Chapter 8

The two beings once again started trekking through the woods. Jesse wrapped an arm around Clare's shoulder as they walked together. He had suggested earlier that they hurry, but Clare couldn't seem to muster up the energy to run. As he was also quite winded himself, Jesse didn't complain about their slow pace.

After many minutes, Clare mumbled under her breath, almost inaudibly, "She's dead, isn't she?" Her eyes are cast down on the ground, never leaving her feet, her arms crossed.

"I think it's best not to think about it." Jesse rubbed her arm soothingly.

"It's all I think about, Andrew," she sighed, "ever since she went missing."

Jesse nodded in agreement. Once someone is stuck on your mind, no power in the world can rip them from your thoughts. He glanced over at Clare. She looked forlorn, her mouth turned down into a permanent frown. Her eyes are cast down on the ground, looking no where else. There's a smudge of dirt casting a dark shadow on her cheek. Without thinking, he eased his hand up to her cheek rubbed the dirt off with his thumb. While he did this, Clare finally raised her eyes from the ground to look at him.

"It's going to be okay."

She just nods.

"Thank you for doing this. I know that you didn't have to help me."

"I wanted to." He tried giving her a half-hearted smile.

An hour passed until they finally broke through the treeline and back into town. Badger Hill had just started to rise. A few people stroll down the sidewalks, coffees in hand and talking animatedly to coworkers or friends. Little do they know of the turmoil in the two beings walking the same streets with them. Jesse and Clare moved quickly, trying not to attract too much attention. Clare grabbed Jesse's hand and leads him down a sketchy alleyway leading to an apartment complex much like hers. Even though neither of them had slept, and the hours of the day kept dragging, they couldn't dream of sleeping. Not when they were so close to the end of their goal. Clare stopped at the entryway of the apartment. "He lives on the top floor," She muttered.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Clare pulled a small gun out of her bag.

Jesse stopped cold, looking both ways down the alley to make sure that no one saw her produce a firearm. "What the fuck, Clare?"

"How else are we supposed to get her back?" Clare snapped at him, a fire in her eyes that he had never seen before. Jesus. After a moment, Jesse sighed and then nodded, silently telling her to go ahead and lead the way. There wasn't anything else they could do. They were tracking down violent meth-heads, after all. Clare crouched slightly and made her way to the front door of the apartment complex. She went through, and then stopped in the foyer. "Elevator or stairs?"

"Stairs."

She nodded and then bounded up the steps two at a time. He raced after her, barely able to keep up. Once Clare reached the top floor, she put a finger on her lips for Jesse to be quiet. She turned the safety off on the gun and kept it pointed at the last door on the left, which must be Gray's apartment. Jesse looked at the gun, and then at the many doors they passed along the way. Shit, how many people were going to hear the gunshots, if there are any? They would have to be fast, or else they would have the police coming after them.

Clare stopped in front of the door. Her hand shook, and the gun trembled. Jesse put his hand on her wrist, steadying her. "Breathe Clare. Just breathe." She looked up at him gratefully, and they both nod to each other. Then she tried the knob on the door. It wasn't even locked. Were they expecting them, or just stupid enough not to take precautions? They were about to find out. Clare threw the door open and turned swiftly to the right and left as the door slammed against the adjacent wall. There was a living room directly to their left. Gray and his accomplices were simply sitting on a drabby black couch, smoking meth and laughing at something. Kathy was there, her body naked and trembling on the floor. Her hands were tied and there was a gag in her mouth. She did not appear to be conscious.

The men, alerted by the sound of the crashing door, looked up at Clare, utter surprise plastered on their faces. One man moved his hand toward his belt, probably for a gun. Clare shot towards him, and missed by inches. The man flinched and hit the ground nonetheless. Scared as hell. Clare shot him in the neck that time. Blood spurted out of the man's wound in every direction, surprising everyone in the room. Suddenly the bathroom door busted open and appeared another man with his pants halfway down his legs.

"What the fuck!" the man yelled as he quickly tried pulling up his pants, but Clare instantly unloaded two bullets in the man's chest, causing him to fall backwards onto the bathroom floor. Before anybody else could react, Jesse decided to act. He bounded toward Kathy, quickly taking a second to check her pulse before easing her up off the floor and reaching down to carry her in his arms. "She's alive."

Clare, with the gun still shaking in her small hands, pointed the gun at Gray, who was looking at her with hatred in his eyes.

