"What do you mean you're not coming to Sean's Christmas party?" Tahani screeched over Facetime.
Kaycee flinched, the obnoxious scream coming through at an incredible volume through her phone. "Stop yelling, it's not that big of a deal!"
"It kind of is." Tahani quipped, shaking her head. "What, did he not invite you or something?"
"No, he did." Kaycee answered. "But Jack and his family invited me over that night."
Tahani was silent on the other end, something unusual for the brunette. The only noise Kaycee could hear was her own breathing, she had almost thought their connection was disturbed, but then Tahani finally spoke.
"You chose your jackass boyfriend over your best friends?"
"Why does everyone call him that?" Kaycee whined. She sighed, trying to formulate her next sentence carefully. "And Sean and I aren't exactly on speaking terms right now."
"Still?" Tahani asked. Kaycee had confided in her about the situation that happened with Sean the night of Jojo's class. "Have you even tried talking to him?"
"T, I've tried everything." She cried. "I've invited him to classes I was going to, we both were working in Downtown LA one day and I asked if he wanted to get lunch, my parents had a family Christmas party and we invited him, just him! He declined everything!"
"Yeah that doesn't sound good." Tahani replied, pursing her lips in thought. "Did he have an excuse?"
"At first he did, and then as time went on, he'd just flat out say no!" Kaycee responded incredulously.
Tahani hummed, "That's not like him."
"And even when he invited me to that Christmas party, it was last minute." Kaycee continued, "The party is tomorrow and he invited me yesterday."
Tahani exhaled, letting her head fall back onto her pillow. "You've gotta figure that shit out."
"You don't say." Kaycee replied, sarcasm laced in her voice. "Will you, I don't know, maybe talk to him tomorrow?"
"Not a chance." Tahani snorted, "You've gotta solve your own problems. I can't do everything for you."
"You sound like my mom." Kaycee cringed, furrowing her brows. "You do have a point, though."
"Always do." Tahani smiled. She glanced at her watch, then looked back at Kaycee. "I have to go, it's getting late. Have fun with Jackass tomorrow."
"Jack." Kaycee corrected. "Just Jack."
"Same thing." Tahani shrugged, waving her free hand at the screen. "Love you, call me later."
"Mhm, have fun at Sean's." Kaycee declared, pressing the red "end call" button and hanging up.
She set her phone on her nightstand, a picture frame catching her eye as she did so. It was a photo of herself and Sean, she had taken the picture off of the ceiling in Hawaii and stored it in her suitcase.
The picture was the still-shot from the end of their performance in "the Cut," a dance that they both considered a breakthrough moment. She loved the picture so much that she bought a frame for it and placed it on her nightstand so she could see it every night before she went to sleep.
Now she stared at it, nearly bursting into tears of frustration. She was frustrated with Sean, how he was seemingly throwing away their special bond for reasons that she couldn't understand. Him ignoring her in Boston was bad, but this was one thousand times worse.
She lay down in her bed, pulling her comforter up to her chin, but not before turning the picture upside down on her nightstand, so she wouldn't be reminded of the sadness she was feeling.
****
Kaycee knew she'd be miserable the entire night. This Christmas party was with Jack's mom's entire extended family, people who Kaycee had never met before, and quite frankly, had no interest in meeting.
Laura pulled up in front of Jack's house in Pasadena half an hour before the other guests would be showing up. Kaycee recognized Paige's white Range Rover in the driveway already and cursed under her breath. She had been secretly hoping that Paige would think she was "too cool" for a family party and stay in Vacaville.
"Have fun, honey." Laura spoke, leaning over the center console and planting a kiss on her daughter's cheek.
"Yeah," Kaycee muttered, pushing the passenger door open reluctantly. "I will, I love you."
She shut the door softly and walked up the porch stairs to knock on the front door. She waited for a few moments, then she heard footsteps from the other side of the door, which swung open to reveal Charlie.
"Hey buddy," She smiled weakly, stepping forward to enter the house. "What's up?"
"I just got yelled at." He said, a devious smile covering his small face.
"What for?" Kaycee asked, reaching down to pull her shoes off of her feet.
Charlie shrugged, extending a hand to help Kaycee back up to her feet, which she gladly took. "Ask Paige."
Kaycee cringed, looking down at the brunette boy. "I think I'm good."
Charlie laughed, everything about the twelve-year-old reminded her of Jack. The two were nearly identical, the only differences being their age and Charlie's uncanny ability to cause trouble.
"So Paige brought her boyfriend, Dominick? No, wait. David? No. Yeah I have no idea, that doesn't matter." Charlie chattered away, taking a seat next to Kaycee on the couch. "I told mom I was going to play videogames and he butted in and said videogames were a waste of time. Then when I told him that he was the waste of time, I get yelled at. Can you believe it?"
