Ok so I know I said I would post this later, but I just couldn't wait. I have had this chapter written for a while now and I really hope you guys like it!
We were already a month into our senior year. I couldn't believe it. Summer hadn't really been anything special. I moped around a lot, sad about what had happened with me and Chance. The day after everything went down he called me over and over again until I finally answered my phone. He apologized to me for twenty minutes, but in the end he couldn't make up for what he had done and I broke up with him. I was really upset about it, but I knew I had done the right thing. Jack and Miss Evie tried cheering me up all summer and finally I stopped being so sad and by the time school started I was back to normal.
Even though Jack and I didn't have any classes together, I was still making him study with me every night. I wanted to go to college on scholarship, so studying was required, but Jack had decided college wasn't in the cards for him. "Rock stars don't need to go to college." He had told me. Still, I was determined that I would do everything in my power to help him graduate. Jack was going to walk across that stage with us on graduation night if it was the last thing I did.
So studying is what we were doing the night before my 17th birthday. Jack was sitting across from me at the table, already getting distracted. "Come on Jack, focus." I pleaded.
"Why Wills? What's the point?" He asked, nudging my leg with his foot. "Come on. Let's go do something for your birthday. I bet there is something going on." He smiled those baby blues of his lighting up.
I melted just a little when I looked at him, but then I remembered that scholarship I was shooting for. "No Jackie, I can't. You know I want to go to college. You know I want to get a scholarship so I can do what I want to do."
He sighed, rolling his head back. "Yeah I know, I know." He leaned forward, taking my notebook from me, and started quizzing me. I leaned back in my chair, stretching my short legs out in front of me until my right foot was resting on Jack's knee.
We studied like that for about another hour, Miss Evie brought us some snacks, and then Jack decided it was time to stop studying for sure and got up to walk me home. We put on our jackets and stepped outside into the cold night air. We headed down the street, walking so close that our arms kept bumping into each other. "So Ma is planning some big birthday dinner for you tomorrow. Jerry and Camille are supposed to come and Camille is so big she looks like she is about to pop so you have to see that." He laughed, breath forming clouds in front of him.
"Oh I'll be there." I said laughing. "It isn't like my dad has anything planned for me." I said quietly, shuffling my feet in the snow. "He probably won't even remember that tomorrow is my birthday."
"I'm sure he will at least remember it's your birthday Wills." He put his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.
"Yeah, and maybe he has a surprise party planned for me too." I said sarcastically, leaning my head on him.
He walked me to the steps of my front porch and then hugged me goodnight. "See you tomorrow Wills!" He called over his shoulder as he headed back down the street to his house.
I walked up the steps slowly, not really wanting to go inside. It was so cold though that I had to go in, so I opened the door and stepped inside. As soon as I turned around to face the living room I stopped dead in my tracks. My dad was sitting in his reclining chair, which he had turned to face the door, a bottle of whiskey empty on the ground next to him, and a pistol in his hand.
"Daddy?" My voice was shaking with fear. I didn't know what he was going to do with that gun, but it wasn't going to be good. I slowly moved around the room, edging my way along the walls. "Daddy what are you doing?"
"I'm sorry Willow." His voice was thick with alcohol, words slurred together, but there was something else in his voice too. It was sadness and sincerity. "I'm sorry that I forgot about you. I'm sorry I hit you. You deserve better. Just go stay with that Mercer lady, okay baby?" He had started lifting the pistol up to his head.
"Daddy, no. Put down the gun Daddy. It's ok, everything is going to be ok." I reached a shaking hand out to him.
"I can't do it anymore. I'll just keep hurting you baby. I'm no good and I will never be good again. Everything good went when Derek went." The pistol was in his mouth now.
I took a step towards him, hand still outstretched. "No Daddy, please." I whispered as he pulled the trigger and everything went black.
