Here's a new update :D Hope you like it!
December
Kendall and Mercedes' relationship lasted for a little over a month. The day they broke up was a disaster.
"You're breaking up with me?" I heard a shrill voice shriek down the hallway. I started walking toward the commotion and then I wished I hadn't because it was Kendall and Mercedes.
"Yeah," he said coolly.
"You can't break up with me!"
"I think I just did," he said. I had gone to walk away, but I walked right into someone and fell back on my butt. Kendall went to go help me up, and that set Mercedes off.
"It's because of her, isn't it?" she yelled and everyone went quiet. I turned bright red and tried to walk away, but everyone was crowding around us and I started to feel extremely claustrophobic. "It's her fault! She's been out to sabotage our relationship since the beginning!"
"Don't talk about her like that," Kendall yelled and I had never seen him so angry, except for when I told him about Jett.
"I haven't been trying to ruin your relationship. If I were, you would know. Kendall has been trying to make it work by picking you up all the time, spending all his time with you. He's allowed to have friends, you know," I said, defending myself.
"It was always more than friends for you two," she said coldly.
"We've lived next door to each other for the past seven years, we're going to be close. I don't see the problem," I said.
"She's not why I'm breaking up with you Mercedes, so don't pin it on her. You're a self-absorbed bitch and I'm tired of listening to you. Plain and simple," Kendall told her, and with that he walked away.
That was the beginning of the month, and it was now a week before Christmas break, and the school was decorated for the holidays. Everyone was excited and in the holiday spirit – everyone except me. I haven't really spoken to Kendall since he broke up with Mercedes, which was killing me since I wasn't sure what was wrong. I was heading to my Italian class, which I had with everyone, and I saw Kendall.
"Hey," I said to him and he turned to see who it was.
"Oh, hey Jo," he said. Had I not been in such shock that not only did he say 'hey', but he said my name and that that was the most conversation we've had in days, I probably would have noticed the entire class snickering and giggling as Kendall and I walked through the door together.
"What's so funny?" I said, but trailed off when my friends pointed to the ceiling. I looked up and saw the mistletoe just hanging there, and I looked at Kendall who was also staring at the evil plant.
"Seriously?" I said and looked at everyone, completely annoyed.
Had things been different between me and Kendall at the moment, we'd probably make a joke out of it, blew kisses at each other, pretended to almost make out then walk away, but of course things weren't like that anymore. Now, I had no idea what to do in this situation.
"Kiss! Kiss!" the class began to chant and I started to get nervous and I felt myself blush. I looked everywhere but at Kendall.
"They're not gonna shut up," I heard Kendall say before I felt him place his hand on my cheek and he brought his lips onto mine.
I froze initially, since this was the last thing I expected, but then began to kiss him back. I placed my hands on his waist and grabbed his t-shirt. I felt like I was lost in my own world, all I could think about was the fact that Kendall was kissing me and how I never wanted it to end. That's when it hit me – I have feelings for my best friend.
What brought me back to reality were the catcalls and whistling from my classmates. I pulled away quickly and looked at Kendall with wide eyes before I walked out of the classroom. I couldn't believe that happened. Since when do I have feelings for Kendall? It was never like that between us, even when we dated, it never felt like that when we kissed.
I was pacing back and forth in the hallway when someone came up behind me and yanked on my hair.
"What the hell?" I turned around and was face-to-face with Mercedes. Crap.
"What do you think you were just doing?"
"Walking?"
"You kissed my boyfriend!" she screamed, causing some teachers to close their doors and the few students in the hallways to stop and stare.
"Ex-boyfriend, and he kissed me. If you're going to have a bitch fit on anyone, it should be him."
"I knew there was something going on between the two of you. He was never as happy with me as he would be with you, and don't get me started on his mother or sister."
"Don't you dare say a word about them," I said, finally losing my temper. "They have been more than you would ever experience, you spoiled brat. Mrs. Knight is one of the best people I know and Katie is like the little sister I never had. You have some balls trying to talk down about them while you have absolutely no idea what it's like to lose a father and a husband and have to deal with that and raise a family on your own."
"Well," she went to defend herself, but I cut her off.
"No, don't speak. You are a cold-hearted bitch who cares about no one but herself and money. The only reason you're interested in Kendall is because he's popular and good-looking. I highly doubt you know what kind of person he is on the inside, because if you did, you wouldn't have even brought up his mom and sister. Those are the two most important people in his life."
"His girlfriend should be the most important person in his life. Clearly I came last to everyone, including you," she remarked.
"Good, that means he has his priorities straightened out. You're a flake, Mercedes. People don't like you for who you are, they like you for your money. That's not something to be proud of."
