"Come on Sky... pleaaassseee?" Hannah whined as she swiped more eyeshadow across her lid.
"I can't; I'm sorry!" I said, throwing my hands up in surrender. "Last time you convinced me to go to a party, I got wayyyy too drunk, got fondled by a frat boy, and I really pissed off Mason."
"Screw Mason. You can do what you want. I like him, but he doesn't own you."
Hannah didn't know the half of it. When I accidentally let it slip to her that Jax was pissed at me, I couldn't exactly tell her it was because he was my bodyguard and I ditched him. So, I improvised the best way I knew how, and I told her he was jealous when he found me sitting on Ben's lap. Oops.
Jax was a good sport about it though. I thought for sure he would give me more shit about my implying that he had any feelings for me—but he didn't. He agreed that it was a good cover and said he would just have to act more into me from now on; what that all entailed, I wasn't sure.
"I know he doesn't, but either way I think I'm going to pass tonight. I'm exhausted after cramming all week for that Calc exam."
That's right— we had our first calculus exam. I tried my best, but ultimately, I'd be happy with a D just as long as I passed. Jaxon and I had several late nights at the library this week and the fact that I was feeling drained was the farthest thing from a lie. Jaxon seemed tired too, and his fuse was noticeably shorter with me this week.
Some of it was still due to him being pissed off about my terrible choices two weeks ago, the other was probably because he was my math tutor, and he may as well have been speaking Chinese because I wasn't catching on. Heck, if I were him, I'd be sick of me too.
Therefore, we both agreed to just do our own thing tonight; meaning, we were going to do nothing in separate rooms. If I had plans, he automatically had to come with me, or at least be nearby. Besides, Jaxon's feelings aside, I didn't want to go to this party. It took me a few days to kick my hangover from the last one, and I'd sooner take 50 calculus exams than piss off Jax again. I owed him one.
"Fine. But just know I hate you for bailing."
I chuckled. "I'm not bailing, I'm simply declining the invite."
She stood up from her desk chair, pulling down her blue party dress that barely covered her ass. "So, what are you gonna do tonight then?"
I shrugged, "Probably binge watch The Vampire Diaries and eat a butt ton of pasta that I'll get at the dining hall?"
Hannah smiled, slinging her purse over her shoulder. "Damn— I'm almost tempted to stay home now. Sounds like a great night."
I smiled back at her, propping my head up on my hands as I peered down at her from my bed. "Right? Be safe tonight and call me if you need anything."
With a noncommittal wave of her hand, Hannah was off and I was left to myself.
This may have been the first time in the few months that I'd been here that I didn't hate being alone. Although I still missed my dad like crazy, and I was worried every day about my safety and his, things hadn't been so bad here.
I settled into my bed, pulling up Netflix on my laptop to make good on my plans. After the first two episodes, my stomach began to growl. I immediately took out my phone, shooting off a quick text to Jax.
Skyler: I'm starving.
Mason: and what do you want me to do about it?
Skyler: I'm going to the dining hall. Can't go without you :)
Mason: meet you in the hall.
I was quick to jump down from my bed, throwing a sweatshirt over my baby blue fitted tank top. It was part of my new pajama set, and I was wearing the matching shorts as well. I stuffed my feet into my slides before joining Jaxon in the hallway.
He had no right to be looking that handsome in his black sweatpants and white long sleeve athletic shirt. The spandex material clung tightly to his muscles and I could almost make out each of his defined abs though the shirt. "Ready?" He asked.
I had to actively focus on what Jax was asking me so that I could meet him with a nod. We both headed to the elevator in silence. It had just gotten fixed after being out for almost a week. Not that we lived on an excessively high floor, but still, it was definitely inconvenient. I really felt for the people at the top.
Once inside, I was sick of the silence. "So... what are you up to ton——"
I was cut off when the elevator came to an abrupt, screeching halt. The momentum of the jolt sent me teetering into Jax, who was also struggling to stay upright. Luckily, he caught me, holding me against his chest while the back wall of the elevator caught him. The lights above flickered for a moment before shutting off altogether. It was pitch black, and the elevator was at a dead stop.
I was too stunned to step away from Jax right away, so I stayed put in his tight hold. "Jax?"
