Give it time - A Jiara Story

Chapter 2- Surviving

The car ride was silent until my mom turned the radio to a smooth jazz station. JJ and I were in the back with my dad and mom talking in hushed voices. I could hear them, but I was too drained to try to listen. So instead I just held onto JJ. I needed to keep him and Pope close from now on. I wasn't losing another best friend. He looked over at me some of the time, just checking in, I knew he was worried about me more than he liked to admit. JJ was like that, always bottled up his feelings. I knew I would have to talk to him about this whole thing soon, but not right now. Right now it was just us in the car, listening to jazz as his head slowly fell onto my shoulder. My dad glanced back once, did a double take, and then decided to leave it alone. He knew better than to talk to me about anything other than John B. right now.

JJ POV

As the car parked, I woke up with a start, trying to remember where I was. There was something on my cheek, or rather my cheek was on something. I glance downward and see Kie's shoulder holding up my head. For some reason my heart beat a little faster for a second. But then it stopped when I remembered what had happened. I had fallen asleep on Kie because of the draining night I had had. 

"Wake up sleepy head" Kie said softly. I knew she was gonna go easy on me these next few days, I needed it, but I didn't deserve it. 

"I'm up I'm up" I say, lifting my head off her shoulder. Her dad shoots me a look and then disappears into Kie's house.

"Alright JJ, your bedroom will be this one, right beside Kie's." Mrs. Carrera says to me, gesturing to a beach themed bedroom down the hall. 

"Thanks Miss C, it really means a lot" I nod, trying not to get emotional. My dad never did anything to help me like this. I was just glad to be with family that cared enough about me to give me a clean room.

"Anything more I can do?" Asked Mrs. C. I shook my head. She's done more than enough. 

Kie grabbed my hand and pulled me to my new room while her parents went upstairs to talk about us, no doubt. 

"So, what do you think?" Kie asked, clearly trying to ignore John B or anything to do with him.

"I love it, I really love it" I said in awe. The bed was a queen, which was more space than I had ever had to just lay down. The window had an amazing view of the ocean and I had an actual closet. There was a desk and a journal. I walked forward to pick it up and read the first page. 

-JJ, write anything you want in here- *heart* Kie

I turned to her. 

"How did you know I was coming?"

"I knew as soon as you came back from your dad's after we got the boat. So I bought it to make sure there was something here waiting for you." She shrugged it off like it was no big deal, but in my eyes, it was the first present anyone had gotten for me in years. So I ran over to her and smothered her with a hug. She stepped back a little, and then hugged me tight. A flashback flew into my mind. 

The hot tub

Kie crying

My bruises

The hug

Silent tears rolled down my cheeks as she held on to me. As she backed up, she did a double take. Her eyes traveled down my face and she reached a hand out to wipe my tears away. I flinched away. Her eyes softened with understanding as she put her other hand on my cheek, and then wiped the tears away with her other hand. Despite it all, the sides of my lips started to tilt upward. A faint smile graced my face. Her presence just made me calmer, and it let my guard down. It was equally amazing and terrifying.