Chapter Eighty: I'll Never Let Anything Hurt You
~~~
"To Kenji!"
"To Kenji!"
"To Kenji!"
Everyone laughed, raising their golden spoons to their best friend.
Eva dug into her strawberry ice cream, moaning in pleasure as it entered her mouth. God, did she miss ice cream. She wondered what other long time no see food items she would get to have again.
She blinked a few times, rocking side to side as she ate her ice cream. One of the BRADs delivered some heavy duty pain medication to her, and her mind had slowed down considerably, stuck between how good the ice cream is and how much she loves her boyfriend. Other than, she was completely head empty— exactly how she prefers it.
"So, tomorrow, I get to help Dad with the new presentation," Kenji shared. "He thinks I might have a knack for business. He's gonna teach me the ropes."
Eva burst into laughter, nearly choking on her ice cream.
"What?" Kenji asked, wide eyed. "Do you? Do you not think I can do it?"
Eva laughed harder. When she closed her mouth to stop, her lips pursed together into a smile, before she burst out laughing once again.
"Really?"
Ben waved him off. "Don't worry about her. She got some heavy duty pain meds for her hand and she's a little bit loony."
"Loony. Loony, loony, loony. Loony Lovegood. Better watch out for the nargles, don't want to lose our golden spoons."
"Uh, how much medication was she given?"
Eva stared at Brooklynn, admiring how her hair blended effortlessly from dark brown to bubblegum pink. "I feel fine. I feel awesome. They gave me just the right amount. This makes me miss my edibles. Kenji—" she turned to him and placed a careful hand on his arm, "Kenji, when we get back to New York, we're smoking a bunch of weed together. Oh my god, do you think my dorm Mom found my vape?"
"Awe, Angel, six months presumed dead, they definitely found your vape."
Eva pouted, turning down to her ice cream, just realizing she had ice cream in front of her. "Ooh! Ice cream!" She began eating it with her golden spoon.
Yasmina yawned. "All right, guys, I'm turning in."
"Turning into what?"
Yasmina offered Eva a smile. "You should get some sleep, Ev. Big day tomorrow."
"I got a better idea." She turned to her boyfriend once again. "Wanna make out?"
Kenji bit his lip. "Is it morally wrong to make out with her when she isn't sober even though she's initiating it?"
Eva slapped her fist against the table. "I'm sober enough. Let's go, Pretty Boy."
Eva flew to her feet and wrapped a hand around Kenji's wrist, pulling him from the room.
"Have fun!" Sammy shouted after them.
"But not too much fun!" Yasmina added.
"They're so in love," Brooklynn commented, the others agreeing.
"I want what they have," Sammy pouted.
Yasmina flushed, quickly shoveling another bite of ice cream into her mouth.
~~~
Eva laid in Kenji's arms under the covers of her bed. She was curled into his chest, both teens missing shirts. Their clothes were dirty, after all, and the bed wasn't. It was an easy decision to be made. She shifted, rolling her shoulders and burying her head closer into her boyfriend's chest.
"Go to sleep," he mumbled.
Eva froze, looking up at his eyes, which were both closed. She whispered softly, "Can we have a sleepover with the others?"
"But the bed is so comfy," he mumbled into her hair.
Eva frowned, looking down at his chest.
Kenji sighed. "Can't sleep?"
"It's just... it's weird sleeping without them. How do I know..."
"Hm?"
She lightly shook her head. "It's stupid?"
Kenji finally opened his eyes, pulling back just enough that they still shared a pillow, but were now looking at each other in full. "It's not stupid, Angel."
Eva bit her cheek as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "How do I know something else won't come after us? I don't know... Every time I believe we're finally safe, we're not. Something always goes wrong. I keep getting my hopes up, and then losing it just as fast. Maybe if I sleepover with them, it'll... It'll keep me safe longer."
"What, not safe enough with me?" he teased. Kenji leaned forward and kissed her nose. "Okay. Let's head to the dining area. Maybe they'll have the same idea?"
Eva sniffled. "You're a really good boyfriend, you know that, right?" She sniffed again. "I don't deserve you."
"Don't say that."
Eva looked away from his gaze, and down to their interlocked fingers. "I, I don't even know why you like me."
"Eva."
"I was so mean..." She thought back to the time she confronted Prince, Nico, Roy and Kenji in the hallway, cursing them out. She remembered Roy and Kenji refusing to meet her gaze, calling them all grade A assholes. She remembered the faculty giving her a hard glare, a warning. She remembered looking Kenji directly in the eyes, and telling him, you're dead to me. She knew Kenji, so why could she ever believe he was a part of something that ruined her? Kenji was always her friend and after one misunderstanding, she was only ever rude to him.
There's no real reason he should like her. Maybe he really didn't. Maybe it was an end of the world kind of thing— they thought they were going to die, so they confessed. But they're safe now... maybe. So, what was he waiting for?
"Eva," he repeated. She looked up to meet his gaze. "What happened happened and it's too late to change it, but it's okay. We worked it out. You're forgiven—" Eva looked away again, till Kenji guided her chin back to face him. "Listen to me. You are forgiven, Eva. You're forgiven. Now you can keep dwelling on the past, or you can cheer up. We're getting out of here soon, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Nothing is going to hurt you ever again."
"Is that a promise?"
"I promise," he said. "I'll never let anything hurt you."
Eva leaned forward, pressing her lips against his. "Thank you..."