"This is the last thing I expected." Gray said, amused and hateful at the same time. "I thought you would trade yourself for your sister, and you would stay with me for a long, long time. Didn't think you would fight back. Guess I was wrong."

A thousand memories bombarded Clare's mind. His fingers where she didn't want them. His eyes where they should be. He ruined her. She cocked the trigger of the gun back. A warning. "I'll shoot you…"

"Hold it, Clare. You pull that trigger, and you'll be dead in a day."

She was unfazed, the barrel of the gun centered on his head.

"Do it. Do it, Clare. You're fucking dead anyways." Gray turned his attention over to Jesse, "So are you, boy."

Jesse, with Kathy in his arms, made his way toward the door. "We have to go, Clare. Someone probably heard that. The police could be on their way."

Tears streamed out of Clare's eyes but she wiped them away, still pointing the gun at Gray, her tormentor, and the other man who had his hands up in surrender. She seemed to be contemplating something.

"Clare!" Jesse urged her on. "We have to go."

Taking advantage of her indecision, Gray collapsed down onto the ground toward the body of the man. He dug through the man's pockets, looking for the gun.

"Fuck you," Clare shot the gun toward Gray. It skimmed his head, and the force of the bullet knocked him back against the couch. Clare turned on her heel and bounded out of the apartment. Jesse takes one more glance at Gray on the couch. Gray a shriek burst out of his mouth as he lifted his hand away from his face to reveal a gaping wound where his left cheek should have been. Jesse ran out following Clare. He had already taken off his jacket and wrapped it around Kathy's naked body so she wasn't exposed, and removed the restraints and gag. They descended the stairs as fast as they could. Once they left the building, people gave them strange and scared looks. Clare quickly tucked the gun into the waistband of her jeans and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible.

"Should we go back to my apartment?" Clare asked.

"Fuck no," Jesse scanned his surroundings. People everywhere. Watching. Then, a ear-splitting scream erupted from down the block. A garbage man was in the parking lot where Jesse's car was parked. He had opened the dumpster and found the body of Cletus, bleeding and rotting amongst the trash. Another man stood beside it. It was Buck. The man looked up toward Jesse as they walked by.

"You!" Buck pointed to him. "You did this!" He started charging towards them.

"We have to leave." Jesse bounded down to his car, and unlocked it quickly. He gently laid Kathy down in the back seat and then slid into the driver's seat. Clare was right behind. The back window shattered causing Jesse and Clare to duck deeper in their seats. Jesse looks back to see Buck pumping his shotgun and blasting another shell into rear lights. "I'm going to fucking kill you!" Buck yells while loading his shotgun with some more shells.

As soon as she was buckled in Jesse started the car and put it in reverse and hit the gas, knocking Buck back onto the pavement. Screams of protest and surprised from the onlookers ensued. Sirens blared in the distance. Jesse put it back in drive and stepped on the gas and drove straight out of the town, going close to ninety miles an hour. They sped past the Welcome to Badger Hill, the Happiest Place on Earth sign without looking back.

They had to stop after an hour to get gas, despite Clare's protests. She wanted to get as far away from Badger Hill as possible.

"We have to," Jesse muttered as he pulled into a run down gas station in the middle of no where. Clare sighed and turned to look at Kathy laying down in the backseat. She had not yet regained consciousness, and it was starting to worry her. While there were there, Clare decided to make the best of it and get some supplies. She left the car and entered the convenience store while Jesse filled up the car. With some of Jesse's cash, she bought a few plain t-shirts, a pair of sweatpants, bottles of water, and a few wrapped sandwiches. She avoided eye-contact with the cashier as much as possible. This is one of the first places that the police would check for leads.

She returned to the car and got into the backseat with Kathy. She dressed her sister in the sweatpants and a t-shirt before taking Jesse's jacket and swathing her in it like a blanket. Clare returned to the passenger seat just as Jesse slid back into the car and revved the engine. "Ready?" He asked. She nodded.

As they continued speeding down the highway as fast as they dared, Jesse decided to end the uncomfortable silence.

"My name isn't Andrew." He gripped the steering wheel, hard. He probably shouldn't be telling her this, but it felt so awkward for her to call him by someone else's name.

"I'm honestly not surprised." Clare mumbled, looking out the window to the blur of trees and mountains beyond.

Jesse was taken aback. "Seriously?"

