I'm Not Your Protege, Just Your Kid

My eyes felt puffy and stung as I got dressed the next morning. I raked my fingers through my messy hair and pulled some boots on before walking out into the sitting area where Devon was.

"Good morning," he greeted through a mouthful of cereal.

"Morning," I mumbled and shuffled into the kitchen to make some hot chocolate.

I leaned against the counter as I watched the kettle heat up on the stove. I played with a chunk of straightened hair while I zoned out until a loud knock came at the door. Devon called out that he would get it and I put up no argument, I wasn't in the mood to see anyone. The water finally finished boiling and I poured some into the cocoa mix. I stirred the contents and blew away the steam as I walked into the sitting area.

"Hey Jayden, how are you feeling?" Zack asked from the sofa.

I shrugged and sat down next to him and started watching whatever Devon had the T.V. on. The three of us sat in silence as we watched an old Christmas program involving Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket and I pulled it out and saw that I had a new text message from Aiden.

Only 5 more days until I get to see you =]

I smiled and typed back a quick reply and shut my phone. Zack's phone rang from next to me and a smile fell on his lips when he read the caller I.D. He excused himself and went out onto the balcony to talk.

"Who do you think that was?" Devon asked.

I shrugged then answered. "I could care less right now,"

"Do you want to talk about Kev-"

"No," I snapped, cutting off Devon.

"You have to some time,"

"I don't have to do anything," I felt my throat constrict and I quickly downed the scorching hot cocoa to distract myself.

"Jayden," he sighed.

Instead of answering him I walked back in the kitchen to put my cup to wash. I cursed under my breath when I felt my eyes water and a tear leaked out. I wiped it away and trudged back to the couch. I threw myself down right as Zack came back in with a huge grin on his face. He dusted off the snow that fell on him and cleared his throat when he saw that we were staring at him.

"Who was that?" I crossed my legs and folded my arms.

"Gabby," he simply said.

"How is she? I haven't heard from her in a while," Devon asked.

"She's good, we're planning on meeting up for a cup of coffee when we get back,"

"That's great, now maybe Gena can pack her shit and leave,"

"Jayden, I know you don't like her, but at least give her a chance," he pleaded.

"No,"

"I have to agree with her Zack, I prefer Gabby a whole lot more," Devon piped up.

"You guys do?"

"Duh," I sarcastically said. "I'm going back to sleep," I announced and went back into my room. Before I could shut the door completely I cracked it a tiny bit and listened to Devon's and Zack's hushed voices. They were speaking too low for me to fully understand them so I gave up and went back to sleep.

Zack's P.O.V

I stirred from my sleep and groaned as I rubbed my sore neck. I looked around me and saw Devon sleeping on the other chair while the T.V was still playing Christmas shows. I looked outside and saw that the sun was starting to go down slowly, making the sky turn a light yellow behind the gray, dreary clouds.

I rubbed my eyes and stretched before going to check on Jayden. I knocked on the door and didn't get an answer the first time so I knocked again and waited for her to answer. When a minute passed I slowly turned the knob and peeked into the dark room.

"Jayden?" I called out.

I walked over to her bed and I felt my stomach get hollow when I saw that it was empty. I hurried out the room and saw that the keys that were resting on the counter to the rental car was missing. I ran over to Devon and shook him awake.

"What?" he groaned.

"Jayden's gone!" I exclaimed.

"What?!" he shrieked and shot up.

"Yeah, the keys are gone,"

He groaned and rubbed his face then looked up at me. "I have an idea of where she is," he got up and I looked up to him.

"You do? Where is she?"

"Go get some keys for another rental car from one of the other bands and I'll meet you downstairs in the lobbey," he ordered and walked into the room to get dressed. I put back on my shoes and hauled ass out the door in search for some keys.

Devon was calmly driving Atreyu's rental car and humming along with the Christmas song on the radio while I was freaking out in the passenger seat. How the hell can he be so fucking calm when Jayden's missing and it's snowing like a mofo outside? I informed all the bands about Jayden and told them to call me if she showed up again at the hotel.

"Why are you so calm!?" I finally shouted when we stopped at a red light.

"Because I know Jayden can handle herself. She needed some time to herself to get things sorted out," he explained then pulled off when the light turned green again.

"Well, can you tell me where she is now?"

"Sure, she's at the cemetery," he shrugged.

"Why?"

"She went to visit Kevin," he mumbled.

"Whose this Kevin person that was mentioned yesterday?"

He sighed before answering. "Kevin was the third person of our little group at the adoption home. Jayden and him were the best of friends, they did nearly everything together. He was her first boyfriend, her first kiss, he was everything to Jayden and she was everything to him. We sadly lost touch when we moved out to California and well you know how he died,"

I looked at him closely and saw that his eyes were glassy, indicating that he was about to cry. For the rest of the ride I stayed quiet and looked out the window at the snow falling. Eventually the car came to a stop and I saw that Devon had parked behind the SUV that we were all in yesterday.

We got out the car and I followed behind Devon since he knew where he was going. After a few minutes I spotted a dark blob in the distance and I realized that it was Jayden sitting on the ground in front of a headstone. Her hood was up over her head and she tucked her hands in her pockets.

"She needs you right now," Devon said and pushed me towards her.

"No she doesn't she needs you,"

"Zack, she needs a father right now," he said and then started walking back to the car.

I took a deep breath and walked over to the crouching gray blob. She didn't turn around when she heard my footsteps approaching and continued talking to the headstone as if it were her old friend, Kevin.

"Why'd you have to leave me? I told you I was coming back for you," she said through tears and covered her mouth with one hand to block out the sound of her sobbing. He long, pale fingers delicately danced across the headstone over the name.

"You're so selfish for leaving me here with no one except Devon," she pounded her fist into the snow."I miss you so much Kevin," she sobbed.

I crouched down next to her and gently rubbed her back. She flinched at first but then cradled herself into my arms. For the second time in less then 24 hours, Jayden cried like a baby in my arms.

"Why did he have to go, Zack?" she sobbed into my chest.

I didn't know what to say so I rocked her back and forth. We were there for 15 more minutes when Jayden finally collected herself.

"Let's go," she said in a monotone voice with a hard look that I haven't seen since we first met.

She gave one last look at the grave and stalked off, leaving me behind to follow her in the freezing cold through the snow.