About a month after our Disney escapade, I'm packing up some stuff for college when Jackie enters my room, decked in his Iron Man pyjamas and the fluffiest socks I've ever seen. It strikes me as odd, mostly because it's just past eight in the morning and Jackie hates both being in pyjamas and fluffy things. He looks like me when I'm about to go to sleep.

"J? You good?"

He attempts to wrinkle his nose. "That's what Tay says."

I turn away from my hastily bubble wrapped lamp and face him. "What does Dante say?"

"Tay always says – wait, I gotta do his voice." Jackie sits on the floor and tries to clear his throat. "Yo J! You good?" He says in a deeper voice.

I burst into laughter and he giggles, pleased with himself. "Oh my God."

Jackie looks around my room and suddenly starts frowning. "Kenny, I'm sick. I have the cold."

"A cold, huh?" He shivers and rubs his arms to imitate being cold. "Aw, poor baby."

I take a seat on my bed and rub my eyes. Without any invitation, he stands up and heads on over, sitting in my lap and hugging my stomach. I feel his forehead, and sure enough he has a temperature. His eyes are also red rimmed and his nose is bright pink.

"I told mommy but she went to work and told me to tell daddy but he's asleep and he told me to tell you."

"What would you do if I told you to tell Tyler?" The look he gives me prompts me to laugh. "Don't worry, David isn't working today so he'll look after you, okay?"

Jackie sits up. "No. You don't have work today, you have to look after me."

I stare at him, perplexed. "How'd you know I didn't have work today?"

"I heard you over the phone when you were talking to Stacy." He says quietly and then sneezes into his hand. Then he looks at his snot with awe. "Gross."

Slightly disgusted, I look for the pack of tissues that I keep under my pillow and help him blow his nose. "Well, I can't look after you because Dante and I have a day date."

He sniffles. "Cancel it."

"What?"

"I said what I said."

"I can't cancel it, this is the first date we're going on in two weeks."

"Well this is the first time I've had the cold since January." He says, sliding off my lap and to the floor. "I don't like Tay."

This is news to me. "What? I thought you said he was your favourite-"

"That was a long time ago, I stopped liking him when he stole you from me and took you to Disneyland."

I pause, wondering how I should go about this. Jackie's got his hands balled up into little fists and his nose is slightly pink and running. We have a stare off and I only end up winning because he sneezes a bunch of times and complains that he's cold.

I drape my comforter over him to warm him up. "Dante didn't steal me from you. I'm still here."

"Liar. You never play with me anymore because you're always talking to him." He says with disgust. I blink a few times, surprise.

"We played Mario Kart yesterday. Remember? I was Daisy and you were Bowser."

"Yeah but then he called you and I had to play by myself!" Then, defiantly, Jackie stands up and shakes his fists in the air. "You and Tay can't be boyfriend and girlfriend because I'm sick!"

"What?" I say dumbly.

It's way too early in the day for me to be dealing with him throwing a tantrum at me. I just wanted to pack my shit, take a shower and look pretty before spending the day at the park or something. Today is one of the only days Dante and I had off together so we were going to make the most of that time before he leaves for college.

Before I know it, Jackie is unlocking my phone and calling someone. "What are you doing?" I ask, confused and then try to take the phone from him. He squirms away from me, a determined expression on his small face.

"Tay, Kenny hates you and is breaking up with you so she can be my sister again. You can cry now-"

I feel my eyes bulge and reach over to snatch my phone from him. Without even trying to clear up what happened, I hang up and turn to Jackie with a whole lot of anger.

"What's wrong with you?!" I ask. He folds his arms, not backing down.

"Someone had to let him know!"

"Let him know what?"

"That you don't like him anymore. Duh."

My cell phone rings but I ignore it, figuring it's Dante and knowing that I'll deal with it later. "Who told you I don't like him? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I told you, I have the cold! You have to look after me." He half yells.

"Keep your voice down." I say firmly, raising my voice.

Jackie gasps and his eyes pool with tears. "You just yelled at me."

"So?" I roll my eyes and stand up, going back to bubble wrapping my stuff.

