Under Your Spell

[shtteredprnces]

Under your Spell

Sara Black written by shtteredprncess.  Jalil Clearwater written by Amorentia  Reg Black written by shtteredprncess

Reg POV

I knew we needed damage control.  It only took one look at Sara's face last night to know the words Bunny Ranch had not been misinterpreted.  If there was one thing that was going to turn Sara away from any thoughts of J, it was being reminded of what a player he was known to be.

"Hey!" I called out, seeing her walking along the edge of the stream, the wind blowing the locks of her hair behind her, the sleeves of her baggy white sweater hanging past the tips of her fingers, her blue jeans hugging her curves.  She looked thoughtful as she turned her face up to mine, and sure enough, there was a trace of doubt lingering in those deep brown eyes.

"Morning...what are you doing out here?  You hate walks...and mornings." she asked, her brow furrowed as she glanced around, apparently looking for back up.  I felt a little bad that we'd reached that place, but not so bad that I was going to stop what I was doing. 

"i wanted to talk to you.  I know you pretty well, ya know.." I grinned her way, walking over.

She took a few steps back and I stopped my procession, watching her arms curl around her waist, "Yeah I know," the way she sighed said she thought I was about to use it against her.  And I was, but not in the way she was thinking. 

"Did you have fun last night? You really looked like you were.  I've never seen you light up doing karaoke the way you were with J last night.  Must help that he gets as into it as you do."  Just as I thought, her face darkened more, that worry line moving across her forehead.

"Yeah it was good times." she sighed, pasting on a smile and I sat down, trying to put her mind at ease.

Sara POV

I didn't know what he wanted, but I knew I wanted no part in it.  When his eyes met mine, I read them, searching for signs of mischief, even more concerned when I couldn't figure out exactly what I was seeing there. "I..uh...I saw your face when you heard about the Bunny Ranch thing."

I sighed once more, looking away.  I knew he knew how to read me, and I wasn't at the point where I wanted my thoughts analyzed right now.  I wasn't even sure what to make of them at this point myself.  I didn't know why it was bugging me so bad.  I knew J was a player.  And we were just friends.  Good friends.  Good friends that really enjoyed each other.  Best friends.  Best friends didn't get to have a say in what skanky ho's their friends decided to lose themselves in, much less feel hurt by it.  "It's cool...a little sleazy...but cool."

I heard him stand back up and immediately went back on guard, "He's not going.  It wasn't his idea, you know?  It was Marcus and Peni's Christmas gift.  Apparently they think he's that nasty and has no self respect."

I looked back over at him, searching his face once more for signs, not that it mattered.  J could do what he wanted.  I loved Blaise.  I was marrying Blaise.  J was just my friend.  Still, I couldn't help but ask, "If he didn't care, why was he so excited when he saw it?"

Reg POV

I had to think quick for that one, "Cause he's a guy and we all have to put up a front.  Well, all of us but Marcus and we all know he's a pussy." I tried to draw her mind away from it.

She gave me a small smile, her attention going back to the stream, leaning to pick up rocks to toss in it, throwing them in one at a time.  It hurt to see her sad and know I was no longer the one that could bring the smile to her face, but I passed that torch when I made her break her hand on my jaw. 

Sara POV

Part of me was glad when I saw J walking up, just because it meant an end to me being alone with Reg.  Where once that was second nature, playing, talking, tickling, joking, now it was a stressor, leaving me feeling the need to watch my back...front and sides as well.  The other part of me sighed, watching him lean down and join me in throwing the rocks.  I didn't want J to join me.  I wanted J as far from my thoughts and vision as I could get him until I got this all figured out.  That's what I wanted.  Except that I didn't.  And therein lived my issue.

Reg stood nodding towards me as he said to J,  "You got this?" Reg was leaving,  Leaving me alone with J.  J the player who managed to twist me up even though he shouldn't be able to and even though I should know better.  And I did know better.  The moment he was out of my vicinity, I knew all kinds of things.  Like that he was skeezy enough to go to the Bunny Ranch. 

With yet another sigh, I tried to get them both to go, "There is nothing to get"  At some point in time, someone in this group was going to come to terms with the knowledge that I really could take care of myself.