"Hm?" He asked, not easing up on his grip.
"I think we're stuck. We need to hit the call button or whatever that button is."
I could feel his chest rising and falling against me as he held me to him. Not in a normal way, but in a way that was deep and rapid.
I was about to ask him if he was alright when the lights flickered again, only this time, one light stayed on, casting us into a dim glow. I shifted to move towards the button, which only made the elevator creak beneath my feet. Jaxon's grip tightened on me.
I rolled my head back so that I could look up at him. Normally, he was cool and collected, but now I could tell he was clearly distressed. I wondered if he thought this had anything to do with the mob? Did he think they were behind this?
"Jax... are you okay?"
"Yeah... I'm fine. Fucking maintenance shouldn't have opened this back up if it wasn't ready."
"So, you think this is just a faulty elevator? Not anything to do with... well, you know."
"No; you're safe. It's just the elevator," he panted.
"Then why are you so scared?"
"I'm not," he snapped.
"You're still holding me. And you're sweating," I pointed out, noticing a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.
"It's hot in here," he defended.
"And panting."
He released his grip. "Just go hit the call button."
I didn't want to press him, and I really did want to know what was going on with the elevator, so I complied. I moved slowly along the edge, ringing the emergency button on the elevator. The piercing ring sounded around us.
"Try hitting the open door button. Sometimes that works," Jax said.
I did as I was told, pressing the door open button. When nothing happened, I tried hitting the door close, and the button for the floor below us. When that still didn't work, I hit the emergency button again. Then, the lights flickered out once again and we were cast into darkness.
"Do you have your phone?" I asked, remembering I left mine on my bed.
"You don't have yours?"
"No. I left it on my bed."
"How many times do I need to tell you not to leave your phone behind?" He asked, still breathing heavily.
"I forgot it! I was meeting up with you anyway so I didn't think it would be a big deal. And is now really the time for a lecture? Just turn on your flashlight and let me see it- I'm trying to find the call button."
Wordlessly, he turned on the flashlight, handing over his phone with slightly shakey hands.
I took the phone, aiming it at the panel of buttons as I searched for the call button. "Seriously, are you okay? Why don't you just sit down. There's nothing you can do right now anyway."
"I'm fine," he said, hovering behind me as I hit the call button. It rang for a long time before disconnecting. I hit the emergency button one more time. I looked at Jax's phone too, but there was no signal in here, so I returned to the call button.
After calling out again and again, we finally connected with someone who assured me that they were on their way. However, they said to get comfortable, because it may take 30 minutes to an hour.
"Alright. You heard them," I said. "It's gonna be a while; let's just sit down."
Finally, Jaxon complied. I grabbed onto his hand for balance as we sat down against the side wall near the buttons incase we got a call back. His hand felt hot and damp in mine, and I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
"Seriously, what's wrong with you?" I asked, "and don't tell me it's nothing because I've never seen you like this before."
"I just don't like elevators. I've had a bad experience before in one," he panted.
"Okay... well you need to calm down. Remember when you helped me during my panic attack? Let's breathe together. In..." I said, inhaling a deep breath, "out...," I finished. "Come on; do it with me."
"Emery..." he protested.
"Don't 'Emery' me. We're doing this. Come on, in... Out..."
It took a few rounds of my breathing solo before I could hear Jaxon trying to match me. We did this for a short while until I could hear his breathing return to normal.
"Thank you," he finally said.
"You're welcome. Now, did you want to talk to me about what happened?"
"I don't know... telling you something so personal kind of crosses the line of being professional," he hesitated.
"Haven't we already crossed that line? I'm not just your client... I'm also your friend. A friend that's here for you and willing to listen if you'll let me."
It was quiet for a minute. I wished I could see his face, but the darkness made it hard to see anything but the faint glow of his white shirt.
"When I was about 6 years old or so, I was stuck in an elevator with my mom and a few others. My mom ended up having a..." he paused, taking another deep breath. "She had an aneurism. She died right there in front of me, and we were stuck in the elevator with her for 20 minutes."
"Oh my god..." I breathed. No wonder he was freaking out.
