Dundun-dundunnnnn dun dun dun-dunnnnn!!!! it's the last actual chapter before the epilogue! (chorus of screams "noooooooo!!!!") lemme just say right now that I'm so happy to be getting this story finished! It's been an experience but alas we all must move on sometime in life. But this story will always be my first full length fanfic so it'll always have a special place in my tiny heart :DDD ok here we go!
Enjoy!
CHAPTER 27
--Jackie--
I fiddled my fingers o top of my duffel bag nervously. It'd been a week since Stanley and Zero had shown up again and Camp Green Lake was officially closed. Today everyone's parents were coming and taking back to wherever their home was. They got off from their sentence with scheduled therapy sessions, and yearly check ups on progress. Other than that we were all home free.
I'd said goodbye to everyone as they'd left. Magnet was the first. Armpit and X-Ray left together, throwing peace signs through the window as they disappeared into the dust. I'd been surprised how hard it'd been to say goodbye to Squid. He'd done so much for me and Zig and never asked either of us for anything. He was a good friend and it took him getting ready to leave for me to realize it.
I sat in the rec room now tapping my foot. Zigzag sat beside me, chewing on his lip. Every other person in the room were from other tents and too busy to notice the two of us. We were the last D-Tenters left in the entire camp. We sat in an uncomfortable silence. The last week had been great even with the impending day getting closer. But now here we were, on said day, and we had nothing to say about it.
Some strings had been pulled and any moment my brother, Daniel, would be driving up and taking me home. He was now my legal guardian and had full custody of me. There's was no doubt about it, I was excited. I'd missed my brother and finally having a stable place to call home and someone to cal family was great…but I'd miss what I'd had here.
True without the Rest of D-Tent it seemed a bit lonely but if they were to all come back I would say we made a pretty great family. I glanced sideways at Zigzag. He was my family. He was my family even more than Caveman and Zero combined. I'd miss him the most when I was all the way in Washington.
I hadn't gotten a chance to talk with Danny since finding out about the adoption, but I doubted I'd be able to talk him into moving to Texas. Part of me wanted to just end it now so that I could start being sad already bu another part of me, a selfish, petty part, wanted to have him all to myself no matter how far apart we were. So we were going to try long distance. We'd spoken about it briefly and decided it was the only option.
Zigzag finally caught on to my staring and turned to me. He looked a little nervouse and very tired. We'd stayed up talking last night. Not about this day of course but about random things. Things that if we'd met under normal circumstances and been a normal couple we'd already know. But who needed normal right? We had Camp Green Lake.
"You ok?" he said, his voice hoarse, and unused. I shrugged, moving closer to him in the process
"We didn't, uh," I coughed, "we didn't really talk about this all that much." He nodded slowly and glanced out the window. I could tell he was trying to make it seem random but he'd been doing it for twenty minutes. Neither of us wanted to leave first.
"Well," he murmured, "we exchanged numbers and addresses. That's really all we can do. Not like we can make plans to meet."
I nodded. "I least not anytime soon." Or ever.
We kept eye contact until a car engine could be heard. The chances that it was the parent of another camper were high but we both whipped our heads around. My heart fluttered but my stomach dropped as I recognized my brother's old as dirt pick up truck. This was it.
"Oh, that's me," I said lowly. Zig slowly as if it pained him. Maybe it did somehow. I stood up and he followed as we walked extra slowly to the open door. No one waved to me or called goodbyes. All my friends were gone and only Zigzag was here.
My brother stepped out of the car and look around frowning. He was a city boy through and through. When he caught sight of me his face burst into a smile that I couldn't help but return. He jogged over and scooped me into a hug. He had always been strong.
"Oh my god, Jackie," he laughed twirling me slightly, "you've gotten so tall and damn pretty too." I blushed as he set me down, his brown hair falling into his face slightly.
I coughed into my fist and stepped to the side. "Z-Ricky this is my brother, Danny. Danny, this is my boyfriend, Ricky." it felt weird calling Zigzag that but Camp Green Lake was over. He wasn't Zigzag anymore and I wasn't Swifty. We were Jacqueline and Ricky. Teenagers at large.
"Nice to meet you, Ricky was it?" Daniel said seriously, shaking Zig's hand. I had to roll my eyes. He remembered Zigzag's name he was just being a condescending older brother type. Glancing over I could tell Zig did not like being called by his real name after all this time.
"Nice to meet you," he said as politely as he could manage. Danny nodded and released his hand before turning back to me. I narrowed my eyes at his behavior but he just grinned.
