hardly boring at all

Who: Dodge and Jessie
When: Late afternoon/early evening
Where: On the streets

Jessie could feel herself stomping off down the street. She knew she must look really stupid, walking so quickly and with such a harshness to her step, but she didn't care. Her mind was cluttered now with thoughts of DG and how rude she was. Who said that kind of stuff? And then acted like she was doing JJ some sort of big favor by it? It was unbelievable. She was unbelievable.

No wonder Dodge had been hurt by whatever she'd said. It didn't seem like DG had any problem insulting people she barely knew so what was to stop her from doing that to people she considered a friend? Jessie pulled at the sleeves on Lily's red sweater again, hiding her right fist inside the warm fabric, as she continued to storm off down the street.

Mud was looking for Dodge. Or he had been until he saw Jessie. The guy hadn't been home since they'd dropped of DG's bed, nor had he been around that morning. Rumor had it Dodge'd been seen back at their place a little later, but it wasn't like Mud had found him yet. Still Jessie in that bright red sweater was distracting. "Hey pretty girl," he called a he stepped into her path, making a futile attempt to get some Dodge in him, and it just wound up sounding a little creepy.

Jessie hadn't intended to stop. She should have known better than to stop when someone said something like that in that way. But she did and turned to look back at whoever it was, a new level of infuriated on her face. He was one of Dodge's boys, wasn't he? She'd seen him trailing around at the school with that other one. And here he was, accosting her? Her fist tightened under the sweater. "Since when is it ok to address a girl like that instead of using her name? And if you don't know my name, then why the hell are you even bothering to stop me? What do you think calling me 'pretty girl' will you get, huh?"

He was hardly one to back down from a fight and he sure as hell wasn't going to let another girl get the best of him. Mud straightened up a little looking at her square in the eye. "Jeez girly. Where do you get off being so bitchy and unable to take a compliment. You think you'd be happy to have someone thinks you're pretty."

Oh, that was it. That was it. Ontop of what she'd just gone through with DG, everything that she was angry about was all merging together thanks to one little thing he said. She was not a bitch! And why was it always about her being pretty or not being pretty or whether someone thought she was pretty? She'd taken the steps to close some of the gap between them before she even knew she had. Her fist was flying on its own and connected swiftly into Mud's jaw. "Why don't you mind your own business?!" She had been just fine without him stepping in with his two-cents worth. Ok, so maybe not fine but she certainly didn't need his opinion to place alongside DG's either.

After his drink at the pub he'd eventually headed back to his apartment, getting cleaned up and re-dressed in non-wrinkled clothes and now Dodge was moving down his streets whistling to himself as he went. He'd missed picking up Jessie at school, which he was upset about, but being in the village had just seemed right. He heard the crowd cheering around the fight before he saw it, rounding a corner to find a collection of kids in an alley cheering something on.

As one kid ran past him he grabbed Dodge's arm. "Mud's getting beat on by a girl again! You gotta see this!" Grinning Dodge followed after him taller than most of the crowd around the dueling duo. Mud was on the ground, arms up to protect his head, yelling something about hitting her even if she was a girl, but it took a moment for Dodge to recognize Jessie. Once he did he was in the middle of the fight, scooping Jessie off the ground and Mud with his arms around her waist, pulling her up and off him as well as out of the circle with a laugh.

Jessie would have been fine with just one punch. She would have been..but there was something that sort of just snapped in her. Some mixture of everything that was too much for her to think about had come up and poor Mud had gotten the brunt of it. Before she could act again, Jessie was being scooped up and pulled away from the fight. "HEY"! She struggled against whoever was holding her, too in her own mind to really stop and think about who it was at first, until she realized it was the same way Dodge had picked her earlier. Glancing over her shoulder and through the hair covering her face, she caught sight of Dodge. She still struggled, maybe even moreso now that she knew who it was. "Dodge!! Put me down right now!"

Dodge was still laughing when he set her down in the alley away from the crowd who'd booed at their fun being ruined then started to move on. "What was that?" he asked with a grin. He didn't doubt for a moment Mud deserved it, he usually did, and the idiot knew enough to not hit a girl but not enough to walk away.

