Although Jesse had begrudgingly been enjoying Eli's addition to her and Demetri's lives, she had missed the days when it was just the two of them like back in the summer. Back before karate and violence became a daily occurrence and when she could just enjoy talking for hours about whatever her and Demetri wanted to. The Wednesday before break ended Jesse and Demetri set out for their normal hang out of gathering manga and comics followed by discussing and arguing over lunch in the food court.
They had invited Eli - even if she didn't want him to come - but the boy said no, still stuck a hauntingly familiar funk that Jesse could unfortunately relate to.
"So, Eli's still saying no to karate?" Jesse questioned as they set down their bags of comics and manga next to them and their food on the table at the food court. Demetri sighed and shook his head in confirmation. "What a wuss."
"I'm going to go talk to him later." Demetri grumbled out as he started on his food and rolled his eyes. "School starts back next week so I'm spending the rest of break either convincing him to join me or training in case he doesn't."
"Why?"
"Because I'm the best chance Miyagi-Do has at winning against Robby Keene." Demetri pointed to himself dramatically, eyes comically wide and voice going up a pitch. "Me! Lanky, gangily, awkward, uncoordinated, nerdy me!"
"Hey, don't discredit yourself." Jessi scold, pointing her plastic fork threateningly over at Demetri who rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Seriously! You've been working so hard, probably harder than most people, and you might not be as balanced as Robby, or as strong as Miguel, or as ruthless as Kyler, or as fast as Eli-"
"You know, this is the worst inspirational speech-"
Jesse threw a tomato from her salad into Demetri's mouth, surprising him as he nearly choked on it and looked over at her accusingly.
"Don't interrupt me." Was all she said before continuing, ignoring the noises coming from the boy in front of her. "But you're smarter than all of them. You're brain works at a speed that I can't even begin to comprehend creating strategies and assessing weaknesses and strengths." Jesse paused for a moment. "I mean, you're the only reason we ever win at War Hammer and Age of Empires!"
"Yeah, but intelligence versus a harsh punch to the gut?" Demetri snorted, patting his stomach almost like he could feel the ache in the moment. "I think we both know how that goes."
"Demetri Alexopoulos." Jesse hit the table in front of her and leaned forward, staring seriously at her now-surprised best friend. "Yes, Kyler, and subsequently myself, beat you up more times than I can count. I'm sorry." Jesse was sincere in her apology, but didn't back away at the flinch from the reminder. "But how many times did you find a way out before and during? How many times did you use your brain to get you and Eli out of trouble, or notice us before we noticed you, or side stepped us?"
"U-uh-mmm."
"Probably a lot more than the times we caught you." Jesse let out a sigh and sat back in the chair, hoping that Demetri would understand and believe her words. "And all those times when you prevented us from getting messed with? When you were around, no one messed with us. I only got caught when you weren't by my side."
Demetri frowned and Jesse saw the guilt forming before it even fully bloomed, quickly holding up her hands. "And that's not a guilt trip. That's a thank you for being so strong and smart, because life... life would have been hard without you." She admitted with a shrug, scratching the back of her neck with heat spreading across her face. "Strength isn't always how much you can lift, sometimes... sometimes it's about how far you're willing to fight for something."
The words fell over them like a blanket and Jesse could only stare at the table wondering where those words had come from. Even years later Jesse found that building others up left a weird taste in her mouth, but it wasn't unwelcomed. There was a power that came with words that she recognized could bring down even the strongest of men and women, and those same words could be used to make the weakest of them all become royalty.
Did she deserve forgiveness even if her words had changed to those of building up rather than tearing down?
A foot kicked hers and Jesse looked up at Demetri, breaking out of her self examination to stare at her best friend.
"Stop acting like I made you eat McDonalds again." Demetri ordered with a roll of his eyes. "We've been over it, I don't care that you're Jessica Park. You're the reason that I kept fighting and trained so hard for Eli."
"W-what?" Jesse blinked and cocked her head to the side, Demetri looked away and scratched his cheek almost sheepishly.
"W-well, when I realized you were... Jessica I had a long contemplation period." Demetri admitted and Jesse nodded, already familiar with the distress he had went through. "My end conclusion was that if Jessica Park, the girl who made a teacher cry-"
"Don't you pretend like he didn't deserve it!"
"Oh, no. Mr. Perkins was definitely some sort of predator and deserved it." Demetri agreed, nodding and continuing his train of thought just as Jesse was about to go off on a tangent. "Don't interrupt me!" He mocked her earlier statement, holding up his own tomato threateningly.
"...sorry." She mumbled, holding her hands up in surrender.
"Like I was saying, before someone rudely interrupted, if Jessica Park could have a redemption arch then anyone could, even Eli Moskowitz."
"Especially, Eli." Jesse corrected with a roll of eyes. "Eli, the kid who cried in fourth grade when the butterfly we released got eaten by a bird like three seconds later. He's a bleeding heart." She scrunched up her nose at the thought and shook her head playfully. "It's disgusting."
"It's better than laughing."
"I cried later when I got home." Jesse admitted with a shrug.
Demetri chewed on his cheek a little, nodding his head in agreement while he played with his food. Jesse took a few bites of her own before narrowing her eyes at the familiar look of thought on her best friends face.
"Okay, what's got you thinking so hard?"
"Do you like Eli?"
Jesse's mouth opened at the question and she closed it, ready to deny vehemently that she liked the boy at all. After all, she made it clear that she only tolerated his presence right? She still made fun of him and annoyed him at every chance she got, tripping him occasionally and he did the same.
But she couldn't get the denial out.