Kaycee bit down on her lip, trying to keep in the laugh that threatened to escape. Fortunately for her, Jack walked into the room moments later, which gave Kaycee a reason to not respond to the boy next to her.
"Kayc, I didn't know you were here." Jack exclaimed, ambling over to where she was sitting and setting a hand in her hair. "How long have you been here?"
"Long enough for Charlie to tell me the story of how he got in trouble." She responded, beaming at the younger version of Jack who sat on the couch.
Jack humphed, turning his attention to the young boy. "Speaking of that, mom wants you to go apologize to Dylan-"
"Dylan! That's his name!" Charlie interrupted, nudging Kaycee's arm with his elbow.
"So can you go do that?" Jack urged, "Like, now?"
Charlie sighed in defeat, looking to Kaycee and rolling his eyes before scampering off in the direction of the staircase.
"No one's even here yet and he's already causing trouble." Jack complained, taking Charlie's seat next to Kaycee. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, leaning into her to plant a kiss on her cheek.
Kaycee let her head fall onto Jack's arm. "At least he isn't starting the trouble, it sounds like Dylan did that." She joked.
Jack snorted, resting his head on top of Kaycee's gently. "Touché. And if you think Paige is bad alone, she only gets worse when he's around."
"I'll make sure to stay far, far away then." Kaycee groaned, earning a laugh from Jack.
Jack reached for the remote, turning on the television and returning to his position with his arm around Kaycee. They stayed in that spot, watching the screen until they heard the front door open and unfamiliar voices echo throughout the house.
"Come on, Kayc." Jack spoke, tapping her knee to get her attention. "My mom will have a stroke if we're not out there to greet everyone."
Kaycee stood reluctantly, following Jack out to the kitchen where two kids around Charlie's age stood beside, what Kaycee assumed to be, their parents. Jack introduced her to them, she learned that the kids were Jack's cousins, and their mom was Jack's mom's sister.
This went on for the next half hour, Jack parading Kaycee around like a prize, introducing her to various family members, and her pretending to listen for names and relations. There was only one girl around Kaycee's age, who looked incredibly familiar, everyone else was either much older or much younger. She was about to go talk to said girl when she spotted her chatting with Paige, and decided against it.
At some point during the introductions, Jack had wandered away from Kaycee, leaving her to her own devices. She looked all around the room for Charlie, but saw him playing with his cousins. Jack's dad, Mike, stood with other older men in the kitchen, alcoholic beverages in their hands. And then there was Jack's mom, Jamie, who floated around the kitchen aimlessly, putting out appetizer after appetizer for the guests.
Kaycee was lost in her thoughts when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to be met by the cousin around her age, whose name she remembered was Taylor.
"Kaycee, right?" She asked politely, smiling so all of her teeth showed.
Kaycee nodded, smiling back at her. "Yeah, and you're Taylor?"
She nodded, "You looked bored, so I figured I'd come talk to you."
Kaycee chuckled, "That obvious, huh?"
Taylor threw her head back in laughter. "What, did Jack ditch you?" She joked.
Kaycee snickered, rolling her eyes playfully. "I think so, I haven't seen him in awhile."
"Such a gentleman." Taylor muttered, shaking her head. There was an awkward pause, neither knowing what to say.
Kaycee inhaled deeply, "So, do you have any siblings?"
Taylor perked up, the smile returning to her face. "I do! She's over there with Charlie, they're the same age. Her name is Reese."
Kaycee smiled, looking over to where Charlie was, playing with a girl who looked like a mini-Taylor. "You look a lot alike."
Taylor snorted, "I hate when people say that, even though it's true."
Kaycee only laughed, watching Charlie and Reese run around the crowded kitchen and down the hall towards his bedroom, probably to play the video games that Dylan had said we're a waste of time.
The two girls continued to talk for awhile, Jack still nowhere to be found. Kaycee learned that Taylor was also a dancer, which she assumed is why she looked so familiar, but she lives in Canada. Taylor's family comes to Los Angeles a lot for dancing jobs, because Reese is also a dancer, but they really don't see Jack's family when they're here. Taylor also confessed that she used to be close with Paige until she went off to college and turned into a "selfish brat," her words, not Kaycee's.
There was a lull in the conversation at some point, and Taylor exhaled dramatically, turning so she stood in front of Kaycee. "So this is awkward because you don't remember me, which is totally fine, but I wanted to come talk to you because I'm a kind of a fan. My dance partner, Josh, and I were on World of Dance season 2 with you and Sean.
Kaycee's jaw dropped, suddenly everything falling into place. She remembered the duo, they got knocked out of the Divisional Finals when Sean and Kaycee outscored them in their routine for the Cut.
"I was wondering why you looked so familiar!" Kaycee exclaimed, her smile growing by the second. "I had no idea you and Jack were cousins back then!"
