Rekindled- Jake Kiszka

Chapter 32

I lay on the couch scrolling through videos on my phone as I wait for Jake to get home from a meeting he had gone to a while ago, the tv playing in the background but not anything I was paying attention to. I hear the door open and don't bother to look up, expecting Jake to be the only person coming in.

"Baby?" I yell out into the air.

"Have I finally moved up to that rank?" Sam responds as he walks into the living room, tossing something onto my stomach that makes me flinch.

"What the hell Sam!"  I groan, picking up the bag on my stomach, looking at him as I sit up, "What's in here? Why are you in our house, weirdo?"

"Oh my god MJ, open it, stop asking questions," he says, coming lifting my feet up before sitting down and placing them back down on his lap. There's that youngest sibling attitude.

I open the bag and pull out a smaller box, opening it to see a pair of little, gold, hoop earrings with moons hanging off of them. I look at them before looking at Sam with a confused look, making him shrug.

"I saw them at the store and thought of you," he states simply, making me smile and lean over to hug him around his neck. The fact that he was thinking of me enough to do something like that makes my heart warm.

"Since when are you being nice to me, Sammy boy?"

"I'm always nice to you, you're the mean one here," he chuckles, nodding down at the box, "put them in!"

I put my hands up to fake surrender before taking the earrings from the box, fastening the little hoops into my ears. I lift my hair and turn to him, turning my head from side to side. "How are they? Gorgeous?"

"The only person they'd look better on is me, so they're perfect," he smiles, nodding as he looks at them in my ears.

"Is that all you came here for?" I ask, dropping my hair back over my ears and moving the bag and little box onto the coffee table.

"Mhm, can't hang out with my best friend anymore? I tried to come while Jake was gone so I didn't walk in on you two fu-"

"Okay okay, yeah, no I get it. You can always come hang out, you just surprised me is all."

I lay my head back down and grab the remote, tossing it over to Sam and letting him pick something for us to watch. After about 20 more minutes, the door opens again, and this time I'm sure it's Jake.

"Jane, I'm home! I went to the store!" He calls out, making me sit up and making Sam turn around so we were both facing him, "over here," I say, grabbing the remote and turning the tv down.

He looks over and looks at Sam with a confused face, "Oh, I didn't know you were coming over. Are you staying for dinner?"

Sam shakes his head, moving my legs off of his lap to get up. "I should probably get going actually, I think Lena is coming over in a little bit."

I mentally groan, holding myself from rolling my eyes. "If Danny wants to get away from you, I'm making pasta and chicken with homemade sauce, he's more than welcome. I know I'd wanna leave," I mumble the last part, heading into the kitchen while Sam does the same.

He nods and pulls his shoes on, coming over and giving me a tight hug before half-hugging his brother. "I'll let Dan know, I'll see you guys later."

"Please use protection!" I yell as he walks out, earning a laugh from Jake who I turn to, "if he gets her pregnant, I'm gonna have to move to another country."

"Oh come on, that's a liiittle dramatic, no?" He smiles, coming over and putting his hands on my hips. "It smells good in here."

"Thank you, the sauce should be about done, and I'd bet you're pretty hungry, so let me just fix the rest and we can eat," I say with a firm nod, standing on my toes and kissing his cheek sweetly.

"That sounds perfect, I'm gonna go take a shower real quick unless you need help."

I shake my head that I don't need any help as I make my way to the record player, filing through the collection as I find myself doing so often until I find one of Jake's Stevie Ray Vaughan records. I place it down carefully and turn the volume up a little before returning to the kitchen to start making dinner, stirring the sauce that had been simmering for hours on the stove.

Just as I pull the chicken from the pan onto our plates, Jake comes back in with wet hair over his shoulders wearing a pair of sweatpants with nothing covering his chest but one of his necklaces that he was wearing earlier. When I turn to look at him, my eyes seem to take their time grazing over his bare skin before I can will myself to turn around and finish what I was doing.

"Your plates right over here, I'm gonna clean up real quick but don't wait on me to eat."

He comes over and grabs both plates, nudging my side with his elbow just enough so I'd feel the light touch, "come on, come eat. I'll clean up after," he says, taking the plates to the table and setting them down at our spots.

"I just want to put this away so we don't have to worry about it."

He comes and grabs two glasses, going to the fridge to fill them with water. "Is it gonna disappear before we finish eating?"

I roll my eyes and put the container in my hand down. "I guess not."

I grab a wine glass and look over at Jake, giving him a look to see if he wants any, to which he nods. I get another glass and open a bottle before pouring some into each, bringing them with me as I sit across from him.

He thanks me for making dinner and we both start eating, talking about his meeting briefly then about a few other random things here and there until we finish up.

"So," he says, putting his fork down on his plate, "We've all been talking, me and the guys, I told them I'd be the one to tell you because I think it's kind of a big deal."

I look at him with a confused look as I feel my stomach drop, not having a clue what all 4 of them could have been talking about in secret for long enough to bring it up.

"Don't work yourself up, it's a long way away. We want to work on tour dates, we're aiming to start playing out in about 4 months. A US tour before we do anything bigger at least. We've been putting it all together for the past couple of weeks and, as our photographer, you'd obviously be coming with if you're willing."

He looks at me with an uncertain look, figuring I could either be elated or tell him I quit. Instead, I get up and pull him quickly into a hug, wrapping my arms tightly around him and burying my face in his chest. I end up straddling his lap since he's sitting, but we're both well aware that it's just so I can be close to him. "I'm so fucking proud of you, Jakey," I mumble, feeling his hands start running up and down my back slowly. I can hear his heartbeat as my ear rests against his warm chest, focusing on the steady rhythm for a few more seconds before pulling away and looking up into his eyes.

"So, you'll come?" He asks, smile beaming as his eyes meet mine.

I nod quickly and push some hair out of his face, "I wouldn't miss it for the world, Jake."

"I love you," he whispers, kissing over my face with a smile, "so much."

I giggle and squirm in his grip, trying to move away as he continues to kiss all over my cheek with a big smile. "I love you too," I manage to get out, eventually turning so he'd catch my lips instead of my cheek.

My hand rests on his cheek as I kiss him softly, pulling away after a few seconds.

"I can't think of anything I'd want to do more than travel the country with you four. I can't thank you enough for everything. If you hadn't let me stay here I don't know where I'd be," I whisper, keeping my forehead pressed to his as his hands rest on my hips.

"And if I hadn't seen you at the bar, I don't know where I'd be. There's definitely a reason we both ended up there that night."

"We must just be meant to be, huh?"