before deciding we could both do with some food, so our quick drink had turned in to a dinner date. Well, I say ‘date', but in his eyes he probably just saw it as helping the new guy out. I felt like a school girl with her first crush as I even found Jackson tucking in to his ginormous burger, attractive. You know you fancy them when the sight of them scoffing meat turns you on rather than making you feel nauseous. So far we'd been having pleasant small talk, with Jackson telling me more about his family and how Annabelle's intelligence was already causing trouble. I laughed as he told me tales of how good she was at hiding and how the times she was silent were when she'd normally be hatching her next plan. I failed to see this evil genius and mastermind when I looked at the cherubic face of the young girl.
A comfortable silence passed while we ate our food, when Jackson looked at me with a questioning look on his face.
"So, do you want to talk about it?"
I chewed a piece of chicken slowly to give me time to think about how I was going to answer the question. I didn't particularly want to bare all with my humiliating tale of betrayal, but then again these would be my new neighbours. I may as well reveal how much of a mess my life is now, rather than having to spill it all later.
"Let's just say I was stupid."
"Being trusting of someone is not being stupid."
I looked up to find him smiling at me, feeling more confident with telling my story. I needed to remind myself that Craig was in the wrong; not me.
"Well, I trusted the wrong people. Kind of a theme at the moment."
"Is that how you ended up here?"
"Yeah, I guess. I thought that packing a bag and running away would solve all of my problems, but there are some things you can't hide from."
"He was an idiot." I looked at him in confusion, before remembering that he had heard my conversation with Craig on the phone.
"Or I was. I genuinely believed that my marriage was going to be for life. Turns out it didn't even last a month." I laughed without humour, carrying on picking at my food. A shiver jolted through my body when Jackson used his hand to pick my chin up, so I was looking at him instead of the table. I was drawn to his eyes and found I could not look away.
"He had no idea what he had until it was too late. He's calling you because he's realised now what he's lost. Something that should be treasured."
He leant toward me and I felt a thrill go through me at the thought of him kissing me, but then someone nearby dropped a glass, startling us out of our moment. For a second there I forgot where we were, and I was unnerved by the effect he seemed to have on me. My heart sank when he moved back, although his eyes never left me once.
"It wasn't even Craig's betrayal which hurt the most. It was my best friend's. I've known Craig for a few years, but Natalie? I've known her my whole life. How could anyone do that to their friends?"
"I don't know. What I do know, is that if you stay around here you'll see what true friends really are. This community is like a family, whether related by blood or not. Who needs friends when you have family, right?"
I smiled at him, feeling a weight lift from my chest now I'd finally spoke about everything. There was no judgment in Jackson's eyes. All he'd done was make me feel better about the situation. Something that should be treasured. Man, I was so lost.
JACKSON
My head was muddled and I had no idea what to make of my feelings. I'd always been one of those guys who enjoyed the company of women. I certainly enjoyed spending my evenings with them, but I was never bothered about having anything permanent with one. My role in Wolves Creek meant that I barely had time to watch television, let alone have time to put the effort required to achieve a blossoming relationship. Laura seemed to be changing all that for me. The longer I spent with her, the more she filled my thoughts, and now even my dreams were filled with her. On the one hand, I wanted to leave her alone so that my feelings wouldn't have a chance to develop, but on the other hand I was desperate to see exactly where these feelings could lead us. I'd meant what I had said to her, when I'd told her that she was something to be treasured. I always scoffed when Noah would say soppy shit like that to Jasmine, but it had felt like the right thing to say at the time.
It made me angry with how she had been treated by her ex-husband in the past and I needed to try and make her feel better. I didn't understand why I needed that so much, but I wasn't going to argue with it. Laura had been looking at me, with a sadness her in eyes that didn't belong there and I had an urge I could not diminish, to eradicate it. I'm not ashamed to admit that I inwardly cheered when a smile had lit her eyes up, as I had found myself just enjoying her company and the conversation. I had been so close to kissing her, I'd had to physically restrain myself, with a newfound strength despite the fact that she seemed to make me weak. I was suddenly pulled from my thoughts by the ringing of my phone, answering it quickly, knowing it was bad news from how late the hour was. Three words were all it took for me to jump out of bed, running out of the house like my life depended on it. Fire at Noah's.
LAURA
I woke up in the middle of the night, confused and wondering what had woken me. I looked around me and rubbed my eyes to try and clear them, but everything remained foggy and I struggled to see anything. It was then that I started to cough, realising the room was filled with smoke. I heard an alarm beeping somewhere in the distance and my heart dropped as I realised what was happening. Fire! Jumping from the bed, I stopped as another wave of coughs hit me, struggling to breathe through the thick smoke which seemed to be building in the room. Covering my nose and mouth with my arm, I rushed towards the door, only to be flung back by an unseen force as soon as I opened it. Realising my mistake, I tried not to panic as I saw flames through the doorway and they started to find their way in to the bedroom, just feet away from me. The heat was unbearable, but I knew that if I passed out now, I would die, so I called on a reserve of strength deep down, and kept low on the ground, crawling over to the window. The smoke had made me practically blind, so I crawled across the floor, praying the window was wide enough for me to fit through. I thought I heard someone calling my name in the distance, but I didn't stop to think about it as the flames came close enough that I could feel their heat licking my feet. The smoke stung my eyes, causing tears to stream down my face as I stood up and felt around for the opening of the window. I cried out in despair as the seconds went by and I could not open the window. Banging my fists against it, I decided to try and break it instead, not caring about being cut by the glass, because that was more preferable than being burned to death. I looked around for something to help me smash the window, when I saw a crowd of people forming in the garden outside, all looking at me and shouting things I could not understand. I cried out in relief as I saw Noah, Jasmine and Anabelle stood to the back of the group, covered in black from the smoke but alive, as I thanked God that they had managed to make it out okay.
I got back to frantically trying to smash the window, when I heard the most glorious sound ever from behind me. I spun around and shouted, at first in jubilation but then in fear as Jackson rushed in to the room, holding his face and coughing, but otherwise unscathed.
"Laura!"
"No! Jackson, you'll get yourself killed!"
"Forget about me! Are you okay?" He dashed over to me, frantically running his hands up and down me, as if to check for any injuries.
"Yes, but I'd really like to get out of here!" He smiled, before telling me to look away and cover my face. I didn't bother to question him as another coughing fit hit me and I felt seconds away from passing out. I heard a smash and turned to see the window completely out, which caused the smoke to head in our direction more aggressively and I had to close my eyes to try and stop the acidic stinging. Before I even had a chance to ask Jackson how he had smashed the window, he picked me up and jumped up on to the ledge. I tried to scream at him that it was way too high for him to jump to the ground, especially with me in his arms, but I didn't get a chance as he leapt through the air. I squeezed my eyes shut whilst screaming at the same time. I opened them just as we landed, in shock at how gracefully he had managed to land as we rolled a couple of times, with him covering my body and protecting me from the fall the whole time. As we rolled to a stop, I couldn't stop the coughs from overtaking me. As I struggled to breathe, everything began to go dark and the last thing I saw was Jackson's panicked face hovering over me.