"You never yell at me, Kenny."

"Well, you never act up like this with me so I never need to yell." I say. A tear falls from his eye and I ignore it, folding my arms. "You're being such a brat."

"I'm just trying –"

"To ruin my day? Get out of my room, John."

With that, he starts sniffling and begins to leave my room, taking my comforter along too. "You're so mean." He mumbles and then shuts the door behind him.

I start feeling bad and almost go after him but then my phone rings again. "Hello?" I answer, massaging my forehead.

"So..." Dante starts quietly. "If we're broken up, do I get my sweatshirt back? Because I might need it this winter."

Even though I don't want to, I start chuckling. "I'm gonna have to get back to you on that."

"Aw damn it." He says and laughs along with me. We stop and there's a silence over the line, right up until I sigh. "Is Jackie okay?"

"No." I sigh again. "He's sick and I just had to tell him off for calling you."

"Aw, leave him alone, Kennedy." Dante mutters.

"He told me he hates you." I say bluntly.

He gasps. "Hates me?! What did I do?"

"You stole me away from him."

"What?"

I begin to tell him everything that transpired this morning. He gasps when I tell him that Jackie has decided he hates him and tuts at me when I tell him that I sent him out of my room and called him John for the first time since I was like fourteen.

"Yeah. So... I guess Jackie's mad at me now." I end, rubbing my chin.

"Well, he was right about one thing. You are mean."

"Shut up."

"See?! Damn girl, let that hurt go."

Even though I don't want to, I end up chuckling. "I'm gonna have to cancel our date today then and try to make it up to him."

"I can come look after him with you." He suggests, much to my surprise.

"Really? You don't have to."

"Well, we haven't really seen each other in a while. I don't mind. Plus, I gotta get him back on my good side, he was my favourite cheerleader when you brought him out to my games."

"He was your favourite cheerleader?"

"You know, Kennedy, you were a little lacklustre. I'd say you're my third favourite. Maybe."

"Third? Maybe? Who was number two?"

"You know, I'm gonna have to get back to you on that."

*-8*-8*

Jackie doesn't necessarily forgive me but he doesn't fight me either. He's pretty impressed with himself when I tell him that I'm staying with him today. Because I'm being petty, I decide not to tell him that Dante is coming over. He sits with me, wrapped in my comforter, humming along to the song playing in Lilo and Stitch.

"J, open your mouth, you gotta take some Tylenol." I sigh and pour some into a medicine spoon.

"Are you going to make aeroplane noises?" He asks.

"No."

He considers this before deciding to open his mouth anyway. I feed him the medicine and wipe his face when he dribbles. "Kenny. Is Stitch a dog? Does he go woof? Does he poop on sidewalks?"

"He's an alien." I sigh and lean back on the sofa. It's just past three in the afternoon. We've been watching Disney movies all day and eating a pie that Tyler baked last night. It's butterscotch and has a whole lot of whipped cream on the top – it also had a label on it saying that nobody should touch it but David took a slice so I decided that Jackie and I might as well finish it off.

"Do aliens go woof? Do they poop on sidewalks?"

"I don't know, Jackie." I say, exasperated.

"Huh." He sits back next to me. "You're supposed to know everything."

"Well, I don't." I deadpan. He doesn't catch on to how fed up I am from my tone of voice because he launches into another set of questions about the movie. I entertain him for a while, trying to sound upbeat but I've been doing this all day and I'm beat.

The doorbell rings as Lilo and Stitch finishes and I almost jump up in praise. "Who is it?" He asks me and then retracts. "Oh yeah, you don't know everything."

"I think I know who's there though." I mutter then stand up and hurry towards the door.

Dante's leaning against the wall, holding a bunch of pink roses, a get well soon balloon and a blue fire truck. He presents all of them to me with a flourish, attempting to do the jazz hands at the same time while I just stare at him, dumbfounded.

"Ta-da!" He says, rustling the flowers.

"Wow."

"Am I doing too much?"

