Kill Me With Words (All Time Low Fanfiction)

Chapter 19

I was eight years old.

I was supposed to be asleep, but instead I was sitting up in my bed, listening closely to the sounds from downstairs. I could hear Jacob, arguing about going to bed. His nine-year-old voice was high and whiny.

“Ten more minutes!”

“Go on, Jacob,” My mother said gently. She was always so gentle.

And now the house was quieter. Jacob was rustling around in his bedroom, finding pyjamas and running to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

“Mommy! There’s no toothpaste!”

I could hear mumbling from downstairs.

“Just go to bed, Jacob!” My dad shouted up at him. “You’ll survive without brushing your teeth every night.”

“You said I had to do it every night or my teeth would rot!” Jacob reminded him. He was a little too old to believe it now, but still willing to do anything in order to delay his bedtime.

“Jacob,” My mother sighed, “You can borrow my toothpaste this evening, I’ll get some more tomorrow.”

“Your toothpaste tastes yucky!”

“Jacob!” Patience wearing thin.

“I can’t go to bed without brushing my teeth!”

There was quiet talking. Then I heard my mother leaving, the door closing behind her. The car engine starting up. Tires squealing on the roads, still wet from this morning’s downpour.

 

“Jacob?” Dad said, coming upstairs. “Your mom’s gone out to buy you your toothpaste. I want you to give her a big hug and a kiss when she gets back, okay, to say thank you.”

“Kisses are yucky.” I could picture him sticking his tongue out. Maybe he was crossing his eyes too; he’d just learned to do that and was insanely proud of himself.

“Jacob.”

“Fine,” my brother sighed. “Will she be back soon?”

“Less than five minutes.”

 

It wasn’t less than five minutes. After half an hour, Jacob came out of his room, asking questions. Another hour and I was there too, little eight year old me, still dressed in my fairy nightgown. The three of us, our new family, sat in the kitchen, waiting for the sound of keys in the door. And we stayed there until 5am the next morning, when the phone rang.

“Is this Mr Harrison? I’m afraid I have some bad news concerning your wife.”

 

My eyes snapped open.I inhaled deeply, feeling every inch of myself filling up with air. Real air. I wasn’t drowning, not anymore.

“You okay?” Alex said from beside me. He seemed concerned.

“Fine...” I blinked, rubbed my eyes. “Yeah... Just a weird dream.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Absolutely.” I glanced around me, remembering where I was. “Actually, I’m great.”

I’d been on planes before, most recently going to and from LA, but this time was different. Alex had gotten us first class seats, mine was beside the window, where I could peer down at the world beneath us. We were soaring above the clouds now. If heaven was a real place, this is where it would be.