Can't Escape Your Past

Chapter twenty- Happy Birthday

I finish in the shower and wrap myself up in a towel. Jack knocks on the door and I let him in to take a shower of his own. He quickly glances at my chest so I cross my arms over it as best I can and give him a playfully angry look.

"No." I say. "Not tonight. It's our daughter's birthday for fuck's sake. C'mon now!" I laugh a little.

He walks closer towards where I stand in the middle of the spacious tile bathroom. He drapes his arms over my shoulders and pulls me towards him. It feels awkward hugging Jack because he's so tall that my head reaches the middle of his chest. I place my ear onto his strong chest and listen to the heartbeat I've sometimes spent hours awake in bed just listening to. It sounds so familiar and comforting.

The memories of loneliness from after Jack ran away and left me behind soon randomly flood over me. I find myself in tears and I just sob into his chest. "Hey..." he soothes. "It's alright, I'm here. Shhhhh..."

"You weren't there then..." I whisper through the hiccups that crying brings me when I try to talk.

"But I'm here now. I promise I won't leave you like that again." Jack says before his lips lightly brush mine and then turns into a full out kiss. For a young man who kills people and commits a few acts of eating human organs, it doesn't mean he can't have a heart.

We pull away about a minute later. I walk to our room and put on a bra and underwear. I look in my drawer and can't find anything to sleep in. "Jack?" I call.

"Yeah?"

"Can I borrow a shirt? I can't find anything to sleep in right now," I answer. It's really fucking hard to hear him over the sound of the shower.

"Yeah, sure," he answers.

I pull out one of his longer t-shirts and put it on. It just covers my butt yet it's still really comfortable to wear in the summer heat. I go and lay in my side of the bed right beside the wall and close my eyes. I flip onto my front and open my eyes again.

Jack comes in a few minutes later and I listen to him get dressed. He leaves the room and says good night to Skylar before he comes back in. He lays down beside me and takes his mask off again. "I know you're awake." he says.

"How?"

"I have my ways," he answers.

Jack pulls me towards him, his strong muscles ripple as they move so close to me. I get wrapped up in his embrace and kiss his jaw. Once again, I find myself listening to his heartbeat. It sounds no different from any other human being. After a while, the sound lulls me to sleep.

***

There's a quiet knocking on the front door. It's not loud, but just enough to wake me up. I'm still wrapped up in Jack's arms so I slowly and gently unwrap our bodies.

I walk to the door and answer it, expecting it to be someone I know. But it's not. It's a younger man, older than Jack and I, he's got some mask over his mouth that has some weird smile-like pattern on it, and some orange goggles and he carries an axe.

"Oh, hello." I say. "Who might you be?"

The guy stares at me and looks my body up and down. Only then do I remember I'm wearing a long t-shirt with no pants! He notices I see him looking at me and jolts his head back up. "Oh sorry! I'm Ticci Toby." he says.

"Nice to meet you, Toby." I say, ignoring how rude his scoping was. "I'm Wren: Eyeless Jack's girlfriend. So that's why I'm here if you're wondering,"

"Yeah, I was invited here by Slender Man. Can you tell me where his cabin may be so I can get a place to live soon?" Toby asks.

"Oh yeah, I know where he lives. Just go down the trail, there'll be three more cabins that are occupied, the last one is where Slendy lives." I answer.

"Okay, thank you!" Toby says gratefully.

He walks away down the trail and I close the door. That was weird, it's like 5:00 in the morning! Why is that guy getting here now? I'm actually too tired to care right now, so I head back to bed.

I crawl back into the bed and I guess I move just enough to wake Jack up. "What were you doing?" he asks.

"Some Ticci Toby came to the door asking where Slendy lived. I told him where, and he left," I answer, holding back a yawn.

Jack nods and his breathing soon turns rhythmic and I know he's asleep. I close my eyes and snuggle up close to him. Jack wraps his arm over my shoulder in his sleep like he normally does. It's hard to believe he's twenty already and I'll be the same way in a few months... I soon find my mind drifting off into a sleep-like sate; and after that, I fall asleep.