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| bohemianbabe |
 Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:44 am |
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Fighter
Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 439
Location: Southern USA Baby!
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Galena
Chapter 1
Twenty two year old Galena Varren sat quietly in her bedroom, trying to avoid her father’s attention. She drew in her breath as she heard his heavy footsteps approaching her door. The sound of the door opening caused her to cringe.
Mike Varren walked into the bedroom and stood quietly in front of the girl. When she stood up to face him Mike raised his hand and harshly slapped her. “What were you doing, looking for him again! He’s dead! Galena, he’s not coming back to get you!”
The girl stood in silent defiance trying to tune out her father’s harsh tone and words.
“He’s a criminal, and all his friends are the same if he even has any! If he did come get you either him or one of those perverts he hangs with would have their way with you! You’re nothing! No one cares about you!” Mike slapped the girl again and stormed out of the small, rundown house.
Galena waited until she heard his old clattering truck crank up and leave before she moved. With out a moment’s hesitation further she pulled out the lap top she had bought at one time when she thought she might go to college. Her fingers flew as she typed on email and sent it. It was a small task for her to pack up the few belongings she had. With no second thoughts she cleaned out all of the stashes of money her father thought he had hidden from her and stuffed it in her purse. With only two duffle bags and her purse she stepped outside the house to begin a new life.
Three states away…
Jesse Kilmartin lay in his bed, tangled in the sheets. His hair was drenched with sweat and stuck to his forehead. In his mind a recurrent nightmare played, the day that Juliet had died. He woke up painting just after the building in the dream exploded. When his breathing finally returned to normal he got up and took a shower before heading to the kitchen for breakfast.
Shalimar was already up and cooking when Jesse came in. Through a wordless exchanged she knew that Jesse had had the nightmare again. She handed him a cup of freshly brewed coffee and then poured one for herself.
“Brennan got up extra early today with some kind of emergency he had to take care of.” Shalimar said as she sat down at the table across from Jesse.
“You have any idea of when he’ll be back?” Jesse’s response was automatic, one that had been programmed into his mind for whenever someone was out.
“He took the Helix, but I don’t think he’ll be gone too long.” Shalimar sipped her coffee. “I think an old friend needed help or something.”
The two fell silent for a moment, neither of them really wanted to bring up the topic that was heavy on both of their minds.
“A year and two months.” Jesse finally said, breaking the silence. “One year and two months to the day.”
“You know that it wasn’t your fault.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Jesse slammed his half full mug down on the table, coffee sloshing out over the edges. “How wasn’t it my fault, Shalimar! She knew it was something I’d fantasized about! Hell we weren’t even safe about it! If she hadn’t been killed she could have gotten pregnant! I don’t think he’d have wanted to raise my baby!” Jesse took a deep breath to calm himself. “I shouldn’t have yelled.”
“No.” Shalimar shook her head. “You shouldn’t have. You made mistakes, who doesn’t, but it takes two to make love. What happened between you two was so…Dawson and Joey. You two always claimed to be soul mates, it was the perfect solidification of that, but it wasn’t a perfect situation. She used you, Jesse. I’m sure somewhere in her mind she had reasoned that if she made you happy that night it would make up for the cold truth.”
“You weren’t the one who was excommunicated from the group.”
“She reminded him of someone he once loved as a sister.” Shalimar smiled wryly. “He was just being an older brother.”
“You should both let go of this argument.” Emma said as she walked into. Silently she picked up a napkin and wiped off the table where Jesse had sloshed the coffee. “You have every reason to be angry with yourself, Jesse; but not because of what happened that night. If anything, you should be angry that you are not doing what she would have wanted. You are not moving on.”
“The day I meet someone who can make me feel the way Juliet did is the day I’ll move on.” Jesse stood up and walked out of the kitchen.
4 hours later. A small diner in a small town.
Galena sat in the back booth of the diner, sipping at a glass of iced tea. Her hazel eyes were focused on the one entrance as she waited for one person to arrive. She looked down at her watch, still forty minutes left for him to show up before she would walk out and try to forget about him. The waitress came over and took her order, pulling Galena’s focus away from the door for a couple of minutes. When she looked back she saw him, standing just inside and looking around. When he spotted her she could not tell if he appeared happy or disappointed. She stood up and he walked across the diner to her. With out hesitation he pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
When they finally stepped back he held her at arms length and looked her over. “You look good, Kiddo.”
Galena rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. “I’m not a kid anymore, Brennan.”
“I know.” He sighed as they both sat down. “I’m guessing the scholarship didn’t happen.”
“The universities agree with my father. The only thing I’m good for is being a waitress in a cheap bar.” She gave him a weak smile.
“You know you’re more than that. We’ll see what we can do about getting you some kind of education.”
“I’m alright with out college. I don’t want to sleep my way to the top anyways.” She looked down for a second and noticed the golden band around Brennan’s left ring finger. “You got married?”
“What? Oh, the ring.” Brennan laughed. “Her name is Shalimar. We got married just a little less than two years ago.”
“Congrats.” She gave him a bright smile. “So does she know you came to get your bratty step cousin?”
“Everyone was still asleep when I left.”
“Everyone? Does that mean kids or is it something else?”
“This isn’t the best place to be having that discussion. I’ll tell you about it on the way back to where you’ll be staying.”
Galena gave him a questioning look but let the subject drop. “So what kept you away for so long?”
“You know most of it. I fell in trouble with the law, andI didn’t want to show up on your doorstep with the cops on my trail.”
“And the rest of it will be explained later?” her eyes sparkled in amusement.
“I think that a lot of things will be explained.’ His eyes darted, looking around the diner, and he dropped his voice. “Even the things that make people like us ‘special.’”
“You mean the things that we can do?” She shook her head. “I don’t think anyone could actually explain that to me.”
“By the end of the day you’ll be looking at the world from a whole new direction.”
“I can hardly wait to see what things will be like.” Her tone was soft and her gaze dropped again.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Once we get where we’re going you’ll be safer than you have been in years.”
The waitress walked over with Galena’s food and took Brennan’s order. For the next tow hours the two cousins talked over lunch. Galena’s smile brightened as she began to remember how much she liked her older cousin.
When they finally got ready to go Brennan paid the check and led the girl out to where the helix was. The shock that appeared on her face made him laugh, she had worn the same expression the first time he had showed her his powers. A few minutes later they were on the way to Sanctuary and Brennan was explaining to Galena about Genomex and Mutant X.
Late that afternoon, Sanctuary.
Jesse sat at his computer trying to organize the pictures from the digital camera. Scrolling down he found the pictures from Brennan and Shalimar’s wedding. He found the picture of him and Juliet dancing and resized it to fill the whole screen. His mind slipped back, remembering the day.
“Jess, Shal, Em, Adam!” Brennan called as he walked in with Galena.
Jesse was pulled out of his day dream and quickly closed the files before Brennan stepped in. When he looked up, Jesse saw a small girl standing just a couple of feet behind Brennan. She was tall, probably close to five foot ten best he could figure, her build was very slim; dark brown curls were caught in a loose ponytail with a few strands whisping around her face; her skin was a light tan and her eyes were a greenish that Jesse recognized as hazel. She was in a simple pair of semi-tight, low rise jeans and a light blue ballet neck long sleeved t-shirt.
Galena shifted uncomfortably as Jesse looked her over. She glanced at Brennan who gave her a slight nod.
“Jess, this is Galena. She’s my step cousin.” Brennan said as he pulled the girl to his side.
“Is she the reason you had to run out this morning?”
“She’ll tell you what she wants to tell you when she wants to tell you.” Brennan shot the younger man a harsh look.
Jesse got the silent warning to keep away from the girl and returned to his work.
Brennan led Galena out of the computer lab and began to search around for the others.
“He seems nice.” Galena commented softly as they walked down the hall.
“Jesse’s nice enough.” Brennan agreed half-heartedly. “His best friend died a little over a
year ago and he hasn’t been the same since.”
“In other words he’s still on rebound. Don’t worry, I’m not interested in dating.” She smiled wryly. “I’m not even interested in thinking about a relationship.”
“If you ever do want to get into a relationship I’ll make sure that the guy checks out.”
Galena laughed and stopped to look at a picture on the wall. Captured forever on film was a picture of Jesse and Juliet dressed up for a charity event that Jesse had gotten them tickets for.
“His best friend was his wife or something?” Galena asked as she looked back at Brennan.
“She was only his best friend. They dated for a couple of months after she moved in, but nothing ever really came from it. She died in an explosion.”
“She was pretty.”
“Juliet was very pretty and very sweet; but she was also a lot of trouble at times.” Adam said as he walked up to them. “You must be the reason Brennan had to go out this morning.”
“Galena is my younger cousin.” Brennan explained. “Should I tell him or do you want to?”
“Go ahead.” Galena answered softly.
Brennan took a deep breath ad released it. “Gal is my step cousin. Her mother died when she was young and she and I were always close as kids. After her mother died her father began to emotionally abuse her. She’s been able to deal with it up till now, but she’s finally decided to leave.”
“I supposed you want her to stay here if at all possible.” Adam stated more than asked.
“If it could be arranged I’d prefer her to be here where I can look out for her, but I think that she should have more say than I do.”
Adam turned to the girl. “What do you want to do, Galena?”
Galena looked down at her feet and twisted one of her dark brown curls around her finger. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do, but it would be nice to stay with my cousin.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
The two men exchanged a look and Adam nodded. “We’ll find Jesse and have him help you set up a room. Welcome to the family.”
Galena looked up for a second and smiled. “Thank you.”
“Brennan, Shalimar is in the lab waiting to talk to you. I’ll take Galena to Jesse and he can get her set up in a room, the one across from his would be best I think.”
Brennan nodded and headed to the lab while Adam led Galena back to the computer lab.
“Jesse, I need you to help me with something.” Adam said as they walked in.
Jesse looked up and smiled at Galena. “Already back again?”
“You two have already been introduced?” Adam asked in slight surprise.
“Brennan’s little cousin Galena who will tell me what she wants me to know when she wants me to know it. I also get the distinct impression that I’m supposed to keep my distance from her.” Jesse smirked slightly and shut down the computer.
“Set her up in the room across from yours. At least for now she’s part of the team.” Adam gently directed Galena over to Jesse.
The girl looked down at her feet and began to twist one of her dark curls around her finger.
“I can set up my own room if it would be more convenient.” She whispered.
“It’s ok; I really don’t mind doing it.” Jesse caught her chin on his finger and gently brought her gaze up from the floor. “Smile.”
Galena locked her eyes with his and slightly smiled at him. Even though it had hardly been anything she already missed his touch.
Jesse smile back at the girl and instinctively tucked one of the loose curls behind her ear.
