OCS - First Impressions (Llau and Martial)

[Martial Virtue]

0700 Hours
April 22, 2516
Officer Candidate School Facility 3-5 B
Planet Reach

Officer Candidate Adrienne Jackson filed into the classroom along with thirty-seven other officer hopefuls, a little nervous as to what to expect. Last night had been their arrival to OCS Facility Three-Five Bravo, and it had been like everything Jackson had conjured up in her mind before departure. They’d been screamed at by staff sergeants in the dark, told to run, run, run to their assigned barracks, stow their gear, get their boots on, and haul ass back outside.

The whole thing took less than ten minutes – a mad scramble like none Adrienne had ever seen before. Then they’d been told to form up, and the head instructor started them off at a light jog. Half a minute later, they were running full tilt around the facility’s expansive grounds. The candidates had returned back to barracks past midnight, exhausted and aching from the impromptu marathon. Or what felt like a marathon, at least. They each took quick five-minute rinses – because to call those showers would have been too generous – and practically collapsed into their racks.

The worst had been waking up to huge blisters on her feet this morning, something Adrienne tried not to think about now as she eased her sore body into a seat near the front of the class. They’d run in their civvies last night, because, as the staff sergeant put it, they weren’t worth the uniform quite yet. They were apparently worthy enough to run in their combat boots, though. Jackson’s, like everyone else’s, were brand new and hadn’t been broken into yet, so instead they broke her feet.

Still feeling a little groggy at the early hour, Jackson mentally drifted off a bit as she waited for the rest of the candidates to find seats as well. She only emerged from her reverie when something bumped hard against her shoulder. Adrienne grunted and turned to face the man who took the seat closest to her, on her right. He was a tall young man with short black hair and icy-looking blue eyes. Jackson stared daggers at him for a moment for the obtrusion, but he didn’t glance back in her direction, so the effect was lost. Adrienne finally sighed softly to herself and decided to let it go. Class began.

“Okay, so,” the Marine captain at the head of the room said loudly, prompting the officer candidates to pipe down and listen, lest they be reprimanded for distracting their fellow students. “Today we’re going to get started on your classroom training. Over the course of the next two weeks, you will learn what it means to be a leader, you will learn about our great military leaders of the past, and then you will be given field exercises to put what you’ve learned into practice. But first, I want to ask you all one simple, but very important, question. Why are you here?”

The heavy emphasis the instructor had put on those words had every fatigued officer candidate in the room staring at him in rapt attention. Several candidates raised their hands with answers, and the captain pointed to a few, allowing them to speak.

“My dad was a colonel in the Marines. I’ve always wanted to be just like him,” one man replied.

“I’ve always been a natural leader, and I wanted to use my talents to do my part,” another answered.

“I wanted to be a fucking pilot and the Army didn’t want me,” a woman in the back responded lightly, eliciting a few chuckles from the rest of the class. The captain cut all of those short with a quick wave of his hand.

“All right. So, it sounds like reasons vary from person to person, as they should. But hopefully, you can all agree on the fact that you’re here because you want to defend the Colonies, should it come to that. Because you want and are willing to lead men and women into battle to keep your home planets, as well as others, safe. That is why you are really here, or at least it should be. If that doesn’t fit your description, you might as well walk out that door right now. Because we’re here to make Marines and leaders out of you.”

Adrienne’s full attention was on the captain, yet it still surprised her when he suddenly turned to look right at her and pointed a finger towards her.

“You,” he said, voice loud and firm. “Why are you here?”

Jackson was perplexed. “Me, sir?”

“Yeah, you. I pointed to you, didn’t I?”

“Well, uh, yes, sir – ”

“Do you not know why you’re here?”

“No, sir, I do. I really do.”

“Then answer for the class, please. I don’t want to just hear from those who volunteered their reasons. You all have a reason for being here, whether you elected to raise your hand or not. And the Corps is a family, so we’re going to share.”

Adrienne took a deep breath and replied, “I’m here because I’ve lived my whole life on Reach, sir, and I’ve seen the sacrifices the men and women of the military have to make every day in order to keep the rest of us safe from harm. I wanted to be like them, a protector.” She paused, then continued, “Both my parents are civilians that work in the defense department, in the UNSCDF offices on base. My brother’s an accountant in another. I wanted to be able to say that when the time came, if it ever did, that I could be the one to defend my family from harm. Sir. I love them very much, and they’ve done so much for me. This is how I chose to repay that debt.”

