♥Chapter 52: ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ ᴀᴘᴏʟᴏɢɪᴢᴇꜱ♥

✿Kennedy✿

"It's been five years since Jake died." My voice nearly cracks.

Corey laughs, "Good riddance."

I shoot him a look before continuing, turning my voice wobbly again, "There hasn't been a single day where I don't miss him."

"Toothy!"

"Aww, boy-boy, want me to give you a hug?" Cole asks.

"Not now. I'm in the middle of a heart-breaking speech." I send him a glare for interrupting me.

"Toothy!"

"Right, right. My bad. Continue." Cole apologizes.

"Yeah so as I was saying." I continue. "It has been five years since Jake died and there hasn't been a day where I haven't missed him. I can still feel him beside me and hear his voice shouting at something."

"Toothy!"

"My heart has never felt grief this deep." I pat my chest.

"TOOTHY!"

"What?" Toothy snaps.

"Thank you for noticing me so soon." Jake's voice drips with sarcasm. "I really appreciate your attention towards me. Now a little help here?"

Toothy's eyes drift from Jake to the two boys sitting on top of his figure on the floor. Corey on his back and Cole on his legs. They both had twisted Jake's arms and legs back, pinning him completely to the floor.

"No thanks." Toothy looks back at her phone.

"Toothy!" Jake yells.

"Ha, ha! She's not on your side this time." Corey grins.

"Toothy I can't fucking breathe!" Jake complains.

"Would you all stop interrupting my speech?" I narrow my eyes.

"You're talking about my death!" Jake shoots me a look.

"Someone's gotta do it someday," I respond.

Jake tries wiggling from Corey's and Cole's grip. He looks like a giant worm.

"I need more weight," Corey says, struggling to keep Jake's arms pinned for too long. "Toothy come on him with us."

Toothy raises her eyebrows at Corey. "No."

"Ken?" Corey turns towards me.

"Sure." I grin and stroll towards Jake, flopping down on his back.

"Oh wow," Jake's voice is a dry retort, and he rolls his eyes, "She's so heavy. I don't think I'll ever be able to get up now. Oh, the agony of my bones crushing."

I slap his butt which was right beside me as I was sitting on his lower back.

"Don't mock me," I say.

He wiggles again and a laugh comes out of my mouth at the feel of a wiggling body underneath me.

"That felt so weird." I continue laughing.

"I know, right?" Corey grins.

"Jakers, wiggle for us again," Cole says.

"No," Jake replies flatly.

"Wiggle and wine your body," Corey sings.

"Shut up."

Cole slaps Jake's oh-so-gorgeous butt.

"Motherfucker!" Jake yells. "Toothy!"

"I don't know a Toothy." She replies, still tapping through her phone.

"Just wiggle once and we'll let you go," I say.

"Na-uh." Jake stops moving completely.

"Oh come on, man. Your girlfriend's requesting you with heart doodly eyes." Corey says.

I furrow my eyebrows, "My what now-"

Corey shushes me with a wave of his hand, "How can you say 'no' to her?"

"Like how I say 'fuck you'." Jake snaps and suddenly he gets the strength of hulk and jerks his body sideways making Corey, Cole and I roll off and drop to the floor. We three went down with squeal.

Jake picks up a pillow and starts bashing Corey and Cole with it. My mood drops a bit when he touches me with the pillow instead of slamming me to the wall with it.

Walking around eggshells.

I don't like it.

I take another pillow and start hitting Jake with it as hard as I can. Which was pretty useless because he didn't move or stumble an inch.

"I hate your giant body," I grumble.

He plucks the pillow from my hand and sets it back down on the couch, "That's not what you said last time."

"Oh right. Last time I said 'I hate that you're a giant'." I say.

"I'm pretty sure you called me gorgeous." A little smirk appears on his face.

"I meant your clothes. Not you." I reply.

"You ask me to remove my clothes." He's full-on smirking now.

My face heats up, "Yeah because I didn't want them to get ruined on your disgusting body."

Disgusting what now? Not Jake, that's for sure.

"You told me I look better without a shirt on and that you like when I take off yours—"

"Dear mommy and daddy, there are children present here." Corey interrupts.

My face might be burning right now and Jake has the audacity to smirk.

"I look better without a shirt too." Cole grins. "Wanna see?"

"Fuck off," Jake says.

"He's scared he's gonna fall in love with my body." Cole winks at me.

I chuckle.

"Don't worry. We all know how gay you truly are, Jake." Corey pats Jake's arm.

Jake glares at him.

"He makes it so obvious," Corey says. "People even started making a ship name for the two of us."

"What the fuck?" Jake furrows his eyebrows.

