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Present
"Overall, I think that I took the news of the Apocalypse rather well. In the beginning at least, when I was still home with Mom and my biggest worry was whether I was going to have steak or fish for dinner. I'll be the first to admit that I began to lose it when we got down to the final weeks. Hell, I'm probably still losing it. But hey! I'm alive! That's better than some of Team Screw You Satan can say. Hm? Oh yeah, Team Screw You Satan. Dean dubbed us Team Free Will. Well, he dubbed him, Sam, Cas, and Bobby Team Free Will. Crowley was the asshole demon who tagged along later out of pure self-preservation. I was just the worthless stray who refused to go home.
"But that's for when life got very, very depressing, and we're not there just yet. Believe it or not, we're still in the Golden Years, even if I was being stupid. This eight or so month period gets included into the Golden Years mostly because of what happens at the end of that period. I guarantee you now that it'll make you cry. Anyway, another reason why we're still in the Golden Years is because of one adventure that happened near the end of June. Mom always wanted to go do the whole tourist thing in New York City. She didn't have the time when I briefly lived there. So, why not? The world was going to end, might as well take her.
"Now, you've probably guessed by now that we meet up with Hershey. And you're right. But… I'll be the first to admit that free will rocks and exists and is awesome. I mean, I'm standing here talking to you. That has to count for something. But… what happened in New York City was fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it. Hershey didn't manipulate anything to get a certain outcome. It all just happened. Which is incredible. Absolutely incredible. Because this… this is the adventure that… Damn. I can't even describe it if I wanted to. But it did something to me. And to Hershey. It made us… together, if that makes any sense. It's the only word I can think of. Together. Maybe this is when he decided to love me. I don't know."
2009
Mom was quickly learning that crossing the street in New York deserved to be its own extreme sport. Granted, she didn't realize that I didn't always wait for the WALK signal to flash green before darting across the street. It was much more fun to cross whenever there was the smallest break in traffic. You had to wait far too long if you actually went the safe and legal way. To be fair, Mom was only almost hit by a taxi once, and that was because she hesitated. That had nothing to do with me.
She was starting to get the hang of it on our third day in the city. I felt quite proud of her. Mom wasn't a city girl whatsoever. She preferred the country, where the animals actually got bigger than a pigeon. But as a vacation spot, I had the feeling Mom loved the city. The activity, the momentum, the culture, she loved it all.
We were making our way to Central Park when Mom tugged me to a stop. "What's that?" I looked over to where she was pointing a block or so down the street. The colors of the store were almost blindingly vibrant even from where we were standing. A steady stream of people flowed in and out. I recognized it immediately. How could I not?
"It's a toy store," I told her, honestly surprised when my voice sounded completely normal.
"Come on. Let's go look," Mom said, and began quickly moving in that direction.
"Mom!" I tried to protest. She ignored me. I hesitated for a few moments before jogging to catch up. Maybe he wouldn't even be there. Maybe we could just go in and out quickly and then I could go back to pretending to be normal.
That hopes for promptly destroyed as soon as Mom could make out the name of the store. "Cola's Toys," she read. "That's cute."
"Damn," was all I could answer. Mom looked at me in confusion. "This is Her – Jack's store," I explained quietly. "Didn't realize he would actually rename it after me."
"Oh. We can go," Mom said as the line moved us along inside. I shook my head.
"No. It's okay. Let's look around quick," I said, faking a smile. Mom nodded and for a few minutes we walked down shelves filled with pink toys. Cola's toys. Yeah. Cute. It sent a jolt of guilt and longing through me. Sure, he probably realized we were coming and switched the sign out really quick. But maybe he didn't. Maybe this meant that he missed me. Ha! How's that for wishful thinking?
"I didn't realize he owned a toy store," Mom said as we turned down an aisle that filled with toy cars.
"I'm honestly surprised it isn't a candy store," I told her with a small smile. "But yeah. He loves this place, especially around Christmas. Everyone's excited and happy, and the kids are running around like maniacs."
"It looks like he does a nice job," she said. I nodded in agreement. The store almost looked like it had grown since the last time I was dragged inside. Hershey's magic had to be at work, because the store had to be bigger on the inside. There was no way all of this could actually fit in the building it was in.
We wandered around for a few more minutes, pausing now and again to grin at the different displays. Mom even joked about buying a few things for me or for Stel. Maybe a Barbie as a wedding gift. I grinned at that. Stella hated Barbies with a passion not known to man.
"Buy one," I said. Mom looked at me for a moment and burst out laughing.
"You're so mean."
"Just as a joke! I'm going to get her something awesome for her actual present. Come on! It'd be funny!"
"It would be funny," Mom agreed. "Alright. Princess Barbie or… Pet Vet Barbie?"
"Princess," I told her immediately.
"Alright. Princess it – "
"Nicky?"
I whipped around from the display to see Hershey standing there with Lego boxes stacked in his arms. He looked genuinely surprised to see me, but happy too. His eyes lit up just like they used to when I something he thought was wonderful.
"Jack. Hey." I took a step forward and gave him an awkward, one arm hug around the boxes. He turned his attention to Mom when I stepped back.
"Miss Jacqueline. Always a pleasure."
"Hello, Jack. It's nice to see you again," she said, glancing at me as if she wasn't sure how to act around him. "I love this store." Hershey grinned his little boy grin.
"Thanks. This place is my baby. I'm glad you like it." I nodded a little and looked down at my feet. He looked okay. There were still faint, dark circles under his eyes and a worried strain beneath every smile and action, but he was a hell of a lot better than when I last saw him. It was amazing how much weight that lifted off my shoulders. It was like I could actually breathe again. "So what brings you to New York?" he asked.
