Kristen shut the door behind her and shuffled over to his side. "I'm not that late," she said, pulling at the sleeves of her coat.
"It's fifteen minutes after," Jonathan said.
Kristen looked up at the clock. He was right. "Oh," she said, "Sorry. I was... busy."
Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "Busy?"
"Yeah," Kristen said, sitting beside him and unzipping her bag, "Ready to start then?"
Jonathan eyed her suspiciously. "Kristen... what's that on your neck?" he asked.
Kristen quickly adjusted her collar, covering the red mark. "Nothing," she said, "David and I were just..." She trailed off, turning pink.
Jonathan frowned, but decided not to press it further, remembering his promise. He changed the subject instead. "So did you stop by your sister's?" he asked, saying the first thing that popped into his head.
Kristen shook her head. "I haven't really been by Annalise's since... well since the day I got mad at you guys."
Jonathan furrowed his brow. "What? But you always have gone over there at least every day before tutoring if not more," he said.
"I know, but clearly she doesn't want me around," Kristen said, "All I ever wanted was for her to open the door and talk to me. Just to tell me what's going on in her life. But no. I get nothing. I give her everything and she shuns me. So why give your heart to someone who doesn't love you back?"
This was unusual coming from Kristen. Normally she would always keep the faith that everything would work out for the best, no matter how difficult or hopeless it got. But now... she was giving up? On her own sister? Something definitely was not right. And he had a feeling that something was tall, red-haired, and worked at Student Services.
"So, let's start," Kristen said, pulling out her math book.
Jonathan noticed that she had not removed her mittens. Or her hat for that matter. It was rather warm and stuffy in the room and it wasn't very easy to write while wearing mittens. Wasn't she hot?
"Kristen, why are you wearing your mittens?" Jonathan asked.
"Because I like them," Kristen answered pointedly.
"But, don't you think it'll be a little hard to write with them on?"
"No."
"Aren't you hot?"
"No."
"It's like a thousand degrees in here and you're still wearing all your layers."
"I'm fine!"
"Kristen, you should at least--" But then he saw it. There on her face right beside her ear. Covered under layers and layers of foundation and blush was the faint shadow of a bruise. If that bruise were just an accident, she would not have gone through so much trouble to try and cover it up like that.
Jonathan took a deep breath to try and keep his voice steady. "Kristen," he said slowly, "What is that on your face?"
Kristen slowly raised a hand to the spot. She knew exactly what he was talking about. She swallowed hard. "This?" she said timidly, "It's... it's nothing really. I just hit my face on my dresser when I bent down to pick up my backpack this morning. You know me! Always a klutz!"
Jonathan shook his head. "Kristen, you're a terrible liar," he said, "If someone hurt you--"
"It wasn't on purpose! He didn't mean to!" Kristen interrupted.
"Who?" Jonathan demanded.
"David!" Kristen cried, "I was over at his place and we started kissing and after a while, things started to get a little rough."
Jonathan felt his blood boil. He clenched his fists until his fingers turned white. "What do you mean "a little rough"?"
"He just got carried away, that's all," Kristen explained, "We were all over the apartment. I'm not very big or experienced, it's not his fault. It's mine. It won't happen again."
Jonathan closed his eyes, attempting to control the fury bubbling to the surface. "Did you--? I mean you didn't...?" he couldn't even finish his sentence. The image was too horrible to imagine.
"No, no," Kristen said, "We didn't."
"But, he hit you?" Jonathan asked, gesturing to the bruise on her cheek, "What else happened?"
Kristen sighed then removed her mittens and hat, and rolled up her sleeves. She had a large bandage wrapped around one of her wrists and forearm while the other was littered with bruises and small cuts. One giant bruise peered out from below her hairline. Jonathan at first could not even move from shock, but slowly it morphed into rage.
He began to breathe heavily. Just the thought of anybody even touching her made him want to punch a hole in something. His jaw tightened and he clenched his fists once more. He closed his eyes, attempting to control it. If he so much as moved, he might flip the table or something.
"Jonathan? Jonathan, it's okay. Jonathan?" Kristen's voice barely broke through his foggy mind, "Jonathan, calm down. Everything's going to be fine. It's not going to happen again. I promise."
He just shook his head, eyes still closed. This was too much. Something had to be done. He knew this guy was no good for her before, but now? Actually physically hurting her? No. Too far.
He felt a pair of small hands pulling on his arm. "Come on, we need to get you out of here," he heard Kristen's voice saying.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Thanks for the milkshake," Jonathan said as he and Kristen walked side by side down town.
"My pleasure," Kristen said, "Didn't you say they always make you feel better no matter what?"
Jonathan gave a small smile. "You got me," he replied.