"What's the ship name?" I ask, excited to hear about it.

"Coke," Corey responds.

A sputter of laughter erupts from Toothy's mouth, "What?"

"Why Coke?" Cole asks. "How about Cake?"

Toothy laughs again and it's surprising to see that this is making her laugh.

"How about Jorey?" I ask.

"Stop making ship names for Corey and me." Jake snaps at all of us.

"Fine. Fine. Let's make a ship name for you both." Corey gestures toward Jake and me.

"Kake?" Cole asks.

I make a face at that, "No."

"Jake?" Corey asks.

"Idiot, that's my name," Jake grumbles.

"Jedy then?" Corey asks.

"It's Jennedy, you people." Toothy states.

Corey gives a shrug, "Mine sounded a lot better."

"I like Jennedy." I grin and look at Jake. He had an uninterested look. "What about you?" I ask him. "You like it?"

Le shrug.

"Let's go out to eat!" Cole hollers. "It's been a while since we've all been out to eat."

"You're not even fucking supposed to be here until next year's Thanksgiving." Jake snaps.

"I didn't come here for you." Cole gives him a sour face. "I came here for my baby." He puts his hand around my shoulder and kisses my cheek.

Jake glares at him and takes my hand, pulling me back towards him.

✯✯✯

"The first one to reach that swing gets to be on it for an hour." Corey points at the single swing hanging in the park.

Suddenly we're all running towards it except Jake and Toothy.

I'm running between Cole and Corey, and I swear I'm usually not this slow.

"Be careful!" Jake yells after me. "Goddamnit Ken! I said be careful! Watch out, that branch!"

"Since when did you turn into a soccer mom?" Toothy raises her eyebrows at Jake, her fingers hooked into the loops of her jeans.

Jake frowns at her.

Cole and Corey run ahead, leaving me behind.

Oh mama, I need more proteins.

My steps slow down even more, with my legs already weary and tired. My hands reach into my pocket to get my inhaler out. I slow down to a walk, putting my inhaler to my mouth, mentally badmouthing my slow legs. I'm already out of breath.

Maybe I need to hit the gym.

Jake said he goes to the gym when he gets free time in between college. I should just tag along with him.

Sometimes I hate this...when I can't be normal like other people. Most of the time, I like who I am, but you just can't stop a few negative thoughts that slip into your mind.

My eyes lift to look ahead, and it takes me a moment to realize Corey and Cole are no longer a hundred miles away from me.

Instead, they're on either side of me, matching my pace.

"You people out of breath too?" I ask.

They share a look with each other.

Cole's chest suddenly starts heaving rapidly and he pants, "Yeah, boy-boy. God, are my legs tiny or what? And my stamina? Utter shit I say."

I look down at Cole's legs.

Tiny what now?

"Let's just walk. I'm getting too tired to run." Corey says.

"But aren't you a football player?" I ask.

"Yeah, and?" He asks.

I give him an incredulous look.

In the end, I just shrug and continue walking with both of them on either side of me.

We reach the swing and stare at it.

"Now what?" I ask. "We all reached at the same time."

"Obviously I'm going first," Corey says and brushes past us.

"Yeah, and brown cows piss chocolate milk." Cole dives to get the swing first.

"Well, they shit brown, so I'm going first." Corey puts a hand on Cole's chest.

"No, idiot. They shit dark green."

And they start fighting.

I stare at them for five seconds. Shrug. Then sit on the swing.

Cole and Corey are still arguing and fighting while I move my legs to rock the swing back and forth.

My eyes meet Jake's way across the park, standing beside Toothy, and he gives me a small wave. I smile back.

I look up at the evening sky turning darker.

"Oh, ho, ho, ho, look at Miss Kennedy." Cole drawls out. I look down at him. He's lying sideways on the ground with one hand propping up his head. "Taking advantage of two guys fighting. I see, I see."

I grin. "You gotta do, what you gotta do."

Corey who's sitting beside Cole smacks the back of Cole's head.

Cole frowns at him. "Why'd you do that?"

Corey shrugs, "Because I can."

"Why do we have two eyes, when you see the same thing with both of them?" I ask.

Corey and Cole stare at me.

They both start thinking before Cole gives up.

"Girl, keep your questions for your boyfriend."

I widen my eyes in horror. "Are you crazy? No." I say. "He'll give some crap scientific answer that'll ruin my whole existence."

Corey chuckles. "Your brain changes a lot when you get answers you weren't expecting."

"I once asked my mom where babies come from." Cole starts. "Now she's used to being around a million kids back home, so she wasn't really speechless to hear me ask that question."

"So what did she reply with?" I ask.

