CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
Four Months Later.
Randy had chosen to fly home early, in the end of May, instead of the middle of June, so that he could be home for Jessica's birthday. He wasn't really sure what was going on between himself and his best friend. Things had been weird when he'd come home for Christmas and he'd been thinking about her as maybe more than a friend, but being in Costa Rica, he'd thought some more, and decided he had no idea how he felt about Jess.
She hadn't said anything about it since that day in the hospital. They'd called each other frequently, and wrote, but Jess never mentioned what had been happening between them.
Brad picked up him at the airport, grinning, "Hey, man."
"Hey, how's it going?" Randy asked, hugging his brother.
"I'm pretty good, how are you?" Brad asked.
"I'm all right," Randy nodded, "You didn't tell Jess I was coming, did you?"
Brad shook his head, "No way, man, I'm as excited to see the expression on her face as you are."
Randy chuckled, and said, "How did you explain where you were going?"
"Jen's distracting her with a shopping trip while everyone else sets up for her party, and I pick you up," Brad responded.
"Ah, and how is dear Jenny?" Randy smirked slightly at his brother.
"She's good," Brad nodded.
"Are you two still… whatever it is the two of you are?" Randy raised his eyebrows expectantly.
Brad rolled his blue eyes, "For your information, Jenny and I have been official for three months now."
"Congratulations," Randy smiled.
"Thanks," Brad smiled also, and then said, "So, you and Jess are…?"
"Best friends," Randy supplied.
"So, you two haven't really had a serious conversation since you went back to Costa Rica, huh?" Brad glanced at him.
"What do you mean?" Randy asked.
Brad grinned slightly, before saying, "The day we went back to school from Christmas break, Jess gave Milo back the bracelet he gave her for Christmas."
"Really?" Randy looked surprised.
Brad nodded, "Yeah. He didn't look too happy about it either."
"Did she say why she was giving it back?" Randy asked casually.
"Well, she might have," Brad nodded, "I don't know what it was though, I was trying to get over the fact that Milo looked as though he was going to cry." He paused, "So, are you going to talk to her?"
"Well, I imagine, seeing as she is my best friend, and it is her birthday." Randy avoided what his brother was implying.
"Randy," Brad looked at him seriously.
"I don't know, Brad, I don't know what to say to her about that." Randy sighed.
"Well, "Hey, Jess, I need to talk to you about something serious" is a start," Brad offered, "Don't you think? And I mean, falling all over yourself and not making any sense at first is better than saying nothing at all, right?"
Randy thought over what his brother had said, and realized that Brad was right. Falling all over himself would be better than saying nothing at all.
"I don't understand why we have to go shopping, Jen," Jess sighed, as Jenny dragged her through the mall. "Why couldn't I have just stayed home like I wanted to?"
"Because it's your sixteenth birthday, Jessica!" Jenny exclaimed, "I won't let you sit at home and mope around because Randy isn't here."
"I'm not moping," Jess stated.
"But you're not happy," Jenny pointed out.
Jess wasn't going to disagree with that. She wasn't happy. She wanted Randy to be home more than anything, not just because it was her birthday, but because she missed him.
"You're right," Jess nodded, "I'm not happy,"
"Which is why I don't want you to be home by yourself," Jenny said, "So, we're out shopping. I'm not asking you to be happy, I'm just asking you to try and have a good time, okay?"
"Okay," Jess sighed, and forced a smile, "Let's try and have a good time, then."
To say that Jess was surprised when Jenny dragged her through the front door of the Taylor house, would be putting it lightly. Randy was standing near the back, so that she wouldn't see him right away, and he could've sworn he'd actually seen her fall back a little when her entire family, Randy's entire family, and several of their friends from school popped up and yelled "SURPRISE!".
Jess looked even prettier than he remembered her being. She was wearing a pretty white sundress, and her long hair was hanging in curls again. He didn't fail to notice the star necklace still hung around her neck. She was smiling at everybody, but Randy noted that something about her was off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he just knew, something was wrong.
After ten minutes of casually hiding in the corner, Randy spotted Jess talking to Brad and Jenny, with her back turned to him.
Randy clamped his hands over her eyes, and whispered, "Guess who?"
Jess turned around so fast, Randy was amazed she didn't get whiplash. When she saw him, a smile broke onto her face, and she breathed, "Randy," Before throwing her arms around him.
Randy hugged her tightly, "Happy birthday, Jess."
"What are you doing here?!" Jess' face was buried in Randy's shoulder and her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Well, I couldn't miss my best friend's birthday, could I?" Randy smiled into her hair.
"I thought you were staying in Costa Rica until the middle of June though!" Jess didn't completely release him, but she loosened her grip long enough to look at him.
"Well, I was, but the opportunity presented itself for me to come home early," Randy explained, "I had to take it."
"I'm so happy you did!" Jess hugged him again, "I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too," Randy said softly, "But I'm back for good now, there's no getting rid of me."
"I wouldn't want to get rid of you, that would be stupid." Jess informed him.
"Good to know," Randy smiled slightly, and the two released one another.
After chatting amicably for a few minutes, Jenny and Brad dragged Jess off to get her to open their present, and Randy wandered aimlessly, until he found his other neighbor, Wilson, sitting down on the couch. Randy walked up to him, "Is this seat taken?"
"Hi-de-ho, Taylor lad!" Wilson greeted, "Welcome back from Costa Rica! Take a seat!"
Randy sat down next to Wilson, and Wilson said, "How was your time down South?"
"It was good, I learned a lot," Randy nodded, "How have things been at home?"
"Same as always, same as always," Wilson nodded.
