Kaycee woke up on October 5th to the rays of sun pouring through her windows, enveloping her in warmth. She nuzzled her face in between her white pillows to block the light from her eyes, trying to get back to sleep. She tossed and turned for another five or so minutes, trying to avoid getting out of bed to close the blinds, but quickly realized it was useless, and sat up in defeat.
She swung her legs over the side of her bed, and her feet came in contact with the cool wood paneled floors, making her shiver. She pushed herself up and padded over to the window, where she took in the sights of the world outside. It was a sunny Los Angeles morning in early October, the sky a light blue with slight purple and orange hues, indicating the sun had only been above the horizon for a short time. Kaycee retreated to her bedside table, turning her phone screen on; the white numbers decorated the screen and mocked her, 8:46 am.
Reluctantly realizing that she was wide awake, she sighed and sat in her bed, phone in hand, scrolling through notifications. She quickly noticed a pattern of the types of edits fans were posting. October 5, 2018. One month since the premiere of World of Dance Season 2 Divisional Finals. One month since the world saw Sean and Kaycee be eliminated by seven tenths of a point. Although it had been several months for Sean and Kaycee to process the elimination themselves, their wounds were reopened upon seeing social media explode with remorse for the duo. Kaycee had butterflies in her stomach, and not the good kind. Every time she saw anything related to the show, she immediately began missing Sean.
She had seen Sean here and there these past couple of months, but if she was being honest, she didn't think that was enough. It was difficult going from seeing your best friend everyday to only seeing them once a week, to once every other week, and sometimes, only once a month. The two texted everyday, and called each other when they could, but that was drastically different than being in each others presence, which they both craved; though neither would admit it to the other.
Kaycee knew that she thought of Sean in a different way than she thought of her other friends. She knew that she felt something different when she was with Sean than she did with anyone else, even Jack. But, that's what a partnership is supposed to feel like, it's supposed to be optimal trust and admiration.
Every once in awhile she questioned if she should really be with Jack because everything she felt with Sean was everything that was missing with Jack. She had only known Jack for less than a year though, so the trust she had with Sean would develop eventually, right?
Kaycee was quickly removed from her own thoughts when her phone rang.
She lazily answered the phone, "Hello?"
"Kaycee! Wanna know something cool?" The voice on the other end was one she recognized well.
She smiled, "What's that, Jack?" She knew full well what he was talking about, but she figured she'd let him get it out.
She could practically hear him smile on the other end, "It's been six months of us, Kayc, that's pretty awesome, isn't it?" She bit her bottom lip at the use of her nickname, the one that Sean always calls her.
"Oh, really? I didn't know," she giggled, then paused before asking, "Are we still going out later?"
"Why wouldn't we? You didn't make other plans, did you?" Jack teased, Kaycee rolled her eyes and shook her head, "No, of course not."
"Awesome, I'll be over at 6, our reservations are at 6:30." Jack stated.
Kaycee smiled, "That sounds perfect, I'll see you then." The two hung up and Kaycee finally got out of bed with the intention of staying awake for the rest of the day. She went through her normal morning routine, showering, changing, brushing her teeth, and then loudly clomped downstairs to the kitchen, where she found that the rest of her family was already awake.
"You're up before 11, what's the deal?" Kylie asked, eyebrows quirked, her mug cradled in her hands.
"The sun's too bright, my blinds were open," Kaycee stated, shuffling over to the cupboards to grab her own mug, "then Jack called me so I was wide awake after that."
Kylie nodded aimlessly, Laura and Brad both sharing a knowing look before Laura spoke, "Am I still chaperoning that date tonight?"
Kaycee smiled shyly, "Yeah, if that's okay, it's been six months, so Jack wants to take me out somewhere nice, I guess."
Laura smiled, glancing over to Brad quickly, before diverting her eyes back to her youngest daughter, "That sounds nice, he's a great kid."
Kaycee nodded but didn't verbally respond, wishing that the conversation would die there, but it didn't, much to her dismay.
"You know who else is a great kid? Sean, have you seen what he's up to lately? Great things, as usual. It sounds like he did some pretty great things in Poland, like did you see-" Kaycee cut off her sister with a glare, knowing she wouldn't be stopping anytime soon. She looked around at the rest of her family and saw neutral looks from her father, but she could tell her brother and mother were trying their hardest to stifle a laugh.
