[26] I'm Very Sensitive

[STATUS: UNEDITED]

"You have to know the things I'd do to you."

So that's what he said....

Wow. Okay. Deep breaths.

I don't know how to feel about that... but I do know that it's for sure making me feel... uh... something.

I swear to god the air in my lungs has been punched out of me. It takes me a few seconds to respond, but when I do, it's shaky and timid. My voice comes out breathless like I just ran a marathon.

"W-what do you mean?"

My heart skips a beat as the boy in front of me just stares at me, blinking rapidly. I don't know whether to feel relieved or scared when he then suddenly lets out a laugh and buries his head in my shoulder again.

He heaves a big sigh and shakes his head back and forth, his nose gently brushing across my skin. This, combined with the sensation of his breath on my collarbone has me suppressing giggles because I'm frightfully ticklish.

Jack must have noticed this because he shifts his head slightly to the side and asks, "Do you find amusement in my discomfort?" with furrowed brows and a slight frown.

Oh boy. I mean amusement is one word to describe how I feel right now but the other words... I'd rather him not know if you get what I mean.

Speaking of things he doesn't know, he seems unaware that in the process of moving, he's made it even harder for me not to laugh. This new position he's chosen is even worse.

When he moves his lips to speak, they brush up against the most sensitive skin of my neck and he keeps breathing into that same spot; all while the prickly ends of his hair tickle the exposed skin of my shoulder. He asked a question but I already forgot what it was.

I'm too focused on not bursting into laughter that I fail to even respond with a, "What?" or a, "Can you please repeat the question?", causing Jack to pout. He waits another moment but when I still don't answer his question he sighs, making me squirm even more as I attempt to escape the reach of the puffs of air that exit his mouth and nose.

The more I squirm, the more Jack tries to get me to stop squirming because it must seem like I'm just trying to avoid his question. I should've known all of my attempts to win would be futile against Jack. But I try anyway, wiggling and squirming quite chaotically, especially when he uses his hands to try and anchor my waist to him. He's trying to prevent my escape with this powerplay but my resistance only multiplies because my hip and waist area is one of the most ticklish places on me. So the sensation of his fingers on my skin there has me thrashing wildly in his loose grip. I flap around like a fish for a few seconds while Jack's impatience with me escalates until he finally snaps.

"Enough," he practically growls, finally getting aggressive enough to find my hands to pin them to the wall behind me. I try to escape his grip but because I'm a feeble boy who didn't eat enough bread crusts growing up, I fail at this test of strength.

Well, actually I ate all of my bread crusts growing up. Then when am I so weak?

I'll just blame it on my mom for not buying the right bread. Or on Jack for being a jacked (haha puns) varsity freaking football player.

His grip stays tight around my wrists. Now that I'm still, I notice how close his lips are to my skin.  Then he decides to speak. "Spencer..." he speaks directly down my neck. So at the worst possible time, a bubble of laughter escapes past my lips and hangs out in the air.

He tenses beneath me.

Awkward.

"Are you laughing at my discomfort?"

I want to joke about, or at least point out that he just admitted that he's uncomfortable, but I decided against it.

I instead tell him, "I'm not laughing at you, it's just that..."

I stop abruptly mid-thought because it would probably be best to proceed with caution. This is a delicate situation. I must think before I act. I must choose my next words very carefully. I'd rather not give Jack any more of an advantage over me by telling him I'm ticklish. It's so hard not to laugh or get distracted when you're as ticklish as me. I'm very sensitive. Especially around Jack.

Speaking of Jack, he has now raised his head to be able to lock eyes with me and he's definitely not laughing right now.

This is when I realize he was sincere. My fuzzy brain suddenly becomes clear as it hurries to process all of the little details... like how vulnerable his voice sounded a moment ago. If this were a comic book, a lightbulb would be going off above my head. The sudden realization makes my throat dry.

My laughter actually made him feel insecure. He's angry because he feels humiliated. The red blush on his cheeks from embarrassment seems less cute now that he's 'defending his honor' or whatever. He's angry... embarrassed angry; that's the worst kind of angry. Uh oh.

The fuming raven-haired boy raises his eyebrow.

"It's just that what?" he demands me to reveal the rest of my sentence with a low voice.

I gulp nervously. I don't know how to reassure him without revealing the compromising, not to mention, embarrassing fact that I'm ticklish.

"It's just that...that..." I struggle to find my words and Jack seizes the opportunity to finish my sentence with clenched teeth,

"...you're making fun of me? That y-"

"No!" I protest loudly, but it's no good.

"...you're mocking me?" he questions indicatively, then concludes, "You think that this is funny!"

He scoffs, shaking his head like he's disappointed in me. "You find it funny."

My chest seizes up.

"Well, I'm sorry, Spencer," he spits my name out with venom "- but this is anything but funny for me."

I'm stunned into silence. Even if I did have words to say, I doubt I would have been able to say them in time because Jack is all riled up and on a roll. My gaping mouth only seems to infuriate him even more.

"This is not some game to me. This is not funny." He pauses for a moment. "This- " he gestures to us "-is scary as hell."

As I hear the crack in his voice with those last words... my heart cracks simultaneously. He's about to remove my legs from around his waist when I grab both sides of his face and turn him toward me.

"Jack." I stare at him straight on.

---

AN: So any guesses on why Jack is so affected by the idea of Spencer laughing at him?

Or why he's so riled up?

So angry?

Also... what do you think Spencer will do next?

I KNOW I'm breaking a rule right now because I'm updating in the middle of a Saturday afternoon, but I don't care because I HAD to update after the overwhelming amount of support I've received in the past 72 hours. It's been crazy and I'm just shocked beyond belief.

I was super busy the second half of this week and was constantly checking my notifications (because it motivated to study for a big test so that I wouldn't have to spend my weekend preparing to retake it and would instead work on WRITING!!) but didn't get to respond to many until this morning. So I went back to comment on everyone's board a thank you (like I always do) for any support of this book they gave within these past couple days but then after getting through about half of my notifications wATTPAD BLOCKED ME from commenting on any more boards! How crazy is that?

So I apologize if I didn't get to thanking you yet for any vote, comment, reading list add, etc., you gave me in the past 48 hours or so, I promise I saw your notifications and appreciate you more than you can possibly imagine!!!

Every comment, read, and vote makes my heart flutter and my day a little brighter. Thank you all for making me smile and get through some tough times.

I can't wait to improve as a writer and give you the content you deserve because you all are wonderful humans (as far as I know... maybe there's a few gay aliens with internet access out there?) and I couldn't ask for more loving, supportive readers.

Also, if you ever need someone to talk to about life or issues - LET ME KNOW!!! My private messages/dms are always open:-)

By the way, I'll always be dedicating each chapter to one of you amazing people from now on. So yay!

Yes, this is a filler chapter and I apologize for that but hopefully I can update Wednesday! It is finals week for me though so I'm a bit (A LOT) swamped with homework and studying for that.

Good luck to anyone who has finals/exams/testing soon or just had them! I believe in you!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

Love,

Leah