What's The Name Of The Game

The next morning, Jon slipped out of bed quietly to let Tianna sleep in a little longer. He walked out of the bedroom and down into the living room, where he saw Pat on the phone with a thin book in his lap. Upon further inspection, Jon saw it was filed with names and numbers, so he figured it was Tianna’s mom’s contact book or something. Pat gave Jon a small head nod as he was talking with someone, and since Jon didn’t want to bother him he went into the kitchen.

He felt weird going through the fridge and everything, but Jon was hungry and he knew Pat and Tianna would be too. He couldn’t remember Tianna eating anything yesterday. He pulled out eggs and bacon and stuff, deciding he could make breakfast.

What else was he going to do? Sit back and watch his friends grieve?

Patrick came into the kitchen a little later, looking exhausted.

“Smells good,” Pat noted. “Thanks for making it. It’s one less thing Tianna will feel like she needs to do.” Jon nodded and Pat sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen.

“How long have you been up?” Jon asked him.

“Two or three hours,” Pat answered. “I’ve already made most of the arrangements funeral wise.” Jon nodded, continuing his work over the stove. “How’d she sleep last night?” Pat asked, referring to Tianna.

“She checked out pretty quickly,” Jon answered. “As soon as we got in bed she came right up next to me and I rubbed her head until she fell asleep. It was lights out almost immediately for her.”

There were a few moments where Patrick was deep in thought, and Jon was finishing up cooking breakfast.

“Jon,” Patrick finally voiced.

“Hm?” Jon sounded.

“Thank you.”

“What for?” Jon asked, turning around to face Pat.

“For being there for Tianna,” Patrick clarified.

Jon smiled weakly and nodded.

“So, what’s the deal with you two?” Patrick inquired. Tianna had been about to walk into the kitchen, but she paused to hear Jon’s answer.

“Good question,” Jon chuckled. “The ball’s in her court right now, so I guess when she’s ready to talk about it, we will.”

“And, what if it’s not settled by Friday?” Patrick continued.

“Well, hopefully Tia and I will have talked about it somewhat and I can prove to Q my head’s back in the game,” Jon shrugged.

“What if Q still wants to bench you?”

“Then I guess Q will have to bench me,” Jon conceded. Patrick’s eyes went wide. Jon wouldn’t normally just sit back and take a benching, but he knew Tianna just affected him like that.

Tianna, who was still listening just outside the door, let a small smile spread onto her face before entering the kitchen.

“Morning,” she greeted, causing Jon and Pat to turn toward her.

“Good morning,” Pat responded, getting up from his seat and giving her a hug. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing alright,” Tianna replied genuinely. Of course she was a little sad, but she felt oddly at peace right now. Patrick’s cell phone started ringing and he excused himself and walked out of the kitchen.

Tianna turned her head to Jon, who had resumed cooking over the stove. She weighed the options of how to greet him in her mind, and finally settled on one. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his middle under his arms, and pressed her front against his back in a hug. He tensed slightly, not expecting the contact, but he almost immediately relaxed right after. He craned his neck to look at her behind him, and when he saw her grinning at him he couldn’t help but smile as well.

“Hello there,” he said, lifting his arm and pulling her from behind him to right next to him. Tianna kept her arms wrapped around him, but now she was hugging him from the side.

“Hi,” she smiled. He looked down at her for a moment to smile back, and just before he went to turn his attention back to the food she leaned up and pecked him on the lips quickly. She walked away and went over to a cabinet, pulling out plates.

Jon looked at her, somewhat shell shocked, but decided not to say anything.

“That smells good,” Tianna voiced. Jon nodded, still not able to speak. What would he even say?

He finished up cooking breakfast and set it on the plates Tianna had grabbed, and then set everything on the table. Pat came in a few moments later, and right when he did, Jon got a phone call and excused himself.

“So, Annie,” Patrick drawled, taking a bite of bacon. “What’s going on with you and Jon?”

