~Abby’s P.O.V~

Serenity stepped into the house and dropped her overstuffed back pack and purse to the floor. I held my breath for a minute, debating on whether or not I should attack hug her and watched as she began to walk up the stairs in a zombie like fashion.

“She looks like she’s about to keel over,” Tiffani whispered.
I nodded, unable to speak. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like this,” I said. “She’s been tired, but never this tired.”
Tiffani put her hand on my shoulder, then walked away to clean the kitchen. I walked up the stairs, then to Serenity’s room where she was in the middle of changing her clothes.

“You okay,” I asked her.
“No,” she said, throwing on her grey sleeping shorts. “I’m fucking tired. I just got off the phone with Jimmy. Evelyn’s not feeling well and I’m going to pick her up.”
“Want me to go,” I asked. “I can drive the way back since I don’t know where to go from here.”
“Sure,” she mumbled. Serenity ruffled her semi-short hair, before grabbing her car keys again. “Let’s go.”

On the way out, Tiffani said she’d stay home and get everything ready for Evelyn to come home, and with that, we were out and on our way to Jimmy’s house. It wasn’t surprising that he didn’t live very far from us, and that his house was pretty huge. Once Serenity parked the car, she handed me the keys and walked to Jimmy’s front door to ring the doorbell. Not long after, a worried looking Zacky answered the door, his eyes widening at the sight of Serenity.

“Hey,” he said breathlessly. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Serenity mumbled, reaching up to tie her hair back. “I’m just tired.”
Zacky nodded and stepped aside so that we could walk in. From there, he led us into the living room, where all the guys sat quietly. Just as Zack opened his mouth to speak, a young woman walked in and sat down next to Johnny, sighing heavily. She leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around her.

“Is she in the bathroom,” Serenity asked.
The young woman looked up, startled. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t even see you two. Uhm, yeah. She’s in there. Jimmy’s with her.”
Serenity nodded and made her way out of the room. I looked around the dead quiet room. There was really nothing to be said, especially when in an awkward situation like this. Not one person made a single peep as to what could possibly break the ice.
“I’m sorry you all had to see her like this,” I said softly. “She’s been getting sick more often. I just didn’t know Serenity would be busy, otherwise I would have taken her.”
“Dude, don’t even worry about it,” Matt sighed. “Shit happens. We had an awesome day with her.”
“Besides,” Zack jumped in. “Serenity looks like she could use a break.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, and I couldn’t think of anything more to say. She really was tired, and I don’t think I had ever even seen her this bad. And that’s when it hit me…

I don’t think I had seen either of them this bad…

“Hey, you okay?” Zack’s hand waving in my face interrupted my thoughts.
“Oh,” I cleared my throat, and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.”
Zack looked at the guys, then back to me and jerked his thumb to the couch.
“Do you want to sit,” he asked awkwardly.
I shook my head. “Nah, it’s cool,” I said. “I don’t think Serenity wanted to take very long in there.”

Just as I finished my sentence, Serenity walked into the room with a sobbing Evelyn clinging to her. Her little legs wrapped around Serenity’s waist, and her arms clinging around her neck. Jimmy hobbled out behind her, holding onto the wall as he walked, pain clear on his face.
“You ready,” Serenity asked, walking by me.
“Uh, y-yeah,” I said quickly, going to open the front door for her.
“Hey Bri,” Jimmy asked out. “Could you help me out?”

I trailed behind Serenity quietly, not even feeling the need to look up. It was so odd that Evelyn had been sick so frequently since I had been around. I really didn’t know what to think of it. It was so scary.
“You alright,” Serenity asked quietly as she buckled herself in with Evelyn in her lap.
“Yeah, I’m fine of course,” I said. “Just thinking.”
I looked up to see Brian helping Jimmy down the porch steps slowly, Jimmy’s face now expressionless. My guess was probably because his face was now in full view of Evelyn and Serenity, so he didn’t want them to know just how in pain he was. I started the car and rolled the windows down so that he could lean on the door as he said his goodbyes to the girls. But instead of starting off with something super cheesy or sweet, once Brian got him to the car, Jimmy reached in and stroked Evelyn’s hair then leaned in to whisper something in her ear to which she replied sweetly, “Otay Jimmy. I will.”

