Promise Me Forever

A whole month had passed since Kourtney’s accident. Not much had changed since, besides the fact that Kourtney had healed completely and was out of the bandages, and as ironic as it sounded, she was dating the man who had crashed into her, Lucas.

Not to mention, Kevin was now around, Nick’s fiancée, Kim, had finally landed back in the country, and Joe and Lacey were closer than ever.

Since Kourtney and Lucas had met in the hospital, the pair had gotten closer and closer over time. Kourtney remembered, one night in particular when she was in the hospital with Lucas. The couple had stayed up over night, talking for hours and hours while Kevin, Joe and Nick had slept outside and waited.

So now, Kourtney and Lucas were going to dinner together. Lucas was meeting the Jonas’.

“They’re like my ‘adopted’ family,” Kourtney said, as the pair got out of the car. “That’s why Joe and Nick were at the hospital, twenty-four seven. Actually, it was more of Joe being there than Nick. Kevin was there for a few nights though – same with Paul and Denise.”

“They seem really sweet,” Lucas commented. “You must be lucky that they’re you’re ‘adopted’ family.”

“I am,” she smiled, as she led him to the front door of the huge house.

Kourtney raised her arm and knocked twice before the door had suddenly swung open.

“TANK!” Kourtney grinned, as she pulled the young teenager into a tight hug. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you since like what – last month?”

Frankie pulled out of the hug and smiled. “You don’t visit me much anymore,” he frowned.

“I promise to visit more often then.”

Kourtney turned to her boyfriend then looked at Frankie, grinning left to right. “Lucas,” she introduced, smiling at him. “This is Franklin Nathaniel Jonas.” Then, she turned to Frankie. “This is Lucas Cooper.”

“Hello, Franklin-”

“It’s Frankie,” the teenager hissed at the young man that stood before him. “Not Franklin.” And with that, he walked off.

“Well, that went well,” Lucas said sarcastically.

“Calm down, Lucas,” Kourtney hushed. “He’s only a teenager. He’s going through all that hormonal stages.”

“Well the rest of the family better not be like this towards me then.”

Kourtney laughed. “I’m sure the rest have all passed their hormonal stages,” she said, then her face fell, finally understanding what Lucas had meant. “Oh… you mean Joe right?”

He nodded.

“I’m sure Joe wouldn’t want to bash your head in. Or Nick,” she added. “I’m sure they see you as uh… a brother.”

“I guess,” he said, unconvinced.

Kourtney looked down at her feet. She knew the Jonas’ – particularly Joe, Nick and Frankie – wouldn’t approve of Lucas at all, and the only reason Frankie had snapped at Lucas was because of Joe who had told him about the accident.

“Kourtney!”

She looked up and spotted a pretty blonde haired girl, happily running towards her.

“Kim!” Kourtney smiled, pulling the blonde into a hug. “You’re back!”

“I know – I just got back,” she smiled. “Have I missed out on much? Because there’s this mysterious looking girl in the living room who’s calling herself Joe’s girlfriend, and she goes by the name of Lacey.”

“Ugh!” Kourtney groaned.

“So I have missed out on a lot then?”

“How’s your mother?” Kourtney asked, obviously avoiding the question.

“She’s fine, thanks. Who’s that guy by the door?” Kim asked, spotting Lucas. “Is he that Luke guy?”

“It’s Lucas,” Kourtney corrected. “He’s my boyfriend.”

The two girls had chattered on for the last half an hour. Lucas had introduced himself to Kevin, and the pair had started talking. Nick was talking to Frankie, and Lacey and Joe were on the couch talking with each other, but every now and then, the pair would give each other a quick peck on the lips.

“DINNER!” Denise yelled from the kitchen.

Everyone had quickly gathered into the dinning room, where all sorts of plates filled each dish in the middle. The food of the smell was intoxicating as everyone inhaled the air.

“Mhmm, your mom’s the best cook!” Kim whispered to Nick.

He chuckled in response.

Everyone sat themselves around the dinning table, and immediately began digging.

Kourtney found herself sitting between Nick and Lucas, and opposite Joe and Lacey. Kim, Frankie, Paul and Denise were sitting on the edges of the rectangle table, as if it was not enough space for everyone.

“Eat slowly, boys,” Denise reminded, as she saw the sight of her four sons gulping everything they could down their throats. “There’s no rush.”

Kourtney looked down at her knife and fork and picked it up. She nervously began cutting the piece of meat that sat on her plate, daring to not look up at all. She didn’t want to see Lacey sucking faces with Joe at the dinner table. It would ruin her appetite.

“Lucas, tell us about yourself,” Denise said, attempting to start a conversation through the awkward silence.

“Um,” he said timidly, thinking of something interesting to say about himself. “Well my name is Lucas Cooper, I’m twenty-six years of age, and I’m vice president at Apple.”

“Vice president?” Paul said, impressed. “At twenty-six?”

Lucas nodded proudly. “Yep, I’ve been with the company for about seven years now.”

“You deserve it, Lucas,” Kourtney smiled, pecking him lightly on the cheek.

“Thanks, sweetie.”

Kourtney turned her neck, forgetting what she didn’t want to do, and therefore found herself looking at Lacey and Joe, and typically enough, Lacey had her neck craned up at Joe and kissing him every now and then. Kourtney scrunched her fist up into a ball and her arm stiffened.

“Uh, excuse me,” she mumbled, quickly getting up and running off into the hallway.

She walked around the hallway, pretending to look for the toilet. She knew the Jonas’ house on the back of her hand and she knew very well that the toilet wasn’t on this section of the house. Instead, she hoped that no one would come after her.

And if it was Lacey trying to set things straight with her, she’d would kill her.

If it was Joe she’d walk away.

If it was anyone else, she’d talk to them.

“Kourtney,” a voice came.

She froze.

“Are you okay?”

Kourtney’s stomach dropped. It was Joe.

“You seemed pretty intense out there.”

“I’m fine, Joe,” she mumbled, looking at her feet.

She felt a pair of cold hands cup her chin, and now, she was looking right back in Joe’s eyes. What happened next was completely unexpected, yet it felt so distinctive. Joe’s lips were on Kourtney’s, but as soon as Kourtney had felt his lips on hers, she quickly jerked away and gently pushed him back.

“What do you think you’re doing, Joe?” she screeched. “You have Lacey and I’m with Lucas.”

“I-”

But she cut him off. “Look,” she sighed. “I can’t do this to Lucas… Maybe you can to this to Lacey, I don’t know,” she paused for a moment, thinking hard on what she was going to say next. She took a step closer towards him. “Joe, I’m only going to say this once to you, and I mean this,” she said, looking up into his eyes. “I love Lucas, not you.”