Adam noted the exchange between the two and silently stepped out of the room. In the simple way Jesse had handled the girl Adam saw something that he thought had died along with Juliet. The small brunette was defiantly what the team needed and he was determined to find away to keep her there permanently.
“So are you ready to go set up the room?” Jesse asked as he took a step back from the girl.
“I really don’t want to be any trouble.” Her gaze dropped back down to the floor.
“You’re no trouble. I’ll let you help me.” He cupped her chin with his hand and brought her gaze back up where he could look into her eyes. “Do you have anything with you?”
Galena smiled slightly brighter, enjoying the fact that he still had two fingers on her jaw to keep her from looking back down. “I’ve got a couple of duffle bags.”
“We’ll go get them after you explain why you find the floor so interesting.”
Galena laughed softly and gave him a full smile. “I’m not used to looking people in the eyes, especially not men.”
“I was the same way. I’m more comfortable in a chat room than a real life conversation.”
“I like chat rooms better too.” She was disappointed when he completely moved his hand from her face. Looking back down at the floor, she smiled when he once again made her look up.
“You get used to people. Why don’t we go get your things and then you can practice making eye contact while we set up your room.”
“That sounds good.” For the first time since she set foot in Sanctuary her voice was in a normal volume.
“So you can talk at a normal volume. I thought I’d have to strain my hearing with you living here.”
Galena laughed and took the quick minute to look Jesse over. ‘Dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, strong features. He seems to be in good shape. Now if only I could figure out why I want him to touch me.’ She let her eyes examine more closely how his clothes fit him. ‘Oh my God, I’m actually trying to imagine him naked. Snap out of it, Galena.’
“So, you, me, your room, now?” Jesse asked after a minute of silence.
“What!” Galena asked a little too forcefully, her thoughts making false connections with what Jesse had asked. “Oh, you mean setting the room up.” She blushed. “My mind was out in space.”
“Well if there is anything else you think is going to happen to day I’m scared.” Jesse put a hand on her shoulder and led her down the hall to the hanger so they could get her things out of the Helix.
Galena let her gaze drop to the floor again, mildly disappointed when Jesse didn’t make a move to bring her gaze back up. ’I haven’t thought that much about sex since I was a kid and Bren gave me ‘the talk’ since Mom was dead and Dad didn’t really care. How can I all of a sudden be bombarded with it?”
The entered the hangar and Jesse opened the hatch so Galena could get her things out of the Helix. They remained silent as Jesse led the way to the room Galena would be staying in.
“This is it.” He said as he set her bags down on the bed. “I’ll got get some sheets and things for the bed so we can make it up.”
“I can make the bed up if you show me where to get the stuff.” Her volume dropped back down to the whisper and her eyes never left the floor.
“Honestly it is no trouble to set things up for you. We actually had a girl here once who preferred it when I changed the sheets and made the bed for her so I’m pretty used to this stuff.”
“She too lazy to do it herself?”
Jesse was surprised by the slight bit of spunk the girl showed but just laughed. “She was not into chores.”
“I will be happy to do anything that I can to help.” She looked up at him for a moment and smiled. “I’m good at keeping house.”
“Well if we need you to keep house we’ll let you know. Let me get those sheets and I’ll be right back.” Jesse stepped out of the room and down the hall to get out some sheets and things for the bed.
While Jesse was out of the room Galena quickly began to put away her clothes. She was careful to make sure that her lingerie was the first thing she put away then started to put up her other clothes.
Jesse stepped back into the room with the things for the bed and set everything down in and arm chair and stood against the wall. “So sheets and things are here. I can make the bed for you while you unpack.”
Galena set a neatly folded shirt in a drawer and closed it. “You can get back to whatever you were doing earlier. It won’t be any trouble for me to make the bed.”
“I was hoping we could talk more, but if you really don’t want my help I guess it’s all right.”
“My mother died when I was ten. Brennan spent a lot of time around me and actually ended up doing a lot of things my father should have. My father has verbally and emotionally abused me since my mother died, and actually started to do so when I was eight because she was in the hospital.” Galena answered with out turning around or looking up.
Jesse was taken aback as the girl’s words sank in. “I’m sorry. What did she die of?”
“Cancer.” Her voice broke and she felt her body begin to shake as tears streamed down her face.
Jesse walked over to the girl and pulled her into his arms to hold her while she cried. Galena let him pull her close, wrapper her arms around him, and buried her face in his neck as she cried. It was pure instinct for Jesse to gently rub the girl's back and rock side to side with her, the exact same things he had done anytime Juliet had sought shelter in his arms.
Two hours later.
Jesse and Galena walked out of the room having made the bed and unpacked all her things. Galena kept close to him, enjoying the way he had his arm over her shoulders and how safe she felt with him.
Brennan stepped into the hallway and say Jesse with Galena. His eyes darkened and he quickly made his way down the hall. “Jesse, can I speak to you for a moment in private?”
“Sure.” Jesse agreed, missing the look in Brennan’s eyes. “I’ll take Galena to the rec room and then meet you in the computer lab.”
Brennan watched them walk off and then headed to the computer lab to wait on Jesse. As soon as the younger man walked into the room he started ranting. “What do you think you’re doing? She’s barely been here three hours and you’re already putting your arm around her shoulders. I guess by next week you’ll be sleeping with her. Taking faster than you did with Juliet?”
“I wasn’t doing anything with her. All she and I were doing was talking. I know that she’s at a hard time in her life.”
“So she told you her background. I want you to stay away from her.”
“Alright,” Jesse sighed, “I’ll keep away from her.”
“She’s more important to me than you will ever know, and I swear that if she gets hurt I’ll make you pay for it.”
“I’ll pretend that she’s not even here.” Jesse turned and left, heading for his room.
Brennan hit the wall with his hand and then went to the rec room to find Galena.
“Where’s Jesse?” Galena asked when she saw Brennan walk into the room.
“I think he had a headache and went to his room to rest.” Brennan lied as he sat down next to the girl. “You’ll see him at dinner.”
“When do I get to meet Shalimar?”
“She’ll be here in a while. Did you get your things set up in your room?”
“Jesse helped me unpack and put my things away. He’s a really nice guy.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to spend a lot of time with him. Jesse is a nice guy, but I don’t want anything to develop. He hasn’t had a girlfriend in over a year and I’m scared he might form some false attraction to you.”
Galena nodded softly as she thought back to how she had felt when Jesse touched her. “I’ll stay away from him if that is what you think is best.”
“I just want what is best for you. You can be pleasant to him and you can spend some time with him, but I don’t want you to be spending a lot of time around him.”
“If you think that avoiding him will be best for me I’ll do it.” Galena answered reluctantly.
“Bren, is this your cousin?” Shalimar asked as she walked into the room. She lightly kissed Brennan and then sat down in his lap.
“Galena, this is my wife Shalimar. Shal, this is my little cousin.”
“It is nice to meet you, Galena.” Shalimar said and held out her hand to the girl.
Galena kept her gaze down as she took the blonde’s hand. “Nice to meet you too.” She whispered.
“Jesse said that you like to watch movies. I was wondering if you’d like to do that tonight.”
“If you want to watch a movie with me that will be fine.” Her voice was still soft as she spoke.
“You know that you can choose whether or not to join us.” Brennan lightly put his hand on his cousin’s knee.
“If I’m wanted I’ll come.”
“Then we’ll see you tonight at supper.” Shalimar said as she got up and signaled Brennan to follow her. “Jesse will be joining you in a few minutes. Brennan and I have to go to some work, but I’m sure that Jesse will keep you company.”
Galena smiled slightly. “I’m sure that I’ll be fine too.”
“Before I forget, Adam is going to take your medical scans tomorrow. We want to make sure that you are nice and healthy.”
“Hey guys.” Emma said as she walked into the room. “Jesse isn’t going to be coming. He’s got a minor repair to do before we eat. So I will be entertaining Galena.”
“I can go to my room and read if it would be easier.” Galena offered in slight disappointment, she would not admit that she only wanted to spend time with Jesse or Brennan.
“It’s no trouble to hang out with you.” Emma gave the girl a warm smile. “I’m Emma DeLauro.”
“Galena Varren.’ Galena answered quickly and quietly.
“We’ve got to go for now but we’ll meet up at dinner.” Brennan said as she and Shalimar walked out. “Have fun.”
“We will.” Emma smiled again. She sat down on the sofa ready to talk with Galena.
Shalimar led Brennan out of the rec room and to their bed room. “Why did you tell him to avoid her?”
“She’s had it hard and I just want to protect her. Do you remember what happened with the last emotionally abused cousin he got close to?”
“He loved her more than anything. He gave up sleep to comfort her after she had a nightmare. He endured innumerable blind dates with her friends when she set him up. He took her shopping all the time and let her experiment on him with make up. He even spent every day watching Dawson’s Creek with her.”
“Then he slept with her, got in a fight with her over it, she ran away, got captured by the GSA and was killed.”
“I miss her too, Bren.” Shalimar blinked back the tears. “I miss her more than you will ever know, and Jesse misses her too.”
“Shal,” Brennan sighed and pulled his wife into his arms. “I just don’t want to see Galena hurt. Jesse still isn’t ready for a relationship and even if he was I wouldn’t want her to be with him. She’s had it rough enough so far.”
“I still think it’s wrong to forbid him to spend time with her. You missed how she lit up when I told her Jesse was going to come spend more time with her; and how her spirits completely dropped when Emma told her Jesse wasn’t coming.”
“Then it is definitely for the better that he keeps away from her.”
“Let’s go do our work. We can talk about this later.” Shalimar stepped out of the room and headed for the lab.
Later that evening
Galena sat silently in the chair Emma had directed her to while she watched the other woman prepare dinner for the group. Although Galena had been more than willing to help, Emma had waved off the offer and insisted that she would handle the meal. For the first time since her arrival Galena felt at ease to look around and examine things.
The kitchen was clean and organized. Everything in the room was of the same modern look except for the refrigerator which had a large collage held up by magnets. When she had questioned about the collage Emma had told her it was something Juliet had made and that none of them had the heart to take it down. Galena smiled as she looked carefully at the pictures.
Suddenly she sensed someone sitting next to her; she turned around and smiled when she saw Jesse. Jesse gave the girl a slight smile in response and then looked away from her. Galena felt her heart drop and looked down at her hands.
A couple of minutes later Brennan, Shalimar, and Adam walked into the room. Shalimar smiled as the sat down while Brennan helped Emma serve the food.
“Is the room to your satisfaction?” Adam asked as he sat down.
Galena looked up for a second and then looked back down. “The room is fine.”
“I want to take her shopping so she can get a few things to give the room some personality.” Brennan said as he and Galena sat down.
