Peace In An Unlikely Place - 4. Chapter 4 The Next Day

Hey so this being my first story, feel free to leave any pointers or constructive criticism in the reviews section. For those of you that are still continuing with me, you guys are awesome and I hope you enjoy more chapters to come

I awoke to the sound of my phone ringing. I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand and the time read 4:05.

'Oh my god I slept half the day away.' I thought to myself as I looked for my cellphone. My eyes wandered over to Jo who was still sound asleep in the arm chair. He stayed with me?

I found my phone and looked at the screen, it was Julie. 'Shit I forgot to call her yesterday, she's gonna be pissed.' I answered the phone reluctantly.

"Hello?" I tried not to sound nervous.

"Jeremy? Where the hell are you?" She asked in a more aggravated tone.

"Yeah funny story about that." I said trying to ease the tension.

"I'm not laughing." She said.

"Ok, well after I got off the phone with you I checked my GPS to see how much longer I had and I sort of crashed on the side of the road in a wire fence." I explained. There was a pause on Julies end and then I heard laughter, but not just her laughter.

"Am I on speaker phone?" I asked a demanding tone in my voice.

"Hey Jeremy." I heard her husband David's voice come over. "You are officially the worlds worst driver." David said between chuckles.

I rolled my eyes before continuing. "Well in my defense a cattle truck pulled out and I had to swerve to avoid it!" I was trying to control the tone in my voice as to not wake Jo, who stirred a little in the arm chair. He looked so adorable as he slept.

"Why are you being so quiet? Whose there with you?" Julie questioned her tone getting sharp.

"Uh no one, I-I don't know what you're talking about." I tried to make it believable but Julie wasn't buying it.

"Well I know you're not gonna tell me so whatever. Anyways I really called to rip you're ass and then ask you when you were planning on making it down here." She asked. I could still hear David chuckling in the background.

"I don't know, I blew the gasket on my car and he's got to order a new-" But Julie cut me off at 'he's' and I immediately tried to back track but she was to quick for me.

"Wait, hold on, rewind. Who's this he? Did you meet a guy already?" She was being really inquisitive. At that moment Jo stretched and looked at me from the arm chair. I immediately panicked.

"Uh I'll call you later Julie I gotta go." I said hurriedly. The last thing I heard before I hung up the phone was.

"Wait, we gotta talk about this guy! Is he hot?" I rolled my eyes and put my phone in my pocket.

Jo grinned at me and stood up stretching a little bit. "Who was that?" He asked putting his hands in his coveralls.

"Oh, that was Julie. She was just tearing me a new one 'cause I hadn't showed up yet." I smirked.

Jo just grinned and scratched his head. I was trying to figure out what he was thinking but I didn't have any such luck.

"Do you want to come to the garage with me today?" He asked looking hopefully at me.

I immediately got a pitch in my heart. "Yeah that would be great. I just wanna take a shower real quick." I said trying to sound cool about his inviting me.

"Oh yeah, no fer sure. Uh there's towels underneath sink, the hot water takes a little bit so I would let it warm up before you get in." Jo explained gesturing towards the bathroom door that sat next to the bed.

"Ok, thanks." I said trying to hide my grin but it was just too big to hide.

I think Jo noticed because he got a big grin on his face as he looked at the floor, rubbing the back of his neck. He started backing up towards the door.

"Ok, well I'm gonna go and uh take a shower also." Jo gestured at the door as he backed into it. He immediately blushed beat red. "Uh yeah I'll see ya at my truck in about thirty minutes." He tried to shrug off his embarrassment and walked thru the door.

I had to chuckle at his adorableness as I heard him walk down the stairs. I walked over to my bags and grabbed a clean set of clothes before making my way into the bathroom.

The bathroom was pretty normal. It had beige walls and a large vanity mirror with a standup shower. I turned the water on hot and just as Jo explained it was cold. I sat on the lid of the toilet as I pulled my socks off losing myself in my own thoughts.

First off I was terrified. What if I fall for this guy? I was leaving to Dallas probably before the end of the week, and at the moment I'm still trying to get over Gary and the bullshit he put me thru.

'Yeah but he seems so cute and caring. Ha! Yeah that's exactly how Gary was and look where that took you.' I was arguing to myself. I stripped off my clothes and got in the shower letting the hot water cascade over my body. It was like a miracle treatment for me, all my thoughts, worries and troubles just seemed to slip off my body and run down the drain.

After about fifteen minutes or so I got out of the shower and dried off, I slipped my boxers on and walked out into the main room. I was just about to put my shorts on when I heard the door open.

"Oh, sorry." I heard Jo say as he went to close the door.

"No, it's ok. I'm almost finished anyways." I smiled. He blushed as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

He was silent as I slipped my shorts and my shirt on. I looked over at him and caught him checking me out.

