Not The Same Girl

Chapter 12

We sat on the couch talking for the rest of the night about anything and everything. And I figured we must have fallen asleep because the sound of voices is the first thing, I hear the next morning. "Stop taking pictures you dumbass, she is going to kill you." That's Keith I think. "Aw but look at them they look so cute." Charlie definitely Charlie. "Leave them will you, when I went to the bathroom at like 4am this morning they were still up talking. So they are probably tired." Brandon my favourite from now on. "Come on, let's go get breakfast at that little deli near the pier then well come back and wake them up." Keith just bumped Brandon from that favourite position, no questions asked. When I heard the front door close, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding before a voice next to me startled me. "I think I just fell in love with Keith." Jake mumbles into my shoulder causing me to giggle. Somehow through the night we moved down the couch so we are now laying one the length of the couch with Jake on his back and me half way on his chest, my face tucked into the crook if his neck and his arms wrapped around my waist. When I move to get up, he wraps his arms tighter around me pulling me completely onto his chest before grinning at me. "Good morning." Laughing softly, I look down on him resting my hands on either side of his face. "Good morning to you too." I say with a small smile on my face. He lifted his head and placed a soft kiss on my lips before laying back down. "It is now." He states with a small smile making me giggle. "Yes, it is. Do you think you are going to release me any time soon?" I ask raising an eyebrow at him when he just grins in return I start to laugh. "Let me go. I need the little girls room." I say while laughing as he begins to tickle me. "No, Jake stop please." I manage to get out between my laughs when he finally stops, I juts rest my head on his chest waiting for my breathing to return to normal. "Would you like a cup of coffee?" He asks as he sits up adjusting me so that I am straddling his lap. "No thank you, I think I'll go take a quick shower before the guys get back." I say and he nods before we both stand up. As I turn to walk towards the staircase, he grabs my hand and spins me around to face him. When I stumble into his chest, he is looking at me with the most adorable grin on his face, causing me to blush again. He simply laughs before leaning down and placing a kiss on my boiling red cheek. He then spins me around again, so I am facing the stairs and lets go of my hand as he walks into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

