I've Got You (Jack)

[Elisia Lark]

The world would be a lonely place
Without the one that puts
A smile on your face
So hold me til the sun burns out
I won't be lonely when I'm down
'Cause I've got you
To make me feel stronger
When the days are rough
And an hour feels much longer

The words ran through Ellie's mind as she waited for Jack. Despite not listening to music, she always had something stuck in her mind. Lyrics just fit into every aspect of her life and she had to admit, it was kind of awesome, like her own personal soundtrack through life. The fact that the song came to mind when she was about to meet Jack had to be a sign right? 'I've got you to make me feel stronger when the days are rough and an hour feels much longer,' it was fitting. Maybe she really shouldn't have dumped in the first place. The more she thought of that, the more she wanted to kick herself.

Before she could down herself further, she heard footsteps and looked up to find Jack. Her face brightened and she found herself blushing. He offered her his hand and she took it with a smile. How could she say no to a face like that? He was too perfect. She started getting that feeling in her chest again, the feeling of not being worth his time. Wasn't that part of the reason she broke up with him? It seemed too good to be true and she freaked herself out enough to make herself feel that way, ending in a broken heart for both of them.

Ellie kept a grip on his hand, refusing to let him go again as she followed him back out to the courtyard. She looked up at the sky to see stars upon stars and she relaxed slightly. It really was beautiful out. Her grip tightened on his hand briefly before letting it slip away before she found herself sitting beneath a tree. Elisia stared up at the sky and let out a soft sigh.

[Jack Montoya]

The walk there was quiet, there wasn't exactly much to say between the two, during a time like this. Yesterday had been the first time they had talked in a while, and it was by complete accident. Holding her hand felt nice, it felt right, and Jack smiled confidently as they exited the dorm building, nodding toward the same friends who were now gawking at him and his ex, holding hands yet again. Though it wasn't really a big deal, people got back together all the time, the occasional rumor about Jack moving back to australia after Ellie left him still flitted around the school.

Cold air hit his skin as the two exited, still quiet, their footsteps echoed along the sidewalk until they made it out into the courtyard. Soft grass being pressed into the earth replaced the clacking of their shoes, and things became even more silent. A squeeze on his hand signalled Ellie's moving away from him, to sit under a tree and look up toward the sky. A small sigh left her lips, and Jack couldn't stop smiling.

Quickly and smoothly the Aussie slid in next to her, making sure he was close enough to her that his shoulder pressed against hers. "I'm glad you came." He murmured, gently knocking his shoulder to hers. Jack's smile was replaced by a slightly more serious one as he spoke once more. "I'm not getting.. into anything, by being out here with you? Am I?" Jack asked, casually. It was an innocent question enough, but to him it was laced with a thousand different questions. The main one being if she had started to get interested in someone else over the summer, it was something he had been asking himself since he saw her yesterday.

[Elisia Lark]

When he settled in next to her, she couldn't help but feel comforted. And the way his shoulder nudged hers caused her to smile. She nodded and rested her cheek against his shoulder. It was so natural feeling, them together, sitting out under the stars, huddled close. She missed him more than she thought and the heat she felt on her cheeks was a good indication of that. Over all, she still couldn't figure out how this was going to work. What about Zac? What about what she told Carter? This whole thing was just a mess waiting to happen.

And yet, she sat there, cuddled up next to him. What else was she supposed to do? Tell him that all of this was just not going to work because she didn't know what she felt? That would be a lie. She knew what she felt for him. It was the other boy that she wasn't sure she knew how to tell this to. What would Zac do if he found out she was crawling back to her ex. Granted it wasn't as though he broke up with her and she was being pathetic, it was justified. She broke up with him because she over-thought things and now she wanted to try again. (Not that she should, but how else would she learn?)

"Well...I want to say no, but the truth is, you might be," She frowned and turned her eyes away from him, leaning forward to pull her knees up to her chest. Elisia sighed, "This guy, I met him on the retreat, we kissed and I think he likes me and I kind of liked him, but we barely know each other." She glanced over her shoulder at him and then down again, "And he's not you..." Gosh she felt horrible, like she was going to be sick with guilt and this feeling of being too available. No, she wasn't dating anyone, but Zac would think she was stringing him along and she hadn't meant to.

