Chapter 65 - Jade #2
“This is the best! Oh, my gosh, Jade, we have to ride everything!” Char squeals, dragging me toward the entrance, not even bothering to check if the others are following.
“This is going to be the best day ever!” she shouts, turning back to smile at me, and my lips pull up to match hers.
It is, in fact, the best day ever.
We eat our weight in sweets, take a million pictures, ride a few rides, and eventually watch the fireworks at the end of the night. It’s amazing, and by the end, my cheeks hurt from smiling all day. Everyone is smiling, though, so I’ll take it.
“How the hell do we get out of here?” I ask anyone who can hear me over the commotion of the crowds around us, and Zander’s quick to wave us on.
Thank God he seems to know where he’s going; we’d be lost if it were up to me.
This place is fucking huge. The pictures didn’t do it justice, and according to Char, this is only one of the parks.
We walk for about ten minutes before I begin to second-guess Zander’s ability to lead us. Everyone else seems to be going the opposite way.
“Zan, are you sure you know where you’re going?” I call, but he waves me off.
“I think he wants to ride one last thing,” Rick says, shaking his head, but his smile says he doesn’t mind.
“But the park is closing. Can we do that?” Charlotte asks, stealing the words right out of my mouth.
“Yeah, it’s all about who you know.” Trent smiles, bumping my shoulder.
“And who do we know?” Charlotte asks, and honestly, I’m so glad I’m not the only one who’s lost right now.
“Her,” Spencer says, ruffling my hair as he walks around us to catch up with Zander and Kratos. Kratos is acting like a wall of sorts; the hordes of people heading in the opposite direction part to go around us. I tend to forget how most people see him. Huge and terrifying.
“Oh! Yes, this one’s my favorite!” Char screams as we approach the huge building that houses the Mickey ride we’ve already ridden twice.
In fact, it was the only thing we rode multiple times, but how can I say no when she’s so excited?
Plus, it is pretty cool. Apparently, everything is done through programming, much to Spencer’s delight.
He went on and on about the trackless system, but I thought it was fun and cute.
There’s no line, and to my surprise, the workers let us right in, and it’s just as fun as the third time. By the time we’re done, Charlotte doesn’t seem to be in such a great mood anymore. Her smile’s dimmer than it was earlier.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, pulling her aside for some privacy.
“Nothing!” she says too fast, but I’m not buying it, and after a moment, she seems to get that. “Today was just perfect. I wish it wasn’t over,” she admits sadly.
I’m not sure what to say to that, so instead, I pull her into my arms for a hug.
“What if it didn’t have to end?” Dom says, crouching down to look at us, and I glare at him over her head.
“Dom,” I warn, but he ignores me and keeps talking.
“What if I told you we have the whole park to ourselves for the next—” He pauses, looks down at his watch, then looks back up with a smile. “Five hours. How would that sound?”
“Dom!” I hiss, and this time, he looks at me. “Wait, you’re serious?” I ask when I see his usual teasing smirk missing.
“Dead serious,” he says with a laugh.
Charlotte is out of my arms and running. I don’t even know where.
“Happy birthday, sis,” Dom says, offering me a hand up to stand, and I take it.
“It’s not my birthday,” I tell him, even though he knows that already. I just turned twenty-five last month. He was there. We’d flown everyone to see our parents and celebrate. It was strange to celebrate something like that when I’d never done it before, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it.
Trent and Rick even worked together to make me all my favorites for the night.
“No, it’s not,” Kratos says, coming out of nowhere and wrapping his arms around my waist. He turns us around, and Dom comes to stand next to us. Everyone else gathered around.
“Today marks two years since you killed Ivan. So while it’s not your actual birthday, it’s the day you really got to start living, and that deserves a celebration,” he says, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
“And two more days marks three years since you changed our lives forever, so there’s that too,” Zander says, a huge smile on his face that makes me smile even as my eyes water.
“We have a lot to celebrate, Demon. We wanted to do it right, and while we think you deserve the world, we knew you wouldn’t let us buy that.” Spencer tries to sound annoyed, but his smile gives him away.
“But Disney World all to ourselves was a close second,” Trent says, a hopeful smile on his face, and I know he’s remembering our earlier conversation. He knew what I was agreeing to even before I did, asshole.
I agreed, though, and while I hate to even think about how much they spent, I can’t deny that today has been amazing. I’d felt sad thinking about it ending, just like Charlotte had.
“Besides, you could use a week off,” Jake says before he cringes.
“A week?” I ask, and I know the shock is clear on my face.
“Damn it, Jake,” Leo grumbles, making Hazel laugh.
Zander isn’t at all affected by my response, though. Instead, he skips forward, taking my hand and leading me further into the park. I don’t even try to resist.
“We have more parks to go to, more things to do. Plus, Hazel wouldn’t shut up about Universal Studios, so we figured we'd do it all in one go,” he tells me with a shrug as if it’s no big deal.
It is, but I let it go, at least for now.
Looking around, I find myself unable to argue with all the smiling faces.
I look to each of the guys, trusting Zander to lead us, and in each of their eyes, I see the same thing.
The same thing I see when I turn back to look at Zander as we stop in front of a ride we hadn’t gotten to go on earlier due to the line.
Love.
For so long, I thought love wasn’t something I would ever know, something I didn’t deserve. Now I have it, and I’m never letting it go.
This is my family. We built it, bled for it, and worked tirelessly to get us here. Now, all I want is to enjoy it for the rest of our lives, and we will.
I’ll make sure of it.