♥Chapter 63: ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ ʜᴀꜱ ᴀ ɢɪꜰᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ʜᴇʀ♥

✿Kennedy✿

It's sleepover night!

After the kitchen disaster, we all depend on Alex to make some good dinner.

He decides to make a barbeque along with grilled fish.

Toothy, Corey, Jake and I are sitting in the backyard on chairs while Alex serves us barbecue and fish as soon as their ready and cooked.

"I can't believe we're graduating in a month." Toothy speaks out.

"We're going to be oh-fish-cially freshmen." Corey grins. "Get it? It's a fish pun."

"Oh wow, we didn't know," Jake says dryly.

"The exams went well." Toothy shrugs.

Corey clamps his mouth shut and deflates in his seat. "Don't ask about mine."

"We need to choose graduation dresses!"

"Gotta look so-fish-ticated, right?" Corey grins.

"Cod this be any punnier?" I join in with him and we grin and high-five each other.

"I didn't even want to go to school," I say. "Gary made me."

"You sure?" Toothy asks me.

I nod. "I don't have to wake up early anymore." I grin.

Maybe I am a little sad that while Corey and Toothy are graduating, I'm sleeping and resting my time away. Even if I did want to go to school, I couldn't. I'm exhausted every second and my body has no strength.

Jake puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into him, resting my head on his chest. I close my eyes, feeling a little tired even though I woke up after a nap of five hours.

"Got any acceptance letters yet?" Jake asks Corey and Toothy.

They shake their head.

"It's all gonna be so ex-squid-sit." Corey says.

Jake throws a shoe at him.

He dodges it, laughing.

"I'm gonna go get some more juice." Toothy stands up and looks at me. "Help?"

"Sure." I nod and get up, walking after her into the house and into the kitchen.

I rub my hands together, relishing in the warmth of the house. "God it was chilly outside."

She smiles at me before opening the fridge and rummaging through it. "Get some extra sweaters."

"I'm already wearing three."

I sit on top of a counter, taking a few puffs from my inhaler. I look around the kitchen, a sense of déjà vu hitting me. 

"Remember when we were in this kitchen last time? You asked me if my parents knew your mom or not." I say.

Toothy looks at me from the fridge, replaying the scene in her mind. "Yeah...feels like yesterday, right? Can't believe it's almost been a year since that."

"Who is your mom?" I ask.

Her face closes off. "Was." She corrects me with a hard look. "Corey's mom is my mom now."

"Sorry," I say.

She shakes her head. "Don't say that." She closes the fridge and leans against it. "My mother was a florist. She and my dad married right after high school. After having me, she realized she didn't have feelings for my dad or for me anymore." A frown appears between Toothy's eyebrows. "God knows why she stayed that long. After her brother..." She gulps, taking a moment, "raped me, she finally just left."

My heart breaks for Toothy and I slide off the counter and walk toward her to pull her in a hug.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that," I say.

She pulls away from the hug. "I don't give a shit now. She's gone for good. I have Corey. And his mom loves me like I'm her own daughter."

I smile at her. "That's great."

She breaths in, the frown not leaving her face yet.

I gently take her hand in mine. "Are you okay?"

She looks at me and nods. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You can talk to me about anything," I say.

She gazes at me. Looking lost in thought.

She finally takes in a breath, tightening her fingers around mine as a smile comes over her face.

"Aria." She says.

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What?"

"Toothy is just a nickname everyone gave me because I broke all my teeth when I was young." She says.

Oh, wait I do remember Corey telling me that the first day I met them.

She looks at me. "My real name is Aria."

✯✯✯

We walk back to the backyard and a smile lights my face when my eyes meet Jake's.

He takes my hand and pulls me onto his lap and cups my face, bringing me in for a kiss. I immediately grab the fish off his plate and hold it in front of his mouth and he kisses the fish instead.

"What the fuck?" He jerks away.

He looks at the fish before looking up and frowning at me. "Did you just make me kiss a fucking fish?"

"My lips are greasy," I explain.

"You think kissing a fucking fish is better than your greasy lips?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

He rolls his eyes. "Come here."

I start protesting but he kisses me anyway.

"See." He says, pulling away with a smirk. "Your greasy lips were a hundred times better than that fish."

"Careful," Alex warns from the barbecue. "Offend my fish and I'll fry you next."

"You can try." Jake retorts.

Alex turns away with a little smile on his face.

My mouth gapes opens at their interaction.

Even Toothy and Corey were staring.