"I'm not an idiot, Andr- whatever your name is. You paid for your rent all in cash, and still had more left over. In some ruddy knapsack, nonetheless. It's obvious that you're running from something."
Jesse laughed darkly. Was he that easy to read? He thought that he had been doing pretty well in the whole "pretend not to exist" department. Jesse and Clare shared a minute silence.

"It's Jesse."

Clare turned her head and said softly, "Nice to meet you," then turned back to look out the window. Then, after a brief pause, "Last night, in the parking lot, did you kill Cletus on purpose?"

He grips the steering wheel again. "It was an accident."

"I just murdered two men, Jesse. At least make me feel better and say it was on purpose." Clare adjusted herself while still looking out the passenger window.

"It was an accident. Accidents happen. Like meeting you, Clare. That was an accident. There's no purpose for anything. So don't throw that bullshit at me because you know it. Me, you, Kathy. We're here on accident. Get comfortable, Clare, because what you did back there will be with you forever."

"They took my sister, Jesse! I killed-"

"Stop!" Jesse snapped back. "I didn't want any of this to happen. I wanted to start a new life. Become a new person... You said it yourself, I am running away. I took plenty of lives, Clare, and let me tell you, it's not easy."

"It sure as shit was easy pulling the trigger on that bastard." Clare said under her breath. Jesse glanced at Clare, noticing her smirk. He analyzed her as she was caught up in her reverie. The sun shined behind her, letting only her silhouette grace his eyes. He saw Jane. Jane smirking over Gray's demise. Jane's lips curling up at the edges. Her hair blowing softly in the wind of the half-open window. His breath was cut short, and he had to blink. No, it was Clare. Clare's lips, Clare's hair. Focus back on the road. Don't think.

A short silence came between them, but it wouldn't last for long. She began to speak again, her tone level. She sounded meek, almost timid, afraid to speak what was on her mind. "Was it an accident falling in love with me?"

Jesse turned his head, noticing his accomplice looking down at her feet and twiddling her thumbs. Jesse then returns his eyes back on the road.

"No."

A pause, and then a soft moan came from the back seat.

"Kathy?" Clare swiveled around to appraise her sister. Her eyes were open, staring at the ceiling of the car. Sweat perspired on her brow. "Jesse, pull over."

"No, please…" Kathy closed her eyes and folded in on herself, shivering. "Please don't take me away."

"It's me, Kath!" Clare reached and placed her hand on her sister's. "Don't worry, Kath, we're safe now. I've got you."

With a mix of shock and gratefulness, Kathy gazed at her sister, wondering how she knew, how she did it, before slipping back into the depths of unconsciousness.

Gray stumbled through the front entrance of the apartment building, holding his face with a blood-soaked rag. He moved towards Cletus, who is standing, broodingly, in front of the road with a shotgun in his right hand. There are people gathered all over the sidewalk. Gray reached out and touched Cletus' left shoulder. "Where are they?"

"They're gone, boss." Cletus turned around and acknowledged the gaping wound in Gray's cheek. Fuck, there goes his good looks went through his mind as he assessed it.

"We'll find them. They couldn't have gone far."

"He killed Buck… I'm going to gut the fucker when we find 'em."

A few seconds later, cop cars surrounded Gray and Cletus from all sides. "Drop the gun and get on the ground!" The two men dropped to the ground as the cops surrounded them on foot. As they began to handcuff them both, a voice conjured.

"Hold it," a tall, lanky officer with smooth dark skin like Gray's approached the two men. Gray tried to smile, but he flinched and cried out in the process. He was going to kill that bitch for what she did to his face. "All units hold," the officer clapped a hand on Gray's back. "This little shit is my brother."

The remaining officers were apprehensive, still holding their guns toward Buck, who still gripped his gun. "Have him put the gun down, and we'll back off."

Gray's brother rolled his eyes and then motioned toward Buck with his hand. Buck growled in protest, but threw down his gun and raised his hands in the air.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" The officer chuckled.

"Garrett, good to see you." Gray managed to spewed on the asphalt.

"What the hell happened here, little brother?" He inspected Gray's wound intently, turning his brother's face from side to side with a not-so-gentle hand. "You need to go to the hospital."

"This little bitch-" but Gray stopped short at the sight of multiple people staring at them. "I'll tell you later. Let's get out of here."

"Sure thing," Garrett motioned for the officers to disband, and he led Gray and Buck over to his patrol car. Gray stopped Garrett in the process.

