Chapter Fifty-Four

John twirled the pasta around his fork, shoving the food into his mouth. "So, what're we doing tomorrow?" He asked, looking out the window at the setting sun.

Jan shrugged, noticing something on Claire's neck. "Is that a hickey?" She asked, brushing Claire's hair away from the mark.

"No." Claire rushed to cover the bruise, her face turning bright pink.

Clarissa stood, looking at the mark. "Johnathan Kurtis Bender." She turned to the boy, noticing that he was hiding behind his hand as he shoveled food into his mouth. "Johnathan. Look at me."

John shook his head, stuffing his mouth with a piece of garlic bread. "Johnathan is gone, I am only a ghost left from him dying of fear."

Amelia laughed, poking his side. "You're not a ghost. You're a knight."

John raised his brows trying to send the message for her to shut up. "No I'm a ghost. Ghost's don't get in trouble."

"Johnathan! Look at me!" Clarissa ordered, her tone sending the kid bolting from his chair and outside. "John! Come back here!"

"No! You're gonna kill me!"

Clarissa shook her head, listening as a loud splash echoed from the pool. She sighed, knowing that he'd most likely fallen in since he wasn't the biggest fan of swimming. "Dominic Alejandro, go rescue your cousin."

He shook his head, remembering the last time he'd had to rescue John from water. "Uh uh. Too many bad memories." He shuddered at the memory of John's limp body when he'd risked his last overdose.

Kaylie stood, knowing that she was the strongest swimmer out of all of them. "I'll get him." She walked out the backdoor, looking at the soaked shivering Bender on the edge of the pool. "He's fine."

Clarissa marched out of the house, Thomas close on her heals. "John, front and center." She pointed to the deck at her feet, taking a towel from Claire to wrap the chilled kid in when he got to them.

He pushed himself up, wrapping his drenched hoodie closer around himself as an attempt to stay warm in the coastal wind. "I'm sorry Mom…" He let her drape the towel around his shoulders, shying away from Thomas as they walked inside. "I just really love her."

Clarissa shook her head, sitting him on a sofa in the back sitting room to dry off by the fireplace. "Johnathan, we're not going to hurt you, but wait until the wedding night to give her hickeys." She rubbed another towel over his hair, drying it off and causing it to stick up in all directions. "Honestly, didn't anyone ever tell you not to run around the pool?"

John shivered again, pressing closer to Clarissa for warmth. "No."

Thomas sat beside them, patting John on the back and trying to rub some warmth back into him. "If you had more fat on you, you wouldn't be so cold right now."

John looked up at him, wrinkling his nose. "I'm trying to get some fat on me."

Ryan handed John an electric blanket, plugging it into the wall. "If you would stop lifting those damn weights, you could put it on faster."

Claire nodded, taking his hands in hers and blowing on them to warm them up. "I think you'd look better with a little fat on you."

John leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her lips. "And here I thought all girls liked muscles and no fat."

She rolled her eyes, tapping his nose with her finger. "I'm gonna get you some tea." She smiled, standing to go boil some water.

John started to smile, but was cut off by a sneeze. "Shit." He sniffled, taking a tissue from Thomas and blowing his nose. "I better not be getting sick."

Ryan nodded, agreeing with the kid. "If you do, we'll have to postpone your surgery."

John looked up, hope shining in his eyes. "In that case, I hope I do get sick."

Clarissa shook her head, knowing that John was nervous about the operation. "John, you will be fine. I'll even stay at the hospital with you while you're there." She kissed his head, another idea popping into her head. "We can even bring your favorite blanket and pillow. The one's that smell like Claire."

He nodded, taking the warm cup of tea from Claire as she handed it to him. "Okay…" He looked at Dominic, a thought popping into his head. "Just in case something happens, I guess you should know that me and Dom are the same blood type."

Dominic nodded, remembering the time they'd found all their records and used them to get their fake IDs. "AB positive."

Ryan looked up at the boys, shock on his face. "You know that's the rarest blood type, right?"

The boys shrugged. "No."

"Have you ever thought about donating?"

John shook his head, sipping on the tea. "After years of bleeding, we found out it's usually a good idea to keep your blood inside your body."

Clarissa nodded, smiling as John's shivering stopped. "Let's go finish dinner." She patted John's back, starting back to the dining room to finish eating with the rest of the family. "And if I catch one more hickey on Claire, I am taking your guitar away for a month."

John nodded, settling into his chair. "Yes Mom." He sighed, picking up his fork.