Life in Words

Short Story // Pt. 3: "Be My...?"

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One year later...

At church Abbie looked quite stunning in a new summer dress. Jonathan couldn't help but stare at her as she played the flute in the band, her arms now toned slightly. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her fingers and the twirled across the notes. The church band were still convincing him to play his trombone in the band, but he didn't want Abigayle to see the way his cheeks puffed out as he played.

After the service, Jonathan approached Abbie as she was cleaning out her flute, "You played really good today. You always do."

"Thanks Jonathan. Do I have permission to call you JJ yet? Am I important enough?"

Jonathan took a step closer, "You can, Abbie," he tapped her on the nose, she leaned up and kissed his.

They made their way to the hall for morning tea. Abbie took a biscuit and nibbled on it, "Do you want to go outside JJ?"

"I do," he replied, and Abbie took his arm and led him to outside the church. They sat down and leant against the wall.

"Why here?" Jonathan inquired, Abbie rubbed her forefinger over the palm of his hand, and turned it over in her own and squished it between hers liked a sandwich.

She looked up at him, "I wanted to tell you something."

"And what's that?" he laced his fingers with Abbie's.

Abbie leaned slightly closer, "Do you feel it too?"

"What exactly?"

"Your heart," she explained, releasing her hand from his hold and placing it on Jonathan's chest, right above his racing heart, "How it races, how it speeds up."

Jonathan inhaled sharply.

"Because I feel it, whenever you're in the same room as me, whenever you're next to me, whenever we talk, whenever you cross my mind, or my path. It speeds up like it never has before and I get this funny feeling in my stomach which isn't bad at all, in fact I quite like it because I only feel it when I'm around you."

Jonathan knew Abbie could feel his heart speed up underneath her small soft fingers, how it ran a million miles just when they locked eyes, how know it was speeding a trillion miles with her touching his chest. She looked at him, into his icy blue and eyes and Nathan looked at her, into her light brown eyes. As if they were on the same wavelength, a silent message passed between the two.

"The thing is," Abbie whispered, "I really really really really like you."

"You do?"

"I do," Abbie replied as Jonathan leaned a tiny bit closer, "I really really really really like you too."

Abbie also leaned a tiny bit closer, her hand slipping from above his heart to his bare neck, his bare skin, and Jonathan's neck grew hot under her touch, "You do?"

"I do," Jonathan smiled.

She went to kiss him on the nose, but Jonathan pressed his lips to hers instead. It was almost as if they were both waiting for this feeling for a very long time. It was beautiful, as their lips collided and danced together. It was like a firework, as their hearts both beat so fast it seemed as if they may explode into a gazillion of colours. It was artwork as his hand trailed up her bare arm and into the soft hair he so longed to touch as her hand stayed on his neck, and her other clumped a ball of his shirt in her fist.

They gently broke apart and Jonathan didn't know what to do, should he say anything, or lean in for more? Abbie released his shirt from her fist and took her hand from his neck and ruffled his hair instead. Jonathan took his hand from her hair and pushed her glasses up her nose. She suddenly wrapped his arms around him, and Jonathan could finally do the same, to protect and love her, like he had wanted to as soon as he met her.

"Thank you," he whispered in her ear, and she kissed him on the nose, before kissing him on the lips. This time they each knew what they were doing, it wasn't a big mystery, yet still was a sensory overload. The feeling in Jonathan was so good that he had to pull away before he wanted to.

He stood up, and Abbie looked up at him innocently.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing's wrong. In fact, everything's perfect."

She stood up. She laced her finger with his. He looked down and he full lips, that curved up at the ends slightly, and couldn't help leaning in for more. Their lips moved in synchronisation and soon her hands were in his hair again, and his around the small of her back.

She was the first the pull away when she heard her name called out by her parents, "I should probably go."

She looked down and then hugged him again.

"Will you..." Jonathan trailed off, "you know...?"

"Yes?" Abbie pressed on.

"Be my...?"

"Of course."

Jonathan grinned, now extremely happy, and kissed her gently on the cheek, then her nose, then on the other cheek, "Thank you," he repeated.

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Everything, it seemed, was perfect from then on. Jonathan's grades were stable, he passed his Trombone exam with flying colours, his friends (not just at youth) were supporting him more and then... there was Abigayle. When she was holding your hand, and braiding your hair, laughing and working and smiling with you, what could be imperfect? She brought a certain light to the world he had never knew was there, and the fireworks each kiss brought made him soar.

But that was when everything came crashing down. Abigayle was becoming thinner and thinner each week, barely eating much at school, at youth or after church. What made things scarier was that sometimes she didn't come out of the toilets at all at break, and when she came back she smelt slightly of vomit.

All was revealed when the Downing family was over at the Cook's for dinner. Jonathan and Abbie sat next to each other, but this time Abbie was eating. It wasn't long before Abbie scraped her chair back and she ran down the hall into what looked like the bathroom. Jonathan rushed after, knowing what was happening.

Sure enough, he heard vomiting, Abbie was bent over the toilet and spewing up her meal, and possibly other meals of the day. Jonathan called for her parents desperately, but they were already racing down the hall. Jonathan stepped back and soon the hall was filled with everyone in the house. But Abbie didn't stop vomiting, it just kept on coming up and up, until she was dry wrenching into the toilet bowl. But even that wouldn't stop, and soon an ambulance was called and she was rushed off to the closest hospital.

Jonathan yelled that he wanted to go with her, because he needed to know she wasn't dying. But as he struggled against his older brother and Father, the ambulance drove off into oblivion, leaving the Downing's shell shocked. They prayed for Abigayle, then stayed at the house like Mr. Cook had asked in a rush.

It was scary, while Jonathan waited for the call that everything -hopefully- was alright, and she was going to be fine and he could go see Abbie as soon as possible. Instead he took himself to her room and hugged her pillow which lay on her bed, rocking back and forth, praying that she'd be alright, that she'd be fine, that she'd live.

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