The room went quiet after Adrienne’s heartfelt speech. The captain leaned back against his desk and crossed his feet in front of him, standing with his arms folded across his chest, not saying anything for a moment. Then someone beside Adrienne began to laugh.

“Your parents are civilian defense workers?” a deep male voice asked mockingly. “You sure about that? Because I thought your last name was Jackson.” He spoke louder, for the rest of the class’ benefit. “We all know the Jackson story, don’t we?”

Jackson turned with fury in her eyes. It was one of the things she could never forgive her biological mother for, the scandal that would forever taint the Jackson name in the military. The only reason Adrienne hadn’t given it up was because her adoptive family, her mother’s aunt and uncle and their son, shared the name as well. And those were Jacksons Adrienne was proud to be a part of, proud to be associated with. In the military, though, it seemed, she’d never escape the shadow of her mother’s transgressions.

The captain tried his best to try to placate the situation while Adrienne boiled in her seat with seething anger. “All right, all right, that’s en – ”

Before Jackson even realized what she was doing, the anger took over and she’d risen from her seat, planted her feet firmly in front of the dark-haired candidate’s chair, and backhanded him hard across the face. The smack rang out loud in the small room, and the rest of the students immediately hushed, stunned.

Adrienne’s eyes went wide when she realized what she’d done, but she was still mad enough to say through clenched teeth, “Do not mention my woman who gets around of a mother ever again. She was never a parent to me, and I am nothing like her. Are we clear?”

[llau]

He was used to waking up early and doing workouts, but not this early. His father was right, it was going to be very different, and he'll have to get used to it. He headed inside the room, still feeling a little tired and not to mention sore in a few places. He gazed around the room, looking for an empty seat, which he found one. He headed over, perhaps a little too quickly because he pumped into someone.

Between the slight nervousness in his gut and the grogginess, he didn't bother to apologize, but he did glance over at the one who he bumped into as he sat down in his chair and waited. He quickly looked away from the young woman, and stared straight ahead.

Maybe I'll apologize to her later, he thought, Unless she's a -

He stopped thinking to pay attention to the captain that was in front of the room.

"Okay, so..." The captain began speaking to all of them, explaining to them what they were going to do here, and what they will learn. Then he asked all of them one of the most important question of all. Something Officer Candidate Damon Thompson has repeatedly asked himself why he wanted to be here.

Thompson sad there, thinking on what he was going to say when the captain picked him to tell everyone. Everyone's answers so far varied from one person to the next. When it was the young woman's turn, he looked at her at the corner of his eye to listen. When she told them her story, he bit his lower lip when he realized who she was.

He heard about her from his father's friends who were in the marines. Some were stationed on Reach. Practically everyone knew about the scandal.

He started to laugh and scoffed, "“Your parents are civilian defense workers?” Thompson asked her mockingly. “You sure about that? Because I thought your last name was Jackson.” He spoke louder, for the rest of the class’ benefit. “We all know the Jackson story, don’t we?”

He looked around, smirking as some of them nodded, while others were either confused or didn't seem to care.

"If not, I'll gladly tell the stor - " The smack stopped him from finishing when she hit him with the back of her hand hard across his face.

He could've sworn he saw stars for a moment there, and when his vision cleared, he looked at her like she was crazy, while he pressed his hand over his cheek where her knuckles connected.

"Holy crap..." He muttered. He was surprised on how hard she backhanded him. Then again, he had a sister who could punch that hard.

[Martial Virtue]

Even though she was mad, Adrienne felt like complete crap over hitting her fellow candidate. She still thought he deserved it, but she hadn’t thought herself capable of doing something like that even when it was warranted. For a moment she was indecisive, simultaneously thinking she should apologize and continue to chew him out.

It was while she stood there frozen as the young man held onto his hurt cheek that their instructor stepped beside them and gripped her arm. His gaze was fierce, miles away from the tone he’d been using in front of the class.

“All right, both of you! Outside, now! We’re going to settle this!”

Jackson blinked at him, wondering what he meant. Then she was unceremoniously shoved forward by the captain, so she started heading for the door as ordered. She didn’t turn back, but heard him say to the other student, “You, too, son. Up. Now. Let’s go.”

As if on cue, another captain appeared at the doorway just as Adrienne stepped outside. Jackson saluted the woman, and once he came out, the instructor said to her, “Can you take over the class for me for a minute? I’ve got a couple of brawlers here who couldn’t wait for their hand-to-hand combat training to start dishing the hurt on each other.”