"If you stare any longer you're eyes might get stuck." I said jokingly.

"Sorry." He said looking away, he got that nervous laugh again and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's ok, if I would've been offended I would have said so." I explained trying to ease his nervousness. It must have worked 'cause he smiled and jabbed his thumb over his shoulder.

"You ready to go?" He asked reaching for the doorknob.

"Yeah lets go." I said walking towards to him. He opened the door for me and placed a hand on my lower back as I walked thru it. The contact made my body go tingly. It was a good feeling.

We got into this truck and he fired her diesel engine up. I loved the sound of diesel, it was like this feeling I got whenever I heard a diesel engine. It was tough to explain but it was always a good feeling. I wanted to hold his hand so bad but I needed to wait for the opportune moment.

Jo reached up to change the station on the radio and as hand came down I reached my hand up and intertwined my fingers with his. We relaxed our hands on the space of seat between us and he gently rubbed his thumb against my hand.

'Wow that went over better than I thought It would.' I thought with a relieved look on my face. We reached Jo's garage within a few minutes and we both hopped out of the truck and made our way towards the side door. He unlocked it and as we walked inside and the door closed he pulled me into a kiss.

I went with it as I wrapped my arms around his neck and he put his hands on my waist. We broke the kiss and he grinned at me.

"Wow, you're a really good kisser." He said as he pulled away and walked over towards my car.

"I could say the same for you." I laughed turning the radio on.

"Good evening Carter County, this is 95.7 KKAJ you're country music station that ya'll love so much. Were gonna kick off this evening with a little Zac Brown Band 'Jump Right In' enjoy ladies and gentleman." The announcer said as the music kicked off.

"I love this song." I said turning up the radio.

"I didn't peg you as a country music type of guy." Jo said looking surprised.

"Well there's still a lot you don't know about me." I stated as I sat on the same wooden barrel as I did yesterday looking at Jo as he worked.

Jo peered up at me and grabbed a rag hanging over the front of my car, he wiped his hands off and set the rag down. He walked over to me and extended a hand out at me. I knew exactly what this was.

---- Jo's Point of View ----

"No, no way." Jeremy said clenching up. I jabbed my hand out at him as a signal that I wasn't giving up.

"C'mon, wait are you scared of?" I asked.

"Uh self inflicted injury." He said with a dumbstruck look on his face. I grabbed his hand and pulled him off the barrel pulling him into me and grabbing his waist. As we began to dance to the beat of the music Jeremy started laughing. I loved his laugh.

"Jo, no." He said thru laughter, but I wouldn't let go as we continued to dance. I just laughed as we spun around, I felt infinite with him. It was an incredible feeling.

We stopped for a moment and began to kiss. I loved his kisses, the way they made me feel, the way his tongue danced around my mouth. It just felt so right.

"See now was that so bad?" I asked as the song ended and looked into my eyes. Those green eyes could make me get lost in them.

Jeremy grinned a little before he spoke. "No it wasn't." I broke his gaze and looked at his car.

"I should probably get back to work." I sad giving him a quick kiss and letting him go. He just nodded and took his seat on the barrel watching me as I worked.

---- Jeremy's Point of View ----

I looked out the shop door as dark clouds started to slowly appear. The wind rustled the trees a little, the clouds looked pretty threatening.

"I think a storm's coming in." I said and Jo looked around the hood to see where I was staring.

"Oh, yeah we get those sometimes." He said nonchalantly continuing his work. His unconcerned tone made me feel better. If there was one thing that I wouldn't go for right now it would be a tornado.

After about of couple hours of work the clouds got worse as thunder rumbled the guys and lightning began to light up the clouds. I began to get nervous and my feelings were correct as the radio started to make an alarm noise and Jo looked up from my car, his eyes wide. I stared at the radio and went to turn it down but Jo stopped me.

"No wait, it's a weather warning." Jo said taking my hand away from the volume dial. Before too long an automated voice came over the radio. My heart began to race as I listened.

"This is a National Weather Service warning for Clark County, Oklahoma. At approximately 6:50 P.M. Central Standard Time the National Weather Service detected an F3 tornado in the vicinity of Arden, Oklahoma and Hayward, Oklahoma heading south towards Love County, Oklahoma with winds speeds up to 185 Miles Per Hour. Residents of Arden, Oklahoma and Hayward, Oklahoma are urged to stay indoors. Seek shelter in any low lying areas of you're house..." I was intent on listening to the advisory.

Back in Boise we never had tornado's, the most we got warnings over were high winds or strong thunderstorms. At this point I was scared.

"Help me close this door will you?" Jo asked pulling on the garage door, I hadn't even noticed Jo wasn't next to me anymore. After we got it closed and latched it up he walked out the side door.

