Jade POV

“I think there’s something wrong.” I hear his voice before I actually see him, but then he comes around the corner and steps into full view, and I behold the figure I had missed so sorely.

“Salem.” I say, pressing myself headlong into his warm, comforting bulk. I let out a noise that sounds like a purr as his hand comes up to pat my back, and I pull back for a moment in order to peer into his eyes for a moment.

“You think what’s wrong?” I ask, putting my head back where I felt it belonged. Salem gives my hair a stroke before pulling me back.

“I don’t think you should marry him.” He says resolutely. I stared at him; his mussed up brown hair and large green eyes.

“Why not?” I demand, putting my hands on my hips.

“Something feels…wrong about this whole endeavor.” He stares at the ceiling of the wedding chapel a moment before continuing. “I’m sure that this Matt kid is wonderful, really, but…you’re so young. Are you sure you’re ready to commit to marriage?” I cannot believe that he’s asking me if I’m mature enough.

“Would I be this far along if I weren’t?” I say softly, fisting my hands and grasping Salem by his shirt, gently guiding him to the door. “I’m a big girl now, and I can take care of myself. Thanks anyway.”

I wait until I hear his uneven, familiar footsteps disappear down the hall before I let myself cry.

Salem POV

When Jade was seven years old, she fell off of her bicycle and skinned her knee quite badly. Nobody was around to watch her as her parents were at a business conference and the babysitter had gone inside to telephone her boyfriend. So, with nothing left to do, I scooped her up into my arms myself and carried her to the weeping willow in the side yard, depositing her under it and sighing to myself.

“You’ve got to be more careful, Jadey.” I chided, pressing my hand to her wound and watching her jump, uneasy with pain.

“I tried,” She protested, pointing to her knee. “But trying didn’t work, did it?” Her bottom lip was fat with resentment, and I could see the tears pricking her eyes.

“Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, things don’t get better.” I smoothed the hair out of her eyes with my free hand and waited for the small amount of light issuing from underneath my hand to stop so I could remove it and bandage her knee.

“Well, then I don’t like life.” She said resolutely, quite certain that she had made the right decision. There are some times in your life in which you know you can say nothing, and all you can do is hope that the party in question will turn itself around. This was one of those times.

“I love you, Jade.” I murmured. She burst into tears, and I grabbed her, cradling her against my chest and rocking to and fro. She fell asleep there, and I carried her to the front porch, depositing her in the hanging swing just in time for her babysitting to come outside to call her in for supper.

I still remember that night. When she says she doesn’t need me, and when she calls me names. And I know, deep in my heart, that every girl, no matter how old, still needs her guardian angel. Sometimes, she just…forgets.