Tianna shrugged, sipping her orange juice.

“I really don’t know,” she answered. “I don’t know what to do. I know he’s sorry and everything, but-”

“T-Bag, listen to me,” Patrick interrupted. “Jon will never regret anything more than hurting you. He doesn’t even care that he might get benched! Believe me, he is head over heels for you.”

Tianna smiled at Patrick, knowing that nothing really needed to be said. Jon came back a while later, and the three of them ate breakfast in a comfortable silence.

After they were finished, Tianna went upstairs to shower. When she had come back down, she heard Patrick and Jon talking in hushed tones. She couldn’t make out the whole conversation; all she heard was that it was about the phone calls they had both received around breakfast.

Tianna cleared her throat, letting them know she was walking into the room. Jon and Pat halted their conversation and greeted Tianna, and the three spent the rest of their day making arrangements.

The doorbell rang a few hours later, and Tianna got up to answer it. She opened it slowly, revealing Kara. The two girls immediately embraced in a hug, and Tianna could feel her eyes begin to tear up again.

“Patrick and I talked this morning and I drove up here as fast as I could,” she whispered. Tianna nodded, still unable to speak. “How are you holding up?” Kara asked, pulling back.

“I have so much to tell you,” Tianna stated, ushering her friend inside. Kara greeted Jon with a hug and Pat with a kiss, before being pulled into another room by Tianna. It was the study that Tianna’s mom wrote to her about, and Tianna told Kara the whole story that she had missed.

“So, have you read any of the other notes?” Kara asked after Tianna had finished.

“No,” Tianna answered. “Not yet.”

“Well, let’s get started,” Kara smiled.

Over the next few hours, Tianna and Kara poured over the letters, pictures, and memories left by Tianna’s mom. Jon and Pat joined after a while, and soon enough Tianna had to excuse herself. Jon went after her, finding her leaning on the wall further down the hall. He walked and stood in front of her, placing his hands on her hips.

“Are you oka-”

Before Jon could finish his question, Tianna had pressed herself up against him and pressed her lips to his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pushed her harder against the wall, getting wrapped up in the moment. Suddenly Jon snapped back to reality and he pulled back.

“Tia,” he breathed, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

“Sorry,” Tianna muttered, slipping out of his grasp and walking away. He quickly grabbed her and, bringing her back towards him. “I thought you wanted…I thought you were still…”

“I do, and I am,” he confirmed. “It just came out of left field. I don’t want you to make irrational choices based on emotions in the moment.”

Tianna grinned, and no matter how hard she tried to wipe it off her face, she couldn’t.

“What?” Jon asked, a small smile tugging on his lips as well.

“You don’t want me to make irrational choices,” she giggled. “You sound like my father…” She trailed off softly. She wasn’t sad however, as Jon still saw the smile on her face. “Jon?”

“Yeah?”

Tianna didn’t say anything, she just leaned up and kissed him again.

Jon responded almost immediately, and they both smiled into the kiss. They returned to the study a few moments later with their hands intertwined, which didn’t go unnoticed by Kara and Pat. They all continued sifting through papers and such when Jon‘s phone buzzed with a text.

“Um. I’ll be right back,” he said, shooting a glance at Patrick.

“Where are you going?” Tianna asked, watching him get his coat on and everything.

“I’ll be right back,” he repeated, avoiding the question. He walked out swiftly, leaving Tianna and Kara to look at Patrick.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Patrick said defensively. Tianna dropped the subject and went into the kitchen with Kara to start making dinner. No one could believe how fast the day had flown by, but nevertheless it was nearly dark out.

Just as Tianna and Kara were finishing up dinner, they heard Jon holler from the living room that he was back. Tianna and Kara rushed out of the kitchen, anxious to see where Jon had gone. As soon as they got into the living room, Tianna froze in her tracks.

“Oh my Gosh!” She exclaimed. A grin broke out on her face, and she was immediately engulfed a bunch of hugs by the people Jon had brought back with him.

His family.