I later woke up to the thundering sound of knocks on the door. It had seemed like Jesse was revolved around sketches of cartoon characters. Notebooks along with ebony pencils and Sharpy pens were scattered around the blue comforter.

“Jess! Mom says you have her tablet!” Sammy’s voice echoed from the hall. The doorknob began wiggling. I froze with fear, snuggling under the covers.. Jesse, looking alarmed, bolted up and stood in front of the bed. I peeked out. My view was obscured by the toned curve of his coccyx.

“No, I don’t. Stay out of my room, please.” The knob twisted regardless, and the young girl appeared, determined.

She huffed, “Where is it?”

“Hell if I know. Can you get out now?” He growled.

“Why’re you being mean?” Sam asked innocently, her glittering eyes frowning.

“I’m sorry...it’s been…it’s been a long day. I don’t have the iPad,” he concluded nonchalant, silently begging her to leave.

“Can we watch a movie tonight?”

“No…” he began, then after a moment, “you know what? How about we watch something scary?” I wondered why he had changed his mind. What would he do with me? Hide me in his pocket like an object? Lock me in a drawer?

I don’t know why these thoughts continued to occur. Jesse seemed wholly trustworthy and I should appreciate him. There was still a huge side of me that doubted his intentions, however.

“Okay! Like “The Grudge?”

“How about something good?” he snorted, relaxing.

“I’ll find something, I’m sure dad has a good one. When do you wanna watch it? Now?”

“Um, give me about five minutes?” Jesse’s posture was relaxed, as if he already had a plan. The girl left, slamming the door and screaming, “Sorry!”

My ears buzzed, and the giant boy spun around and knelt down next to the bed. I revealed the rest of myself, quickly hopping to my feet.

“Want to come and watch it with us? Here,” he tugged at his breast pocket on his plaid shirt.

“Okay,” I squeaked, clearly uncomfortable.

“Hey, look me in the eye,” he demanded. I did so, shaking. His incredibly large hazel eyes were trained on my petite self. I didn’t like the way he grinned.

“What are you going to do with me?” I whispered. He heard me and narrowed his eyebrows.

“What?” he wondered, wiping the mischievous look off of his face. “Look, we all have our demons,” he paused, “what do you think I’m going to do?” Jesse asked curiously.

I could think of a million things.

“I can’t blame you for being scared. This is as much my home as it is yours, do you hear me?” I nodded. “And you and I are going to go wet ourselves watching a horror movie! C’mon, Dakota! It’s going to be fun. Just stay out of sight from Sammy. Don’t worry, I’ll cover you.”

Eyes gleaming, I smiled, “It’s Koty.”

Jesse winked at me and held out his palm. I crawled on, and once I was settled, I motioned to him. His skyscraper body rose into the air and began strolling forward. He slipped me into his breast pocket.

I felt the cool thin fabric of Jesse’s shirt. I could also feel the heat emitting from his skin. I was jolted around and he seemed to notice, mumbling an apology. I heard his sister already screaming.

“I found one! I found a real good one!” she exclaimed.

“Alright, alright,” his deep voice echoed.

Throughout the movie, Jesse took effort to do anything but ignore me. He would continuously take “bathroom breaks,” in which he would sneak out onto the porch and secretly make sure I was okay. He was a bit overprotective, but it was understandable.

When Sammy fell asleep, Jesse tapped the off button on the TV and set me on the couch momentarily. He lifted his sister up bridal-style and carried her up to her room.

When his thunderous footsteps closed in on me, I felt a bit more comfortable with this entire idea. He first sat down beside me, so slowly that even I rolled my eyes.

“I’m tired,” I mumbled, yawning.

“Where would you feel comfortable sleeping? In your, er, “house?” Or would you want to stay out here? In my room? Your choice, Koty,” he winked.

“I don’t mind sleeping in my place, but do you think I could have a blanket of some sort? I only have so many supplies.”

“I could make you a bed! You’d want to stay downstairs? It’s kind of cold, isn’t it?”

“It is,” I admitted, “unless... you wouldn’t mind me...staying with you…” I trailed off, embarrassed.

“Of course not! Here,” he stood up, “I’ll make you something very comfortable.” Instead of setting his hand down, he brought his fingers around me and enclosed like a fist. He did it very gently and slowly to assure that I didn’t mind. I may have…it wasn’t a big deal, so no complaints.

It has always felt strange to me to be held. You’re out of control. You are defenseless. Your life is in the hands of someone else.