A good night's sleep eludes me most nights. Last night is no exception. I can't even remember my dreams, only snippets. Swimming and laughing with Jace one minute, then the next it's Chris in his place, holding my wrist, keeping me from swimming away. No matter how hard I try to get away he's always there, staring at me with those hard hazel eyes. Morning leaves me more exhausted than when I went to bed.

The day goes smooth enough, but by mid-afternoon, I'm fading fast. I take a seat on the back porch for a break and sometime later wake up to the sound of Jude's truck pulling up. I blink away the sleep in my eyes as he walks over, not being able to remember falling asleep.

"Did you forget?" He asks, the concern clear in his eyes as he takes me in. "You okay?"

"Shit. Sorry, Jude, I slept like crap last night and sat down for a break and must have nodded off. I'm really sorry."

"Relax, we don't have a reservation or anything, so no rush. Are you sure you're still up to going though?" He purses his lips as he studies me, warning how rough I must look.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but I need a quick shower first." I pass him a beer and head into the shower. In record time I get ready, throwing on dark skinny jeans and a blue, flowy tank top, minimal makeup, and put my long brown hair in a side braid.

I walk out and am greeted by a smiling Jude. He cleans up well. His dirty blond hair is slicked back and the dark button-up shirt makes his blue eyes pop. The shirt is form-fitting and shows off his muscular physique nicely, while his blue jeans make it casual.

"You clean up well," I say, cocking a brow.

"You don't look too bad yourself," he says, smiling. "So where to?"

"Bubby's is on the west side. Does that work for you?" He nods as we walk to his black Dodge truck. I'm surprised when he opens the passenger door for me. I blush and get in as he carefully shuts the door before walking around to the driver's side and getting in.

The truck roars to life, and he pulls out onto the main road, following my directions. Bubby's Burger has that classic burger joint meets roadhouse feel with deep booths lining the walls and tables in the middle. Crushed peanut shells litter the floor as people mill about, watching sports on tv while drinking with friends.

We decide on a booth, place our order, and get a couple of drinks while we wait. Before long the biggest bacon cheeseburger and mountain of fries are set down in front of Jude, and a bacon, bbq chicken burger and onion rings are set down for me.

"Holy crap, you weren't kidding," he says, gawking at the mountain of food.

"That's a normal burger. If you think that's big, don't get the Big Bubba. That's like a fast breaker burger," I laugh. "Onion rings?" I slide my plate over, letting him grab a couple as I grab a few fries.

He picks up his burger with both hands and takes a messy bite. "So good," he groans in delight. "This may be my favourite new place!"

"Yeah, I don't go out much but when I do, this is my go to." I toss a couple fries in my mouth to keep from laughing at his enthusiasm.

He nods in agreement as he chows down on his burger.

"So, how was your delivery yesterday?" He asks between bites. I cringe, flashing back to yesterday's encounter, and he notices. "That good, eh?"

"Well, it started off fine. The day went smooth, so it was my last stop and my day would be done like mid-afternoon. So Jace offered to show me around. We had a good afternoon, but when I was getting ready to leave, Chris came out of nowhere and was an ass." I look up to see Jude furrowing his brows with a frown on his face.

"What did he do? Want me to kick his ass?" He smirks but his eyes are dark and serious and his gentle demeanour is nowhere to be seen.

"Na, I don't even know what he was on about? Something about wasting his time and I think he was mad I was spending time with Jace. I don't know, the guy is just so damn intense. I thought he would never let me go," I say as an involuntary shiver runs down my back. I swear I hear a low growl and when I look up, Jude is staring at my wrist and the faint bruise I didn't even realize is there.

"He did this to you?!" He says lowly as his gaze hardens. Ever so slowly, his fingers carefully graze my wrist before pulling back. "Sorry," he mumbles.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. I don't think he even meant to do it. He grabbed my wrist but I panicked and tried to pull away, it happened so quick, then he let go. Honestly, I'm fine. It's no big deal, besides I won't be going back any time soon," I trail off.

"Oh, and why is that?" Jude asks, his frown deepening by the second.

"Whatever I did to piss him off, he told me not to come back until I learned my place," I say with air quotes. "Whatever that means."

He leans back in his seat, grumbling, so I change the subject. "Can we talk about something else? Like anything else please, I've spent too much time thinking about this already. Tell me about where you came from before here."

"Was a different life," he sadly muses.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," I apologize.