"I mean, I don't... hate him." Jesse settled on and almost panicked at the frown on Demetri's face, hoping she wasn't saying the wrong thing that would make him hate her. "I-It's just, uh, I don't..."
"No you nitwit," Demetri scoffed and rolled his eyes, translating with his hands the signs that matched his question. "I mean do you like him."
Jesse's brain took a moment to process the question, her eyes wide and staring where his hands had been signing the question. It processed in sign and English and then translated into Korean before finally getting through to her and hear flushed over her at the implication.
She was a stuttering mess and Demetri seemed to appear almost... defeated.
"N-no! No! No!" She denied too loudly, shaking her arms and hands and her entire body to convey just how much she was against that. "A-a-absolutely not. Me? Eli? I've dumped more milk on his head than I've had positive conversations with the nerd!"
"It's fine... if you do."
"No, I-" Jesse felt her phone ring and sighed angrily, looking down at the contact of her dad glaring at her. Horror washing over her, she swallowed her emotions and quickly picked up, signing to Demetri about her phone call as she walked a few paces away for privacy. "Hi, dad."
"Don't be late tonight for dinner." Her father skipped pleasantries, getting straight to the point and Jesse was fine with that. Less time talking to the man. "We have a guest."
"O-oh, how nice." Jesse winced at her stutter, but the realization that she couldn't go with Demetri to get Eli out of his funk made her sag onto herself. "May I ask who?" A successful sentence without a stutter and Jesse preened for a congratulation that would never come.
"A family friend, I am sure you'll be pleased to see again."
Jesse went back to Demetri with a frown on her face as she tried to figure who the hell she'd look forward to see and was also classified as a family friend. It must have shown on her face because Demetri was immediately asking the girl what was going on and Jesse shook her head dismissively, playing with end of her sweater.
"My d-dad said we're having dinner guests, so I can't come bully- I mean, comfort Eli with you." Jesse's face twisted for a moment. "Sorry."
Demetri eyed the sweated that Jesse fidgeted with, pointing at it with his fork. "It's 74 degrees outside, Jess. Do you really care about looking good so much that you're willing to have a heat stroke over it?" Jesse froze and slowly brought her hands away from the edge of her sleeves and scoffed.
"Fashion is the amour to survive the reality of everyday life." Jesse said seriously, flicking her hair obnoxiously over her shoulder and smirking playfully across the table. "You think knights wore armour without being uncomfortable?"
"That-that doesn't even begin to add up." Demetri threw his hands up to the sky, nearly losing his fork and fumbling to catch it as Jesse laughed at his frustration. "Hey! Stop laughing at me!"
Jesse smiled widely at her friend and a wave of relief washed through her at the change in topic, but underneath the table she grabbed at her pant legs to hide the shake in her hands.
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TW /// Abuse
"Kyler, I heard you joined a karate dojo."
"Yes sir, I'm one of the top fighters at the school." Despite what they had done in the past, Jesse couldn't help the proud smile on her lips as she connect eyes with her twin who smirked back in thanks. "Sensei really likes my style."
"And Jessica." Jesse's hand froze with her fork in hand, swallowing the lump in her throat as cool eyes washed over her like an ice bath. "Any... extracurriculars?"
Don't stutter. Don't stutter. Don't stutter.
"W-well-"
Fuck.
Kyler stood up from his seat half a second after their father did, but did nothing but stare with anger and sadness as their father grabbed Jesse harshly by the arm and forced her panicked face to look at him.
"I've had it with your disrespect." Their father very rarely raised his own voice, somehow that made him even scarier. His rage was in his actions as he tore out of the dining room with his hand latched around Jesse's forearm, even as she cried out and tried to tear herself from the grip. "You do nothing to build this family, only tear at it and take from it."
"Dad! Dad, please! I'm sorry!" Jesse shrieked as she was dragged upstairs, her heart pounding wildly as she passed Kyler's room and then her own, her other hand tried to free her arm but his grip was iron. "P-please dad, stop! Stop! I won't d-do it again!"
"A liar too." Was all the man said as he went up the next set of stairs to the tied floor of the home where the twins avoided at al cost.
Kyler was behind the two, his own dread fuelling him as he latched his hand onto his twins other and in an attempt to stop his father. "Wait, dad, please can't we just-"
If there was anything Kyler was well-versed in, it was how to to throw and take a hit. When his father's free hand connected with his jaw, he made no noise as he was sent into the wall and Jesse gasped, trying to get to her twin.
"Kyler, go to your room." The man ordered, turning around and continued dragging Jesse to the room upstairs. He threw her into the unfurnished attic like room and watched her stumble before holding an expecting hand out. "Give them here."
Jesse immediately took a protective step back, her hands covering her ears with terror shaking her to the core. "P-lease don't, don't, don't!" She begged, crying full on and shaking her head louder until her father sighed impatiently, stepping forward and grabbed her by the other arm.
She tried to keep him away, but she heard the high pitch in one ear and then soon the other and then
Nothing.
Nothing.
Silence.
No hum, no words, no screeching.
Nothing.
No matter how much she cried or screamed Jesse couldn't hear herself or anything for that matter, her father locking the door behind him as he took away her ears. She grabbed her hair, hugged herself, and cried out as loud as she could, begging, pleading, bargaining... until she exhausted herself in the early morning hours, passing out just before her father unlocked the door for her freedom.
Kyler didn't sleep that night, staring wide eyed at his hands with his back against the door, ignoring the pain in his face, and listened to the cries of his sister relive the worst night of their lives.
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A/N: sorry meant to add an authors note because that was a heavy way to end sorry friends