The Shrieking Shack

Jesse led Milli up the hill to the Shrieking Shack. Not many people were out and about at night, so it had been easy to sneak past the fencing keeping students from leaving the small village and walking up to the 'haunted' house. He saw that the front door was bolted shut, and as he took his wand out to open it up he noticed that the window was already smashed open. "Ah. Looks like they were expecting us," he said with a grin before leading Milli over to the broken window. "Ladies first? Or should I go in and make sure we're not intruding on anything?"

Milli followed Jesse to the Shack and waited for him to get them inside. She raised her eyebrows at the open window. Convenient. "The universe is on our side today, huh?" She walked up to the window and took a second to assess it. It was bit over their heads, but not far enough that she couldn't reach up. "I got this," she said with a grin. She jumped up, grabbed the edge of the window, and hoisted herself through the window. Kneeling on one knee, Milli turned and peered down and Jesse. "Keep up, will you?"

Jesse looked up at Milli with a slight look of disbelief. He wasn't used to girls talking to him like this, but...he kind of liked it. He hoisted himself up to the window, sitting on the ledge as he smiled at Milli. "Sorry, just thought I'd let you make sure the place was safe before putting myself in danger," he teased before turning to hop down off the ledge and into the house, making sure to have his face brush dangerously close to Milli's as he did so.

"Well, it's perfectly safe," Milli assured him. "Although if something does come up I expect you to be the gentleman and protect me. Not the other way around." Her breath caught as his face was suddenly inches from hers, and then he was past her. He was messing with her, that much obvious. It was frustrating, but at the same time kind of hot and only making him more attractive. She took the opportunity to check him out while he was walking away, and her eyes lingered for a second on his arse before she pushed herself off the floor and followed him.

"I've never been much of a gentleman, really, but...we'll see," he said with a wink, totally oblivious to the fact that he was just checked out by Milli. "So, where to first?" he asked, his voice mockingly proper as he led her into the center of the house, which, as creepy as it was, didn't look all that haunted. "You know, it certainly does have some sort of...charm to it."

Milli shrugged. "Then I'll fend for myself. No big deal." She flounced past him and added over her shoulder, "Probably would get the job done better anyway." She smirked, grabbed his hand, and led him toward the stairwell. "Why don't we start with these charming stairs?" she suggested. "They're bound to go somewhere."

Jesse scoffed as she walked past. "As if." He couldn't deny that he was shocked as she took his hand and led him to the stairs. He had known her for about 24 hours now, and her personality was just completely different from any other girl he had met before. And they hadn't even made out yet! Merlin, he could only imagine how hot that was going to be. "You don't know that. They might just drop off at the end and we'll both fall to our deaths. Guess we won't know 'till we reach the top."

"We'd still be going somewhere, though," Milli pointed out. She pulled him along and started up the stairs. After walking up a couple, she paused and spun around. She was on the stair above Jesse, which put her at eye level with him. Her face close to his, she said, "Then you'll have to prove yourself, now won't you?" she asked quietly. "If you think you could do a better job."

Jesse just stayed quiet as he followed her up the stairs, intrigued by the way she looked at things. When she turned around, he didn't pull his face back as he stared into her dark brown eyes. "But in order to prove myself, you would need to be in dan...ger." Without another word he kicked out the railing on the staircase that they were leaning against, making sure to break the one that Milli had been using for support. He swiftly caught her before she had a chance to be put into any real danger, though if he hadn't been quick on his feet, she really could have been seriously hurt. He had one arm around her back as the other hand rested on her hip, and he smirked as he realized she was in the perfect damsel in distress pose with him as the knight in shining armor. It amused him, seeing as neither of them fit the stereotype at all. "How's that for proving myself?" he asked, not making any effort to move as he realized how close their faces were.

