♥Chapter 50: ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ ɢᴏᴇꜱ ᴏɴ ᴀ ᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴ♥

❆Jake❆

The dishes clang in the sink as I make a mental list of everything in my head.

1) Every two weeks- an appointment with the doctor for Kennedy's chemotherapy

2) Every day- clean the house and freshen the air for Kennedy

3) Every twelve hours- Kennedy's pills

4) Every five hours- Feed Kennedy fresh fruits

5) Every two hours- make sure there isn't any dust anywhere that she might breathe in

6) Every—

"Are you gonna stay the whole night in the kitchen?"

The plate almost slips from my hand.

I turn my head around to look at Ken who's standing in the doorway of the kitchen, wearing cute little pyjamas. Her bright red hair that falls like a whirl of Autumn leaves tumbles down in curls down till her hips. She looks so tiny. I just want to—

I make a face at her, "You're not wearing your socks."

She looks down at her bare feet before shrugging at me, "I didn't want to."

"Your feet will get cold."

"Then I can put them on you in the middle of the night."

"I'll push you off the bed."

"I'll pull you down with me."

I snort. "Good luck with those noodle arms."

She throws a fork at me.

I had milliseconds to duck before the fork pokes into my eye.

"What the fuck?" I frown.

She gives a smug smile, "I've been practicing on my aim."

"Come here, you little shit." I wipe my hands on the dishtowel and move to hug her.

Squeeze gently. Not tight. She needs to breathe properly.

I wrap my hands around her, making sure not to squeeze tight.

We pull away and I catch an expression on Kennedy's face that I rarely see. Sadness. But that's gone in a blink as she looks up at me and smiles softly.

Did I imagine it?

"How do guys always get so freaking tall?" She asks, trying to stand on her tippy toes to match my height.

She still barely comes above my shoulders. I resist the urge to snort again.

"A lot of estrogen stimulates long bone growth," I explain. "The bones of people with testes continue to grow for several years until their estrogen peaks. So yeah, that's why guys are so fucking tall."

She pulls my head down to kiss my cheek before looking at my face, "Yeah lemme go and hide your biology textbook now."

"Don't you dare—"

"You're becoming too much of a nerd. The correct answer to my question was that guys usually can't reach up to girls' standards. So their height increases to cover up for it."

A deep frown appears between my eyebrows, "What the fuck?"

Then I realize something that makes me give Kennedy a flat look, "Toothy told you that?"

She nods, "Yup. She was only joking though." She says, "I think."

I shake my head.

"Let's get you to bed," I say then put my hands on her sides, lifting her up. Her legs automatically wrap around my waist, with her hands coming around my neck not before running over my bare chest. A low excitement goes down there but I shake it off. Kennedy needs to rest more than she does now.

Alex already told her that she won't be going to school for a while until she got the hang of her medicines and this whole cancer thing.

Carrying Kennedy into "our" new room, I put her down on "our" bed and switch off the lights, letting the dim glow of the night lamp flare up.

"You took your medicines right?" I ask as I clamber in beside her on the bed.

She sighs, looking tired, "Yes, Jake. You've already asked me that a million times."

I furrow my eyebrows, "That's not true."

"Fine. Twenty-two times," She says.

I put my hand gently on hers, kissing the top of her head, "Just making sure."

A yawn escapes her lips, "You're becoming so annoying."

"And you're becoming careless."

"How dare you?" Another yawn comes out of her mouth.

I kiss her forehead, "Goodnight, Blabbermouth."

She closes her eyes, "Goodnight, Bilbo."

✯✯✯

Someone's shaking my feet, waking me up from my sleep. My eyes barely open against the darkness. A shadow looms over at the foot of my bed still holding my foot.

I nearly flip but instead grab the closest thing and fling it at the shadow. Which turns out to be the alarm clock.

The shadow yelps, "Ouch, man! It's just me. it's Corey! Goddamnit, my nose!"

I frown in confusion, "Corey?" The sleepiness cleared a bit and I nearly yell. "What the fuck are you doing here in the middle of the fucking night?"