"Entirely. But I appreciate it." I take the roses from him and give him a hug, sniffing his popcorn scented shirt. He hugs me back, rubbing a circle in my back with the fire truck.

"Let's hope J appreciates it as much as you do." He says, chuckling. I almost forgot all about Jackie.

Reluctantly, I stop hugging him and let him in the house, directing him to the living room where Jackie is sneezing. He grins at us coming through the door but then his face falls and he looks at me accusingly.

"What is he doing here?" He asks me, his six year old voice getting higher and higher on each word. I roll my eyes. He's so dramatic, I think he must get it from Tyler.

Dante looks to me with a worried expression on his face and takes a deep breath before turning back to Jackie. "Hey J, I heard you-"

"It's John to you." He says firmly and hides under the comforter. I hold back a laugh at Dante's wide open mouth but then clear my throat.

"Jackie, stop being rude, say hi to Dante."

"Why is he here?" He shows his face and he's pouting.

I gesture towards the balloon. "He came to see if you were okay! Look, he bought you a fire truck – it's blue!"

Jackie stares at the fire truck. "That's stupid. No fire truck is blue, that's just a water truck."

"Well, technically, a fire truck is filled with water anyway." I mutter.

"That's not true, they're filled with foam! And they go whoosh over the fire." He stretches his hands out. "Like that. Whoosh."

I stare at Dante who is half smiling. "Whoosh?" I repeat.

"Whoosh."

"Don't make fun of me." Jackie pipes up. "I hate you Tay, your water truck is stupid." He sticks his tongue out and hides underneath the comforter again.

"Jackie! Apologise!"

He shows his face. "No. He didn't get me roses and I'm sick."

"John." I say and he hides his face again.

"Go away!" We hear a muffled yell.

Irritated, I pull the comforter off him. "You're such a brat."

He blows a raspberry and snatches the comforter back from me, hiding underneath it once again.

I sigh, stressed out. "Whatever. I'm gonna go put these in water. You coming?" 

Dante puts the rejected water truck down on the couch besides Jackie and stares at me, lost. "Sure."

Realising that his feelings are hurt, I roll my eyes and drag him by his hand towards the kitchen. "Tyler made a butterscotch pie and it's super good. He's gonna be mad when he gets home and realises Jackie and I have eaten it all but at least you'll be here to share the blame!" I say and turn to him.

He sits down on the dining table and stares into space. "Hey, is everything okay?" I ask.

"Was me coming a good idea?" He asks. I start cutting a slice of pie for him and sigh. "What? Jackie obviously doesn't want me here. Maybe I should just leave."

"No, don't go. He's just being naughty." I put the pie in front of him and turn to my flowers. "Besides, these are pretty, so I'm glad you came... even though I'm your third favourite cheerleader."

"Yeah, you are." He confirms and starts grinning.

I roll my eyes. "Who's number two?"

Dante pauses before answering and I just sense that some bullshit is gonna come from his mouth before it does. "Well, there's that girl on my school's actual cheerleading team –"

"I'm about to kick you out of my house." I say and he laughs. "Who is this cheerleader?! Do I have to fight her?"

"Kennedy, calm down," He says through chuckles. I'm glad he's finding this funny because I'm not. "You know I'm kidding, right? You're my favourite."

"I better be." I mutter and sit down next to him, putting the roses in the centre of the table.

We hang out in the kitchen for a while. I check on Jackie a few times but he ignores me and watches A Bug's Life by himself. He's fast asleep by the time the movie finishes so I turn off the television and cover him up so he doesn't get cold.

"He's so cute." Dante says from behind me, making me jump. With my hand to my heart, I turn to him but he's staring at Jackie with a silly smile on his face. "Look at his little head."

"Too bad he hates you." I comment and lean against the wall. He glares at me and I do my best to stifle my laugh so we don't wake him up.

"I don't think he hates me to be honest. I think he's just sad because you're leaving him." He says smartly.

"Oh please, he'll be fine without me. Like, two days ago, he made a face out of his nuggets all by himself."

Dante raises his eyebrows and turns away from me, leading himself towards the front door. "Okay girl."