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When I opened my eyes I didn't know where I was. The walls were white, the sheets that were tucked around me were white, everything was too white. I was so disoriented and I couldn't figure out what had happened. I closed my eyes and it all came back. Jack walking me home, going inside, Daddy with the gun, the gun going off, the blood, then nothing. "Daddy." I whispered. It all connected. "No. No no no no no no!" I got louder and started thrashing around. I could feel the I.V. in my wrist pulling and I saw nurses come rushing into the room as the monitors around me started beeping. The last thing I saw as I felt a needle pricking the skin of my arm, was Jack's worried face appear in the doorway.
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When I came to I didn't know how long I had been out, but the room, the hospital room, I told myself mentally, was dark except for the light of a lamp set up near the monitors. I sat up slowly, wincing as my head began to throb and my shoulder protested. Why did I hurt so much? I looked around the room, trying to figure out what was happening, and my eyes landed on Jack asleep in a chair by the side of my bed. "He said he wouldn't leave until you woke up again." I turned to find the owner of the voice who had just spoken and found Miss Evie standing in the doorway. "How are you sweetie?" Concern was all over her face as she sat in a chair on the other side of my hospital bed.
I nodded. "Miss Evie, how did I get here?" My bottom lip quivered as I looked at her expectantly.
Sadness could be seen plainly in her eyes as she spoke. "Jackie said that he was walking home when he heard the gun go off. He ran back to your house and he said when he got inside you were on the floor and your dad was in his chair with the gun. Jack thought that your dad had shot you too and maybe he had just missed the second gunshot, but after he carried you to the porch he could tell that you hadn't been shot. He called for help and tried to get you to wake up until the ambulance arrived. They couldn't do anything to help your daddy sweetheart." She reached a hand out and grabbed onto mine, which was lying limp on the bed. "I am so sorry. Officer Green is going to come talk to you tomorrow to get the story straight. I asked him to wait, but he has to get his job done."
I nodded numbly. Then I realized my face was wet. I didn't know when I had started crying, but tears were flowing freely. After taking the hits and defending him for the past year, trying to keep what was left of our family together, my dad had left me. And Jack, oh Jackie, he had had to see the aftermath of my father's decision. I looked over at him still asleep in the chair and wanted nothing more in that moment than for him to sit with me and hug me and tell me it would be ok.
"I'm taking care of all of the arrangements for the funeral sweetie, so you just focus on resting. You hit your head pretty hard." She stood up to leave, giving my hand a squeeze, and started walking to the door.
"Miss Evie?" I called after her.
"Yes sweetheart?"
"What…" My voice caught and I cleared my throat, "What's going to happen to me? Where will I go?"
She smiled, "Well you are going to stay with me of course. I already talked to Officer Green and we are going to sort everything out."
"Thank you Miss Evie." I said quietly as she walked out of sight. I heard a sound and looked over just in time to see Jack wake up.
He stretched his legs out in front of him and blinked his eyes sleepily until they settle on me. He got up and quickly walked over to the side of the bed, leaning over me worriedly. "Thank God you're awake Wills. We were worried about you."
I couldn't hold it together after I looked Jack in the eye and I broke down, sobs wracking my body. "Oh shit." Jack muttered as he climbed into the hospital bed, barely fitting in next to me. "Hey, hey, it's going to be ok." He said quietly as he wrapped his arms around me. "Ma is taking care of everything. You are going to stay with us. We'll take care of you Wills. I'll take care of you. It's going to be alright."
Jack held me as I cried myself to sleep, whispering reassurances into my hair.
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Two days later, they were releasing me from the hospital. Miss Evie and Jack came to pick me up. When we got to the car I suddenly froze. "School." I said quietly to myself. "Miss Evie, has anyone talked to the school? Did they tell them I wouldn't be there? Did someone get my work? I can't get behind." Panic rising in my voice.
Jack put his hands on my arms and looked me in the eye. "Calm down Wills. Ma and I talked to the teachers and I've been getting your work and notes. It's okay, just breathe."
