Clover-
"I SAID YOU SHOULDN'T BE OUT HERE!" I tremble, suddenly lifted by my jacket collar a good ways off the ground.
"Please don't-''
Opening my large blue eyes, I peer into the dark brown ones of the figure dangling my perfectly average-sized body in the air.
The large fingers gripping my collar suddenly loosen, and I manage to wiggle to freedom. The once intimidating man in front of me looks visibly shaken, and I graciously take this opportunity to get the hell away.
"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" I take off sprinting as fast as I can towards the old house. My face turns pale as I quickly shoot a glance behind me… the scary man is gone.
Where is he?
I don't have to wait long for an answer as I am suddenly engulfed by big, strong arms. I try to stream, but a large hand clamps over my mouth.
"Hey! Shhh! Calm down, it's alright." I feel a rumble in the chest behind me, which I am tightly pressed against.
Squirming, I attempt to free myself from the strange man's strong grasp like I had managed to do a short while ago. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be as effective as it was a minute prior. He hasn't even loosened his grip on me an inch!
"You know, you can get hurt out here, running all alone like that… easy prey." The man, seemingly oblivious to my struggles, of all things, begins to lecture me.
I grumble a muffled "you're not my mom," making the intimidating figure stare at me, confusion evident in his slightly pleasing brown eyes.
Wait, why am I thinking about his pretty eyes? I'm being held against my will by this creep!
"I'm Jackson, Jackson Hemming. What's your name?" He finally moves the hand covering my mouth, then stares at me, rather intently, waiting for a response. I contemplate using my alias, Kevin Davenport, but inevitably decide against it.
"I'm Clover," I mutter reluctantly.
"Clover," Jackson says, rolling the name over his tongue. "What a beautiful name!"
Excuse me?! Who did this man think he was? Scaring me, grabbing me, and now flirting with me!
"I'm sorry if that startled you, it's just you're so PERFECT!"
I squirm against Jackson's strong grip, visibly shocked. "Your blue eyes, freckled skin, small stature, and fiery red hair are so–"
He breaks momentarily to pet (yes, pet) my head.
"I… I just can't believe you're mine!" Smiling, Jackson pulls me tighter (if that's even possible) into his muscular chest. Despite how weirded out I was by the entirety of the Jackson ordeal, I was oddly comforted in his arms; they were warm and made me feel somewhat safe.
"What do you mean by that?" I choked out, confused by Jackson's choice of language. Instead of responding, he simply chuckled before kissing me on my head?!
Wtf?!
I had only met this guy less than 20 minutes ago, and he deemed it appropriate to kiss me?
"You should meet the pa- family!" Jackson gasped excitedly.
Family?
"I'm sorry, but it's pretty late; I should head home," I answered his absurd statement coolly.
"Aww! But Mom would love to meet you!" He whined, oddly, like a hurt puppy.
"Well, if I don't get back soon, my mom will be wondering where I went." I countered his irrational reasoning.
Why would his mom want to meet me?!
"You could sleep with me!" I raised my eyebrows, but Jackson quickly corrected himself somewhat. "I… I mean, you could, um, we could, uhh HAVE A SLEEPOVER!"
What was this dude like, 5?
"I'm sorry, but I don't know you," I answered the obvious to his outlandish request.
"What do you mean you don't know me?!" Jackson looked at me, hurt. "I'm your ma- boyfriend!"
Okay, that's it!
I struggle against Jackson's arms, annoyed when I'm still unable to free myself. Sighing, I give in, hoping the annoying man-child will let me go.
"Of course I'm your boyfriend!" I respond in the same tone I used to use with the children I encountered during my old job at OceanSplash Water Park.
Unfortunately, this seemed to have an opposite effect. He squeezed me even closer to his warm body. Hell, I'd be surprised if I didn't break a rib or two by now.
"Can you let me go now?" I choke out, almost muffled by Jackson's large chest. To my surprise, the man-child frowned before releasing me.
"FREEDOM!"
I turned and sprinted in the direction of my house as soon as the large arms holding me loosened. However, my taste of freedom was short-lived.
