The Days That Count

16. The Day Of The Prayer

Tomorrow. Christmas afternoon. Around three pm.

It has been a peaceful night, well, so it seemed.

Heavenly and Jordan haven't talked anymore about the little incident that happened last night, or almost happened, whichever way you define it. Two friends ended up listening to old Christmas songs, drinking tea at two in the morning after too much beer and falling asleep - Heaven in her bedroom and Jordan on the couch. Once they caught sleep, that is. Separated by a wall, but sharing the same uneasiness, both of them stayed awake staring into the darkness for quite some time, rewinding that whole day and evening.

Jordan's lip felt swollen from too much biting into it, not able to bear the tension. How can he lose his cool so much? He wondered. How can I allow myself to do such things? I'm only gonna push her away... After it took such a long time for us to find each other again. Ugh. His arm kept covering his eyes as he laid on his back and sighed way too many times.

Heavenly spared half of her mind to Jordan, half to her boyfriend Maxx. She was somewhat stressed for letting herself end up in that position with Jordan, but consoled herself thinking it couldn't have led to something more. They were just arguing and it got intense. It didn't have any meaning. Right? Above all, Maxx acted with such wantonness towards her that day, making a scene and then hanging up. I felt really lonely. She thought as she brought covers over her head, feeling cold. Her heart was wounded by Maxx and Jordan was there, challenging her even more. It might've been even one of his many teasings towards Heav.

Back to this day. Heavenly was sitting comfortably in her pajamas, staring at the phone screen. She was expecting Maxx to contact her ever since she woke up at eleven, but nothing happened.

"Ugh. " She hugged her knees, lifting her feet up to the edge of the couch in a sitting position. Heavenly's chin rested on her knees while she stared into space.

Jordan had left around half an hour ago to return some textbook he borrowed from a friend from faculty. It seemed he got held back for quite a while, considering he said it was gonna take fifteen minutes at most. Heavenly scrolled through Instagram to kill time and drank her second coffee for the day. That's when she saw her boyfriend posted a story. Entering it, she saw him in a picture with his family, mom, dad and two sisters. Swiping left, she entered the picture of him with some people his age, smiling and hugging each other, looking at the camera. Probably some old friends. They looked happy. She smiled a bit, staring at his face. He looked good. She sighed then and stopped smiling. He has time to post stories but won't contact me and say Merry Christmas? Heavenly complained. That's when the third story came and it gave her heart a skip. It was nothing much really but it somehow threw her out of her mood. One blonde girl from the previous group of friends and him on a picture. Maxx was smiling at the camera and she was kissing his cheek.

She's pretty. Heavenly thought. After staring at it for a while, she put down her phone and narrowed her eyebrows. Okay. Relax. It's just a friend from high, obviously.

Front door flew open. She didn't remember to lock it. Her chin raised. Parker stood there soaked in snow. He shook his jacket before entering to not bring any into the apartment.

"I'm back! "

"You stayed out quite a while. " she noticed.

Jordan hung his jacket and took off shoes. His cheeks were red from cold. He kind of seemed like a child, being so flushed.

"Sorry. Rick and I grabbed some coffee at a nearby cafe. I tried to come back as soon as possible. " He walked across the room and sat on the couch beside her.

"Oh. " Heaven drank a bit more of her coffee.

"Did you miss me so much?" Jordan smirked.

Heavenly's eyes went wide and she hit him in the arm. "As if, you dork. "

"Okay, okay. I'm kidding. " He paused and leaned his elbows on his knees, looking at her. "What's with the long face?" Jordan noticed her mood went low.

"It's genes. " she tried to avoid the conversation.

"I didn't mean physically, I meant why are you sulking?" he chuckled.

The picture of Maxx with the pretty blonde appeared in her head. Heavenly hit Joe in the arm again.

"I'm not sulking. Shut up. " she forced out a laugh.

Jordan examined her for a while but then decided to give up. "Okay. Do you wanna visit the local church with me? "

The two friends made eye contact from a close distance. Her eyes glowed up. Heavenly has always liked visiting the church on holidays but this morning she passed the liturgy because they stayed up late last night and... She didn't really wanna go alone. Every year she went with her family but this year she got held back. She was thinking of proposing this to Maxx but the plan backfired. Heavenly never thought Jordan would come and suggest this on his own since he wasn't much of a religious type.

Joe knew she liked that stuff, and he wanted her to get her mind off of her fight with Maxx, at least a little.

"Really? You wanna?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Then we should go! " Heavenly clapped her hands, smiling for real this time. "I'm so happy. "

Joe chuckled at her sudden happiness. She seemed so radiant. He was glad that he proposed this idea. "Then go get ready so we can go as soon as possible. "

"Okay!" Heaven stood up and rushed into the bathroom.

That part of day made her forget about Maxx if just a little. The two of them left the house fifteen minutes later and decided to walk to the church. It was snowing pretty badly but the day was bright. Perfect Christmas.

As Heaven and Jordan entered through the gate of the church, a kind of silence appeared in their hearts. Calmness. Some people came with families and a lot of kids could be seen around in the front yard, but inside was so calm, with only a few people standing in peace and quiet. They both breathed out visible air and put their palms together, closing eyes.

I am thankful for good health and prosperous studies.

I am thankful for the well-being of my family and friends.

I pray that everyone around me is happy and healthy.

I pray that my studies go well.

I pray that my love life is stable.

I pray that I keep fighting through all the hardships.

Little child's cry echoed through the walls of the sacred building, yet it didn't disturb the peace. It felt like it should be right there, like the most god-like frequency to exist. Joe opened his eyes halfway and took a quick glance at Heavenly's calm face. Lashes latching onto her closed eyes seemed so long. She looked happy. He smiled. I'm glad I brought her here. Joe closed his eyes again, and uttered one more prayer in his head, prayer that echoed all the way up from the deepest part of his heart.

In that moment, Heavenly's eyes opened and took a small look at his face. Jordan seemed like the backbone anyone could lean onto. He looked so calm, so divine and manly. Like a perfect protector. Her heart skipped a beat. She was happy he brought her here. Her eyes closed yet again as she spoke to God again.

I am thankful to have this person in my life. I pray that this friendship lasts forever. Both of them thought of each other, as a last wish. They shared a glance, and a small smile, having no idea that the other is thinking the exact same.