𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐲

VIII. My Family Too.

    

     WHILE WAITING for Sarah's and his drink, Olivia ahd walked up to Jake, softly clearing her throat to make her presence known. The Lennox quickly looked at her, then softly smiled. "Hi Liv." He says and she just tucks a stray hair behind her ear. "So... you and Kiara still going strong?" She cut straight to the point, didn't even say hi or literally anything else.

"Nope... back to being friends." He said as he looked away, just as they brought his cup of rum and coke. It's crazy how much teenagers can get away with on this island. "Friends?" Olivia asked and he nods, humming as he took a big gulp of his drink then turned to her. He glanced up then down, she's dressed in a floral cami tank tucked into a shorts. "You look nice." He says, smiling faintly at her.

"Quite the flatterer." She said, smiling back as she tilts her head a bit. "Your hair too. You always have the best hairstyle out of all the Kook girls I know." He said and she just looked away, towards the bartender who brought over another drink. "Guessing that's for Kie..." She said and he looks at the other drink that was set down right next to his.

"It's actually for Sarah..." He says, now picking up both of his drinks. "I'll see ya around, Liv." He says and she just watched him, her eyes never leaving him as he walked away. Jake approached the girls, setting down Sarah's drink, "thank you, Jake." The Cameron girl smiled and he smiles back, then glanced at Kie who's kind of absentmindedly swirling the ice around in her cup, looking down.

"Hang on. Please, excuse me." Mike says, now up on the stage. "Thank you. Um..." He paused, looking towards where Jake stood with Kie and Sarah, before looking away. "I just want to say a few words, and I'm not much into giving speeches, but I do want to say thank you for coming out and thank you for your support after a rough few months." The man continued on, looking all around the party.

"I want to say thank you to our daughter for being here." He looked towards Kie who smiled and shyly covered her face, looking around. "Hey, we love you." Mike tells her daughter who nods. "Love you too." Kie says as Jake smiles, glancing from Kie to Mike, who once again looked at him. "But most of all..." Mike then began again, looking away.

He looked at his wife, who laughs, "come here." He tells her, his hand extended to her as the crowd cheers when the woman steps up. "Thank you, Anna... for 15 years, for making this restaurant a symbol of our life. I love you." He tells the woman, just as Jake glanced over at Kie who was smiling at her parents. "I love you." Anna tells his husband as Kie glanced over at Jake, so the boy just quickly looked away, taking a sip of his drink.

"Figure Eight, the Cut. Everyone's together here. As one island. So, thank you for putting up with us." The crowd then cheers when Mike finished up his speech. "Cheers." He held up his cup. "Thank you all for coming!" Anna said as everyone else held up their cups. "Cheers." The band continued on as Kie walked over to her parents and Jake smiles, watching the two embrace their daughter.

He glanced at Sarah, seeing her watching them sadly before she smiles, looking down. "Psst. Sarah." The girl turned around, seeing John B who walked over, the two embracing quickly. Jake just watched them head over the other way, talking to one another. He watched the pair, John B touching Sarah's face before the two then embrace one another.

As the two continued talking, Kie walked over to where he was standing, "what's going on?" She asked and Jake turns to her, shrugging his shoulders. "Not sure." He said quietly, taking a sip from his drink once again. "I'm gonna go look for JJ." He walked away and she sighed, looking over to where Sarah and John B were, just as the boy walked away from her.

He found him kind of crouching down behind a fence, "JJ." He leans over and JJ slowly looked up. "Hey. Everything okay?" He asked and the Maybank slowly stood up. "Just didn't wanna spoil the party. Thought I should keep my distance. Mike and I kind of got into a spat that day I was asserting things with Kie." He explained, nodding to the couple who Jake quickly looked over to.