to my destiny 💫

005.

[jackie's point of view]

around the middle of july, i finally decided what to do about junior year. i was going to go back to silver falls. there really wasn't any good option for me in new york. i still had old friends and had been able to hang out some over the summer, but it just wasn't the same. 

danny's program with julliard finished a little before the end of july. he was originally going to already head back to silver falls, but i convinced him to stay until i went back a week and a half before the first week of school. he agreed to stay so he could finish his job up at kilwins and spend a little more time in the city before the chaos of silver falls.

finally, the day to go back to silver falls arrived. "are you sure you're ready to go back for good this time? you can always stay a little longer," uncle richard said with a smile as we headed down to the uber. i nodded. "yeah, i'm ready. believe it or not, i've actually kind of missed silver falls."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

[will's point of view]

i was at my parents' house hanging out with some of my siblings when my mom came downstairs and said, "i'm so sorry, will, but dad's already gone for his meeting with the possible buyers, and i just got an emergency call from the clinic. are you able to go and pick danny and jackie up?"

i nodded. "uh.. yeah, sure. haley doesn't get out of class until later tonight, so that's fine. i won't be able to stay here after i pick them up, though." mom smiled and said, "thank you so much. tell cole he's in charge of the kids."

i raised an eyebrow. "uh, isn't courtney over? wouldn't it be better to put isaac or someone else in charge?" she shook her head. "cole's girlfriend can leave if she has to. he's gotten more mature, and i'm sure it'll be better than isaac being left in charge of everyone else. i'll see you on saturday for game night. love you! drive safe!"

i quickly grabbed my car keys and headed out. courtney and cole were out chilling by the pool, so i went and told him, "i'm leaving. mom said you're in charge. make sure no one gets into fights or does anything stupid."

"alright, got it. does she need anything done around the house while she's gone?" cole asked. i was still getting used to the new, respectful, responsible cole. "not that i know of. might want to keep an extra eye on benny, though. i'll be back soon."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

[jackie's point of view]

i was expecting katherine to pick danny and i up, but when we got to bag pickup, will was the one standing there waiting for us. "hey guys! we missed you." will said with a smile as he walked over to give us both hugs. 

"i missed you too, will," danny said as he wrapped his arms around will's. "yeah, it's really good to see you," i said with a smile. "is katherine here too? i thought she was picking us up."

will nodded. "yeah, she was supposed to, but there was a medical emergency at the clinic. she wanted to be here. i'm sure the others would have too, but cole's at home watching over them, and dad's talking to some people for work, so it's just me."

i tried my hardest not to smile just hearing his name. even though we haven't texted much over the summer, i've missed cole. he means a lot to me. i can't wait to see him again and hear all about his summer and what he accomplished. he's so sweet. i feel giddy just thinking about him. 

"that's too bad," i said. "i would've loved seeing all of them. alex gets home thursday, right?" will nodded. "yeah. you guys can come with me to pick him up at the airport if you want." i nodded with a smile.

 i'm not sure if i'm going to do that or not. it all depends on how the dynamic between me and cole is. i don't want alex to feel like i stayed home for cole, so if cole and i are on pretty regular terms, i shouldn't stay home. if we're kind of distant again, i will stay home.

it took a little over an hour to get to the house. will told us all about everything happening over the summer and how well he and haley were doing. i told him i was sorry that i wasn't there after the wedding, but i just had to get out. he understood. danny and i both took turns telling him about what we did in new york, and we had a pretty good conversation. will had gotten a lot less awkward since the last time i saw him.

i got to see parker and benny as soon as i hopped out of the car. it seemed everyone else was inside or doing their own thing. i wondered where cole was, especially since he was apparently supposed to be looking after everyone else. my question was answered as soon as i walked in the door.

he was sitting at the kitchen table drinking lemonade with a girl i'd never seen before. she was very pretty. her hair was mid-lengthed and ginger colored, she had piercing blue eyes, and her skin was flawless. 

i felt a little of my heart splinter seeing the two of them together. all this time, i had been thinking about him... and he was with this girl. she was beautiful, and she looked kind. she gave off an entirely different first impression than when i'd first met erin last year.

cole coughed on a smile as he set his lemonade down on the table. "welcome back to silver falls, new york."