“That is a good idea.” Adam nodded. “Jesse can take her tomorrow.”
“Brennan knows her better.” Jesse sighed as the tried not to look at Brennan or Galena.
“Brennan will be working on the cars tomorrow, and I’d rather have you go ahead and get her room painted and decorated.” Adam said in a finalized tone. “Jesse will take her shopping for any clothes she needs as well.”
“I don’t really need anything.” Galena practically whispered. “I really don’t have very much money.”
“You won’t be paying for the items you buy.” Adam calmly explained. “There is a fund for such things that I have set aside. It will pay for the interior decorating of your room and some clothing. Once a year the team buys any work related clothes they need from the money in the fund. Things like leathers and furs are not covered, but the majority of things are.”
“We can make a day of it.” Jesse suggested. “Maybe even take you out to look at cars.”
“I’d almost forgotten she would need a car.” Adam shook his head. “She’ll also need a lap top and a few other computer things. Jesse, you know what she needs.”
“She’s got a laptop already so I’ll only have to take care of the accessories and her com ring is ready with the exception for programming it to her DNA code.” Jesse stirred the mashed potatoes on his plate and tried not to look at Galena.
The meal went on with an awkward feeling hanging over the table. Jesse tried to keep from making eye contact with Brennan or Galena while Galena kept her eyes focused on her plate the whole time. Whenever Brennan looked at Shalimar she gave him a harsh glare and started talking to one of the others. After everyone had finished eating Shalimar and Jesse stayed in the kitchen to clear the dished while the others went to do their own thing.
“She really seems to like you, Jess.” Shalimar commented as she brought a stack of plates to the sink.
“You’re imagining things, Shal.” Jesse forced a laugh hoping that Shalimar would leave him alone.
“You and Brennan were the only ones she looked at the whole meal. She really seems like a nice girl.”
“She needs her space.” Jesse rinsed off a dish and handed it to Shalimar. “I’m just doing what I should to be polite.”
“You know you are allowed to feel some attraction to woman. It isn’t a crime.”
“Even if I was attracted to her now isn’t the time. She’s new and needs to adjust. Any attraction she thinks she feels for me is only the product of her stress and once she settles in the attraction will wear off.”
“What if her attraction doesn’t wear off? It isn’t that inconceivable that she could be attracted to you. Once you started to smile again plenty of women hit on you.”
“Let’s just leave it at I’m not attracted to her.”
“If this is because of Brennan I’ll hit both of you. Both of you are forgetting that she wanted you to find someone to spend the rest of you life with.”
“That doesn’t mean he can’t be protective of Galena. I would never try to hurt her, but if I did accidentally hurt her we both know he wouldn’t stop doing things to make me regret it until I left.”
“He has to give you a chance; maybe not with Galena, but at least with some woman. I know that he’s cause a lot of women to ‘change their minds’ about you.”
“I really don’t care anymore. For now I’m just as happy not to date.”
Shalimar took the last dish form him and put it in the dishwasher. She pressed a few buttons to start the cycle and then turned to look Jesse in the eyes. “You can play out your life however you want to, but try to remember what she would have wanted for you.” She turned and started to walk out of the room. “I’m going to find the others. Join us in the rec room for a movie if you want.”
Jesse watched Shalimar walk away. Without thinking for more than a second he headed to his room, got a shower, and sat on the bed with a copy of To Kill a Mocking Bird.
Three Hours Later
Galena stood in front of her bathroom sink brushing her teeth. She would never admit it to anyone, but she had been crushed when Jesse had not joined them to watch movies even though Adam had assured her that Jesse did not have anything he was supposed to be working on. She had sat silently through the movie, even though Down With Love was her favorite romantic comedy. Once the movie was over Brennan had showed her whose room was whose incase she needed anyone and then left her to get ready for bed. For a full ten minutes she had stood at her doorway, staring across the hall at the strip of light she could see under Jesse’s door. When the strip of light disappeared she felt her heart drop further, knowing that he had gone to bed with out saying anything to her. With tears trying to form in her eyes she had closed the door and began to get ready for bed.
She slipped between the sheets and laid her head on a pillow, trying to erase the images from that afternoon from her mind. There was no point in her pretending anymore, she was falling for a man she had just met. |
_________________
Jesse: "You know you can tell a lot about a person's romantic style by the way they play games."
bohemianbabe: "Would love to play a few 'games'."
la vie boheme!
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/737689 |
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| bohemianbabe |
| Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:45 am |
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Fighter
Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 439
Location: Southern USA Baby!
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Chapter 2.
The next morning
‘Galena walked down the aisle of the church carrying her bouquet of white roses and jasmine. Brennan walked beside her smiling proudly. At the end of the aisle he gently kissed her right cheek and stepped back to let the groom take her. With her characteristic nervousness overwhelming her she could not look at the man she was about to marry and kept her eyes on the floor. They walked up to stand in front of the altar.
“Jesse do you take this woman to be you lawfully wedded wife?” the priest asked.
Galena looked up to find Jesse smiling at her.
“I do.” Jesse answered clearly and firmly.
“Then I pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Jesse lifted the veil from Galena’s face and cupped her chin with his hand. Slowly he leaned in to kiss her.’
Galena’s eyes flew open as her alarm clock woke her up. Her dreamed played over again and she blushed. ‘I’ve only known him for a day. I can’t be thinking like that. He is nothing more than a nice guy, and one Brennan is scared will accidentally hurt me. The only reason I’m thinking about him in any way other than a friend is that he is one of the rare guys who have been nice to me.’ She climbed out of bed and looked through the few clothes she had in the closet and dresser. With a slight smile she pulled out an old baby blue baby doll dress that had belonged to her mother. She paired it with the black bicycle shorts her god mother had given her and a pair of black sandals. Checking her clock she made sure that she had enough time before doing her hair and make up. With a final glance in the mirror she left the room and headed for the kitchen.
Jesse and Brennan were fixing breakfast and Adam was sitting at the table when Galena arrived. Adam looked up at the girl and smiled at the ten years out of date out fit the girl was wearing. Unlike what she had worn the day before this outfit revealed more personality.
Brennan noticed the girl standing in the door way and shook his head. “So you can finally wear your mom’s old dress.”
“It’s a little tight now, but I wouldn’t get rid of it for a whole new wardrobe.’ The volume she spoke in surprised all three men.
“It works on you.” Jesse decided after careful consideration. “No one else could pull it off now, but it really works on you.”
“Thank you.” Galena smiled. “Do I need to help with breakfast?”
“We’ll put you on a chore schedule later.’ Adam said and motioned for the girl to sit down at the tale. “For now let the boys handle things. After breakfast I will run the med scans and then you and Jesse can go out and take care of that shopping.”
Galena nodded and walked over to the table. Deciding that she did not want to sit in the chair immediately next to Jesse she pulled out the chair across from Emma’s seat. Just as she was about to sit down she felt a hand on her wrist, looking up she met Jesse’s eyes.
“No one ever sits there. You can sit across the table from Adam or swap with one of the girls, but don’t sit there.” His tone was cold, surprising her. Galena looked over to Brennan, but he was too busy to catch her eye.
She stepped back from the chair and sat in the one she had been assigned the night before.
Adam had caught the exchange and knew that the girl was confused. “That was Juliet’s chair. At first she sat next to Jesse, but they would kick at each other under the table and consequently kick the rest of us so we had to separate them. She refused to sit at the foot of the table so we only had her move one chair over, to the chair you were going to sit in. Jesse doesn’t let anyone sit in her chair and will skip meals if he has to, to make sure that her place is always empty.” He explained n a low tone. “It was nothing that you did. You couldn’t have known.”
Galena nodded silently and kept her eyes down at the table.
A couple of minute later Shalimar and Emma stepped into the kitchen and help the boys serve.
“I’m sorry.” Galena whispered as Jesse sat down next to her.
“You didn’t know.” Jesse whispered back. “And I’m sorry I snapped at you like that.”
Brennan watched carefully as Jesse and Galena whispered back and forth. He had not missed the exchange over Juliet’s place, but had left it alone, hoping that the minor disagreement would be enough to drive Jesse and Galen apart. To his surprise Jesse had quickly forgiven the girl, something he had not expected.
Shalimar gently put her hand on her husband’s and shook her head when he looked at her. Galena watched the exchange between her cousin and his wife with curiosity.
“How did you sleep last night, Galena?” Emma asked after a moment of silence.
“I was fine, thank you.” Galena whispered, not looking up from her hands.
“No problems with sleeping in a new place?” Shalimar smiled slightly.
“Everything was fine. I was really tired so I didn’t have any problems falling asleep.” Galena looked up for a split second, but then let her eyes drop again.
Shalimar made a mental note to try talking to the girl another time. “Where were you last night, Jess?”
“I wasn’t up to a movie so I stayed in my room to read.”
“They put me and Adam through watching Down With Love. I guess you had the right idea to hide with a book.” Brennan half-laughed.
“What book was it?” Galena asked.
Jesse was surprised by the volume the girl spoken and the fact that she was looking up to him. “Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird.’ Juliet had a list of books she wanted me to read and that one is the next to last one.”
“What are you going to do when you finish the last book?”
“Start the list of books she was going to read. Juls actually made a list for all of us. Emma’s the only one who’s read all the books she was assigned.”
“Not all of us have your patience with books.” Shalimar said softly.
“I didn’t mean to bring her up, Shal.” Jesse quickly apologized when he saw the tears in Shalimar’s eyes.
“I shouldn’t have pressed about it.” Galena’s voice returned to a soft whisper.
“You didn’t know, Gal. You love books, and Juliet loved books.” Brennan shook his head at the similarities he suddenly saw between the two girls.
“I’m not really hungry. I normally don’t eat breakfast.” Galena pushed her chair back and quickly left the room.
“Jesse,” Adam said after a second, “would you please go see if she’s all right?”
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Jesse got up and headed to Galena’s room. “Galena?” he called as he softly knocked on the door.
Galena sat silently, tears streaming down her face, hoping that Jesse would leave her alone.
After waiting a couple of minutes longer Jesse decided to see if the door was locked. The handle turned easily and he opened the door. He walked into the room and sat on the bed next to Galena. “What’s wrong, Gal?”
The girl looked up, surprised that he had used her nickname. “Nothing is wrong.” Her voice was louder, but broken as she cried.
Jesse took her face in his hands and gently brushed her tears away with his thumbs. “Don’t lie to me, alright? I want to be your friend, but I can’t do that if you lie to me.”
“I messed up again. Adam will send me back to my father and this time I think it will be more than yelling. It was horrible when he found out I was looking for Brennan.”
“No one is gonna send you away.” Jesse gently pressed a kiss to the girl’s forehead. “You will never be sent back to your father. Tell me what happened when he found out you were looking for Brennan.”