"Wait where are you going?" I asked with a terrified pitch in my voice.

"I gotta pull my truck in. Just stay here I'll be right back." He said closing the door behind him. I stood there frightened in my shoes as he pulled his truck in the garage. I ran over to help him close the door, as we were closing it I saw a dark funnel approaching the town. Then the warning siren started and my heart dropped.

"C'mon there's a storm cellar in the back. Bring the radio." He said as he grabbed my hand as we ran towards the back of the garage.

We came into a small room with no windows and the only door was the door we came thru. He led me over to some stone steps that led down to a wooden door. He shoved his broad shoulder into it and it opened. He ushered me thru just as the power went out. I stiffened my posture as I stepped thru the dark feeling with my hands.

"Hold on a sec." I heard Jo's voice thru the dark. I saw a bright light turn on and he walked past me to close the thick wooden door. As soon as he closed it he brought a metal slab across it to seal it shut.

I sat in the corner of the room and put my face in my knees. This was the first time I had ever gotten really scared over bad weather. Jo noticed my behavior and cross the room sitting next to me and wrapping his arms around me. I rested my head on his shoulder as he rubbed my arm.

"It's ok there's nothing to be scared of, were perfectly safe in here." He said tightening his grip on me. He was so confident and calm. Jo holding me close and tight made me feel safe in the most unsafe situation.

---- Jo's Point of View ----

Jeremy was really scared, I could tell. He was shaking as I held him tight trying to comfort him.

"I take it you've been thru a lot of these?" Jeremy asked his voice shaky.

I chuckled a little bit and kissed him on the top of the head. "Well this is Oklahoma." I explained shortly. He just nodded his head, closing his eyes.

The music had stopped as the weather service took over and began giving us continuing updates. As they announced the tornado was now passing south over us towards Texas Jeremy's body tightened and I held him close still.

"You know you're lucky you weren't here last summer." I said jokingly with a little chuckle. Jeremy began to unstiffen as I spoke to him. Maybe me talking to him calmed him down a bit.

"Yeah I remember hearing about that on the news." Jeremy responded. I recalled the last time a tornado hit Hayward.

It was about two years ago and I had just turned twenty. The tornado was pretty bad, it had tore up main street and it took the town six months to clean up the damage. Our farm fortunately didn't get touched but two people died and the town was in depression mode.

Even though we were in a storm cellar I could still hear the whipping of the wind as it blew past the building. A crash sounded making the building shake, which made both me and Jeremy jump. I tightened my grip on him and Jeremy grabbed my arm with a grip of steel.

The door began to shake a little which I saw as a bad sign, if the door was shaking then that meant there was wind blowing against it which means somewhere the shop had been torn up. Which was probably the crash I had heard. I was scared but I wouldn't let Jeremy sense my fear as he was already scared enough for the both of us. My dad built this storm shelter so I knew we would be safe in it, my dad was a smart man.

"Oh shit." Jeremy said as the door began to shake furiously.

"Don't worry, the door will hold." I said confidently. But now I wasn't so sure.

Suddenly the door stopped shaking and I relaxed as I let my head fall against the concrete wall of the cellar. I felt Jeremy take a few deep breaths and chuckle.

"What?" I said sounding surprised.

"Nothing It's just, when I was a kid I used to watch that movie Twister a lot. I always thought it would cool to be in a Tornado. Now I'm not so sure." He continued to chuckle and I laughed with him.

The alarm sounded on the radio again and Jeremy rolled his eyes. "God that sound is annoying." He stated shifting his body.

I just chuckled as the automated voice came over the radio. "This concludes the tornado advisory for Arden, Oklahoma and Hayward, Oklahoma. The National Weather Service thanks you for you're cooperation." The automated voice was over but the radio was still silent.

"You ok?" I asked looking down at Jeremy who looked back up at me.

"Yeah thanks to you." He smiled kissing me on the lips.

"You ready to go outside and see what the damage is?" I asked as Jeremy stood up and held out hand to help me to my feet.

"Yeah lets go." Jeremy said a hint of relief in his voice.

I walked over to the door and slid the metal slab back pulling at the door with all my strength. "Stand back, just in case there's debris on the other side." I said to Jeremy as he stepped back into the corner.

The door finally gave in and jerked open. Nothing fell thru but sunlight poured in.

'That's odd, there's no windows. How is sunlight coming in?' I asked myself looking back at Jeremy. He must have had the same thought as he reached out and took my hand.

We walked up the stone steps, hand in hand. Not sure if we wanted to see the damage that was that 'caused by this freak tornado.

Hey so this being my first story, feel free to leave any pointers or constructive criticism in the reviews section. For those of you that are still continuing with me, you guys are awesome and I hope you enjoy more chapters to come