"At least people like me for something," she said – a lame comeback.
"People like her," Camille said as she came to my side. I was so consumed in telling Mercedes off I didn't notice the crowd of people that surrounded us. "By her defending her best friend like that, I bet everyone here just gained so much more respect for her and lost whatever respect they had for you."
"You're lucky you never said that around me," Kendall said, glaring at his ex-girlfriend.
"But, Kendall," Mercedes whimpered but he wouldn't hear any of it.
"No," he shook his head before walking away.
The crowd dispersed once Mercedes ran out of the hallway and into the parking lot to her car. I tried to find Kendall, but when I did he wouldn't look at me.
The past week went by in a blur between last minute Christmas shopping and wrapping presents, and it was finally Christmas Eve. Kendall and I haven't spoken since we kissed and I told off Mercedes, and the tension has been so thick that we know something's bound to set us off into an argument. Everyone's been on edge with us because they don't know when we're going to blow up at each other.
I walked into my kitchen where my parents were cooking and my friends were helping decorate the tree. It was tradition for my family to have Christmas Eve dinner with everyone and Christmas Day was celebrated at the Knight's.
"Hey guys, what can I help with?" I said as I walked over to my friends.
"Look who decided to come downstairs," Kendall said, but I ignored him. Camille smiled at me and handed me an ornament that Kendall had given to me freshman year. He had to make Christmas ornaments in art and because his mom told him not to make anything for her again since his last "masterpiece" from school blew up because he decided to get creative and use electrical wires.
"Go talk to him," she said to me as I took it from her.
"It's pointless," I sighed. I walked over to the tree and hung the ornament on a branch. Kendall had stopped what he was doing and looked at the ornament before looking at me and walking away.
"It's going to be an interesting holiday," Camille said. I walked into my kitchen and sat on the stool by the island. My parents shared a look and gave me a smile before leaving me alone. Logan sat down in the stool next to me.
"He's confused, that's all," he said and I looked at him.
"Confused about what? Why can't he talk to me about it, he's supposed to be my best friend."
"I think it's something he doesn't know how to come to you about. I'm just going to leave it at that. He wouldn't want me telling you, and you wouldn't want me telling you either."
"How do you know what I want you to tell me?"
"Because I'm a genius, now come here," he said and opened his arms to give me a hug.
"Can you two at least try to hide it from me," Camille said and smiled at us.
"Sorry, I just want your boyfriend so badly," I said and grabbed him.
"We'll try to be more low-key about it," Logan joked.
"That's all I ask. Now come on, your parents said dinner was ready."
Dinner was going good until I asked Kendall to pass the gravy, that's when all hell broke loose.
"Ask someone else, I'm not your slave," he mumbled.
"I only asked you because it's right next to you, you ass."
"So you can't ask someone else for it. It's across from Carlos, why didn't you ask him?"
"Because I figured I'd ask my best friend for the fucking gravy, but apparently that's too much work."
"I don't understand why you come to me for everything except about the important stuff!" he yelled, standing up.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, rising to my feet as well. We were glaring at each other; the only thing separating us was the table.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"I told you about that! It was hard for me, but I did. What about you, huh? 'Oh, it was just a dance.' Then you start dating the bitch and she sucks the life out of you. How was I supposed to go to you for stuff when she was always there?"
"I broke up with her for you!" If the whole dinner table wasn't silent already, they were after that.
"I didn't ask you to do that! If you were happy with her, which you clearly weren't but if you were, you should have stayed with her! I wasn't happy with Jett, I broke up with him because I realized I could only be happy with you!"
"Guess we're both left unhappy," Kendall stated as he pushed his chair in. "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. Merry Christmas." I watched as he walked into the foyer, opened the door, and gave one more glance back at me before leaving.
"No, he's not just running out of here," I muttered to myself as I ran after him. He was just about to walk into my house when I called out his name.
"Go back inside, Jo, it's cold," he said, sounding deflated.
"Can I just remind you, you kissed me! It wasn't the other way around, Kendall," I told him as I walked off my front porch and stood in front of him on the sidewalk.
"I know that," he said. "I was there too."
"So why are you the one being weird around me when you're the one who initiated all this!"
"I don't know."
"You regret it," I said simply. "That's fine. Merry Christmas."
"Jo, wait," he called after me as I began to walk away.
"This sucks, you know? Falling for your best friend," I told him and he looked at me with wide eyes. When he gave me no response, I turned around and walked back into my house.
"So, you still want that gravy, Jo?" Carlos asked, trying to alleviate the tension in the room.
"No, I don't think I'm hungry anymore," I said quietly.
"Sweetie, are you okay?" Mrs. Taylor asked and I nodded.
