with a smile like that

Chapter 8- Jade and Keaton's POVs

Jade's POV

The past few days I've spent with Alex in my house just sitting around doing pointless stuff. Keaton and Wesley were gone out of town back to Sequim for a week, so we didn't meet up. I missed Keaton, and I missed him badly. But there were only two days left until they got back, so I made the most out of my time with Alex. We've bonded over many stupid activities including popping balloons, playing monopoly until we both gave up, making stupid jokes to pass time, and a paint war.

"Do you want to do anything fun today?" Alex asked me. I really didn't know what to do other than wait so I shrugged. As I scrolled through Instagram, a picture of a house gave me an idea. "We should move in together like college roommates," I said, not thinking about how much it would cost or anything. "Wait what? I'm living with you right now," Alex said, obviously confused and thrown off by my statement. "Yeah. We should go find a small condo or something and move out. Friends do it all the time in college." She looked as if she was thinking it through. "How are we going to pay for this exactly?" She asked me. "Well, my parents have money, and I'm sure they'd let me move out," I told her, half lying about them just giving me money to move out. "Okay sure. If you're positive it'll work. I've always wanted to have my own place but also live with a friend so I guess this is both," Alex said smiling. "Let's start looking?"

Keaton's POV

Sequim was like it always had been. I missed it here, but now that I'm back, I miss Huntington. It's my home now. The past few days, Wes and I had done nothing but visit old friends, some family, and just hang. It was nothing unusual for a trip to Sequim, other than the fact I missed Jade like crazy. I was in love with her, I knew I was. Wes also hasn't stopped talking about Alex. He's going insane because he has no idea how she feels about him, and he's losing his chill. It was a little funny at times.

I only had to last two more days without Jade. All I've wanted to do was just hug her as tightly as possible and not let her go. She was the absolute best. I had to clear my thoughts of her for now though, or it'd consume me. "Wes, wanna FaceTime the girls?" I said from across the room. Wes looked up from his phone with a surprised look on his face. "Now?" I nodded and he smiled. "Come over here then," I said scooting over on the couch. He walked over here and sat down. The familiar FaceTime tone played and stopped as Jade picked up. "KEATON! I missed you so much!" She practically yelled through the speaker. I knew I had the biggest smile on my face right now. "What about me?" Wes said into the speaker with a pout on his face. "Oh wow I didn't notice you were there," Jade said while laughing. "I missed you too Jade. Only two days," I said before anyone could interrupt me. "Where's Alex?" Wes asked. "Right here! I was getting food," I heard Alex say as I head some type of bag open. I saw Wes smile as he heard her voice and I knew the exact feeling. I think my brother's in love. "I miss you Alex," Wes said. She blushed through the screen. "I miss you too!" I said laughing a little. It was obvious we all needed to hang again. We couldn't be separated much longer.

Jade's POV

After an hour of talking to Keats and Wes, we decided to wrap it up so Alex and I could look for a house. I would miss my house and Max, but I would have to leave eventually, so why not now? I was 18 after all, so it was legal. The only part I was going to worry about is telling Keaton and my parents. Keaton would be so worried about me like he usually is. He's so protective and it's really sweet, but sometimes I want him to know that I can take care of myself just fine. And I'm not going to live alone now anyways, I'll have Alex. I was hardly worried about telling my parents. I think they were expecting me to leave soon anyways, but I wasn't sure. I would love if they helped us buy the place, but I had a job so I could eventually get enough for it and pay them back.

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"I like that one," Alex said. I clicked on the picture, which pulled up more information about the small condo. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, average sized kitchen, small dining area, and average sized living room. It would be a drastic change from my large house to this small one, but it'd be fine. I really only spent time in a few rooms anyways. I scrolled down to the section where it listed extra things and it listed an in-ground pool in the backyard, a small patio, a front porch, and it came with major appliances. This condo was perfect so far. The location was actually close to the beach, near the Strombergs. It was only 8 miles away from their house. That'd be a quick drive to visit them. Now all I needed to see was the price.

It was much more than I expected, but it was perfect. I had no idea if I could even get money from my parents, but it was worth asking. I'm growing up, and I need to move out. "Let's look at it," I said, emotionless. Alex just smiled at me and nodded.