There's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate (Jesse's POV)

Jesse's POV (13)

She ranted on and on, I was barely listening when she grabbed my hand and placed it on her lap. I was shocked by this action, but she thought I was high.

"Alright, Mom," I smirked.

Jordan spread apart my fingers, making me hiss in pain. But, she didn't take my hand off of her lap, so that was nice. She dipped a cotton ball in disinfectant and rubbed it against the scratches. It stung, but she wouldn't let me take my hand away.

"Stop acting like such a baby," she snapped, holding my hand tighter. I smiled as she continued holding me, even though my wounds really hurt. "I had to go through this with my foot, so you have to go through it, too. It may hurt now, but it won't later. So shut up and suck it up. Be a man or something."

I rolled my eyes again, as she continued to clean the damage on my hand. Every time I hissed, she giggled and I found it incredibly adorable.

"What's so funny, Emery?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, it's nothing, nothing at all..." She trailed off before laughing again. "It's just that you sound like a cat when you hiss. I'd find it kind of scary if cats weren't so cute."

"So, you're calling me cute?" I smirked and her cheeks turned red.

"Th-That's not it!"

"Sure it isn't, Emery."

It was fun, making her nervous. She was never like this. I wondered what was getting into her all of a sudden.

After she finished disinfecting my wounds, she wrapped each individual finger in gauze. I couldn't stop staring at her. "Thanks," I wiggled my fingers. "It doesn't hurt as much anymore."

"Just be happy it didn't get infected," she grumbled, putting everything back in the first aid kit. "It wouldn't be so much fun making fun of you if you didn't have a right hand."

Taking a risk, I wrapped my arm around her neck and hugged her from behind.

"Thanks, Emery," I breathed, huskily. "Now how can I repay you?"

"Y-You're making me sound like I'm some kind of prostitute or something," Jordan stuttered, making me smile. She was nervous. Her elbow hit my stomach lightly. "N-Now let me go."

"You're cute," I whispered in her ear. She froze in place. "You're so cute, Emery."

"Let me go, Jesse," she told me, trying to keep her voice steady. "You're high. You don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on, Emery..." I nipped at her ear, causing her to squeak. "You kissed me earlier today..."

She was so warm, I didn't want to let go. I wish I could hold her like this everyday. Just the thought of it makes me feel nice inside.

"That was just to get Aimee angry!"

"Come on, Emery... Let's have some fun..."

"Hey, both of you!" A familiar female voice shouted, not allowing Jordan to answer me. "What are you doing out after curfew?"

When she came into view, my eyes widened and my mouth dropped. Erica put a hand over her mouth. Jordan looked between us, a confused look on her face. I held on to Jordan tighter, not wanting to ever let go.

"Jesse?" Erica asked, removing her hand. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?"

Erica turned to Jordan, glaring with such hate. "Ugly!" she snapped, causing her to jump out of my arms. Did she just call her ugly? "Go back to your cabin! Y-You too, Jesse!"

"Is she calling you ugly?" I turned Jordan around to face me. She went white with shock, and I didn't know if it was because of Erica, or the look on my face.

"N-No, it's just... Sh-She has n-nicknames for a-all of us..." she stuttered, looking terrified.

"Erica," I turned to the girl who's the reason Hunter's after me. She was nervous, but kept her ground. "Go away. Now. We'll go back to our cabins in a few minutes."

"But-"

"Just go!" I shouted.

She nodded, ducking her head and running away. Jordan turned to me with a look of shock on her face. "How do you know Erica? I thought it was impossible to get her scared or anything." She asked, and I didn't know how to explain it to her without telling her the whole story. Fortunately for me, she raised an eyebrow, noticing something different. "And wait... Aren't you high?"

"Let's just say that this is the second time you've been pranked on this dock, Emery," I winked and took my arms off her waist. I stood up and started walking away. "Oh, yeah. Thanks for cleaning up my wound, too."

"Then, wait, were you really serious when you called me cute?" She asked. I froze, my back facing her so she couldn't see my facial reaction.

I turned, facing her with a smirk. "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. That's just something you're going to have to figure out on your own, Emery."

Before I turned around, Jordan took a step forward on her injured foot. She shrieked when her weight pressed on her hurt foot, and she fell toward the dock. My eyes widened and I ran and caught her before she hit the dock.

"You gotta be more careful, Emery," I sighed, holding her up by her arms. "Can you walk?"

"N-No," she bit her lip, trying to keep her voice steady. "It really hurts."

"Idiot," I muttered, picking her up bridal style. "What did you even step on?"

"I don't know; it was too dark to tell," Jordan whimpered. "The cut didn't even seem that bad when I was fixing it... But I didn't put any weight on it until just now..."

She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face into my shoulder. Her breath tickled my neck, and I wanted to take her right back to the dock where no one could see us.

"That was a mean prank you pulled," Jordan murmured as I continued carrying her to her cabin. We were so close, but I didn't know how close she'd let me get before telling me to drop her off. I didn't think she'd want me going inside her cabin, her friends could see us together. "I thought that you could have died. People actually die from drug overdoses, you idiot."

I rolled my eyes. "And you would have cared if I died?" I asked, obviously joking.

"Yes," Jordan muttered into my shoulder. I froze in my tracks. She'd care if I died?

"You'd be upset if I died?" I asked, voicing my thoughts. She was growing more and more tired every step I took toward her cabin.

"Yeah, I would," she replied, holding on to me. "You're a good source of entertainment. I'm good entertainment for you, aren't I? I'm sure you feel the same way about me, right?"

With her head in my shoulder, I buried my mouth into her hair. "Something like that..." I muttered.

"And after this year ends, we won't ever see each other again," she started, and I didn't think I wanted to hear the rest of what she had to say. I hated thinking about never seeing her again. What was the point of living if she wasn't in my life? Jordan continued, "So, why not have fun while we can? I don't want you dying before our time is up. Let's make these last two months together fun. I'm going to be moving to Yale early on in the summer, so I won't be here for long... So let's make it fun. We'll prank each other, and make fun of each other, and all the other things we've been doing since we met. It'll be so much fun."

"Jordan?" I asked, not being able to control my voice. I was afraid I was going to drop her.

"Hmmm?" She replied softly.

"Please don't talk about you leaving."

"Okay," was all she said.

"Goodnight, Jordan."

"Goodnight, Jesse."