"Ack," I coughed, as someone grabbed the hood of my purple windbreaker and yanked me backwards, right into the strong arms I had just escaped.
"I KNEW YOU WOULD TRY TO RUN OFF!" The figure behind me rested his chin atop my messy red hair. "How could you run away from your boyfriend like that?!"
Because you're a rando creep and not my boyfriend…
ALSO I'M NOT GAY!
I didn't dare say that, though, I wanted to get away, and angering Jackson would certainly be most unhelpful pertaining to my escape.
"I'm sorry, it's just my Mom will probably wake up soon, and if I'm not there-"
"Say no more! I'll take you home, darling!" Jackson grinned before releasing me from a suffocating bear hug, and intertwining his fingers with my own.
Shit… I don't want this guy to know where I live.
"I uh… I can go myself. Heh, it's pretty late, won't your parents be wondering where you are?"
"Nonsense!" He flashed his weirdly pointed teeth at me. "I will take you home."
This guy sure is insistent. Annoying.
"You kept trying to run off in this direction, so I'm assuming it's this way?" Jackson, despite not knowing where my house was, began dragging me in the general direction of the ugly old thing.
"We are almost there, you can go now." I sniffled, not realizing how much the cold had been affecting me.
Jackson noticed and lifted his warm hand against my cool cheek. "Clover, you're freezing!"
For some reason, I don't stop a worried-looking Jackson from pulling me into another suffocating hug. Sure, it would look awkward to a passing bystander, but I was freezing, and his chest was warm and comfortable.
It was just like I belonged there.
I shook my head, attempting to ward off unwanted thoughts as I snuggled closer into him, hearing the loud thumping of his heart increase.
After a few minutes, I finally pushed myself out of his arms. Despite my reluctance to lose the warmth, the awkward situation had grown ten times more unbearable. Because Jackson now creepily smelling my neck.
Who even does that?!
"Warm now?" Jackon quickly covered whatever feeble distance I had made between us in a few strides, then placed a calloused hand on the back of my neck.
He was holding it roughly enough that I couldn't get away, but not so much that it was painful.
"Erm, yeah, can we keep walking now? It's getting late." I observed, wanting nothing more than to get away from this clingy man.
"Of course." With a firm grip still on my neck, Jackson finally allowed us to continue forward.
"Ah, this is it!" I lie pointing to a white washed farmhouse, as I try to pull away from Jackson's unwavering grip on the back of my neck.
Blankly staring ahead, Jackson deeply inhales. "Are you sure this is your house?" He shoots me a look a teacher would give a child caught cheating on their homework.
Why doesn't he believe me?!
"Yep! I'm sure!" Prying Jackson's stupidly large fingers off the back of my neck, I begin to walk towards the old farmhouse. Looking back, I see him intently watching my venture towards the house.
"YOU CAN GO NOW!" I shout at the tall figure. Huh, I was just now realizing how tall this man was after viewing him from afar. He was definitely over 6 feet, making my almost 5 '9 height appear small in comparison.
"Asshole making me look short," I grumble under my breath.
"I'll wait right here until you go in. Also, you are short." Jackson chuckles.
Crap, he heard that?!
"That's alright, you should head home. I don't want you getting back super late." I counter the persistent idiot.
"Sweet that you care about me, but I can spare a minute to watch you walk into your house." Jackson starts moving towards me, making me bolt to the farmhouse's tacky blue door.
Please be unlocked. Please be unlocked.
Crossing my fingers, I slowly turn the golden knob, almost crying tears of joy as it swings open.
Jackson cocks his head to the right as he watches me enter the house, but says nothing. I quickly close the door as quietly as possible behind me, then rest my back against it, sliding down onto the hardwood floors.
After a few minutes of silently waiting in the random farmhouse, I peeked out a window adjacent to the door I was resting against, delighted to see that Jackson was no longer there. I could finally go home!
I force my shaking hand to clamp down on the brass handle, opening the door. I desperately needed to get out of whoever's house I was intruding on in the middle of the night, but the possibility that Jackon could jump out and nab me at any given second was almost too much.
Scanning my surroundings, I jog hastily to the road, headed towards my ugly new house. Running faster as howls engulf the once peaceful, silent night.