CHERRY. [JESS MARIANO]

Romeo and Juliet

Jess

He sat at the kitchen table in the apartment later that night after dropping Cassie off at her place. He had a book in his hand and was reading peacefully. Until his uncle came into the room.

Luke ripped open the door and stomped inside loudly, causing Jess to look up at him. "Hey Bigfoot, ya mind keeping it down?"

Luke walked over to him with a frown on his face. "You don't get to talk tonight, you're gonna shut up and listen," he tells his nephew sternly, surprising Jess at his bad mood. "I heard about your little stunt around town."

"What?" Jess asked, not knowing what he was talking about.

"You and Cassie," Luke said as a flash of recognition appeared in Jess' eyes. "Had a fun lunch?" He asked sarcastically.

Jess closed the book in his hand, marking his page with a receipt he found lying on the table. "What do you want me to say?" He knew Luke was protective of Cassie, he just didn't realise how much. Or maybe it was just because she was going out with a guy like him.

Luke shakes his head at him. "I don't want you to say anything, I want you to listen." He repeated his words from before.

"We are gonna lay down a few ground rules," Luke begins. "When she is up here, that door remains open." Luke pointed behind him towards the door. "You two will not be allowed on either end of this apartment," Luke held both his hands up and gestured to the two sides of the apartment. "You will stay here, in the middle portion of the room."

Luke bent down to Jess' eye level where he sat in the chair. "You may sit on the couch or on the chair, as long as you two are sitting on separate seats," he emphasised. "If she is on the couch you will be on the chair and vice versa."

Jess rolled his eyes at his uncles dramatics. "I get it, thank you."

He ignored Jess and continued to go on. "On weekdays you will have her home by nine. On weekends, she'll be home by eleven." He pointed a finger at Jess. "Any evidence of alcohol, cigarette smoke or anything that Nancy Reagan would find unacceptable, and you will not be allowed within ten feet of her without an adult present." Jess had no doubt that Luke would stick to his word at all.

Luke took a deep breathe as he finished. "Are these rules clear?"

"Yes," Jess answers with an eye roll.

"Good."

He looks at his uncle, "May I speak?" Luke opens his arms as a signal of allowance.

"Do you want me to have you committed or would you want to check yourself in?" Jess joked, trying to lighten the situation.

"I'm not joking here, mister." Luke walked behind Jess to get to the fridge. He opened it up and took a bottle of water for himself, probably to soothe his throat from all the shouting.

"You know," Jess began turning in his seat to face Luke. "You're my guardian, not hers."

Luke swallowed a couple of mouthfuls of water before closing the fridge. "You don't need the guardian," he says. Jess hated to admit it but in the back of his mind, he knew Luke was right.

"We had a great time today," Jess began to agitate his uncle. Earning a few 'stops', his way. "I mean we couldn't get kicked out of Al's but we'll try again tomorrow."

Luke looked at him with a glare. "Jess, stop it."

"What do you think is gonna happen?" He asked his uncle curiously.

"You know what I think is gonna happen."

Jess tilted his head ever so slightly. "No, I don't," He lied. "Tell me what I'm gonna do to her."