The Fighters Chapter 28
Three months later
She gets woken up by her dad banging on her bedroom telling her to wake up, and that he's got a surprise for her. She doesn't rush to get up though, and he eventually leaves her be. After about 15 minutes she slowly gets up, and out of her bed, gets dressed, and brushing her hair, before heading down stairs. She walks straight to the kitchen, and gets herself a cup of coffee, then turning to look at her father sitting at the kitchen table.
"Ok so what did you wake me up for?" She asks
"I'm guessing you didn't look in the driveway."
"No why would-" She begins to ask, but then it clicks, and she practically throws her mug in the sink before running outside
"Are you serious?" She screams as she takes in the small black four door car sitting in their driveway next to her dad's truck. He comes walking out, with keys in his hand, and chuckles at her squeals of excitement. It was her sixteenth birthday two days ago, and she passed her driving test yesterday, but he's had this car parked in Olinsky's driveway for a few weeks, and went to pick it up this morning, before he had to head to work.
"Do you like it?" He asks
"Are you kidding? I love it. Thank You so much dad." She says giving him a hug, as she does Mrs. Halstead comes out of her house, and yells a congratulations to her, before getting in her own car, and driving off. When she glances at the Halstead she sees someone standing at the front window, and it doesn't take long for her to see who it is. It's her brother, and he just gives her a sad smile before walking away.
"Wait did you get a car for Justin too?" She turns; asking her dad, but she already knows he didn't. She didn't want to seem ungrateful but her brother deserves a car, more than she does she thinks.
"No, now why don't you take it for a spin, I got to go finish getting ready for work."
"Dad why wouldn't you get him a car too? he's your kid too, and it was his birthday too, he's a star athlete, has a 3.8 GPA, and passed his driving test just like me, he actually deserves one more than me."
"You know why I didn't, and if even you didn't know, I wouldn't have to explain myself to you."
"Well if that's why than here you go." She says handing the keys back "I appreciate it dad, I do but if Justin doesn't get one than I don't want it."
"Erin don't be ridiculous, take the car." He says sternly
"No."
"Fine, then I guess neither of you get a car."
"Fine." She says as she walks off towards the Halstead house.
XXXXXX
Erin's POV
I knock on the front door, before opening it and walking in.
"Hello? Jay? Justin?" I say into the hall
"We're in here." Justin answers from the kitchen.
"Hey Justin." I say to him as he's the first one I see. Then Jay is wrapping his arms around me from behind.
"Hey babe." He says into my ear before placing a kiss to my temple.
"Good morning."
"Justin just told me you got a car." He says as I turn in his arms to give a kiss.
"Yeah I did, but I gave it right back to him."
"What why?" They yell at the same time
"Because you deserve a car too, actually you deserve a car way more than me, I even said that to him, and he still wouldn't budge." I say as Jay gives me a kiss on the head before going back to getting himself something to eat before he goes to work.
"Erin you shouldn't have done that."
"It's not right Justin."
"I didn't say it was sis, but you should have kept the car, I plan on going to apply for jobs today, and then I'll just save up for my own car."
"I can do that too."
"Babe you should listen to your brother." Jay says from the behind me, just as he finishes off his bowl of cereal, and I send him a glare, but he ignores it, and pecks my lips. He had just started working at the Racing Rapids Snack Bar right around when school let out for the summer. It was so cute how nervous he was starting his first job, but after the first few days, and getting into the groove of things he relaxed. I also told him, or I guess you could say showed him how hot I found him in the black collared shirt, red shorts, the black and red visor that made up the uniform.
"Well we should probably head out if you still need a ride to Ollie's Justin?" He asks looking at my brother
"Yeah." Justin answers standing up, and putting his phone in his pocket
"I'll see you later sis, and take the damn car." He adds before walking to the front door, and yells that he'll be in the car to Jay.
"I'll see you tonight, right?" He asks
"Yeah." I say as I bend down to pet Leo, whose anxiously rubbing against me this whole time.
"You're such a trader Leo." He says causing me to laugh
"No he's not, he's always loved me more, he'd be a trader if he randomly started liking you more." I tease "Plus I've been the one giving him his walks." I answer; standing up straight, before giving him another kiss.
"I've been a little busy." He says against my lips
"I know, I was just messing with Jay. But you should go otherwise you're going to be late."
"Yeah I do need to go, see you later babe."
"Bye." I say as he gives me another quick peck, and then leaves. After I hear the door close, I tell Leo to get his leash, which he does, and he comes back and drops it at my feet. I pat his head and tell him he's a good boy. I pick up the leash, and attach it to his collar before we leave to go for a walk, like we have every morning for the last month. We're gone for about an hour, before we make it back to the house. I take him to my house, like most days so he's not on his own for too long, while I to do my chores around the house. Once I'm done with my chores, I take a shower, and then grab my laptop, and lay on my bed with Leo at my side. I look up places that are hiring, and even fill out a few applications. At some point, I fall asleep, and get woken up by my phone ringing.
XXXXXX
Jay's POV
Once I clock out for the day, I pull out my phone to call Erin, as I walk to my car. It takes a couple rings for her to pick up, and I can tell she was sleeping when she mumbles
"Hello?"
