Pause.
"How old are you, Jules?"
"Seventeen. You?"
"Eighteen. Your turn."
Pause.
"When is your birthday?"
"July 16th. Yours?"
"December 27th. Your turn."
"Wow, your birthday is in like a week. Happy early birthday."
"Thanks. Your turn."
"Does it ever get annoying having your birthday so close to Christmas?"
"Does it ever get annoying having your birthday so close to the fourth of July? Your turn."
Kayden and I sat across froim one another, playing chess and twenty questions. Although "twenty" wasn't an accurate number. We'd been playing the game for over an hour, but it took each of us at least ten minutes to think of a new question. So far it'd only been like six questions each for us. I moved my knight three spaces and smirked.
His face scrunched up. "Why is this so hard?"
I burst out laughing. "It is chess."
His eyes rolled and found their way to my face. "I meant the twenty questions game. I don't even know this stuff about my mom."
"You... You don't know when your mom's birthday is?"
"Well I know that..." Then, yelling, "HEY MOM, YOUR BIRTHDAY'S IN NOVEMBER, RIGHT?"
"April 3rd, and i'm right here, you don't need to yell."
He smirked at me. "I know it almost down to the second."
I rolled my eyes and laughed. "I think we should stop playing 20 questions."
"You think so?"
"I literally just said that's what I think."
"True."
We stared at eachother and burst out laughing. I liked talking to Kayden. We played off eachother's humor very well. Maybe it was the first time I've talked to another kid around my age in a long time, but it was awesome. I felt like I could breathe and pretend like playing chess was something you just did for fun.
There was several feet of snow outside. It poured snow overnight, and I woke up freezing but peaceful. There was something about snow that just... quieted the world. It made everything seem light, like things wouldn't be loud for a while.
Nancy, who stood across the room at the cash register, said, "Hey, Jules?"
"Yeah?" I responded.
"I know you were supposed to leave tomorrow, but your injuries are more intense than I originally thought. Are you going to be okay if you stay for three more? It'll just be five days total..."
I couldn't decide if I was relieved or irritated. "Uh, yeah, I guess."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I just wish I could pause time for like a week and not miss anything."
Kayden laughed. "Sounds like me in high school."
I chuckled. "Man I really should finish that thing."
"Wait, you haven't finished high school?" I shook my head. "Goodness dude, how's that working out for you?"
"It's been awful. There's been like four times where I've had to know the unit circle, and I just didn't." I sighed dramatically.
"I know you're kidding but real talk, when would you even use the unit circle."
"Every time you look at a circular object."
"Oh yeah, that makes sense."
"I know, I usually do."
We laughed again. Nancy just looked at us. There was no humor in her eyes. She probably thought we were stupid. Which I guess we kinda were.
Hannah, Kayden's sister, ran into the coffee shop right then. "Jules, come here, I have to show you something!" Her eyes lit up, and she was running with so much spunk. Her hair was in pigtails, and I wanted to scoop her into my arms and cuddle her.
She grabbed my hand and I stood, tripping over my crutches as I put them on. Despite the way my stomach clenched as I walked, I followed her. We went outside.
"Look, I made you a snowman!" she said.
The snowman was maybe 2 feet tall, with one arm, three eyes, and it was so cute. I grinned. "Thank you so much, Hannah! This is so beautiful, I can't believe you did this for me!" I hugged her, and she looked so proud of herself. I stayed outside to play for a little while longer, and even made a snow angel, but then I shivered. I was wearing one of Kayden's giant sweaters, but it was definitely not enough to keep me warm in the snow.
When I went back inside, a lot of the customers had left. Kayden and Nancy looked a bit serious, which was a huge step from what it was before I went outside. Without saying anything, Nancy made me a cup of hot chocolate, and told Kayden to go into the back if he wasn't going to help. I followed behind him so he wasn't alone, up the back stairs to their apartment. The air was awkward and tense as we sat on the couch, looking at anything but eachother, and I started to wonder if I should have followed him.
I cleared my throat. "Um.. Sorry. I'll go." I started to grab my crutches.
"Wait no," he blurted out, quickly standing up to stop me from going. "Sorry, I was just thinking."
"About...?" I tilted my head.
"Jules, tell me about the war."
Ah, that's what he's thinking about.
"Well," I started. "I don't know as much as I should. But... From what I have learned, there's two sides of hell. These three demons are trying to fight over who will be in charge. I don't know what happened to the last ruler, but the names of the demons are Colava, Elliot, and Damon. I've met Colava, the other day, actually, and according to her, I've met Damo-" I felt my face turn white as I realize where I've met Damon from.