"Will it be alright if I went up to my room?" I asked and my mom nodded.
"You want to talk, Jo?" Stephanie asked but I shook my head.
"I'm just gonna lay down. Sorry about that," I said and smiled at my friends and family before heading up to my room.
"I can't believe that just happened," I said to myself as I lay down on my bed. The two of us have never fought that bad before. I felt a tear slip down my cheek silently and I wiped it away. Camille and Stephanie came in to tell me they were leaving and hopefully that they'd see me tomorrow at Kendall's, and my mom came in to try to talk to me, but I told her it wasn't really a big deal.
"He cares about you sweetie, just don't push him away," she told me before she left.
I'm not sure how long I was lying down for, but I heard knocking at my window that made me sit up. I looked and saw Kendall standing by my ledge with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. I walked over to the window to open it and let him in.
"You usually just let yourself in," I said quietly as I walked back over to my bed to sit down.
"I figured I should probably be polite and knock. These are for you," he said as he handed me the flowers. "The other one is for your mom to apologize."
"So she's the only one who gets an apology?"
"I'm really sorry, Jo. For everything," he said and I nodded.
The two of us were sitting on my bed in silence, trying to make sense of what happened earlier, trying to figure out what to say.
"When you were dating Jett, I wanted to kill him," Kendall said and chuckled awkwardly. "I couldn't figure out why it was bothering me so much. Guess I should have killed him for what he did."
"When you were with Mercedes, I wanted to rip out her hair extensions," I said and blushed. "And no, you shouldn't have killed him. That would have been bad."
"So what now? We're jealous when we're with other people, but can't seem to make it work when we're together?"
"Pretty much," I said and sighed. "Do you regret kissing me? Be honest."
"It's not like we haven't done that before, Jo," he said.
"This time," I said and sighed. "Don't tell me this time didn't feel different for you, because I know it felt different for me."
"It did," he said quietly.
"So where do we go from here?"
"Well, if you're willing to try us again, I think I'd go for that," he said and smirked at me.
"I think I like that idea," I said and smiled before he leaned his lips down to kiss me. We pulled away and he reached into his pocket for something. "That better not be a condom."
"You caught me," he said and rolled his eyes. "Not ready to make sexual jokes with you yet, I still feel like I'm on thin ice."
"You are."
He pulled out a long, velvet box and handed it to me. I look at him strangely and he urged me to open it. Inside was a simple bracelet with an infinity sign in diamonds on it. My eyes widened as he took it out of the box and put it on my wrist.
"Kendall, it's beautiful," I said quietly.
"My dad gave it to my mom before he died," he told me and I looked at him, shocked.
"Kendall, I-I can't take this from your mom," I said and went to take it off, but he stopped me.
"She gave it to me after he died and told me to give it to the right girl."
"How do you know I'm the right girl?" I asked as I felt tears forming in my eyes.
"When I told her I wanted to give it to you, she lit up brighter than the Christmas tree in our living room," he said. I felt a tear fall out of my eye, but Kendall quickly wiped it away.
"We're going to make this work this time right? Because I don't think I'll be happy with anyone else," I said and laughed as I cuddled closer to him.
"Definitely. I still don't understand why it didn't work the first time though."
"We were fifteen, and stupid. We went out just so we could say we had a boyfriend or girlfriend."
"That might be true, but I could have done that with any girl. Instead I did it with you."
"Because no other girl would sit in your house and watch hockey games with you without complaining," I said and smiled at him. "I really love the bracelet, Kendall. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
The next morning I woke up and saw Kendall wasn't lying next to me anymore, but a sheet of paper with my name on it took his spot.
'Jo, I couldn't wake you because you looked so peaceful. I had to leave to help my mom get ready for Christmas dinner. See you later. Love, Kendall.'
I smiled to myself before I got out of bed and walked downstairs to eat breakfast and open presents. My mom had already laid out all the breakfast foods on the table and I rushed over to start eating.
"Relax Jo, you'd think we don't feed you," my dad said and I laughed.
"I'm just excited, it's Christmas!"
"Drastic change from last night," he mumbled, earning a stern look from my mom who probably told him not to mention it.
"That's a beautiful bracelet, sweetheart. Where'd you get it?" my mom asked.
"Kendall gave it to me last night," I said as I admired it.
"When? I don't remember words being exchanged that would lead to a gift like that," my dad said.
"He stopped by and we talked things out. This was his mom's."
"I'm so happy for the two of you," my mom said. "Now eat before we open presents.
Ten minutes later, as I was going on my fourth piece of French toast, my dad thought of something.
"How did Kendall get in if I don't remember hearing the doorbell last night?"
"He, uh," I stammered as my mom tried not to laugh. "Climbed through my window?"