“The first time he locked me out of the house for three days. I didn’t look for Brennan for two years after that, and then nine months ago I tired to look again. That time he knocked me down the front steps. There were only two steps but I still got pretty bruised up. This time he only yelled, but I think he was running late to meet his friends at the bar.”
Jesse stared at the girl in shock. His mind could not begin to conceive the idea that anyone would ever want to hurt such a sweet, innocent girl. With out a moment’s hesitation he pulled the girl into his arms and held her tight. “That’s not going to happen to you again. I promise you.”
Galena nodded and wrapped her arms around him, pulling herself closer against his body. Wrapped in his arms she felt completely safe, something she had never expected to feel and especially not with a person she had just met. After a moment she pulled back form him and stared into his eyes. “Thank you for coming.”
“It’s no problem.” Jesse stared to feel uncomfortable with the intensity the girl was looking straight into his eyes with. “You want to go see if they left us anything for breakfast?”
Galena nodded and closed her eyes as she leaned in to kiss him. Jesse slipped a hand behind the girls head and closed his own eyes in a natural reflex. Just before their lips met they heard someone knocking on the door. Galena quickly pushed back from Jesse and looked to see who had come.
“The others have finished eating, but there is food for both of you.” Adam said in a slightly uncomfortable tone. “After you are done eating Jesse will show you to the lab for your med scans and then take you shopping.” Adam walked off leaving the two alone.
“Breakfast?” Jesse asked as he stood up and started to walk to the door.
“Sure.” Galena looked down at her feet and then looked back up. “About the almost kiss. I don’t know what come over me.”
“Don’t worry, it was nothing. We can just say that it never even happened.”
“All right.” Galena nodded. For some reason she felt her heart drop at the way he had so easily dismissed it.
They walked to the kitchen and had a quiet meal and then Jesse led Galena to the med lab. While she got her scans he went to straighten up his room.
Stepping into the soft tan colored room his eyes immediately fell on the picture of Juliet he had at his desk. He would never tell anyone but he had often found himself talking to the picture. “So, Juls, there is a new woman in the house. You’d hate her and you’d love her. She’s like you, emotionally abused.
“I still don’t get why these things happen to nice people. She’s gorgeous, Juliet, just what you had imagined at Shal and Bren’s wedding. Great personality too, and really sweet. She’s opened up to me just like you did.”
Jesse stared at the picture and then began to make the bed. “Of course Brennan wants me to avoid her. I think he’s scared the same thing that happened to you will happen to Galena. That’s her name, Galena. I looked it up on line and it means ‘healer.’ I guess we could all use one of those these days. Time for me to go. I’m responsible for taking her shopping.”
Jesse turned out the light and left the room to get Galena from the lab.
“She’s gone to check on her hair.” Adam said when he saw Jesse walk in. “I was surprised she didn’t throw a fit the way Brennan used to.”
“You could tell her to drink spoiled milk and she’d do it with a smile.” Jesse sighed as she sat down on the scanner chair. “She thinks we’re going to kick her out if she doesn’t do as we want.”
“Then we will all have to be careful not to take advantage of that.” Adam turned away from the computer to face Jesse. “She’s at a very delicate time in her life.”
“It sounds childish, but she was the one about to kiss me, not the other way around.”
“The temptation of a pretty, young girl who is willing to do anything to make people happy is strong.”
“I know she’s pretty. She’s gorgeous, smart, funny, loves books.”
“You’re attracted to her I take it.”
“No. I mean, I just met her, and while she’s nice I’m not thinking of her as anything more than a friend.”
“Unlike Brennan I won’t tell you to avoid her, but I do want you to be careful when you are around her.”
“Don’t worry. I have enough things to do that I will be too busy to spend a lot of time around the girl.”
“Your duties may change. She trusts you, maybe be even a bit more than she trusts Brennan. For now I’m willing to do what I can to keep her close to her cousin, but if things turn the way it looks they might you will be back to the job of confidant.”
“It’s a bad idea. She’s only turning to me because Brennan is working a lot. The girl hasn’t been here twenty-four hours yet.”
“She could search out her cousin if she wanted him. You are good at being the comforter; you did it with the other troubled cousin we had come through here.”
“Then I messed up royally. She’s in some form of shock and I’m easily accessibly. Once she settles in she’ll go back to Brennan for comfort.”
“I realize you don’t believe it anymore, but you are a nice guy, Jess. She is new and open minded so there is no reason for her not to notice both your faults and your good qualities.”
“I’m not so sure what is good about me any more.” Jesse sighed as he got up and left the lab.
“Maybe our new team member can make you remember.” Adam shook his head and returned to his work.
Jesse walked to Galena’s room and leaned against the door jam as he watched the girl fret over her hair. “You are going to ruin those pretty curls if you aren’t careful.”
Galena smiled as she looked over at him. “I’m just glad they are large ringlets instead of those curls that look more crimped than anything.”
“You wear your hair up a lot?”
“It’s easier. I can’t mess up a pony tail as quickly as I can mess up my hair if it is down.”
“I bet you are pretty with it down.” Jesse stepped into the room and stood behind the girl. With developed expertise he took the pony tail holder out of the girl’s hair, letting her locks fall down about her shoulders. “If you were in white you’d look like an angel.”
Galena blushed and immediately gathered her hair back up into the pony tail. “I’ll leave it down some other time.” Looking in the mirror she saw his smile disappear. “Unless you really want me to wear it down today.”
“Another time is fine. Don’t want you to get it all tangled while you try on clothes.”
“I don’t really need the new clothes. In all technicality we could skip the whole thing about shopping.”
“You want to pass up a chance to get your room done any way you want it? This is a free ticket to go crazy and hang the cost.”
“You really don’t want to go shopping with me. I take so long to decide on everything that I could make a priest swear.”
“A chance to get out of work for an indefinite amount of time sounds really good to me. I think that you and I can at least give it a try.”
“Alright, but you don’t have to worry about taking me car shopping. I don’t know how to drive so that is going to be unnecessary.”
“Then once we get things set up we will get you a driver’s license and I’ll help Brennan teach you to drive.”
“We can see about that after we see if you can survive a trip to the mall with me.”
“I’ll be thinking about what kind of car to get you.”
Three hours later.
Jesse and Galena walked out of a small clothing store in the mall. Jesse was carrying the four bags of clothes he had bought for the girl, despite the fact that she denied needing anything.
Galena looked over at him and smiled. While Jesse had pretend he was not feeling out of place in the small boutique she had caught several girls looking at her with jealousy in their eyes. At first it had surprised her, but then she began to enjoy the feeling of having something that other people wanted. To make things more fun she had played along and tried to act as if Jesse as her boyfriend.
Jesse smiled back at the girl and adjusted the shopping bags so he could hold them with one hand and then put his arm around the girl’s shoulders. Now that she was standing next to him he figured she was about five-seven.
Galena put her arm around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked to the bedding store.
“You know you aren’t all that bad to shop with.” Jesse said as they walked to the store.
“You got lucky. Now come help me choose my comforter and stuff.”
“You still have the paint chips from the paint we bought?”
“Yeah, both of them.” Galena reached into her purse and pulled out two paint chips, one a creamy white and the other a dusty rose. “What do you want the paint chips for?”
“We are going to find something that matches them. I think something in the pink you are going to sponge on the walls.”
“Sounds like fun. I don’t want any flowers though.”
Jesse kissed her forehead, smiling at the way the girl was actually showing some attitude and opinion. “No flowers. What kind of look are we going for in there any way?”
“Something really romantic. Poetry is a part of me and I want a room that reflects that.”
“If we make it out of here in enough time I’ll take you to a furniture store and you can choose a new bed for your room.”
“Will Adam mind us doing that?”
“Considering all the work he did for the rest of us I doubt it. You could get a canopy bed or something.”
“You’d make a great interior designer. That one looks pretty.”
Jesse looked at the comforter Galena had pointed out and held the paint chip against it. The comforter was a patchwork design quilt in white and rose and the colors perfectly matched the paint color. “It’s really pretty.”
Galena closed her eyes trying to imagine the room with the comforter set. As she tried to think about it an image of her and Jesse together in bed flashed through her mind. All though the image was of nothing more than them sleeping cuddled up together she blushed. “This is what I want.” She said as she opened her eyes.
“We’ll find it in a queen size and get what ever you’ll need to go with it.”
Later That Evening.
Jesse and Galena stepped into the lab with the receipts from their shopping trip in hand.
“Was it a successful day?” Adam asked when he looked up from his computer
“We got everything she needs.” Jesse handed the older man the receipts. “Brennan and I will need to take both trucks tomorrow to pick up her new furniture.”
“If we spent too much we can take some of it back.” Galena quickly offered.
“No need to worry about it. I just want to make sure that you are happy with your room.’ Adam put the receipts aside and looked back down at his computer. “Shalimar went out to get some Chinese for dinner. The five of you will be eating in the rec room and watching a movie.”
“Does everyone watch movies every night?” Galena asked as she looked at some bottles on the counter.
“They are getting a few days off right now because things are quiet. We will use this time to get you set up and to allow you to bond with the team.” Adam explained. “Now out of here with both of you.”
Jesse took Galena’s wrist and led her out of the lab. “We’ll go put up your new clothes while we wait on Shal.”
“You don’t have to do that. I can put away my clothes.”
“How many times do we have to go through this?” Jesse pulled the girl close to him and put his arm around her shoulders. “I want to help you.”
“Alright, you and I can go put up my new clothes while we wait.” Galena agreed.
After they finished putting away Galena’s clothes they headed to the rec room to chill out and watch Dawson’s Creek while they waited for the others to show up for dinner.
An Hour Later.
Shalimar, Emma, and Brennan walked into the rec room carrying the Chinese take out, a six pack of beer, and several napkins.
“Time to eat.” Brennan said as he set the food down on the coffee table. “Galena, you want to choose the movie this time?”
“Jesse can choose it if he wants to.” Galena whispered and started to pull her hair back up into a pony tail. “I’m ok with whatever.”
Shalimar and Emma exchanged a glance, knowing that when they had walked past the rec room a few minutes earlier the girl had been laughing and talking in a normal volume.
“Alright,” Brennan sighed, “Jesse can choose the movie.”
“It’s the anniversary of Juliet and Ashleigh’s first date, why don’t we watch the movie they rented that night.” Shalimar suggested as she led Brennan over to one of the arm chairs.
“If you four want to watch that movie it’s fine, but save me something to eat because I don’t think that I could sit through it again.” Emma crossed her arms in front of her chest and stood waiting on the others to decide.
“Come on, Em,” Jesse got up and put an arm around the red-head’s shoulders, “the movie isn’t that bad, and we only watch it once a year.”