"I don't remember it; when Chief adopted me, he put me in therapy. My therapist said that the memory is repressed; I was so young, and repressing the memory was my brain's way of protecting me from that trauma."
"Jaxon... I'm so sorry. That's horrible."
"Yeah. I guess even though I don't really remember it, subconsciously I do... at least on some level."
"I know what it's like to lose people you love. It's a pain that never quite goes away. I know how it feels to have something so mundane remind me of a tragedy, too—Maybe not to your extent, but I get it."
"It's hard for me to talk about; especially with you. I'm supposed to be your fearless bodyguard, and I'm being anything but right now."
I scoffed. "You're only human. And if any consolation, I still look at you as my fearless bodyguard."
"Thank you," he sighed.
I scooted a little closer to him, grabbing his hand in mine. He gave it a squeeze before stretching his arm out, settling it around my shoulder to pull me close. I felt like in this moment, Jaxon had let me see a different side to him; one that I hadn't seen before. It felt like after this, we had a deeper understanding of one another.
Not that this was the first time we'd had a deep conversation, but this time was different. It was different because this time it was Jaxon who needed the comfort, and I was more than happy to provide it. "Thank you for telling me. Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah... I'll be fine. I actually feel much better now."
We sat together then in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable... it was just calm. It was almost cozy here in the dark, leaning into Jaxon's firm body. I loved the rare occasions where he let me get this close to him, both emotionally and physically; he always smelled so good.
It seemed he had calmed down now as well. We could hear people talking, assuming they were working on getting us out of here, which made me feel better about our situation. I was still freaking hungry though, and my stomach wasn't letting me forget about it with how much it was growling.
"It's hot as fuck in here," Jax grumbled after a moment.
I agreed. I had long since removed my sweatshirt, and I was thankful the lights were out, as my tank was sort of skimpy. "It is. Why don't you take off your long sleeve shirt?" I asked, sitting up off of him so he could cool down a little.
"Trying to get me to take my clothes off?"
"No! I... I'm... I just thought maybe you had something on underneath it or something..." I stammered. Of course he didn't have anything on underneath his shirt; I would have been able to see that through the tight material. I was yet again grateful that it was so dark in here so he couldn't see my cherry-red face.
"Emery, I'm just teasing you. I don't have anything underneath my shirt, and as much as I'd like to take it off, I think we've crossed enough lines tonight."
"Yeah... okay," I said awkwardly. I couldn't get myself to lean back into him after this conversation, which he was probably grateful for anyway due to the sweltering temperature in here.
"What is it for you? That triggers a bad memory?" He asked after a moment. I was grateful for the subject change, but I wasn't sure I wanted to unload everything with Jaxon tonight regarding my family.
"Well obviously gun shots," I said, "but it's always been thunder storms for me."
"Really? Why?" He asked.
"Um... look... I'm really appreciative that you opened up to me, but I'm just not ready to tell you my story yet. I promise I will... but just not here; not now."
"Okay," he stated. I loved how Jaxon never pushed me. He could be an asshole at times, but he never once pressed me into doing something I didn't want to do, or sharing something I didn't want to share. That is, when it didn't directly affect my safety.
Luckily, shortly after this conversation, our silence was broken when the lights turned on and we felt the elevator start moving again.
Jax was much faster than me getting to his feet. He dropped a hand down so that he could pull me up. I didn't miss the way his eyes scanned my body before he quickly looked away, putting his bodyguard face back on.
Once the doors opened, we were met with the faces of two firemen and an elevator technician who asked if we were okay— to which we insisted we were fine.
I shimmied my sweatshirt back on, looking to Jax. "Are you sure you're okay? Did you want to go back to your dorm?" After what he told me I couldn't imagine feeling up for much.
He shook his head, "Let's go to the dining hall."
"You sure?" I asked, getting excited again for delicious pasta.
"Yeah. If I have to listen to your stomach growl one more time I'm gonna lose my damn mind."
_____________________________________________
Heyyo!
I'm not gonna lie, I'm STRESSED TF OUT this week. Lots going on with my job. Ugh!
But, hope you like the new chapter of witness! If you like my work, you should follow my Instagram! @haleygreenwattpad
See ya next Wednesday!
-Haley