"Resourceful kid," he said and shrugged before going back to reading the newspaper.
"Right," I said and glanced over at her mom who was just smiling as she started making the brownies she was bringing over to the Knight's later.
"So are you two dating now, seeing how he sneaks through your window and gave you his mom's bracelet?" my mom asked.
"I think so," I said, smiling to myself. "But I think this time we'll make it work. Not like last time when we went out for the hell of it."
"At least I don't need to worry about trying to scare the crap out of him."
"Why is that?" I asked warily.
"I live right next door. If anything happens, I'll just climb through his window," my dad said and smiled before getting up from the table. He put his dishes in the sink and turned to face me. "Ready to open presents?"
"When am I not?" I asked and ran to the living room.
After opening all my presents, which I was very pleased to see I got everything I wanted, a benefit of being an only child, Mom wrapped the brownies up and Dad placed the presents for everyone in shopping bags. I got changed into a navy blue, long strapless shirt and black leggings. I grabbed my favorite navy heels and black peacoat before heading downstairs.
"Ready to go?" my mom asked as she walked to the door. I nodded and walked out the open door and to the house next door. I just walked right into Kendall's house without ringing the doorbell, something that's normal for me.
"Josephine!" my mother hissed my name. "It's not polite to just walk into someone's home."
"It's just Kendall's house, Mom. Relax," I rolled my eyes as I walked into the kitchen where I knew I'd find Mrs. Knight. "Hi!"
"Jo, sweetheart!" she said and gave me a huge hug. "I'm so happy for you and Kendall."
"Thank you," I said and smiled at her. She glanced down at my wrist and I saw some tears form in her eyes. "It's so beautiful. I didn't want to take it from him."
"If anyone's supposed to have it, it's you," she said and hugged me again before telling me everyone was in the game room.
"Merry Christmas," I said as I walked in. Carlos and James were playing the Xbox while Logan and Kendall were playing air hockey, and Camille and Stephanie were sitting on the couch talking.
"Merry Christmas," they all said. Kendall flashed me a smile before he went back to his game against Logan. I sat next to Stephanie and Camille, who gave me a huge smile.
"Kendall told Logan who told me that you two are back on speaking terms," she said slyly.
"You could say that," I told her.
"Spill! I want details," she said excitedly. I told the two of them what happened last night.
"Stop, that's so cute," Steph said and grabbed my wrist to look at the bracelet. "And this is absolutely gorgeous."
"I love it," I said.
"Jo, you haven't stopped smiling since you sat down. I'm so happy for you," Camille said.
"I didn't even feel this happy when Jett first asked me out. Then he turned into a douche bag, so it all worked out."
"Dinner's ready!" Mrs. Knight called from the dining room. Everyone got up, leaving Kendall and I alone.
"Merry Christmas," he said as he walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Merry Christmas," I said.
"We are dating, right?" he asked.
"No, I still hate you," I said sarcastically while rolling my eyes. "Of course we are."
"Just wanted to make sure I didn't imagine last night."
"No, it happened. You're stuck with me, good luck," I said and laugh.
"Dating you will probably be a walk in the park compared to dating Mercedes."
"Oh really, and why is that?"
"Everyone thought we were dating to begin with, so we were obviously doing something right."
"Nothing's going to change, right? I don't want to lose my best friend," I asked.
"Nothing. We'll just be able to do more than what we were already doing," he said and waggled his eyebrows at me, causing me to laugh.
"And what exactly do you think we're going to be doing?"
"Oh you know," he said suggestively as he pulled me closer to him. "I can actually take advantage of you in the middle of the night," he whispered in my ear, causing me to laugh.
"Are you two coming or what? Carlos is about to eat everything on the table!" James said as he came into the game room.
"Way to ruin the moment, James," Kendall grumbled as he let go of me.
"There was no moment," I said and smiled. "Let's go eat."
"Am I going to walk in on the two of you doing inappropriate things anytime soon?" James asked.
"Why, are you going to be opening random doors, waiting to find something?"
"Possibly," he said and grinned.
"Pervert," I said and laughed as the three of us sat down at the table.
Kendall grabbed my hand under the table and squeezed it gently. I looked up at him and kissed his cheek lightly. I saw my mom and Kendall's mom smiling at the two of us before continuing the conversation they were having.
"I think they're planning our wedding already," Kendall whispered in my ear and I nodded.
"Knowing them, they're naming our children too."
"Why's your dad giving me a strange look?"
"Oh, he finally realized you climb through my window all the time," I said and shrugged.
A little longer than usual, but I couldn't figure out how to split the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day part, which was what I was planning to do. Hope you enjoyed it, leave a review and let me know what you thought :)