I turn my head to check on Kennedy who's sleeping soundlessly with her mouth open from which a long line of drool pools out. Sighing, I grab a few tissues that I always keep on the bedside for her, and wipe her mouth, before attempting to close it.

"Aww look at you." Corey coos.

I refrain from yelling at him.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I hiss, smoothing the blanket over Kennedy's body.

He grins. "We're." He points a finger at me and then at himself. "Going on an adventure."

"You're," I say. "Gonna go back to wherever the hell you came from."

"Toothy's waiting in the car." He stuffs his hands into his pockets, giving me a small mischievous look.

His face morphs into an expression of thinking, "I wonder what will happen if she gets annoyed with waiting for so long..."

My body tenses a bit.

No!

You're the big boy over here. Not Toothy.

You can tell Toothy to go fuck herself.

Tell Toothy that her irritation doesn't phase me anymore.

"Kennedy's sleeping, asshole." I hiss. "I can't leave her alone."

"Who says we're leaving her?"

"What?"

"Obviously we're taking Kennedy, dumbass."

I furrow my eyebrows, "Where?"

"You'll see."

"Tell me."

"Just come already."

"First tell me."

"I'm going to call Toothy."

"Damn you!" I pull the covers off me, sliding out of the bed.

He grins, "Wake Ken and get dressed. I'll be waiting by your fridge."

He walks out. I glare after him.

The clock displays the time 3:06 A.M. A sigh comes out of my mouth before I turn towards Kennedy.

She's curling on the bed with the sheets wrapped tightly around her. She looks so peaceful and calm. Watching her sleep makes me want to crawl back into the bed beside her and hold her for eternity.

'Toothy is waiting in the car.'

Fuck.

I shake Kennedy's shoulder. She doesn't move. It always takes ten minutes to wake her up. Goddamn heavy sleeper. Shaking her shoulder a little more vigorously, I start patting her cheek.

"Ken," I whisper, "Kennedy. Wake up before Toothy comes in and drags us by our fucking ears."

She stirs but doesn't open her eyes.

"Believe me." I shake her shoulder once again. "She will do it."

Kennedy mumbles something inaudible.

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, "What'd you say?"

She mumbles again, stirring in her sleep.

I lean down towards her, my hand on her waist, "What?"

This time I can hear her perfectly.

"I'm going to kill you."

My face drops. I give her a look before shaking her awake with more force.

"Wake up first."

She groans, "Go away."

"Me?"

"You're waking me up. So yeah, go away."

"Toothy's gonna kill us if we don't get in the car."

"She loves me. She'll kill you." Kennedy hugs the blanket, preparing to go back to sleep, "Not me."

"Save me."

"Later."

"Please."

"Later."

"I'll pitch a fucking fit."

"Don't wake me up."

"I'll drag you out with me."

"At least I'll be sleeping."

Fine.

I slide my arms under her and scoop her into my arms. She gives a sound of surprise before her arms come around my neck.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" She hits my chest.

On the way out, I grab one of my hoodies for Kennedy to make her wear it later.

I carry her out and we see Corey standing in the kitchen, eating a plate of brownies.

"Finally." He says, setting the plate before frowning at us, "Did something happen? Why are you carrying Ken?"

"She wasn't waking up," I respond before lowering her down for her to put on her shoes.

She's quite active now, looking at me with her big green eyes as if she wasn't being a brat moments ago, "Where are we going?"

"To an adventure!" Corey comes up beside us.

"Yeah?" A look of excitement comes on her face and she almost claps. "Where?"

"You'll see." He winks.

✯✯✯

"This is Asshole Mark's house?" Toothy asks, gazing at the house in front of us.

"Yup." Corey pops the 'p'. He's rummaging through his car's trunk until he comes up with a duffel bag.

"What the fuck are we doing at the asshole's house?" I ask.

"Making it look pretty, of course," Corey responds.

We walk to the front porch, climbing up the stairs. Something clings and clangs in the duffel bag Corey carries.

"What's in the bag?" I ask.