I mean they only shared two sentences but still! Two sentences had more than one word! And they talked without hesitating!

"What just happened...?" I ask.

Jake shakes his head, pressing a kiss to my head. "We...talked."

"Talked?" My eyebrows raise. "When?"

"This morning." He replies.

"So you people are...good now?" I ask.

He nods.

My big smile lights my face and I give Jake a big kiss which he happily gives back. "That's nice."

He nods.

After dinner, we all help Alex clean up and move into the living room with the blankets and pillows set up for movie night.

We all snuggle beside each other on the ground under the blankets and pillows. Alex says he has to go to sleep because he has to wake up early tomorrow.

We're watching some movie but I can barely pay attention with Jake crying like a baby next to me.

"I'm bored." He pokes my shoulder.

"I think he's the villain, don't you think?" I whisper, barely taking my eyes off the screen.

"If he is then will you finally give me the attention that you're not giving me right now?"

"Crap. The dog died."

He scowls. "I'm alive. Hello? I need kisses." He taps my shoulder repeatedly.

My eyes water. "The dog just died, Jake. How can you be so happy about it?"

He gives me a flat look. "It's just a movie, babe. The dog's probably not even real."

I give him a look.

He smiles in return. "Kisses?"

Something catches my eye on the TV and I snap my eyes back to it. "The dog is alive!"

"Phew!" Toothy breathes out at that.

"I knew that motherfucker wouldn't die!" Corey throws his fist up filled with popcorn, before putting them in his mouth.

"Kennedyyy." Jake drawls out like a whiny child.

"What?" I barely pay attention to him, my eyes glued to the TV.

"I have a gift for you." He says.

"Uh-huh." I nod, not even hearing what he said.

Jake puts his head on my shoulder, his arm going around my waist. He snuggles himself beside me and looks up at me. "I love you so mu—"

"The dog died again!" I gasp.

"No!" Toothy and Corey had looks of horror.

Jake scowls. "Oh, for fuck's sake."

I tap Corey's arm and open my mouth. He puts popcorn in my mouth and I chew, neither of us looking away from the TV.

Jake places a kiss on my jaw. "Ken." He whispers.

I ignore him.

"Ken." He whispers again.

"Ken—"

"HE'S ALIVE!" Toothy, Corey and I yell in relief.

Jake jerks away from us, wincing at our outburst. He looks at the screen and scowls. "That's the dog you're all bawling about?!"

"I don't see anyone bawling but you." Corey tosses a popcorn in the air and catches it in his mouth.

Jake ignores him not before rolling his eyes.

"I swear to God if he dies one more time." Toothy grumbles.

Jake starts pestering me again. This time, he starts placing kisses from my jaw to my cheek, slowly leaving wet open-mouthed kisses. His teeth catch my earlobe and my eyes flutter for a bit.

"I want to fuck you." He whispers in my ear.

My face warms but I give him an are you serious look. "We did this morning," I reply.

"So?" He raises an eyebrow.

I shake my head at him.

"We haven't tried on the kitchen counter yet." He says suggestively.

"It's cold," I reply.

He places kisses all over the side of my face. "I'll warm you."

A smile takes over my face. "Someone's being extra needy today."

"I wonder who." He replies.

"Can you like...not?" Corey throws popcorn at us.

Jake lifts his head and scowls at him. "Stop listening to us then."

Corey raises his eyebrows. "You people are like right beside me and your pathetic attempt at whispering is, well, pathetic."

Jake rolls his eyes. "You're just jealous because—"

"Because I'm what?" Corey challenges, narrowing his eyes.

"Single," Jake smirks.

"I'm not." Corey raises his chin, looking offended.

"Yeah?" I ask.

He nods and it looks hesitant.

"Who are you dating?" I ask.

He bites his lip. "Uh, Autumn."

Jake snorts. "She doesn't even give you two shits."

Corey's face drops and he actually looks sad.

Toothy and I shoot Jake one deadly glare.

Jake looks startled by that. "What?"

Toothy and I continue giving him our glares.

He rolls his eyes. "Fine. Fine." He turns towards Corey. "Sorry. Didn't mean to offend you." He says dryly.

Corey quietly munches on his popcorn. "It's alright."

Jake stares at him before grabbing a pillow and whacking him in the face. "I said I'm sorry!"

"My popcorn, you fucker!" Corey exclaims, watching his bag of popcorn fly out of his hands and spill all over our blankets.

