"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Jax grumbled, adjusting the sleeves of his billowing white shirt. I had to admit, Jax in a pirate costume was way more sexy than I had even anticipated.
"It's Halloween next weekend," I defended, "and we don't have costumes! I'm usually very prepared." I reached up, adjusting my pirate hat. the costume itself was easy to get into so far, but I still had to put on the corset.
"Oh yeah?" Jax questioned, "What was your costume last year?"
I chuckled halfheartedly, "My best friend Mel and I went as Edward and Jacob from Twilight."
He cocked an eyebrow at me. "What?"
"Twilight," I reiterated, "The vampire movie franchise? Don't tell me you're not familiar."
He shrugged, turning his attention back to himself in the mirror. "I've heard of it, but I haven't ever seen it."
I let out a gasp loud enough that Jax reached out to me, placing a hand on my shoulder as he surveyed our surroundings.
"You haven't seen them!?" I asked.
He let out an exhale, dropping his arm. "Damn it, Skyler. Don't gasp like that. EVER. I thought something was wrong."
"Something is wrong. You need a Twilight marathon! A Twilathon."
He chuckled, removing his pirate hat. "Okay, maybe I'll check them out one day. Can we go now?"
I shook my head. "No. help me get this corset on."
He sighed as if I had just asked him to to write a 10 page paper, but he moved to stand behind me anyway. I held the clothing in place while he threaded the fabric together, pulling tight as I instructed. I had a momentary flashback to our first night at the motel, when he was helping me to put on my sweatshirt. We had come so far since then.
"Thanks," I said once he was finished. "Put your hat back on. I want to see the full effect."
"Someone's bossy today," Jax said, but again, he complied.
I stared at our reflections, turning this way and that so that I could analyze the whole outfit.
"Well?" Jax asked.
I shook my head. "No dice. It's just not unique enough... ya know?"
He shrugged. "I don't think many people are that unique in college."
"True," I said, removing my hat. "Wait a second; I have an idea."
It took a little while, but eventually, Jax and I were able to find the clothing pieces needed to be Chaz Michael Michaels and Jimmy Mackelroy from "Blades of Glory."
Jax wasn't thrilled about the tight fitting, red and orange onesie, but once he saw the two of us together in costume, even he couldn't deny that we looked downright hilarious.
I could tell that Jax wasn't really into this whole costume thing, but honestly, it really warmed my heart that he was going along with it just to cheer me up. He didn't need to do any of what he was doing for me, strictly speaking as my bodygard.
I got lucky with him.
After we checked out, my ankle was really starting to bother me, so we picked up some food from the Noodle's and Company next door, and ubered back to the dorms.
Jax must have really been feeling generous today, because I was not only able to convince him to go costume shopping with me and buy a spandex onesie, but I was also able to convince him to come back to my dorm so that we could have our "Twilathon."
"Why does it look like he's wearing lipstick?" Jax asked, referring to the scene where we first meet Edward Cullen.
I shrugged, taking a bite of my penne. "I think it's so that his skin looks even whiter, ya know?"
"Emery... do we really need to watch these?"
"Shh," I told him, turning the volume up. "This part is iconic."
"Is she seriously wearing a bowling shirt on her first day at a new school?" He said.
I snorted, nearly choking on my pasta. I had just been thinking the same thing. "Yeah that's pretty bad. But stop thinking about the way they look and focus on the plot. It's good shit. Or at least it was during it's time."
Jax shut up for a while, and we both ate in silence, watching the movie. By the time we reached the end of the first one, we had shifted so that he was laying flat on the futon, and I was laying slighly to the side of him and halfway on top of him, my head laying on his chest.
It was kind of an intimate position, but we have laid like this before, and Jax had never said anything.
"You're right," Jax said as the credits rolled, "that wasn't so bad. With the way it started, I was pleasantly surprised by the suspense."
"Does that mean you're game to watch the next one?"
"Yeah, we could," He said. "How's the ankle doing?"
"It's pretty sore, but I'll live."
He sat up, pulling me up with him. "Let me go get you an ice pack. I think Blake keeps one in the freezer of our mini-fridge."
I nodded, letting him up off the futon. "Can you also get me one of your sweatshirts?"
He smirked, "What's wrong with your sweatshirts?"
I shrugged, "I like yours better. They're bigger and warmer."
He waved me off, heading to the door, "be right back."
I sat up, stretching a little before cueing up the next movie in the series. I also grabbed two water bottles from the fridge, setting them on the ground beside Jax and I.
By the time I finished setting up by draping a blanket across the back of the futon, just incase, Jax had returned.
I slipped into his hoodie and turned off the light while he laid back down onto the futon. Once he was in position, I sat back down, setting the ice pack carefully onto my ankle before laying down. I curled back into my position, letting him drape an arm around me while my head rested on his chest.
The second movie was a little slow for me, especially during the beginning, so as much as I tried to fight it, I found myself dozing in and out.
"Okay..." Jax finally said, startling me from my near slumber. "Edward needs to take some fighting lessons or something. He's getting destroyed."
"Yeah I never liked this scene. I think he looks kind of dumb in the robe too. Actually this movie is why J used to have a huge crush on Jacob," I admitted.
"Yeah, he's dreamy," Jax teased.
"For real. I mean, just look at his abs. Nobody has abs like that." I was baiting him a little. I knew for a fact that Jaxon was sporting some crazy defined abs under his t-shirt, and I could feel his hard body beneath mine as I laid on top of him.
"How did you even dress up like Jacob for halloween?" He asked, not taking the bait.
"I wore a tight t-shirt that looked like abs, the wolf tattoo on my shoulder, jorts, and tennis shoes. I also wore a long black wig so it looked like his hair before he cut it in the movies."
He let out a chuckle. "I would pay to see that."
"Well," I said, "Maybe when this whole thing is over, I'll show you the pictures."
I knew this was risky to say. I knew that Jax never kept in contact with clients once his assignment was up. I supposed I was just hoping I could be an exception to the rule.
"Alright. It's a plan," he replied.
I didn't say anything else, but I couldn't help the small smile that worked it's way onto my face. Maybe it was possible for Jax and I to have a future after all?
Jax remained relatively quiet during the third movie, only making a few comments about Bella and Edward and how he was also "Team Jacob." I listened when he spoke, feeling his chest rumble beneath my ear.
The warmth of his body and the sound of his steady breathing made me feel relaxed. I felt very safe so close to him, and as much as I was enjoying our movie marathon, I didn't fight it this time when sleep finally consumed me.
*******
I woke up to the sound of a phone ringing, only, it wasn't a tone I recognized as my own. Then, I felt something shifting beneath me.
I had spend the night on the futon... with Jax.
"Chief," Jax spoke into the phone, his voice gruff with sleep.
I sat up off of him, feeling warm and tingly after having spent the night cuddled beside him. That was the best sleep I'd had in a long time.
"You want her to what?" He asked, pushing himself into a sitting position. He ran a hand through his dark hair. More silence followed.
"Isn't that risky? Pulling her out of hiding for this?" He said. Now my interest was peaked. I did not like the tone of his voice; I knew whatever it was wasn't good.
"Yeah... okay," he agreed. "We will be on our way within the hour."
He hung up then, sighing as he stood up off the futon.
"What is it?" I asked, feeling impatient.
He turned to me. "They think they caught one of the guys. Not the kingpin, but they think this is his right hand man. He's the one who we think lead the shooting you were involved in, but we need proof. We need you to identify him."
"Can't they just question him?" I asked. I really didn't want to have to see any of their faces again.
"That's not possible..." Jax said, running another hand through his hair.
"He's dead."