Straightening out her dress and fixing her sweater so that it was sitting correctly again, Jessie looked back over at the crowd. When she calmed down, she might realize she'd gotten a little out of hand, but...not yet. "Do you know your boys are out accosting girls on the street, huh? I'm just minding my own business like he should have been and then he walks up and steps right infront of me and..." She huffed, trailing off as she crossed her arms over her chest but still avoided his eyes.

It was hard not to keep laughing because she was completely adorable when she was all huffy like that. "Mud's an idiot. Biggest on of them all. He probably deserved it, but I'll talk to him about it." Biting his lower lip to keep the grin in check he waited for a few seconds before going on. "Pretty impressive though Little J."

"Why don't you tell him that not everyone wants his attention!" She leaned past Dodge to call out the last part of her sentence, hopefully loud enough for Mud to hear it. When she looked back at Dodge, she had that same sense of disbelief as before. "If he had just kept his mouth shut, I wouldn't have punched him, but then he goes on and on about how I should be happy that someone thinks I'm pretty and.." She trailed off again, giving a frustrated, exasperated sound, and recrossed her arms over her chest.

Mud heard her alright and had a look on his face like he was about to call her something when Dodge shot him a stern look. Still glaring at Jessie he finally turned and left, Roach on his heels, giving him a playful slug in the arm. Turning back to Jessie, Dodge flashed her another smile. "You weren't kidding about wanting to punch someone huh? Still upset about your mom?"

She had a distinct feeling of wanting to stick her tongue out at him, but that was really, really childish, so she held off on that. Looking back up at Dodge, it took her a moment to sort through all the crap in her head so that she could answer him. "No, not about that. My mom's...she's..who needs her. This is, this is a lot of other stuff." She moved and sat down on the curb of the sidewalk, pulling her legs up to her chest (safely because Lily's dress was long enough). "But mostly about him," she lied, looking away down the opposite side of the road.

Dodge settled in next to her, long legs extending into the street, but not far enough to get run over. "What other stuff?" He asked, guessing that something was wrong. "Missed you after school yesterday by the way. I waited but you didn't ever come out of the building."

Oh, yeah. She had been a little upset about that earlier. Right now it was the furthest thing from her mind, but she glanced at him over her shoulder. "I skipped school and hung out with my dad yesterday. Sorry. Didn't really have a way to tell you not to wait." To get really nit-picky, he'd missed her too today, but yesterday hadn't been his fault and today, there was just a lot more to think about than Dodge not being at school to walk her back. Not that she needed him to be there to walk her back or anything. Still, she didn't answer his first question for a couple of reasons. She wasn't sure she wanted to get into it for one, and secondly she didn't even know where to start.

"Yeah, I asked around and they said you hadn't been there all day. No biggie." He shrugged a little, pushing the fedora back some so he could see her a little better. "You didn't answer my question, about what's got you all upset." The reminder was gentle not trying to be prodding but definitely reminding her that he wanted to know.

"I did. I told you, a lot of stuff." Jessie rested her chin on her knees and closed her eyes for a moment, taking a long breath. She need to stop, just stop and think for a second. Did she want to spill everything that just happened to Dodge? She'd already told him about Mud in a roud-about sort of way, but did she want to go blab about what had happened with DG? And did she want to get into Lily's death again? Neither seemed like great options, because talking about Lily would just make her more sad and for some weird reason, she felt like talking about DG would put Dodge in a weird place. She didn't need him to fight her battles for her and besides, did she want to be one of those girls that goes behind someone's back and says bad things about someone else? Half the girls at her school did that already. "I don't know if I want to talk about it," She answered truthfully. "Where were you after school today?"

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Dodge told her, sitting up to mimic her position, chin on his knees. "Sorry about that," he said, looking appropriately bashful. "I got caught up in the village outside town. Took me longer to get back than I'd expected. Found you now though, I could still walk you home."

"Oh," Jessie nodded a little. "I've never been to that village but I hear it's nice." She was clinging to that subject, anything to not have to talk about what had happened earlier just yet. Knowing Dodge, he'd probably be able to get something out of her before the end of their conversation, but right now Jessie wasn't ready to say anything yet. "It's not like you have to walk me home or anything, you know? You don't have to be sorry about it."

"I know I don't have to," he said, leaning a little so his shoulder bumped hers. "But I like to, and if you were looking for me, then maybe you don't hate it either. I didn't mean to let you down. It's been sort of a different day." That was an understatement, to be certain, but things were starting to flow back into a normal day and Dodge was starting to feel like himself again.

