Unexplainable [Original Version]

[chapter twenty-eight: "quite frankly"]

"Have fun." I try to keep the venom out of my voice. The smile Eric gives me churns my stomach.

"I'll see the two of you later. Again, welcome back, Jolene!"

I wait until Eric's gone to fake gag and spit out air. Kev gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze before we turn to face one another. One look at him proves that he's as aggravated by Eric as I am.

"Is it wrong for me to want to punch him square in the mouth? Without holding anything back?" I ask with a tart laugh. "I mean, I doubt I could do too much damage to him, but I'm sure it'd be enough to knock that damn smug look off of his face."

"I won't stop you, if that's what you really want to do." Kev chuckles before wrapping his arms around and me and pulling me close to his chest. I snake my arms around his waist with a smile. He places a soft kiss on the top of my head before commenting, "I'm so fuckin' glad you're back, Joli."

"I'm glad I'm back too, Kev."

We stand there for a moment, just enjoying being in each other's hold. When Kev drops his arms from around me, I do the same. I see him grin before he nudges for me to turn around.

Dallas and Kimberly are standing several feet away, obviously just waiting for me to notice them. I giggle as I look between them; Dally opens his arms wide and I don't hesitate to run and jump into them.

"There you are!" He laughs. "We wondered when you two were going to get here."

I give my big brother a hug before doing the same to Kim. Honestly, why should I even worry about that Shitwad Bischoff when Dallas and Kim make me feel so damn welcome?

"It's so nice to see you back, Joli. We've all missed you so much!" Kim's smile is so bright that I almost need my sunglasses. This is so great.

"I missed this like hell. I can't explain how wonderful I felt when we walked in. I'm glad I'm here."

"Welcome back, sis." Dallas ruffles my hair. I bump his side with my elbow.

"I guess it's a good thing that I had to fix my hair anyway." I joke, making Dallas laugh.

"Ah, you'll be fine." Dallas places his hands on his hips. "Where's Scott?"

"Your guess is as good as ours." Kev shrugs as he walks closer to us. He places a hand on my shoulder as we all talk. "We've not heard from him all day."

"What about Sean?" Kim asks with a frown.

"No sign of him, either." I try not to sound too heartbroken about it, but based on the looks Dally and Kim give me, I don't do a good job at that. Kev rubs my shoulder, trying to provide some sort of comfort.

"I'm sure they'll be here soon, Joli." Kim's trying her best to convince me of that. I hope she's right.

"If they're not, I'll kick their asses. There are two of them, so that's one for me, and one for you." Dallas points between Kev and himself a couple of times. "Because I know you'll want to smack them around a couple of times, too. Unless they've got damn good reasons, they'd better not miss Joli's return."

"Oh, I definitely agree. If they're just gone to be gone, I'll be right there with you." Kev chuckles. "We'll kick their asses from here to the other side of this fuckin' country. But, I'm hoping they'll show before too long."

"They'd better." Dally scoffs and rolls his eyes. I know he's just being protective, but he's not really helping.

I let out a small sigh and Kim instantly grabs one of my hands. She gives me a smile, and as soon as I look into her eyes, I know what she's doing. Kimberly is goddamn blessing.