"Garrett, my apartment...it's-" Gray couldn't get his words together, but Garrett understood.

"Son of a bitch." Garrett whispered while shaking his head. "How many?"

"Two...and-" Gray motioned his head over to the dumpster.

"I'll take care of it. You know I'd do anything for you. You're my little brother. I love you… now let's get something for that wound." Garrett swung his arm around Gray's shoulders and continued walking side-by-side as the onlookers on the street slowly dissipated now that the chaos was over. He couldn't wait to hear their story.

Jesse swerved in and out of traffic in order to obtain the law-breaking pace of his new Monte Carlo. Trees and mountains morphed into blurs across the windshield, not bothering to indicate where they were or where they were headed. Hell, Jesse didn't even know.

"We're gonna pass through a couple small towns if you stay on this road for a few hours," Clare said. She had moved to the back seat ever since Kathy had woken up. She was still unconscious, but Clare moved her head in her lap so she could comb her fingers through her hair, trying to coax her sister to wake up. "We could stop in King Cove for the night and get some rest."

"I don't think that's the best idea…" Jesse glanced back at Clare quickly, seeing her gently slide her fingers over her sister's forehead. "It could be one of the first places they look…" He couldn't believe this. Barely three months into his new life and he was already on the run again. He had no other choice than to help Clare and her sister, because he loved her, but it didn't make it any less discouraging.

"What if we stayed at a motel under fake names?"

Jesse sighed, and watched the speedometer slowly rise from ninety to ninety-five, then ninety-five to one hundred.

"We could stay there for a few days, take shifts on keeping watch for the police, and wait for Kathy to wake up, and then-"

Jesse stomped on the brakes. Clare screamed as the car jolted, and he swerved onto the side of the road, gliding on the gravel until the car came to a complete stop. "What the hell Jesse?!" She screamed.

Sweat perspired on his brow. He let his head fall against the steering wheel as he tried to catch his breath. His hands gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles grew white.

"I-I…" Jesse stuttered. "I don't want to run anymore, okay?"

She looked at him, dumbfounded.

"I have done this for years, Clare. It always ends the same. Badly." His hands drop from the steering wheel so they can run through his hair. He rubbed his eyes, and then turned to look at her. Clare had her sister's head cradled in her lap, a lost, scared look in his eyes as she stared back at him.

"It wasn't a mistake falling in love with you, Clare, because I do. I love you. But right now, this is the last thing I needed. I'm just…" Tears well up in his eyes. Fuck. He wiped them away quickly, hoping that she wouldn't notice. "I'm overwhelmed. And I'm scared."

She doesn't say anything, just reaches out and wipes away a spare tear that managed to escape before she says, "I'm scared too."

He nodded his head in understanding. "We'll stay at a motel for one night. Staying any longer would be too dangerous. We have to keep moving."

"And then what?"

"I don't know," He sighed. "I just don't know."

"That's okay," Clare smiled. "To not know what is going to happen next. Nobody really knows for sure."

Jesse revved the engine and eased out of the gravel and back on the road. They drove for many miles without saying a word, except for when Clare had to give him directions to King Cove. After a few hours, they pulled into a cheap motel. It was a small, one story development with old, peeling gray siding. Jesse parked the car and turned the keys, killing the engine. He looked back at Clare and her sister in the backseat.

"She still hasn't responded at all?"

Clare shook her head. Jesse nodded and then hopped out of the car to open the door for her. "I'm going in to pay and get the key, and then we'll carry her in, okay? I don't want anyone to see us."

She nodded while stroking Kathy's hair. He left and paid for one night with cash. The teller was an old, frail woman who looked as if she was about to keel over. She didn't give Jesse a second glance, for which he was glad. There was a less chance that she would remember him if the police came with questions.

He waved the keys at Clare when he arrived, signaling their success, and then quickly scooped Kathy up into his arms as his accomplice fiddled with the lock and opened the door. Jesse slammed the door shut with his foot on the way in while Clare turned on the lights and prepared the bed for Kathy. Then he laid her down carefully before Clare wrapped blanket around her and took one of the water bottles and held it to her lips, trying to coax some hydration into her sister. Clare lifted her at an angle so that the water would glide down her throat without trouble, then eased back down onto the bed.

"What if she doesn't wake up?" Her words are barely a whisper.

"We'll have to take her to the hospital." Jesse eased down into a chair, running a hand across his face. "I hope it doesn't come to that. We can't risk that exposure."