"Ok I gotta go sign you out and fill out all the paper so just wait for me in the car and soon we'll be on our way home." He smiled his thousand watt smile before jogging over to what used to be Mr. Sir's office. I turned to Zigzag and took a deep breath.
"He seems…nice," he said evenly before turning to me. His eyes looked far away and I wondered what he was thinking of.
"He really is," I agreed nodding. Ok no more stalling, its time. "I…I'm gonna miss you, Zigzag."
His eyes refocused and he looked me dead in the eyes, stepping closer till we were nose to nose. "I'm gonna miss you too, Jackie. I have something I want to give you."
He reached into his jean pocket and pulled something small out. I was still getting used to seeing his in normal clothes. He looked better than good and he was only wearing jeans and a Misfits t-shirt. It was a shame we wouldn't get to spend more time together looking normal.
He pressed whatever the something was, into the palm of my hand. I went to glance down at it but he caught my chin in his free hand. "Don't open it till you're driving away."
My eyes watered but I nodded as best I could. "Ok."
He nodded and bent down till his lips connected with mine. It was the same as always. An electric shock going down my spine. My eyes closed and I raised my free hand to grab a handful of his crazy, wonderful hair. This kiss was different in the way that we pressed tightly against each other and grabbed each others hair almost to the point of pain. Worth it though. We still had our hands pressed together with the tiny gift being held between us. I kept my lips surgically attached to his and sighed into his mouth. I didn't want to leave him here and drive off into the desert. I wanted to stay right here. Kissing him this way forever and then some. But nothing this great lasts forever
I was starting to feel the strain of not breathing on my lungs when Danny honked his car horn. It was time to leave with the chance of never seeing him again. I thought I'd have a panic attack. It was a weird feeling. I was staring into Zigzag's electric blue eyes and could only be happy to even be near him but on the other hand I was about to leave and it was crushing me. It felt odd to have my heart swell and break at the same time.
I pulled Zigzag back to me for one last kiss. It was rough and I think I bruised both our lips but it was worth it. I pulled away panting and stepped back quickly, my eyes starting to leak salt water.
"Bye," I gasped before spinning on my heel and running to the truck. I tossed my bag into the carriage and yanked the passenger door open before my heart could catch up with my head and make me do something stupid. I slammed the door shut after sliding in and locked the door.
When we didn't start speeding off immediately I shot Danny an icy glare. He was looking at me sadly and I knew I probably looked like a mess but I wasn't about to get out of the car and say goodbye again. I motioned forward with my hand and he put the truck in gear. The engine revved and then we jerked forward, away from Camp Green Lake. We were going slow enough that if I didn't keep it together I'd hop out and go back. It was maddening.
I squinted against the sun as I saw another car approaching. It was a faded red color and the top was down. A tall blonde woman was driving with a blonde girl not much older then me talking in the passenger seat. I couldn't see into the back seat but I was sure if I could I would see a little blonde girl who was almost five years old. That was Zigzag's family. We passed them and I sunk down low in my seat, tears falling on my plaid button up shirt. I didn't want to watch the desert slip by outside the window.
Daniel kept a respectful silence as I cried quietly to myself. I went to wipe my nose with my hand when I realized Zigzag's gift was still clutched in my fist. I considered not looking at till we were all the way in Washington but I knew I'd never pull it off. My fingers were white from squeezing it so tightly and my fingers ached as I opened them. I
let out a watery laugh before crying harder as the silver lighter flashed in the sun. the 'Z' carved into the side faced up at me and I closed my fingers around it again.
Daniel glanced away from the nearly non-existent road to look at me. I'd sunk down lower in my chair now. Life is so unfair, why cant I have two great things? Daniel as my guardian and Zigzag.
"Aw, come on, Jackie," Daniel said, reaching out to pat my arm, "don't cry like that, kido, please."
"I cant help it," I cried, sniffling pathetically.
"It's not like you're never going to see Ricky again," he said, albeit a tad regretfully. I scoffed/sniffed and rolled my pink eyes.
"Daniel, where are we supposed to get the kind of money to fly back and forth between Washington and Texas? I mean I'm sure it wasn't cheap to come down here to get me and-"
"Wait, wait woah," Daniel said, slowing the car to a stop. He undid his seat belt and turned to talk to me like back when I was fourteen. "Jacqueline, the courts wouldn't have let me take custody of you if you were in a different state. I moved here to Texas months ago to even be taken into consideration as your guardian."
