Play Date

Eight

June 5th 2021

Hi. It's currently 1:25 in the afternoon. It's mostly sunny with just a few clouds in the sky.
I'm over this journal. I'm sick of writing in it. I'm already sick of carrying around this tank with me. Today is my first debut into the world carrying it around, we'll see how it goes.

Jack invited Ashton and I to the beach again. He said he was bringing his friends and their girlfriends with us.

Something in my gut tells me this isn't a good idea, but it's a little late now since we just pulled up to the beach.

Ashton has a blue one piece on, and I just have a light white shirt on and some blue Jean shorts. I can't go in the water even if I wanted to.

I get out of the car and strap the oxygen tank to my back, wearing it like a back pack.

I get Ashton out of her car seat and grab the small bag I brought with towels and snacks. Ashton holds my hand while we make our way down the beach, looking for Jack and all his friends.

As we walk, I see Jack and his large group of friends. Wow, there's so many of them.

Ashton let's go of my hand and runs to Jack, yelling his name.

"Jack! Jack!" She says causing him to turn around.

As soon as Jack sees Ashton, he gets the biggest smile on his face. He bends down and picks her up, pulling her into a hug. Jack holds onto her while he sees me walking over.

The closer I get, the more people turn to look over at me. There's the five boys and three girls, I don't know why I was expecting less.

"Hi everyone" I say as I get closer to the group

"Hi Y/n" Jack says kissing my cheek, then looks closer to me, seeing the tubes

"Hey!" Everyone else says, the girls smile and wave while the boys give me weird looks.

"What's with the.." Jack says pointing to his nose, signalling he means my breathing tube

"It's so mommy can breathe!" Ashton says. Jack flares his eyebrows at me but I quickly change the subject.

"Hi, I'm Y/n" I say looking over to the girls

"Hi, I'm Kay, Zach's girlfriend" She says with a light wave

"I'm Franny, Daniel's girlfriend" She says with a beautiful smile

"And I'm Tessa, Jonah's girlfriend"

I look back over to Jack, and he hasn't taken his eyes off me. He's still holding Ashton.

The boys and their girlfriends get up and go to the water, leaving Corbyn, Jack, Ashton and I. I set out my blanket, and sit down, placing the tank down beside me.

"Hey Ash, do you wanna go in the water?" Jack asks with her still in his arms

"Yes! Please mommy!" She asks looking at me

"You can go in, as long as you're with someone, and you listen to them, okay?" I tell her and she nods quickly.

"I'll take her, you two seem like you need to talk" Corbyn says standing up, taking Ashton and going towards the water.

Jack sits down beside me and grabs onto my hand.

"So.. what's with the new equipment?" He asks lowly, tapping his nails on the tank so it makes a sound.

"It's just to help my breathing" I smile, it's not a total lie

"Why didn't you tell me? I could've been helping more. Is this why you go to the doctors every week?" Jack says and I shake my head

"Help with what exactly? And yeah, this is why I go so often" I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't know, I just want to make things easier for you. I really like you, Y/n. I want to do what I can to help" Jack says giving my hand a squeeze. My cheeks start to heat up and I turn a shade of pink.

"I really like you too Jack, but there's so much you don't know, that's why I don't think we could be together" I sign and go to take my hand away from his, but he holds mine tighter.

"Then tell me, why can't we be together? Not to ruin the surprise but I was going to ask you on a date tomorrow" He says with a chuckle

"Jack, I don't know how to say it" I sigh, looking down at our hands. I don't want to ruin this moment but maybe it's time I tell him, so he doesn't get too attached to me.

"Please, just say it, this suspense is killing me" He says with a smile. If only he knew..

"Jack, I'm d-"

"Mommy! Mommy! Look what Corbee and I found!" Ashton says running over to Jack and I with a seashell, Corbyn following close behind her

"It's beautiful baby, where did you find it?" I let go of Jack's hand and pulled Ashton onto my lap. Corbyn sits beside Jack and they do a weird handshake

"We found it in the water, by Zach and Kay" She says with the biggest smile in her face.

"It's beautiful sweetheart. Thank you Corbyn" Corbyn nods his head.

Jack and Corbyn start whispering back and forth while I play with Ashton in the sand. She wanted me to burry her feet, so it's exactly what I'm doing.

"Hey Y/n?" Jack says and I turn my head to look at him. "Is it okay if I go in the water? I'll only be a few minutes, I-"

"It's fine Jack, enjoy your time!" I laugh shaking my head. I don't want him not to go in the water if that's what he wants.

I don't want to hold him back.

"Ash, do you wanna come?" Jack asks and Ashton immediately nods her head, busting her feet out of the sand. She runs to Jack as he stands up and she grabs his hand and they head to the water, leaving Corbyn and I alone.

"So.." He says looking over at my tank

"So.. do you have a girlfriend that's not here or?" I ask trying to avoid talking about the tank. He just laughs

"Yeah, her name is Christina. She's in New York for school" He says with a smile, pulling out his phone to show me his lock screen is a picture of them together

"You two are really cute together" I smile and he says thank you.

"Can I ask you about that?" He points to the tank. "Im not crazy, right, you didn't have it the other day when we met?" I giggle at his comment

"I got it that day we met. You all left for a work meeting or something" I smile and he nods

"What's it for? Obviously for oxygen, but what's got your lungs so shitty that you need the extra help?"

Corbyn seems like he's even surprised at his own words. "Man, I'm sorry, that was probably really insensitive to say"

"You're okay" I smile but it fades.

"If I tell you, you're not allowed to tell anyone, okay? Not Jack, not even your girlfriend" I say with a straight face so he knows I'm serious.

"Oh god, this sounds serious. You're not dying, are you?" He says while laughing until he turns his head to see a tear roll down my face.

"Oh my god, you're dying, aren't you?" He asks and all I can do is nod.

Without a second thought he pulls me into a hug as I let a few more tears fall.

Corbyn is officially the first person I've told, beside my parents.