She rested her chin on her knees and chewed on her lip. This was complicated.

[Jack Montoya]

Jack smiled as Ellie rested her cheek on his shoulder. It was something that she did a lot, and he had grown accustomed toward that. It was comfortable, nice and warm, and it let him know when she just wanted to sit there and cuddle. This time would have felt just like all those others, if it wasn't for the question he had left hanging in the air moments before. He had been her first boyfriend, but they had been broken up for a decent amount of months, and when it came to teenagers time meant little.

He could feel her tense next to him, at the question, and his heart began to sink a little. He didn't know if he could blame her though, if she did have a crush, she probably thought he moved on right away. The teen had thought about it, but being in Australia with family, and the feeling of being dumped for the first time had buried ideas like that deep down. It was sort of nice that they did get buried.

When she spoke, he felt his heart sink further. So, there was another guy that she had been with. It wasn't as surprising as he originally thought it would be. She was gorgeous, witty, and she was real. But as she talked, he could feel her distancing himself from him, curling up into a vulnerable position that made him frown as well. He wanted to know who the guy was, but asking wouldn't have helped things.

"Ellie. Do what your heart tells you to do. It's your life, be happy with it." He responded, sure of his words. Gently, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He wasn't trying to flirt with her, but to reassure her. God I am starting to sound like my sister.

[Elisia Lark]

Elisia felt like a horrible person. How could she possibly fallen for another guy when she clearly wasn't over this one? She was so horrible. Awful. A whore. Gosh and here she thought she was one of the good ones, nothing like those girls that string along groups of boys and never settling for one. It made her want to curl in on herself and vanish in thin air. He didn't deserve someone like her. She was nothing more than every other girl around here. Why would he ever want her?

Her lip started trembling and she knew that if she kept this up she was going to end up crying again. Why was she here? She shouldn't have come out here with him. She could have just told him she was busy. That she was afraid of the dark. Anything would be better than putting herself through this again. And it was only made worse when his arm went around her shoulders and he tried acting like she wasn't a horrible person. Didn't he get it? She wasn't worth his time or his kindness. Elisia shrugged off his arm and stood up.

"But that's just it! I'm not happy with it, I make stupid decisions and hurt other people. I'm not worth your time or effort, why are you even bothering with me?" And it drove her nuts that she was acting like a typical whiny girl that acted as though she had it so rough. It was right out of a stupid movie and she hated it. She hated that this kept happening. Being sixteen was stupid.

Ellie bit the inside of her cheek, "Maybe I should just go..."

[Jack Montoya]

He tried not to watch her, as they sat there, but he couldn't help but peak at her expression after what he had said. She seemed like she was in turmoil, which was obviously the correct observation, after she had told him that there were other guys possibly poking around in her life. Again, he couldn't blame her. Sure, he was kind of disappointed that there might be another guy, but that was just being unfair. She was the one who had broke it off with him anyway.

Right about now he wished he could read minds. When she stood up though, his eyes followed hers. A tinge of hurt flooded into his eyes as she started to talk. She really was horrible to herself, acting like she didn't deserve whatever it was he was offering her. What was he offering her..?

Formulating a response, at first, was a bit difficult. This was the first time she had semi-blown up on him, and he wasn't really sure what to do. Eventually, he closed his mouth and pulled his lips into a reassuring smile, standing up to meet her stance. "Listen to yourself Ellie, you make yourself seem like a horrible person, and you are not. People get hurt, that's life." Trying to choose his words carefully, he took a small breath before he continued. "You do not waste my time. If you did I wouldn't have invited you out here. You are great Ellie, when are you going to start seeing that?" Jack didn't want to be confrontational, he hoped he wouldn't be starting a fight.