Taylor laughed, "I didn't really want people to know. I didn't even know he was auditioning until I saw him there, that shows you just how much we talk."
"That's crazy." Kaycee stated, shaking her head in disbelief.
Taylor nodded, her smile faltering slightly. "In all honesty, when Jack introduced you as his girlfriend tonight, I was shocked."
Kaycee tilted her head to the side. "Why?"
"Don't be weirded out or anything," Taylor started, wringing her hands together. "But everyone, including myself, on set of WOD thought you and Sean were together."
Kaycee exhaled, looking down to her feet. "You say that like I haven't heard it before." Kaycee laughed lightly, "But no, definitely not. Never."
Taylor didn't speak, so Kaycee tilted her head back up to look at her. Taylor looked as if she were on the verge of a fit of laughter, her lips curled upward slightly and her jaw locked. Kaycee knitted her brows together, which only made Taylor burst out in laughter, clutching her stomach.
"Did you just say never?" She sputtered, trying to slow her convulsions to a stop. "Most partners have some sort of chemistry, of course. You and Sean have something so special, it's beyond just having chemistry."
"It's just acting." Kaycee muttered, thinking back to her conversation with Sean three weeks ago. "I guess we're just good at it."
Taylor scoffed, "No one is that good of an actor, not Leonard DiCaprio, not Tom Hanks, not anybody."
Kaycee shrugged, looking around until she finally spotted Jack, leaning against the doorframe that led to the living room. She turned back around to say something to Taylor, but she was gone before she could, disappearing almost as if she was never there.
Kaycee sighed, trotting over to where Jack stood, pretending to listen to the conversation he participated in. It wasn't until minutes later that Jack even acknowledged that she was there, he smiled down at her and left a kiss on the top of her head.
"I saw you and Taylor talking." Jack said, running a hand delicately up and down her back. "She's one of the more normal cousins."
"She was on WOD with us." Kaycee stated quietly. "I didn't recognize her until she said something. I didn't know you guys were related."
Jack shrugged, moving his hand from Kaycee's back to her hip and squeezing it lightly. "I don't see her a lot, so I kind of forget about her as terrible as it sounds. I wasn't trying to hide it or anything."
"I know." She quipped, crossing her arms in front of her.
"What's the matter, baby?" He whispered, his face contorted in concern.
She shook her head, not really knowing. What she did know, though, was that after Taylor brought up Sean, her brain turned into mush. She felt like she might pass out, and she wasn't entirely sure that she was even breathing.
"I'm gonna run to the bathroom really fast." Kaycee spoke quickly, making a dash to the open bathroom door.
She entered the room and shut the door abruptly, locking it behind her. She walked over to the sink, looking at herself in the mirror and gasped. Her skin was sickly pale, she looked as though she hadn't been outside in years. Pulling her phone out of her back pocket, she rapidly shot a text to her mom, letting her know that she needed to be picked up immediately.
Kaycee retreated back to the door, leaning her back against it and sliding down until she sat on the ground. I've never felt like this before, what's going on? She thought, running her fingers through her loose curls. Her head felt like it was going to explode in thought, but simultaneously, felt like slush.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been in the bathroom, but before she knew it, she got a text from Laura letting her know that she was outside Jack's house. Kaycee stood up and unlocked the door, running her eyes through the crowd until they set on Jack. She made her way over to him slowly, even though she hadn't had anything to drink, she still felt drunk.
"Kaycee!" Jack shouted, jogging over to her side. "You look sick, love."
"Yeah, I don't feel well." She replied, "My mom is outside, I asked her to come get me."
Jack nodded, taking in her appearance. "I'll walk you out. Let me know how you're feeling when you get home."
Kaycee maneuvered through the crowd, waving goodbye to Jack's parents and Charlie, intentionally avoiding both Paige and Taylor's glances. She stepped out onto Jack's porch, turning around and giving him a quick peck on the cheek before running out to Laura's car parked on the side of the street.
"Honey, are you sick? You look terrible." Laura stated as Kaycee slid into the passenger seat. She reached her hand over to feel Kaycee's forehead while the girl buckled herself in. "You don't feel warm, what's the matter?"
"I'm not really sure. I just felt sick all of a sudden." She lied, lifting her knees up to her chest. "I just want to go home and curl up in bed."
Laura nodded, pulling back out into the street and starting back to Los Angeles. Kaycee put her head in her knees, trying her best to hide the paleness in her face.
Her mind was racing so fast that she could barely comprehend anything. There was one thought that she couldn't ignore, though. For some reason, even the mention of Sean made her lose control of her normal bodily functions, and she needed to figure out why.
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Author's Note: Hi again! Here's your second chapter in less than 24 hours, I'm so so grateful for all of your support, so I figured I should give back hehe.
I've also been doing homework for the past three hours and I legitimately just finished my assignment so I'm sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out!
Have the best day and weekend!