Clare nodded and then turned to rummage through the side dresser drawer. After a moment, she pulled out a remote and turned on an old, dusty television set settled in a corner. She flipped through channels mindlessly, just looking for some background noise to ease the tension of the day. She paused on the news channel. A picture flashing on the screen caught her eye. She started to listen intently to the newscaster.

Still no leads on the whereabouts of Jesse Pinkman, who has been missing for several months. The authorities refused to comment on the issue of-

Jesse jumped out of his chair and tried to swipe the remote from her hands.

"What the hell?" Clare yelled, and held it out of reach. Jesse pounced on her, but she held him back with her foot, keeping the remote high in the air. She turned her attention back to the news. Various mugshots appeared on the screen. An old bald man, many hispanics, and a few other people. But lastly, his face, pre-scars, and with more hair, dominated the screen. Jesse instantly froze, waiting for her reaction.

"Jesse…" she whispered, eyes wide.

He sighed. "Yes?" He back off of her. It was too late now. She saw everything.

"That's you." She stated matter-of-factly.

He gulped, and choked out a meager-"Yes."

Clare quickly turned the television off. "I knew that you were running from something, but," she paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "This is national news."

Jesse paced back over to the chair, sat down, and placed his head in his hands, refusing to look even look at the girl he loved. "You must not keep up with the news."

"No, Jesse, I don't." She threw the remote down on the bed and turned to look at him, her legs crossed and her torso hunched over so she could get a good look at him. "Care to explain?"

Not a word passed through his lips, so she slumped down to the ground in front of him, grabbing his hands and pulling them away from his face forcefully. "Hey," she tried to coax him, "It's okay. You can tell me. I'm not going anywhere."

He still refused to look at her in the eyes. "Have you ever heard of Heisenberg, the meth enthusiast?"

"Yes. Everyone has." Clare's forehead crumpled with confusion. "But you couldn't possibly-"

"I'm not him. I worked with him." Jesse's words shook out of his mouth. Flashes of faces- dead faces- bombarded his mentality. "I sold drugs straight out of high school. After I dropped out, I worked the streets for years, selling second-rate meth. Then one day, my fucking old high school chemistry teacher saw me bail on a raid. He was just sitting in the fucking car. His brother-in-law was a DEA agent taking him on a ride along and shit. Then it turns out that the old man has lung cancer and has no money to take care of his family, you know? And then he blackmailed me into cooking meth with him." Jesse ran his hands through his hair nervously. Should he continue? Yes… she has to know. She has to know what she's getting into. "We got in way too deep, way too fast. We had to kill somebody not even the first week into cooking. Crazy-8 was his name. He kept him alive for days and then… and then the body…"

She just stared at him. Waiting for him to end his story.

"And he didn't want to end there. He wanted more. He always wanted more. And I couldn't get out- believe me Clare, I tried. When I met Jane," He paused, choking up on his words. "I, uh, we fell in love. He got jealous. Thought that she was using me. I wasn't giving him my full attention. I started using again, more than I ever have. Jane wanted to do it. And I just… let her. She died from an overdose. He was there, when it happened. On an old mattress in her apartment. She choked on her own vomit and died and he just watched."

Jesse gazed up at the woman he loved to gauge her reaction, but her face was stoic, so he just kept moving on. "Things were never the same after that. I was a mess when she died. You… You look just like her, you know. Not long after that, we met this kid, Todd, who helped us hide our big cooks. He killed a kid who watched us steal methylamine… His uncle turned up to be the leader of a white supremists gang. They had leverage over me, and, long story short, they kidnapped me and forced me to cook meth for months. They chained me up and-"

She embraced him. Full, and warm, with her arms completely wrapped around him. She held him so hard that it almost hurt, but it felt so good. So comforting. Tears welled up in his eyes. His arms slowly wrapped around her torso as well, and they stayed that way for many moments before Jesse had the courage to speak up again. "I know that I probably scare you now. I would understand if you wanted to leave."

Clare slid a hand under his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Who gives a fuck?"

"What?"

"Who gives a fuck?" She smiled, trying to cheer him up. "Your past is your past. I told you earlier that I wasn't going to judge you for it, because I hope that you don't judge me for mine."

"No," Jesse shook his head. "You don't understand. I killed people. I ruined their lives. People are dead because of me."