[Elisia Lark]

It was amazing how one very nice girl could think so lowly of herself. It wasn't as though she got torn down daily by the school bully or that her fathers didn't pay her compliments on a regular basis. Rather that she compared herself to everyone else and always felt as though she wasn't as good as she could be. She looked at Callie and saw this sweet girl that knew how to love people without things getting all crazy (clearly she didn't know the whole story). She looked at Carter and saw a boy that was happy without being pulled into a relationship, though she knew that one day he would find someone he really cared for. All of her friends seemed to know what they were doing and here she was, completely clueless.

Ellie couldn't even be sure that the kiss meant anything and yet she was still freaking herself out. The thought that it didn't mean anything was a lot harder than the one that it had meant something. She didn't know what she was thinking or feeling, yet she knew that she liked him. That she had missed him. And that despite everything she really did want to be with him again, to try once more at this thing that was supposedly so normal for teenagers. But how could she know what he wanted? What he felt?

She took a shaky breath and turned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. This was what she wanted, she knew. Him and his arms around her. It didn't matter that she felt like she wasn't worth his time if he felt that she was, it was his choice. She was done making choices for others because that was what got them both hurt in the first place. If he didn't want her, he could make that decision himself. But for now, she was going to take advantage of the fact that he didn't seem to mind being around her. "I just really really need to stop over-thinking everything," She muttered against his chest.

[Jack Montoya]

Jack watched her, lost in thoughts of his own. The girl in front of him seemed to not feel as if she was good enough to be in a relationship, or something along those lines. If only he had tried to dig deeper, maybe he could have uncovered that the first time, and helped her feel better about herself. he honestly didn't know what it was like, feeling like he didn't deserve someone. But he had seen the sadness and confusion in her eyes, the way she held herself. He should have seen it, but he didn't. Maybe he should have asked Blaire about it, she would have known what to do.

Anxiety filled him as Ellie turned back into him, and a wave of relief shot through him as she wrapped her arms back around his waist, and hugged into him. He could feel her face on his chest, her warm breath against his shirt, and a goofy grin replaced the smile he had plastered on his face. It took him a bit to realize that she had muttered something into his chest, about over-thinking things.

Gently, he let his own arms drop and rest on her back, pulling her into a tighter hug. "Over-thinking things is what you do, it's a quirk. You just can't stop it Ellie, but maybe you can key me into some of those thoughts next time, if you feel like you are getting in over your head." He responded, kissing the top of her head. If there was a time to do it, it would be now. "Ellie would you go to the halloween dance with me?"

[Elisia Lark]

He could have dug deeper and probably would have uncovered these hidden insecurities that she had. Surprisingly she was good at hiding them because she always pawned off what she did on her failure at being able to properly socialize. No one ever questioned it because she was a wallflower and it was to be expected from someone that didn't enjoy talking to people as much as they did listening. It was a wonder that she was telling him all of this now. Granted they had already dated and she did feel comfortable with him, she didn't like complaining about her problems when there were others with so much more going on in their lives. In comparison, she had it so easy.

His arms wrapped around her and he pulled her closer, which only made things feel so much better. Maybe she really could do this. Relationships didn't have to be so complicated when they were first starting off and she didn't have to put as much pressure on herself just trying to work things out. Elisia needed to learn to let things happen the way that they were supposed to without interfering before everything ran its course. When Jack responded, she glanced up at him. A quirk, yeah, she had a lot of those. Rambling fell into that category as well. Keying him in. Yes, she could do that. She didn't have to deal with everything all on her own. Wasn't that part of being in a relationship?

"That sounds fair," She answered with a smile as his lips brushed against the top of her head. Ellie pulled back and settled for taking his hands and lacing their fingers together. It was so surprising how easy things still were between them. It hadn't taken her long to fall right back into the same pattern. And when he popped his question, she looked back up at him and chewed on her lower lip. The dance. Their first dance. She could handle that, couldn't she? She wanted to. She could. "Yes, of course. Hope you can keep up, ya know. 'Cause I'm kind of a dancing maniac, since I do a lot of dancing and just love music and hopefully they play good music. If not, I'm going to have to seriously school them in a lesson of picking good dance music....and I'm done now, sorry." Ellie laughed and blushed when she caught herself rambling yet again. It never failed when she was with him.