"She said babies grow inside the mommy's stomach," Cole responds. "So I ask her again, 'How does the baby get in the stomach in the first place?'"

"Then?" Corey asks.

"She told me to go and ask dad."

Corey and I laugh.

"Once I went to a farm with my dad when I was like eight," Corey says. "And I saw a cow give out a baby." He gives out a shudder. "The little trauma I had."

"When I was young, I thought guys came out from the dad's stomach and girls came out from the mom's stomach," I say and laugh.

"Gender equality, bitch." Cole high-fives me.

"What would you do if you got pregnant?" I ask Corey.

"With Jake's baby?" He asks me.

I blink at him. "Uh...if you want."

"I'll marry Jake of course." He replies like that's the most obvious answer ever.

I blink at him again.

He bursts out laughing, "I'm kidding, kidding." He says. "I don't know. I'll probably take baby handling lessons from Toothy."

"Toothy's good with kids?" I ask.

"If you wanna shut them up then Toothy is the one," Cole responds.

I chuckle.

"How is she so damn scary but still so nice?" Cole asks.

"One of many wonders about Toothy," Corey says.

"What's going on?" Toothy appears.

Corey yelps, jumping in his place, "Nothing. When did you both get here?"

Jake had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans looking as gorgeous as ever. His hood was drawn up, showing only a little of his angular face and brown hair. His ocean eyes meet mine. Let out the swoon, ladies.

"We were talking about Jake's babies," Cole responds, treating the grass-covered ground as his bed now, with his hands behind his head, looking up at Jake.

Jake frowns at him, "What?"

"Yeah." Toothy frowns too. "What?"

Corey shakes his head, "Nothing. Nothing, at all. We're not hiding anything. We're definitely not hiding that I'm pregnant with Jake's baby."

Cole snorts and I put my hand to my mouth, hiding my smile.

Toothy gives him a weird look.

"What the fuck are you—" Jake starts then shakes his head. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

"Jake, give me a push," I say and wiggle on the swing to get myself more comfortable on it.

He comes behind me and grabs the wooden seat of the swing from behind. I feel his fingertips on the outer sides of my thigh. My face turns red when he gives a secret caress to my hipbone before pushing the swing.

I shriek.

"JAKE!" I clutch the chains of the swing as hard as I could.

Jake quickly catches the swing, stopping it, a panicked frown on his face, "What? What happened? Are you okay?"

I give him an incredulous look, "No! I'm not okay! You almost flew me to the moon."

"The moon's not up yet, babe," Cole says.

Jake shoots him a look, "Don't call her that."

He returns Jake's look with another look. "it's a normal phrase now. Dude, bruh, hun, sweetheart, bitch, babe, don't really mean what it means like it used to."

Jake gives him a glare before putting his attention on me. "What happened?"

"You don't push that hard! If I didn't grip the chains any harder, I would have cannoned to the sky."

He gives me a bored look. "You didn't say what speed. You just said push, so I pushed."

"Push slowly," I say, emphasizing it for him.

"Fine." He puts his hands on the back of the swing, pushing it slower this time.

I turn my head around and smile at him. "Thank you."

He pokes my back in return.

"Why are you only nice to her?" Corey asks Jake.

Jake looks at him.

"I'm your loved one too. Show me some love." Corey says.

Jake ignores him and gives another gentle push on the swing.

"Ayo, Toothy-Tooth, why ya standing?" Cole asks. "Come sit."

Toothy looks around for a moment before shrugging and dropping down onto Cole's stomach.

Cole lets out a big 'oof' and almost doubles over. "Ah, my gut!" eH cries out. "Damn girl, you're all bones. I think one of them poked my kidney."

She rolls her eyes, "You said sit, so I sat."

"On me?"He gives her a look.

"Again. You said sit, so I sat."

"You couldn't have sat anymore gentler."

"Be thankful it wasn't Jake," Corey says. "Or we'll have to bring in a tire pump to inflate your body back."

"I don't think Cole will survive if Jake sits down like that," I say.

"Are you kidding me?" Cole asks. "I'd be dead."

"Grow some muscles, Cole," Corey says.

"Says the one who doesn't have any." Jake snorts.

Corey gives an offended gasp, "Excuse me?" He asks. "Are you blind? You don't see this?" He lifts up his shirt to show an impeccable toned six-pack. "Want me to flex those abs for you?"

"Are those from surgery too?" Jake asks.

"What surgery? Bitch, I didn't get any surgery in my life. My gorgeousness is all natural."

"And from my face masks too." Toothy chimes in.

Cole spurts out laughing, "You use Toothy's face masks."

"No." Corey goes a slight pink in the face.