“Hey,” he said to Serenity, causing her to look up at his long and lanky figure. “Be good, okay?” Jimmy spoke slowly almost as if he wanted to say something more, but didn’t have the words. Or… Maybe that wasn’t exactly what he wanted to say…?
Serenity let out a breath and nodded. “No promises,” she said, squeezing Evelyn to her chest, then turning her attention towards the dashboard. I could tell that she just wanted to get home. She really didn’t look good.
Jimmy nodded his head and reached in hesitantly and stroked Evelyn’s hair softly. “Alright,” he said before backing up away from the car. I switched into reverse before catching his gaze. I wanted to let him know that everything was going to be alright. That I would take care of them. Because if there is anything I can spot faster than a hooker who ain’t been paid for a half ass blow job, it’s a man in love.

And that Jimmy? Boy, oh boy, he was in head over his heels…
_________________________________________________________________________





~Serenity’s P.O.V.~

It has to have been about a week and a half since I last saw Jimmy and the guys. Evelyn misses them so much, and I can say that I do too. Life has been a darker place without Jimmy’s constant laughter. Abby’s been making up for two days-worth of missed time, and poor Tiffani is working her ass off over at the hospital. That girl is a damn trooper. We ended up rearranging our rooms. I share mine with my baby girl, Tiffani now resides in my old one, and Abby claimed the guest bedroom as her own. Things here seem to be working out for the better when it comes to the house and the bills and whatnot. We finally have a good amount of extra money, and Evelyn doesn't want for anything.

Or she wouldn’t if she wasn’t so sick…
I ended up cutting my hours down at work to part-time and after explaining my situation to the dean at school, all my classes are now online so that I’m not forced to stay away from Evelyn longer than I have to. The girls have no problem with it. In fact, it was their idea that I keep doing what I’m doing and convinced me to call my boss. I love them so much…

Everything was going perfectly with the exception of a two things:
1.Evelyn’s health
2.This emptiness inside of me that I can’t seem to get rid of.
Evelyn just keeps getting worse. Tiffani says that it’s because of her chemo. Ever since the blood transfusion, her body and her medicine are fighting off the disease that seems to be eating away at her. Evelyn feeling sick is actually a good thing. If she weren’t running fevers and throwing up, then that would probably mean something really bad is going to happen. I don’t know if that’s Tiff’s knowledge of this that’s talking, or the nursey bullshit that she’s been trained to feed everyone. But no matter what, I’m going to believe it.

As for me? Well, I don’t know. Everything is fine usually, but then Jimmy messages me and all of a sudden, I realize just how lonely I am. I get so confused thinking about him, and it scares me. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before about anybody other than when I’m away from Evelyn. I… I don’t know, but I refuse to make it seem as though it’s nothing still. I don’t even hide it when the girls point it out. I really, really do care about him, and I have no problem making it obvious. There isn’t any need to. Or, at least I don’t think there is. There shouldn’t be, right?

“Mama?”
A little voice cuts through my thoughts. I turn to my side to meet my sweet daughter’s gaze.
“What’s up, my love,” I ask her, rubbing her cheek with my thumb.
“Where did you go,” she asked me. She reached her hand up to trace the features of my face. She’s been doing that a lot lately. I have no idea where she got it from.

“Nowhere special, baby,” I sighed, kissing her palm. “Just thinking about stuff.”
“About Jim Jam,” she giggled.
I laughed at her. “What did you say,” I asked, tickling her. “What makes you think I’m thinking about Jimmy, huh? Do you think about him?”

Evelyn’s laugh rang through the empty room. Her movements were a little more lively than usual. Good. That meant we’d have a good day today. First one in a while…
“Because,” she squealed loudly, trying to squirm away from my touch. “Cause you loves him and he loves you!”

I stopped to process what she said. Does she see it…?
“Mama?”
“I’m sorry baby,” I breathed. “I, -I just…”
“It’s okay to be scared mommy,” Evelyn whispered. “Boys can be very mean sometimes. Like how my real dad was mean to you and how Joshie was mean to Auntie Abby. It’s okay to be scared.”

I didn’t realize that I had started crying until she reached up to wipe a tear away from my cheek.
“Don’t cry momma,” Evelyn cooed. “Jimmy won’t hurt you like that. I told you I’d find you a Prince Charming. I picked him special for you.”

I was completely speechless. But I didn’t say a word to her. I just pulled her close to me and kissed her before I decided it was time to get up and give that special someone a phone call that was long overdue.
Jimmy and I needed to have a little talk.

Notes

I'm so sorry guys. I kind of hit a real rough patch here and I needed to get my shit together. I've got a job and I'm still going to school, so I'm balancing everything and trying to get into the swing of things. It's little hard, but I'm doing my best.

I'll have some more chapters up in a little while.