"She looks like she's got it to me"  And of course that someone would be J.  Of course.

Giving him a small smile, I showed my appreciation, "Thank you."  Reg shook his head, just laughing, as he turned to leave.  Turning back to face the stream, I tried to pretend like i couldn't feel that J was still there, just a few feet away, doing something really cool with the rocks he was flinging across the water. 

It wasn't working.  It was like some part of me woke up last night to the fact that he was...well...J.  Or maybe just woke up to what realizing that means.  Everything it meant was wrong.  So why did it feel so right?  Why was him being there ok when it wasn't for any one else?  Why could I talk to him when I didn't want to talk to anyone?  Why could he make me laugh like it was for the last time? Why did he make me feel safer than anyone else, like when he was there, nothing could hurt me, even in the middle of all of this?  Why was he just...him?  For all that he wasn't magic, I felt like he had me under a spell.

Throwing another rock at the stream, I finally gave up on ignoring him, instead taking in his thoughtful face and asking, "Everything ok?"

He looked back at me, a smile lighting the corners of his mouth as he asked back,  "Is everything okay with you?"

Jalil POV

Maybe Marcus and Peni were right. It was all this close proximity that was clouding my judgement. I'd stood guard for Scrappy for months, hanging some, teaching her self defense, and never had this kind of situation arise. Now it arose, I had no idea what to do with it. I never felt like this for a girl before, ever. I never thought I would. When I should be walking away, I wanted to hold on. As I told Blaise I was not a threat, I wanted to edge him out of her picture. I don't think it's Peni or Marcus's place to tell me I'm not in love. In my mind what could it be but love? Cause everyone said love makes you do crazy things. I was doing crazy things for Sara. I couldn't even consistently call her by her nickname anymore. The woman has gotten under my skin.

She ran her hand through her hair, "You know me..."

That's the thing. I did know her. It was another thing I did not know what to do with. I'd never gotten this close to a woman. Still wanting to know more? To still be wanting to spend more time with her past just being a Protector? It was unheard of. Why should pull back from that? Because of Blaise? Because of Peni and Marcus? Even besides them, there was still something inside me holding me back.

Scrappy shrugged, "Did you have fun last night?"

Bending to grab more rocks, I remembered the look on her face when Marcus announced the gift he gave me to the Bunny Ranch. Just the fact there was a moment of hurt or disappointment there, meant something. 

I replied, "It was a pretty good time." It was until Marcus called me out on the Bunny Ranch, Little Bit convinced me not to go, and I ended up being the one sleeping alone, again.

Skipping another stone, it skipped along the top of the water six times before dropping below the surface I asked, "Did you?"

"Yeah, it was fun.  For the most part." She answered.

A smile smile played on my face. I understood completely wanting to know, "When did it go downhill for you?"

Looking over her shoulder at me she returned the question, "Why only pretty good?"

So she didn't want to talk about it either. That was good by me. I kind of laughed giving her a, "Good point."

Rolling her eyes, she met my laugh saying, "You show me yours..I'll show you mine?"

Any way in which I could interpret that phrase would be wrong. That whatever it was inside me holding me back told me that. Quietly I told her, "I don't think this is something we should talk about, Scrappy. One of those things that needs to stay unspoken."

The way she nodded told me she understood. That was another great thing. She understood - about me and my past, my feelings about Justin leaving this world, she got that. Taking a stone in hand she tried to skip it across the top of the water looking disappointed when it plopped in dropping to the bottom. I had to help.

Sara POV

His arm brushed mine as he moved beside me, taking my fingers into his hand, "You have to take a smooth round one..like this." he turned my hand over in his, placing a large smooth stone on my fingers and wrapping them around it gently. so that only the edges were clasped, "You have to have it at about a 20 degree angle to the water. You need to send it spinning in a strait line with the flat end at the water. Kind of like you through a frisbee."  His hand moved with mine, showing me what he was talking about, like a practice run, before taking a step back and letting me do it on my own.  It was nice the way he did that.  Not trying to do for me what I could do for myself, even if I didn't get it right.  It was letting me try that counted.