“Alright, but only because we did it for Juliet.” Emma consented.
“I’ll put the disc in.” Shalimar got up and walked over to the DVD shelf and pulled out a box.
Two Hours Later.
Shalimar, Brennan, Emma, and Jesse sat trying not to laugh as Galena furiously picked up the empty take out cartons and beer cans.
“And one time at band camp.” Emma whispered after a minute.
All four burst out laughing as Galena blushed deeply and ran out of the room.
“I’m guessing that was the first time she’s ever seen ‘American Pie.’” Shalimar said when she managed to stop laughing.
“I’ll go check on her.” Brennan said as she stood up. “She must have been pretty freaked out.”
“Poor, Galena. If I’d known how she would react I wouldn’t have talked Emma into watching it.” Jesse laughed and picked up his can of beer.
“She’s never going to watch movies with us again.” Emma shook her head and began to put away the movie.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Galena asked softly as she stepped back into the room. “I know I flipped but that movie was funny.”
“We just don’t want to drive you away.” Jesse stood up, walked over to her, and gently kissed the top of the girl’s head. “We really like having you here.” |
_________________
Jesse: "You know you can tell a lot about a person's romantic style by the way they play games."
bohemianbabe: "Would love to play a few 'games'."
la vie boheme!
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/737689 |
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| bohemianbabe |
| Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:46 am |
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Fighter
Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 439
Location: Southern USA Baby!
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Chapter 3
Four months later.
Adam watched the computer screen and the information from Galena’s scan was calculated. He looked up for a second and watched the girl play around with a rack of bottles, reading the labels and comparing the colors. After he had found out that the girl had been rejected from every college she had applied to he had tried to teach her a few things. He had managed to get a hold of her school records and found that the girl was extremely smart despite the poor family and economic situation she had come from.
The computer beeped signaling that the results were in. Adam quickly looked over the results of the scan. “Well you are in great shape. Your powers are stable and everything else looks good.”
“Does that mean I don’t get out of my computer lesson today?” Galena asked as she swirled one bottle.
“If you spill that hydrochloric acid on yourself you will.”
Galena quickly set the bottle back down. “Sorry, it wasn’t labeled, I was only trying to figure out what it was.”
“Don’t mess with unlabeled bottles in here. I don’t want you hurting yourself. Now why would you want to skip your computer lesson? I thought you liked being around Jesse.”
“He’s acting weird.” Galena wrinkled her nose and played with one of her dark brown curls, twisting it around her finger. “He keeps staring at me.”
“He’s not blind or gay, and you are a very pretty girl.”
“Couldn’t Emma work with me instead?”
“Jesse is the best we’ve got, but if you feel uncomfortable I suppose Emma could help you instead.”
“Thank you.” Galena smiled at him with a child like innocence. In the last four months she had begun to think of Adam as a father figure, and was grateful that he treated her kindly.
Adam shook his head knowing that he was have to make himself stop indulging the ‘baby’ of the group. “Go be a good student for Jess today, and tomorrow Emma will take over.”
Galena nodded and scampered out of the lab, heading to the computer lab.
Jesse was already sitting behind of the computers looking over a file when Galena came in. he looked up for a minute, analyzing how the girl’s light pink sundress hugged her body and the neckline showed off the fullness of her breasts. For a brief moment he let his imagination play with the idea of exploring the girl’s feminine sensuality. Shaking his head slightly to clear the images from his mind he closed out the security report files and opened the main system files he’d been going over with Galena.
“Hey, Jess.” Galena whispered as she sat down next to him.
“You look pretty, Galena.” Jesse said slowly.
“You know, I’m getting a really bad headache.” Galena shifted uncomfortably. “Do you mind if we skip our lesson?”
“I don’t want you to be trying to work if you don’t feel up to it. You want to go to the rec room? I think 90210 is on if you want to watch that.”
“No thanks. I’m going to go lie down in my room. Maybe put on that CD of the rain that Shalimar bought me.”
“You really feeling that bad?”
Galena crossed her fingers behind her back. “Yeah, I’m feeling pretty bad.”
“I don’t think you should be alone if you are not feeling good. I could sit with you and read a book while you rest.”
“Don’t be silly. It’s me, I’ll be ok as soon as my powers kick in on it.” Galena felt her temper beginning to rise. She stood up and walked to the door. “Just leave me alone.” she called back to him as she left.
Jesse stared at the door in wonder, trying to figure out what he had done wrong. After a few minutes he went back to work on the security improvements.
Emma walked into the computer lab and stood silently for a moment. “I thought you were going to be working with Galena.” she said, breaking the silence.
“She had a headache and went to lie down. At least that is what she said.”
“You don’t believe her?” Emma sat down next to Jesse.
“Not really. Galena hasn’t quite been herself lately, especially the last couple of days.”
“She’s a woman, Jess, there are a few things that come along with that territory. You should be used to it after all the grief Juls gave you at that time.”
“No, not like that.” He typed in a couple of commands as he thought for a second. “It's more like she’s trying to avoid me or something.”
“Have you had an argument or something with her recently?”
“No arguments about anything. She’s just been ‘off’ lately.”
“Could you at least give me an example of what has been ‘off’ about her?”
Jesse sat in silence for a moment as he thought. “The other day she was wearing a really nice outfit, a white mini skirt and a lavender halter I think. When I told her I thought she looked nice and that I liked the top she immediately went and changed into a cruddy pair of jeans and an oversized, stained t-shirt.”
“So you gave her a compliment and she immediately went and changed into grunge clothes? You’re right this one isn’t making any since.”
“It’s like she wants to do everything she can to go against what I say, or she’s crazy and thinks I’m lying to her.”
“You’re lying to who?” Shalimar asked as she walked into the room.
“Galena’s been acting strangely for the last few days.” Jesse closed out the computer files, realizing that he would get no more work done on it at that time.
“We were trying to figure out what is going on.” Emma added.
“I think she has a minor crush on you, Jess.” Shalimar said as she pulled around a char and sat down. “She hasn’t really said anything, but she acts like she does.”
“Lets not even go there.” Jesse shook his head. “It doesn’t matter if she is planning a wedding, Brennan would never let me go out with her.”
The two women exchanged a look.
“How do you feel about her?” Emma asked as she did a quick mental check to make sure that Brennan and Galena were not in earshot.
“She’s a friend. How many times do I have to tell you people that I don’t want a girlfriend?”
“Look, Jess, if you feel something for her you can tell us.” Shalimar put her hand on his knee. “We wont tell anyone anything.”
“She’s not my type, Shal.” Jesse ran a hand through his hair and leaned back in the chair.
“I don’t know, Jess. She’s pretty, smart, modest, funny, and a lady.” Emma looked over at Shalimar. “That is his type isn’t it?”
“The only problem is that she is Brennan’s cousin.” Shalimar answered.
“I don’t want you two trying to set me and Galena up. She’s a great girl, but I’m not really interested in dating right now.”
“Suit yourself.” Shalimar said as she stood up. “But if you change your mind she’s just across the hall from you.”
“And we can help you convince Brennan.” Emma added as the two women walked out, leaving Jesse to do his work.
Two hours later.
Shalimar knocked on Galena’s door, hoping that the girl would be willing to talk.
“Hey, Shal.” Galena said as she opened the door. “Is there something that you need?”
“I just wanted to talk.” Shalimar said as she walked into the room.
“Talk about what?” Galena asked as she put up a couple of her poetry books.
“You and Jesse. He’s noticed you acting weird around him.”
“What do you mean by weird?” Galena turned around to look at Shalimar.
“He said that you’ve not been yourself. He told Emma he had complimented you on your outfit and you had immediately gone and changed into your grubby clothes.”
“That was nothing. His compliment reminded me I was supposed to be cleaning the kitchen.”
“So there’s no reason for worry?”
“Not about me. Jesse’s a different story. Every time he looks at me I feel like he’s mentally stripping me or something.”
“And how does that make you feel?”
“Uncomfortable. Brennan and Adam are the only ones who know, but I’m a virgin. I wouldn’t have told Adam, but he is my doctor.”
“I can understand where you would be uncomfortable with a man thinking less than pure thoughts then, but Jess only wants to be your friend.”
“Just my friend?” Galena asked, trying to hide the dissapointment she felt.
Shalimar caught the hidden tone and walked over to put an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “That’s what he said, but I think that you would be good for him.”
“I’ll think about it.” she bit her lip and twisted one of her curls around her finger. “Do you think he might ever think of me as more than that?”
“I honestly cant tell you, Galena. Even if he does develop those kinds of feelings he wont pressure you to get involved in a relationship.”
“I think he’s still in love with Juliet.”
“He may still be, but eventually you learn it is foolish to be in love with a ghost. Do you like him or something?”
“Ye-no. I don’t know, Shal. He’s really nice, understanding, smart, patient, funny, absolutely hot.” Galena walked over to the bed and fell back dramatically. “Does it really matter what I feel?”
“You are allowed to fall in love with who ever you choose, even Jesse.” Shalimar picked up a volume of Byron’s poetry. “He loves Byron, get him to read it to you.”
“Brennan doesn’t want me to fall in love with Jess. He thinks I’d get hurt. Maybe Jesse sympathizes with Byron’s inability to maintain a steady relationship.”
“He wanted a family. A nice wife, a couple of great kids, you know the white picket fence dream.”
“And since his copper haired angel died he changed his mind about it.”
“You’re like your cousin.” Shalimar shook her head and put the book back on the shelf. “Do you have a copy of Whitman?”
“Not my thing. I’ve got Keats.”
“Jesse chose the canopy bed for you because you are a romantic.”
“He suggested it, but I decided on this bed.”
“You two could share a room with out fighting much, you’re both so neat.”
“As long as he has his ghost he’ll be happy. It wont ever matter how I feel about him.”
“She was his best friend not his lover. When he’s ready he’ll open his heart again, and then how you feel could change his world.”
“I’m not counting on it.”
Two weeks later.
Shalimar waited in the dojo for Emma to join her the second the other woman walked into the room Shalimar closed of the area so they could talk alone.
“I still cant get a verbal confession from him, but we are going to move forward with my plan.” Shalimar said as she sat down in the floor.
“This is crazy, Shal. We shouldn’t be trying to set them up, especially not behind Brennan’s back.”
“Do you really want to see them acting the way they have been for any longer?”
“No, but…”
“Then go with the plan. Tonight we all plan on going to a club, just before we leave you remember that you had something you needed to do.”
“Which will leave Jesse free to act as Galena’s date for the night.”
“See, it’s not that hard.”
“I’m still not sure we should be doing this. I don’t think he’s quite over Juliet’s death and it would be a very bad thing if Galena got hurt because we rushed them.”