"Are you okay?"
My voice was far away when I answered. "I'm... fine..." I phased out, trying to push the thought away. When I talked again, I felt so empty, and responded like a motor. "I have not met Elliot. All I know is that the three of them want to be ruler. However, for some reason, they need a strong host to rule. I know it has something to do with the gun, but I'm really not sure what that thing is. And I'm one of the strongest hosts, apparently. Colava told me it was because I'm strong willed, and my heart is pure, but I don't fully believe her. I know that's part of it, but I also know there's more. I'm just going to have to find out whatever it is later on."
Kayden looked deep in thought. "That sounds.... stressful."
"Yeah, it is."
"I'm sorry."
"You know, I've never understood why people apologize for things that's not their fault."
"Because there's nothing else to say, really."
~~~~~~~~~~
The week went by fast. Things felt normal. I shared more information about myself to Kayden than I had with anyone else before. I played more barbies with Hannah than I had in my entire life, honestly. I also drank so much hot chocolate that I was pretty sure 45% of my blood was made up of the stuff.
The third day passed without letting things slow.
Then the fourth day.
And then the last day came. I didn't realize it until breakfast and Nancy made a giant breakfast before anyone else woke up.
"Nancy, what's this?" I asked.
She smiled sadly. "Your last-day-breakfast party. We'll all miss you."
Oh.
A slight pang went through my chest, but I ignored it. I wanted to make today good.
I ate as much as I could. Breakfast passed in silence, but it was a good one. I think we all were just trying to appreciate the presence of one another.
As the day went on, however, I forgot that I would be leaving. It went on so normally that the fact that it wasn't normal for me and it wouldnt' be normal for long didn't even pass my mind. The whole week went by in crutches, but today I could walk a bit. Not for long, but long enough. Nancy helped me do things that would strengthen my leg again.
When night came, a bitter feeling surrounded me, but didn't come from me. Kayden and I sat next to one another on the couch in the shop. It had closed down by now, so it was quiet and peaceful. Hannah was asleep, and Nancy was doing work in her room. I got up and turned on the fairy lights, and turned off the bright ones. My head was aching and I needed to do something to get rid of the unhappy feeling. When I turned to sit back on the couch, I jumped. Kayden stood two feet away from me. I told myself to back away, but I didn't want to.
"Jules, do you like it here?" There was something in his face that I couldn't read.
"Yeah." Proabably too much.
Kayden gave kind of a bitter laugh. "Then why don't you stay?"
It had only been five days since being here, but I felt like... this was where I belonged. And I wanted to do what I could to help Sam and Dean, but being a hunter wasn't really what I really wanted. I wanted to be normal again.
And as we sat stood there, two feet from eachother, I looked at the floor, remembering how awful I must have looked my first day here. Covered in blood, trying not to pass out. Saying very odd things... And I was about to say some very odd things again.
"You know, Kayden...." He looked up, and I thought I saw hope in his eyes. I didn't want to see it leave, so I looked away. "I... I want to stay here. I like this coffee shop. I like the way that playing chess makes me feel normal... But I have to help my brothers. Without me, they aren't going to win the war. So I have to leave... I'm sorry." Despite what I wanted, I looked at him. And I couldn't decide if I wanted him to let me go or beg me to stay.
Kaydens eyes were closed. His eyebrows scrunched together, almost in pain. But in a soft voice, he said, "Can I ask a favor of you then?"
That wasn't what I expected. I didn't know what he could want from me, but I'd try to give it to him.
"Anything."
When he opened his eyes, they were full of tears. "Kiss me."
My body moved without even thinking. My hand cupped his face, and moved his head towards mine. I'd never kissed anyone before, but I never expected it to be like this.
When our lips met, I swear my heart stopped. I craved this emotion. I wanted to etch this second into my memory so I could think of it whenever I feel worthless, because the energy I got from him was so strong it enveloped me.
It didn't go any farther than the little peck, but it was enough for me to want to hold onto it. I didn't regret it.
And I never would.
We sat there, just appreciating the energy before we both got up at the same time to go to bed. I would leave in the morning without saying goodbye, and he would wake up to his mom and sister. We'd both remember this, and feel both happy and sad. But we'd be okay.
That's how I thought it would go, anyway.
As we stood up, there was a knock on the front door. We both swung around and I blanched.
It was Sam, Dean, and Cas, all wearing very surprised and awkward expressions.
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One more chapter
I know it's shorttt
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