Where I Found You

Chapter 35 - It's Jack.

"Oh my God," I groan. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"What? Knee him in the balls from behind? It doesn't take a genius." I can see that even though she's crazily mad, she looks slightly proud. She finally slows down her driving and turns on the windscreen wipers as it begins to rain.

"Say balls again." I laugh, even though it hurts my nose even more. I keep pinching it.

Alyssa slowly looks over at me, her eyes wide. Then she shakes her head with a smirk and turns a corner. "That was that Ash, wasn't it? That's horrible. How did you get into a fight with him?" She can't disguise the fear from her voice.

I look down and make sure my hand doesn't have blood on it, before reaching over and placing my hand on her thigh. "It doesn't matter. He's just stupid. And when I'm around him

I act like a moron too. I'm sorry."

She doesn't say anything, just stares out of the wet window as she drives down the main road. For the first time since I've got in the car I wonder where we are actually going. I keep quiet though.

I turn the radio on, after that. Yellow by Coldplay comes on, and I start to hum along whilst still holding my nose. I expect Alyssa to sing too, since I know she loves Coldplay. But suddenly she just switches the radio station with an irritated noise.

"I'm sorry," I whisper to her again. Obviously, I've really upset her. I begin to stroke her leg with the hand I'm not pinching my nose with. That's when I notice my hand is shaking from all the pain.

"Don't worry, Jack." Her hand ends up on top of mine.

There's silence for a while, and then I can't help but whisper, "I thought you liked Coldplay."

"I do, but not that song."

"Oh. Where are we going?"

"Supermarket. I need tampons and you need an ice pack or something."

Now I'm not sure whether this has ever happened to me before, but I blush at that moment. I don't know why, maybe it's because she's become so intimate with me or that she just shared the fact of needing tampons with me and I'm a guy. But I just hear myself laugh awkwardly (which I have never done before either) and she doesn't say anything as we pull into Tesco's carpark.

I'm told to wait in the car. I kind of like Alyssa being this controlling, determined Alyssa, going to fetch an ice pack and tampons. I ignore people who look at me, and try to figure out what mood she's in. Maybe it's the whole period mood. Maybe that makes her even more angry at me. Maybe it makes her less angry with me.

After a while she comes back, her hair slightly wet and her coat soaked. I look over at her to see her with a full medical kit, ripping open plasters and wipes.

"Lean forward so I can sort you out."

"Alyssa . . ."

"Jack . . . " she replies in the same tone as mine. I frown and then turn to face her.

First she starts with the wipes, and I stare at her face as she cleans the blood from my nose. It doesn't numb the pain, but maybe it distracts me a bit from it - her forehead slightly creased, her eyebrows furrowed, her lips ever so slightly parted as she stares directly at my nose with her bright green eyes. I keep both my hands on her thighs, slowly stroking.

Suddenly she takes her hands away from my face and looks up into my eyes, her frown slowly fading.

"You're gonna have to stop doing that," she whispers. First I think she's angry but then I see the pinkness of her cheeks and the way she keeps blinking, and her small smile.