I nodded and took a deep breath as I got into the car. Other than Miss Evie telling me she brought my things over to her house, we rode in relative silence. We went straight from the hospital to the cemetery. We were burying Daddy today. We pulled up to the parking lot for the cemetery and I almost couldn't get out of the car. It wasn't until Jack held out his hand to me and said "Come on Wills. We have to go say goodbye" that I took his hand and climbed out.
We walked down the path leading to the gravesite, Jack still holding onto my hand. As we got closer, I could see the tarp draped over the dirt and the coffin sitting next to it and I froze. "I can't do it Jack." I whispered.
He pulled me in for a hug. "Yes you can Willow. If you don't you will be beyond pissed at yourself later, I know you."
I knew he was right, so I followed him down the path the rest of the way to what would be Daddy's grave.
It was just me, Jack, and Miss Evie standing graveside as the preacher said the words of a prayer and asked if anyone wanted to say anything. I stepped up and walked to the side of the coffin. "Goodbye Daddy." I said softly, placing my hand on the surface of the coffin as tears slipped out of my eyes, splashing on the polished wood. "Say hi to Derek for me. I m-miss you guys. So m-much." The tears were flowing freely from my eyes as my voice caught on those last words. I felt Jack's arms come around me and I buried my face in his chest as I shook with the force of the sobs. He and his mom led me away from the graveside as they began lowering the coffin and I looked over my shoulder one last time to see the coffin holding my father's body disappear into the ground.
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When we pulled up to the Mercer house I looked out the window to see Bobby getting out of his car. He turned as he heard his mother's car and stood waiting for us with his hands in his pockets. I climbed out of the backseat and we stood looking at each other for a second. Then Bobby broke the silence. "Hey there small fry, you ok?" he asked quietly.
I bit my lip, not wanting to cry again, and shook my head. "No, not really." I whispered.
He closed the space between us then, wrapping me in a warm hug. "It's gonna be alright Wills." He said as he pulled back to look at me, wiping a tear off of my cheek and placing a kiss on my forehead. "Let's go inside. Jerry and Camille are waiting in there and they have food."
We walked into the house and I was wrapped in yet another hug by Jerry, followed by a hug from Camille. They gave their condolences and then we all migrated to the dining room for food. As everyone ate, I only pushed my food around my plate, maybe taking two bites the entire meal. Everyone was casting worried looks in my direction, but I kept my head down, focusing on making shapes out of the food. I felt a foot nudge my ankle and looked up to look at Jack. He widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows, nodding his head at my plate as he mouthed "eat". I stabbed a green bean with my fork and put it in my mouth, never breaking eye contact. After I chewed and swallowed, I went back to making a horse out of the food on my plate. That was definitely the better use of my time.
After everyone finished eating and I had successfully shaped a small army of farm animals out of my food, we cleaned up and went to sit in the living room. I sat down on the couch and brought my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them as I watched everyone. Jerry and Camille were putting on their jackets and getting ready to leave. They hugged everyone, said their goodbyes to me, and just before they went out the door, I saw Jerry hand Miss Evie a small package with a bow on it. That's probably my birthday present, I thought, I completely missed my birthday.
"Willow, you don't have to open this right now, but Jerry and Camille wanted you to have this for your birthday. All of your things are in your room upstairs. I didn't unpack much so you can put your things where you want them." Miss Evie said softly as she handed me the package.
"I guess I should give you this now too." Bobby said, handing me a package that he had obviously wrapped himself.
I nodded at them, giving them both a faint smile. Jack had run upstairs after saying goodbye to Jerry and Camille so I figured I wasn't getting anything from him.