He sets the bag down on the unlit porch, before kneeling to unzip the bag. From it, he produces a spray paint can, grinning mischievously.

"We're gonna spray paint Asshole Mark's house?" Toothy asks. Her hands stuffing into the pockets of her leather jacket.

"Yup," Corey says.

"Aren't we gonna get in trouble for that?" Kennedy asks, not looking worried about that at all.

"Only if we get caught." Corey takes out four cans of spray paint, handing each one of us our own. Then he takes out four paint respirator masks.

We put on the masks and face the front wall of Asshole Mark's house.

"So we just do whatever?" Toothy asks.

Corey nods before giving a mischievous chuckle.

I know what that chuckle means.

"You're gonna paint a dick." I give Corey a knowing look.

He grins at me, "The biggest one you'll ever see."

Without another word, we get to work.

With nothing in mind, even I start painting a dick.

Toothy and Kennedy look at us and start drawing dicks too.

Kennedy lets out a giggle, "I've never even seen one before."

Corey stops and stares at her. Even Toothy.

"Liar." He says.

Kennedy shakes her head, "I'm serious."

If my heart isn't jumping from gladness at that.

"Meaning you and Jake never had any naked time?" Corey asks. I can't see his mouth because of the mask, but I'm pretty sure his jaw is hanging open.

Even Toothy looks a bit shocked.

I roll my eyes while Kennedy shrugs, her cheeks turning a shade lighter than her hair.

Of course, we've had naked time, but it was never me who got naked. Only Kennedy whom I take delight in whenever I strip her. Her shyness and hesitance always stop us from having sex.

We've talked about it a couple of times and I told her it's according to her wish. Whenever she wants, as long as she wants it.

Do I strip in front of her though?

Yes.

Do I do it often?

Yes.

Does she squeal and cover her eyes?

Motherfucking yes.

What's she shy about in that though? It's me who's stripping.

Deciding it's another one of those unordinary things Kennedy does, I shrug.

"I just thought anyone with Jake would probably get on it more than the number of times you shave." Corey states.

"That's a lot of times." Toothy mumbles.

"Does this how it looks like though?" Kennedy asks, looking at our drawings. She was copying ours.

"Oh God, no." Corey looks horrified at our crooked, fat, thin, abnormal sizes of dicks.

"It would be funny if they really did look like it." Toothy chuckles.

"When did you see a dick?" Corey asks her.

Red shoots up her cheeks, "Hmm?"

"You saw a dick?" Corey asks.

Toothy turns away from him, suddenly observing the wall, "I don't know what you're talking about."

I raise my eyebrows along with Corey.

"What the fuck?" I say, "Whose?"

"Tristan's?" Corey questions.

"None of your business." Toothy mumbles, her face turning bright red.

"How close are you both?" Corey asks.

"Yeah," I say. "You only just started dating him."

"Stop with the questions." Toothy grumbles, stepping two paces away from us.

We don't stop with the confused, shocked questions though, following closely behind her.

"Is he forcing you?" Corey questions.

"Do you need help?" I question.

"Get the hell away from me!" Toothy yells.

"You know you can tell us anything," I say.

"No, I won't." She replies stubbornly, "Get out of my face."

"We're always here," Corey says.

"I'm gonna knee you both so hard."

"Toothy—"

"Did the lights just turn on?"

Three of us stop and turn around to face Kennedy. She's peering up at the windows.

"What?" I ask.

"I think the lights just turned on." She says.

All of us look up at the window and sure enough, light illuminates through the windows.

"Wasn't that already turned on though?" Corey asks.

Toothy looks doubtful, "I don't know."

"I just noticed the lights." Kennedy says, "I don't know if the lights were already turned on or not."

"It's probably nothing." Corey assures, "Asshole Mark is scared of monsters. He needs the light."

We all hesitate some more before shrugging and continuing with our dicks.

Maybe we shouldn't have done that.

Maybe we should.

Who knows?

In between Corey starts recording us to post on his social media. It isn't really a big thing on social media to see a bunch of people vandalizing something, so none of us stops him from recording.