Jessie glanced down at her feet. She also wasn't sure she was ready to admit that she didn't exactly hate Dodge walking her home. She had a feeling he wouldn't let her live that down and right now she was not in the mood for something like that. She'd just gotten in a fight with Mud, so she needed to take a step back and really calm herself down. Reevaluate her thoughts instead of just letting them consume her. "Can we walk somewhere?" She asked, looking back over her shoulder at him. Her expression was twisted with the anger she still felt and a sadness that was slowly starting to creep back up.

"I was going to suggest just that," Dodge said, on his feet in a moment, hands in front of her to help her up from the curb. "Is there somewhere in particular you want to head or just anywhere in general?" He was smiling at her even if the mixed emotions she was feeling weren't lost on him.

Not thinking twice about it this time, she took his hands and stood up before shrugging. "I don't care, anywhere at all. I just want to walk. You can pick." She said as she released his hands to tug at Lily's her sweater again.

That she'd let go of his hand gave Dodge just a moment to pause, but instead of being defeated he just looped an arm over her shoulder pulling her next to him as they started down the sidewalk. He had an idea of where to take her, somewhere different than the park, but still quieter because Jessie looked like a girl who could use some quiet. He didn't pressure her to talk, especially after she said she didn't want to, but he figured if he was patient eventually she'd tell him what was going on.

Looking at Dodge's hand on her shoulder, Jessie sighed. She could tell him yet again that she didn't exactly want boys thinking they could do stuff like that (especially since she'd just punched Mud for a lesser reason), but Dodge was not calling her pretty. He actually hadn't said anything like that, hadn't even called her princess yet. And it was kinda nice to walk with him like this so she didn't say anything either. She kept quiet for a while, trying to decide what she should tell him first. She only really decided when she was playing with the hem of the sweater she was wearing. "..So...I found out my friend died. Her name was Lily. She gave me these clothes..."

Dodge took his eyes off the street to glance down at Jessie, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Lily from the library? I knew her, read about what happened. I'm sorry, princess. That's horrible." Just like any other street kid Dodge knew the touch of death and how it could affect those who wound up surrounded by it. He'd been far from it for years, since he'd moved in with Patrick, but it wasn't lost on him that if things didn't stay the way they were now his boys would be knocking on Death's door themselves. "How're you doing?"

Jessie just shut her eyes and bit her tongue when he called her that. She really, really wished he wouldn't do that. She didn't like it and it made her wonder why he continued to do that when she'd already told him she wasn't a princess. But Lily was taking precedence. She could talk to him about that later. Shrugging, she kept her eyes away from him. "Ok, I guess. I miss her but I think I'm going to write something about her and file it away somewhere safe. Keep it so her memory can live on and all that stuff..." Glancing back up at him, Jessie added, "Why do you keep calling me princess? I know I keep asking you but it's the same thing you call every girl. Shouldn't a nickname mean something?"

"I think that sounds like a good plan." Dodge didn't have much in the way to ways to handle grief, but he figured documenting memories were as good as any. Few street kids focused on the grief, but instead just wished their friends were in better places and hoped they weren't next. He'd looked down at her when she asked about the nickname, a little surprised. "I don't call every girl princess," he started sounding just a little on the defensive side. "And sure a nickname should mean something, or just be unfortunate like Mud and Roach, but you've already got a collection of nicknames. JJ? Baby J?" He'd not used it before, the family nickname he knew about, but Dodge was the type to not miss those sort of things. "What is there left for me to call you? It's not like you have a nickname for me."

"If you know I don't really like being called that, why keep doing it? Why don't you make up your own nickname for me?" Jessie felt like she was once again fighting a losing battle with Dodge. For all the time she'd put in fighting him against this princess thing, she was losing faith that she'd ever get him to call her something else. Maybe it was one of those things she'd just have to accept, but she still had a little fight left in her. And she did have a lot of nicknames already, but...hang on. Did he just call her 'Baby J'? Staring at him with that disbelief again, she frowned. "How do you know about 'Baby J'? Only my family calls me that." And she didn't really think anyone would let that slip, but maybe they had? He sure seemed to know Evelyn well enough, maybe it had slipped at some point...