Kenji sat up, and Eva could just barely see his outline as he stretched his hands above his head. He patted around the end of the bed, retrieving his shirt. "Let's go, Angel. Yaz was right, you need to sleep."
Eva slipped her shirt over her head— it was probably backwards, seeing as it was completely dark in the room, but she didn't care. She slipped on her Rutherford hoodie next, then grabbed two pillows, handing them both to Kenji. She slipped the duvet off the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. Kenji opened the door, both grimacing at the blinding light from the hallway.
They shuffled towards the dining room, slipping inside quickly. Kenji shut off the lights, and the pair made themselves comfortable on the floor, wrapped in each other's arms.
"Goodnight, Kenji."
"Goodnight, Angel."
~~~
"The sun is shining, no dinosaurs are chasing us, and most importantly, breakfast is served!" Sammy exclaimed, looking around at the copious amounts of food surrounding them. The dining room was filled with sweets, breads, eggs, bacon and sausage. Who made the food, Eva had no clue.
"Oh my god, do you think the universe secretly knows how much I love strawberry donuts, or just coincidence?" Eva asked no one in particular as she stacked three donuts onto her plate. "Like, what are the odds? So yummy... I'm in love!"
"Feels weird to have nothing to worry about for once," Yasmina commented.
Eva shrugged. She still had plenty to worry about— that being the only factor to not leave her. She wished she could worry about less, but the more time she spent on Isla Nublar, the more normal things began to scare her. But maybe Kenji really could let nothing hurt her— maybe she really did have one less thing to fret over.
"Yeah, definitely, I myself, am very relaxed," Darius said through gritted teeth.
Eva bit into her donut, moaning in pleasure, but keeping a watchful eye on Darius. He was most definitely lying.
"Oh, same," Brooklynn said quickly. "I myself, am like, chillllll..."
Sammy and Yaz turned away, heading for their own little booth. Eva scooched over to Brooklynn and Darius.
"So, why are you two so very relaxed and chill?" she asked.
Darius sighed. "I want to trust Kenji's dad, I— I really do, but..."
"He gives off total liar vibes?" Brooklynn finished, adding a tart to her plate.
"Yeah... but, we can't turn Kenji's world upside down just because of a vibe."
"No," Brooklynn agreed. "But what if it turns out we're right? What then?"
Eva's eyes widened upon finding her boyfriend staring at her, and she nervously greeted him.
"Why so doom and gloom in here, bro? Chicas?"
"Kenji!"
"Morning!" Brooklynn and Darius greeted.
"That's the spirit!" He picked up a donut, biting into it. "Man, am I pumped for today? Dad actually wants my help!" Kenji moved a plate of food over to the booth.
Eva slid into the spot next to him. "I'm so happy you're happy, Kenj."
Brooklynn sat down on Eva's right. "So... has he mentioned anything about when we get to call home or anything like that?"
Eva lightly kicked her ankle, causing Brooklynn to send her a small glare.
"Well, you heard him. He just needs a few days to arrange everything safely. Plus, he's super focused on the presentation right now. You get it."
"Right, so since you brought it up..." Darius started. "Now that dino fights are off the table, what exactly is he presenting?"
"I'm sure he's doing something super cool using Mae's communication. We really got through to him. In fact, he even asked me to prep for the investor cocktail party."
Man, do I miss alcohol, Eva thought.
"He said, and I quote, 'I'd rather you do it than those stupid robots.'"
"Wow, Kenji. How about I help?" Eva offered.
Kenji sucked in a breath. "Sorry, Angel, but Dad's gotta get to know you before he'll trust you with an important assignment like this, and you didn't exactly make the great first impression with the Eaties..." he said, referencing when Eva took a shot to the hand.
Eva bit her cheek. "Well, he shouldn't have fired up the BRAD-X in the first place—" Brooklynn grabbed her hand under the table, offering a small squeeze. "But, it's fine. It doesn't hurt that much anymore."
"And I'm sorry about that, and he is, too. No one expected you to take a blast like that."
"Better me than the dinosaur," she murmured.
"But, after I'm done, maybe we could hang out? Just the two of us."
"Ooh, like a date?" Darius sang, nudging Brooklynn as he did so. The two teenagers shared a look— one that didn't go unnoticed by Eva and Kenji.
"Yeah, our first real date."
"Date. Like a real date."
"Yeah, is that—"
"No! I'm cool, I'm good, I'm gucci. Whoo! A date! I'd love that." She smiled at Kenji, who pressed a kiss against her forehead.
"Perfect! I'll set everything up for my dad, and then... meet you here at sundown." Kenji stood, taking his plate with him as he headed for the door.
"I'll see you then, Pretty Boy."
"Angel."
As soon as he was gone, Eva's smile turned into a frown.
"You've never been on a date before, have you?" B asked.
Eva shook her head. "No, never. What do you even do on dates?" She shook her head again, blonde waves bouncing between her shoulders. "I can't do this. I need a distraction, like, yesterday."
"Wow," Darius said, "You know Kenji's really happy when he's that excited to do work."
"I know, but what if Mr. Kon gave him busy work so he could be free to do something shady?"
"Let's find out. Just us three. Super lowkey style, for Kenji's sake. Plus it'll keep you busy, Eva."
"I'm down."
"Totally!" Ben said, standing a few feet away holding a donut. "I just saw Mr. Kon head into the jungle. I'll grab Firecracker and lowkey show you which way he went. Follow me."