"Shh," Clare kissed Jesse and silenced him. It was chaste and warm, but did not linger. They had bigger issues at hand. No time for what they really wanted to do. "Whatever you've done, I have probably done too. I don't care. So shut up, okay?"

The situation was so ridiculous that Jesse had to laugh. It was the first, most pure laugh he had experienced in a long time. "Most girls would run if they knew…"

"Seriously. Shut up," She smacked him playfully.

Jesse prepared to pounce on her. "Come here you little-"

"Clare…?" A soft voice. It was Kathy, slowly trying to rise from her horizontal position on the bed. Sweat covered her body and she trembled. "What's going on?"

"Oh my god," Clare ran over to her sister. "Kathy, are you okay? Do you need water? Here-" she helped her sister with the water bottle, easing the liquid between her lips. Kathy gulped down the water greedily, not bothering to pause for breath. "Are you hungry? I think we have a couple sandwiches left. Jesse?"

"Yeah," he tossed over a sandwich from Clare's bag. She caught it, unwrapped the contents and handed it over. Kathy ate the sandwich almost as fast as she drank the water.

"When was the last time you ate?" Clare asked.

Kathy just shook her head as she rabidly tore through the sandwich. When she was done, she took many gulps of water and then turned to look at her. "Not for a while."

Clare rubbed her sister's back with soothing circles. "It's okay. We got you, you're safe. We're in King Cove for the night."

She nodded. Exhaustion was written all over her features. Clare eased her sister to back into bed, swaddling her in sheets and tucking a pillow under her head. Kathy slept instantly.

Jesse stood up and approached Clare, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and leaning his head on her shoulder. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah. Just tired, I think. She should be fine." She murmured as she started cleaning up the sandwich wrappers and water bottle from the counter. Suddenly, the bottle slipped and fell off the counter. Jesse tried to grab for it, but his other arm was still wrapped around her. He lost his balance, and both of them fell back on the other bed. They both laughed, even though the wind had been knocked out of them.

"Are we gonna be okay?" She asked him, her words whispers.

"Yeah," Jesse leaned down to give her a kiss. "For tonight."

She sighed, finally content, and snuggled against his chest. He snaked an arm across her back and brought her closer. Her leg casually rose and wrapped around his waist. Jesse, not one miss out on an opportunity, eased his hand down and grabbed her ass.

"Jesse-"

"Mhm?" He nuzzled into her neck, relishing in the flowery smell of her shampoo. His hand slid up her waist, across her chest, and to her neck where he grabbed and pulled her face up to meet his. Their lips locked instantly, and as their breathing grew harder and faster, so did their movements. She threw her arm around him and clawed at his jacket, throwing it off and onto the floor. Then, using her body weight, rolled Jesse on to his back with her on top, straddling him.

"Wait," Jesse stopped her by grabbing her hands, which had made their way to his shirt hem. He glanced over at Kathy, who still slept soundly.

Clare groaned. "Common, Jesse. She's passed out. I've had the worst day of my life, and it's been a while since we... " She leaned down and kissed his neck. Shit. Any fucks Jesse would have previously given flew out the window. He lifted her shirt up and over her shoulders, tossing it to the ground, then sat up and threw his shirt off as well. They both sat there, analyzing each other. This is the first time that they had been together, both knowing who the other really is.

One of her fingers stroked the scar along Jesse's cheek. "Hey, Jesse?"

"Yes?" He asked, slowly reaching around to unclasp her bra.

"Thank you for not giving up on me." She leaned down and kissed the scar on the bridge of his nose. He smiled, easing upwards to kiss her. He didn't say anything else. He didn't need to. Before long all articles of clothing were abandoned in heaps and both Jesse and Clare relished in the feeling of soft flesh meeting flesh. His hands gently caressed her exposed skin. She shivered, and goosebumps smothered her arms. He leaned up and sucked on her neck, eliciting another moan that made the lower half of him tense up in need. Every fiber of his being was focused on this moment, on her. This wasn't fucking. This was making love. Clare grasped on his neck while she eased herself down onto him, both moaning as she did so. The feeling was so deep and intense that Jesse completely lost himself in her. He didn't think of his past lovers, of Andrea, or hell, he didn't even think about Jane. It was Clare that he thought of. Her bright blonde hair, strewn across her back. Her pink lips covering every inch of his skin. Her eyes, with a doe-eyed expression in them, looking at every place he didn't want anyone else to see. Clare was everywhere. And he was never going to let her go.