"Give her time," Jake says. "She'll come around. She does wanna be your friend."

"Who?" Corey's busy picking up the popcorn.

"Autumn, you dumbfuck."

"Really?" Corey perks up.

"Yeah, there's just something bothering her right now," Toothy says, stretching her arms. "She'll be fine when whatever's going on stops."

Corey looks hopeful like a little child. "Okay." He nods.

"Kennedy." Jake tugs on my arm.

I look at him. "Yeah?"

"I have a gift for you." He says.

"For me too?" Corey pops in.

"For me too?" Toothy asks.

Jake glares at them. "Nevermind." He brings his head down to my ear. "I'll just give it to you later." He whispers.

I nod.

After picking up all the popcorn and finishing our movie, we're going to sleep.

"Good night, people." Corey sings.

"If you draw on my face again, I'll fucking kill you," Jake warns.

"What about your chest?" Corey wiggles his eyebrows.

Jake gives him a sarcastic smile. "Sure."

"Yay!" Corey mock squeals.

Toothy and I chuckle.

The lights go off and we're in darkness. My heavy head rests on Jake's arm as he wraps his other arm around my waist and pulls me as close to him as he could.

When I almost drift off to sleep, I feel something wedged near my knee. Reaching down, I grab the thing and pull up my hand to inspect it. A popcorn.

"Stuff it in that fatass's nose," Jake tells me, his voice sleepy.

I chuckle, throwing it aside instead.

Settling myself between Jake's arms again, I try going to sleep.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you are?" Jake says.

A soft smile comes to my face. "Every single hour." I mean literally every single hour. If he's out then he texts me. 'You're so effing beautiful. Can't wait to get home to you.'

It's like we're actually a married couple.

Oh wait, we are.

"We're a married couple," I tell Jake.

"Oh shit, I forgot about that." His voice sounds monotone.

I lightly slap his shoulder.

He smiles and squeezes my head in his hand.

I swat his hand away, scowling.

He pokes my cheek next until I swat his finger away. Then his fingers come to my waist, tickling me, making me thrash and laugh. Without thinking, my hand flies and slaps him across the face.

He pauses with wide eyes, and I gasp, my hands flying to my mouth.

"Did you just slap me?" He blinks, bringing up his hand to touch his jaw.

"Yeah...that happens," I say slowly, bringing my hands down from my mouth.

I don't know, I just attack people who tickle me.

Jake bursts into chuckles, taking me by surprise and making me smile too.

"You're wild." He shakes his head.

We gaze at each other. I could barely make out the colour of his eyes by how dark it is, but they still glimmer softly against the darkness.

"Can I tell you about my mom?" He asks.

I feel the shock on my face. "What?"

He grips my hand under the blanket. "I want to tell you about my mom."

My heart warms and I think I'm going to cry. "Go on."

He takes in a deep breath, settling himself properly before speaking. "She was batshit crazy." He starts and I chuckle. "I'm not even kidding. She almost got expelled from high school. I heard her teachers fucking celebrated when she finally graduated.

"She used to beat up everyone, pick up fights. She didn't even hesitate to raise her fist at my kindergarten teacher." Jake shakes his head. "I think Alex became a cop just to be ready to bust her outta jail if she got sent in there.

"She was like you," Jake says after a thought. "In many ways. Except for the being violent part, you both are pretty much the same."

I don't know how to react to that, so I remain quiet.

"She got diagnosed with cancer when I was little." He says in a sad tone. "She had asthma too. I remember catching her coughing out blood in her room once." He clutches my hand. "She saw me and pretended everything was fine, keeping herself upright and smiling as if it wasn't clear that she was going to pass out any second. There were so many moments where she tried showing Alex and I that she was fine, and she didn't need any help from us."

I tighten my hold on my his hand.

"Did she ever talk about my dad?" I ask.

He nods. "Reece."

Tears spring to my eyes at my dad's name.

"What did she say?" I prod.

"She told me stories of him when I was young." He says. "She said he was the sweetest, dorkiest man she ever met. She said he always reminded him of a turtle wearing glasses and sweater. But he was the smartest among them."

I laugh. "My dad was kinda nerdy."

"She said once they had to lie about something at school and Reece messed up so bad, that the teachers just pitied him and let them go."

I laugh again.

"My dad never spoke of your mom and Alex though..." I say lowly. "I don't even know why he left."

He shrugs. "We never know some things no matter how hard we try to look for it."

"Yeah." I sigh.