"Which face mask do you use?" I ask.

"It's natural, Ken," Corey exasperates.

"Your dad's okay with raising a gay son?" Cole asks playfully.

"I'm not gay." Corey narrows his eyes.

"That's not what you told me last time," Jake says, giving the swing another push.

"I only said that to make your pathetic day feel better."

"Do you feel shameful?" Cole asks.

"Okay first," Corey snaps. "My name rhymes with glory."

"And sob-story." Jake snorts.

"Well your name rhymes with mistake, so suck on that," Corey says.

"Ooo what does my name rhyme with?" I jump lightly on the swing with excitement.

"With your ship name." Corey responses.

"Oh right. What does Toothy's name rhyme with?" I ask.

Toothy starts giving Corey a warning look but Corey's already starting to grin.

"Corey, don't you dare—"

"Smoothie, boozy, choosy, floozie, sushi, juicy...what else?" Corey asks.

"Tutsi!" Cole yells.

Toothy narrows her eyes, "They don't even rhyme properly."

"They're the closest rhymes." Corey shrugs. "Let's start with Jake's name now. Shitcake. Buttache..."

Corey keeps on listing names even if they don't rhyme with Jake's name.

A warm breath fans my ear suddenly, with Jake's mouth close to my ear. "Spread out your legs for me." He whispers to me. My body went hot and cold at the same time.

I give him a look. "Now's not the time to be horny," I whisper back.

"As much as I'd fucking love to mean it that way, this time, I don't." He says. "Just spread your legs."

I give him a confused look but go ahead and put my legs apart and straighten them. He suddenly pushes the swing fast enough that I don't comprehend what's going on. The foot of my stretched leg collides with Corey's face and his head snaps back with a yelp.

My hands grip the chain to keep myself from jerking off the swing, but Jake pulls me back and wraps his hands around me to steady me. "Sorry." He kisses my temple.

"What the fucking fuck?" Corey holds his nose, "What the fuck? WHAT THE FUCK?"

Maybe he forgot that we're in a park and there are children and elderly around, looking at us.

"Toothy! Jake and Kennedy broke my nose!" Corey yells and continues yelling even if his words don't make sense. "My million-dollar celebrity nose. WHYYY?" He glares at me. "I thought we were friends!"

"I didn't know he was going to do that!" I defend myself.

"Toothy, check my nose. Please check my nose." Corey scoots towards Toothy.

She sighs before holding Corey's face in her hands and swatting his hand away from his nose to get a look.

"It's not even bleeding." She notes with a flat look.

"It hurts like a bitch." Corey winces.

"It's not broken." She says.

"Are you kidding me? It feels as if Kennedy's kick sent my nose into my fucking skull."

"I'm sorry," I say.

"Don't apologize." Jake snaps at me.

"Yeah, don't apologize," Corey tells me before pointing at Jake. "You apologize."

"I'm sorry," Jake says.

Corey nods but then halts and gives Jake a weird look, "Wait a damn minute. Did you actually just apologize—"

"Sike, you thought." Jake snorts.

I laugh along with Cole.

Corey glares at Jake. "Revenge is on its way, darling."

Jake only sends him a smirk.

A little while later, we finally decide to go back home. Tiredness makes my legs a little weak to walk and my eyes start to get droopy. From the corner of my eye, I spot a little white dandelion while walking out of the park.

My feet change their path and move towards the pretty flower. I bend down to pluck it. Jake doesn't really like flowers, but he'll feel good if I give them to him.

I stand up and brush away the hair that fell all around my face when I bent, the flower now in my hand.

My fingers come out of my hair. But not alone.

With a frown, I look down to see what got caught in my hand—

A wave of shock goes through me.

My fingers spread out in front of me. A small bunch of my hair weave between my fingers.

My muscles weaken for a moment.

I stare at it for a long moment. My other hand goes to my head to inspect where did all this hair come out from. I finally find the tiny empty spot on my head, hidden beneath the rest of my thick hair.

I don't think it's that noticeable.

Is my hair already gonna start coming out?

Seeking a glance to my side, I see Jake and the rest walking, not noticing that I stopped back.

I look back at the hair in my hand. A wave of emotions almost chokes me but I force myself to calm down.

Without another word, I spin the fallen hair into a small hairball in my hand before chucking it between the bushes.

I catch up with Jake and the rest.

He furrows his eyebrows at me, slipping his hand in mine. "Where were you?"

"I got this flower for you." I smile, holding out the flower for him.

✄ ✄ ✄ ✄

Kennedy finally hiding something from Jake?

This chapter was mostly a filler chapter.

Words: 3, 300

Date of publishing: 15th June 2022