Better Love

Chapter Nine

Her cell phone rang, shattering the tense silence that permeated the main floor of Jessa's apartment. Felix looked up quickly, still not used to the girl's phone going off at random hours of the day whenever Emma or Charming or Regina or Gold or whoever else needed something. When he saw Jessa had glanced at him however, he glared at her quickly before looking down.

He held a book in his hands, staring at it intensely like he was absorbing the whole story. Jessa could tell he couldn't read it, however. She was actually pretty sure he couldn't read at all. After all, he was holding the book upside down. Still, it was his little way of pretending to keep busy while keeping watch on her. His glances over to her were always suspicious and hawklike. Gone were the days where they were tentative almost-friends. Now, since the events of a few days before, he had marked her as his enemy. Which was honestly a fair thing to think. He wasn't allowed to see the other lost boys and since he was now being uncooperative, he was also no longer allowed to accompany her outside of the appartment. She had effectively gone from his guide to his jailor.

Therefore he was now keeping watch on her, as if she would eventually have a phonecall discussing taking the other lost boys to an incineration chamber or something equally ridiculous. She mentally scoffed at the boy's paranoia. She wished he would just hide in his room like any other moody teenager. No, instead he sat on her couch and pretended to read.

At some point during the day before he had found the remote control, and Jessa had just shrugged to herself when he examined it curiosly. Maybe he'll get distracted by it and stop caring so much about her, she thought. That hope had quickly faded as he accidently turned it on and the tv made a starting noise, prompting the boy to throw the remote at the screen in fear. The result was a shattered hole in the very expensive and now broken tv.

If anyone else had done that, the girl would have been pissed. But it was clear that it had been a paranoid accident, and to be honest, Jessa kind of deserved it for keeping him cooped up and away from the other lost boys. If someone had kept her trapped like that, unable to see Henry, she'd be breaking a lot more than a tv.

So she just sighed and mentally added a new tv to her shopping list. Jessa figured she wouldn't have to do it just yet, however. She had Netflix on her laptop, she was fine for the moment. Plus she didn't want the lost boy breaking another television.

Another thing that he had a tendancy to do was train in the middle of her sitting room (which worried her a lot less now that there was no longer a tv to break). Push ups, moves with his knives, whatever else. Honestly, Jessa was pretty sure it was an attempt at intimidating on his end, but - being half fairy and very magical - she wasn't easily intimidated by physical feats.

It was very distracting, however, which she wasn't a fan of. Especially when he would use his shirt to wipe the light sheen of sweat of his forehead, revealing hints of a slim yet muscular body. Those images took a while for her to get out of her head.

Not that she was interested in Felix however. If it was any other attractive guy around her age in that situation, she'd be thinking of them instead, she told herself. It wasn't anything to do with Felix in particular. It was probably just the fact that she wasn't used to spending time around boys her age, and now there was one living with her in her apartment.

She answered her phone in her usual professional voice. "Hello, this is Jessamine, assistant to the mayor, how may I help you?" It was cheery and (at least in her mind) as fake as it could come, but it helped her come across as not-a-villain. She tried to ignore Felix glancing between her and the upside down book

"Hello," a somewhat familiar voice came through the device. "I don't know if you remember me, it's Jefferson. We met a few days ago."

Jessa smiled for the first time all day when she realized who the caller was. "Jefferson, hi! Yes, I remember you. What can I do for you? How's Pai- Grace?"

"She's doing good." She could almost hear his tone brighten up at the mention of his daughter, something that Jessa found unbelieveably sweet. "She's actually what I'm calling you about. I need to speak to Emma and everyone about something, and I was wondering if you could look after her while I'm gone? You used to be her babysitter, right?"

"Yes, I-"

"Obviously, if you're busy, don't worry about it. You're just the first person I've thought to ask."

Jessa grinned. "Jefferson, don't worry, I'd love to. When do you need me?"

"As soon as possible, if that works."

"I'll leave right away." She hung up, excited to see the sweet little girl again.

She looked over at Felix, who was once again pretending not to care about what she was doing. She rolled her eyes, trying not to take it personally. "I'm going out for a bit, you know the drill." Was all she said before grabbing her bag and heading out. They had just had dinner, so it wasn't like he needed anything from her. "The Drill" being if you run away when I'm gone, Charming will put you back in a cell.

Jessa hated being such a dictator, and she had texted Emma multiple times asking her to reconsider her request (to which the older woman wouldn't budge). She just tried to tell herself that she wouldn't have to keep depriving Felix of any chances to adjust to real life and see his friends for long.

None of this was going to help the boy, and if she had to keep walking on eggshells around him and having him be such a distraction to her normally clear and focused mind, she was pretty sure she would explode.

Notes: Because I love you all (and as an apology for taking so long to publish chapter 8) here is chapter 9 a day early :)
Meant for this and the next one to be one chapter, but this one got so long that it's now its own chapter. So I'll give you guys a somewhat shorter chapter 10 in the morning (spoiler: Jessa and Jefferson have a chat and Jessa makes a breakthough with her and Felix's relationship) and hopefully also chapter 11 in the evening if I'm not busy (no promises though)