"No could really blame my mom for being the way she was with her whole family being equally as fucking crazy as her." He says.

"Your aunts and everyone?" I ask.

He nods. "A whole fucking package deal." He continues. "She was fierce. It was hard to get used to the silence in the house, to the loneliness and everything."

"You're doing good." I place my hand on his jaw, caressing his face.

He sighs.

"Ayo." A groggy whisper speaks in, grabbing our attention. Jake and I turn to see Corey staring at us, half-asleep. "I know it's all deep and sad and all, and Jake, man, I do really feel sorry for you. But some of us are tryna sleep here without crying tonight."

Jake glares at him.

"Don't get me wrong." Corey raises his hands in defense. "I'm glad you're finally able to talk about your mom but it's like 3 in the fucking night and I'm going to cry."

Jake rolls his eyes. "Fine. Go to sleep."

"Thanks man." Corey says and turns back around. "And I'm sorry for what happened to your mom." With that, he's asleep.

I look back at Jake, smiling softly. "I'm really tired."

He nods in understanding and kisses my forehead. "Goodnight."

I close my eyes, letting exhaustion wash over me. The exhaustion felt so heavy. My mouth opens to whisper goodnight, but my mind started fading into darkness, so I let myself go to sleep.

I'll tell him I love him, in the morning.

✯✯✯

❆Jake❆

My eyes open at the first ray of sunlight.

Still feeling drowsy, I turn to my side where Kennedy's sleeping and absentmindedly kiss her forehead like how I do every morning out of habit.

Sitting up, I stretch up my arms and muscles. Turning my head to the side, I look at Corey and Toothy.

Toothy and Corey and had their legs tangled and arms open as if they fought each other in their sleep.

Fucking brats.

Standing up, I stretch some more before heading to the bathroom to freshen up. I put on my workout clothes and get out the house for an early morning run. One hour later, I'm back, sweating and panting.

Toothy, Corey and Kennedy are still sleeping and I let them be, starting up at the gas stove and preparing breakfast.

In between, the sound of sizzling eggs or clanging plates must have woken up Corey and Toothy because they're both trudging towards the kitchen and seat themselves on the kitchen counter.

"What's for breakfast?" Toothy rubs her eyes.

"Better not be eggs," Corey says. "I've been eating eggs this whole week now."

"It's eggs," I say.

He groans.

"Should we wake up Kennedy?" Toothy asks.

I shake my head. "I'll do it."

"I'm going to go wake Ken up." Corey stands up.

"Sit back down, fucker." I haul him back down on his seat.

He laughs.

Making breakfast, I hand the brats their food before going into my room.

Making sure, no one's coming into the room, I open the closet and put my hand between the clothes, a satisfied smile coming on my face when my fingers enclose around the rectangular box.

Pulling out the black box, I open it and my smile widens.

Designed with black and red roses, with intricate markings, rests a beautiful knife in the box.

I bought this for her long ago and wanted to give it to her last night, but she was too busy crying over that fucking dog that isn't even real!

Carrying the box with me to the living room where she's still sleeping on the floor, the little smile on my face wouldn't leave no matter how hard I try to cover it.

She's gonna fucking love it and kiss me. Then she might even be happy for a little sexy time with me. I can already imagine her huge smile and that squeal that'll come out of her mouth. My toes wiggles in excitement, my whole body too.

God. Get a grip.

I sit down beside Kennedy, failing at trying to hide the smile on my face. My hands start shaking with excitement and I reach to shake her shoulder that was covered with the blanket.

"Kennedy." My voice comes out happy.

What the fuck? Act natural.

"Kennedy," I say in an annoyed tone this time.

"I got you a gift," I shake her shoulder.

"Kennedy."

Usually, she stirs at this time.

I roll my eyes. "Ken, I got you a surprise. Don't you wanna see it?"

She doesn't move. Damn her being a heavy sleeper.

"Ken." I yank the blanket off her, barely registering that she doesn't even twitch. My hand grips her shoulder to shake her—I freeze.

Cold.

Her shoulder is cold.

My hand stays immobile for a while before slowly moving to her hand.

My hands shake violently.

Cold.

I start touching her everywhere.

Cold.

Cold.

Cold.

"Kennedy!" I shake her body.

"Kennedy!" I yell.

My heart beats faster and panic grips my entire body.

"Kennedy!" I yell over and over again, shaking her.

She'll wake up.

She'll wake up, right?

Toothy and Corey rush from the kitchen into the living room, pausing at the doorway when their eyes land on the scene.