"Nicolette decided to treat me to a vacation," Mom said. "I always wanted to see the city."
"Yeah? How do you like it so far?"
"It's good," she told him. "It's a lot of fun." I glanced up at him.
"So how have you been?" I asked. Hershey shrugged and shifted the boxes in his arms.
"Pretty good. You?"
"Yeah. Pretty good."
"Good."
"Yeah."
There was a pause, like Hershey wanted to say something but it was stuck in his throat. He smiled at us instead. "Well I better put these back where they belong," he said.
"Yeah. We should probably get going too," I told him. Mom looked at the two of us, before smiling brightly at Hershey.
"Why don't you meet up with us for lunch?' she asked. "Nicolette was going to take me to this pizzeria she loved. Sometime around one?" I looked at her with wide eyes. What the hell was she doing? No! I'm barely getting through this somewhat awkward encounter without wanting to break down and beg for him to take me back! I couldn't handle lunch!
He hesitated for a few moments before grinning. "Sounds good. Where are you guys going?"
Present
"Yeah. So we had lunch. It was good. Polite. Incredibly awkward, but nice at the same time. It was probably the happiest I'd been since before Cullen and Swan came to Forks." I paused for a moment. Was my life really that dependent on Hershey – Gabriel, damn it, I need to learn to stop calling him Hershey – that I needed him around? That's kinda pathetic. And really sad.
"And then when Mom excused herself to go to the bathroom, Hershey asked me to come with him, to travel with him again. I told him, 'No. Ask me tomorrow.' Tomorrow? I plugged my number in his cell, and every single day from that day on, we would text each other for hours. On a bad day he would call me just to hear my voice. I guess I was reassurance or something that the world hadn't ended yet. He just wanted me to ramble on about work, wedding preparations, anything that was going on in my life. Every text, every call, just made me miss him even more. But I didn't agree to travel with him again. To be honest, I'm not sure why. Maybe I liked having it both ways. I could pretend to be normal, and still have my chocolate angel in almost constant contact."
I cleared my throat when the back door opened, and Dean came slinking in. I grinned, especially when he ducked his head when he saw me looking at him. "You're late, Deano!" I told him. "I was beginning to think I scared you off with my epic love story. Glad to see that you're more romantic than I thought."
"Oh, Nicky, you have no idea how romantic I can be," he said with a wink. I'm pretty sure nearby fan girls swooned.
"Uh huh." I waited for Dean to get settled down in Becky's seat, (he pushed her out, despite her rather loud complaining), before continuing. "I told you a little while ago that the New York meeting might have made him love me. Now that I think about it, that might not be entirely true. I mean, New York got us texting and talking and whatever. And that continued until I saw him again in the beginning of November. But I'm going to bring you to late September. It was a late, cold night, and Mom had gone off to bed maybe an hour or so ago. I had just finished put the last touches on this drawing I was doing of Stella in her wedding dress."
2009
I sighed and yawned loudly. The house was pleasantly quiet, and dark besides the few kitchen lights that were on. Now was probably a good time to go to bed. Did I have work in the morning? I frowned and craned my neck to see the calendar on the far wall. No. Tomorrow was my day off.
"Awesome," I muttered, and packed away all my art stuff. For a moment, I wondered if I could have actually made it as an artist if Hershey hadn't shown up. Maybe I still could make it. But probably not. "Screw you, Hershey Man," I said with a small smile. Almost as if he heard me, my cell buzzed with an incoming text.
I hate gods
I raised an eyebrow, and sat on the edge of the kitchen table, fully aware that I probably wasn't getting much sleep tonight.
Y? Who did u piss off this time?
There was a disgruntled pause.
Apollo. The whole town is singing about how they feel to each other with brutal honesty.
R u singing too?
I'm in a musical!
I frowned slightly. He never answered my question.
So yes?
My phone seemed to glare at me, and I burst out laughing.
Shut your cake hole
That only made the laughter worse. Hershey forced to sing all of his feelings to the world. It was priceless. I only wished that I could actually see it, or hear it as it were. I decided then that I liked Apollo. He seemed like a funny guy.
What song r u singing?
I pushed myself off the table to shut off the kitchen lights. I stood in the middle of the dark kitchen for a few moments to let my eyes adjust. My phone began to buzz in my hand, but with a call, not a text. I hesitated. I knew if I answered, then Hershey was probably going to sing to me, and be brutally honest with his feelings. That could be either amazing or completely soul crushing. Why did my heart feel like it would be soul crushing?
My cell buzzed again, and I answered. "Hershey?"
"I run from hate
I run from prejudice
I run from pessimists
But I run too late
I run my life
Or is it running me
Run from my past
I run too fast
Or too slow it seems
When lies become the truth
That's when I run to you"
It sounded like a country song, from the soft music I could hear behind Hershey's voice. It suited him. He surprised me with how well he could actually sing. But my heart was right. Every word he sung crushed me, because I loved him, and he… cared about me. That part was amazing. But I was terrified. I didn't want to die, or have to kill someone again. I didn't want a repeat of Forks, and I knew it was going to happen. Hershey created as much trouble and mischief as he attracted. I would be caught in the crossfire eventually.
"This world keeps spinning faster
Into a new disaster so I run to you
I run to you baby
And when it all starts coming undone
Baby you're the only one I run to
I run to you
We run on fumes
Your life and mine
Like the sands of time
Slippin' right on through
And our – "
Hershey abruptly ended the call, leaving me standing in the middle of the dark kitchen, with my cell phone against my ear.
Disclaimer: I do not own the song "I Run To You" by Lady Antebellum. I'm just temporarily borrowing it.
I hoped you guys liked the chapter! Thank you so much for your continued support, it means so much to me! : )
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