Meet in The Space Between ✔️

34

When you're with me, no judgement
You can get that from anyone else
You don't have to prove nothing
You can just be yourself
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JANE CAME to visit today late night. I could see Carlos was nervous, scared that interacting with her would upset me. I guess our relationship still needed some mending.

I pulled him aside. "Dating me doesn't mean you can't be friends with other girls." I told him seriously.

He frowned. "I know, but-"

"Carlos." I slipped both my hands into his so he'd properly face me, "It's okay. I trust you."

A smile crept to his lips, then he leaned forward and gently kissed my forehead.

Jane was gesturing theatrically when we came back into the conversation, enlightening us about her adventures. She's been having a lot of adventures these days. "And when I tried getting a closer look- It spotted me! Luckily our guide told us to stay still and not move and the elephant finally left which surprised me because-"

"Jane." Mal interrupted with a big grin. "Breathe."

The girl inhaled. "Sorry." She said sheepishly, "I'll try not to talk ten thousand words per second." She lowered her voice like she was telling a secret, but her eyes made sure everyone could hear her. "But it's hard not to when you have so much to talk about."

"Coffee, anyone?" Evie asked from the kitchen.

I made a face at her. "Who wants coffee at 8pm?"

"Uh, me." Jay retorted, making everyone laugh, "What?" He sat up, discarding the pillows.

Carlos, who was standing next to me, reached down to slap him on the shoulder. "First day of school is tomorrow, dude. You better not be wide awake and making a fuss at 2am cause I need sleep."

"Don't worry yourself about it, pretty boy." Jay replied, settling back down and hugging a pillow, "Caffeine has nothing on me. Evie gets it."

"It can make me tired sometimes." Evie told us.

Jane crinkled her nose. "Really? Mom said I'm too energetic and flustered to have coffee."

"Same with Brae." Carlos said, a slight tease in his voice, "One sip and she's practically drunk as a- hey!"

I had given him a shove that sent him back on the couch. "Coffee makes me woozy, not drunk!" I protested, "Now scoot over."

"Oh lord. I came in asking a simple question and started a world war." Evie faked a heavy sigh, "You guys are hopeless. Jay, I'll get you your coffee."

"Thanks E. I appreciate it." Jay said to her keenly.

Evie smiled. She may not need the approval of a boyfriend but she did need the love of her friends.

Our family.

"Okay." Mal said, turning to Jane, "Back to the story."

Jane continued on. After an hour she finally paused, leaned back and asked "So how was you guys' summer?".

I think Jay almost spat his coffee out.

All Jane knew was that I had a new sister and a stepdad that needed saving. I wasn't sure if Ben or Fairy Godmother revealed any more details.

"We- uh." I glanced at the others, "Everything's cool. You know, the same old. Boring as heck."

I mean except the fact that I involuntarily found my biological family through a mysterious pocket watch. Oh and Jay kissed Lonnie under the bleachers before recusing us from Maleficent's man cave. Carlos gave up a 3D printed Fairy Godmother wand in exchange for almost losing a limb to a seven feet dog. Evie broke up with Doug and studied enough about underground tunnels to sneak us into the Isle. Mal revealed a family secret and revived a man from inside a snow globe with Hades' ember that we totally didn't plan on stealing.

Oh and Jane? Yeah, a fake version of you kissed my boyfriend but it's okay don't worry your pretty little head about it.

But of course I didn't tell her that and instead I urged her to continue her story.

It was very irresponsibly late at night when Jane finally had to leave. The boys decided to stay over, too tired to drag themselves back to their dorm. We started cleaning up.

"I thought Dizzy and Em are coming back?" Mal questioned in Evie's direction.

"Nah they're sleeping at another friend's house." The mom of the group replied, fixing the table, "Tonight is our night. VKs night."

"Ayy." Carlos nodded enthusiastically.

"Hey Brae." Jay called, "A little help?"

"Oh man." I laughed, scurrying over to help him with taking out the trash, "I got you."

The disposal area was around two blocks away since Evie's beautiful cottage was in the middle of no where. It was dark- as one would expect at 11pm. We hauled the garbage bags along the path against the chilly air.

"You ready for the new semester?" Jay asked as we walked back.

I shrug-nodded. "Sure. I hope Em gets used to classes easily."

"At least we don't have goodness class anymore." Jay remarked.

I snickered. "You're right."

He paused. There was something about the thoughtful expression on his face that told me he purposefully asked for my help, just so he could get some alone time with me.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"No." Jay turned to me, then gave me a warm big-brother smile, "Just wanted to say- I'm really proud of you."

I returned his smile, knowing full well how much it takes to wheedle something as sweet as that out of Jay. Then after a while of thought I replied.

"Thanks for picking me off the street to steal my sandwich."

"Anytime." He laughed. "Still not a fan of vegetable soup?"

"Never, cause-"

"-it burns your throat." Jay finished, opening the door and patting me on the back. "We know... we know."

Some things never change. Like the smirk on Carlos' face when we entered. There wasn't even a reason for that smug look.

"Mal!" I exclaimed, "Is that my blanket?"

The purple haired girl had built a fort in the living room, the coffee table forced into a lonely corner.

"Indeed it is." Mal replied extra solemnly, tugging at it, "Unfortunately sacrifices have to be made if you want a pillow fort and Carlos donated your blanket."

That's why he was smirking at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him, playful. "I swear, Carlos. You seem to really have something against me today."

I watched him step over the chair that was holding one side of the blanket up, then he perfected my night with a quick, unnoticeable-to-anyone-else kiss on the corner of my lips.

"But you don't seem to mind, huh love?"

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Hi!! I know I died for a couple days I'm sorry. Life has been hectic. But anyway I have some news... this book is about to come to an end real soon. The next chapter is the last chapter. And wow it's been adventure but I'll save the sappy stuff for after. Show me how badly you want the last chapter by voting :)
ALSO HAPPY GALENTINES DAY BECAUSE FRIENDS GET LOVE TOO. YOU DONT NEED A SIGNIFICANT OTHER TO CELEBRATE LOVE.
Thank you for everything.