Hunter's Rose (First Draft)

Chapter Seven

"Are you sure this is safe?" I questioned warily, watching as Jackson hooked dynamite to a junked car.

We were out in the middle of a field. Once we had gotten outside Jackson and Ace led me to a large garage that was located off to the side of the house. I was shocked when we stepped inside; 5 motorcycles, 3 trucks, 2 dirt bikes, and 2 side-by-sides, and a suv. Jackson basically ran to one of the dirtbikes as Ace led me to one of the side by sides. Once I was buckled we headed out, driving past the garden in the backyard and onto a trail going through the woods.

"That, shortcake, depends on your definition of safe." Ace teased as he leaned against my side of the side-by-side. He refused to let me out in case we had to make a quick get away.

"I'm not that short." I stated, glaring at him as his laughter boomed through the field. 

"You're totally that short sweetheart." Jackson yelled, his voice carrying over to us. 

"Whatever." I huffed. Ace chuckled. 

"It's a good thing, shortcake. Now we won't hurt our backs when we need something from the bottom shelf." I sent him a menacing glare, rolling my eyes as his and Jackson's laughter boomed again.

I heard pounding feet and glanced over to see Jackson booking it towards us with an excited grin on his face. 

"This is gonna be awesome." He whispered as he rubbed his hands together. We all stared at the car in the field. A minute passed, nothing happened. 

"Well that was anticlimactic." Ace chuckled at Jackson's slight pout. 

"Dammit! I paid good money for those too." Jackson grumbled as he began walking back towards the car.

He had made it about halfway the car exploded. Flames flew upwards as dust and debris shot around from all sides. Jackson's body flew backwards, landing on his back in the tall grass. Everything was silent, all we could hear was the crackling of the fire. 

"Shit!" Ace's voice barely registered as I stared at the area Jackson's body fell, my heart pounded in my chest as my hands moved to unbuckle my seat belt.

"That was....fucking awesome!" Jackson's voice shouted as his body jumped up, his arms flying into the air. I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding. 

"Did you guys see that?!" He exclaimed, turning to see if we shared his enthusiasm. Laughter rolled off of my lips before I could stop it, first in relief and then in amusement. Ace's booming laugh sounded through the field as he leaned over to grab his stomach, his whole body shaking. I quickly averted my eyes as Jackson made his way to us, desperately trying to rein in my laughter. 

"Man, what a rush! That was totally worth coming out here, huh sweetheart?" Jackson said with confidence. I nodded my head, keeping my gaze down as I tried to ignore Ace's continued laugh. "Dude, I know it was great but control yourself." Jackson said towards Ace whose laughter doubled, I bit my lip to try and hold in the giggle that wanted to escape.

"You alright sweetheart? It didn't scare you, did it?" Jackson asked with worry, I quickly shook my head. 

"Dude." Ace sputtered out through his laughter. "You should see your face!" I finally glanced up to see Ace still doubled over as he pointed as Jackson, who stared at him in confusion.

When he glanced my way, I lost the fight. My hand covered my mouth as laughter escaped my lips, Jackson's face narrowed before he leaned down to look in the side-by-sides mirror.

"Aw, shit." He muttered, making our laughter double. My hand grabbed my side as my ribs throbbed. Jackson's face was mostly black, small streaks of skin showing through. The front of his hair had singed, small pieces of hair sticking up in all directions. The part that got me the most, was the hair missing from the center of his left eyebrow. 

"Alright, alright, it's not that funny." He pouted, making our laughter slowly die down. I wiped at the tears that had fallen as I tried to contain my giggles. 

"I'm definitely glad I came." Ace chuckled before he climbed into the driver side. Jackson sent him a glare as he walked back to the dirt bike. 

We got back to the garage, parking the vehicles before heading towards the house. Everytime my gaze found Jackson I had to cover my mouth as another round of giggles poured out, causing him to send me a mock glare. 

"Come on, giggles, it's not that bad is it?" He asked with a playful pout. I tried to shake my head, but the laughter wouldn't stop. I took a deep breath, trying to contain myself.

"No, no, you look fine. I doubt anyone will even notice." I tried to convince him, ignoring Ace's snort. His eyes narrowed as I bit my lip to stop another round when my eyes glanced at his eyebrow. I shot him a reassuring smile, looking away when I felt my lip quiver.

"Don't lie to him." Ace chuckled as he opened the backdoor. Jackson sent him a glare.

"Giggles wouldn't lie to me." Jackson argued back as we walked inside. "Would ya, sweetheart?" I quickly shook my head, glancing down to hide the smile on my face.

"Ha! See, I told ya!" He said to Ace, who shook his head as he glanced at me in amusement. 

"What the hell happened to your face!" Arthur exclaimed as laughter rolled through the room. Jackson turned to me with an accusing glare. 

"Giggles! You told me no one would notice!" He whined, I sent him a guilty smile before covering it as a small giggle escaped my lips again.

"I'm so sorry." I tried to make out through my giggles. "I didn't think they would." I tried, laughing harder when he raised his eyebrows in disbelief. 

"You're a sucky liar, darlin." Hunter teased as he came up, placing a hand on the small of my back. I tried to control my laughter as he led me to one of the couches. 

"So, what happened exactly?" Arthur asked again. Jackson told the story of what happened in the field, meanwhile Ace left to go make dinner for everyone.

"Then princess giggles over here was all.....it's not that bad, you look fine, no one will notice." Jackson's voice was high pitched as he sent me a mock glare. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I don't sound like that." My voice cracked, making me clear my throat and slightly wincing at the small sting. Hunter looked at me in concern but I waved him off. 

"And I don't look fine." Jackson teased. I stuck my tongue out at him, laughing when he made an offended face. "I thought we had something." His face fell into a fake pout, the sides of his lips fighting to pull up.

"We both had eyebrows until you decided to burn half of yours off, Pyro." I teased, my voice cracking again. The room filled with laughter as Jackson's face fell into shock.

"How dare you!" He gasped as he brought his hand up to his chest, making me roll my eyes with a small giggle.

"Alright darlin, I think that's enough picking on Jackson." Hunter said with a chuckle, his hand coming up to smooth my hair back. "You need to rest your voice and he needs to go clean himself up. How about a nap before dinner?" I gave him a small nod, feeling another sting in my throat as I swallowed. I was quite exhausted and my body was beginning to ache a little. 

"I really don't think it's that bad." I said to Jackson, sending him a small smile. He gave me a soft smile.

"I know, giggles, this ain't my first rodeo with backfire from dynamite." He said with a wink and a lopsided grin. "I just enjoyed making you laugh." 

I shook my head with a small laugh, grabbing Hunter's outstretched hand and standing up. I winced slightly at the pain in my knee, but began heading towards the hallway. I stopped and turned around, giving Hunter's confused face a small smile before I glanced around him.

"Hey Pyro?" I said softly. The man in question gave me a bright smile before tilting his head in question. "Thank you, for today. It was the most fun I've had in awhile." I sent him a grateful smile. His smile turned soft as he stared at me. 

"No sweetheart, thank you." He stated softly. "Anytime you wanna blow something up, you just let me know giggles." He teased. I sent him another soft smile, before turning and heading out of the room with Hunter.