Best For Last || Jacob Elordi AU

revelations

       Jacob had come home from college for Christmas break in December: a week and a half of just what you needed to renew your security in your relationship. The first day, he even drove straight to you instead of his parents, just to be able to see and hug you first. You put on your best act, refusing to even hint yet at the bad news you'd been told just days ago. Your mother could no longer hide it-- her hair was falling out, her eyes were sunken, and she was able to move less and less.

She finally admitted she'd been going to see an Oncologist. To say that your heart broke was an understatement.

Despite her being the sick one, she comforted you about it. She did an unbelievable job of staying hopeful, and trying to spread that hope to you. She told you that people made it through this all the time, and that she had good doctors she could trust at the hospital. But friendly doctors could only do so much when the sickness was attacking her throat, lungs, and stomach.

You told Jacob in his car on one of the last couple days he was in town, you two were about to pick up Dante for a final trio hangout before he'd head back to school. His jaw dropped further than you'd ever seen it, and his wide eyes matched. You couldn't explain, but you let out a short laugh of what you could only assume was relief from another person knowing. He hugged you the best he could in a car. You rocked and cried together. Though you knew he didn't believe it himself, he told you she'd get through this. Once you gathered yourselves and looked presentable again, you headed to pick up your mutual friend, and then further onward to the bowling alley.

"Bro you suck," Dante told you with a grin. To be fair, you were probably close to your tenth gutter ball. You flipped him off and stuck your tongue out as you retreated into Jacob's arms.

"Watch and learn, youngin'," he teased, even though he was the youngest of the three of you. But then, he rolled a strike. Again. "That's how it's done."

"Whatever dude," Jacob chortled. "Beginner's luck."

"Beginner my ass," he said as he sat down, pulling a laugh from you and Jacob both. "You know how many hours I got on Wii bowling?"

"Fair enough," you replied as you were guided gently from your boyfriend's knee so he could take his turn. He stepped up to the lane to determine which ball he'd dub the luckiest.

You turned to Dante as he took a sip from his Styrofoam cup of overpriced Pepsi, "Do you know why Sid backed out last minute?"

He swallowed his drink and shook his head, "Nah. He's been a lil' iffy the past few days."

"Iffy?"

He weighed the words in his head trying to find the right ones, "Like, not answering texts, and bailing, and... just kinda distant."

You gave Jacob an encouraging thumbs up when he rolled the ball and knocked over 4 pins. He beamed at the other two of you, then reached for a second ball to take his last turn.

"Why, do you think?" you asked Dante.

He pressed his lips into a line and avoided eye contact, but spoke reluctantly anyway. "He bailed when he found out you'd be here."

You were immediately taken aback with offense, "Me? What the hell did I do?"

Dante shook his head quickly as if to say drop it as Jacob came back over to take his seat next to you. You'd gotten good at hiding your emotions at this point, so no one would have ever known you spent the rest of the night racking your brain on why Sid would be avoiding you, and why Dante was hiding that reason.

//

It was the following January, less than thirty days after you and Dante's conversation at the bowling alley, when Sid finally replied to your plethora of texts. You'd been sitting next to your mother on the couch where she'd been immobilized for the past few weeks. She had an in home nurse now; you couldn't let yourself stress over wondering how she was affording that.

"You okay if I step away to talk to Sid a minute mom?"

She blinked lazy up and you and offered a faint smile and nod. You rubbed over the top of her hand where you could feel each bone, and assured her you'd be back in a few minutes with some ginger ale for her. Once you were in the kitchen, you finally dropped your hopeful mask and let the anxiety surge through you as you opened Sid's text.

'I'm pissed'

'why? what'd i do?' you texted back immediately.

'not you, Jacob'

Your heart skipped a beat as your fingers flew over your tiny screen, 'okay, what'd he do?'

The three dots that indicated Sid was typing danced in front of your eyes, taunting you for what felt like an eternity. Then they stopped. You were two seconds from sending a slew of exclamation points and question marks when a paragraph appeared on your screen.

'I hate to tell you this over text I really do but I don't have the balls to say it face to face. A few days before the bowling trip was planned, me him and Dante were hanging out at D's place. we talked to him about this girl at school he's brought up a few times...'

Your throat was closing as you typed her name, '...Amelia?'

'yeah her.....' you couldn't get your fingers to type a response. Luckily, Sid was typing again and another message popped up eventually. 'well, he said he has feelings for her but didn't know how strong. he first said she was pretty and then that, yeah, he likes her. he said... he needed help figuring out... between you and what's her face..'

The room spun around you. You were able to type, 'so, he told you he didn't know who to choose between me or her?'

'yeah. i said he's a fucking idiot. me and dante both told him to pick you and that you guys need each other. he said they got along really well and that his parents would definitely approve of her'

You were shaking. 'are you serious. please tell me the truth. i'm gonna call him but i need all the facts'

'I'm serious Y/N. i'm not getting his back on this. i bailed last minute the night of bowling cause i couldn't be around you and lie right to your face about this. the shit you're going through now with your mom, he's wrong for even thinking about it'

Teardrops hit your screen as you typed, 'thank you sid. seriously.'

You shoved your phone deep in your pocket, ignoring the last buzz you knew was from Sid. The last can of ginger ale gave you a perfect excuse to get out of the house; you grabbed it and brought it to your mother, who could still sit up at that point. She thanked you for the drink with a kiss on your cheek, and you told her you were off to get another case. She told you it wasn't necessary, but seeing as it was the only thing she could drink without puking, you thought it was.

Once you were outside, you walked to the edge of the yard where you knew you couldn't be heard by anyone in the house. You let your anger completely take over and fuel you as you furiously dialed Jacob.