srndpty. --> a jared and drea fanfic

Part 9

Warm sea breeze delicately flowing through her hair, the sound of calm waves rushing down the shore, and most importantly, above her is a sky full of stars.

It's indeed a beautiful night.

She inhaled the air coming from the sea and looked up. There was no moon to reflect its light on the waters but instead, there were stars. A sea of stars above an actual sea. She couldn't find anything more beautiful than this sight. The way they twinkle reminds her of the same way her heart hammered inside her chest when that silly little boy kissed her goodbye.

Drea's eyes were stars themselves. Twinkling not because of a beautiful light but because of tears that refuse to come out. It's unknown to her as to why she feels sad when she came here to have a happy vacation from the first place. 

She exhaled slowly then, letting out every inch of sadness little by little and replacing it with happy memories. While doing so, her right hand found its way to her chest, clutching a half-heart shaped pendant that has an engravement of the letter J on it. 

Maybe it was hopeless after all. Maybe her hopes of meeting him again should remain behind and never to look back to. Maybe finding him once upon a time is serendipity, and seeing him once again is not written in the books of destiny. That's what she wants to believe right now, but when a falling star came out of nowhere and showed itself to her, she clinged to the pendant even tighter and closed her eyes, repeating the memory of him that she can never forget.

She doesn't know exactly what she wished for. Perhaps she wished that wherever he is right now, he's okay. But she'd be lying to tell that she didn't wish for the same thing: to find him again. If that's the case then she doesn't want to think of it the way it will make her even sadder, so she just smiled.

"When will you ever flutter that way again?" She asked herself while looking down her chest. Feeling the area where her heart is located. 

That's the one thing she wants to remember about him. Not that he saved her from being lost, not that he wiped her tears away, not that he left her with a promise of finding her again, but the fact that he made her heart flutter for the first time in her life. He took all the bad things away for a second and he is the only person by far who's able to do that.

Not until right now, at this very second. 

"Is it bad? I'll get a band-aid."

Jared Vasquez had his palm under her arm and his thumb running over the red rash on her skin. Drea is breathless. She's not okay. She's not hurt but this didn't make her okay. 

Her heart is fluttering.

"I'm okay, silly. But this baby isn't," she picked Jared's guitar up, trying to shrug it off. Trying to act confident when the reality is that her heart wants to jump out of her chest right now. "He's in need of a makeover so I guess we'll find some other time to teach you."

She thought that as grumpy as he is, he wouldn't care. She expected him to let go of her arm without a single word but that didn't happen. His hands and eyes were still all over it and it made her heartbeats even crazier that she came on edge and stood up.

"It's getting late and I still have jet lag. I better get going," she swallowed in a way he wouldn't see. She must look like shit right now so she just waited for Jared's confirmation and then walked quickly towards the door, not waiting for him even when he insisted to walk her out.

It was dark outside and the only thing she wants to see is her car. She wants to get out of here before any more embarrassment occurs. Her cheeks are burning right now and she knows what comes next after that. Luckily, her hands are already on the steering wheel the moment she felt her chest tighten and to be honest she doesn't want to look back at him to not worsen things but she doesn't want to be mean either. So with all the strength that's left of her, she waved goodbye as the car went on the road. And when Jared was finally out of sight, that's when the hiccups occurred.