"Speaking of Sean, when's the next time we'll see him?" Devon asked shamelessly, "Hopefully before Hawaii."
Kaycee internally cringed at the mention of Hawaii. Her and Jack had just gotten into an argument a few days prior because her family insisted she was to only take Sean and Tahani, bringing her boyfriend would be inappropriate. "I wouldn't get your hopes up, Dev, he's pretty busy." Kaycee mumbled, removing her mug from underneath the Keurig. Before anyone could say anything else, Kaycee spoke again, "I'll be in my room if you need me."
Kaycee retreated upstairs, her family knowing not to try and stop her. Laura looked between her remaining children, "As much as we ALL miss Sean," Laura began, glaring at the two, "bringing him up immediately after a conversation about Jack isn't okay," Laura rested her gaze on her eldest daughter, "and you, stop comparing Jack and Sean. That could make her resent him, and no one wants to see that."
"In all fairness, she wouldn't be able to resent Sean for too long, he is her soulmate, after all." Devon countered, earning a warning glance from Brad.
Laura had enough, "We don't know that. We won't know that unless her and Jack end things. Stop throwing that word around so loosely. As much as we'd all love that, it's not written in stone."
"I think you mean written on skin, but-" Laura interrupted Kylie by placing her hand on her shoulder, "Just stop." Laura began, meeting eyes with everyone at the table, "All of you."
As much as both the Lew's and the Rices' wanted Sean and Kaycee to be together, they realized that pushing it would be counterproductive, so waiting was the only option. As far as everyone was concerned, it seemed as though Sean was avoiding any type of relationship so when Kaycee finally realized Jack wasn't the one for her, they'd both be ready for each other.
Sean, on the other hand, just didn't feel as though he had a true connection with anyone he met. But that was because he had something so strong with Kaycee that his expectations for a connection were much higher than most people's expectations.
While Kaycee sat and sulked in her room, trying to stop the conversation that just happened from coursing through her head, Sean sat in his own bed, feeling a familiar pang in his chest. He knew something was wrong, he just didn't know how he knew. Without a second thought, he clicked on Kaycee's contact and called her. She picked up on the second ring.
"Sean? Is everything okay?" As soon as he heard her voice, the pang in his chest grew. He could tell that something was on her mind.
"Yeah, I was just thinking of you," He paused, he could almost feel the heat on her own cheeks, "How are you?"
He heard Kaycee sigh on the other end of the line, "I'm alright I guess, Kylie just got on my nerves a little bit this morning."
Sean adjusted himself in his bed so he was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, "How'd she manage to do that?" He heard Kaycee take another deep breath and hold it, "I mean, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine-"
"I just feel like no matter how much they all say they like Jack, they really don't, ya know?" Kaycee blurted, cutting Sean off, "Kylie especially." Kaycee strategically left out the part about Kylie comparing Jack to Sean, she didn't know how he would react to that.
"It's Kylie, I wouldn't worry about it too much." Sean started, "It's kinda her job to disapprove of the people her younger sister dates."
Kaycee bit her tongue, quite literally. She knew full well that Kylie would be jumping for joy if she left Jack for Sean. But she wouldn't tell Sean that, "I guess you're right." She said, bouncing her leg up and down on the floor in anticipation, "how do you always know when something's on my mind?"
Sean pondered for a minute, his breathing remaining steady, though his heart subconsciously raced, "I'm not sure, it's probably because we're freakishly connected or something." He smiled into the phone as she giggled, "I'll let you go, Kaycee. It was nice hearing your voice."
The line beeped, indicating Sean had hung up, but Kaycee still held the phone to her ear, her mind and heart racing. He always had that effect on her, but hearing him say he thought they were freakishly connected somehow made the hole in her heart from his lack of presence even bigger. Something she knew that no one but Sean could fix, not even Jack.
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Author's Note: Hi again! I hope this chapter was more enjoyable than the first two. I'm currently writing this instead of studying, but this is much more enjoyable.
Please leave any suggestions, comments, concerns, whatever you want. I haven't done creative writing in years, so I hope this is up to par :)