"Maybe I keep thinking you'll change your mind about it," he said with a shrug. He liked calling her princess, and in some ways it was an important term of endearment to him. If he was calling someone princess it meant he had her in the running for being his princess. He'd only barely used it with Maddy and yet he dropped it easily with Jessie. It was funny how that worked out. Shrugging again he acted as if knowing her family nickname wasn't a big deal. "I dunno, I heard it somewhere. Little gets past me. Just like I know you all call Evelyn Evie, even though she insists that she's an Evelyn. I don't use it, I just know that's what they call you."

Maybe she'd have to change her mind about it just to keep herself sane. If he was going to walk her home most days, someone would have to give up the fight at some point. It was a little unsettling that Dodge knew so much about her and her family. "Well, don't call me Baby J, at least. That's a family thing." Plus it'd just be plain weird to hear it from him.

Maybe she could bring up the rest of this in a mature, adult kind of way. Because that's what she wanted to do, she didn't want to sound like she was bitching about DG behind her back. She could do that well enough to the girl's face if she wanted to, even if DG twisted her words all around. "Did you and DG ever patch things up?" Still, just saying her name made her angry again and created a visible change in Jessie, starting with a fist that balled up under the sweater's sleeve.

"Hadn't planned on it," he told her about the nickname. Calling Evelyn Evie was one thing, he also called her Amelia, for her fake persona she'd created. He'd realized even when he heard the name that it was one of those nicknames adults give kids and the kids don't really want to be called by anyone else.

When she asked about Maddy though, his mood shifted. Not in a good or bad way, but there was a slightly visible change in his overall demeanor and his arm around her flinched a little as memories from the morning came flooding back. "Yeah, I think things are...better." Better was probably accurate though different was more accurate. It was then that his focus came back to Jessie, noticing that she's changed moods too.

She felt the flinch of his arm and that was what caught her attention first. Then the hesitation on which word to choose. With narrowed eyes, Jessie watched his face. Scrutinized was probably a better description. But she was the one who was hesitating now, still wondering how to put this without bashing the girl. "I ran into her today." She said, leaving it at that for now.

Involuntarily Dodge's spine stiffened just a touch at that, his pace slowing to an almost halt. "You did? Where?" Was that breaking their deal if Maddy was running into the 'other girls' as she'd called them? Prior to now he'd kept what had happened with Maddy and what was going on with Jessie at a disconnect, considering both as separate instances with neither affecting the other. As Jessie pointed out that she'd seen Maddy, Dodge realized just how closely everything was related, that his arm around Jessie and his flirting with her was linked to the rather raw emotions that had been exposed in the early hours of the morning. The small battle waging in his head showed a little on his face in the form of a frown, brow furrowed slightly.

Well, that was weird. Dodge looked a little freaked out by her seeing DG, but the more JJ thought about it, the more she figured Dodge might just be worried. He knew more about DG and maybe he'd figured that the girl would have been a massive jerk to Jessie and wanted to warn her beforehand or something. Or maybe that wasn't it at all and Jessie was just projecting what she felt about DG onto Dodge. Whatever it was, it was making her head hurt. "I don't know, some bench somewhere. I went walking after school and took a break to sit down and she was just around. Why?" It was odd how she'd started asking the questions but now she felt like he was the one doing the questioning.

That was somewhat of a relief, if Maddy had just run into the girl not searched her out or something worse. "What did she say?" It was probably arrogant to assume he was the topic of conversation, but Dodge wasn't the type to assume he wasn't. After what had happened with Maddy that morning it only made sense that he was at the forefront of her mind and Jessie knew he was friends with Maddy, enough to consider him the person they had in common.

"What didn't she say, that's a better question." After she said it, Jessie sighed. She really needed to stop. She didn't want to be that girl, but apparently she was slowly becoming her. "We sat around and talked about Lily and her art and stuff.." And then she called me boring and a little girl and yelled at me about how she got paid for her stupid art and told me how she thought I should be living my own life..... Jessie's jaw set again, unintentionally but hard enough to keep her from saying any of those things outloud. Her eyes, however, didn't have the same resolve as her mouth did and were plainly showing just how pissed off she was.

Dodge was just the slightest bit worried still, especially with Jessie looking as angry as she was. "What was the 'stuff'?" He really hoped it wasn't him, but he guessed if Maddy had spilled about what had happened between them then Jessie would have started the conversation with calling Dodge a prat or something and he wouldn't be pulling information out her like he was.

