SILVER LINED DOUBT. [JESS MARIANO]

FOURTEEN.

She held up the key. "Luke wanted me to tell you that he's at Nicole's."

His expression didn't change. "Okay?"

"That's Luke code for get the hell out of this hunk of shit and go sleep in a place with heat. Unless hypothermia is on your agenda for the week."

Jess rolled his eyes. "I'm fine."

"Don't be an idiot," Marley replied. "Go inside."

"No."

"This isn't a choice. You're not sleeping out here."

Jess glared at her. "Well, I'm not sleeping in there."

The two of them just stared at each other for a moment, one waiting for the other to back down. Neither of them did. This was going great.

Realizing she was way too cold for Jess' bullshit, Marley shut her eyes and dug her fingers into her palms, ignoring the smirk that came over his lips as he saw he'd won. Marley unclenched her fists and brought her hands to her mouth, blowing into them, mind spinning. She wasn't going to let him be stubborn enough to freeze out here.

"You're being ridiculous," she muttered.

"Glad to see things haven't changed, huh?" His voice was sarcastic and cold. Marley didn't like it.

It was then that Marley had an idea. As her gears turned, she glanced at Jess. "You're in a shit mood and it's not fair for you to take it out on me when I'm just trying to help you. I thought we agreed that you weren't going to do that anymore?" She thought she was dreaming when she saw Jess' sour expression turn apologetic. Marley didn't let him talk. "And I'd leave you out here for that if it weren't negative-eight. But it is." Marley nodded her head in the other direction. "So, c'mon."

Jess' brow drew together again. "What?"

"Let's go."

"Sorry. Wrong word. Where?"

Marley rolled her eyes, hugging her arms to her chest. "We're going to my house." When Jess went to protest, Marley scowled at him. "I'm freezing my ass off out here. Please don't argue with me."

Jess seemed to contemplate this for a second. He looked at Marley, then at the interior of his car then back to her. A heavy sigh escaped him before he began to crank the window back up and opened his door. When he was out of his car, he couldn't seem to meet Marley's eyes. He simply stuffed his hands in his pockets and stood beside her.

"Good choice," she said, beginning to walk to where she'd parked in front of Luke's.

"Wasn't like I had much of one," he muttered.

A smile spread across her face at that. "No, you didn't."

She thought she heard Jess chuckle under his breath, but she couldn't have been sure.

Marley unlocked her car, immediately turning it on to get some sort of heat. She could see her breath when she sighed as she felt the warm air on her face. She could have laughed at Jess huddled near the vents if she weren't so nervous. Instead, she pulled out of her parking space and drove down the road en route to her house.

They didn't speak the rest of the way home.

✧

JESS WAS FREAKED out, but he wasn't sure why.

He sat on the Acosta's couch in front of the TV that was playing some infomercial for a product that a blonde model was saying would change his life. There was something ironic about that that almost made him laugh.