Fighting For A Goddess

Moving In

A soft knock at the door pulled Jade out of her surprisingly dirty thoughts. She opened the door and Xander was standing there with two coffees, a bag of pastries, and a fat smile on his face. That stupid smile took her breath away. Jade smiled back at him.

“Goodmorning, I thought you two might be hungry.”

“Thank you. You really didn’t need to do that,” She said, hoarsely, as she stepped aside to let Xander in. He placed the drinks and food down on the coffee table before turning around to face her. His smile faded as his eyes drifted down to her neck. His gaze traveled over her body and he was full-on scowling by the time he took in all the marks and bruises on her.

“How badly does it hurt?”

“It looks a lot worse than it is,” Jade shrugged as she wrapped her arms loosely around herself. She wanted to hide her body, she was tired of the pitying looks this morning.

Xander cupped her face gently. She stared into his cobalt blue eyes and squirmed a bit under his intense gaze.

“I’m sorry I didn’t take you and Aidan away sooner. I’ll never forgive myself for how much you’ve suffered.” His eyes held so much guilt. Jade was completely taken back by his words.

“Don’t apologize, it wasn’t your responsibility. I was getting us out of there…Things just got bad really fast,” Jade shivered a bit as a glimpse of her father’s red eyes flashed in her mind.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was hurting you?” Jade took a step back from him and wrapped her arms around herself again.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m leaving and he’ll never see me or Aidan again,” Jade muttered quietly as she looked down at the ground.

Xander took a step closer to her, “It does matter because you’re very important to me. I should have protected you and Aidan. I have a lot to make up for.”

She glanced up at him slowly. He looked so disheveled. She’d never seen him look so tired. She felt a pang of guilt that she was the cause of it.

“No, Xander you have nothing to make up for. It was never your job to take care of us.”

Xander looked bothered by what she said, but before he could respond, the bathroom door opened and a mostly naked Max walked out. Xander glared daggers at him, but Max just smirked. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, but it hung very low. Water was dripping down his hard muscles and his wet hair hung in his eyes. When Max caught her staring she quickly peeled her eyes away.

“Jade!” Aidan cried out.

Jade ran over to him and gently shook him awake. Aidan sat up and wrapped his arms around her.

“You’re okay sunshine, it was just a bad dream,” she whispered down to him.

“No…” he sniffled as he clung to her. “It was a memory,” Aidan corrected.

Jade didn’t know what to say. She just held him close, rubbing circles on his back. Xander came over and sat on the bed next to them.

“Hey Aidan, what do you say we go to a planetarium today?” Xander asked.

“A planetarium,” Aidan said, perking up a bit.

“Yes. Jade, would you like to join Aidan and me?”

Jade smiled brightly at them.“I’d love to. But, I need to go home and change first,” She motioned down to her pajamas.

“I’ll drive you home to grab yours and Aidan’s things because you’re both staying here from now on,” Xander declared.

“Me and Jade are staying here?” Aidan asked, his big brown eyes widened in surprise.

“Yes, you guys are going to live here with me. How do you feel about that?”

“I’d like that,” Aidan said with a smile.

Jade’s brows knit together as she gave Xander a confused look.

“Well, if we’re going to a planetarium, we had better eat some breakfast,” Jade announced as she picked Aidan up off the bed and sat him on the couch. She pulled out all the different pastries Xander had bought.

“Whoa,” Aidan said as he got down on the ground, kneeling in front of the coffee table. He picked up a pastry with lots of cream on it and started eating. Jade ruffled his hair and grabbed the two coffees and brought one over to Xander. She closed her eyes and took a sip before she turned back to Xander.

“Why’d you tell him we’re going to live here now?” Jade asked quietly.

“Because you are,” Max said as he walked out of his closet dressed in jeans and a shirt.

He looked at Xander, “I’ll take Jade to the house to pack up their things. I think the kid should stay here. I don’t want him back at that house, and you’re the one he knows best,” Max stated.

“I am standing right here, please include me in the conversation,” Jade scolded him. Max raised an eyebrow, giving Jade an amused look while Xander chuckled. Jade turned to Xander, the look on her face made him stifle his laughter.

“And you shouldn’t be telling Aidan we’re living here now without speaking to me first.” She rasped.

Xander sighed, “I’m sorry Jade. You’re right, but after what we witnessed last night, there’s no way that we’re going to let you go back to living in that house,” Xander explained.

The frustration on Jade’s face slipped away as her green eyes filled with fear. “We're not far enough away if we live here, I mean, we’re only a few blocks from my house. He could find us here... And I'm sure you’d like your room back, Max.”

Max pulled Jade into his arms and held her tight against him. She stiffened slightly but couldn't help how her body melted into his soothing touch.

“You’re both safe now. I won’t let anything bad happen to you or Aidan ever again," Max said firmly.

Jade glanced at Xander, he had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Okay, we'll move in," Jade whispered softly as she pulled away and walked toward Aidan.

"Hey, sunshine. I'm going to go get our things so we can live here now... if that's what you want?"

"No!" Aidan yelled loudly. Surprising the whole room.

"You don't want to live here? But I thought you just...." Jade began asking but Aidan cut her off.

"I DO want to live here... But, you can't go back there Jade. You can't," the little boy looked like he was about to cry. She hugged him tightly.

"I'm going with Max, I won't be alone. And I will be in and out so fast. Everything will be okay." The little boy glance at Max before nodding his head.

There was a knock on the door. A few seconds later Monica poked her head into the room.

"There you are!" Monica stepped in and wrapped her arms around Xander.

"Eric told me you might be here. You didn't come to bed last night," She pouted.

"Sorry Mon, I had some things to take care of," Xander wrapped an arm around Monica. Max walked out of the closet with his shoes on and a sweater in his hands. He handed the sweater to Jade, she took it gratefully. She mouthed, "Thank you" to him and he just smiled at her, although he looked sad as he looked at her bruised neck and arms. She pulled the sweater on, it completely covered up her arms and legs, but her bruised neck was still slightly noticeable.

"Jade! Hi!…. Oh, who's this?" Monica asked, surprised.

"Hey, Monica, this is Aidan. My brother," Jade said in a hoarse whisper. Aidan waved a little at Monica, she waved back giving him a smile. Xander didn't miss the slight frown that flickered across Jade's face as she looked at Monica hanging off of him. Max didn't miss it either. He watched Jade for a moment before he held out his hand to her. She took it hesitantly. Max led her towards the door.

"Hey Max," Monica said in a pointed way, looking at their clasped hands. Max nodded at her. As Jade passed her, Monica reached out and grabbed her arm. Jade stopped walking as she leaned in to whisper in her ear, “We have some catching up to do, I want to hear all about this,” Monica said as she raised her eyebrows and gestured towards Max.

“Oh… um… there’s not much to tell,” Jade whispered back.

Xander cleared his throat and addressed Max, “Take Eric and at least one other person with you. I want you guys in and out.”

Max nodded and gave Xander a sarcastic salute.

Xander reached out and grabbed Max's arm, “Oh and if anything happens to her… I’ll kill you.”Xander said so quietly only the werewolves could hear.

Max shrugged him off. “Come on Jade, let’s go so we can get you back in time for your date with Xander.” He said as he pulled Jade out the door.

Jade turned red, “it’s not a date.”

Max smirked, “Sure, it’s not.”

As they waited by the elevator, angry whispers drifted into the hallway. Jade looked back at the doorway to Max’s room and saw Monica’s arm-waving around.

Jade sighed softly, feeling a pang of guilt. She was already causing problems.