Rewind (Completed)

Chapter 48: Slip Away

Chapter 48: Slip Away

I rub my eyes tiredly and force myself to sit up, still half asleep, when I hear quiet shuffling across the floor. I internally scoff when I see the sight before me. Of course, Jay's already awake. He never sleeps in with me. I despise him for it.

"When are you supposed to leave?" I ask softly, still in the process of waking up. Last night was a late nighter, no thanks to Jay himself.

"In three hours from now," he answers carelessly, busy dragging our bags, Slobber atop one of them, downstairs.

"You couldn't have stayed next to me a little longer?" I ask him in irritation, not a morning person.

"Is that hinting at something? Is that a cry for some loving, some romance, I hear?" he teases with a warm smile, covering up how he really feels.

I shake my head at his audacity. "I guess now you'll never know."

His grin falters before fading completely. "I didn't want to wake you," he answers in earnest. "I kept you up until late last night." He tries to justify it.

"I'm going with you to the airport, you looney tune," I reply in defiance, adamant about my decision. I will not be swayed.

"I don't expect you to do that for me." He lets me off the hook. "I'll be fine."

I roll out of the bed and spring to my feet. "I'm ready. Let's go!"

He chuckles lightly. "You and Zac are more alike than you think."

"Gross!" I splutter in disgust. "Don't compare me to him."

"You can pull the bedhead off though," he jokes, gesturing to my untidy appearance. "A lot better to look at than Stokes. Much prettier."

"Where are you taking my bags?" I ask in interest, paying no heed to his mindless flirting.

I have to smile when he gets down on his haunches to say goodbye to his 'boy', Slobber. He's been insisting that Slobber stay with me, despite everything. It's as if he knows how much I'm going to need Slobber after he's gone. The love he has for Slobs, his dog, is enough to make my heart flutter.

"Xavier and Emma want to move you to a room closer to them. They're worried about you being so far away from their room, especially with me gone and everything," he explains briefly, still keeping up his pretense of being 'okay', patting Slobs behind the ears.

"Oh," I reply, not sure what to make of it all, "where are they anyway?"

"Emma's water broke," he answers, indifferent, letting Slobs go. "She was having contractions in the night, so Xavier rushed her off to the hospital."

"First of all," I pause in shock, "oh my gosh! That's not how you break that kind of news to someone! And second, do you not want to be there with them right now?"

He falls silent in guilt. "Of course, I do, Aqueela. I care as much as you do." I know he does. "They're both two of my closest friends, but I figured that I should get a head start on missing these kind of things. I'm not gonna be around for a while."

I get what he's trying to say. If he were to ever come back, Emma, Bell and Troy's children will all be ten years old. He would have missed out on so much. Who knows? Zac and Mia might be married by then. Or Laiken and Mia. Grey might actually pick a girl. Ryan might be a world famous gamer. The Dung Beatles might make a comeback. And Landon...well Lan might actually get past his anger issues once and for all – ha, fat chance! Point being... Jay's going to miss it all. Worst of all, he knows it.