I stand up straight again and start following him. "Don't you 'okay girl' me – where are you going?!"

He only faces me again when he gets to the door. "You don't work on Thursdays, right?" I shake my head, kinda confused. "Cool. My parents are having a barbecue, you're invited."

"Are you leaving?" I ask, pouting. He coos and then holds my cheeks, squeezing until my lips are pushed out. "Ow."

"I'll call you, Slugger." He says and kisses me on the forehead before letting my face go and opening the door. "We can reschedule our date for another day, okay?"

After saying goodbye, I watch Dante walk across the lawn and get into his car. He rolls the window down and blows me a kiss in which I catch back, trying my best to be the corny girlfriend that I was destined to be. He drives away with a big smile on his face while I go back into the house and sigh loudly, upset that we didn't get to hang out all day like we planned.

A few hours later, Tyler comes home from whatever he does all day. He sees me still hanging out in the living room and laughs out loud when he sees our collection of Disney movies scattered across the floor, prompting Jackie awake again. When I glare at him for causing a disruption, he simply shrugs.

"Kenny, I don't feel sick anymore! Let's play a game!" He takes off his fluffy socks, full of life and skips towards his toy box to find a board game.

"You don't feel sick, huh?" I say sourly.

"Yep! Naptime always makes me feel better." Jackie sends me a lopsided smile. His tooth is growing back in but another one came out last week so his smile is full of holes.

I sigh and stand up. "Jackie, I'm really mad at you."

His face falls. "What did I do?"

"Well, for one, you drove my boyfriend away. And you were super rude to him." I start tidying up and pick up my comforter, feeling drained. "I don't know why you were behaving so badly but it's really pissed me off."

He folds his arms defiantly. "He's taking you far away from me! What else was I supposed to do?!"

"What do you mean he's taking me far away?"

"Mommy said you're going to a place called Rhode land and she said it's three thousand miles away! You weren't going until after Tay became everyone's boyfriend!"

I massage my temple and sit back down. "He's not everyone's – okay, here's the deal Jackie. I applied for college way before Dante got in the way and Brown was my first choice. That means that if I got in – which I did - I was gonna go anyway, boyfriend or not."

He scrunches up his face and I wait while he processes this information. All of a sudden his eyes start watering and he sits down on the floor.

"Now what's wrong?" I ask, exasperated.

"So Tay isn't taking you hostage to Rhode land? You're going by yourself?"

I nod a few times. "He's not even going to the same place as me."

"So you're going three thousand miles away because you want to? By yourself?"

"I mean, yeah?"

"But what about me? What am I gonna do here?"

"Go to school? Play basketball?"

Jackie wipes his eyes and sighs loudly. "Oh."

Then, somewhat passively, he puts his fluffy socks on and sits next to me on the sofa. He takes the comforter from my hands and wraps himself up in it, sighing. "Are you okay?"

He shakes his head. "You're leaving me on purpose. I don't think I'll be okay until you get back and that's four years away."

"I'll be back for thanksgiving." I comment and put my arm around him, sighing. He snuggles closer, reminding me why I can never be angry at him for too long. "And then Christmas. And Easter."

"That's so long!"

"It's really only a matter of months."

Forlornly, Jackie sits up and starts playing with his fingers. "Sorry." He mumbles quietly. I almost don't quite catch it.

"What are you sorry for?"

"For being naughty."

"And what else?"

"For telling Tay that his water truck is stupid. And that I hate him."

"Better." I pat him on the head a few times and he lets out a soft smile. "I'll call you all the time, okay?"

"Even on the weekends?"

"Especially on the weekends." 

A high pitched scream interrupts the next thing he's about to say. Tyler rushes into the living room, holding his almost finished butterscotch pie on a plate.

"Which one of you fatties did this to my baby?" He demands, nostrils flaring.

"It was a group effort." I say passively. Of course, his anger doesn't let up. Just as he's about to explode, Jackie picks up his new 'water truck' and aims the toy nozzle at Tyler's head.

"You need to cool off!" He declares. "Whoosh!"

a/n: