Jacob's POV

Seattle, WA

Monday( Aug. 15th)

It was probably around midnight, when I decided to sit on the steps of a church. I had everything I owned or really needed in a garbage bag that I sat down right next to me. After being out of prison for only 3 months now, I needed a fresh start and Seattle seemed like the best place to do that. If only, I thought it through since I don't know anyone here and I have no money for a place to stay. I shook my head then closed my eyes as I just thought about everything that has happened in my life.

Lauren's POV

Usually I wouldn't be out this late but my best friend, Olivia, had a bachelorette party tonight. I took my usual way home and when I got closer to the First Baptist Church, I saw a guy on the steps and his eyes were closed. He had kind of short light blonde hair and the way he was hunched over he was probably about 6'2 or 6'3. He must have lost weight recently because his clothes looked big on him. I could make out a red diamond tattoo on his right arm which seemed odd to me. He looked around my age if not older. I'm 28 almost 29.

"Are you ok?" I asked as I stopped in front of him.

He quickly straighten up and I saw green eyes looking at me.

"Yeah I'm fine." He said.

"Did you get kicked out of your place?" I asked seeing the garbage bag.

"Something like that." He said.

"Do you need a place to stay?" I asked.

"Do you know of a place opened this late and still has a room?" He asked.

"Yeah I do." I said smiling at him.

"Grab your stuff and come with me." I said.

"Ok." He said standing up and he grabbed the garbage bag.

"Are you new in town?" I asked as we walked away from the church.

"Wow, you ask a lot of questions for this late at night." He said and I laughed a little bit.

"Sorry; I just don't think I've seen you before. I'm Lauren." I said.

"Jacob and yeah I'm new in town." He said and I nodded my head.

When we got to Coates Motel, I went straight to the manager's door and knocked on it. I saw Mr. Coates peek through the blinds before I heard footsteps towards the door.

"Lauren, do you know what time it is?" He asked as he opened the door.

"I do and is room 8 available?" I asked then he looked at Jacob.

"Sure." He said before walking out of his room.

I stayed until Jacob got checked into the room then I left to go home which is 5 houses down from the church I met Jacob at.

Jacob's POV

It wasn't the best looking room or motel for that fact but it was a place to stay for the night. After Mr. Coates left, I decided to put some of my stuff in the drawers. Because I didn't want everything I belong in a garbage bag. Lauren was nice. She reminded me of some of the kids my friends and I use to pick on in high school. I mean the way she was dressed in what looked like her Sunday best clothes. It didn't help the fact she wore glasses but they looked good on her. She also had shoulder length dark brown hair and brown eyes plus about 5'8 I would say. She definitely wasn't like the girls I dated in the past. I could tell she was probably self conscious about the way she looked. Sure she was bigger than some girls I've seen but she didn't look too overweight but she kept putting her arms over her stomach like she was trying to hide it as she walked me to the motel. I finally fell asleep around 3 and to my surprise the bed was very comfortable but that's not saying a lot since mainly what I'm use to is the beds in prison. I woke up to knocking on my door and I looked to see it was 8:00. I shook my head before getting out of bed in just the shorts I had on (since I took off my shirt before going to bed). I opened the door to see an older man probably in his 50s with dark brown hair plus some grey in it with blue eyes. He was wearing a suit and he had a bible in his hand. Awesome, I opened the door in my shorts to a preacher.

"I'm guessing you are Jacob." The man said and I nodded my head.

"If you came here to preach to me, I'm good." I said before walking away from the door to get a t-shirt.

"So you have been saved." He said walking into the room and shutting the door behind him.

"I wouldn't say that." I said trying not to laugh.

"But I do know some stuff about the bible." I said before putting on a shirt.

"So who are you?" I asked looking at him.

"Reverend Thomas; I believe you met my daughter last night." He said and I nodded my head.

So I was pretty much right about Lauren.

"Lauren; yeah, tell her thanks for me." I said.

"What brings you to Seattle?" He asked.

"Just visiting." I said.

"You can be honest with me. I've meet a lot of people in my job and I know how a person looks when they are running from something in their past. So was it drugs, violence, prison…. Do I need to go on?" He asked.

"Prison; I just got out 3 months ago." I said and he nodded his head.

"What for?" He asked.

"I'm not going to judge." He said as I sat down on the bed.

"I rather not say right now but it wasn't drugs." I said and he nodded his head.

"But whatever put you in prison, is in your past?" He asked.

"Yes sir." I said.

"Do you need a job?" He asked.

I just looked at him.

