♥Chapter 37: ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ꜱʜᴇ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʜᴇʟᴘ ʙᴜᴛ ꜰᴀʟʟ ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ♥

✿Kennedy✿

The clock displays the time 12 in the night.

No one was asleep though.

Like not at all.

Loud music blares from the speakers with a female singer yodeling.

It feels like I somehow landed myself in Snow White and the little Dawrf's tiny house when they were dancing in the night.

Jake's family are apparently descendants of some traditional people who follow a routine before Thanksgiving. I mean that's how Jake's ten-year-old cousin put it to make his family sound cool.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. My feet carry me around the living room as I adjust to the rhythm of everyone's dancing and spinning.

Series of laughter rung in the air and I never imagined I would ever be among people, dancing and laughing with them.

Corey dances with one of his cousin sisters behind me. Not to sound too cocky or something but I'm obviously a much better dancer than him.

No one's really paying attention to how the other person is dancing though. I can prove it. One of the uncles right now is standing in the corner, moving his hips from side to side. That's it.

Jake's somewhere else, still hiding away from human interactions.

Someone has gotta teach that man that he can't just sit in his room all day talking to his furniture.

I break off the dance a moment later, out of breath and near wheezing.

I plop myself on the couch, taking in steady breaths while watching everyone else.

Toothy and Alex are forced to follow the steps of Aunt Melissa.

I've seen Toothy's father for the first time too. He's a good-looking man in his late thirties with gentle eyes and heartwarming personality.

Corey's mom travelled to her own family for the holidays, so she didn't come.

A few conversations are being made but nothing can be heard because of the music that's making my heart vibrate along with the rest of my body.

Taking a pump from my inhaler, my eyes find the empty staircase which will lead me to where Jake's hiding.

Deciding to grace him with my awesome presence, I slip my way between the dancing people and move up the steps.

I had to keep stopping in between because I couldn't breathe.

Dancing and then climbing up the stairs?

Oh mama, am I preparing for the Olympics or what?

I wheeze my way into Jake's room, opening the door to a much quieter atmosphere.

Jake looks up from his textbook with a glare but then drops his glare when he realizes it's me.

"Hey." I breathe out, closing the door behind me then collapsing to the floor, "Dancing...stairs...I'm gonna die."

He sits up on his bed and opens his arms for me.

I get up with much effort and walk over to him and sit sideways on his lap as he gently wraps his hands around me, running a hand up and down my arm.

"Studying?" I ask.

He nods.

"Who studies during holidays?" I snort, "You're mental."

"Who dances then climbs up the stairs with asthma?" Jake retorts back, "You're mental."

I laugh, "Touché."

His warm mouth brushes against my temple, "I was bored," he says then adds, "I missed you too."

"We're literally in the same house." I respond, chuckling.

"But you're always getting swept away by them." An unhappy look comes on his face.

"Aww," I place my hands on either side of Jake's face and bring it under my chin, hugging him, "you're so cute. You should have come with me when they were dragging me away."

A look of distaste comes on his face that makes me laugh.

"Right, you're the Grinch. You hate people." I say.

"I love you though." He grumbles.

I love you too.

"Hmm."

His hand, which was on my thigh, tightens on my reply.

"Why don't you dance?" I ask Jake.

He shakes his head.

I furrow my eyebrows, "Everyone in your family is dancing. They're literally experts."

Jake shakes his head again.

"You gotta show me some moves." I start wiggling in excitement.

Jake pulls his head from under my chin and shakes his head again.

"I'll dance too. Not to get cocky and all but I totally killed it down there."

His head snaps up, "Killed?"

I nod.

His hands come on my shoulder, looking worried all of a sudden, "Killed who?"

"What?" I blink in confusion.

"No one's hurt right?"

"No...why are you asking?"

"You said killed." He says.

"Yeah, my dance moves."

He eyes me. "I can't be too sure with you."

Then I remember...

"Corey got a paper cut."

"I wasn't asking about him," Jake says.

"Oh."

He sighs, "Did he put a band-aid on it?"

I nod.

He nods back. "Good."

"Now let's dance!" I clap my hands, grinning.

I tug on his arm, and he unwillingly stands up.

I pull out my phone, scrolling through my playlist, "Which song should I put?"

I already know what his reply is gonna be.

3...

2...

1...

Shrug.

The dang shrug.

I shrug too, "Let's go old school," I say and tap on the song 'Can't help falling in Love'.

Wise men say
Only fools rush in...

Taking Jake's hands and putting them on my shoulder, I put my hands on his waist.

We both frown at our positions.

Something seems off...

"Wait a minute-" I say and quickly change our positions to Jake's hands on my waist and my hands on his shoulder.

I smile, "There."

But I can't help falling in love with you...

