*. 𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔲𝔯𝔢 / 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕣 .*

      The retort she delivered in response to his accusation caught Jesse off guard and he had to roll his tongue along the inside of his cheek in order to prevent himself from egging Candy on, this time.  If he did, he’d probably never get his shirt back, which wasn’t as important as he was making it seem to be, but that was beside the point.  Giving a slight nod of his head as a sign of gratitude once she told him the whereabouts of the flannel, he stepped over the threshold and entered her room to get to the closet, surprised by how easily it was to get it out of her.  While the environment was more than familiar, once like a second home to the ranch hand, it also caused an uncanny feeling to settle in the pit of his stomach.  Instead of allowing himself to decipher the feeling, Jesse dismissed it as nothing more than being caused by the obvious tension built up between the two of them and focused on the task at hand.  Just as Candy had instructed, after moving a few of her own shirts out of the way, he found the article of clothing hanging up and carefully removed it from the hanger.  “Thanks,”  his gruff voice affirmed the retrieval and as Jesse slung the shirt over his arm, he caught the sweet scent of her perfume or lotion or whatever it was — just her — come from the shirt.  A heavy sigh involuntarily emitted from him as he made a beeline for the door, but he hesitated once he reached the frame.  Turning his head, Jesse’s gaze once again wandered over to her and the clothes she had scattered over her bed, the tip of his tongue peeking out to glide over his lips.  “When do you leave?”

     he had to suppress a smirk from tugging at the corners of his mouth in reaction to the fact that he’d obviously startled emma.  it certainly wasn’t his intention, but jesse also hadn’t done much to make his presence be known until he set his sights on her.  “you should really start lockin’ your doors then, huh,”  he gestured with a slight nod of his head back in the direction he’d emerged from, quirking one of his dark eyebrows pointedly at her as jesse was positive there had been a time when he’d insisted on the ‘better safe than sorry’ action being taken more seriously; back when it was his honourable duty to care.  considering she had yet to demand he leave, the brunet took that as an unspoken invitation and took a couple nonchalant steps further into emma’s room, his hands finding their way into the front pockets of his jeans.  “my shirt. i was passing through and figured i’d stop in to get it, yeah.”  it was a little white lie in a feeble attempt to save his own pride and thought it was merely trivial, figuring that the real principal of the matter was whether or not she had the flannel in question.  “y’know, the red and black plaid one.  my closet isn’t exactly extravagant as it is, so ..., ”  he trailed off for a brief moment as his gaze casually scanned over her room, as if searching for any major change or hint of something out of the ordinary, until his wandering curiosity came full circle back to fixate on emma,  “i’m gonna need that back.”

      “I know I don’t have to, but...” Brodie trailed off while slipping the card back into his wallet which was then returned to his back pocket, giving an effortless shrug of his broad shoulders with the smirk still very much intact.  Even after all this time and the heartbreak that followed their split, he still cared a great deal about Del, more so than he was willing to admit, but there was certainly no denying the soft spot he held for the blonde.  A chuckle soon sounded from the redhead at her admission, the smile he was finally able to pull out of Del causing his own smile to be put on display.  “It’s not for you, wow, okay.  Well, whoever it’s for, tell them I said ‘you’re welcome’,”  he teased, quirking one of his eyebrows slightly.  “But, I mean, if you keep smiling through tonight then no, it doesn’t matter.”  Sometimes he thought he was pretty smooth, when in reality he was just incredibly corny, this being one of those times.  With that said, though, he carefully set the beer in a paper bag and dropped the package of gum inside along with it.  “My shifts over in about ten minutes,”  he started, digging into the front pocket of his jeans to retrieve a set of keys,  “You wanna wait in my car?”

      a flannel shirt had been missing from his wardrobe for at least a month now, and jesse had endlessly searched through the trailer, his truck, and around the ranch he’d been working at but had no luck.  the last place, the ONLY place, the brunet figured it could be was in her possession, if she hadn’t given it away or thrown it out.  despite the fact that late drunken voicemails, taunting salacious snaps, and malicious texts had been routinely sent between the two of them since their break up, actually seeing each other in person was something that rarely occurred.  however, the sole reason why he stepped foot on campus grounds and traveled the familiar path to her sorority house was to retrieve the clothing, no matter if there was a chance that he might have been missing her or not.  at least, that’s what jesse continued to tell himself once he slipped inside the unlocked door of the house ; this unannounced visit was all about the flannel.  in all honesty, he hadn’t expected her to actually be in the house, figuring she would be out doing some devout sisterly duty or whatever sorority sisters did,  so he was a little taken back when he approached her room, baby blue hues immediately fixing on her figure.  “—hey,”  he uttered an aloof greeting, leaning his shoulder against the frame of the open door and raising a hand to effortlessly hit his knuckles against the wood,  “think you still have one of my shirts.”

ix . 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕪 𝕕𝕚𝕩𝕠𝕟  ⋄  `  ⟡  —  featuring   ;   — ｡

      “Yeah, Del, you do,” he mimicked the blonde’s reaction, his own eyebrows raising slightly before he gave a shake of his head.  “I’m not just some random dude who’s gonna judge based on some shitty rumours, I’m your—” He was quick to cut himself off, before anything else slipped out that would potentially make their encounter anymore awkward than it needed to be, and decided to rephrase the point he was trying to get across.  “I know you. And all that shit people spread around, that isn’t you.”  Even after all this time, Brodie couldn’t stand to see her get so upset over something; it still apparently did a number on his heartstrings.  The fact that she’d been hurt by some piece of shit who couldn’t care less about anyone but himself just caused the redhead’s fiery protective nature to burn hotter beneath his cool demeanour.  Chocolate hues swept over Del’s face for a brief moment, until a sigh slipped through partially parted lips and he reached for the back pocket of his jeans, fishing out his wallet and then his bank card in one swift motion.  Before she could say anything, Brodie tapped the card over the debit machine in order to pay for the two items she’d brought up, a smirk cheekily tugging at the corners of his mouth.  “I didn’t, until now. You, me, beer, and gum; a solid combination.”

      Dark eyebrows narrowed slightly at the initial brief explanation she offered, unaware of just how shitty her night had been until Del mentioned Bryce Fuller, a name that had always brought a grimace to his features and for some reason caused old feelings of resentment to spark.  Brodie wasn’t entirely sure which surprised him more, the fact that Del somehow got herself mixed up with a guy like Bryce or the fact that Bryce seemed to have the audacity to treat her like she was just another notch on his post.  “It’s not fine, it’s fucking bullshit,” he finally blurted out with a shake of his head.  “But it’s his loss, huh. You can do a hell of a lot better than that asshole; you deserve better, too.”  With that said, his gaze finally dropped from hers, as if just remembering where he was and what he was supposed to be doing.  Scanning the beer and gum, he tapped a button to total the amount due, but he was in no rush to see her go just yet.  “I’m off soon, if you want me to go kick his ass.”