Milli had been about to ask what he meant by that when the already unsteady railing was knocked out from underneath her. She shrieked as she started to fall off the stair and closed her eyes, prepared to feel pain shake her. She was surprised, then, when a pair of strong arms were suddenly supporting her, and she grabbed Jesse's shoulders, instinctively pulling herself closer to him and away from the danger. She opened her eyes and stared up into his. With a jolt of fury, she realised he had deliberately put her in danger to prove a point. Milli used him as a support so she could stand upright, and as soon as she was back on her own two feet, she pushed herself out of his arms. "Don't touch me," she said, disgusted.

Jesse's jaw dropped in shock. Her words had been a slap to the face. Was she joking? She had to be joking. He had just saved her from being seriousy injured, and had ever intention of kissing her within the next few seconds, so he hoped her little joke was worth killing the moment. But...the tone of her voice suggested she was dead serious. "Wait...Did I miss something? I just saved your life," he reminded her as he gestured to the broken railing, oblivious to the fact that she hadn't been in any danger until he broke said railing to prove his point.

Jesse's just lucky he didn't actually get slapped. "The only reason you had to was because you put my life in danger!" Milli shouted furiously, jabbing a finger at his chest. "You knocked the banister out from under me. I would've been fine if you hadn't felt the need to take a joke so seriously!" Milli whirled around, hair flying out behind her, and stormed down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she paused and looked back up at Jesse. "You know I really liked being with you Jesse, but I guess I should have just listened to Parvati and saved myself this."

Jesse stared in horror as she walked down the stairs. She was walking away from him? And what had Parvati told her? Honestly, was that girl just spreading rumors about him because he wouldn't sleep with her? Because she never asked, if she did then he would totally tap that. "Please tell me this is a joke," he called out angrily from his position on top of the stairs, his arms at his sides as he watched Milli in disbelief. Seriously, she was never in any real danger. Like Jesse St. James would ever fail at something.

Milli had been heading towards the window to leave, but when she heard him speak she turned around and went back to the stairwell. "Does it look like I'm joking?" she asked in a low voice. She advanced a few steps while she was speaking. "Does it sound like I'm joking? I'm not joking in the slightest. I could have been really hurt, Jesse, but I guess that doesn't matter as much as a bruised ego does, now does it?"

Jesse swallowed as he tore his gaze away from Milli, folding his arms across his chest as he tried to come up with some sort of reply. But for the first time in his life, Jesse St. James had absolutely nothing to say. Milli had been surprising him with her unique personality all night, and she had done it again but this time in a way that he honestly had no idea how to respond. He had never thought about the idea of putting her in danger. He just assumed that he'd catch her and she'd swoon over how amazing he was, just like the other girls would have done. Too bad he forgot about how different she was from other girls, which was the main reason he had actually enjoyed being with her and holding a conversation with her, rather than turning to just making out without talking at all like he did with the others.

He knew that nothing he could say would keep her from leaving, and he'd hate to try and make her stay, only to fail and have to watch her walk out on him. So he kept his arms folded as he looked down at the dusty stairs, not saying anything as he waited for her to either continue talking or leave.

"That's what I thought," Milli said quietly. She stared up at him, though he didn't meet her eyes. She wondered for a second if she was acting rationally or if she was overreacting. But why would she overreact? Because she liked him? A lot? And maybe hoped that he at least respected her. Or maybe even liked her back. She didn't know, and that scared her. Milli opened her mouth, but she found she had nothing to say. So she turned on her heel and stalked to the window and jumped out of it. She inhaled sharply as her ankle twisted when she landed, but gritted her teeth and walked back through the village and to the school.

Jesse heard Milli's footsteps grow softer as she walked further and further away from him, waiting until he heard the quiet thud of her hitting the ground outside to walk down the stairs to leave himself. He stopped when he reached the window, rested his fingers on the ledge as he watched Milli make her way back to the castle alone. He let out an exasperated sigh as he pulled himself up onto the window ledge. Why was this bothering him so much? It was just another girl. He could just as easily go back to his dorm and find some other chick to entertain him for the night, but there was something in him that just wanted to go back to his dorm where he could sleep and be alone.

He jumped down onto the grass and started walking back to the castle with his hands in his pockets. This was certainly not how he had expected the night to end. Not at all.