Bringing up my eyes to Jake's sea-green ones, we sway to the music.

No complicated dance moves, no necessary steps, just plain ol' swaying.

Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin...

I grin up at Jake. "My dad used to dance to this with my mom."

Jake moves closer to me in response.

If I can't help...
Falling in love with you?

My dad once told me he heard somewhere 'After every storm comes a rainbow'. He said he personally lived through a storm and struggled to see a rainbow. It was later I realized his rainbow was my mom.

Now that I'm here, in New York, in Alex's house, with Jake...

Maybe after all those bullies, people who looked down on me, people who thought I couldn't be anything in life because I was sick, my parent's death...Jake's my rainbow.

A chuckle escapes my mouth making Jake furrow his eyebrows, curiously as to what made me laugh.

"Don't mind me," I whisper, "I just imagined your body stretching like a rainbow in the sky."

He doesn't respond but the corners of his lips tug up a bit.

"You'd make a beautiful rainbow." I smile.

"You'd make a beautiful anything." He replies.

He pulls me closer, wrapping his arms firmly around me.

"Now that's exaggerating," I tell him. "Beautiful anything?"

He nods.

"Beautiful grass?"

He nods.

"Beautiful flower?"

He nods.

"Beautiful cockroach?"

He nods but then halts mid-nodding, "Wait no—"

"You just agreed to me being a cockroach." I narrow my eyes at him.

"A beautiful cockroach." He points out.

I raise my eyebrows at him.

"I didn't know you were gonna say cockroach next." He shrugs.

"So you were just nodding to everything I say?" I raise an eyebrow. "Were you even listening to me?"

"I was, yeah."

I give him a scrutinizing look before shrugging, "I guess I do look like a cockroach sometimes."

"Don't make me say anything on that," Jake warns.

"Don't worry." I chuckle.

We bring our focus back to swaying to the song. Our eyes meet and I internally sigh. His eyes are always so beautiful. They look like shards of glass reflecting the depths of the sea. His eyes are gazing at me and I love the way his eyelashes flutter down every time he blinks, before rising to display his mesmerizing eyes again.

Sometimes when I look at him I have this really strong urge to—

Slap him.

Wait no—What?

Slap him.

No.

Slap him.

No.

Slap him.

Nooo.

Okay, maybe just a little—

No!

Do it!

"Shut up!" I yell.

Jake flinches back, looking at me with wide eyes. "But I didn't say anything."

"Not you. My inner voice."

He gives me a look of disbelief. "Your inner voice?"

"It's telling me to slap you."

"What the fuck now?"

"I told it 'no'."

"Stay the fuck away from me." Jake scrambles to get away from me, moving back until there were ten steps between us.

"Why did you move away?" I pout.

"You literally said you wanted to slap me." He narrows his eyes.

"My inner voice, Jake, not me. Keep up, will you?"

"Does your inner voice always tell you what to do?" He asks.

"No," I reply. "It's me most of the time, my inner voice intervenes only sometimes."

"Like?"

"Like how it tells me that I'm gonna take over the world one day."

"And?"

"And how I'm a criminal that deserves to be hanged for all the sins I've done," I reply.

Jake stares at me. "What is your inner voice saying now?"

Skin him alive and have him bleeding in pain then murder him in cold blood and dump his body into the Thames River where he can never be found again.

"That you look really hot right now."

He stares at me for a while.

"Okay." He nods.

"I'm not going to slap you. We can continue dancing it's alright." I assure him.

He eyes me skeptically before hesitatingly stepping towards me, placing his hand in my outstretched one.

I guide our hands to the positions where they're supposed to be before looking back up at Jake's face.

He's looking down at me, almost breaking his neck in the process because of how tall he is compared to me. What if his head just falls off and bonks with mine knocking me unconscious?

"Don't you dare knock me unconscious," I warn him.

He furrows his eyebrows in confusion, "Okay...like I was ever going to in the first place."

I nod. "You better not."

His lips peck mine unexpectedly, making me gasp inaudibly.

"What was that for?" I ask.

He shrugs.

Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin...

"I just love you." He mumbles.

Warmth spreads to my cheeks. my lips couldn't help but tug all the way up into a big stupid smile as I gaze up at him.

For I can't help falling in love with you...

✯✯✯

Jake shakes me awake in the morning.

I turn to the other side, away from him.

But he still shakes my shoulder.

I scowl.

"Wake up," He says.

"Five more minutes, mommy."

"Mommy, your ass," He grumbles. "Wake up before Aunt Rebecca sends Cole-or Corey-or anyone for the matter of fact."

I raise my hand and wave him off.

He doesn't have it.

He yanks the covers off me and I cry in protest.

"No!"

"We have to be at Toothy's house in thirty minutes," Jake slides his arm under my shoulder blades and lifts me into a sitting position.

