road trip 𖦹 sam kiszka

day fourteen, new jersey

"i didn't know you'd cry too!" jolyne laughed in the passenger seat as sam talked about how the ending to return of the jedi. they had a watch-a-thon of episode iv to episode vi of star wars.

"just thinking about it got me tearing up." sam laughed, fake wiping the tears from his eyes. every time jolyne watched return of the jedi, she cries, no matter how in detail she remembers that movie. that movie gets her at the very end, anakin always made her cry.

"now, we gotta watch the prequels soon!" jolyne said, looking down to her buzzing phone. she brightened the screen, seeing that ronnie and josh had texted her something ominous that she became suspicious of all the kiszka's intentions.

"why did josh and ronnie just text me saying 'have you hit the boarder of new jersey yet?'" jolyne looked to sam who shrugged, but putting a smirk on his face. she sighed, texting them back that they were almost to wildwood.

she looked out the window to see the the town become more beachy as the minutes past. she hated sand, but she loved the vibe of a beach. she dealt with the sand hatred because of the beautiful weather. plus, she never on the coast of an ocean to enjoy such a thing, so she ate up every second she got away from michigan. well, as much as she could before she hit another spout of homesickness.

soon, they arrived to the long boardwalk that was wildwood. the weather seemed to be cooler than usual, probably because it was just the morning and the sun hadn't hit the middle of the sky just yet.

"it's early, wanna go to the water park and fuck around?" sam asked, jolyne nodded her head. she put her hair into a high bun and walked toward the water park. the pair had to split up to change and met back up at the pool area. the people were just starting to crowd up, but through the people jolyne spotted three familiar faces staring back to them, smiles on their faces.

"oh my god ronnie, jake, josh!" she yelled, running toward the other kiszka siblings. they opened their arms for her to run into. the homesickness seemed to fade away. this was just like the old times before ronnie moved and the boys were in a band. she liked it.

"we just had to come see our little sister in law." josh laughed, pushing jolyne a bit and her face got red. ronnie laughed loudly at her, making her even more embarrassed. she turned away, making sure nobody could see her face now.

"last one in the pool has to buy the drinks all day!" jake screamed, running towards the deep end of the pool. everyone took off, causing the lifeguard to blow their whistles. jake, sam, ronnie, and jolyne made it into the pool before josh, causing him to groan.

"ugh, you guys are gonna hurt my pockets so bad!" josh whined and pouted. they all laughed, getting out of the pool to go back to their chairs. all, but jolyne talking about ordering alcohol later in the night.

"god, please don't tell me that you're pregnant." ronnie looked at jolyne with wide eyes.

"no! we all know that i'm asexual. i don't do that shit, period." jolyne leaned her head back.

"oh yeah!" jake nodded his head at what jolyne had said.

"you've never explained, not like WHY, but like why?" sam asked jolyne, sincere with how he asked.

"bad experiences lead to opinions on things. i just don't like it. i mean doesn't mean i won't have sex in the future." she shrugged her shoulders. she didn't know where that put her, but being labeled asexual made her feel a bit more comfortable in her own skin. that's what she told people, they understood after that.

the pool was starting to crowd, people seemed to be everywhere. jolyne and sam gave up their chairs to older ladies. they found a patch of grass and laid down their towels to lay on. after reapplying their sunscreen, they laid back onto the ground. it was lumpy, but it'll work.

"jolyne?" sam asked in a quiet voice, like he didn't want jolyne to actually hear him calling out for her. she waited to make sure he actually wanted to talk to her. he called her name again, a little louder this time.

"yes, sammy?" she asked back, looking now in his direction. his head was already turned towards her, she just couldn't tell if his eyes were open or not though because of his sunglasses. she knew later on when they drank she would have to drive, she didn't mind.

"when you said you liked me a few days ago, did you mean as a bestie, brother, or boyfriend?" he asked so causally that it caught her off guard.  sitting up on her elbows she looked at him. his expression was blank, like he really wanted her to answer the question.

"well, what do you want it to be?" she asked him, looking back up the sky. there wasn't a cloud in the sky, which she liked. the sky was so blue, it was something she loved about sunny summer days.

"do you want me to be honest?" he was still staring at her. she sighed, wanting this back and forth to be over between the two.

"yes. get it over with, sam." she said anxiously. she really wanted to know what he wanted between the two of them.

"ever since we were little, i've always wanted you to be mine." a smile grew on his face, making her face get so red. she couldn't help, but to smile back to him.

"well, glad we feel the same way." she sat up entirely now, smiling at him.

"so that settles it. jolyne elizabeth hale, will you be my girlfriend?" sam sat up now. jolyne nodded her head, holding back the years of tears she had held revolving around this one moment. she told herself if this was ever to happen, she wouldn't cry, but in reality, she knew she would. he pulled her in for a hug. they heard a distant clapping sound from the direction of where they left the rest of the kiszkas.

later on, they arrived to a bar not far from the broadwalk. josh groaned at the price of the first round of drinks. he knew it was going to be a long night of spending money.

sam and jolyne danced next to each other, creating some small talk as they did so. ronnie was with her older brothers, taunting josh for being slow earlier in the day.

"god, this is gonna be a long night sober." josh sighed, leaning forwards slightly to rest his body on the bar.