"Just stuff, Dodge." Finally, she turned her eyes to him and caught his own. "If I tell you, it means I'm no better than those stupid girls at my school that go behind people's back and talk bad about them. I can just tell her to her face, I don't want to be that kind of girl..." But part of her still wanted to bitch about DG. A lot. Because truth be told, she was still a teenage girl, no matter how much she was trying not to be. "Do you swear not to say anything if I tell you. Like 'cross your heart and if you do, may your fedora burst into flames' kind of swear?"

Maddy must have done good this time because Jessie was certainly pulling out the big guns for this. "Cross my heart," he told her making the motion across his chest for extra effect. "What did she say?"

Jessie sighed. "Does she..give you suggestions when she should have just said she was sorry? Say she said some really rude stuff to you, would she just give you a suggestion instead of apologizing? Because she said that's what she does, but that doesn't seem right to me." She was trying, she really was, to walk the line between wanting to explain what happened and not wanting to explain what happened.

Dodge was having a little bit of trouble completely following Jessie because they were talking in hypotheticals, but after a moment he was able to grasp what she was saying. Figures, that Maddy was being a total brat at some point. Reaching up to push his fedora back and running his hand through his hair, Dodge breathed a small sigh of relief. At least it wasn't about him.

"She does that, yes. Not with me as much, but that's part of how we work. She always thinks she's right, which she thinks gives her the right to tell everyone what she thinks." Dodge frowned again. "What did she say specifically?"

What he was saying sounded pretty accurate right about now. "We were having a nice conversation for a while. But basically..I told her her art was nice and she asked me what I do, so I told her I cook for my dad and I write sometimes, and she told me that it sounded 'really fucking boring' and then told me I should go into cooking competitions or put my writing out there or something and be proud of it. And then she turned all condescending and started calling me 'little girl' and telling me I should be proud of what I have and..." She trailed off, exhaling to try and get herself back on track, although this was basically what had happened more or less. At least, that was how Jessie had seen it. "I just didn't need her talking to me like that."

That certainly sounded just like Maddy, to a T. "Like I said, it's her think about thinking she's the best there is. Funny thing about that is that she also tends to act like she wants everyone else to try and be as awesome as she is. It's a waste because she'll always find a way that she's better." Dodge couldn't help but chuckle a little. "She's probably jealous."

Well, Jessie certainly wasn't under the impression that DG was any sort of awesome right now. She had gotten along with her fine until DG decided she needed to place judgement on Jessie's pastimes and the level of pride she had in herself. Luckily, she didn't have much time to dwell on how angry she was, because Dodge's next comment caught her off guard. "Jealous of what?" To be honest, Jessie thought DG was pretty full of herself. Why would she be jealous of Jessie? The only thing that she could think of was that maybe she was jealous of the lifestyle JJ had, but even that didn't seem right. DG seemed pretty damn happy with the life she had, she'd talked about that too. She had a 'kingdom' whereas Jessie just had an apartment with her family, although JJ would pick her apartment over DG's kingdom any day.

Dodge shrugged. He had a guess at the what the obvious answer was, but he wasn't sure he wanted to share that information with Jessie. He didn't know how Jessie would react and he guessed it would just hurt things between them. "You've got quite a bit she doesn't have, though she'd never admit to being jealous, I can't imagine she isn't." He shrugged again. "Either that or she really truly though she was being helpful even though she went about the delivery wrong."

Jessie still looked confused and was unaware she was making a face. "It's not like I told her her drawings were 'really fucking boring'. I liked her art and I told her that! Didn't expect to be called really boring to my face. And another thing! Maybe I don't want to spread my cooking around or write something and make the whole city read it. Maybe I wanted to keep this kind of stuff for the really special people I know? And when I told her that, she was all 'well why didn't you say that to begin with'? It was like she twisted all I said around into things I didn't want to say..." Jessie sighed again, running a hand through her hair. She didn't like that this girl was getting under her skin; that she'd let DG get under her skin.

Dodge gave Jessie a little hug with the arm that was around her already. "No one says you have to do anything of those things. DG's a show off, that's what she does, but you're not like that. You do things because you want to, for people who are special to you. There's nothing wrong with that." It was another difference between the two girls that Dodge could appreciate.

