to my destiny 💫

007.

[jackie's point of view]

of course, cole and courtney were right back in the same lovely little seats in the kitchen that they were in when i first got home from new york when alex, will, and i came home from the airport. 

cole's entire face lit up when alex walked in the door behind me. "alex! welcome home, buddy! i missed you!" he shouted as he hopped to his feet and engulfed his brother into a bear hug. alex laughed and gently pushed cole off of him. "it's good to see you too, cole. who's this?" he asked, motioning towards courtney.

"oh," cole said as his cheeks turned rosy red, "sorry. this is my girlfriend, courtney." alex raised an eyebrow. "wow, your girlfriend? i didn't know you did relationships anymore." cole gave him a look. "come on, man. just leave the past in the past, please."

the last thing i wanted was for them to get in another argument, so i butted in. "hey, alex, do you want any help unpacking? i don't have anything to do the rest of the afternoon." alex smiled at me warmly. "that'd be awesome, jackie. thanks, babe."

babe?! he seriously did not just call me that. i didn't want to have to say to him what i was going to so soon, but it couldn't wait any longer than a day. he was too eager for something to happen that just wasn't going to. i went upstairs and helped him unpack, but then i decided to head back to my room.

"hey, jackie, do you wanna come outside with me? there's some cool stuff i learned at camp that i couldn't really share with you over the phone," alex said with a smile, following me out of his room. i gave him a weak smile in return. "maybe tomorrow. i'm pretty tired right now."

i went to my room and read for about an hour and a half before heading downstairs to grab a snack. i was surprised to see courtney already digging into the refrigerator looking for something. "oh, hey, sorry, i didn't know you were coming to get something. i wouldn't have taken so much out."

"it's okay," i said with a slight shake of my head. "i'm used to it with all of the guys around here." i waited until she had found what she was looking for, some weird new kind of cream cheese, before quickly grabbing some carrots. 

"hey, can i ask you a sort of personal question?" courtney asked me. i looked up at her, a bit caught off guard. "oh, um, sure." she smiled. "cool. are you and alex dating? i know cole mentioned something about you guys being on a break or something, but then he acted like you were his wife earlier this afternoon, and i was just wondering."

i laughed and shook my head. "no, we're not dating. alex just kind of... gets in his head sometimes with the people that are around him." courtney nodded. "that's what i assumed from the way you reacted, but i just figured it would be better to ask you personally."

"why are you asking me?" i asked abruptly. "sorry if that sounded rude or ludicrous, i'm just curious. i haven't gotten to know you very well yet." courtney shrugged. "it's okay. i get it. cole's just mentioned you being the only real girly girl around here. it sounds lonely, and i just wanted you to know if you ever need someone to talk to about that kind of stuff, i'm here. i know we don't know each other well, but you seem very trustworthy."

i smiled back at her. "thanks. that's really sweet. i'm gonna go upstairs and continue reading, but i hope i'll see you around!"

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

[cole's point of view]

i was outside playing yard hockey with parker when courtney came back out with her bagel in her hand. "hey, do you know where jackie usually sits at lunch during school?" she asked me. i looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. "uh, i think with grace and skylar. why?"

"oh," courtney said with a shrug. "i was just wondering if she'd want to sit with us." i smiled and shook my head. "that's sweet of you, court, but i think jackie would prefer to stay with her close friends." 

courtney chuckled. "come on, cole. you're like her older brother. why are you so against us being friends?" older brother to jackie? definitely not. more like ex-situationship that tried to be an older brother to her at first but utterly failed because of how much he liked her and now can't because it's not a good idea.

"jackie and i aren't anywhere as close as i am to my brothers. she's a good person and i like her, but alex gets really territorial when it comes to his girls. i don't want to give him the wrong idea if you know what you mean," i told court.

she nodded with a sigh. "right. they still think you're the same guy you were last year. i'm sorry about that. alex just needs to spend more time with you. then he'd see what a great guy you've become."

"yeah, that won't be happening anytime soon," i said with a humorless laugh. "obviously, as you could probably tell from the way he talked to me earlier, he's got no interest in becoming close with me or really talking to me at all, and i don't blame him."

court shook her head. "well, he's just going to have to learn to live with it. when you guys get older, you'll like each other more. family is the only stability you really have when you leave home. my sister can vouch for that."

"hey... are you and jackie like... becoming friends now?" i asked cautiously. she smiled. "yeah, i think so. she seems to like me, and i'd love to become good friends with her. why do you ask?" i shrugged. "just curious, that's all."