The door pulls open.

We all freeze.

"What the hell are you people doing here?"

Well shit.

Slowly, we all turn to look at the owner of the house, stepping out the door. He wears an old white robe, his glasses missing from his face.

"Can you see without your glasses?" Corey asks.

"Yes." Asshole Mark replies.

"Shit."

Mark looks at the wall on which we laid out our artistic skills. His face burns red with anger, "I'm gonna call the cops on you brats!"

Corey gives him "The Smile". The smile that is so charming, people instantly fall in love with him. The smile that gets everyone to do whatever Corey wants.

"I know you never taught me. I don't even go to your school. But I believe you're a very smart and sensible guy. At least that's what I heard from the students that go to your school." He bats his eyelashes at Mark.

"Stop talking." Mark snaps.

Corey stops, rolling his lips into his mouth before gasping out, "Oh good." He says, "It was fucking killing me to lie that shit."

"All of you are gonna go to jail!"

"Just wash it with soap." Toothy snaps, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. "Doesn't take that much time."

"Don't talk!"

"Do not. Tell me. What to fucking. Do." She warns with a deadly look.

"Ooo she got her scary voice on." Corey gives a look of horror to Mark, "Man, you crazy? You're sealing your own death!"

"Shut up! Don't you know spray painting other's property is illegal?"

"Huh, I thought that rule excluded homes of assholes," I remark.

Kennedy snickers.

"You four are gonna remain right here while I go call the cops—"

Corey interrupts him with a loud yawn, patting his mouth before giving Mark a lazy smile, "It was good meeting you. I hope I never see your face again. Have a good night, respectful and honoured Mr. Mark." He says and bends down to pack his duffel bag.

"Disrespectful brat. It's the internet that spoils kids of this generation. No one has respect for their teachers nowadays. Utterly disrespectful."

"Man, I'm not even in the same school as you," Corey says. "Stop being a baby about it."

"Go back to sleep." Toothy waves him off, "You've got a lot of washing to do in the morning."

"Not before I send you four to jail."

"Wanna talk about jails and prisons?" Kennedy pipes in, grinning, "We can also talk about murder and stabbing too." She offers.

"I know you." Mark says, looking at her, "Kennedy."

"Don't take her fucking name." I snap.

Mark straightens his back, "That was a long time ago."

"Still. I hope you didn't fucking forget about my warning." I glare.

"What warning?" Kennedy peers at me.

"He told me he'll swing a bat at my eye sockets if I ever look at you." Mark looks proud as if he's snitching on me to Kennedy.

"Yeah?" Corey asks then looks at me, "He's looked at Ken baby, like, five times already. Swing the bat already!"

"Find me one," I respond.

"I'm not your dog." He gives me a look.

"Mark." Toothy calls him. "Get Jake a bat."

Mark furrows his eyebrows, "Why would I do that?"

Toothy gives him a look like it's obvious and he's so fucking stupid. "Because I said so?"

"You better listen to her," Corey warns, giving a warning look.

"Also because you're the closest thing to a dog," Toothy says.

"Disrespectful." Mark fumes.

"You don't teach me." Toothy states. "I don't have to be respectful to you."

"I'm still an elder," Mark says.

"Are you old man with a walking stick, crossing the road though?" Corey questions, "Are you?"

"Good to know whom your respect goes to." Mark glares, "An old man with a walking stick."

"Who is also crossing the road." Corey completes.

"He's just kidding." Toothy waves it off, "Of course, we have respect for elders." She says. "Only not for you."

"I found the baseball bat!" Kennedy yells in triumph, reaching to take the baseball bat leaning against a chair at the far end of the porch.

A chorus of cheers goes around, muffling Mark's yell to put that bat back down.

Kennedy carries the bat and holds it in front of me. She does a little bow, "Do the honours please."

"My pleasure." I take the bat from her.

Corey mimics a trumpet when I raise the bat.

"Put that back down!" Mark yells.