"So she's this frustrating all the time?" Jessie asked, glancing back at him. It just sucked because she actually thought they'd been having a nice conversation prior to that blow up. DG had said some really sweet, really considerate things about lost friends and how to deal with it, but it had all shifted completely when they'd started talking about what she did or didn't do, which had her thinking now about whether or not she really did need a new hobby and also if Dodge had found one. Or if he had just talked about it and wasn't actually planning on finding anything. "Did you ever find a hobby? You said you were looking for one..."

"She can be I suppose. Maybe I'm just used to her." Dodge said with a shrug. Typically Maddy wasn't busy telling him what he did with his time was a waste, but then who would? Not even the Supreme Goddess herself could claim that Dodge was boring. "I haven't nailed anything in particular down for us yet no, but I had an idea of two." He was smiling again, slightly relieved at the change in conversation change. Maddy and Jessie needed to stay in their own separate worlds, two things that didn't overlap.

She was also thankful that he had two options. It would give her something to do, something that wasn't punching Mud or storming off down the street, to take her mind off this stuff. "What are they?" Jessie also felt fairly certain that she didn't want to talk about DG anymore. And now that she'd cooled off a little, she felt even more certain about something else. "I should apologize to Mud..." The guy was an idiot, sure, and probably asking for at least one good punch, but Jessie went a little overboard and she knew when to say sorry.

"Don't worry about Mud. He needs a good beat down every once in a while to keep him in check." Dodge gave her a broad smile. "As for our hobbies...I was thinking you have an untapped talent in pickpocketing. That I could train you." Dodge knew she'd be against the idea but he couldn't help but pose it casually as if it was just a suggestion that they start street dancing.

The look Jessie gave him mirrored what he was already suspecting; that she wasn't about to learn pickpocketing. With a shake of her head, she looked back at him. "What else have you got?"

Dodge laughed at her face, expecting it, even though he would have enjoyed teaching her. "Pool."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Pool? As in, billards, that kind of pool?" She lost the knowing look on her face and replaced it with a smile. "I could do that."

"Yeah? I thought it would be fun," Dodge said looking hopeful. He'd played before, wasn't bad at it, but the idea of getting Jessie good at it? That had a list of ideas for what he could with it. "We should make a plan, to try it out." Now wouldn't be a good time, it was already waxing into the late afternoon and the bars with tables wouldn't let them in, but going earlier in the day would work.

"Yeah, it does sound like it'd be fun." Something tactical to keep her mind occupied. It sounded nice, actually. "Saturday I don't have school at all?" She offered, figuring it'd be easiest for them to go on that day. They wouldn't have to rush in order to actually play pool before they got kicked out of the bars.

"Saturday would work just fine," Dodge said with a nod, already running through which places would let him in. There were a few bartenders in town who owed him a few favors. "Should I meet you at your place in the morning?" That made him wonder if she'd let him come up, meet her at her door or just out on her stoop.

Her 'place' could mean just the apartment building. She didn't have a problem with him being seen with her, not at all, but she wasn't so sure she was ready to let any boy up to her apartment to pick her up, especially with all this boyfriend nonsense going on. Especially with her dad there. She'd have to at least let her dad know, just in case Dodge came to their door to pick her up. Besides, she'd want him to know anyway. She hid nothing from him so this would be no different.

Nodding to Dodge, she answered. "Sure, but I should probably be heading back now." It was getting later and colder by the minute, plus she had Leo and her father to take care of back at home. "You coming or heading back?" She asked, figuring that it was just easier to let Dodge decide if he wanted to walk her home or not, since he'd probably do what he wanted anyway.

With a nod Dodge changed their course in the right direction for her place. They weren't too far from there anyway, just a block or two. "Coming with," he told her falling into step beside her again. "Are you feeling any better?"

That took a moment for her to answer. While she wasn't as angry anymore (punching Mud a few times definitely helped that), she wasn't completely one-hundred percent either. She missed Lily, she was pissed off still at DG, and she felt guilty for just wailing on Mud like that. She had a feeling that 'feeling better' was going to be one of those things that happened with time. "I'm ok, I guess. Still feel bad about hitting Mud, even if he is an idiot and was asking for it. I'll apologize next time I see him."

