Beauty And The Beast

Chapter 2: If He Keeps Me Awake...

"Jake she can't stay here!" I heard yelling as I tip-toed down the cold marble grand staircase.

I didn't want to ease drop but the yelling had woke me up. It was coming from the living room. I listened outside the living room to what they were saying about me.

"Luke, I have to protect her." I heard Jake say.

"She will never like you if you keep her prisoner. It's too dangerous for us."

"Shhh. I hear her." Jake said. "Aphrodite I can hear you, come in."

I slowly opened the door and walked in to where Jake was with the man I assumed was Luke that Jake had talked about earlier. Luke was young, just as young as Jake.

"I'm guessing you're Aphrodite." Luke said. "I've heard so much about you."

"I'm guessing you're Luke." I held myself close. "And I wish I could say the same."

"Aphrodite you look cold, why are you still wearing that dress. There's a whole closet of clothes for you." Jake told me.

"I don't want anything from you." I shivered, now I thought about it, I was freezing.

"There you heard the girl." Luke expressed. "Look, Aphrodite I'm a very honest person, so I'm going to tell you to leave now rather than me lying to you."

"Fine by me." I shrugged.

"Do you have somewhere to go? I'll drive you now." Luke offered.

"Yeah, my brother Hayden's." I told him.

"She's not leaving!" Jake roared and Luke and I shut up. "Luke the four men are after her, it would have been six but I killed two. They'll kill her. Aphrodite, they know the first thing you'll do is go to your brothers. You have to stay."

"But I don't want to." I moaned. "I can't be around you."

"I won't hurt you, I promise." Jake looked me in the eyes.

"I don't know you. All I know is what you've told me and how am I to know that that's even true." I sighed. "You can't be real."

"I am. I never asked to be like this." Jake told me.

"There's people after him Aphrodite, they want to kill him. You have to keep his secret, you can't tell anyone, for all our sakes. He saved your life, you owe him." Luke told me.

"That doesn't mean he can keep me prisoner." I folded my arms.

"Yeah well think of where you would be right now if Jake didn't save you." Luke let me think.

I'd be dead...

"So am I just supposed to stay here forever. What about school? What about a job? Am I just supposed to stay in this house all day?" I asked them.

"You're almost eighteen so you don't need school and if you want, Luke can get you a job in the police department under a fake name."Jake smiled.

"What? We didn't talk about that Jake." Luke said. "Jake she could get us all in danger."

"I'm willing to take the risk." Jake told Luke

"Well it's your risk but remember you're getting her involved in your shut now, you're putting her in danger." Luke told Jake. "I'm going to bed."

Luke walked past me and left the room going up the stairs to his room.

"I can tell he just loves me." I rolled my eyes sarcastically and Jake laughed a little.

"You're cold." Jake noticed.

"Is that one of beast features?" I smirked at him.

"Well yes, that and you're turning blue." Jake laughed.

Jake touched my cold arm with his warm hand. He was warm just at the touch. He wasn't even wearing many layers yet he was still so warm. I smiled at the heat of him.

"You should go to bed." Jake sighed.

He backed away fro me then led me upstairs to my room. Inside my room, he stayed. I was surprised earlier at seeing this room, it was lovely and cute. It was very big and the colour scheme was pink and white. It was a beautiful room.

"Please change into some clean clothes." Jake begged me, sitting on the royal bed.

I sighed and walked into the walk in wardrobe, there was a lot of clothes, all cute and newly bought just waiting to be bought. I grabbed some green shorts and a white tank top to sleep in. I walked back into my room and into the connecting bathroom to change. I closed the door over slightly but so I could still talk to Jake as I changed.

"The clothes are all my size." I told him. "It's like you knew I was going to get into trouble and have to stay here."

"I did." Jake told me as I joined him again, ready for bed. He smiled when he saw me.

"You're sounding like a stalker." I smirked sitting down in the bed beside him. "Just how long have you been watching me?"

"Since I moved in here. I saw you on my first day. I was sixteen." He told me.

"That's kind of gross saying I was only thirteen then." I joked.

"It was your fourteenth birthday. You were wearing a pink dress. You didn't get a present. Your dad was out, you went to get your mom and found her hanging in your bedroom, dead." Jake brought the day back up.

Yes that did happen, I did find my mother committing suicide on my fourteenth birthday. It hurt even now just thinking about it.

"Yeah." I sighed. "Wait so you've been here on your own since you were sixteen? That's so sad."

"I like it on my own." He shrugged.

"Tell me about your brothers?" I asked.

"Jackson's twenty-two, Ryan's my twin, James is eighteen and Hunter is seventeen." Jake told me. "Jackson's a fireman with a wife called Naya and a baby girl called Sarah. Ryan's studying law and engaged to a girl called Bailey. James is studying business and Hunter is graduating high school soon."

"You still check up on them." I smiled.

"Always."Jake replied. "Tell me about your brothers."

"Well Hayden's a doctor." I shrugged.

"And the others? Aphrodite I've been watching you for four years, I know about the others." Jake told me.

"I don't like to talk about Ollie and Ezra." I shrugged.

"I get it." Jake nodded. "I should let you get some sleep."

A weight was lifted of the bed as Jake got up. I crawled under the covers and watched Jake walk away.

"Jake." I stopped him before he left and he turned back to me. "I know I don't know you and I know I'm not happy about being here but...thank you for saving my life, thank you for everything."

"You're welcome Aphrodite." He smiled.