18 Days ➳ Riley McDonough/ Before You Exit Fanfic

9.

March 10th // 2nd day

R I L E Y

I woke up early the next, only to find myself on the couch with Jade curled up right next to me. Her makeup was smeared and her nose was still red from all the crying she'd done last night.

It was supposedly day two out of eighteen and I had nothing planned. Absolutely nothing.

Just thinking about one day of no activities and no purpose was enough to make me feel anxious and uneasy. I didn't know what to do, but I had to think of something.

"Did I wake you?" asked Toby, who just casually strolled out of the kitchen with a glass of chocolate milk in one hand and a can of whipped cream in the other.

"No," I replied. "Don't tell me that's what you're eating for breakfast though."

"Alright, I won't."

I rolled my eyes and chuckled as Jade shifted a bit when I tried to adjust my position.

It then hit me how stressed out I was, and I suddenly felt the bags under my eyes get heavier and the ache in my muscles was painful enough to make me wince. And it was only the second day.

"I need some of that whipped cream," I said tiredly as Toby handed me the can and I shook it, before pressing down on the top and filling my mouth with it.

I noticed Toby staring down at Jade's sleeping face, looking kind of mesmerized. Then he reached out to brush a piece of hair out of her face ever so gently, so as to not wake her up, before he finally met my intense gaze.

"She looks so at peace," he said calmly, taking a sip of his chocolate milk, which then left a faint chocolate mustache on his upper lip that he didn't bother to wipe away. "Don't you think?"

I nodded.

"She's a ghost with a heartbeat."

The whipped cream wouldn't force itself down my throat as it battled a sob, but my devastation was stronger than anything else in my aching body. The sadness had eaten up anything I could've had left and now, I felt void. Completely numb from any other feeling but heartache.

"So what's the plan?" Toby asked, after gulping down the last of his chocolate milk.

"What plan?"

"Your how to make the best of Jade's last eighteen days plan."

I thought for a while, trying to think of something that we could do for that day, but nothing came to mind, and I ended up scratching my head in utter frustration - pulling some strands of hair out in the process.

"Are we going to get to spend time with her?"

I looked at him skeptically, not really understanding the question he'd just asked. "Of course you wil-"

"No. I mean," Toby said, cutting me off, and I was sort of taken aback by the harshness of his voice, but he started speaking again. This time his words were gentle and soft. "Are we each going to get a day with her? Like, individually?"

"I don't know, bro. I kind of wanted to-" but I was cut off again.

"Don't be selfish, Riley. We all want to spend time with her just as much as you do," Toby said. "One whole day for me. One for Connor. One for Thomas. One for Braiden. And one for Ryan."