“All I want to do right now is let them see how much fun they have as a ‘couple.’ If they decide that they don’t like it then it ends there, but if thy do like it we get to start planning a wedding.”
“Brennan wont let things get that far. He might let Jess take Gal on a couple of dates, but nothing more. The second things look serious he’ll scare Jesse away from her.”
“I’ll handle my husband, you just make sure that Galena doesn’t back out tonight.”
Later that night.
Shalimar stood beside Galena as the girl dressed for clubbing. “You are going to look so cute tonight.”
“I don’t know, I’m not used to this kind of thing. I’ve hardly touched alcohol.” Galena tugged at the hem of her white mini skirt and then retied her baby pink halter.
“We’ll teach you the ropes. Do you like dancing?”
“Love it almost as much as I love poetry.”
“Good. You and Jess will have a good time tonight. He spends more time dancing than the rest of us.”
“I probably won dance to night.” Galena reached behind her head and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. “Today has been pretty exhausting.”
“Then who will dance with Jesse?”
“Emma I guess. She doesn’t have a date tonight does she?”
“I guess you have a point. Well, maybe she will let you have him for a dance or two. Come on, we’re going to be late.” Shalimar grabbed the girl’s wrist and led her out of the room to the garage.
Brennan and Jesse were already waiting in the garage when Shalimar and Galena clattered into the room.
“Where’s Emma?” Brennan asked as he gently kissed Shalimar’s cheek.
“Hey guys.” Emma called as she walked into the garage, wearing an old t-shirt and sweat pants. “I totally forgot something I had to do, so I’m not able to go clubbing.”
“That’s too bad, Em.” Shalimar gave the woman a sympathetic look. “We were really looking forward to tonight.”
“You guys go on out. I can join you another time.” Emma gave the group a bright smile. “No need for the rest of you to ruin your fun just because of me tonight.”
“I could stay with you.” Galena quickly volunteered.
“You go have some fun, Galena. I don’t want to cause anyone trouble. Now all of you get out of here.” Emma turned and walked out of the garage.
“Well we heard her, lets go.” Brennan said as he unlocked the door to the SUV.
Two hours later, at the club.
Galena sat quietly at the table, sipping on her strawberry margarita. Shalimar and Brennan were out on the dance floor, and best she could figure Jesse was trying to pick up one of the girls at the bar. Her first time clubbing had not been at all what she had expected. The men in the club had looked her over when she walked in, but all assumed that Jesse was her date. After the long night she was determined never to go clubbing again.
Just as she finished the last sip of her drink she saw Jesse walking to the table with two drinks in his hands.
“You don’t seem to be having fun.” he said as he set one of the drinks in front of her.
“This was never my scene. I was always more into roller blading.”
“Fun activity, but you’ve got to like other things.”
“I do.” Galena took a careful sip of the drink he had brought her. “What is this?”
“It’s called sex-on-the-beach. They were out of margarita and daiquiri mix so I decided to guess at something you might like.”
“Thanks.” she smiled softly and looked down at her hands, blushing at the images the drink’s name had created in her head.
“Do you dance?”
Galena looked back up and shook her head. “Not too much. I like ballet, but I’m not good at much else.”
“Do you want to give it a try?”
“You’d have a better time with one of the other girls here.” Galena smiled and quickly finished her drink.
“Would you do it if I said I wanted you to dance with me?”
“Alright, I’ll dance with you.” Galena stood up and let him lead her onto the dance floor.
An hour and a half later.
Shalimar helped Jesse put Galena into the car. The girl had passed out a few minutes before, even though she had not had much to drink at the club. The others got in the car, carefully laying Galena out across the seat with her head resting in Jesse’s lap, and Brennan began to make the drive back to Sanctuary.
“How much did she have to drink?” Shalimar asked as she shifted to face Jesse.
“She had that small margarita she ordered when we first got there, then I bought her a couple of drinks, nothing strong though.” Jesse twisted one of the girl’s dark brown curls around his finger as he spoke.
“She’s only been legally old enough to drink for a little over a year, and I think tonight was the first time she’s had more than a bottle of light beer.” Brennan offered for an explanation.
“Then next time we make sure she doesn’t have but a little.” Shalimar turned back around to face the front of the car. “She’s going to have a killer head ache tomorrow.”
“Good thing we’ve got tomorrow off.” Brennan shook his head as he looked at the girl’s reflection in the rearview mirror.
The car fell silent for a moment, and Shalimar took the opportunity to come up with a new idea to further her plan. “She shouldn’t be alone tonight. I think some one should sleep in her room with her.”
“Good idea, Shal.” Brennan quickly agreed. “I’ll stay with her tonight incase she needs anything.”
“That wont work.” Shalimar argued. “You and I are going with Emma tomorrow to that conference and we have to sleep well so we can get up early. Jess, do you mind staying with Galena tonight?”
“I don’t think that is such a good idea, Shal.” Jesse answered hesitantly. “The last time I took care of a drunk girl things ended up in a mess.”
“But you wont let that happen now.” Shalimar responded softly. “After all you liked Juliet as more than a friend, and Galena is only a friend to you.”
“Even if I agreed to stay with her tonight you’d have to convince Brennan to let me.”
Brennan sighed, knowing that Shalimar was playing both of them for some reason. After a moment of thought he made his decision. “If you so much as think of touching her tonight I’ll kill you. I don’t like this, but it is our only option.”
“Well Brennan’s ok with it, so what do you say, Jess?” Shalimar crossed her fingers.
“Just this once. I’ll bring one of the folding cots in from the lab and sleep on that.”
“Good plan.” Brennan looked out over the read. “I still wish that we had another option.”
“They’ll be fine.” Shalimar reassured him. “I think that she’ll be getting the best nurse she could have.”
The rest of the ride back to Sanctuary was silent. Once they arrived Brennan carried Galena to her room and let Shalimar take the girls clubbing clothes off and redress her in a soft cotton night gown. They had just gotten the girl settled into bed when Jesse came in with his pillow and a couple of blankets.
“I’m going to need some help getting a cot in here if we don’t want to break anything along the way like we did last time we took the cots out of the lab.” he said as he put the pillow and blankets against a wall.
“They are hard to maneuver alone.” Shalimar agreed.
“I’ll help you.” Brennan tucked the blankets tight around Galena and then walked out of the room with Jesse. “Do me a favor and forget about your feelings for her tonight.”
“My feelings for her?” Jesse asked, confused.
“You like her, it’s pretty obvious.”
“She’s just a friend to me, nothing more than that. I’m not ready for a relationship with any woman.”
“Gal’s got it pretty bad for you. She has since the day you two met. If you really don’t see her as anything but a friend at least be careful when you let her down.”
Jesse stopped for a second as he punched in the access codes for the storage area. “Somehow I think you’d want me to do that even if my feelings for her were mutual.”
“I’d only do it to protect her. I don’t want her to be put through anymore pain.”
“Don’t worry. If I ever started to feel like that about here I’d quit working with her.”
“You might want to start looking for a new job. We’ve all seen how you act around her, and you seem to like her more than you are letting on.”
“Do you want me to leave? Would that be enough to make you happy?”
“I just want to do what I think is best for Galena. You’ve got your own life that you can make choices about.”
“Does she get to make her own choices too?” Jesse’s tone was dripping with sarcasm.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. All you’ve done is try to tell her how bad it would be for her to be around me.”
“Apparently there is some lapse in your memory. I told you she’s been hurt, she’s told you she’s been hurt, and Emma’s told all of us exactly how scared she is after that experience. Considering what I’ve seen I think I have a right to protect her.”
“If she did decide she liked me the first thing you’d do is step in and forbid her to talk to me again. All you’ve got going is the fact that she’s still too timid to stand up for herself. What are you going to do when she’s ready to do that?”
“If she decided she honestly liked you I’d let her make her own choice after making sure that you both understood what was going on. You’re not going to get this yet, but she’s nothing like the girls you used to date.”
“That’s what I like about her.” Jesse sighed as he opened the door to Galena’s room.
“Give her sometime to make sure what she feels is the real thing, and me sometime to decide if I can trust you with her.” Brennan stood by Galena’s bed and tucked on of the girl’s dark brown curls behind his ear. “I’ve seen it coming since you two met.”
Jesse put his pillow and blankets on the cot and took a deep breath. “Don’t worry about deciding if you can trust me or not. I cant trust myself in another relationship. She’ll get over her little crush eventually.”
“And what are you going to do if she doesn’t?”
“Sanctuary is a big place.”
Brennan walked to the door to leave, but turned around at the last minute. “If you hurt her by ignoring her it will be just as bad as if you hurt her any other way.”
Jesse watched as Brennan left, letting the weight of the other man’s words hit him. Finally he stepped out to the bed to watch Galena sleep for a minute. Leaning in slowly he pressed a kiss to the girl’s temple and gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.
For a minute he felt a longing to slip in to the bed next to the girl, just to find out how it would be to hold her in his arms. Realizing that even the most innocent of thoughts was making his body heat up he turned, laid down on the cot, and wished for morning to come quickly.
The next morning.
Galena’s eyes slowly opened and then quickly slammed shut as she began to notice the pounding of her head. Laying still she tried to remember if there was any aspirin in her bedside table. Just as she worked up the will to move her arm to reach the drawer she felt some one sit down on the bed next to her.
“Tell me that you can either shoot me or give me something for this headache.” she said with out opening her eyes.
“No one in Sanctuary owns a gun so you’ll have to take something for your headache.”
Recognizing Jesse’s voice Galena opened her eyes and smiled up at him. “Sorry I ruined your fun last night. I guess I’m not quite up to drinking like that.” she took the aspirin and glass of water Jesse offered her, swallowed the pills and a big gulp of the water, and then sat up slightly.
“You didn’t ruin anything. We had a great time last night, and today you are going to rest.”
“Why don’t you stay with me? You really don’t look that great yourself?”
“I slept on a cot, and I guess I didn’t sleep too well.” Jesse laughed, but quickly stopped when he saw Galena wince. “Stay here and I’ll bring you something for breakfast.”
“Thanks for staying with me last night.”
“It was my fault you got drunk. Next time I’m cutting you off at one drink.” Jesse pushed Galena’s hair away from her face and let the back of his hand brush against her cheek.
“Well most men would have taken advantage of the situation and had a little fun.”
“That’s not something I could do to a friend. Actually I wouldn’t do it to any woman, but especially not a friend.”
Galena’s smile disappeared when he referred to her as a friend. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and laid back down. “I’m just going to sleep until the meds and my powers take out this headache. don’t worry about getting me breakfast.”
“You’ve really got to eat something. Just relax while I get you at least some cereal.”
“Alright, I’ll be good and eat, but only if you eat with me.”
