Contradictory behaviour

After Jenny wished her in-laws a good night and waved them goodbye, she closed the door and turned to face what she had tried hard to ignore. She picked up the scattered items off the floor and placed them on the table as another stream of tears fell down her face. She had never cried as much in her life as she had during this day. It had been such a roller coaster and she felt emotionally exhausted from all the ups and downs. But when she looked over to Jason lying quietly in the bed, she told herself that this was no time to feel exhausted as she had someone to take care of. Someone she had hurt very much and needed to comfort in every way possible. She walked over to his side of the bed and continued to care for Jason throughout the rest of the evening until his temperature had dropped back to normal.

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The next morning Jason woke up feeling completely better. He couldn't believe that he had been weakened to this state twice by the same cold. He needed to start working out again, because this was unacceptable. He looked around and wondered how he had moved from the couch to his bed, when he felt a soft sigh against his hand. He looked to the side and saw Jenny slumped over against the bed as she was sitting on the chair she had dragged over from her make-up desk. With mixed feelings he looked at her and wondered if she had taken care of him all night and how she had managed to get him upstairs. He gently sat up in bed. Moving carefully in order not to wake her up, realizing his contradictory behaviour as compared to yesterday. As he looked at her sleeping face a bit more, he noticed that his hand was unconsciously moving towards her face. He brushed the strand of her that was covering her face behind her ear. That was when he noticed the clear print that was on the side of her face. With a shocked expression he glanced over to the arm that was lying by her side and saw the red lashes around her wrist. Were these marks from yesterday? Had he caused these when he had her pushed against the wall?

Feeling guilty for hurting her like that and treating her so roughly, he swallowed hard. He got out of the bed and walked around it over to where Jenny was sitting. He lifted her up gently and placed her in the bed. 'She must be exhausted taking care of me all night. Sleeping in that kind of position without a blanket. Isn't she afraid of getting sick herself? Worrying about others instead of worrying about herself. This silly woman has learned nothing in the time we spent apart.' While he reprimanded her in his mind, Jason tucked her in and sat down on the chair Jenny had been sitting in before. He looked over her sleeping face and he took another look at the light bruises on the side of Jenny's face and her wrists. He grazed over them before placing a gentle kiss on each of the marks, ending it with a kiss on her lips, before walking out of the room and into the bathroom to take a shower.

The moment Jenny heard the door close, she opened her eyes. She woke up the moment Jason was moving about and did her best not to let him notice she was awake when he carried her onto the bed. His actions showed her once more that Jason did in fact still love her. But there was something that was holding him back. Could it really just be his anger? Or was it his pride? She couldn't figure it out, but at the moment she was too tired to think about it. So, she closed her eyes once more and took a much needed nap. By the time she woke up, Jason had left for the office. People had thought he was a machine before, but now that he had a few nights of proper sleep, he was performing better than ever. Leaving both friend and foe in awe. While Jason was shining at the office, Jenny was working hard to make their room return to the state it was in before she left. Seeing it like this was a painful reminder of what she had put Jason through. Though this would in no way be enough to make it up to him, she would take every little step needed in order to get closer to that goal.

When Jason returned from work and headed upstairs to see if Jenny was still there and to change his clothes, he saw that the room that had been trashed for weeks had been completely cleaned up and restored. His initial shock quickly made place for a sense of worry. His eyes narrowed as he looked around the room with a grave expression on his face. There could only be one person who had done this. The only person who was brave enough to do something without asking him first and going against his instructions. The only person that had been absent up to this point. As he silently stared at a fixed point in the room, he recalled the events since Jenny's return and he started thinking about his actions till that point. He had kissed her five times already since her return and had even carried her into the bed. He couldn't take anymore chances. He could tell that his heart was starting to sway. If things continued like this he would be caught up in her pace and they would be back to how things were in no time. He couldn't let that happen. He needed to stand firm if he wanted to have a chance at making it till the end of the week.