srndpty. --> a jared and drea fanfic

Part 15

"She won't let me in," Ben said to Jared, both of them standing beside the closed door of Olive's room. 

TJ left for Egypt a few hours ago. Neither Grace nor Ben are experienced in this waiting game kind of thing. Jared, however, is somehow knowledgeable.

"Let me try," he said and knocked three times before opening the door. He just peeped at Olive.

"Hey Olive," he smiled from the mirror that she's facing. Ben's daughter forced a grin and replied a frail "Hi, j."

"Mind if I come in?" He asked and that was answered by a nod. Before entering Olive's room, Jared silently high-fived to Ben.

He fixed the few pillows that surrounded Olive to make a space for him to sit on. The young lady looked outside the open window, waiting for airplanes to come fly by. 

"Hard time?" He started off sounding chill. 

"You don't want to know," Olive replied, scoffing. When her eyes weren't looking out the window, they were glued to the bracelet she's fidgeting with. Jared noticed this.

"Cute bracelet."

Ollie smiled. "TJ gave it to me."

Jared felt like he's struck by lightning the moment he saw that little piece of memento TJ left for Olive. He can't help but put his left hand inside the pocket of his pants and fish the pendant right out of it. But he didn't show it to Olive just yet, still tucking it in his fist.

"When I was very little, I found a girl inside the museum. You know, I hate that place so much I wanted to get out but there was this force that brought me to where she was," he starts and fixes his seating position to face Olive more, and Olive did the same, she was intent on listening to Jared.

"What happened?" She asks and he complies to continue with a deep breath.

"She's one of a kind. I was eight back then and I didn't like speaking, especially when I had to talk to strangers. And it's like she's the same as me. I thought at first she was mute but she was able to tell me her name when I asked it," he smiled at remembering the puffy eyes of that little girl, she was crying so much but not making a sound. "There's a place inside that museum where they displayed meteorites, and there were fake stars hanging from the ceiling. I wasn't a sucker for stars back then, but when I found her sitting alone at a corner and crying to herself, stars held a special place in my heart from then on."

Olive reacted so well with his narration, like relating to it. 

"It was like me and TJ at the airport seven years ago. He recommended the book 'A Wrinkle I Time' to me and from then on, I started rereading it over the course of my years. Remembering him in every page I flip." 

Jared remembered the book he bought when he was a teen. It was all because of that girl and it was a hilarious thing to remember. "Your case is beautiful, he gave you a good read. But me? I was a very masculine teenager and I was still courting your Aunt Mick when I bought the book 'The Fault In Our Stars' just because it had 'stars' in the title," he laughed. "But it was a good novel, though. I can't get enough of it that's why even when I was crossing the bridge, i was reading it."

She laughed with him just until she got curious about his story.

"What happened to you and the little girl?"

He paused, not yet ready to tell but if this will help her then he is willing to share. 

"We went out of the museum. I was young but I knew that place so well that I couldn't get lost so I toured her around just to stop her from crying. We bought ice cream, she was obsessed with the strawberry cheesecake flavor. And then we went to the arcade, played some games, got some subway sandwich, and I thought of bringing her to one special place..." he paused yet again. That place is always gonna be special for him. "So we took the train. I took her little hand inside mine so she won't trip on the railings or anywhere. I was eating my sandwich but not drinking my juice and she was doing the opposite, she didn't open her sandwich but her drink is half empty. Then while waiting for the train, she bumped to an old lady. A beggar, actually, and she had this bag full of fancy clothes and jewelries. We thought at first she's trying to sell them, but Sammy didn't take interest in any of her stuff. She can't say it out loud but she's telling me to give that woman some food. Without my permission, she went to her and gave the sandwich."

Ollie smiled in awe. "How kind."

"She is, really. So I went there beside her and offered the woman my drink to pair with the sandwich."

There was a short pause after he said that. He was taking time to remember it all clearly and Olive was enjoying the sight of him doing so, really determined to tell her a good old fairy tail.

"That old woman was very pleased to accept what we had to offer. She was starving, and because of that treasure chest she carried with her, no one believed she's in need of supplies. She was so happy to the point that she fished out two necklaces from the smallest pocket of her bag and gave it to us," he prepared his fist and opened it where Olive could clearly see. "It was two half-heart shaped pendants that fit together perfectly to make a whole heart."

The pendant is unbelievably old, but Olive can tell that Jared takes good care of it because it still manages to twinkle when put against the light. The silver shimmer made the engraved letter "S" visible just a second before Jared closed his fist and put the pendant back to where it's supposed to be.

"So there. We went to my special place that became our special place after that day. You're not gonna want to hear this but just before our respective guardians found us, I kissed her goodbye. That was my first kiss," he smiled. "And before my parents got me, we made a pinky promise. I promised her I would find her again no matter what. I don't even know if she understood that, but I promised her... I will find her again."

Finally, he faces Olive, out of all the sadness those memories bring him. He tried to be more optimistic.

"Did you ever find her again?" She quickly asked and there was no appropriate answer to be given. Jared just sighs.

"That is the risk we take when we make a stupid promise to someone, Olive. It was stupid of me to make that promise at the age when I only knew addition and subtraction. But I kept that. I kept a stupid promise and continued fulfilling it. Tried to find her everywhere even when I didn't know where to start," his emotions were all over the room that it started to make Olive tear up.

"What I'm saying is that I was young. We were young. But two decades later, I am still clinging to that promise. Still looking for her. If someone as young as me could make a vow and keep it then how about someone who knows what he's promised you?"

Olive's tears didn't make it past her eyes before Jared could see. She ste him up in a hug and that's where she started crying. 

"Don't doubt him, Olive. TJ's a good man. He will stand by that promise until he comes back to you."

Sniffing, she replied, "But what if I am the fault? What if I couldn't wait for him and I-- I betray him?"

"Do you not know the words of your grandma? Love is never wrong. If you hurt TJ because of falling in love for another guy, that is not your fault, alright? It will take a long time for him to mend his heart in case you break it but I'm sure he will move on," he rubs her back, feeling lighter now. A very genuine smile appeared on his handsome face the moment he said, "He just needs to put someone a place higher where he put you. But let's pray that won't happen."

"I think I can't replace him either," she replies and pulls away from the hug. She wiped the remaining tears on her cheeks then smiled to Jared. "Thanks, Jared, for understanding me. I just really need some alone time now."

"Sure. But your mom and Uncle Zeke are preparing a really great lunch. Do you want to come join?" He finally pulls the trigger of the main reason he's here from the first place.

"I don't really feel like eating. Maybe later." She sadly replied.

With that, Jared concludes his mission and goes out of Olive's room with Ben waiting by the door. He shook his head to Ben to let him know their plan didn't work and Daddy Stone just sighed, accompanying him down.

They were talking about Olive as they walked down the stairs and when they were finally stepping on the floor, his eyes found someone familiar and unexpected.

Her big brown eyes became bigger as he gave him a surprised glare.

"You're here?"