Page 55 of The Quiet
He gestured at her in the darkness with open arms, “There is nothing left.”
She rolled over and he climbed in, pulling himself under the covers and scooting forward with an obvious assumption that the bed was bigger than it was.
Ella cursed, nearly falling off the bed as cold steel knocked against her back.
“I knew it!” she whispered, whipping her hand behind her back and drawing the knife from his belt before nearly tossing it across the room.
Jackson caught her hand gently, “Ella, Ella,” he pleaded, “One knife.”
“No one is going to attack you,” she argued back.
“Fine,” he said, and took it, very obviously slipping it under his pillow.
“I know I seem insane,” he said with a yawn.
“You don’t,” she sighed, lying her head down on her pillow and closing her eyes. “But seeing you on edge makes me more on edge, and I don’t like it.”
He shifted behind her, Ella startled as he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled them together. She wondered for a moment if it were meant to be a comforting gesture. Resting his head overher shoulder, he breathed tiredly into her ear, “If they get us, they’ll get me first. Just use that to run.”
He said it with simple assuredness as if it were the most straightforward and comforting thing in the world. Oddly enough, it worked, perhaps a bit too well.
Ella wondered if she should find a reason to protest, but it was easy being in his arms. His body supported hers effortlessly, a lovely warmth seeping through his clothes as his breath fell into a soft rhythm beside her.
He was asleep in minutes, and though she was grateful to see him rest at last, Ella was now wide awake.
***
The next morning, Ella snuck out of his arms and changed before he awoke for their agreed upon walk. As they left the room, she managed to convince Jackson to leave some gear behind, both of them turning to see Paris down the hall.
“Ella,” Paris said, offering a cordial but knowing smile as she glanced between them. “Jackson. Sleep well, I hope?”
“No,” Ella said on impulse, not hearing the question and rather objecting to the assumption she saw forming in Paris’s eyes. After saying no, she realized that her actual objection to the question seemed rather more suspicious.
“He couldn’t sleep,” Ella said, gesturing to Jackson who looked the slightest bit betrayed that she shared any weakness of his with Paris. To recover, she added, “I also couldn’t sleep. We couldn’t sleep. But not because we didn’t try. Well, he dideventually, I just couldn’t sleep. We agreed to go out together this morning on a walk.” Ella said, gesturing outside. “To see the town.”
“Wow,” Jackson said in quiet, genuine awe and she glared.
“That sounds nice,” Paris said, smile growing. “Enjoy. And Jackson, will you be needing your own room?”
“No,” he snapped back, apparently keen to reject any offering Paris could make.
Ella raised her eyebrows.
He looked down at her. “I’ll just sleep on the floor next time.”
Paris continued, turning to her door and opening it, “It does get awfully cold at night. I’m glad the two of you have found a way to keep warm.”
“We aren’t quite as cold blooded as most,” Jackson said, apparently much more keen to issue a jab at Paris than correct her.
“We?” Ella whispered, wondering why he was pulling her into his spat.
“Good luck with him today, Ella,” Paris said as she started to walk into her room, “I admire your ability to tame a wild animal, but I imagine it will take more than one night for him to see reason.”
The door shut. Ella stared, shaking her head before looking up at Jackson who was still glaring at Paris’s door.
“Really?” she asked, incredulous.
He glanced down at her as if noticing her expression for the first time and then scanned her over.