“It’s a deal. I’ll be back in just a minute.” Jesse got up and left the room, heading to the kitchen to get their breakfast ready.
Galena smiled softly as she managed to force herself to sit up. Her powers had begun to kick in and were starting to alleviate some of the pressure on her head. After a moment of letting her body adapt to sitting she slipped out of the bed and neatly made it. Just as she smoothed out the last wrinkle Jesse came in with two cups of coffee and two bowls of instant cream of wheat on a tray.
“Creamer and three sugars, right?” he asked as he set the tray down.
“Yeah, you do a really great job of remaking those things.” Galena walked over to him and softly kissed his cheek. “I hope you don’t mind eating in the floor. I don’t want to get anything on my bed spread.”
“The floor is fine. Go ahead and set down and I’ll serve you.”
Galena gave him a bright smile as she sat down in the floor. “So who suggested you stay with me last night?”
“Shal did. Your cousin was against it but he caved in pretty quickly.” Jesse handed Galena a cup of coffee and a bowl of cream of wheat.
“Brennan agreed?”
“He agreed quicker than I did. I wasn’t sure that you’d want me to stay in here.” Jesse sat down with his own breakfast.
“I would have been fine. I mean, I was fine with it today and I’d be fine with it another time. You could even sleep on the bed if you want to, it’s big enough for both of us.”
“It would be the last time I’d ever got to see you. I think the only reason Brennan gave in last nigh was the conference he, Shal, and Emma went to today.”
“I guess we’d better not push the issue by watching D’s Creek today.”
“We don’t have to watch it any day unless you want to. You could spend the day in the lab with Adam.”
“I’m not up to another lecture on how I could go to college if I wanted to.” Galena pushed her hair back from her face. “I’m happy with how my life is right now. The last thing I want to is to have to go out there and give the world another chance to point out how different I am.”
“I wont be annoying and go on about the ‘world of opportunities out there’ since you are happy with your life. Why don’t we go out for a driving lesson today?”
“That sounds as great of a plan as anything. We could pack lunch and go down to the beach. Maybe take some time out in the sun for me to darken my skin a little more.”
“Sounds fun. I’ll get Adam’s permission and then we can make some more definite plans.”
“This will be really great.” Galena smiled brightly but the smile quickly faded. “Oh wait! I forgot that I don’t own any swim suits. In addition to missing the driving lessons I also missed swimming lessons.”
“we can hit the mall and let you pick up a couple of suits, I’ll even pay for them. Then I’ll teach you to swim when we get to the beach.”
“Are you sure you’re up to all of this today.”
“Just let me get Adam’s permission to do this then I’ll get the car ready and we can be on out way.”
An hour later.
“Alright tell me what you think of this one.” Galena said as she opened the door to the small dressing room.
Jesse carefully looked the girl over, letting the image of her tan skin contrasting the icy blue of the string bikini and the way her full breasts filled out the top imprint in his mind. “You look amazing.”
“So do you think I should go with this one?”
“I guess it depends on what you want from the image.” Jesse forced himself not to look down from the girl’s eyes. “That one Is a lot sexier than the others were.”
Galena turned to look in the mirror again, smiling brightly at how the suit emphasized her figure. “This one and the pink one with the big white bows and ruffles.”
“Why don’t you choose matching sarongs and sandals for them too?” Jesse took the suits that the girl had rejected and began to hang them back up on the racks.
“These skimpy suits are already costing you enough. I don’t want to be any trouble.”
“You choose them or I will.”
Galena impulsively walked over to him and lightly brushed her lips against his. “You are the greatest.”
Jesse blushed as the girl disappeared into the changing room. A couple of minutes later the girl stepped out wearing her clothes with the bikini in her hands.
“Choose the other stuff and we’ll be ready to go.” Jesse instructed as he took the swim suit from the girl.
“After we finish here we should go get a picnic lunch.” Galena picked up a white sarong and walked over to the sandals.
“I called a head to this bakery I know that does picnic baskets. It’s on the way to the beach so we wont have to make any detours.”
“Sounds perfect.” Galena picked up a pair of cork sandals with white straps and slipped her hand in Jesse’s. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Alright, as soon as I pay we can leave.” Jesse and Galena started to walk to the cash register. All of a sudden Jesse froze.
“What’s wrong?” Galena’s voice was full of confusion and concern.
“The girl that just walked in. Juliet set up on a blind date once, and, well, she wasn’t exactly balanced. The girl is convinced that I’m in love with her.”
“She probably wont’ cause a scene in front of all these people. She might not even see you.” Galena reasoned.
“If she does see me pretend to be my girlfriend. I need to make it clear that there isn’t a chance of me going out with her again.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that she thinks I’m your girlfriend.” Galena smiled brightly. Looking over at the other woman for a second she noticed that this other girl had indeed spotted Jesse and was on the way over to them. Taking a deep breath she turned, put her hands on his face and harshly pressed her lips against his.
Jesse’s eyes widened for a second, but he quickly closed them and wrapped his arms around Galena.
After a few seconds Galena stepped back, her cheeks deeply flushed. “She saw you.”
“I figured.” Jesse pulled the girl close to him and put an arm around her waist. “We’ll keep up the act until I’m sure she’s going to leave us alone.”
“Alright.” Galena smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. ‘If he’s like this when he’s only pretending I’d love to know how he’d be if we were really dating.’
Jesse watched the other woman turn and head to the other side of the store. He felt a twinge of guilt for having essentially lied, but it was dulled greatly by the feeling of Galena relaxing in his arms.
Two hours later.
Galena closed her eyes as a wave came rolling towards her. The salty water hit her just above her waist and sent a spray of water almost up to her face. Laughing, she tossed her head back and stretched her arms out to embrace the sky.
Jesse watched her from a distance and snapped a few pictures of her with the disposable camera they had bought at the mall. He tucked the camera into their beach bag and waded out to where the girl was. “So you like the ocean?”
“It is so pretty!” Galena’s eyes were wide with excitement. “Will you walk out a little deeper with me?”
“Why don’t we go back to our towels and eat now. We can play in the water some more in a while.”
“Alright.” Galena smiled and then turned to head back to dry land while Jesse followed behind her.
As they got back to the shore line Galena turned to look back at the water and tripped, accidentally knocking Jesse down too. Galena felt her cheeks redden as she realized how badly she had tripped and the blush darkened when she realized that Jesse had practically fallen on top of her.
For a moment neither of them moved, but then Galena reached up and stroked the side of his face with her hand. Jesse closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips to Galena’s, taking careful time before deepening the kiss. Galena felt her body temperature rise as she kissed him back, and quickly became grateful for the water that was just slightly lapping around them. After a few moments Jesse broke the kiss, carefully got up, and helped Galena up. Since neither of them knew exactly what to say they kept silent on the way back to their towels.
“Jess,” Galena whispered, “can you tell me that you felt something just then?”
Jesse took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to be forced to tell the girl. “What I felt doesn’t matter. I’ve basically sworn off dating since Juliet died. Besides, Brennan would kill me if I got involved with you.”
Galena silently nodded and tried to blink back the tears that were forming in her eyes. “I-I wouldn’t-want-want that.”
Jesse turned around and pulled the girl close. “Would it make you feel better if we just pretended that we could be together today?”
Galena nodded slightly and put her arms around him, pressing her body tight against his. “We’ll pretend while we’re alone today.” she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
“You just can tell Brennan or Adam about it, but I’ll do what I can for today.”
“Alright.” Galena stepped back just slightly. “We’ll have today and just pretend like it never happened.”
The rest of the day they played in the water, cuddled on their towels, and shared a few gentle kisses. On the way back to Sanctuary Galena held Jesse’s hand until she fell asleep. When they pulled into the garage Jesse got out of the car, picked Galena up, and carried her into her room where he put her in bed.
Brennan stepped in just as Jesse finished tucking Galena in. “You two have a nice day at the beach?”
“It wasn’t too bad. She drove, did fairly well, then I gave her a swimming lesson.”
“How did that go?”
“Pretty well.” Jesse smiled at the memory and then turned around to face Brennan. “She’s a great girl.”
“She’s that. Maybe next time we’ll all go down to the beach together.” Brennan stepped over and pressed a loving kiss to the girl’s forehead. Looking down at the gentle way Jesse had tucked the blankets around the girl he knew that he had to make a choice. “You’ve got six weeks to impress the hell out of me. If she’s doing alright with you I’ll let you have her.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’ve resolved myself to the fact that I could never have her.”
“No, I do have to do this. She loves you, and I’m a horrible person if I don’t let her do what would make her happy. It’s all up to you now.” |
_________________
Jesse: "You know you can tell a lot about a person's romantic style by the way they play games."
bohemianbabe: "Would love to play a few 'games'."
la vie boheme!
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/737689 |
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| bohemianbabe |
| Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:48 am |
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Fighter
Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 439
Location: Southern USA Baby!
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Chapter 4
Four weeks later.
Galena sat on the sofa curled up in Jesse's arms as they watched Dawson's Creek. The girl had her head close against his shoulder and he had his arm wrapped tight around her waist.
Galena tilted her head back so she could look up at Jesse and smiled brightly. For the last few weeks she had found Brennan being a lot more relaxed about her time with Jesse. The time with the man she had previously wished for was now a part of her daily life, but she still held each second precious.
Jesse looked down at her and gently pressed a kiss to her nose. Although he was still extremely guarded in his interactions with the girl, he had started to allow himself to enjoy her gentle innocence. Holding her in his arms as they watched their show, he had truly began to appreciate the show. Gently he took her hand and lightly rubbed her palm with his fingertips.
Brennan stepped in just as the last few seconds of the show ended. He stood near the door way, watching the two curled up together. As much as he did not want to admit it, he knew that in two weeks he would have to give his blessing for Jesse to start a relationship with Galena. The small girl had grown in confidence at an amazingly rapid pace since she had been allowed to spend more time with Jesse.
The changes he had seen in his best friend also surprised Brennan. The young blonde was no longer tied up with the computer, but now found teaching Galena to drive or fly the Helix. On clubbing nights Jesse stayed on the dance floor with Galena until the night's end, and almost never picked up a single drink.
He hated the fact that he had counted on Jesse messing up. He knew that the girl was too important to Jesse for the molecular to make a mistake. He was not sure what upset him more; the fact that Jesse had not made any mistakes or the honest truth that he had hoped for Jesse to mess up.
"Adam wants to see you in the lab, Gal." Brennan said as he walked over to the sofa and sat down.
"Alright." Galena turned to face Jesse. "I'll meet you in the dojo so you can help me with that training program I'm working on."
Jesse softly kissed her forehead and brushed back one of the girl's loose curls. "See you then."
Both men sat in silence for a moment as they watched the girl leave the room.
