The College JJ Series

kildare island

Summary: For the first time in over a decade, you return to Kildare Island.

~

"I can't believe you're really going," your dad says softly on the phone the Thursday night before you're set to depart for your weekend away.

"It's time, dad. It's been eleven years. I've never even been to mom's grave," you reply.

He sighs heavily. "I know. I should've taken you. I've been selfish."

"No, I get it, I think," you tell him. "Besides, I need to go on my own."

You can practically hear the frown in his voice. "I'm gonna worry about you. Driving all that way with just those boys? I know you're nineteen, but to me, you're still a little girl."

"I'll be fine. And they aren't just some boys, dad. You know them."

"I knew them when they were little," he says. "But I trust you, and if you say they're your best friends, and you feel safe with them, then I'm going to try to be okay with it."

"Thanks, dad."

"Still struggling a little with the idea that you're dating JJ. That's a tough pill to swallow."

You have to laugh despite the tension. "I struggled with it a little at first, too, but it feels right."

"You're happy?" he asks.

"Yeah. I'm really happy."

"That's all I really care about, then. Promise me you'll send me a text to let me know you got there okay tomorrow? It doesn't matter how late you get in. Dear old dad needs some reassurance."

"I'll text you as soon as the ferry gets to the island," you promise.

"Okay. Be careful tomorrow. Good night. Love you."

"Love you too, dad. Bye."

~

You, JJ, John B, and Pope were headed to Kildare Island for the weekend. Your childhood friend Kiara was set to return from the Galapagos for a short visit, and you were excited to see her again. You hoped you'd fall in line with her again as seamlessly as you did the others.

You were nervous, and for good reasons. You hadn't stepped foot on the island since you left it all those years ago. You left behind a huge piece of your heart when you moved away, and even though you got most of it back when the boys reentered your life, there was still a sliver missing.

Your mom was buried there. Your sweet, beautiful mom who always seemed to have the ingredients to make cookies after a bad day, or cooked an extra helping or two of dinner because you almost always seemed to have at least one hungry friend in tow. She always invited them inside when it was rainy or cold out, putting on a kettle to make a batch of hot chocolate to warm you up. She sewed Pope's clothing when it got ripped from rough housing and he told her he couldn't go home with another destroyed pair of shorts because Heyward would flip his shit, she helped Kiara get gum out of her hair after she stole a piece from the candy bin at the general store and popped a bubble all over her face, she bought JJ his equipment when he wanted to play little league baseball and his dad couldn't be bothered to get it for him, she helped Big John load John B and his bike into the back of the Twinkie when he fell and broke his arm after attempting a wheelie on a homemade ramp. She'd treated them like her own kids, and when the news broke that she had been killed in an accident, they felt like they had lost a mom, too.

JJ, of course, had taken it the hardest, seeing as how it was his own father that was at fault. Early on in his life, he learned that Luke had a problem that he didn't intend to fix. After the accident, it only got much worse.