The female captain nodded, eyeing both Adrienne and the other officer candidate with a stern expression. “Yeah, no problem. I’ll go teach.” Then she disappeared inside.

Their instructor had both of the officer candidates move several more paces away from the classroom. If she hadn’t been so nervous about what would happen now that she’d lost her cool, Jackson would’ve enjoyed the fact that she was outside rather than cooped up indoors. Even in the early morning, the sun was shining brightly, and the meticulously manicured training fields gave a serene air to a facility that was anything but – to a place that was designed to break you, and rebuild you as a leader of Marines.

And now I’ve blown it, Jackson thought to herself, a lump beginning to form in her throat. I’ve blown the one thing I’ve always wanted to do over something I just couldn’t control. Dammit. She’d given in to impulse when the other candidate had struck just about the only nerve that would’ve caused her to react that way. Had he known that? Had he been baiting her?

Adrienne stared at the young man a little guiltily as he continued to press a hand on the side she’d hit. Then the captain fixed them both with a hard expression.

“You know, most of the time, the Marines want to recruit folks like you,” he said to them. “Fiery, passionate individuals willing to stand up for what they believe, defend the honor of their families and their friends. But not, not when it means turning on your own.” He sighed. “Did you hear anything of what I said in there? The Marines are a family. Like it or not, no matter your past, when and if you two knuckleheads complete this course, you will be part of that family. You two will be brother and sister in arms. So let’s get over whatever bullshit caused you – ” He pointed to Adrienne. “ – to give this kid a wallop.” The captain crossed his arms over his chest. “He said something very insulting about you and your parentage. You’re angry, and rightfully so. He thinks you're trash and a disgrace to the Corps because of what your mother and father did. So go ahead. Have it out, right here, right now. I’ll arbitrate and make sure neither of you pummel the hell out of each other, because we need you healthy if you’re going to complete the course and graduate. But go on. Let’s see how the two of you really fight.”

For a moment, Jackson just stared. She was wondering if the captain was joking, but his seriousness was clear in his eyes. He wanted a fistfight out of them, wanted them to let off steam so they could move on.

And Adrienne was still angry. So set her stance and narrowed her eyes, waiting to see who’d pull the first punch.

[llau]

He stared at her, shocked, but he could feel himself getting mad...mostly mad at himself. He had a habit of speaking before thinking, and sometimes it ended up coming out rather harshly. Something he has been working on for a long time to fix.

When the instructor grabbed her and shoved her toward the door, and glared back at him to order him to leave the room too. He quickly snapped in attention as he stood and headed out. He gave the other Captain a salute as well before following Jackson and their instructor far enough away from the classroom before stopping.

Thompson stood silently at arm's length beside her, feeling even more angry and guilty for what he said to her.

Shit... He slowly shook his head in disappointment and briefly bit his lip as he clenched his hands tightly into fists.

Frowning, he listened to what the Captain had to say. While he spoke, Thompson's eyebrows furrowed slightly. He wanted to say something about not thinking she was trash just because who her real parents were. Instead, he bit his lower lip again to keep his mouth shut.

He started to sulk, but when he heard the last part, "Let’s see how the two of you really fight.” from their instructor, he blinked and looked at the man with wide eyes for a moment, and then slowly gazed at her.

"Whoa, wait a minute," Thompson started. He took a step back in disbelief. "I - " He stopped, sighing. "This is stupid." He raised his eyebrow and looked at them both. "It was my fault for causing her to punch me because I was being a freakin' asshole by bringing up her past." He huffed slightly and went on talking.

He fixed his eyes on hers.

"I'm sorry, alright? The thing they did was stupid and people make mistakes, but it means something more to own up on your mistakes. Like not hiding who you really are to show everyone you're better than that. Better than them."

Thompson let out an irritable sigh, and shook his head. "But...if you want to fight me, then I will fight you."

He shifted in his stance, bringing his right leg back and brought his fists up. He looked like he wanted to fight, but he really didn't want to.

[Martial Virtue]

Hearing the other candidate’s words made Jackson’s blood boil all over again. She didn’t believe his words for a second, and felt even more insulted that he’d tried to make himself look better than he was. He even tried to make it look like he didn’t want to fight her, when clearly his words earlier in the classroom had been meant to instigate something – to get a reaction out of her.

Well, he’d succeeded. Jackson wasn’t backing down now.