When I get out of the shower, I still havent managed to wipe the grin off my face. I have never felt this absolute giddiness around a guy ever before, not even with Johnathan. After getting dressed I stare at my reflection in the mirror while brushing my hair. My eyes have a little sparkle in them and I am guessing that thanks to the same reason why I couldn't wipe this smile off my face. The bruising on my face still looks terrible, but a little bit of the swelling has gone down and luckily my forehead is back to its original colour. I am wearing a pale pink one piece underneath a small white sundress which is tight around the bust but opens at the waist allowing me to move freely along with my white flip flops. After spraying a little bit of perfume, I make my way down the stairs towards the kitchen where I can hear the other boys talking. "Morning Ray." Keith is the first one to spot me causing the other three boys to turn and face me. Charlie lets out a little wolf whistle before rushing over to give me a bear hug and screaming good morning in my ear. Brandon just smiles brightly with his mouth full of food which causes me to wrinkle my nose in disgust as Keith smacks a napkin over his mouth saying; "Nobody wants to see that." Causing a giggle to bubble from my mouth. "You look lovely, Sunshine." Jake says causing me to turn bright red. "Oh my god, look how fucking red you are!" Charlie exclaims before he burst out laughing leaning back on his chair, so the front legs lift off the ground. Keith just shrugs before tilting the chair all the way back causing Charlie to fall flat on his back with a loud thud. The rest of us stop for a moment and just watch Keith as he continues to eat his breakfast, before Brandon and I fall into a laughing fit. Jake just grins before holding his hand out towards me. When I place my hand in his he pulls me towards him and grabs a plate filled with fruit before placing it in front of me and sends me a wink. My attention snaps back to Charlie as he manages to make his way back onto his feet, most of his breakfast now on his shirt, "What the fuck was that?" Charlie asks looking at Keith who is still calmly eating his breakfast. "Don't be mean to Raylan." Is all he says causing Charlie to stare at him like he grew a second head, I am still silently laughing behind my hand and Brandon has tears streaming down his face while he rests his head on the kitchen island still laughing like a loon. Jake is just grinning at the scene in front of him while he lightly plays with the ends of my hair. All of a sudden Charlie grabs Keiths breakfast wrap out of his hand, but just as he is about to take a bite Keith calmly states; "There's mushrooms on there." Causing Charlie to huff but place it back in Keiths outstretched hands. Charlie seemed to realize Brandon is still laughing and before any of us can say anything, he grabs Brandons half eaten wrap and runs out the back door. Brandon realizing what just happened quickly jumps up running after him. Keith just sighs before standing up muttering underneath his breath loud enough for us to hear, "Its like that boy wants to die. Who the fuck takes Brandons food?" He asks himself before following his friends out the door. Ah always the reliable peacekeeper. I'm still sitting in the kitchen with Jake talking about school when my phone rings, I switched it on last night for in case Mark called, but he just sent me a good night text at 11 oclock and I have still been ignoring Landon. When Jake places my phone in front of me I see its Landon calling, I send an apologetic smile at Jake who just nods before starting to clear the breakfast wrappers. "Hi Lan." I answer the phone as I spin around on the breakfast stool. "Fuck sakes Ray, why didn't you answer you phone?" He exclaims. "I told you yesterday I'll talk to you today when I get home. I was busy all day." "Busy with what Raylan? What kept you so busy that you couldn't talk to me of all people?" He retorts sounding more and more angry causing me to sigh. "I was busy having fun, Lan." I say with a small smile as I look at Jake who was leaning against the counter. "And while you were having fun I was sitting here worrying my balls bitter wondering where you were! You barely know these guys yet you spend the night with them at some secret location. I'm not saying they are bad guys but you of all people should know people can be deceiving." He rants causing a frown to form between my brows. "Mark knows exactly where I am. I didn't run away to some secret location with three crazy people. I came to the beach with my friends. I know what happened in the past but honestly Lan does that mean I never get to trust anybody else ever again? Should I just stay home with you for the rest of my fucking life? I had fun last night with friends, good people Lan. But you are so worried about my safety you never even gave them a chance. The only other people I talk to are the guys on the football team, but they all hold me at arms length because they are scared shitless to what you might do to them if they just look at me the wrong way!" I exclaim starting to get angry, Jake looks at me with a frown on his face as the other three guys came back in, Charlie with a busted lip and Brandon eating the last bite of his breakfast wrap, Jake quickly quiets them down and points to me. I can see him mouthing Landons name at them and they all nod their head in understanding before leaving the kitchen. "I just want you to be safe. God dammit Raylan! You nearly died! Do you understand that? You were almost gone for good because that fucking asshole had us all convinced he is a good guy! I'm just trying to look out for you Raylan!" He shouts in my ear, by the way Jake's eyes widen he hears every word, he moves to me wiping away tears I didn't even realise were falling. "But I didnt die Landon! I was saved and I am extremely thankful that I got away with my life! But what good is it if I don't actually live? All I do is hangout with you, or I am at The Ring and in both situations I am treated like a fragile little doll, who might break if somebody frowns at me for two long!" I am screaming now as well between my sobs and hiccups, I am beyond angry and ashamed that one of my biggest wounds are being opened in front of Jake with the other guys probably hearing every word. "Have you seen your face Raylan!" He screams once again. "You were left on your own for 15 minutes and another person did THAT to you! Now how the hell do you expect me or anybody else to believe that you dont need protection? We failed you once, and Ill be dead before I fail you again!" Before I can answer my phone is pulled out of my hand I look up at Jake not even having the energy to try and fight him on this. "Landon?" Jake asks in a calm voice while he wraps an arms around my shoulder, stroking my hair as I cry into his chest. "Who the fuck are you?" I hear Landon basically roar over the phone, but Jake answers him calmly. "My name is Jake Reems, I'm a friend of Raylans and Brandons brother." "I don't care give the phone back to Raylan right now!" Landon goes off once again, I simply wrap my arms tighter around Jake who places a kiss on top of my head. "I can't do that Landon, because Raylan is in the middle of having a panic attack after youve been screaming at her for the last twenty minutes. Now I'm going to hang up now, and Raylan will call you when she feels like it. But you need to calm down before you say something youll regret." Jake states calmly before hanging up the phone. He removes my arms from around his waist, before bending down and picking me up, I simply wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist as he rubs soothing circles on my back as he walks out of the kitchen, he stops when we reach the living room. "If that guy calls any of you, ignore him. I dont care how angry he gets, she can call him when shes ready." I guess they gave a nod or he just didn't wait for them the answer, because soon enough he was walking again. When I felt him sitting down I finally removed my face from his neck and to look where we are. We were sitting in a huge hammock that was spun between two trees on the beach. Jake was cradling my shaking body placing small kisses all over my face and murmuring sweet nothings in my ear trying to get me to calm down.