I stood up and headed upstairs to my room. Once I got there I shut the door behind me and looked at the boxes of my things that had been moved in. It was sad that all of my things could fit into three boxes. I sat on my bed and began to open my gifts. Jerry and Camille had gotten me a beautiful bracelet. It was braided leather, with a silver wolf charm, and a silver clasp. I smiled as I looked at it. I couldn't believe that Jerry had remembered all about how I wanted to work with wolves. Then I opened Bobby's present. It was a picture of all the Mercers and me from last Christmas. We were all standing around Miss Evie; Bobby was smiling and pushing Jack's head to the side, Jerry was laughing at the two of them, Jack was laughing with his arm around me, and I was smiling up at all of them. Bobby had gone through the trouble to cut a picture of Angel out of somewhere and he had taped him in next to all of us with a thought bubble going from his head saying "sorry I had to go off and be a jarhead". I laughed and went to put it on my dresser. After setting it down, something reflecting the light caught my eye. When I looked at it a little closer I saw that it was a picture from my room at my house.
It was a picture of me, my dad, and Derek on the beach, taken a day or two before Derek died. Dad and Derek were holding me up between the two of them and we were all smiling at the camera. My eyes were clouded with tears as I held the frame in my hands. Then, I felt a sudden wave of anger come over me and I threw the frame at the wall and screamed. The glass in the frame broke as it thudded to the floor.
I turned around, tears streaming down my face, as I heard Jack throw the door open. "Willow, are you ok?" When he saw my face he dropped what he had been holding in his hands and rushed over to me, wrapping me tightly in his arms. "Hey, shhhh, it's ok, it's ok." He ran his hand over my hair, smoothing it down, as he whispered in my ear. "It's ok, I've got you. Breathe Wills, breathe."
"Jackie, I can't take it." I said, my voice catching. "I feel like I'm breaking and I can't hold myself together." I looked up at him and felt tears fall out of the corners of my eyes.
Jack cupped my cheek in his hand, brushing the tears away with his thumb. "Hey now, I'm not going to let you break. Okay?"
I nodded my head and through the tears I could see Jack's face get closer to mine and I closed my eyes just before our lips met. The kiss was everything I wanted and everything I needed. My arms went up around Jack's neck and he tightened his grip on my waist. I raised myself up on the tips of my toes and pressed my body closer to his. Jack pulled back a little and I opened my eyes to see him smiling at me. "Hey," I said softly, smiling back at him.
"Hey," he said smiling even bigger. He leaned in and kissed me again lightly. "Do you want to see what I got you now?"
I nodded, moving to sit on my bed as Jack picked up the package he dropped when he walked in. He placed it in my hands as he sat down next to me. I turned the small package over in my hands, trying to figure out what was in it. Jack's foot was tapping out a beat, his anxiousness for me to open the package showing, so I began unwrapping it. Peeling back the paper, I revealed a small gray box and inside that box was a heart shaped locket. It was the most beautiful locket I had ever seen. It was silver with my initials engraved on it. Around the edges of the locket, vines had been engraved, twisting and curling around it. "Jack, it's beautiful." I whispered.
"Open it." He urged, nudging my arm with his elbow.
I did as he asked and inside the locket was a picture of me and Jack. Jack's arm was around me and I was smiling at the camera while Jack was smiling down at me. "I love it Jackie." He helped me put it on and when I turned to face him he kissed me again. I leaned back on the bed, pulling him down next to me. My arms were around his neck and his arms were around my waist as I smiled at him.
Jack brushed my hair out of my face and placed one more kiss on my lips. As he sat up to get off of the bed I grabbed his hand. "Don't go Jack, I don't want to be alone tonight."
He laid back down beside me and placed a kiss on the tip of my nose. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."
I put my head on his chest, taking a deep breath, and closed my eyes. As I fell asleep I could feel Jack's chest vibrating as he hummed a song and rubbed my back until I drifted off.
Ok so I know it got a little sad there, but I hope you guys are happy with how the chapter ended. Now I'm being serious this time when I say I won't have another chapter ready for a few days because I haven't started writing the next one yet. Please let me know what you think of this one!