“If you really believed in all that ridiculous, idealistic bullshit you just spewed, why did you even open your fat mouth in the first place?” she demanded.

Jackson didn’t wait for an answer. The young man’s fists were already up, so he was ready. Without another word, Adrienne’s own fist shot out, aiming for his gut.

[llau]

Thompson backed up, but he did feel her fist barely connecting with his stomach. That was close... he thought, but kept his guard up.

"Fff. Why did I?" He shrugged. "I already told you. I don't like it when people hide things from others. We're family, right? Why hide things from your family? Are you afraid what people will think of you?" He sighed, looking rather regretful. "As to why I said it, I don't know why I say hurtful things to people sometimes."

He bounced around on his feet slightly, and threw a right hook and then a jab twice with his left hand.

[Martial Virtue]

Adrienne took in the young man's words as she side-stepped his right hook, suddenly second-guessing herself, wondering if she'd misjudged him. His voice held both sincerity and real regret at what he'd blurted.

But soon her mind went back into the fight - only too late. Jackson faltered when he aimed two quick but vicious jabs to her face. One grazed her jaw while the other connected straight-on with her nose, making blood erupt from the cavity on both side. Adrienne backed up a moment as a shockwave of pain rocked her, and she instinctively brought a hand up to her face. Hot red liquid poured through her fingers, igniting the anger again. This kid was going down.

She took a large step forward then, making like she was going in for another punch, but pulling back at the last minute and striking with her leg instead, trying to sweep the man's legs out from under him to gain the upper hand, still holding a bloodied hand to her nose.

[llau]

Thompson's fist connected with her nose, and he quickly stopped and winced when he saw the blood begin to pour.

"Oh, shit...sorry. I - "

He didn't even get to finish his apology when he felt her kick him in the knee to cause him to lose his balance. He fell to the ground on his side quicker than he tried to tell her sorry for punching her in the nose. If only his father could see him now. He knew his father would be highly disappointed in him because he was the one who taught his son Krav Maga.

Thompson slowly moved around to sit on his ass and gazed up at her, and started to laugh quietly in disbelief. Thinking about his father being disappointed in how he was defending himself, and how his mother would think of what was going on and how he was acting, he suddenly didn't even care what will happen during the fight.

"I'm tired, sore, and would just like to move on from this...how about we just stop, huh?" He looked down, closing his eyes for a minute while he waited for her response.

[Martial Virtue]

Adrienne wasn’t sure what to make of all this when the young man sat back and startled chuckling to himself after she’d floored him. Jackson was still plenty mad, but it was starting to ebb now, and her nose throbbed like crazy. She mopped up the blood on her face as best as she could with her hand, then wiped it off on the leg of her fatigues, quickly bringing the hand back up to collect more of the liquid running down her chin. She looked down at her fellow officer candidate when he said he’d had enough and that they should probably stop, and felt her respect for him rise a little despite herself. He seemed less like a common bully now and more just someone who’d said something silly without intention of escalating things. Without knowing how much that would strike a nerve with her.

Finally Adrienne relaxed her tense stance, continuing to hold onto her nose with one hand so her voice came out funny when she murmured, “Fuck.” Not even Jackson was sure if she said that because of her nose, because of the way the situation had turned out, or because of the fight. Maybe it was a combination. “Fine. I’m done with this stupid crap, too.”

Jackson sat down on the grass in front of him, placing her arms behind her as she leaned her head back to try to get the blood to stop. Her nose hurt, but she wasn’t badly injured; it was just the nature of the blood vessels in the nose. When those ruptured, nothing short of a cloth of some sort would stop them. She closed her eyes as the direct ray of the morning sun hit her face and let out a sigh.

The captain seemed surprised when he spoke. “That’s it? I didn’t even have to call you off each other.”

He sounded vaguely disappointed, and Jackson’s opinion of him plummeted. Now that she had a clearer head, she realized how inane the instructor’s idea had been. It had solved nothing except serve as an outlet for Jackson’s momentary rage. She didn’t respond, however, and he went on.

“All right. Instead of taking part in today’s lesson, you two are going to be cleaning the barracks while your fellow candidates are out. I want those places absolutely spotless. Then, instead of getting some rack time at lights out tonight, you two will be catching up on the classroom stuff you missed. Get ready; you’ve got a long day ahead of you.” He turned to go back towards the class then, but paused and turned around. “Oh, and Jackson, better go get that taken care of. If you bleed all over the barracks floors, you’re going to have to clean them again. First aid field tent is a hundred yards to your left. Thompson goes with you. You two will be each other’s shadows for the next twenty-four hours.”

Adrienne stopped just short of groaning. Did they really have to do this? Not only were they going to have to clean everything, but she had to do it with the other kid – Thompson, the captain had said. He was just about the last person on the planet she wanted to spend more time with.

But this was the Marines, and she counted herself lucky she hadn’t just been dismissed from the program then and there. So she sucked it up.

Slowly, Jackson stood, then, still holding a hand over her blood-smeared face, she held out the other to Thompson to help him up. “Come on,” she said. “I don’t want to keep bleeding all over myself, and the sooner we get started, the more rack time we’ll get tonight. I’m not a very cheery person when I’ve been sleep-deprived.”

[llau]

Thompson raised an eyebrow at what the Captain said, and wondered how anyone could sound so disappointed over not being able to break up a fight that didn’t last long. After hearing what the man ordered them to do, he kept himself from sighing and rolling his eyes at the cleaning and studying later tonight while the others were resting. Of course, he didn’t mind the cleaning too much, as he and his two siblings used to be the ones who cleaned up their house a lot. Not fussing, as their punishment could've been worse.

For a few moments, he lowered his head and closed his eyes before looking back up when Jackson stood. He stared up at her as she offered her hand to help him up and sighed quietly.

“Come on,” she said. “I don’t want to keep bleeding all over myself, and the sooner we get started, the more rack time we’ll get tonight. I’m not a very cheery person when I’ve been sleep-deprived.”

“Uh, yeah,” he replied. He reached up to grab her hand and stood, and then let go of her hand to slowly reach into his pocket to pull out a freshly clean hanker shift that was neatly folded to hand it over to her.

“Um…here you go. It’s for your nose.” There was a long pause. “Sorry about that, you know…adrenaline shit.”

Thompson started to walk toward the barracks, though slowly, as he waited for her to catch up with him.

“You can either keep it or throw it away when your nose stops bleeding, by the way,” He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked. “I’ll get another one.”

[Martial Virtue]

Adrienne took the handkerchief Thompson handed her with a bit of surprise, but she hid it. She placed the clean piece of cloth around her nose and kept a hand cupped around it. “Thanks,” she said, voice slightly muffled.

She watched as the other officer candidate started to turn in the direction of the barracks to get started on their day’s cleaning, so Jackson pointed ahead to the first aid tent, positioned just in front of them now. “Gonna stop in and take care of this real quick. We’re supposed to stay together, so you should probably come with before we head for the barracks. It won’t take long.”

Jackson stepped ahead of him then, walking more briskly to reach the tent first. The quicker she got this out of the way, the quicker they’d be able to finish up their extra duties. When she approached, Adrienne found the tent empty at this hour except for a couple of field medics and one doctor. They gave her one look before deciding her injury was obviously mild, so one of the medics came up to her and gestured for her to have a seat on one of the cots.

Adrienne sat down as instructed, and then felt her cheeks burn when the medic placed his hands on her face to look at her nose. He was strikingly good-looking, even with his serious expression.

“A beat-up nose, huh?” the corpsman asked. “How’d you manage that, Candidate?”

At first she hesitated to answer. She didn’t want to rat Thompson out, especially while he was within earshot. It hadn’t really been his fault, anyway. “Fell on the run this morning and ate the dirt pretty hard,” she replied.

The medic chuckled. “I know a good solid hit when I see one. Hope you laid in on ‘im some, too.”

Adrienne gave a small nervous laugh, hoping the redness of her face wasn’t too apparent. She was already taken, had been dating the love of her life, Sam, for four years now, but looking wasn't off-limits. “I tried my best,” she finally responded.

“Well, not much to do here, to be honest,” the medic said. “Your nose isn’t broken, so all I can do for you is stop the bleeding. I think you’ll survive the pain on your own just fine if you’re going to be a Marine at the end of this.”

Jackson waved a hand at him. “It’s not bad. I just don’t want to have my blood all over.”

“Understandable.” The medic pulled a piece of gauze from a first aid kit nearby and cut off two small pieces. In the meantime, Adrienne pulled Thompson’s handkerchief from her nose and stuffed it in a pocket of her fatigues. She’d wash it later and return it to the other officer candidate.