I watched fascinated as it hit the water, skipping once, twice before finding it's way beneath the water's surface.  Proud of myself for something so simple, I turned to him with a smile, surprised for a moment at how close we still were.  Our eyes locked, and that little part of me that he sparked to life beneath the mistletoe jumped.  Swallowing hard, I looked away, putting that part of me in a cage.  With a lock.  And an electric fence.  And sneeker scopes.   Turning my mind away from my thoughts, I gave him a soft, "Thanks"

That smile lingered around the corner of his lips again as his hands found their way into his pockets, but neither of us moved away. He glanced away for a moment, which immediately had me looking up at him as he said,  "I'm probably going to be staying at the Pack house for a few days. Can we still hang out?"

"Why?" I was hoping I wasn't the reason he was leaving,  Maybe my comfort level was making him uncomfortable.  Maybe it was too much.  But if that was the case, he had other options.  Options I decided to remind him of,  "Don't you have a trip to take anyway?"

"No, I'm not going. I appreciate the thought. But it's not what I want."  I bit back the smile that threatened at his words, reminding myself again that J was a player.  Players knew the right thing to say to put a girl at ease.  Didn't Reg prove that too me on a regular basis?  Didn't J show it last night?  Maybe not with his gift, but with the way he pushed up on Tori?  The way he always seemed to be watching her, looking for an in.  Maybe the lines and comfort he was giving me now were just that...another move in a players game.  I was more tired than I could ever explain of being someone's pawn. 

Looking back up in his eyes, I searched for sincerity there, biting back my bitterness and reminding myself whatever game we might be playing, we were friends.  For all I might doubt the motives of his moves, I didn't doubt the truth of that statement, any more than I doubted that if I needed him, he would be there.  My protector.  Digging into the heart of his statement, I asked, "Why aren't you staying with us?  At Peni's?"

"We have a conflict of interest at the moment. We disagree what I can do with my life and how that can be done under her roof."

I nodded, I could get that.  Peni was like me, she could be quite stubborn when it came to the people she loved,  "That sounds...dangerous." I gave him a smile, not sure of what to say,  "Sorry?"

Jalil POV

"Sorry is a good answer, Scrappy. It is sorry." I smiled. But I told her, "It's okay. It will blow over."

"Until then," Sara winked. "We'll hang out in the yard in the middle."

"That sounds good, Scrappy. What would Scooby do without you."

That's when she leaned up placing a burning kiss on my cheek. My head turned remembering the feel of her lips under the Mistletoe last night and wanting more. Again, something in me pulled back.

"Let's not find out, okay?" She finished. "I think Scrappy kinda depends on Scooby too.  It's a give and take thing.  Or at least I hope it is."

Putting my arm around her I laughed, "Who would help me convert theme songs to Quileute?"

The way her arm reached around my waist felt so natural and non-sexual, it again made me question this whole thing as she laughed, "Yeah, you couldn't live without that."

"I think now we should work on Fat Albert." I gruffed my voice to sound like the song saying, "Hey hey hey it's Fat Albert...."

"That's so wrong.  Poor guy..who wants to be called Fat Albert all the time...I bet he had confidence issues.."

All I could do was laugh at Scrappy's outlook on things. It was so simple yet paid so much attention to detail everyone else missed. I corrected to help poor Albert and his confidence issues, "How about Healthy-for-his-age Albert? Or Big Boned Albert?"

A sincere smile graced Sara's beautiful face as she turned saying, "I'm glad I got you laughing."

I smiled back at her, "Yeah, you too." Picking up another smooth stone I put it in her hand suggesting, "Give it a shot." Moving up close behind her, again I helped her with the trajectory to skip the stone.  For a moment she leaned back against me with a smile making my heart swell. Then we both watched as she gave it another try. We both smiled as she got two good skips out of the rock before it sank.

There we sat on the bank of the creek playing with stones till she could get at least four good skips out of one rock. Finally she turned to me saying, "I should get back..." There was a sense of loneliness as she walked away, brightened for a moment by her smile when she turned back saying, "Thanks for playing with me."

I chuckled to myself at her fantastic phrasing telling her completely, "Anytime."