"I was really hoping you'd threaten him again so I could see if he hid behind something," Dodge said with a chuckle, trying to lighten her mood. He didn't see a need to feel bad about beating Mud up. If the other boy had known better he would have gotten away with just one punch thrown, but Mud was an idiot when it came to back down from a fight. Reaching out Dodge brushed a lock of her hair back, probably a more intimate gesture than allowed, but that never stopped Dodge before. "Glad you're doing better." His voice was softer this time, sweeter.

Jessie laughed a little, but it wasn't like her normal laughs. He was right, Mud was stupid and deserved a good punch, but he shouldn't have had to get the brunt of all her anger too. Still, she couldn't do anything about it right now, she'd just have to apologize the next time she saw him. "He should learn to keep his nose out of other people's business." She hadn't expected Dodge to brush at her hair. She knew that she'd let him put his arm around her shoulder for most of the time they'd spent together today, but she was out of sorts and it was kind of nice to just have there. But there was something about the way he was brushing her hair back, the way he was talking now...She didn't know what to think about it. It was too close for comfort and yet, oddly, just comforting enough. She didn't realize she was staring at Dodge until much later after he'd moved her hair, so she quickly changed the way she was looking and stared ahead at the street. "Thanks. I just...It's been a pretty crappy day." But even with her eyes on the ground, she couldn't get the memory of Dodge kissing her out of her head. "Didn't mean to drag you into it."

Dodge held her gaze while she stared, not wavering, just meeting her eyes with a small smile. "You know I don't mind," he told her as one hand reached for hers, even if it was tucked in the sleeves of the sweater. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if this should bother him, being so sweet on Jessie after what had happened with Maddy, but he still managed to disconnect the two. They were separate situations, separate conditions. Jessie had had a bad day and Dodge was merely trying to make her feel better. No harm in that at all.

She felt a heat on her cheeks when he grabbed her hand, but she figured this at least gave them more space between each other than having his arm around her shoulders had. Still, she was acutely aware of him now. How close he was, that he was holding her hand despite the sweater, that he was talking in that same sweet way. And it hit her like a ton of bricks; that this might be kind of like what having a boyfriend would be like. Not that she saw him as her boyfriend and definitely not that she wanted one, but maybe actually having one wouldn't be so bad. Having someone there to hold your hand if you had a bad day or brush a piece of hair out of your face and tell you they were glad you were feeling better. It was really kind of nice. "Yeah, but still. You probably have lots of better things to do than have to deal with me being crazy two days in a row," She said when she finally found her voice again.

Dodge couldn't help but smile to himself when she didn't fight the hand holding or complain about it when he did it. "Not really," he reassured her. "Remember, you decided I needed a new hobby too." He flashed her another grin, though it was less mischievous than usual. They were on her block at this point and he could see her building a few doors down from where they were.

"Probably less than me. No one ever calls you boring," She murmured, keeping her voice low although she realized after she said it that there wasn't much she could do to hide something from someone who was holding her hand. She was also realizing that maybe it was time for her to just be quiet and go upstairs. They were so close to her house that maybe she could get out of this before she had another run in with Dodge's eyes.

Leaning in closer, his voice was as quiet as hers, but his mouth was much closer to her ear. "I hardly think you're boring." He'd slowed them to a stop at her stoop but hadn't let go of her hand, nor did he move away right after speaking.

Oook, this was too close. Too close, way too close. But he had her wondering. She knew her family didn't think she was boring, her friends at school didn't think she was boring (at least as far as she knew) and apparently Dodge didn't think she was boring. Did it really matter what DG thought? It shouldn't. She didn't want it to. So hopefully, by tomorrow, it wouldn't.

But this was something to think about when Dodge wasn't so close to her, holding her hand, right outside her apartment. "Thanks," She said, taking the time to take a step away from him and release his hand. "See you around then." Whether he showed up tomorrow after school or not, they'd already made plans for Saturday.

"I'll see you tomorrow, princess," he told her, letting her slip away. "After school remember?" Reaching up to adjust his fedora, he tugged it down, lower on his brow. The smile he gave her this time was back to his old ways, trouble but fun.

By the time he had his normal smile again, JJ had pulled herself out of her thoughts and was back to the normal Jessie James again. Or, the normal Jessie James who had had a pretty crappy day. She watched Dodge head off for a moment then turned to go inside, hoping her father was there. Not only did she really want to see him, but talking to him would keep her mind occupied, which she really needed right now.