"Is he allowed to speak?" Toothy asks as if Mark was some kind of a parrot.

"I don't think he had the permission to," Corey says.

"So how do we shut him up?" Kennedy asks, rubbing her hands together.

"Eh, the bat will do enough," Toothy says.

I keep the bat ready to strike.

Mark's yelling at me put it down. Fucker isn't even moving out of the way to not get hit. Fucking stupid.

Red and blue lights flash all around, with a chorus of men yelling. I stop in my place and turn around, furrowing my eyebrows.

Four cops pile out of two cop cars, heading towards us.

A look of evil satisfaction comes on Mark's face, "I had already called them before coming out here."

"Put the bat down." One of the cops orders me.

A scoff comes out of my mouth.

"Give the bat back to its owner." Another cop orders me.

I give Mark the bat back. More like strike the bat into Mark's stomach. He doubles over at the impact.

"I need you four to please get in the car." The cop says.

"Ooo can I drive?" Kennedy raises a hand, grinning.

"Uh...no." The cop says, raising an eyebrow.

"Man, let her drive." Corey insists, "It's rude to say 'no' to a lady."

"Get them away from me." Mark hisses.

"Are you four holding something else in your hands?" The cop asks. "Put your hands in the air."

"Like you just don't care." Kennedy sings.

"Dance all night, it's fun, I swear." Corey continues.

"Pick your dress and style your hair."

"Once you're mine, I won't share."

Kennedy and Corey collapse into a fit of laughter, grabbing onto each other to keep themselves up.

Even Toothy and I can't help the smile curling onto our faces.

"Take him away first!" Mark points at Corey, "Wait, I change my mind. Take her!" He points at Kennedy.

Anger flares inside me. "Don't fucking point at my girl!"

Mark recoils his finger at my voice but glares at me, "Get off my porch, boy."

"And into your house?" Kennedy asks.

"Ooo are there cookies?" Corey asks.

"Don't fucking speak!" Mark yells.

My shoulders size up and I march towards Mark, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, glaring directly into his eyes, "Why don't you say that one more fucking time to my brother?"

The cops behind us yell at me. Mark visibly recoils more under my grip.

"This is not fair. You people are at my house!" He yells.

"You're still talking to my brother." My voice gets dangerously low, my form towering over his.

Corey suddenly comes in between and pushes Mark and me apart. He puts both his hands on my jaws, looking directly into my eyes, "Stop fighting please." His voice turns a notch higher. "Jake, look. Look into my eyes. I know this isn't you."

"What the fuck?" I try moving my face out of Corey's hands but he's holding it tight, forcing me to look into his eyes.

"Just look into my eyes and everything will be alright." He forces our faces closer. "I know you have it in you."

"Get the fuck away from me, asshole!"

"This isn't the Jake we all know and love." Corey continues with the fake high-pitched tone. "Mark is tryna get you mad, but I know you're better. Just take deep breaths with me. Come on."

"Get the fuck away from me!" I hiss.

Toothy and Kennedy burst with laughter behind us.

"Just look into my eyes and everything will be alright."

"You're. Watching. Way too many. Damn. Fucking. Tiktoks!" I yell while trying to jerk Corey's hands away from my face.

"Corey, you forgot to give him the True Love's Kiss." Toothy points, laughing her ass off.

"Make sure it's before sunrise," Kennedy adds.

"Let me kiss you and turn you into the handsome charming prince you always were," Corey says before leaning in to kiss me.

I finally stumble out of Corey's grip, nearly tumbling off and over the fucking porch railing.

"Fuck all of you!" I yell.

Toothy, Kennedy and Corey are a heap of a laughing mess.

"You people have no seriousness." Mark points. "Acting like lunatics in front of cops."

"My bestie's dad is a cop," Corey says. "And Alex doesn't mind us acting like "lunatics"."

"That's it!" One of the cops' orders sharply.

✄ ✄ ✄ ✄

I had fun writing this chapter after all the sad ones :)

Who do you people like more? Jake or Corey?

Words: 3,600

Date of publishing: 14th June 2022