High Tide

Kelly awoke in an unfamiliar bed, to the sound of a child laughing drifting up the hallway. She startled awake, then regretted it, her head pounding. She brought her hand to her head slowly and groaned, pulling herself out of bed. She wandered over to the bathroom to access the damage. Her makeup was smudged, her hair needed a serious work-through and there was dried blood on her hands, but other than that, she hadn’t fared too badly. She got to work on brushing her hair until it looked normal, and then pulled it back into a high ponytail before washing all the makeup off her face and the blood from her hands.

Walking back into the bedroom, Kelly was surprised to find a pair of her jeans and a black tank top folded on the end of the bed. Jona must have picked them up for her from her flat while she’d be sleeping in his bed. She put the much-appreciated clean clothes on before wandering out of the bedroom and into the hall.

The second Jamie saw her, his eyes widened excitedly and he ran at her full speed, screaming her name. Kelly was his favourite aunt. Kelly laughed and crouched down, the toddler running straight into her arms. She hugged Jamie tightly as she picked him up, ruffling his messy brown hair. He looked up at her with his huge hazel eyes and grinned stupidly at her, his tongue sticking out. He really was the spitting image of his father.

“Kelly! I’ve barely seen you since Matty’s been back!”

Kelly put Jamie down and smiled at Becca, walking to the end of the hall and into Jona’s kitchen to hug her best friend. “I know!” Kelly replied. “But I get it! You need some time with your man,” Kelly said suggestively, winking at Matt, who had a grin that matched Jamie’s.

“Damn right she needed some time with her man,” he said, coming up behind his girlfriend and kissing her on the cheek. Becca blushed deeply and giggled like a little girl. Kelly snorted in laughter at the sight of the two of them. Every day was like the first day together for them, and Kelly was extremely jealous of them. She thought she’d had that with Zach. She’d honestly thought he was that thing that everybody is looking for nowadays… “the one” or whatever, but now she was left feeling more confused and lost than ever.

Kelly hadn’t been in many relationships, and preferred to avoid them altogether – that way, she didn’t get hurt. But she’d really put it all on the line for Zach, and their two years had been perfect together… until they weren’t.

Jona noticed the look that flashed across Kelly’s face. Anyone else would have missed it, but he’d been watching her ever since she came out of the bedroom, trying to determine if she was okay. “Kel, you want some breakfast?” He called over to her from the couch. She nodded and he got up and led the way to the kitchen, where they could talk in private.

“Kel, are you okay?” Jona asked her seriously, holding her face to make her look him in the eyes. She nodded.

“Bullshit.”

Kelly sighed. “I just feel so useless,” she said. “I mean, he cheated on me, Jona. Can you imagine how that would make you feel if it happened to you? I just… I feel like I wasn’t good enough for him…and I - ”

“No,” Jona cut her off. “No! Don’t you dare say that, Kelly Veneziano! He wasn’t good enough for you, okay? In fact, no one’s good enough for you unless I say so.”

Kelly smiled as the first few tears rolled down her face and Jona pulled her into a tight hug.

“I don’t even know why I’m crying,” Kelly said into his chest. “I feel so stupid.”

“Shh, it’s okay,” Jona said.

Becca walked into the kitchen to get some orange juice for Jamie when she caught the two of them. She was about to scold them for getting involved with each other after what happened last time when she saw Kelly’s face. “What’s going on?” she asked, worry clear in her tone.

Kelly swallowed nervously and tried to hold herself together. “Zach and I broke up last night.”

“Oh, my God,” Becca said. “Kelly, I’m so sorry. What happened?”

“I’d rather not talk about it. Jona picked me up and I’m fine is all you need to know.”

“Kelly, I’m looking at you right now and I can tell you are far from fine,” Becca said, using her ‘Mum voice’ that Matty teased her about often.

“You spend time with your family, Becca. I got this one,” Jona spoke up, smiling at Kelly.

“Are you sure?” Becca said, narrowing her eyes at the two of them.

“Yeah,” Kelly spoke up. “There’s always a Weinhofen around for me,” she said with a smile, using the siblings’ last name. Becca smiled at the two of them, grabbed the orange juice from the fridge and left them alone again.

“She’s so different now,” Kelly said.

“She’s a Mum,” Jona replied.

“She seems so together, you know? I wish I was like that,” Kelly said.