"It's not my place to judge anyone." He said.

"Do you know of anyone hiring?" I asked.

"Do you know how to paint and fix things?" He asked.

"Yeah my dad built houses; I use to help him out when I was in high school." I said.

"Good, just be at the First Baptist Church at 1 this afternoon. We are building a new building to connect to the church. You can help and every day be there by 8 in the morning. I can pay you 11.50 an hour." He said.

"Ok." I said and he nodded his head before standing up.

"And you should consider coming to church services on Wednesday at 7 and on Sundays at 9 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon. You are welcome to stay here and don't worry about paying for it right now." He said before opening the door and looking at me.

I nodded my head then he walked out the door. 11.50 an hour isn't much but right now I'll take it because it's money which I need. He is definitely different from some pastors and reverends I met in my hometown that would look down on my friends and me when we were in high school. I took a shower then changed clothes before deciding to explore the town before having to go to the church.

Lauren's POV

Olivia and I went to the church at 12:40 for she could speak to her fiancé for a little bit before he got back to working. Her fiancé Greg, helps out around the church and since his dad and him has a construction company, my dad got him to help with the building he wanted built.

When we got there, I saw all the guys were sitting in a circle talking about something then I looked off to the right to see Jacob. He was just staring at his phone and I shook my head.

"Hey baby." Greg said when he saw Olivia and he stood up then walked towards us.

"Hey Lauren." Greg said smiling at me as he stopped in front of us.

"Hard at work huh?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Hey, we got the basic structure of it up." He said and I shook my head.

"Do you want to go to a movie tonight?" Olivia asked him.

"Sure." He said smiling at her.

"I'm wasting my lunch break for this?" I asked and Olivia shook her head.

"Oh please all you have to do is sit behind a computer all day." Greg said.

"I would love to see you do my job." I said and Olivia laughed.

"Who's the new guy?" Olivia asked seeing Jacob.

"Someone her dad hired. He just got here and he hasn't spoken." Greg said.

"Greg, break is over!" Ryan yelled and Greg shook his head.

"I'll see you later." Greg said kissing Olivia on the cheek then walking away.

I saw Jacob get up after that then I walked back the way we came from and Olivia followed me.

Later that on after work, I decided to go check on Jacob and it didn't take long after I knocked on the door for him to open it. He had on different clothes from earlier (he had on a pair of blue shorts and a white shirt).

"I thought you might be hungry." I said holding up the bag of Chinese food.

"I am; thanks." He said taking the bag.

"I didn't know what you would like so I kind of got a little bit of everything." I said as he looked inside the bag and he nodded his head.

"I see that; that must have cost a lot." He said looking at me.

"Don't worry about it." I said.

"Are you settling in ok?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said nodding his head.

"Good; well I should go so good night." I said.

"You can come inside if you want to." He said just as I was about to walk away.

I looked at my watch to see it was 9:10 and he shook his head.

"I guess I can for a little bit." I said and he moved aside so I could come inside.

"Plus you can probably help me eat some of this." He said and I laughed as I sat down at the small table in front of the window.

"I have water to drink; if you want some." He said.

"That will be fine." I said and he nodded his head before walking towards the tiny refrigerator.

"So you watch Prison Break." I said seeing what was on the TV.

"Oh yeah." He said looking at the TV then he grabbed the remote and turned it off.

"You didn't have to turn it off on my account. I like that series." I said as he sat down at the table then he gave me a weird look.

"A preacher's daughter can like that series." I said and he laughed a little bit as he handed me the bottle of water.

"Do you have anything you want to eat?" He asked as he took stuff out of the bag.

"Just whatever you don't want." I said.

"Here; you look like a person who loves Kung Po Chicken." He said handing me a box and I laughed before taking the box.

"What?" He asked.

"I do like it." I said then he smiled.

"So where are you from?" I asked.

"Wow, already trying to figure out my back story huh?" He asked.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." I said.

"Portland but spent some time in Austin, Texas before coming here." He said and I nodded my head.

"You ever been to any of those places?" He asked.

"No, I haven't really ever left Seattle." I said and he nodded his head.

"Do you like helping my dad?" I asked.

"It's a job and my dad was in construction so it's not much different then what I did during the summer time when I was in high school." He said.

"And before you ask I'm 30." He said as I ate some of the food.

"28." I said and he nodded his head.

"I'll be 29 in 3 months." I said.

"So what type of job do you have?" He asked.

"A legal assistant at a local law firm." I said and he nodded his head.

The rest of the time we ate in silence and an hour later I left and went back home.