This Summer (Jake Paul and friends)

Chapter 30

"There she is, the sleeping queen", I'm greeted with Shay's voice when I walk into the kitchen. "Ha-ha. Shay real mature. Where are the twins?" I ask while looking around for something to drink. She sets a glass of orange juice on the counter and scoots it towards me while replying, "They're outside playing. I was going to wake you up, but from the expression you were wearing last night, I thought you'd need as much sleep as you could get. Do you want to talk about it?" I gratefully smile at her and shake my head no. "Things lately for me have been pretty complicated and I finally let it consume me. Thank you so much Shay for letting me stay the night. It means a lot to me, I needed time and space from the life I've made in LA", I tell her while finishing off the orange juice. "You can spend the day here if you like? I know the kids love you from last night", Shay suggests. I smile again, but decline, "No I need to figure things out and face reality. No more running from the problems." Shay lets outs a small laugh and says, "You aren't a regular eighteen year old. I'm proud of you for wanting to deal with your problems. Take care until I see you in a month, ok?" I nod and get up to give her a hug.

There's a nice breeze as I walk along the sidewalk next to the beach. It's crowded today and usually this would bother me, except now I find myself enjoying all the people. I watch kids holding their parents hands and tugging them along to go to all the different shops. I watch the older kids walk a distance away from their parents while on their phones texting. There's a small snow cone kiosk off to the side, so I buy one and walk a little way until I see an open seat on a bench. There's an elderly couple already sitting there so I ask, "Do you mind if I take a seat?" They look at me and smile sweetly while the woman answers, "Of course not, take a seat sweetie. We don't bite." I smile back and sit down.

"Did you remember to feed the cat Jerry?" the woman asks her husband. He shakes his head at her and replies, "Meredith you always ask things like I forget to do everything. I don't have memory loss yet woman." She points her finger at him and accuses, "Don't snap at me. Did you forgot the time you left the car running, because you went to use the restroom but then forgot the car was turned on?" Jerry sighs and asks her, "You won't ever let that go will you?" Meredith softly pats his thigh and replies, "I remember everything and will continue to remind you that I do." I'm curiously watching them and lost in their conversation that I don't catch myself before asking, "How long have you been married?" They pause in the batter and turn towards me once again. "Too long", Jerry answers. Meredith swats him and smiles at me while saying, "Too long." Jerry looks at her and comments, "That's exactly what I said woman." Meredith looks at him and says, "Yeah but I wanted to say it first." For some reason they bring comfort to me, maybe it's the thought that I'll grow old with someone and end up at them. "He was my best friend", Meredith's words bring me back from my thoughts. "Were you high school sweethearts?" I curiously ask. She shakes her head no and takes her time replying, but I don't mind. I can tell she's pondering how she wants to tell me the story. "He went off to war and everyday he was gone made me realize I loved him. I didn't realize how much he meant to me, until the thought of never seeing him again consumed my mind. The day he got back I ran into his arms and to my surprise he was the one to kiss me. That's what technically the start of us."

I don't know how to respond to her story, it's so touching. "While I was away I thought of her every day. She got me through the rough ones", Jerry finally speaks out. I look back at them and find that they're looking at each other with so much love, as if their love hasn't faulted since the first day. "Marry your best friend, then you can live a happy life", Meredith comments. "Does it make it easier?" I ask. She sweetly smiles at me again before answering, "Life's never easy, but at least you know you're going through life with the person that knows you best." With those words I feel a huge weight lift off of me. She's right, how could I be so blind? I've been running away from the person that knows me best. I get up off the bench in a hurry and thank Meredith and Jerry for their advice. Then leave in the direction of the place I thought I wanted to avoid.

Every step I take I rethink about what I'm doing. I mean what am I going to say? That I've realized I have feelings for you? A memory flashes in my mind as I walk along the sidewalk.

Tears streak down my face as I look at my now ruined sandcastle. Jake runs up to me and begins to shake me while asking, "Who did this? Abbi who did this?" I push him away and tell him to leave me alone, but he ignores me and reassures, "I'll never leave you when you're sad. You're my best friend." I stop crying and actually look at him. It was his sixth birthday today, yet here he was concerned about me. "Promise?" I ask. Jake smiles at me and holds me against him. "You can count on me. I promise", he tells me as he steps back. I wipe my tears on my shirt and nod my head at him. "Then let's go ruin Geoffrey's sandcastle", I tell him. Jake pauses and looks at me, then a huge smile appears on his face. "I never liked Geoffrey. Remember that time he broke my pencil?" he asks me. I laugh and add, "Or the time he pulled my pig-tails. He's so rude." Jake grabs my hand and we walk over to where Geoffrey is. "Why did you knock Abbi's castle over?" Jake demands. Geoffrey looks up at us and replies, "Maybe I wanted you to be the Princess of my castle." I pause and glare at him while asking, "Why would you want to do that?" He looks up at me then stands up to be my eye level as he replies, "Because I like you." My eyes go wide and I grab Jake's arm. "I'm already married to Jake and I don't want anybody else", I reassure Geoffrey and anyone else listening.

I feel butterflies in my stomach. Could this be real? How could I have been so foolish to not see what was in front of me? I take a glance at where I am and surprised to find I'm here, I don't know what lead me to stand here in front of his door. I can hear my breath exhaling and inhaling, but nothing else. Should I knock? What if he's not even home? I'm over thinking this, I mean I came here for a reason, right? I slowly raise my hand up to bring it to the door, except I can't find the strength to actually knock. I lower my hand back to my side and turn around to leave. However, the first step I take away from the door regret fills me. I turn back so fast I surprise myself when my fist connects with the door. I can hear noise from the other side of the door and in the first few seconds I know it's now or never that I can leave, except I don't. Instead I stay put and count the seconds until the door finally opens. I don't breathe in the moment our eyes connect. It's really happening. I'm really here. I've finally realized who makes me happy and I'm ready to accept it.

"Abbi, I wasn't expecting to see you", he tells me with surprise in his tone, yet he's giving me a smile now. "But always a pleasure to see you of course", he adds while stopping away so I can come in. I stand by the door, not sure how to approach the topic I came to have. Do I just come out and say it? "Is everything ok?" he asks me coming a little closer. I don't know what comes over me, but before either one of us can say anything more I connect my lips with his. He steps back, taken by surprise, as my name slips off his lips, "Abbi." I don't know what to stay but simply, "Jake."

_____________________________________________________________

I forgot to mention in the last chapter a huge thanks for the 3K reads! So THANK YOU to everyone reading! I love you guys, you're the best. Two more chapters....I know it's heartbreaking that this story is ending, but I'm proud to say that I've started another book!!!!!!!!

The book is called he doesn't know, and I won't be  uploading the first chapter until after This Summer is officially done. I'm so happy the outcome for This Summer has had and I hope everyone checks out my next book. It's not a fanfic, but does involve strong friendships and relationship conflicts. In the next chapter I'll include the summary.

Well until next week :)