"Hey Er, sorry for waking you."
"It's ok, I probably shouldn't have slept as long as I did anyways. What's up?"
"I just got off, and I'm going to go pick up your brother, but I was wondering if you'd want to come over and watch movies or whatever, cause I'm really tired, but if want to do something else, like go out to eat or go see a movie something we can do-" I ramble, but she chuckles and cuts me off.
"Did I ever tell you how cute you are when ramble?" She teases before saying "I know how tired you are, so staying in and watching movies sounds good to me."
"Cool, I'll be home in like twenty minutes."
"Ok see you then."
"Ok." I say before we hang up
XXXXXX
Erin's POV
After hanging up with Jay, I put my phone on the nightstand by my bed, and properly shut down my laptop. Then I change into some cropped yoga pants, and a tank top before leaving my room with Leo following close behind me. When I get downstairs I notice my dad standing in the driveway with Al, and they're talking over a silver car that looks very similar to one that's supposed to be mine. I put Leo's leash on before walking out the front door, heading over to the Halstead's.
"Hey there's the birthday girl." Al says "Happy belated Birthday kid."
"Thanks Al." I say shyly
"Erin I thought about what you said, and you're right he does deserve a car too, and I'd like you to have a means of transportation, other than Jay. Now we have to go back to work, so here's your keys, and here's your brother's, tell him I said Happy Birthday."
He says
"Thank You dad, but I think maybe you should tell him that yourself." I say gesturing towards Jay's car driving down the block.
"No, I'm good, see you tonight kid." He says before getting in the passenger side of Al's car; they drive off just as Jay is parking the car in their driveway, and I sigh, before walking over to the guys.
"Hey sis." Justin says all cheerfully as he gets out of the car "How was your day?" He contiues as I look at Jay, and I can tell something is off with him, he just gives me a little smirk, but it disappears quickly.
"Uh it was good, how was job hunting?" I answer my brother, deciding I'll talk to Jay in a minute
"Good, was that dad and Al that just left?"
"Yeah, dad said Happy Birthday." I say tossing the keys to his car over to him. "They had to get back to work."
"Are you serious?"
"The silver one is yours." I say, and he comes and gives me a hug, and Jay just takes Leo's leash, and heads inside
"Thank You."
"Don't thank me, I didn't buy you the car."
"Yeah, but you were willing to give up yours, and stood up for me, so thank you."
"I'll always stick up for you Justin." I say, hugging him. He backs away, and I look in the direction that Jay just walked in.
"He wouldn't say what was going on to me, you should go talk to him, I'm going to go show Ollie my car for a little bit." He says before walking over to his car, and he practically squeals as he gets a closer look at the car. I chuckle softly, walking up the stairs, and into the house. I don't find him downstairs, so I go upstairs, and then I hear the shower going, I knock on the door first, before going in; knowing we're the only ones in the house. I take off my clothes before joining him. He turns around, and gives me another sad smirk. I walk closer to him, and he wraps his arms around my waist, and leans his head on my shoulder. I place one of my hands on the back of his head, and the other is on his back, as I place gentle kisses to the side of his face.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I whisper into his ear
"It's nothing."
"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it Jay, but it's definitely not nothing." I say to him, and he nods against my shoulder
"You're going to think it's stupid."
"No I won't Jay." I reply, and then there's a few moments of silence before he sighs, and then starts to talk
"At work today there was this little boy, he was probably about seven or eight, and he was there with his grandpa, he let the kid have whatever he wanted, and they looked like they were having a blast and it just made me think about my grandpa, and how much I loved hanging out with him, how much I miss him and then I thought about how my dad will never be that to our kids." He says sadly, and my breath hitches at his words, and I think of what to say.
"See I told you it was nothing, I shouldn't have said anything, it's stupid." He says, when I don't respond right away, and he unwraps his arms from me, and steps back, but take a step towards him, and put one hand on his cheek, and the other rest on his chest.
"It's not stupid Jay, I know how much you miss your grandpa, he'll always be with you, he'll always be a part of you, you're always going to have those memories, and years from now, and I mean years from now, you'll be able to take our kids to your grandpa's cabin, and tell them all about him, and what he taught you. And as far as our kids not having something like that with your dad, they're going to have your mom. And she is one of the most amazing, and caring people I have ever met Jay, and she is going to be that grandma that spoils her grandbabies rotten, and she has enough love in her heart to fill in for multiple people."
I say, not sure if any of that made sense, but I hope made him feel a little better at least, but as I'm thinking about that, he kisses my neck, and then my cheek, before standing up straight, his arms take their precious position around my waist.
"Thanks Er." He says before giving me a kiss, I kiss his chest, before backing away, and letting him clean off from work, and then we get out, and get dressed again before we head downstairs to watch some movies. As we're cuddled up on the couch, and the credits roll through on screen I look up at him, and he turns to look down at me. His eyebrows knitting together as he asks
"What?"
"After watching that movie I was just thinking about how we're not having kids for like twenty years." I say, which causes him to laugh, and his chest rumbles, as I lay my head back down on him, and the next movie starts.
XXXXXX
A/N: Another filler chapter, but I hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless. Sorry for any and all mistakes. Please Review. Thanks
