Love Next Door

Chapter Fourteen- Adrien

He opened his eyes at the crack of dawn, foggy and confused. They were sore. He was still in his sweats and hoodie from last night. He sat up and quickly re-tied his messy bun which had many strands poking out of it. He groggily walked into the kitchen and fetched a glass of water to replenish his parched throat. Finding his phone on the counter he saw that it was six thirty in the morning on Christmas, no less.

"Shit..." he muttered. He hadn't planned to fall asleep so early last night, especially not before finishing the painting.

After making himself breakfast, a singular piece of peanut butter toast with coffee, he assessed his mental state. Admittedly, he was feeling much better than last night after so much crying. It had been like a mental detox. Not exactly the nicest way to spend Christmas Eve, but there was no way of taking it back now. He was supposed to being going to Tahlia's at nine thirty so he now had too many hours to kill.

He carefully finished off the painting and fit it into a box, covering it with brown paper. He stuffed the rabbit into a black and white gift bag. It wasn't exactly a pretty presentation, but considering he had to carry all of it while walking and on a train, it was a suitable enough arrangement.

Needless to say, Tahlia was relieved to see him. As if she had expected him to fade away or run off somewhere on Christmas Eve, she gave him a squishy hug as he walked through their door. To his surprise, Kasey came stumbling out from the adjacent room. David followed her closely and caught her when she fell, which was several times. But, she was standing mostly by herself.

Jay stood there, frozen in shock. Honestly, he wasn't sure when it was that children started standing or walking but surely it wasn't this soon. He grinned broadly and rushed over to his daughter to scoop her up. Tahlia and David were smiling too, knowingly, as if this had been planned. Perhaps it had been.

He put her down again and quickly fetched the black and white gift bag. He slowly pulled out the rabbit with the others watching in anticipation. Kasey watched on, mesmerised by what was appearing, and then made a high-pitched sound of delight when the rabbit made it fully out the bag. She stumbled over to him, pointing and smiling at the toy. He laughed and handed it to her and watched as she began to investigate it. The curiosity and joy were plain in her big, brown eyes.

While she was occupied he unwrapped and unboxed the painting. He was met with gasps from the two other adults. Tahlia raced over to him to inspect the painting and she hugged him again in happiness.

"It's beautiful Jay!" She cried.

David also shared her amazement and immediately went to put up the painting in Kasey's room. Jay was surprised at the reaction and was incredibly satisfied that his work had paid off. He was especially pleased that Kasey had liked the rabbit. She rarely put it down the whole day, and only when forced by her parents.

David had cooked a simple roast meat brunch/lunch for them. It was quite good, probably the best meal he had eaten for pretty much a month, which wasn't hard to accomplish. There were many laughs around the table as cheap crackers were fought over and Kasey discovered the joys of roast potatoes. It was surprisingly enjoyable for a time of year that he usually hated.

David seemed friendlier towards him as time went on. He had initially been stand offish, letting Tahlia direct conversation as he focused on Kasey. By the end of the day, however, as the man saw that Jay was not the depressive loner that he thought he had become, he treated him normally. They even laughed together at a shared joke. Everything seemed normal.

There was talk of wedding arrangements. They were planning to have a moderately long engagement so they could save up more money for it, and so Kasey would grow up a little more. It would be Jay's first wedding and he was actually a little excited. They were so happy together, Tahlia and David, that it hurt him a little. It was selfish, but he wished it was him instead. The laughing together, the way they spoke of decorating the house together, the way that they bonded together with Kasey...he was undeniably jealous.