My eyes meet them, feeling the fear on my face. "She's going to wake up, right?" I ask.

Toothy and Corey remain frozen in their places.

Fuck them.

I don't need their answer.

"Kennedy, wake up. I got you a gift." I shake her again and again, ignoring how cold her body is.

I stare at her closed eyes that are gonna open any moment now. "I got you a knife. I kept my promise."

"Please, Kennedy." My voice thickens. "I got you a gift. Please wake up." My voice breaks and so does the tears from my eyes.

I turn towards Toothy and Corey. "She's not waking up." My voice is a scared whisper. "Why isn't she waking up?"

Corey grips Toothy hand, his jaw locking while tears fall down Toothy's eyes.

"Jake," Corey says cautiously, with a hard look. "I'm going to call Alex. You get Kennedy to the hospital."

"She doesn't need to go to the fucking hospital!" I yell, causing them both to flinch. "She's fucking fine. She's going to wake up like she does every morning!"

"Jake, please let's get her to the hospital." Tears fall down Toothy's face. "Please."

"There's no fucking need for that." I glare, picking up Kennedy who lays limply in my arms. "She's fine. She's just a heavy sleeper. She's going to wake up." My body tremors and I'm shaking everywhere.

Her body is so cold in my arms.

So, so, cold.

Kennedy's never cold. She's always warm.

My arms clutch Kennedy to my body, tears sliding down my face. I don't even realize the sob that comes out of my lips.

"You're not gone." My voice chokes on my tears. "Please don't go. Not like this." My words jumble together, barely making any sense.

"You're not dead. You still have a few more years." I grab the box and hold it to her. "I got you a gift." I push the box into her hand. She doesn't take it.

"I got you a gift, Kennedy."

The box slips from my hand when she doesn't grab it and a scream leaves my lips. "Why won't you take the fucking gift? I kept my promise!"

"Jake!" Toothy rushes into the room, falling to her knees beside me. "Jake, please. Listen to me."

I turn towards Toothy, "She loves knives, right? She always loves knives."

Tears run down her face. "Jake, please..." She whispers. "Let's get her to the hospital and see if we can still save her."

"She's so cold, Toothy." I grip Kennedy's hand. "She's never this cold."

"Alex and the ambulance are going to be here in two minutes." Corey appears in the doorway, panting.

I look up at Corey. "Will they save her?"

His face crumbles a little, "Jake...I don't know."

I look down at Kennedy, holding her tightly to my body, tears running down my face.

When the ambulance and Alex finally arrive, I carry Kennedy into the ambulance and we're driving to the hospital. They try waking up Kennedy in the ambulance, but she doesn't open her eyes. I grip her hand the entire time.

Please let me see your green eyes one more time.

Please, Kennedy.

They lay her on the hospital bed when we reach there and the doctor checks her eyes, her heartbeat, her pulse. He checks them all over again.

He moves back, a sigh ready in his mouth. "She's dead."

"She's not!" I yell, still gripping her hand. "She still has a few more years!"

"She died overnight." The doctor says grimly.

"She's not fucking dead!" I yell. "Wake her up, Goddamnit! She's not fucking dead!"

Silent tears run down Corey and Toothy's faces, with their heads hanging low. Alex closes his eyes and breathes in unsteadily.

The doctor says nothing else, lowering his head in silence.

Anger flares through me and I shoot off my seat, marching out the room and kicking the chairs there so hard. I slam my fists into the wall, slamming them repeatedly until my knuckles bled.

My chest heaves heavily and my head starts spinning. I feel sick and hunch over.

Cold realization washes over me.

She was dead when I kissed her forehead this morning.

She was dead when I went for my run.

She was dead when I was making breakfast.

She was dead this whole time...

My head starts pounding and my chest tightens painfully until I'm gasping. My knees weaken and I fall to them, gripping my head.

She's gone.

Kennedy...she's gone.

✄ ✄ ✄ ✄

I'm sorry to everyone who wanted Kennedy to live...

How was this chapter?

I was so scared to write this chapter and I kept putting it off because I couldn't bring myself to write and edit it. I had to mentally prepare myself for one whole hour before editing this chapter today.

I almost cried while editing this because I myself felt sad to detach myself from Kennedy :(((

Writing Jake's pain and his thoughts and actions here was the most difficult thing. I hope you people felt the emotions I wanted you to feel through Jake.

Words: 4,000

Date of publishing: 21st June 2022