A groan comes out of my mouth and I try lying back down again but Jake puts his hands under my arms and lifts me off the bed.

I squirm so much though that he gets thrown off balance and had to drop my body back into the bed. I quickly scurry under the covers and pull them over my head.

"Go away," I mumble, relishing in the quiet dark room under the covers.

But he grabs me and lifts me, along with the covers.

"Hey!" I yell.

He doesn't listen.

"Fine! Fine! I'm getting out!" I say in defeat.

Then he pauses and turns back around, dropping me back on the bed. I emerge out of the covers looking like a caveman who just fought a bear over a juicy piece of Yak leg.

I scowl up at him. "I hate you."

He lifts me up like a proper person this time and not like I'm some wild animal escaping from the depths of the jungle.

"I don't wanna wake up so early." I groan, placing my head on his shoulder as he carries me to the bathroom.

"You can sleep in the car while we're going there."

"You know I don't go back to sleep after being awake for five minutes," I speak.

He nods, "I know."

Jake puts me down once we're in the bathroom and takes my toothbrush, applies some toothpaste on it and hands it to me.

Jake's relatives tried fitting into this house during the night. But there wasn't enough place for everyone to sleep, so finally, they all moved to Toothy's house and decided to have Thanksgiving dinner there also. Like they should've done in the first place.

I brush my teeth as I lean against Jake. His arm around my waist, watching me from the mirror.

"Ugly sight, am I right?" I ask.

"The ugliest." He agrees.

I laugh spitting out the toothpaste and washing my mouth and face.

Once I'm done, Jake hands me a towel and I wipe my face and hands.

"I was kidding you know that right?" Jake says placing a kiss on my forehead.

"Yeah?" I furrow my eyebrows in pretense, "I thought you were serious."

"Oh golly. Fine, you got me." He says. "I was one-hundred percent serious."

"It isn't good to lie, Barbie." I pat his cheek.

"Who said I was lying?"

I hit his shoulder, smiling, "Fine, I'm gonna lie too," I say, "You look like an offspring of Freddy Fazbear and Chucky."

"Who the fuck is Freddy Fazbear?" He furrows his eyebrows.

"He's a creepy-looking teddy bear," I reply. "Search him up later on."   

"I look like a creepy-ass teddy bear?" Jake raises an eyebrow.

I shake my head, "I told you I was lying. You look beautiful all the dang time."

His hands slip around my waist, pulling me closer to him, "You look beautiful all the damn time." 

"Don't be a dirty liar."

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

His face nuzzles in my hair, "Beautiful."

I wrap my hands around his neck, "Barbie."

"Spring."

"Grinch."

"Child."

My eyebrows raise at that one, "Child?"

He kisses me with a chuckle, "Kidding."

"You're a child!"

He narrows his eyes, "No."

"You're a big baby."

"Shut up."

"Hush little baby, don't say a word-"

He silences me with another kiss.

The kiss deepens surprisingly.

"Jake, I just brushed," I say between our kiss. "The toothpaste-"

His tongue slips into my mouth.

My eyes widen in surprise.

His other hand goes up, under my shirt, caressing my skin. His lips are still on mine as his hand goes up higher until his thumb brushes my nipple. I realize I'm not wearing a bra. My eyes widen. Jake moves back along with me until my back's against a wall. He hesitates for a while as if waiting for me to protest or something. I don't say anything. Then his thumb slowly trails upwards, raising the hair of my skin as his big and warm hand clamps on my breast.

A fluttering feeling rises in my stomach and a soft noise escapes my lips. How does this feel so good? At the noise I made, his hand starts kneading my breast making my knees weak. His other hand goes into my shorts, between my legs.

A noise somewhere between a startled moan and something else nearly escapes my mouth. Something builds in the pit of my stomach with Jake all over me. It makes my brain go hazy.

"You're so fucking wet." He groans with a low strained voice as he squeezes his eyes shut, his fingers continuing to get handsy down there.

I frown in confusion, "What do you mean? I'm all dry."

I didn't even take a shower and I did wipe my face and hands with the towel.

He shakes his head before speaking, "You're wet down there."

"Where?" I ask, getting more confused.

What the heck is he talking about?

"I'll show you."

Then he's kneeling in front of me.

He's pulling down my shorts while slowly eyeing my face, waiting for me to protest if I didn't want him to do whatever he's doing. I don't say anything. I couldn't. A feeling of thrilling excitement thrums under my chest.

Jake pulls down my shorts.

My eyes go wide once again.

He looks up at my face with a whole different kind of look. His sea-green eyes are dark with emotions I didn't see before.

Then he brings his head between my legs.

Oh mama.

✄ ✄ ✄ ✄

Words: 2,700

Date of publishing: 29th May 2022