Before I know it, we're back in Nashville. Once the boys got their attitudes back to normal, we spent as much time with their parents as we could. They wouldn't admit it, but I could tell that they were sad to be leaving. I made sure I took plenty of pictures when no one was looking, those ones mean the most looking back.
After our long car ride, Jake and I finally got back to the house, parting ways to unpack our bags and get settled back in. I get all of the clothes out of my bag, placing them into the drawers of my dresser since the Kiszka's were nice enough to let us all do laundry before we left. I swear they're the nicest people I've ever met. Once everything is unpacked, I decided to take a shower, only feeling right after such a long time cramped in a car with 4 guys.
I turn the water on hot and get in, taking my time getting cleaned up seeing as how we have no other plans. I shut the hot water off when I'm done and comb my regular products through my hair before wrapping myself in a towel and heading into my room to get changed. As soon as I open the door I see Jake laying on my bed, watching as he sets his phone down and allows his eyes to graze over my body with no shame, which makes me chuckle. "Sicko," I mumble jokingly, heading to my dresser, though I can see him getting up out of the corner of my eye.
"It was a long week, you can't blame me for looking," he says, a devilish smirk playing at his lips as his hands rest on my hips from behind, turning me around to face him. My eyes meet his as his thumb runs over my cheek and down the side of my neck, causing me to shiver under his touch. "Looks like the week wasn't just long for me, huh?"
My lips part as he watches his thumb move down to graze my bare collarbone, his eyebrows furrowing before our eyes meet again.
"Where's your necklace?"
Suddenly my heart was in my stomach. My eyes go wide as I bring my hand up to my neck, not feeling it catch on the normal chain that sat there. I quickly move away to go into the bathroom, moving everything I can in search of the gold locket, but not seeing it anywhere on the counters or the floor. I make my way back to the bedroom, tossing things to the floor in order to look under them in a panic.
"MJ, calm down, I'm sure it's here somewhere. Why don't you get some clothes on and then we can look?" Jake suggests, putting a hand on my wrist gently to stop me from tearing the room apart any further. As much as I don't want to waste any time, holding a towel up is getting annoying. I sigh and toss my towel aside, quickly pulling on underwear and a big shirt along with shorts before going right back to throwing stuff around my bedroom. Jake helps me in a less destructive way, trying to look calmly while also putting things back from where they had been carelessly thrown.
"It's not in here, it's not in my bathroom, oh my god what if it's in Michigan? What if it fell off in some gas station in the middle of nowhere?!" my hand covers my mouth quickly as tears cloud my vision, threatening to fall at any second. It would seem trivial to someone else, losing a little necklace that could be easily bought again, but it could never be given to me again. It's the last thing I have of my dad.
"Baby," Jake's voice is soft as he walks over to me, using his thumbs to brush the tears from my cheeks, "we're going to find it, just calm down. If we retrace your steps, we'll have it in no time."
I muster the best nod I can, trying to calm myself down before we go into the entryway to the house, starting there and making our way through the entire house, spending almost 2 hours searching everywhere we can. Everything had been double and triple-checked before the fact that my necklace was gone settled in. My chest feels tight as I sit on the edge of my bed, Jake beside me rubbing my back while I take shallow breaths.
"Hey, I'm gonna call all of the guys, maybe it ended up in someone's bag or something on accident. I'll call my parents after if no one has it, okay? It's not gone, it's just misplaced," he says calmly, planting a kiss on my cheek before getting up to call his brothers. I find myself unable to give him any response, getting under the covers on my bed and running my hands over my face as tears fall down my cheeks too quickly for me to stop. A younger version of myself was screaming "I told you so", a version of me who refused to wear the necklace because I was afraid to lose it. I only started wearing it once we moved to Nashville after I found it in one of my boxes, that was a time when I needed him more than ever. I remember the day my dad gave me the necklace, the one that perfectly matched his.
"Flower, come in here, I have a present for you!"
The call confused me, Christmas gifts had all already been opened, and I was sure I got every single one with my name on it. Regardless of my confusion, I walked into the dining room where my dad was sitting with a smile on his face. He pulled me up into his lap, allowing me to see the small box sitting on the table with my nickname written on the tag stuck to it. He gave an encouraging nod towards the box, prompting me to open it and pull the locket out into my small hands. My thumb grazed over it, feeling the texture of the little heart that comforted me so many nights after. "Open it up, Mary, look inside."
My little thumbs fumbled with the clasp until the locket fell open, revealing the photos that never left their spots. One of my mother and father with me on a long tanning chair, and the other of just me and my dad. Soon, his hands move in front of me, taking the locket and placing a kiss to it before closing it up and moving my hair from my neck, clasping it on.
"Now, you always have us with you, extra love and protection for my flower," He smiled, my hand finding its way up to the charm as I look to see the matching one sitting perfectly on his neck.
"We match!" I exclaimed, bringing a smile to his face that matched mine in the moment.
"Yes we do, Mary Jane, and mine has the same pictures so I'll always have my little girl with me."
I never understood the weight that statement would hold later in my life, but even then, it made me want to cry. I pull the blankets up to my chin and let any tears I have left fall.
What feels like hours later, but was probably about 30 minutes, I hear Jake talking to someone in the kitchen, not being able to hear well enough to know who it is. Soon enough, though, my door opens to reveal Jake and Sam. They both come in and Sam holds his hand up as he sits on the edge of my bed, the golden chain hanging on it with the locket sitting perfectly at the bottom. I gasp and sit up, quickly taking it from his hand and holding it to my chest before tackling him in a hug. He laughs as he holds himself up from me practically jumping on him, placing his hand on my back. "Where was it?" I ask quickly, sitting back and opening the heart to make sure everything was still there, which it is.
"In the truck, it must've fallen off when you were sleeping or something."
"I can't thank you enough, Sammy. I owe you huge," I nod, giving him a quick hug before he gets up from the bed with a smile.
"Anything for you Jane. I gotta run, but if you need anything, call," He nods, waving to me and his brother before walking out.
I let out a sigh of relief as I look at the necklace again, feeling Jake's eyes on me.
"Thank you, I wouldn't have found it without you," I whisper, looking up at him and holding the necklace out. He takes it into his hands and I turn so my back is facing him, holding my hair up. He clasps it on carefully, placing a soft kiss over the clasp on the back of my neck and guiding my hands to let my hair down. I turn back to face him, immediately being met with his smile, making me smile as well.
"You don't have to thank me, Jane, that's what we do."
I give him a nod before placing my hands on his cheeks and pulling him into a soft kiss. He meets my lips with the same feeling of love I was giving him, allowing me to flip us around so I was on his lap while his back pressed against the pillows.
"Where were we earlier?"
YOU ARE READING
Rekindled- Jake Kiszka
FanfictionMJ was best friends with the Kiszka's through high school, up until she had to move away. What happens when she runs into one of the three brothers 6 years later?