A couple of minutes later, the corpsman was finished. He’d given her a wet cloth so she could clean off her face, and then stuffed the two small pieces of gauze up each nostril so the bleeding would stop. Adrienne felt a little embarrassed that she had to walk around like that for part of the rest of the day, but at least she and Thompson would be in the barracks, and thus mostly out of sight. She hoped by the time the other candidates arrived to switch out their gear in the afternoon, they’d be done cleaning in there.

In short order she’d thanked and said goodbye to the handsome medic, then turned back to Thompson.

“All done,” Jackson said, wriggling her nose a little at the discomfort of the gauze inside. She held up a hand. “No laughing. I know what I look like. So let’s just get to cleaning those barracks. I’ll get your handkerchief back to you as soon as we’ve had a chance to do laundry.”

She started towards the barracks again, but then abruptly turned back. “Hey, what’s your name, anyway? I picked up Thompson when the captain talked to you, but since we’ve already been at each other’s throats, I think an intro is in order.” She held out her hand. “I’m Adrienne. Adrienne Jackson, obviously. And I’m not like my real mother, or my real father. Promise.”

She thought of her adoptive parents who'd raised her, and their son, the older brother she'd grown up with. Then she added, "There's good Jacksons, too."

[llau]

Thompson slowed to a stop and turned around to look at her when she mentioned he should follow her into the first aid tent nearby. He glanced over at the tent, then back at her and shrugged.

"Well, alright," muttered the dark-haired young man. With a shrug of his shoulders, he followed her into the tent and waited near the entrance while she had one of the medics tend to her nose. He folded his arms and looked on silently; cringing in regret for a moment.

Damn, I can be an asshole sometimes. He thought.

“A beat-up nose, huh?” the corpsman asked. “How’d you manage that, Candidate?”

He cringed again, shifting a little in his stance as the atmosphere inside the tent grew a little uncomfortable for him.

Great, here we go...she'll say I did it and...

“Fell on the run this morning and ate the dirt pretty hard,”

Thompson held his breath at that, and then sighed inwardly as his eyes widen in surprise for a brief moment.

Wait...what...?

"Oh..." He murmured.

He raised an eyebrow as he gazed over at her, shifting in his stance one more time and felt even more awkward when she didn't tell them that he was the one who did it.

"Hmm..."

Maybe she's different after all...

He thought with a small smile.

Wow, she's red in the face...

Thompson bit his lower lip to keep himself from smirking and laughing at that as he looked around the tent and continued waiting as he leaned up against a filing cabinet.

Once the medic declared that Jackson's nose wasn't broken, he found himself sighing in relief. He was glad that he didn't punch her full contact.

He straightened up when Jackson was finished, and slowly smirked when he looked at the gauze coming out of her nostrils.

"Heh. It's hard not too laugh." he chuckled a little. "Sorry."

He followed her out of the tent and toward the barracks. He stopped when she did and looked at her as she finally introduced herself to him.

"Yeah," He looked at her apologetically and extended his hand toward her to shake hers with a firm grip. "I'm Damon Thompson."

he then added, "I know I said it once, but I do apologize. I can be a real asshole sometimes...it's kind of the reason why I decided to join and become an officer. I thought maybe it'll help my attitude. After my mom died when I was eight, and my dad was kicked out of the UNSC for insubordination, and I had to take care of my brother, sister, and even my father...I kinda had it rough, you know?"

He shrugged a little. "I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I hope it'll be better now." While adding, "Thanks for not ratting me out to them, by the way...you didn't have to...but you did. I appreciate it"

[Martial Virtue]

When they shook hands, Damon apologized again. It was then that Adrienne knew for sure that despite his sometimes impulsive side, maybe he just didn't always think before he spoke, and that he didn't really mean much of what he said. She decided he was okay, and that maybe having to spend the day cleaning with him wouldn't be as awful as she'd first thought.

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize again. I'm willing to view it as water under the bridge and we can start over." She gave him a small smile as she let go of his hand. "I think this is a much better way of handling things. Just talk it out." Jackson sobered for a moment. "I'm sorry you had a rough childhood. What you went through sounds really tough and sad. But you can't let your past define you, or let it make excuses for you. I don't let mine do that."

She paused and sighed, although most of the action was painful and awkward because of the gauze stuffed up her nose. "We've all been through shit, you know? In our own way, we've all had to face challenges. I like to use those things to better myself, to prove that I can rise above them." Jackson looked him dead in the eyes. "That's why I'm here. To prove my family name has more value than what my real parents placed on it."