waiting ii.

vingt-cinq

"Tatum Fernsby! Long time no see!"

"Babe, who're these people?" a light-skinned man asks, walking towards the three. Isla had a camera in her hand and her raven hair had cascaded from a baseball cap. 

"This is Tatum Fernsby. Bailey's little sister," Isla says, before shrugging when he asks about 'the stiff model'. "How have you guys been? Where did you go? Did everything go well?"

"Uh, not really." Jasper grabs Tatum's hand as she answers the questions altogether. "But, we're adjusting.

"Oh no, is the baby okay?" Isla asks, pity in her eyes. 

"Baby? Oh, you're your sister's Bails. The pregnant one, right?" the light-skinned man says, smirking. "I'm Kevyn with a 'y' instead of an 'i'."

Jasper wraps his arm around her shoulders. She smiles awkwardly, waving softly, "Yep. Uh, this is Jasper."

"Aw, you guys are so cute," Isla cooes, annoying Tatum. "Oh my gosh, you must be a freshman now! How's college?"

"Actually, I'm a high school senior. But, Jasper's in college," Tatum says, earning a soft nudge from him. 

"Cool, whatcha' studying?" Kevyn asks, copying the couple and throwing his arm around Isla. 

"Major in english studies and minor in astrology," Jasper says stiffly, internally relaxing as Tatum rubs his back.

"Woah, you got a keeper, Tate. Smart, nice, and hot.' Isla's boyfriend, Kevyn, simply ignores her words about Jasper. 

"Please don't call me Tate," she says, Jasper now taking her place and rubbing her back comfortingly. 

"But everyone called you Tate at school, Bails called you that," Kevyn says, trying too hard to be obviously affectionate. "Unless something's changed."

"Something has," Tatum simply states. "Uh, we should probably get going, We've got a couple hours of driving to do."

"Oh my gosh, what're you guys even doing in Tacoma?" Isla asks in questioning. She was not planning on letting them go without another 20 questions.

"I wanted to treat m'lady," Jasper says, looking down at her with an infectious smile. "But, we have to go home and see the little bug."

"Is that Bailey's? Or did you have one too?" Kevyn asks, kissing Isla's cheek unnecessarily. 

"Bailey's, but we raise him as our own while she's gone," Jasper steps in, his phone instantly ringing after he says so. "It's my sister, we should go, darlin'."

"He calls you darling, that's sooo cute!" Isla squeals, making the others cringe internally. 

"Babe, we should let them go. Babies are hard to take care of, I think," Kevyn says, dragging Isla away while waving goodbye to the other two. 

Jasper looks at his phone before answering and putting it on speaker, "Alice, you're on speakerphone. Behave."

"Oh please, I know what you're doing. I also know that you two needed help. You are not good at social situations," Alice teases, making Tatum laugh. "Hey, don't even get me started on you, girlie!"

"Yeah...hum don't drag me into this," Tatum say, chuckling softly. Jasper grabs Tatum's hand and intertwines their fingers as they walk back towards the museum. "But, hey, we saw your painting!"

"Oh good, did you like it?" Alice asks, squealing sightly. 

"Is that Tatum?" Rosalie asks from Alice's side of the phone. "Did she like her painting?"