This was one of those things that could be described as being hit with a pile of bricks. My face was frozen in the well known 'o' of surprise and I couldn't get my brain to get out of a funk long enough to comprehend what he was saying.
"W-what?" I uttered.
"We live here in Texas now," he said slowly, a smile creeping onto his face. My eyes twitched and then I threw myself at him. I hadn't put my seatbelt on so there was nothing stopping myself from smothering my brother in a sloppy hug and hundreds of clumsy kissed on his face. I thanked him profusely before opening my door and hopping out.
"You're the best brother ever!" I shouted as I took off at a sprint. The camp was still in sight and totally within my running distance. I evened out my breathing and got into track mode. I could see Zigzag from where I was and I zeroed in on him, running to him like my life depended on it.
:::
"Jeez is he always like this?" I asked the shorter guy with a toothpick hanging out of his mouth. He was walking off to my right holding my bag.
"Zigzag's crazy, girly," he said laughing, "I wouldn't mess with him if I were you."
:::
I stared at his face the longest. He had a long straight nose and a slender face. When it came right down to it, Zigzag was attractive in many ways.
:::
He reached over slowly and grabbed it. Glancing between it and me for a second, he pressed the tank top to his nose. "See," I said smugly, "now you wont get some hideous disease and I bet I smell a lot better then that old rag." He rolled his eyes, but didn't protest.
:::
He stared at my lips before making eye contact again. I must have looked like a deer caught in the headlight because he smirked before leaning into me. The kiss was like an electric bolt right down my spine.
:::
He met my eyes and I was mesmerized by the sharpness of them. Ice blue pools surrounded by white. He smiled slightly and shrugged. I smiled too. It was hard since I still felt worthless and exposed, but I was happy that he'd shown up.
:::
Our lips finally met and I sighed as, just like the first time, an electric shock went through me making me jump. Luckily Zigzag was pinning me down so I didn't throw him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. I'd missed kissing him most of all.
:::
I smiled up at him shyly and shrugged. "I'm always happy when I'm with you." His eyes flashed in the way I loved and he caught my lips and a steamy kiss.
:::
All the memories of me and Zig were blurring in my head and before I knew it, I was only a few yards from him. He was throwing his bag into the back of his car and hadn't noticed me yet. I picked up the pace and willed my feet to fly.
"Zigzag!" I yelled when he was in hearing distance. His head snapped around and he took a step back in surprise. He opened his arms and got ready to stop my insane sprint.
I plowed right into at full force, not having slowed at all and sent us both crashing to the hard ground. His arm wrapped around me as I pulled his neck into a death grip. Dust kicked up around us, stinging my eyes but I didn't care. Keeping me still with one arm, he pushed us into a sitting position with the other and looked at me like I was crazy.
"Jackie what're you-"
"I just wanted to say thanks for the lighter and that I'm not going to Washington," I said in a rush, pushing my hair away from my face. He looked beyond confused, but I couldn't help but notice that he'd pulled me full onto his lap now. Old habits die hard.
"But, Jackie, you cant live here alone and-"
I shut my eyes and started waving him off impatiently. I knew I was doing a terrible job of explaining this, but excitement could make people a bit frazzled. "No, no, no! I mean Daniel moved here! To Texas! I'm going to live here with him now!"
We lapsed into an electrified silence. I gave him time to fully grasp what I was saying and felt like a thousand pounds had lifted off my shoulders when his face split into a genuine smile. Reaching out he grabbed the back of my head and pulled me into a kiss. I wasn't expecting it and my teeth actually scraped against his. It was even more intense then the one I'd given him and I was sure my neck and lips would show the evidence of his presence.
He pulled away suddenly, still holding me by the neck. Our faces were so close that our noses touched. "That was for trying to leave so quick," he said gruffly. I nodded in a sort of haze. My head was spinning.
When we finally broke apart my eyes fluttered and I glanced behind him to see his mother and two sisters watching us with shocked faces. I blushed and touched my hair in an attempt to smooth it down. Zigzag raised an eyebrow at me before glancing over his shoulder. His face turned a cute pink color as he chuckled nervously and waved at his family. I repeated the gesture and his mother strained a smile.
"Ricky, would you like to introduce us to your…friend?" I hoped this first impression wouldn't set her against me. After all I was planning to be around for a long time.
Last real chapter! Oh why?! -sobs loudly- it's so sad that this has to end but I'm glad you all liked it so much! Only one flamer the entire time I was writing it! Amazing! Review!
Thanks for reading!
~monie
