Rekindled- Jake Kiszka

Chapter 38, Part 1

A/N: hi friends! As an apology for taking so long to update this book, here's the first half of a two-part chapter!! Thank you to all who have stuck with my story:) be kind to yourself and others always! Xoxo, M

For the past couple of weeks, the band has been a full-time job, more than usual. The boys were in the studio daily, aside from weekends, from morning until night. They had interviews and press, they announced the tour dates, everything under the sun. It wasn't lost on any of us how stressful the entire thing was, so they took 3 days of studio time off, giving everyone a nice 5-day break. Jake and I spent the first day at the beach, laying in the sun and having dinner on the sand when it set. Today, the guys all planned to hang out with no talk of work. Even if they all wanted a break, they couldn't stay away from each other for that long.

So, we planned a get-together at our house and invited a few of their friends over to join the 5 of us. First, we would have a barbecue just like we used to at home, the twins were in charge of all of the grilling while Sam and I agreed to do the other food since Danny was coming late. After all of the usual barbecue activities, we planned a little bonfire and had everything set up to project a movie on the side of the house. It was going to be all fun; no stress, no work, no Greta Van Fleet: Can they bring back rock n roll? headlines, just the boys surrounded by people they love. It would make them come back stronger to take a short break.

"Jane, where are the veggies you want him to cut up?" Jake asks as I walk into the kitchen, Sam standing beside his older brother and Josh putting burgers together at the counter.

"Everything is out on the island, the potato salad and stuff is in the fridge. I'll help you cut all of that up Sammy," I nod, trying to keep track of everything while still helping the boys since this was part of their break. He's quick to shake his head at my statement, getting a knife out to cut all of the veggies up with, "I can handle it MJ, don't stress."

I send him a smile before looking around to see what else needed to be done. "Okay, I need to go get the drinks from the car, then I'll set the chairs up, and get the projector and everything out."

Jake was soon by my side, opening the door that I was about to go out. "Let me help," he says, heading out to the car with me and stopping once we get there with his back against the trunk. His hands clasp to my hips before he pulls me against him, pecking my lips briefly before speaking, "what are you so stressed for?"

I raise my eyebrows, shaking my head and looking around for a second. "I'm not, I just want to make sure this goes well and I don't want you guys having to do too much work."

His hand softly guides my face back to look at him, thumb rubbing my jaw and soft eyes burning into mine. "It seems like more than that, Jane."

Truth be told, it was. In my mind, this free time was something that I felt I needed to savor like it was fleeting faster than I could grab onto it. With all of the work they've been doing, and the tour coming up in just a few months, it felt like I was losing my four best friends. When Jake would come home from work he was too tired to ever want to do much, he was stressed, and there was nothing I could do about any it. If a past version of myself would have seen the routine I lived in now, the domesticity of having dinner ready by the time Jake got home if I hadn't tagged along, she would have run for the hills months ago. But love has a funny way of adjusting behaviors.

"I'm good, just help me get this stuff inside, okay?" I move back so that he'll move as well, though his face looked displeased entirely. It was a look that made my stomach turn a little like it matched the energy of the house that had felt off all day.

"I just want you to talk to me, Mary Jane," he says as I open the trunk, grabbing a few of the grocery bags that held the drinks while he grabbed the others.

The tone of his voice almost seemed mad, but not anger as much as frustration, which was understandable. I wasn't a star student in learning how to talk to people about my feelings, but today wasn't the right time to open that wound.

"Another time, Jake, not today."

"It's always another time with you."

Before I could defend a moot point, he was on his way inside, leaving me alone with thousands of thoughts racing through my head.

Upon entering the house, it became apparent to me that the point wasn't to be brought up again by the way Jake interacted with his brothers as if nothing happened. I play along, setting the bags on the counter as Josh gets the cooler ready before going out back to set chairs up. A cigarette hangs from my lips as I set the chairs out around the firepit, setting the projector up after that so that we could easily flow from one activity to the next with no setup. I hear the door slide open and someone approaching but don't bother to look up as I try to figure out where everything needed to be plugged in. Soon, though, a hand takes the cigarette from my lips, causing my head to snap up and my eyes to meet Sam's face.

"These things are gonna kill you, you know," he says, putting it to his lips and taking a long drag.

"You know the song, only the good die young," I mutter, turning back to what I had previously been occupied by. I can hear him crouch down beside me, looking at the back of the projector and shooing me away to fix it himself. "So what's going on with you two?"

"Sorry?"

He pulls the cigarette out of his mouth with one hand, standing up and offering me his other to help me off of the ground. "You and Jake, you went out normal and came back all quiet."

I sigh and decide against bringing any of it to light since it was technically not a fight yet. "Nothing, we were just talking for a second. I'm just feeling a little tired, I guess."

He shrugs it off and hands me my cigarette, which I take another drag from before stomping it out on the ground. We promptly head inside where I see a few of their friends, including Danny and the girl he's been talking to, had already arrived.

"To the back!" Josh announces with a grin, "the grill should be ready."

With that, everyone heads out the sliding glass door except for Jake, leaving us alone once more.

"The projector is set up," I say in a meek voice, trying to break what felt like a foot of ice standing between us. He responds with a simple nod to which I frown, stepping away to go join everyone outside and get out of whatever was brewing between the two of us for just a while longer.

With Jake keeping his distance from me, I cling to Sam as my last hope of mingling with their friends, who I've only met a couple of times. Thankfully, he treats it as normally as ever, reintroducing me to those who I've met and introducing me to those I haven't. After about 20 minutes of walking around and chatting, I head in to get more water, finding Josh in the kitchen getting more food ready to take out to the grill.

"Having fun?" I ask, heading to the sink and filling my glass up.

"Absolutely, you're a gem for putting this all together Mary Jane, seriously," he says with a genuine smile, causing me to come over and give him a tight side-hug before hearing a knock at the door.

"Who would be knocking?" I ask with a confused expression, which he returns with a shrug.

I set my glass on the counter and make my way to the door, opening it and immediately being shocked to see the person standing in front of me.

"Alex?"