"You've got two more weeks left before I make my decision." Brennan sighed.
"Do I get any indication of how I'm doing so far?"
"Unless you seriously mess up in the next two weeks she's yours."
"She'd hate us talking like one of us owned her."
"Gal's a tough girl. I just don't want to see her get hurt, I've lost enough people over the years and I'm not willing to let anything happen to her."
"I know that it's not easy for you to let go of her." Jesse turned off the television. "I promise that I wont do anything to hurt her."
"If you will make me a promise I'll let you have her now."
"What kind of promise?"
"Don't ask her for anything physical. Let her do what she feels comfortable with but nothing more."
"I'd never ask anything of her." Jesse shook his head. "Are you and I ever going to get past the Juliet thing?"
"I don't know, Jess. I still think that she would be here if it wasn't for the fight you two had, and that fight would have never taken place if you hadn't agreed to sleep with her."
"It wasn't about me sleeping with her, it was about me asking her not to tell Ashleigh."
"Either way it resulted in her leaving and getting killed." Brennan shook his head and took a breath. "It doesn't matter right now. You can ask her out whenever you want."
"I'll make sure that you don't regret this." Jesse got up. "I'm going to meet her in the dojo."
"Take her somewhere nice for the first date."
"I've got a place that I could take her." Jesse walked out of the room. When he got to the dojo he picked Galena up and spun her around. "How would you like to go out to dinner?"
"Brennan would kill us." Galena laughed. "I wish we could."
Jesse pulled her to him and kissed her. "I've got his permission to take you out."
Galena's eyes lit up and she kissed him again. "Then I want to go out with you. When do you want to go?"
"We've got a night off day after tomorrow if you want to go then." He cupped her chin with his hand and kissed her forehead. "I'm thinking about this Italian place I know, Bella Noche, it's formal but I think you would like it."
"I could wear that dress I wore to the dinner in honor of Adam's friend last week." she laid her head down on his shoulder and smiled. "I think that the day after tomorrow sounds perfect."
"I'll make the reservation for seven and we'll leave around six-thirty. We can come back and watch a movie or talk after we eat."
"Thank you, Jess." Galena put her arms around him and hugged him. "It means a whole lot to me that you managed to convince Brennan to let us be together."
"I love you, Gal." he gently stroked her back. "I'll do what ever I have to so I can have you."
She cuddled into him and closed her eyes. "I love you too, Jesse."
From the hall Adam stood watching the two. He smiled slightly, knowing that the first steps to the young couples relationship had been taken. It was a relief after such a long wait.
"It's not nice to spy." Emma said quietly as she walked over to Adam.
"I've been watching them for as long as she's been here. This is the first time one of them has made a move."
"Brennan never wanted Jesse to have the opportunity to make any advance towards her. He's still scared that she's going to wind up getting hurt."
"She's delicate enough, but I think that Jesse will be good for her." he sighed. "He managed to save Juliet from her past, and now he is saving Galena. He gives her security and she's brought back the man he was before Juliet died."
"Just don't start planning for their wedding. I don't think Brennan will be willing to let her go if the relationship becomes serious."
"Hopefully by that time Galena will feel like she can make her own decisions."
That evening.
Galena walked into garage where Brennan was changing the oil in his car. She sat down quietly beside the car.
"What's going on, Gal?" Brennan asked as he slid out from under the car.
Galena smiled and started twisting one of her curls around her finger. "Jesse asked me to go out." she blushed. "He wants to take me to Bella Noche."
"I did tell him to take you some place nice." Brennan shook his head. "Do you want to go with him?"
"Of course I do." Galena looked down at her shoes. "I love him."
"Don't say that yet, Galena. You haven't even gone on a date with him yet."
"I cant change it, Brennan. I really do love him." She felt tears begin to form in her eyes and she fell into Brennan's arms. "He doesn't love me does he? He was lying when he told me that he did wasn't he?"
Brennan pulled her tight into his arms. "I'm pretty sure he does love you, especially if he told you that he did. He wouldn't have gone through all that he has to get you if he didn't. No man would go through what he has to get you if they didn't love you. Just be careful with him, he's still not completely over Juliet. If you go in there and make him think that you are already planning the wedding he'll break it off."
Galena pulled back from him and wiped off her tears. "I'd better go. Emma and I are going to work on what I should do with my hair and make up."
"Don't let him talk you into anything." Brennan cautioned. "I don't think he will, but I'd rather have said something."
Galena stood up. "I'll be alright. I told you I was going to wait until I knew for sure I'd found the right one."
"I know what you said, but I know the affect he has on you."
"I'm a big girl, Bren. I can tell him no, and I can hurt him pretty badly if he doesn't listen."
"I guess you can, kiddo." Brennan smiled and leaned back against the car as he watched her walk out of the room.
"You're letting him take her out?" Shalimar asked as she stepped out of the shadows.
"I don't really have much choice. She's in love and my guess would be that he feels the same. It's not going to be easy, but I guess I have to do it."
Shalimar sat down in his lap and put an arm around his neck. "He wont let anything happen to her. He'd kill himself first. I'm pretty sure that we'll be planning a wedding in a few more months."
"She'll make a beautiful bride. Do you really think that they are going to go that far?"
"The way they talk about each other makes me pretty sure, and she's told me a few things in confidence that make me pretty sure."
"He hasn't slept with her has he?"
"No." Shalimar laughed. "You can't assume the worst about him when it comes to her. I think that he'd rather wait till their wedding night. She's the one to worry about."
"The girl has changed over the last few weeks. Do you think they can handle it?"
"They've been acting like a couple of over a month now, ever since that day they went to the beach. They just try to make sure that you don't see them."
"I've only seen them watch that teenage soap opera and him kiss her on the forehead and maybe once or twice he's stolen a quick kiss from her, but that's it. I'd hardly consider them to be acting like a couple."
"While you were gone on that weekend trip it was different. We did a girls night and Jess decided to invade the party, just like he did in the old days. She curled up into his arms and stayed there the whole time. When we all went to sleep they were spooning. She couldn't stop kissing him that weekend either." Shalimar smiled as she thought back. "He stopped it every time she tried to heat it up. He'd let her kiss him, but if she tried to turn it into a make out session he stopped it."
"I don't know which is harder to believe. Her trying to lock him into a make out session or him putting a stop to it. And why didn't Adam tell me about this? He was supposed to be watching them for me that weekend."
"He's been waiting for them to hook up ever since she got here. Do you really think that Adam is going to let you interfere in something that he thinks will work out for the best? Besides, they are in love and there is nothing that any of us can do about it." Shalimar smiled and gently kissed him. "You remember what that is like don't you?"
"It's just different when it comes to Gal. I've always been the one protecting her and I'm not sure that I'm ready to give that up."
"Jesse is the best guy to pick up that responsibility. As long as they are together you wont have to worry about her. Lets go get a shower before bed." she got up and took Brennan's hand to pull him up.
Two days later.
Galena sat in front of her computer trying to finish the assignments that Adam had given her. He excitement over the idea of going out with Jesse that night made it impossible to concentrate for more than a couple of minutes at a time. In two hours she had only completed what would have normally been thirty minutes of work, and she still had a normal hour's worth to go.
Emma walked into the room and stood watching the girl for a minute before she spoke. "Do you want me to finish that up for you so you can go ahead and get ready for your date tonight?"
"That would be so great!" Galena got out of her chair and hugged Emma. "I'm way too nervous to work."
"You'll be alright. You and Jesse have been talking for so long that this should be no trouble for either of you. The only problem that I can imagine is your cousin waiting up for you. It would ruin any 'after date' plans that you two have make if that were to happen."
"It's not an issue. Shal is going to have him distracted so Jess and I can have some extra time together."
"Why don't you run on and get ready? You don't want to be late for your first date with him do you?"
"That would be horrible! Thank you!" she quickly left the computer lab and headed to her room.
Looking over at the clock Galena tried to figure exactly how long it would take her to get ready. She finally decided that she could spare a few minutes. She left her room and crossed the hall to Jesse's room. Adam had mandated that the younger man had to go through some of his back logged computer discs, a task that would easily become tedious.
She stepped into the room and walked over to stand by Jesse. "Having any fun?"
"Not really." Jesse pushed his chair back and reached to take the girl's wrist. "You want to stay and distract me for a minute?"
"Sounds like fun." she sat down on his lap and put one arm around him. "Are you ready for tonight?"
"If I can get this done in time I will be."
She put her hand on his face and gently kissed him. "You've got to get things finished then, Brennan will kill you if you stand me up on our first date."
"Why don't you stay for a while longer. You can sit in my lap while I finish this up, be a living reminder of why I have to get this done."
"I guess that I can spare a few minutes to help you get this finished." She laid her head on his shoulder as he slid slightly closer to the desk. "How do you want me to do my hair?"
"Wear it loose like you are now. I like the look, always have."
"If that is what you want it is what you will get." Her eyes slipped closed.
"You alright, baby?"
"I'm just tired. I haven't slept well in the last couple of nights."
Jesse put down the box of computer discs he was about to go through and turned his attention completely to the girl. "Are you too nervous or too excited?"
"Both I guess. I'm really excited about going on a date with you, but I guess I'm a little nervous about what will happen."
"Let's talk for a while." Jesse put his free arm under her legs and stood up. He carried her over to the bed and laid her down before laying down himself. He put one arm under her head and one around her waist as she cuddled close to him. "What's bothering you about tonight?"
"I guess all the horror stories my friends told me about some of their dates. I know you are nothing like those guys, but you are a guy."
Jesse gently pressed a kiss to her forehead and held her close. "Galena, don't worry about that. It's our first date and I'm not expecting anything from you. We'll wait a while before we start talking about sex, and we are going to talk before we do anything."
"I just don't want any part of tonight to disappoint you."
"Do you really mean it when you say that you love me?"
"Yes. I wouldn't say it if I didn't."
"Then there is nothing that you can do to disappoint me. Now settle down and take a short nap, I'll stay with you."
"You have your work." Galena whispered as her eyes fluttered close. "I don't want you in trouble."
"I can give you half an hour. I love you, Gal."
"I love you too." Galena whispered as she fell asleep.
Jesse glanced over at the clock so he could check the time and then stared at the woman lying in his arms. He could not count the times he had dreamed about waking up with her with him, and this was only the second time that he had gotten the pleasure. The weekend when Brennan had been gone was enough to make him crazy. It had been nearly impossible for him to stop the girl from taking their kissing to something else. He was still convinced that if he had not have stopped her when he did they would have some how wound up going all the way, a place he did not want to go with her yet.
She was his baby, and the thought of taking advantage of her innocent eagerness to please him was not something that he could bear. It was easy for him to understand why Brennan worried that something wou | | |