They continued to walk and Kristen looked around at the buildings as they passed, curiously. "I've never been to this part of town before," she remarked.
Jonathan suddenly seemed to become aware of their surroundings. A look of recognition flashed through his eyes briefly before he replied to her as casually as possible, "Don't uh... we usually walk back this way?"
Kristen raised her eyebrows. "We've only ever gone to get milkshakes once before, and afterwards we went our own ways."
"Oh..." Jonathan said, distracted.
"Do you know where we are?" Kristen wondered after a moment of silence.
Jonathan gave a half shrug. "Well... my family kind of lives down here."
Kristen perked up at the mention of his family. "Really?" she asked, "Where?"
Jonathan pointed. "Just down the street, around the corner," he said, "They own the bakery down there."
Kristen grinned up at him. "We should go visit!" she cried, "I'd love to meet your parents."
"Yeah, um... that might be a bit difficult, seeing as I don't have any," Jonathan said.
Kristen froze. She had an ultra annoying habit of always putting her foot in her mouth, but this had to take the cake. She turned towards him, jaw slack and eyes pleading. "Oh my... I didn't... I am so sorry!" she said.
"Hey, it's fine," he replied, "It was a long time ago. I barely even remember it."
"What happened?" Kristen asked cautiously, hoping desperately that she wasn't prying.
"Car accident," Jonathan replied, "I wasn't in the car, so I was fine."
"How old were you?" Kristen asked.
"Four," Jonathan said.
Kristen suddenly pounced on him, squeezing him around the middle. "I am so sorry! I can't even imagine!"
He patted her on the back, probably his way of hugging her back. "It's okay," he said, "My grandparents took me in."
Kristen released him and pulled back. "They did?"
"Yeah. They're the ones who own the bakery."
Kristen shuffled her feet. "Can we... can we still go visit?" she wondered.
Jonathan cracked a smile. "Sure. I guess for a bit. I need to ask them something anyways."
They began walking once more in the direction of the bakery. Kristen noticed Jonathan was suddenly looking a bit nervous. "Are you okay?" she asked him.
"Yeah, it's just... about my family. Well, it's not just my grandparents. See, they're kind of... getting on in years, so my aunts have been running the place. They also helped raise me and they're well...," he paused trying to come up with the right words, "They can be a little um... inappropriate and... a little overbearing. And kind of loud. Well, I say kind of, I mean really. But, they're fine. They mean well. Like..."
"Jonathan," Kristen had to stop his nervous rambling before he had a breakdown, "They sound wonderful."
Jonathan nodded. "Alright then," he said, hen he marched forward towards a building labeled "Borg’s Bakery".
"And here we are," Jonathan announced, opening the door.
Inside was what any typical bakery shop would look like with a counter and a couple small tables. At the counter, behind a pane of glass sat all assortments of breads, pastries, cakes, brownies, cookies, pies, rolls, donuts, and so on. A girl, probably not much older than Kristen, stood behind the counter, idly wiping a spatula. She looked up as the bell on the door jingled when they entered. Her eyes brightened up at the sight of them.
"Jonathan!" she cried happily.
"Hey, Louise," he greeted her.
She put down her spatula then actually hopped over the counter and rushed towards them until she flung her arms around Jonathan. "It's so good to see you!" she cried.
"Yeah, you too," Jonathan said.
Kristen just watched from behind. The girl, Louise, finally noticed her. "And, you're being completely rude," she said to Jonathan, giving him a playful nudge, "Who's this?"
"Oh this is my friend, Kristen," Jonathan said, "Kristen, this is my cousin, Louise."
"Hi, Kristen! It's so great to meet you!" Louise declared, grabbing Kristen's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. Kristen was just grateful it wasn't her injured one.
"You too," Kristen said, smiling.
"Jonathan, you didn't tell me you had such pretty friends," Louise said, "I thought it was just going to be you and bed-head boy forever."
"You mean Sam?" Jonathan said, then he smirked, "He does kind of have bed-head, doesn't he?"
"So are you two...?" Louise began, gesturing to the two of them.
Kristen instantly felt herself blush and Jonathan crossed his arms. "You would like that wouldn't you?" he said, "No. Just friends."
"Aw, too bad," Louise said, "You guys look so cute together, even though this guy is kind of a slob, but still if you just..."
"Is Aunt Bertha around anywhere!?" Jonathan loudly interrupted.
"Yeah, in the back," Louise replied, "Everyone's back there actually."
"Great," Jonathan said, "Come on, Kristen."
"Bye!" Kristen waved to Louise before following Jonathan behind a curtain.
Kristen was surprised by a massive room filled with shelves, pots, pans, ovens, stoves, sinks, counters, etc. It was much larger than she had been expecting. As soon as they had entered, Jonathan shouted, "Hey, guys!"