"No it's fine, it's just hard to explain. My family lived in a community similar to Chris and Jace's, though a fair bit smaller. Up about an hour from Northern Market. There were some problems; violence, several people died, the community ended up disbanding who was left and we dispersed. With no one left to keep me up there, I decided to try down here and a fresh start."

"Jude, I'm so sorry, I had no idea." My heart goes out to him and his loss. I reach out for his hand and give it a reassuring squeeze.

"It's okay. I miss them, but I'm building a good life down here on my own. Your community has been very welcoming; I really appreciate you and Trish being so nice to me. Honestly, I'm enjoying just doing normal things again, like grabbing dinner with a friend. That was the biggest change, going from being part of something bigger to being all alone."

"Well, you already know I live a very quiet life. If you get lonely, you can always swing by for dinner. It's nothing fancy, but it's an option?"

His blue eyes twinkle brighter as a grin splits his face. "I may just have to take you up on that sometime. What about you? What's your story?"

Great, my favourite topic...

"Not much to me. I was born and raised here. Was adopted as a little kid, parents were great. Lost mom to cancer five years ago, dad took it hard and hasn't been around much since. Aren't we just two happy-go-lucky people, eh?" I say with a forced laugh.

He shrugs. "Shit happens, but it's not necessarily who you are. What do you do in your downtime? What do you like? What makes you tick?" He asks as he leans forward on the table.

"I don't have a lot of downtime, the farm takes up a lot of it... I'm pretty happy outdoors. I don't like to be cooped up, I'd rather be out in the woods or near water. I do teach archery to kids at the local club, kind of ironic as I'm not really big on kids," I say with a laugh.

"You sure about that?" he asks, raising a brow. "I see that kid around you at the market all the time, he doesn't seem to hang around anyone else."

"Ethan? He just likes me because I feed him," I laugh, waving him off. "I don't know, I just don't have the patience for bratty kids. Also, have you met me? I swear way too much to be around kids." I can't stop the yawn that escapes, my lack of quality sleep is catching up fast.

"Well princess, I think it's time to get you back before you turn into a pumpkin," he teases. Quickly he grabs the check before I can and pays for dinner.

I flash him a pointed look. "You didn't need to do that Jude, I could have gotten it."

"Chivalry isn't dead yet," he grins as we head for the truck. He opens the door and I slide in.

Does he think this was a date? Oh geez.

The ride back is quiet, just the sound of music playing in the background. Once home he opens the door and walks me up to the deck, leaving me uneasy.

"Thanks again for dinner, it was nice to get out," I say as I smile awkwardly and avoid his gaze.

Before I know what is happening, he pulls me in for a hug. I instantly tense up and my heart feels like it will run away at any second. As quickly as it happened, he lets me go and holds me out at arm's length.

"The pleasure was all mine," he says, smiling. His expression turns more serious before he speaks again. "Be careful around Chris and Jace. There's more to them than you know. Please let me know if he causes you any more trouble. You have my number, day or night, don't be afraid to call." His blue eyes bore into mine with such sincerity that all I can do is nod.

He smiles once more, lets me go, wishes me goodnight and drives off. I let out a breath I didn't even realize I had been holding and will myself to relax.

Yawning yet again, I take the hint and get ready for bed. I turn off all the lights and kick off my yoga pants before I curl up in bed.

I quickly fall asleep, but soon my dreams are filled with pieces of memories. When I first meet Jude, then it jumps to when Jude comes to my aide when the brute grabs me. Then flashbacks of Jace walking and joking with me at the heart of the lake. But when I turn around in the cave, Chris is there.

He's standing there staring at me, the shimmering light from the cave makes his hazel eyes practically glow mostly green. Water beads down his broad, muscular chest, drawing my gaze ever lower.

Gulp, this wasn't how this happened, at all.

I feel my face heat up as the blush creeps on my cheeks. I hear a low growl, deep in his chest as he slowly reaches for me but I stumble back and fall into the water.

I shoot up in my bed, wide awake, panting. What the fuck was that?!

'Pretty interesting dreams haha.' Oh shut it.

Well, so much for actual sleep.

Once I calm down, I lay back down to try and get some more sleep, but as soon as I nod off, hazel eyes continue to haunt my dreams. Morning comes far too soon and I groan, waking up yet feeling completely exhausted.

What am I going to do? I can't keep up like this for long–I already feel like a zombie.

So I get up and plug away at the day's work, hoping to tire out and maybe get some decent sleep tonight.

~~~~~

A/N

Anyone else have trouble sleeping? Bad dreams?