“Hey, let’s not forget who keeps Becca together when the band is away on tour,” Jona said. “You do. You’re such a good friend to her, Kel.”

“Oh God, the first time Matt had to leave for tour after Jamie came along she was a fucking train wreck,” Kelly said, smiling at the memory of Becca sitting in her living room, surrounded by baby supplies with little Jamie in her arms, the both of them crying.

“We’re all going to the park pretty soon, if you wanna come. It’d be good for you to get out for a bit,” Jona said. Kelly smiled at him.

“Okay, but I’m gonna need to borrow a hoodie,” she said.

“Your jacket is hanging by the door.”

*

“Daddy! You have to come on the slippy slide with me!” Jamie called to Matt, and the others laughed.

“I don’t think I’ll fit on it, Jamie! Why don’t you ask Mummy?” Matt told his son.

“Mummy goes on the slippy slide with me all the time! I want you to go on it with me!” Jamie said, looking up at his father and jutting out his bottom lip.

“Fine, but only because yeh’re so cute,” Matty said, ruffling his son’s hair and running after him to the slide. Becca watched them go and smiled.

“He’s such a good Dad,” Kelly said. “How long has it been?”

“5 months and 23 days. The longest he’s been away so far,” Becca replied. “Jamie asked when he was coming home nearly every day. It broke my heart.”

Becca, Kelly and Jona were all silent for a moment. The three friends then watched with amusement as Jamie slid down the slippery slide easily, his father getting stuck half way down the slide behind him. Jamie turned around and looked at Matt, laughing. Becca, Kelly and Jona laughed, too. It really was quite the sight – a tall, tattooed man stuck on a slippery slide. Becca ran over to help him, still laughing, leaving Kelly and Jona behind.

“Now that we’re alone…” Jona started.

“Oh God, here comes the third degree,” Kelly said. Jona smiled.

“But seriously, Kel. Are you gonna tell Becca what actually happened last night?”

“Probably not. You know what she’s like. She’ll over-react and make a big deal out of it,” Kelly replied.

“But it is a big deal, Kelly.”

“But it’s my own shit to deal with; I don’t want to drag her into it. I mean, just look at her. Would you want to ruin that?” Kelly reasoned. Jona glanced over at Becca, who was giggling as she got on the slide behind Matt to push him down it with her feet. When she finally managed to get him unstuck, he pulled her into a big hug and started planting kisses all over her face, causing her to laugh giddily. Jamie was jumping up and down and screaming “ew!” at his parents in the most hilarious fashion.

“I know what you mean, Kel, but if I know my sister, I know that she’ll be even more angry about it if she finds out much later,” Jona said.

“Dammit, you’re right,” Kelly said. “But can’t it wait a few days?”

Jona sighed and shook his head. “Okay, but I’ll be checking up on you.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Kelly said, rolling her eyes.

“You’re not getting out of it, punk,” Jona said, pulling her into a hug with one arm. She fit into his side perfectly and he couldn’t help himself from letting his mind wander to three and a half years previous, when they’d been together. He thought about that one night it went wrong over and over and still couldn’t understand why things had turned out the way they had. They were so damn good together.

“You’re always looking out for me, Jonah. I know I’m a fucking stubborn-ass bitch, and I probably don’t say it enough, but thanks,” Kelly said, smiling up at him. Jona screwed up his face and stuck his tongue out at her at the sentiment, causing her to laugh.

“We make a pretty good pair, that’s for sure,” Jona said, smiling down at her. Kelly looked up at him and smiled back, though she worried if his words held a heavier meaning. Instead of over-thinking it and getting herself into a huge mess over a tiny detail that probably didn’t matter (just like she always did), she chose to let it go. She pulled free of Jona’s grip and started running over to the playground to join her friends and their son.

The rest of the afternoon was spent fooling around on the playground equipment. Kelly taught Jamie how to swing from the monkey bars all by himself, Jona broke one of the swings, and Matt got stuck on the slide numerous times (if only so Becca would laugh and then help him out).

It was a picture perfect afternoon, and the friends cherished it, pushing all their own individual problems and worries from their minds and instead just enjoying each other’s company. Afternoons like this didn’t happen very often, as everyone always seemed to be busy with something, but they meant the world to them. On the way to Matt and Becca’s apartment afterwards, the friends made stupid jokes and laughed together, just like old times.

Kelly smiled to herself as she walked with her friends, thinking that as long as they were around, she was going to be just fine.