It was then that Kristen noticed all the people inside, crouched down behind shelves, huddled over stoves, bent over mixing bowls. At Jonathan's voice, they all simultaneously stopped what they were doing and looked up.
"JONATHAN!" one of the women, with her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun, cried out ecstatically.
Everyone began to echo the sentiment with equal enthusiasm.
A small, thin woman with dark blonde hair approached Jonathan and took his hand his her's. "Aw, my baby's all grown up!" she cooed happily.
"Aunt Millie, you saw me two weeks ago," Jonathan said.
"That's time enough to grow!"
Another woman approached, grabbing his arm. "Have you been doing your laundry, young man?" she asked sternly.
"Yes," Jonathan answered.
"Have you been using that fabric softener I gave you?" she asked.
"Yes, Aunt Janice, and my clothes are a hundred times softer!" Jonathan replied dryly.
A young boy suddenly came running around a shelf. "Jonathan! Jonathan!" he squealed.
He ran right into Jonathan's arms. "Hey! What are you doing back here?" Jonathan asked him.
"Daddy's taking us for ice cream after work," the boy said, grinning.
""Us"?" Jonathan turned to look just as a wild throng of children came bursting out from behind the shelf and towards him, screaming happily.
They all basically attacked Jonathan, clambering up him or clinging to his arms and legs as he struggled for balance. "Whoa! It's the little monkeys!" Jonathan cried, laughing.
"Jonathan, did you bring anything?"
"Jonathan, where's Sam?"
"Jonathan, what's school like?"
"Jonathan, if I keep making this face, will it get stuck that way?"
Kristen still stood in the doorway completely unnoticed by the family, but she didn't mind. She liked just watching Jonathan interact with the kids. She gave a small laugh as she watched one of them honk his nose.
That was when the dark-haired woman noticed her. Her eyes widened for a moment, then she grinned. "Everybody look! Johnny's brought someone!" she announced.
Everyone turned to look at her, then each of them broke out into wide grins. Jonathan put down the kids and moved over to Kristen. "Yeah, uh... everyone! This is Kristen," he said.
Kristen gave a wave. "Hi!"
The dark-haired woman approached in excitement. Jonathan gestured to her, "This is my Aunt Bertha. She runs this place."
Bertha smiled and looked Kristen up and down for a moment. "Mm, yes. Yes! Yes!" she declared, "So how long have you been with our little Jonathan?"
It took a moment of her grinning up at the two of them before they realized her full meaning. Kristen felt the blush rising to her cheeks once more. Jonathan covered his face. "No, you guys," he said.
"Yeah, I'm not... we're not. We don't..." Kristen said, trying to find the right way to say it without sounding too harsh.
Bertha smiled. "Mm, I see, I see. Well, just give it some time."
"Er, no," Jonathan said, "She has a boyfriend."
"Well boyfriends come and go," a balding man spoke up from behind a counter, "But true matches like this stick through the hardest of times."
Jonathan covered his face once more, but didn't say anything.
"True love is sacrifice," an older woman said, "True love is loyalty, true love is protection, true love is not trying to change the other person."
Kristen's curiosity was piqued. Maybe she could learn a little something from this. "And you think we have that?" she asked.
"Well, you look at a couple and you can sense a closeness and you can just tell... they are right for each other. They've got that true love," the old woman answered.
"Is grandpa around?" Jonathan suddenly asked loudly.
"He's napping in his chair in the office," Bertha answered, pointing.
"Thanks," Jonathan said, "I'll be right back, Kristen, then we can go."
And he quickly made his way in the direction that Bertha had pointed.
Everyone watched him disappear. There was silence for a moment then Bertha sighed. "Poor kid. He's been through a lot," she said to Kristen, "You know he actually watched his parents's car get hit by that maniac driver."
Kristen looked at her. "What?"
"Yeah, he was standing right there and they were driving to pick him up from our house when the guy came out of nowhere. Smashed the car like an accordion. He's been afraid to get inside a car ever since. Not that he doesn't, but he avoids it when he can."
So that explained his phobia. Kristen instantly felt a pang of sympathy towards him. It explained a lot about him. His loneliness, his bitterness. He was just shutting out his past pain and any future pain.
After a few moments, Jonathan appeared again. "Ready to go, Kristen?" he asked.
Kristen nodded. "Yeah, let's go."
They began to make their way towards the exit. "Bye, guys," Jonathan called.
Everyone gave their goodbyes. Kristen waved, "Bye!"
"Bye, Kristen! Come again soon!" everyone chorused.
"I will! I promise!" Kristen said. And with that she turned and followed Jonathan out.
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