"So, um, Wilson, you remember how we had that talk about Jess before I left for Costa Rica?"
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm," Wilson nodded.
"Yeah, well, I've thought about it a lot since I left," Randy nodded slowly, and glanced across the room at Jessica, who was laughing at something Mark had said to her. "I think I'm in love with her."
"Well!" This seemed to please Wilson immensely, "I have to say it's about time that you admitted that to yourself, Randy!"
"How do you mean?" Randy was a little confused.
"Well, I hate to embarrass you, Randy, but your mother, Veronica and I have had a little bit of a poll going, seeing how long it was going to take for the two of you to realize that you have chemistry."
"Huh, nice to know," Randy remarked, shaking his head.
"So, I assume you're going to tell Jessica," Wilson said, looking at Randy expectantly.
"I don't know, Wilson," Randy sighed, "What if it ruins our friendship forever?"
"Well, Randy, I'm reminded of something a wise lady once told me," Wilson responded, "She told me "Wilson, sometimes the best romances are formed from best friendships"," He looked at Randy, "I tend to agree with her."
Randy nodded slowly, "How should I tell her?"
Wilson looked thoughtful, before saying, "I think the straightforward approach is the best idea, don't you?"
Randy watched Jess walking out the back door, to the patio, and then looked at Wilson, "Yeah, I think you're right. Thanks, Wilson."
Jess was sitting on the steps of the porch, staring up at the stars when Randy came out the back door.
"Hey," He greeted her, smiling faintly.
"Hey," Jess smiled, "What are you doing out here?"
"Looking for you, birthday girl." Randy grinned, "Mind if I sit here?"
"Yes, Randy, I do mind, that you, my best friend for the past thirteen years, want to sit next to me on my birthday, even though you've been gone for four months and I've missed you to the point of insanity," Jess rolled her eyes, "You can sit here."
Randy sat next to her, and they were both silent for a few moments, until Randy said, "Hey, look at that," He pointed to the walkway, and smiled slightly.
Jess looked down and found him looking at the handprints pressed into the cement, and she grinned, "I remember that." She let out a small sigh, "God, that seems like a lifetime ago."
"Eleven years ago is a long time," Randy agreed.
"I mean, everything was so different then." Jess twisted one of her curls, "I didn't see everything that was going on with my parents, I didn't think my dad would leave, I never thought Jack would try to kill himself, I didn't think my dad would die before he was 50, I never thought that you'd leave for seven months," She shook her head, "It's just a lot of things changed since then."
"That's life, Jess," Randy said, looking at her, and taking her hand, "We win some, we lose some, right?"
Jess nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right." She shook her head again, "I just never thought things were going to change this much."
"Well, I'm sure one day, when we're old and gray, we'll look back on all this and it might make sense." Randy said, nodding slowly.
"Yeah, maybe." Jess toyed with her star necklace.
"You're still wearing that thing?" Randy asked, grinning at her.
"Mm-hmm," Jess nodded, and glanced down at it, before looking back at him, "It makes me think of you." The two locked eyes before Jess looked down at her flip-flops, returned to toying with her necklace.
"Jessica," Randy broke the silence, and took a deep breath, "There's so much I want to say to you, but I don't know how to say a lot of it."
Jess looked at him, and then squeezed his hand, "Take your time, Randy, we have a lot of it." And then she looked back at her feet.
"Jess, you see, the thing is," He took another deep breath, "I love you."
Stunned, Jess stared at him for a few moments, before saying, "What did you just say?"
"I love you, Jessica," Randy's voice was weak, "And I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I just… I have to tell you, because I feel like if I don't… we could be missing out on something really amazing and extraordinary." He paused, and then said it again, "I love you."
"Randy," Jess was blinking rapidly, "What about Lauren?"
"Lauren?" Randy repeated. It took him a few moments to even place who Lauren was, "Lauren Weiss? What about her?"
"Aren't you, you know… dating her, or something?" Jess looked down at her feet.
Randy shook his head, "No way. That wouldn't be fair."
"How so?" Jess looked confused.
"Because, Jess," Randy hesitated, and then said, "Lauren isn't you. And, for me, Jessica? It's always been you."
Jess was crying, and Randy worried he'd done something to upset her, when she said, "Oh, God, Randy… I love you too."
Randy felt as though his heart could burst, he felt so happy, "Really?"
Jess nodded, "Really."
Randy wrapped her in a hug, and hugged her as though he was never going to let her go.
"You know," Jess' voice was muffled in Randy's shoulder, "Just because you said I love you, it doesn't exempt you from giving me a birthday present."
Randy started laughing, and Jess loosened her grip on him enough to look up at him, "I'm serious."
"Believe me, I know," He leaned his head down and kissed her softly, "I love you, Jessica James."
When they broke apart, Jess' eyes were closed, as though she was saving a memory, and she said, "I like how that sounds."
"That's good," Randy nodded, "Because I'm going to be saying it for a long, long time."
"I like the sound of that too," Jess smiled, and kissed him again, before saying, "Because I love you too.
THE END.
**
Aww :) I loved writing this chapter, it just made me feel happy inside :) SO, this is the end of the first story. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed and read, a special thank you to Randy Taylor, Baxxie, Home Improvement Lover who have been reading this from the very beginning, and to everyone else, still a big huge thank you! Now, as for the sequel, I'm not sure what I want to do, so if you have ideas, be sure to tell me! I'll post an author's note on this story once I figure everything out, so that everyone can know the title and such :) Thank you guys, again, and please be sure to review, and keep your eyes peeled for the sequel! :)
xx,
Cate